Craig Reed met his end in a surprising fashion in tonight's Emmerdale (Thursday 2nd November 2023).

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The ITV1 soap has been building up to the truth of who killed the evil rapist Craig (Ben Addis) in recent episodes as his victim Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) called a 'Dingle Court' to expose the killer.

Throughout the week, flashbacks have revealed numerous secrets about the Dingles and set up some surprising new storylines.

Earlier in the week, we learned that Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) rejected a proposal by her boyfriend Tom King (James Chase), and in response he pushed her and she hit her head.

Belle hid the truth from the rest of the family.

Meanwhile, Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) was shown to clash with his brother-in-law Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) over money, and Aaron turned threatening and violent.

Elsewhere, Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) confessed to cousin Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) that she is resolving to win back Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb) despite everything that happened with Chloe Harris (Jessie Elland).

Further scenes showed Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter) in a disagreement with Caleb Milligan (Will Ash), which resulted in Nate's wife Tracy Robinson (Amy Walsh) confronting Caleb and then engaging in two surprisingly passionate kisses. Tracy and Caleb hid their secret moment of passion thereafter.

In heartbreaking scenes, Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) had an emotional chat with Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell), who disclosed that he had been secretly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

As this happened, Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) received good news regarding his recovery from his stroke at the hospital before he bumped into Rhona's ex-husband Gus (Alan McKenna), who was there with his pregnant partner Lucy (Charlotte Asprey) - a pregnancy resulting from stealing one of Rhona (Zoe Henry) and Gus's embryos.

Marlon was furious, but they told him to keep it a secret from Rhona for her own good.

Cain and Sam Dingle watch over Craig Reed as they hold him captive in a barn in Emmerdale
Cain and Sam Dingle watch over Craig Reed in Emmerdale. ITV

Finally, Sam (James Hooton) and Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) were shown to have kidnapped Craig before eventually letting him go, only on Thursday to be shown driving after him again after he fled from a barn and onto the fields near Home Farm.

Sam then beat Craig to a pulp and left. In the present day, Lydia was distraught and adamant that Sam had to give himself in if he had killed Craig, and he prepared to - but the family were firm that they should keep it a secret.

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Meanwhile, at Home Farm, police quizzed Kim Tate (Claire King) and Will Taylor (Dean Andrews) about Craig, given that the body was found on her land. Kim also made a point that her horse was missing and wanted it found.

After the police left, satisfied with the information Kim had told them, a further flashback showed that Kim had had her own encounter with Craig.

Dean Andrews and Claire King as Will and Kim in Emmerdale.
Dean Andrews and Claire King as Will and Kim in Emmerdale. ITV

After Craig was beaten following his encounter with Sam, he walked across the fields and came across Kim on her horse and asked for her help to get medical attention.

Kim rejected his plea for help and planned to go on her way, but Craig tried to stop her leaving, which spooked Kim's horse and it kicked Craig to the ground.

Dismounting from her horse, Kim checked Craig and he was clearly in a critical condition. Cain then appeared and revealed he had witnessed what had happened and pleaded with Kim to leave him and not contact medical professionals.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Kim stood up, mounted her horse again and departed, with Cain also going his own way, both leaving Craig to die.

The Dingles face Lydia in a family court session at the Woolpack
The Dingles face Lydia in a family court session at the Woolpack. ITV

Back at Home Farm, Kim spoke lovingly to her horse and let it loose to give the impression it had gone missing.

As the episode closed, the 'Dingle Court' disbanded, with a despondent Lydia being the last to leave, convinced that Sam was the person who killed Craig.

Will the truth about Kim and Cain's actions ever come out?

Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Soaps hub.

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