Emmerdale paid tribute to a beloved character on Wednesday
Emmerdale fans were left in tears as a beloved character was honoured, one year after their death.
Recent weeks have been tumultuous on the ITV soap, with John Sugden’s (Oliver Farnworth) dark secrets finally being exposed.
The villainous army medic notably dragged himself and his spouse, Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller), over a cliff edge, before coercing Caleb Miligan (William Ash) into assisting his flight overseas.
Caleb’s sibling, Cain (Jeff Hordley), subsequently departed the village to hunt for John across Europe after discovering that the criminal had murdered his son, Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter), last year.
The ITV favourite made his way back to the Dales on Wednesday (October 15) following his arrest in Dover, which left his wife, Moira (Natalie J Robb), fraught with anxiety, reports the Daily Star.
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Shortly after his return from France during today’s instalment, now streaming on ITVX, Moira gently prompted Cain about his duties and the first anniversary of his father Zak’s (Steve Halliwell) passing.
Nevertheless, Cain appeared determined to pursue a path of self-destruction, whilst his siblings Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and Sam (James Hooton) paid their respects at their father’s grave without him.
As they consoled one another and reminisced about Zak, the duo shared their worries about their brother, who disclosed that his search for John had proved fruitless.
“He did warn us, Cain, this time last year he said, ‘You never forget seeing a dad grieve for his son’, and look at us,” Belle said.
“Why is this happening? Have we not been through enough already?”
Later, the Dingle siblings paid a heartfelt tribute to their father, with Sam saying, “Alright, Dad. Don’t know why I’m saying it like I don’t come and see you every day. It’s weird, isn’t it? An anniversary makes it feel worse, like everything’s just gone back in time to how it was, how it felt when it first happened.
“Sometimes I feel it would be easier to just forget, but I wouldn’t want that, not really. I’d rather miss you and care and feel sad than not.”
Belle added: “We love you, Dad. I don’t think we ever appreciated everything that you did for us. You were the glue, and you made it look so easy, but we’ll get there. And we’re gonna look after Cain, even if he doesn’t want us to.”
The Emmerdale residents had previously come together to bid farewell to Zak last year, following the death of 77-year-old actor Steve Halliwell.
After watching today’s moving scenes, numerous viewers were touched, with many taking to social media to express their feelings.
“Aww, the tribute to Zak was so lovely,” one person wrote on a Facebook fan page.
Another added: “I was tearing up watching Belle and Sam at Zak’s grave,” while a third said: “Can’t believe it’s been a year since Zak died.”
A fourth fan echoed the sentiment, saying: “Really lovely scenes on tonight’s Emmerdale. Just a shame Cain wasn’t at his dad’s grave with Belle and Sam.”
Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 at 7.30pm and is available to stream from 7am on ITVX
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