Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale executive producer Laura Shaw has exclusively opened up to Inside Soap about the shock return of Graham Foster.
Having ‘died’ in 2020, Graham was revealed to be alive back in January, during Coronation Street and Emmerdale’s explosive crossover, Corriedale.
ITV
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Since then, Graham has reintegrated back into Home Farm with his ex-lover, Kim Tate, and surrogate son, Joe Tate.
But Graham’s comeback wasn’t taken lightly by Emmerdale producer Laura, who pitched the idea on multiple occasions before it came into fruition.
“I’d been talking about it for about two years,” she told us. “I think most people thought I was mad when I kept bringing it up at our story conference and it became a bit of joke, everyone just keep laughing at me! In the end, I think I gave a PowerPoint presentation on how he ‘died’ and then tried to leave no stone unturned as to how he’d survived.”
“The timing felt right with Corriedale,” Laura added. “The reaction was amazing – the audience loved it! I feel like we missed Graham in the show, and he’s the final piece of the jigsaw at Home Farm that really cements them as a family.”
ITV
Graham’s arrival isn’t the only return to have stunned Emmerdale viewers in recent years, though, as Joe landed back in the village two years ago, after being suspected dead in 2018.
Joe is currently embroiled in a rivalry with the Dingle family, but before that, the Tate tycoon was revealed to have stolen Caleb’s kidney, with the help of twisted Dr. Crowley.
“It was wild and wacky at times, I can’t lie!” Laura shares. “But what that story did was really cement Kim and Joe as surrogate mother and son, which was important to me, to try and build that family of Tates up at Home Farm.”
“Similarly, we brought Dawn and the kids in to bolster it,” she adds. “And then we were missing the dad of the family, so we went mad and brought Graham back!”
To read our full exclusive chat with Laura about the sizzling stories coming up in Emmerdale this summer, pick up Inside Soap, available to buy from Tuesday, 12 May.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
Read more Emmerdale spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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