Emmerdale viewers recently discovered the full extent of Joe Tate (Ned Porteous)’s medical issues and what his real agenda in the village is. Basically, Joe Tate needs a kidney.

This was what was behind his apparently friendly behaviour towards his half-brother Noah Dingle (Jack Downham). His original plan was to get Noah to Dubai and secretly relieve him of one of his healthy kidneys.

Charity (Emma Atkins) has seen through Joe all along and knew he was up to something, so when Noah refused the trip to Dubai, Joe tried to drug Noah. This was when he ended up staggering in front of the limo, causing Charity to crash.

With Noah out of the picture, a desperate Joe turns his attention to another blood relative – his uncle Caleb Miligan (William Ash). Caleb is the son of Frank Tate (Norman Bowler), who is Joe’s grandfather.

The plan is to drug Caleb and for Joe’s accomplice Dr Crowley (James Hillier) to perform the surgery that Joe hopes will save his life. Obviously as a plan it’s not without risks, and one immediate risk is that Ross Barton (Mike Parr) is taking a very keen interest in what Joe might be up to and is reporting back to Kim (Claire King).

Kim tells Ross they’re going to need some firm evidence about what Joe is up to, so Ross sets out to discover the truth.

He comes across Joe and Crowley in a parked car talking over their plans, and when he knocks on the car window Crowley is seriously spooked and tells Joe he won’t do the operation unless Joe does something to put Ross off the scent.

It probably isn’t a coincidence, then, when Ross subsequently gets a phone call telling him his brother Pete Barton (Anthony Quinlan) has been attacked.

Pete was last seen in Emmerdale in 2020 when he left the Dales for a new life in Liverpool, but clearly Liverpool is not far enough to escape the tentacles of Joe Tate. A worried Ross heads off to the hospital to visit his brother.

The way is now clear for Joe and Crowley to go ahead with their plan – and Caleb doesn’t realise that he’s in serious danger as Joe will stop at nothing to get his kidney.