ITV/Shutterstock Share By Carena Crawford Jan 16 2026 By Carena Crawford Jan 16 2026 Emmerdale 'confirms' how Graham faked his own death with return of Detective Inspector Dent Graham is returning to Emmerdale and fans want to know how Graham Foster Share By Carena Crawford Jan 16 2026 By Carena Crawford Jan 16 2026 *WARNING: This article contains Graham Foster and Detective Inspector Dent spoilers for the Emmerdale episode on Friday January 16, which has not aired on ITV yet but is available on ITVX and YouTube. In Soapland dead certainly doesn’t mean dead any more, just ask Graham Foster who is returning to Emmerdale after six years. The last time we saw him he was a rotting corpse covered in leaves discovered by Billy Fletcher and Priya Kotecha. But now he’s alive and well and staging a comeback that is set to shock more than a few locals. He appeared in Corriedale at the start of January, but hasn’t been seen since. Joe Tate thinks he saw him and is now investigating whether or not he really died. But a returning DI Dent has assured him Graham is dead and buried in today’s ITVX early release. Is that a major clue she helped Graham fake his own death? article continues below Read all the latest spoilers This was how we last saw Graham in Emmerdale (Credit: ITV) Graham Foster ‘dies’ in Emmerdale Six years ago to almost the day, Graham was killed in a big whodunnit. He had made enemies of half the village and the suspect list was long. His dead body was discovered and the finger of suspicion pointed firmly at Marlon. Graham was at the time planning to leave and start a new life with Rhona Goskirk, which meant taking Marlon’s son, Leo, away. Marlon was thrown in prison, but others still looked suspicious: Kim Tate had asked Al Chapman to get rid of Graham, Jamie Tate wanted revenge because Graham had blown up his marriage, and Charity Dingle was out for blood after Graham had locked her son Ryan Stocks in a shipping container. But it turned out the killer was Rhona’s ex-husband and rapist Pierce Harris, who had been released from prison. Graham has returned (Credit: ITV) Shock comeback for Graham Fast forward six years and come the Corriedale crash, Graham was involved driving one of the vans. In the back was a young woman tied up, who is Shona Platt’s sister in Coronation Street. Graham was obviously working for or with someone to kidnap her and called the person to tell them the contract was terminated. He was at the hospital watching his former surrogate son Joe Tate who had been hurt in the explosion. Show boss Laura Shaw has said: “A familiar face is returning to the village full-time! None other than Graham Foster will make a sensational comeback. “His return will have massive repercussions for both Kim, with whom he shares a complex love and hate relationship, and Rhona, who was about to run away with him. “Graham will explain exactly what happened six years ago when he was ‘killed’, but the question will be whether Joe can ever forgive his father-figure for allowing him to believe he was dead.” Detective Dent confirmed Graham was dead in Emmerdale, but is she lying? (Credit: ITV) How did Graham fake his own death in Emmerdale? Was Detective Inspector Dent involved? In tonight’s episode of the soap, released early on ITVX, Joe revealed to Dawn he was wondering whether Graham was still alive. He had hired a private investigator to find out. When they went to meet her she was accompanied by DI Dent – the officer who had investigated Graham’s murder in 2020. Dent was pretty annoyed to have been tracked down. But looking at a photo of Graham she confirmed he was dead “without a doubt”. She said: “I saw his body on the ground, I saw it at the morgue. This man’s been dead for six years so unless he’s Jesus…” Joe was placated, but then we saw DI Dent outside on the phone saying: “Yeah, it’s sorted. I told him exactly what he needed to hear.” She was also displaying a very distinctive tattoo on her arm – the motto of the SAS: ‘Who dares wins’. And Graham had been in the SAS prior to his Emmerdale arrival. Could this be a major clue as to how he faked his death? Did DI Dent help him and now they are working together? It certainly makes sense that he had some help, there’s no way he could have made this happen alone… Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale? All the cast exits, arrivals and returns Share Good to Know Share By Carena Crawford Jan 16 2026 By Carena Crawford Jan 16 2026 Previous Story Next Story
