ITV/Shutterstock/Comp Emmerdale Insider Share By Carena Crawford Jul 22 2025 By Carena Crawford Jul 22 2025 Classic Emmerdale fans in floods of tears over Len's death: 'Shows how good it used to be' Such heartbreaking episode as Katherine Jenkins performed Share By Carena Crawford Jul 22 2025 By Carena Crawford Jul 22 2025 In devastating scenes in Classic Emmerdale on ITV3 on Monday July 21 Len Reynolds died peacefully while Katherine Jenkins sang Time To Say Goodbye. The death came during the village’s 500th anniversary celebrations and was remembered by many as being incredibly sad. And those rewatching it yesterday couldn’t have agreed more. In fact, with Emmerdale increasingly under fire for it’s far-fetched and dragging on plots, this hailed back to a simpler time that created just as much drama, but without so much fanfare. Len Reynold’s death was a surprise to fans (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Len dies in Classic Emmerdale There was drama aplenty yesterday, in the episodes that first aired on May 18, 2007. The King brothers were in court for the murder of their father, Tom, but it was Carl who confessed to Jimmy and Matthew he had done it. Elsewhere the rest of the village was gearing up for the pageant. Chaos broke out when Jo and Katie fought at the beauty contest, and the floats saw a rampaging pig and one on fire! article continues below Read all the latest spoilers Alan Turner’s special guest turned out to be Katherine Jenkins, who performed a stunning rendition of Time To Say Goodbye. And it was this moment that brought the tears. Because before she sang, Len Reynolds quietly passed away in his chair. Sandy Thomas had gone to get Len a drink and when he returned saw Len was ‘asleep’. He tried to wake his friend, but realised it was too late, Len had died. An ambulance arrived as Katherine sang her heart out and the villagers heard the news. Len was found dead in his chair at the pageant (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Fans hail ‘best episode ever’ This episode of Classic Emmerdale had fans crying at the time – and it had them sobbing once again yesterday. “Just caught up on Len’s death, best episode ever and when Rodney took his hat off that did me in,” wrote one on X. Another agreed: “Just finished watching Len’s demise in this afternoon’s Classic Emmerdale so sad.” A third compared Classic Emmerdale to its modern day counterpart. “It’s today’s episode of Classic Emmerdale that truly shows us how good it was and how far downhill Emmerdale actually has gone. Today’s scriptwriters are a mess!” “That was a moving ending. Farewell Len… Emmerdale used to have some good moments,” added a fourth. A fifth said: “I remembers watching this – Len’s death was an absolute shocker that nobody saw coming. Katherine Jenkins singing Time To Say Goodbye’ with the ambulance driving off over the hill.” I’m not crying I’m peeling onions.#classicemmerdale pic.twitter.com/n6FZKnWbOA — Bandit 😈 (@charles_me46523) July 21, 2025 Even Emmerdale series producer at the time, Kathleen Beedles, tweeted about the episode saying it was one of her “proudest” times on the soap. Classic Emmerdale ep today… oh gosh, brace yourself. One of my proudest eps. A proper tear jerker. 😭 #len #emmerdale #classicemmerdale #tomking — Kathleen Beedles (@KathleenBeedles) July 21, 2025 Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale? All the cast exits, arrivals and returns Share Good to Know Share By Carena Crawford Jul 22 2025 By Carena Crawford Jul 22 2025
