Emmerdale fans have been left furious after Dr Caitlin Todd was killed off at the end of Wednesday night's episode, meaning that Charity Dingle will now never get justice for the abuse she faced. The medic, played by Caroline Harkin, had relentlessly bullied Sarah Sugden's partner Jacob when she was in charge of him at the hospital, and things have only got worse since she retired.
Abuse and Blackmail Plot
Last year, Charity tried to become a surrogate for her granddaughter Sarah only to find out that she was naturally pregnant by Ross Barton. Still, she kept this a secret and Sarah believed that all had gone to plan with the surrogacy. Dr Todd found out the truth and used it to blackmail Charity into handing over money. This all culminated in harrowing scenes where she sexually assaulted a drunken Charity.
Earlier this week, Charity, who confessed all about to Mack, found the courage to go to the police. But Mack, having had enough of the whole lie, stormed to the hospital to confront Todd. At the very end of Wednesday night's episode, Charity vowed to get justice but then, Mack was seen with Todd as he said: "Would we call it winning if you stopped breathing? If you ever come near Charity again, I will bury you!"
Fourth Murder This Year
A random flashforward, complete with the sound effects of a camera shutter to imply something had very suddenly become a crime scene investigation, showed Todd in the future lying dead, with blood coming out of her head. Dr Todd is now the fourth person in the small Yorkshire village to be murdered this year — after John Sugden, Ray Walters and Celia Daniels.
This all seems to confirm that, despite her evil ways, Dr Todd will never face justice for the way she abused Charity, and fans were not impressed. Taking to X, one fan raged: "I just had a feeling that #Emmerdale was gonna kill Dr Todd off and here we are! Charity deserves justice, unfortunately now it’s not gonna happen. And now this storyline has turned into a whodunit! I have no words. Soaps needs to do better instead of killing off the villain! This storyline is so important to raise awareness for and in my opinion they have gone and ruined it for a cheap plot!"
Fans Demand Better Storytelling
Fans immediately noticed that the issue-based storyline had quickly been traded in for a whodunnit, much like that of Theo Silverton on Coronation Street. Another said: "It angers me that both Charity and Jacob will never get justice for what Dr. Todd did to them. Her abuse of both should have been dealt with not this cheap cop out."
It all comes after fellow ITV soap Coronation Street made the decision to kill off domestic abuser Theo Silverton, and viewers will know that Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) was revealed as the killer when the whole story began as a plot to raise awareness on an issue rather than a whodunnit. Another fan commented: "Can soaps stop unaliving the abusers please! Todd and Charity deserved to get justice. #Emmerdale #Corrie."
One particular irate fan blasted those in charge of the soaps, which have favoured an onslaught of constant crime stories above all else in recent years. They wrote: "The fact [the soap bosses] are all stuck in this endless loop of stupid ridiculous outlandish whodunnit stories and killing abusers, health stories that aren't even researched properly and toxic men. Also stupid pairings that are past their sell by date. Not to mention the never ending introduction of villains to these tiny places — just stop."
Another wrote: "I don't mind the copper stories I find some interesting, when they get it right but my gripe is the constant cycle of villains and murders! I would rather watch an episode of them all at the rovers for some sort of party with funny scenes not this abysmal year upon year of violence."
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
