ITV Emmerdale pays tribute to beloved character one year after death

Emmerdale viewers were left feeling emotional after a heartfelt tribute on Wednesday

Emmerdale has paid tribute to a beloved character, one year after their heartbreaking death.

It’s been a busy few weeks on the ITV drama, following John Sugden’s (Oliver Farnworth) crimes finally coming to light.

The evil army medic notably pulled himself and his husband, Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller), off a cliff, before blackmailing Caleb Miligan (William Ash) into helping him escape abroad.

Caleb’s brother, Cain (Jeff Hordley), soon left the village to search for John in Europe after learning that the villain had killed his son, Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter), the previous year.

The ITV stalwart returned to the Dales on Wednesday (October 15) after being arrested in Dover, which left his wife, Moira (Natalie J Robb), beside herself with worry.

Shortly after arriving home from France during today’s episode, which is now available to stream on ITVX, Moira tentatively reminded Cain of his responsibilities and the one-year anniversary of his father Zak’s (Steve Halliwell) death.

However, Cain seemed committed to self-destruction, while his siblings Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and Sam (James Hooton) visited their father’s grave without him.

As they comforted each other and talked about Zak, the pair were ultimately united in their concern for their brother, who revealed that he hadn’t found John while he was away.

“He did warn us, Cain, this time last year he said, ‘You never forget seeing a dad grieve for his son’, and look at us,” Belle said.

“Why is this happening? Have we not been through enough already?”

Later, the Dingle siblings paid a heartfelt tribute to their father, with Sam saying, “Alright, Dad. Don’t know why I’m saying it like I don’t come and see you every day. It’s weird, isn’t it? An anniversary makes it feel worse, like everything’s just gone back in time to how it was, how it felt when it first happened.

“Sometimes I feel it would be easier to just forget, but I wouldn’t want that, not really. I’d rather miss you and care and feel sad than not.”

Belle added: “We love you, Dad. I don’t think we ever appreciated everything that you did for us. You were the glue, and you made it look so easy, but we’ll get there. And we’re gonna look after Cain, even if he doesn’t want us to.”

The Emmerdale villagers notably gathered together to say goodbye to Zak last year, months after actor Steve Halliwell passed away at the age of 77.

After watching today’s heartfelt scenes, several viewers were left feeling emotional, with many sharing their thoughts on social media

“Aww, the tribute to Zak was so lovely,” one person wrote on a Facebook fan page.

Another added: “I was tearing up watching Belle and Sam at Zak’s grave,” while a third said: “Can’t believe it’s been a year since Zak died.”

A fourth fan echoed the sentiment, saying: “Really lovely scenes on tonight’s Emmerdale. Just a shame Cain wasn’t at his dad’s grave with Belle and Sam.”