Emmerdale spoilers: Lydia’s world to be destroyed as Joe strikes again

Joe Tate wants Lydia Dingle out of the way (Pictures: ITV)

Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) has put another part of his plan in place as he remains determined to get closer to what Kim Tate (Claire King) owns.

Earlier this week, Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) handed Kim’s will to Joe after stealing it from the safe. As he looked over the documents, he naturally assumed that Kim would leave Home Farm to him, believing it to be his birth right.

So he was pretty taken aback when he read that Kim wants Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) to have Home Farm after she’s died. Joe was quietly fuming but for Graham it was great, as it was finally a sign that Joe was beginning to see Kim for the woman she really is.

Lydia rocked up to the house in Tuesday’s episode ready to begin cleaning, but faced Joe’s wrath for being a tiny bit late. In truth, he didn’t really care that the dishwasher was still full and Lydia wasn’t as efficient as usual, he was just annoyed and jealous over the contents of Kim’s will.

Joe gave Lydia a pay rise after treating her badly (Picture: ITV)

Graham reminded Joe that Lydia had no control of Kim’s very generous gift, so being annoyed at her doesn’t achieve anything.

He pointed out that Kim is the one in charge so if he wants to do something, he needs to target her – but he needs to be clever about how he does it.

That evening, Joe visited the pub and apologised to Lydia for treating her badly, and then gave her a pay rise.

As Lydia reflected on how it’s a good thing that she’s working at Home Farm because she can keep an eye on Joe, Graham had already worked out his plan.

He realised that Joe is intending on exploiting Lydia’s friendship with Kim.

Graham wants to throw Kim off her throne (Picture: ITV)

His next move was revealed in this evening’s episode, and it involved Joe opening a bank account in Lydia’s name.

But what exactly is Joe’s end goal here?

Is he planning on giving Lydia a large sum of money in the hope she’ll think inheriting Home Farm from Kim is no longer worthwhile?

If his plan doesn’t work, just how far will Joe go in order to ensure he will get Home Farm when Kim isn’t here?

This article was originally published on March 17, 2026.

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