It’s a heavy week for everyone in the Dales

In recent weeks, Emmerdale viewers have watched as Ruby grappled with her abusive father deciding to become a more permanent resident of the village. As Ruby opened up to Chas that Steph might not be Caleb’s daughter, and a DNA test on the horizon, tensions have swiftly began to rise.

As Caleb found out the truth about Anthony, Steph struggles to hide her surprise that he’s back with Ruby as if nothing happened between them. In a sudden flashforward, a bloody human tooth is lay glistening on the ground at the Depot – but who does it belong to?

Meanwhile, Anthony is lying on Laurel’s sofa nursing a hangover, but is soon put to work after Nicola asks him to tutor Angelica. Anthony agrees, leaving the pair unsupervised.

However, Chas overhears that Angelica is alone with Anthony while in the café, and so she lets Nicola know that Anthony isn’t safe to be around. Nicola heads straight back home to put an end to the tutoring session, sharing that she knows he’s a danger to children.

It doesn’t take long for Anthony to get angry, and when things turn physically threatening for Nicola, Laurel intervenes by hitting him with a candlestick. Thus, leaving him unconscious.

Elsewhere in the village, Cain is convinced that Chas has learnt of his and Ruby’s tryst when he sees her overcome with emotion. His guilt leads him to get Chas to open up, and he’s left in shock when she reveals the horrifying truth. Nearby, Aaron Dingle is unnerved as he witness an unusual interaction between Anthony and Ruby. Caleb arrives in his car and orders Anthony to get in. What does he have planned for his father in law?

Later, Steph is confused as to why her grandfather (Anthony) has failed to show up to meet her as planned. Unbeknownst to her, a shotgun has been fired and Anthony is found dead.

Nicola and Laurel continue to fret after their altercation with Anthony, with the former leaving an A&E nurse suspicious after she tries to figure out if he’s been admitted. A wreck, Laurel seeks religious guidance in the face of her guilt.

After picking up the tension between her parents, Steph demands that they tell her where Anthony is – and his missing tooth is still lay undiscovered.

Further afield in the Dales, viewers watched last week as Dawn secretly kissed Joe Tate behind her husband’s (Billy) back. Kim approaches Dawn and Billy with a proposal – for Dawn to give up her job at the vets and work full time for Home Farm Estates.

However, when Dawn learns that Joe would be her new boss, she’s certain that he orchestrated the whole thing. She decides to confront him, but the pair end up kissing passionately. Post-coital in a Home Farm Bedroom, Dawn and Joe tidy themselves up, and as Billy returns home from hospital with Evan after his first outpatient chemotherapy appointment, Dawn’s guilt threatens to overwhelm her.

Meanwhile, Joe reels in Noah by handing him an heirloom but Charity turns up at Home Farm to return the watch and order Joe to keep away from Noah. After previous hints in episodes that Joe is struggling with his healthy, we later see him struggling to maintain consciousness as he sits in a parked car on a deserted road.

Dawn is the one who finds Joe slumped at the wheel with a bottle of mysterious pills knocked over on the floor. Later, she decides to prepare herself to tell Billy that she’s cheated on him.

That’s not all, as Joe sees that Kim genuinely misses Graham as they sit and chat in the graveyard. Although her grief over Will is still raw, she’s bolstered by Joe’s oath of support.