Emmerdale exit 'sealed' for legend after 30 years as fans 'work out' new murder plot

Emmerdale has kicked off the new year with a bang, featuring the deaths of characters Celia Daniels, Ray Walters, and John Sugden, leading fans to speculate that another murder may be imminent.

Recent episodes of theITV soap have unveiled the chilling crimes committed by Celia (Jaye Griffiths) and her son, Ray (Joe Absolom), which include drug trafficking, sexual exploitation, and involvement in a modern slavery scheme.

Ray ended his abusive mother's life by stabbing her in the back, but was himself found dead just hours laterwith his killer still at large.

It has been confirmed that Ray's body is concealed in the back of Jai Sharma's (Chris Bisson) lorry, parked at Caleb Miligan's (William Ash) depot.

While the villagers remain oblivious to the grim fate of Celia and Ray, Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) is scheming to seize control of the Butlers Farm land, using Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) as his pawn, reports the Daily Star.

After discovering some incriminating documents and items at Celia's house, he hatched a plan to plant them at Moira Dingle's (Natalie J. Robb) residence.

In a cunning move, Joe had previously blackmailed Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) and her brother Robert into handing over their farm after capturing footage of Victoria killing John (Oliver Farnworth).

However, Joe took his nefarious plot a step further when he instructed Robert to frame Moira by planting the documents.

He explained this scheme would implicate her with the authorities and pressure her into selling her farm to Joe at a favourable price. He and Kim Tate (Claire King) would at last acquire the land they had long coveted.

Joe even dangled money and employment before Robert to execute his scheme, insisting he must be the one to plant the incriminating material. Robert was revolted and declined, though he subsequently appeared to reconsider, recognising their financial needs.

Subsequently, Robert successfully planted the evidence at Moira's property before Kim revealed to him and Joe that Celia had been exploiting their farmland for forced labour. Will Moira face prosecution for a crime she's innocent of?

As Joe's scheme to seize Butlers Farm crumbles, certain Emmerdale viewers are persuaded he'll meet his demise as he creates fresh adversaries in the village. Might Joe be written out three decades after the character's debut?

On Reddit, one viewer posted: "Joe. Does anyone else think this latest storyline with wanting to set Moira up is going to lead to him being killed off and another whodunnit?".

A second declared: "I SO WANT HIM KILLED OFF PLEASE. He's agitating me", whilst a third contributed on X: "#emmerdale Please someone bump Joe off. Can't stand his smug b****y face!"

"Robert, there's only one way to fix this. You're going to have to kill Joe. #Emmerdale", another remarked. "Can someone just unalive Joe already, he's such a snake. #Emmerdale", one viewer implored.

Emmerdale airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX