Emmerdale legend makes shocking return from the dead in explosive Corriedale twist

Spoiler warning for Corriedale, which aired on Monday 5th January 2025.

Emmerdale has aired an unexpected return from the dead for Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) during its crossover event with Coronation Street, titled Corriedale.

The two ITV soaps crossed over in a dramatic special episode to kick off the newly scheduled soap power-hour on ITV1 every weekday from 8pm to 9pm.

During the episode, which mostly concerned the aftermath of a huge crash that ultimately resulted in two character deaths, we were treated to some ominous glances from an unknown individual in a van.

Eventually, we saw that Graham was the driver of a van containing an unknown woman who was bound as a prisoner.

We also saw Graham loom over an injured Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) at both the crash site and then at Hotten General Hospital, but it's unclear if Joe will believe he really saw his former guardian, Graham.

The shock return comes after Graham was seemingly killed off in 2020 in a whodunnit storyline, so how he's returned is just one of many questions we have after Corriedale.

Who is Graham Foster in Emmerdale?

Graham Foster is the former legal guardian of Joe Tate, the third husband of Kim Tate (Claire King), and the former boyfriend of Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry).

Introduced to the soap in 2017, Graham was shown to be the employee and enforcer of Joe Tate before their backstory was slowly revealed further, showing him to be like a father figure to Joe, having been appointed his legal guardian by his aunt Zoe Tate during Joe's troubled years at a boarding school where Graham served as a groundsman. Joe even saved Graham from a house fire that the latter had started in his grief.

We also learned that before he worked at the school, Graham had served in the military and had married a woman named Cheryl, who was pregnant with his child. However, Graham drove them in a car while drunk, and it crashed - killing Cheryl and their unborn child.

After this, Graham was cared for by a former flame - Kim Tate - who got him the school job and later asked him to look after her son Jamie Tate (Alexander Lincoln) when she went to prison.

However, as Graham struggled with addiction, he instead enlisted barmaid Andrea (Anna Nightingale) to watch over Jamie. Andrea later began an affair with Graham but later fell in love with Jamie, becoming his wife and having his daughter, Millie.

When Kim was released from prison in 2018, she ordered Graham to get rid of Joe, and he tried to pay him to leave the village. However, Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), furious that Joe had jilted his daughter Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb), punched Joe and seemingly killed him. Graham later 'disposed' of Joe.

However, it was later revealed that Joe survived and had been draining Tate funds in Monte Carlo before later disappearing altogether.

After this, amid a feud between Kim and Jamie, Graham struck up a romance with Rhona and sought to free himself from Kim's control.

There also began to be speculation that Graham was Millie's biological father, but DNA tests revealed this to be untrue. Despite this, Graham exposed his past with Andrea to a shocked Jamie, along with Kim being aware of this and the potential of him being Millie's dad.

In his final months on the soap, Graham had a number of enemies - from all of the Tates, to Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) as he didn't warn her about her son - and Joe's half-brother - Noah Dingle's (Jack Downham) drug habit before he overdosed, Charity's other son Ryan Stocks (James Moore), and Rhona's ex Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), as Graham and Rhona made plans to leave and take Marlon and Rhona's son Leo Goskirk (Harvey Rogerson) with them to France. All were seen swearing revenge against Graham or threatening him.

On his final day, however, Graham had an encounter with Rhona's former husband and rapist, Pierce Harris, played by Jonathan Wrather.

Flashbacks revealed that Graham had threatened Pierce to stay away following his release from prison. In the present, Pierce struck Graham on the head with a log before dragging his body through the woodland. Graham regained consciousness and spoke with Pierce before fighting him and contemplating killing Pierce. However, Graham decided to show Pierce mercy and left him alive.

• Who is Emmerdale’s Pierce Harris? All you need to know about Graham Foster’s killer

Despite this, Pierce pursued Graham and ran him down with his car, causing Graham to fall off of a cliff. Graham survived the fall (somehow), and Pierce ended up fighting with him again at the cliff base. In the end, Pierce delivered an apparently fatal blow to Graham's head with a torch.

Graham's body was later discovered, and despite weeks of other suspects being considered and with Marlon facing conviction, Rhona ended up in a confrontation with Pierce and recorded his confession over a livestream. Pierce would later die in prison after being convicted of Graham's murder.

Following justice being served, Graham's remains were cremated by his wife, Kim, in a funeral that only she attended - to Rhona's fury.

So, Graham is somehow alive after receiving a treatment akin to the murder of Grigori Rasputin. Well, hats off to him!

Read more:

• Emmerdale reveals 5 key suspects following grisly death of major character in ITVX release
• Emmerdale fan-favourite confirms exit from soap after three months as co-stars urge him to return
• Emmerdale cast: who is leaving, returning to and joining the cast?

Corriedale airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 8pm on Monday, 5th January.

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