As Leyla’s family shun her funeral, here are 6 other times Emmerdale did characters dirty after their deaths from Harriet Finch to Rebecca White
There have been some disappointing deaths and anticlimactic send-offs over the years
Leyla Harding is being laid to rest in Emmerdale without her sister Alicia, or ex-husband David being at her funeral.
According to her son Jacob – who frankly could have done with the support of his adoptive parents Alicia and David – they had excuses about not showing up. Alicia, we heard, has a broken leg, while David couldn’t come because his son Theo was poorly.
Nah, we didn’t think they were good enough reasons either, but hey ho.
Leyla being done dirty after her death led us to think about other Emmerdale characters who have gone out with a whimper rather than a bang.
Here’s our round-up of everyone who we think didn’t get the ending they deserved.
Harriet Finch
We are still salty about how Harriet’s life in Emmerdale came to an end.
She was killed during the storm in the dramatic episodes marking Emmerdale’s 50th anniversary. Harriet had been in the village for several years as a police officer and as a vicar. She was part of the village for almost a decade and involved in some pretty big stories. But her funeral was understated. On-screen at least.
We don’t actually know what it was like because we didn’t get to see it!
Viewers saw some mourners including Will Taylor and his daughter Dawn Fletcher, head off to say goodbye to Harriet. Later we had a brief glimpse of the wake, but that was it. Very disappointing for such an important character!
Suzy Merton
Another off-screen funeral happens this week, when Suzy is laid to rest away from the village. She may never have had the dramatic stories other characters had, but she was really important in Emmerdale.
Her links to Holly Barton’s death, her being the catalyst for Leyla’s addiction, her romance with Vanessa, all meant she was a cog in the wheel of all sorts of drama. She deserved a better send-off than one we didn’t even see.
Frank Clayton
When Frank Clayton died in a fire at the Sharmas’ sweet factory, everyone in the village thought he had stolen money from the safe before the explosion.
In truth, it was Kerry Wyatt and her daughter Amy who had nicked the cash. And not only were they the thieves, they had also started the fire by tampering with the CCTV in an attempt to cover their tracks.
Frank’s funeral was a muted affair, with everyone thinking he’d committed the crime. Of course, with Amy’s death in the frozen lake, it feels like justice has been done now but everyone still thinks Frank’s a criminal.
Tom King
Tom King – the original, not his evil, abusive grandson – was murdered when he was pushed through a window on his wedding day.
There was a line-up of suspects at the time, but eventually Carl confessed to his brothers Jimmy and Matthew that he’d pushed their dad. Carl eventually died at the hands of serial killer Cameron Murray. But though the truth came out among the family, no one else ever found out who the murderer really was. Which is a little bit odd.
Rebecca White
We loved Rebecca White and we loved her romance with Ross Barton. So when Ross arrived back in the village without her, we weren’t happy. And we were even less happy when he revealed she had died!
It just feels so unnecessary to have her killed off screen and take away the little hope we had that she might return one day.
Heath Hope
Heath was a sweet-natured, music-loving teen who was killed horribly in a car accident last year. His funeral was a strange affair – old-fashioned and sombre with none of his friends in attendance.
And it wasn’t just Heath’s friends who were missing. He had his twin sister Cathy, of course, but Heath’s dad Bob also has many other children – Josh, Jamie, Carly and Roxy who weren’t even mentioned.
And Heath’s late mum Viv was also mum to Scott – and stepmum to Kelly – who didn’t make an appearance either. Poor Heath really didn’t get the send-off he deserved.
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.
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