In Emmerdale’s history, few have left such a strong mark as Kim Tate. From the 1990s until her reappearance, she was always the epitome of a “scheming queen”: beautiful, cold, wealthy, and absolutely unafraid to get her hands dirty.

However, this Christmas reveals a very different Kim – still proud, still in control, but for the first time, truly… chillingly lonely.

In the past, Kim entered Home Farm as if conquering a kingdom.

She had affairs, orchestrated events, ensured her ex-husband Frank’s humiliating death, and then calmly stood in front of the mirror adjusting her hair.

From one husband to another, Kim always used both her heart and her cold head to ensure she was the one at the top. For her, relationships, family, work, or even the life and death of others could all be calculated like a game of cards.

Upon returning to Emmerdale, Kim’s dangerousness didn’t diminish. She built Graham up and then destroyed him, played psychological games with Cain, manipulated Joe, formed alliances with one family and betrayed another. Anyone who entered Kim’s orbit was turned into a pawn, even family. In return, she gained what many coveted: money, power, a vast fortune, the magnificent Home Farm, and a retinue of people who looked up to her.

But her emotional life was different. What Kim had sown over the years – scheming, cornering people, turning her own family into tools – now came back to bite her. People respected Kim, feared Kim, needed Kim’s money, but how many truly stood by her when she was vulnerable? The recent fall from her horse served as a stark reminder: even Kim Tate could one day lie motionless in a field, unnoticed, unattended.