Because of the important message that Tom King’s passing could convey, Emmerdale viewers feel that he shouldn’t be eliminated.
After spending ten years abroad in Saudi Arabia with his mother and sister, Tom King, the son of Carl King, made a surprise appearance on Emmerdale last year. He was reunited with his former love Belle Dingle, played by Eden Taylor-Draper.
But in recent months, the character has earned himself the title of the “most hated” antagonist in the Yorkshire-based programme as his attempts to exert control over Belle’s life and circle culminated into him mowing over her dog and best friend, Piper.
The storyline has since evolved as it was revealed that Piper wasn’t actually dead, despite Tom trying to make Belle believe it was the case – instead, the sinister vet handed the pooch over to another family, knowing his estranged bride would never look for her.
However, with actor James Chase set to leave the ITV soap after filming his final scenes later this year, soap fans are waiting with anticipation for his downfall to take place as they warn bosses that killing him off would be a big mistake.
Back in 2020, rival soap Coronation Street tackled the same issue through Shelley King’s Yasmeen Nazir, who embarked on a relationship with Geoff Metcalfe, played by Ian Bartholomew.
Much like Belle and Tom, the couple’s romance started off strong, with the Speed Daal restaurateur falling for Geoff’s sense of humour and happy-go-lucky front.
Despite her granddaughter Alya Nazir’s annoyance, Yasmeen and Geoff eloped in Las Vegas. But Geoff’s red flags and abusive behaviour became impossible to ignore when he notably forced Yasmeen to stick to a strict cleaning regimen, claiming to be allergic to dust, and isolated her from her pals, more particularly former Corrie resident Cathy Matthews.
In another devastating twist, Geoff managed to gaslight Yasmeen into thinking she was an alcoholic, humiliating her and berating her constantly about her relationships and her appearance. To top it all off, he gave Yasmeen an STI he had contracted after an extra-marital romp with several escorts.
An overwhelmed and tormented Yasmeen was eventually pushed over the edge by the abuse and, after a mortifying evening with Tim and Sally Metcalfe at the Rovers, she stabbed Geoff in the neck with a broken bottle, admitting she was terrified he would kill her as he had been yelling at her with a knife in his hand.
Thrown in prison ahead of her trial for attempted murder in the aftermath of the incident, Yasmeen was eventually able to walk free when Geoff’s abusive behaviour came to light in explosive courtroom scenes. The hospital DJ met a grisly end when he fell off a roof to his death in December, 2020. A bad memory for many soap watchers.
“I hope prison as I hated it when Geoff got killed off in Corrie as it didn’t really feel like justice had been served”, a Corrie fan wrote, before referring to Tom King’s own comeuppance: “Plus, if they did kill him, it would just show that Emmerdale cares more about drama than focusing on abuse and the effects on the victim, even after the abuser gets locked up.”
Viewers of the long-running show have recently spotted a clue that death was looming in Belle’s coercive control storyline and some fans are hoping Tom meets a horrific death. One notably penned: “I normally want evil soap characters to be brought to justice and go to prison but I’ll make an exception for tom king… I hope he dies a most painful death.”
Meanwhile on Reddit, some have spoken out in favour of domestic abuse victims and survivors, pleading with soap bosses to work out a more elaborate storyline for Belle’s physically and mentally abusive husband.
“I hope it goes to trial and he gets a long prison sentence but as it’s Emmerdale he will be killed off no doubt and there will a ‘who dunnit’ storyline !!”, one fan cynically commented while responding to another viewer who asked how cumbersome Tom could be booted out of Emmerdale.
Another soon got involved in the conversation, suggesting that Tom being thrown behind bars may be beneficial for domestic abuse survivors and victims. “I hope for this too”, they penned. “Tom being brought to justice may encourage real life DV victims to report their abuser whereas him dying just tells them that the only way to escape an abuser is if the abuser dies.”
A third then jumped in, by writing: “I hope he goes to prison, I’m sick of villains in soap land being killed off before they face actual punishment.” One then agreed, while underlining the importance of representation on-screen: “Literally soaps need to encourage victims to seek help/report abuse. Tbh I have a feeling this may happen due to the producers working so hard with charities to be accurate.”
Emmerdale bosses have worked with Refuge, the UK’s largest domestic abuse organisation for women, to ensure the accuracy of Belle’s domestic violence storyline.
During a chat, Emma Pickering, Refuge’s Head of Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment/National Domestic Abuse Helpline reminded us that “domestic abuse is sadly all too common, with 1 in 4 women experiencing some form of abuse in their lifetime.”
She added: “It is important shows like Emmerdale explore these types of storylines, and work with experts such as Refuge when developing these on-screen portrayals so viewers can be informed about domestic abuse and how it presents and learn to recognise signs of abuse in the real world.”
When questioned over how often victims of domestic abuse receive justice, Emma continued: “The reality is survivors may face many barriers in reporting to police, such as fears of not being believed, mistrust in the police or fears of repercussions from their abuser. On average only 1 in 5 survivors report to the police, and of those that do sadly convictions are rare, custodial sentences even rarer – this desperately needs to change.”
“We know some viewers have found the Belle and Tom storyline hard to watch at times, especially the scenes involving Piper, but it is so important when we are talking about domestic abuse and covering it; even in a fictional sense, that it is true to life.” Will this mean that Belle won’t get the justice she deserves?
Plenty of theories have swirled online as fans try to work out how Tom King’s downfall will be triggered, while explosive scenes are ahead and actor James Chase is due to bow out of the long-running show.
Speaking to The Mirror, the soap star said: “[My parents] are really proud of me for landing the role but, like me they think he is a complete b*****d. When they watch me they can’t believe some of the awful things that come out of his mouth, nobody in their right mind would say what Tom says to Belle, even though I knew it was going to be domestic violence storyline I have been shocked at the levels he will go to.” Will his exit be just as staggering?
