The following article contains spoilers from the Emmerdale episode dated January 20. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.
No, you’re not seeing ghosts, Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) has returned to Emmerdale.
The character made a brief comeback during the Emmerdale and Coronation Street crossover Corriedale at the start of this month. Graham was seen driving a van that had a woman called Jodie (Olivia Frances Brown) inside, who we now know is Shona Platt’s (Julia Goulding) sister.
Aside from the brief moment we saw him yesterday, Graham hasn’t been seen since.
Today’s instalment of the ITV soap focused on Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry), another suspect in Ray Walters’ (Joe Absolom) murder investigation.
The character has been secretly texting someone about the police investigation into Ray and Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) recently, and many of us thought she was texting Graham.
However, the look on her face as she laid eyes on the man who was apparently murdered in 2020 certainly suggested otherwise.
How did Graham fake his death?
As she got over the initial shock of seeing Graham again, Rhona was desperate to know how on earth he managed to fake his death, and why he’s been away from the village for six years.
Graham revealed that he had someone on the inside – DI Dent (Linda Armstrong) – who paid people to assist in covering up his death.
As a former member of the SAS, Graham knew exactly how to lay amongst the leaves so when Priya Sharma (Fiona Wade) and Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) found him, they’d assume he was dead.
And because neither of them checked his pulse either, the police and forensic teams who arrived shortly after knew exactly what to do to make it seem as though Graham had been killed.
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Rhona struggled with the fact it looked as though Graham had left the village without really considering the danger she’d be in as a result of Pierce. She told Graham everything the man put her and Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) through, and he explained he had plans to ‘take Pierce down’ – it just never happened.
This was because Graham had eyed up a bottle of whisky at the safe house and started drinking it. He explained to Rhona that he was going to go after Pierce, but got so drunk his friend put him on the ferry and said it was too late to do anything to Pierce because he had been arrested.
Graham believed that Rhona was safe so he carried on drinking. He then learnt about what Pierce had done to Vanessa through tabloid newspapers, and realised his mate had lied to him all along.
Why is Graham back in Emmerdale village?
So, that’s the past covered – but what about the present? The complete look of bewilderment on Rhona’s face when Graham first returned suggested that she hadn’t been texting her former lover – so who exactly brought Graham to the village?
He revealed that as part of his new job – dealing with things the police won’t deal with – he was hired to dispose of a problem for a powerful man.
It’s safe to assume that said man in this equation is Ray, because Graham went on to talk about how he had a change of heart when he learnt about the drug trafficking this man was orchestrating.
When April Windsor’s (Amelia Flanagan) name came up as part of those involved in the operation, Graham knew he had to do something.
Feeling guilty about how the situation with Pierce played out in 2020, Graham told Rhona that he won’t let anything similar happen again. As a desperate mother wanting to protect her family, Rhona had no hesitations about letting Graham go off and kill Ray.
Outside, Graham departed. Focus then turned to Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) and Ross Barton (Michael Parr) in the distance.
They were arguing about April and Ray, and Marlon was trying to stop Ross from doing something he may regret.
Marlon, Ross and Graham have now entered the spotlight when it comes to who ends up murdering Ray.
But will it be either of these men?
Or will it be someone else entirely?
Graham’s future
As he gets settled back into Graham’s posh suits and black jackets, Andrew Scarborough teased what’s ahead for his character when he faces Joe Tate (Ned Porteous), who he thought of as a son.
‘It was lovely to flesh that out and it was very well written. The scenes are quite heightened, which I think they should be, as it’s an unreal situation for somebody to come back from the dead. I loved acting in these scenes because we were bouncing things around like tennis balls and that is what it should be. I think many actors would know what I’m talking about.’
And what about Graham possibly reuniting with Rhona? Andrew made sure he didn’t reveal too much.
‘Who knows? Obviously she would have to forgive him first Plus her relationship with Marlon is very strong. But Graham did love her. He has been away, and probably has lived quite a lonely life, because he’d have had to go from country to country doing his various jobs that he does freelance.
‘So I would imagine he probably still hankers after her and probably is still in love with her. Watch the space.’
