Confirmation that Emmerdale fan favourite Andrew Scarborough is exiting the ITV soap early in 2020 is a blow for the show but the apparently "grisly" murder of Kim Tate’s right-hand man Graham Foster should provide a gripping whodunnit thanks to the long list of characters with a score to settle with Foster.

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Since his arrival in 2017, Graham Foster has been at the heart of a number of the soap’s most dramatic storylines: the shock revelation of multimillionaire businessman Tom Waterhouse’s real identity as Joseph Tate, the subsequent faking of Joe Tate’s death, Mr Foster’s battle with alcoholism and the tragic back story of the death of his wife and child due to his drink driving.

He has also made some enemies...

It is Graham’s on/off relationship with his employer at Home Farm, Kim Tate (Claire King), that has proved the most ferocious. Kim has had her hooks in Graham for two decades since they first met at a function and slept together. But since going public with new girlfriend vet Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) Graham has glimpsed a life beyond enslavement to Kim and his former lover is not happy.

Graham’s vengeful boss is not the only person he has upset in recent months, though. So could one of these potential suspects be lining up to apply the final coup de grace?

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1. The spurned lover: Kim Tate (Claire King)

Kim Tate weeps Emmerdale

No one makes Kim Tate weep so there is going to be hell to pay for Graham doing just that. He expertly stuck the knife in (that SAS training has stood him in good stead) and revealed to Cruella that it was her beloved son Jamie (Alexander Lincoln) who was responsible for the six years she was incarcerated. There were more tears when he told her, “For the record, I never really loved you. You’re impossible to love.”

2. The mother in denial: Andrea Tate (Anna Nightingale)

Andrea Tate

Before she became Jamie’s wife Andrea Tate was the barmaid in a public house that Graham frequented. When Kim instructed Graham to keep a closer eye on her son while she was in jail, he hired Andrea to do the job for him. Instead she fell in love with Jamie. Inconveniently the date when Andrea conceived daughter Millie ties in with a drunken one-night stand with Graham. She would love him to take that secret to his grave.

3. The love rival: Al Chapman (Michael Wildman)

Al Chapman Emmerdale

Ex-husband of Jessie Dingle, combative wheeler-dealer businessman and next Dales villain-in-the-making, Al has had his eye on Kim Tate since he first showed up in the village in the summer of 2019. And the prospect of locking horns with Graham Foster has only made the contest all the more appealing for him. Al has done everything he can to marginalise Graham but disposing of him forever would suit him just fine.

4. The protective ex: Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock)

Emmerdale, Rhona Goskirk, Marlon Dingle

If you had to put one individual top of Marlon Dingle’s kill list it would be Al Chapman for sleeping with his wife Jessie. But devoted dad Marlon has also voiced grave concerns to Rhona Goskirk, the mother of his son Leo, that Graham is neither a suitable partner nor responsible stepdad. As The Woolpack’s head chef, Marlon has witnessed Graham at his worst when he has fallen off the wagon. If Graham were to trip and fall down the cellar steps would Marlon be the first to put out the bunting?

5. A mystery figure from Graham’s SAS past

Graham Foster SAS

Details of Graham’s time spent serving in the SAS are sketchy. He served in the armed forces for six years on missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia. He was discharged due to his drinking problem but the exact circumstances of that have not been explored.

Did his actions under the influence have repercussions for those he served with? Is there a former army colleague with a score to settle? Or possibly an angry tailor still waiting for him to settle his account for all those three-piece suits?

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