Emmerdale has aired some shocking scenes amid its domestic abuse storyline, which

has seen Tom King (James Chase) use technology, gaslighting and violence to control wife

Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper). As part of his control, Tom has also subjected puppy

Piper to some horrific abuse – which fans of the show have not been happy about. Since the beginning of 2024, the ITV soap has received 1,189 Ofcom complaints, with 826 of them being in relation to an episode which saw Tom drug Piper to make her ill. With Belle in a mental health unit, he wanted her home, and deliberately made Piper sick in order to get Belle back. The number of complaints received by Emmerdale since the beginning of the year has made it the third most complained about show of 2024, behind fellow ITV shows Good Morning Britain and This Morning.

Belle and Tom’s story has been a dark and difficult watch, and it is far from over yet. ‘We said right from the beginning that we wanted to tell this story as authentically and truthfully as we can,’ Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw said. ‘Let’s face it, for people who are subjected to domestic abuse this isn’t something that’s over in a couple of weeks, it’s something that goes on for a long length of time and we wanted to be truthful to that. ‘I think you can expect that this storyline is going to run until the end of this year.’ With the story set to continue for a while yet, will evil Tom ever get his comeuppance?

Actor James Chase hopes so, as he revealed. ‘He can’t get away with it,’ he told us. Follow Metro Soaps on WhatsApp and get all the latest spoilers first! Want to be the first to hear shocking EastEnders spoilers? Who’s leaving Coronation Street? The latest gossip from Emmerdale? Join 10,000 soaps fans on Metro’s WhatsApp Soaps community and get access to spoiler galleries, must-watch videos, and exclusive interviews. Simply click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in!

Don’t forget to turn on notifications so you can see when we’ve just dropped the latest spoilers! ‘I don’t know to what extent that would be, or how the storyline would end but I would think it would have to be something like that because she needs justice for what’s happened to her. ‘The viewer needs that, for all the hell we’ve seen Belle get put through we have to see her win in the end, or at the very least for him to lose.’ On what he thinks the outcome should be, James added: ‘I think definitely at least prison. There needs to be at least that. I don’t really know. They’re all interesting.’