Kim (played by Claire King) seems to have her hands full recently, given the last time she was seen on Emmerdale her son Jamie Tate’s (Alexander Lincoln) affair with Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) had just been exposed. Since then, however, the village has been under lockdown, like the rest of the country, with six special episodes reflecting what life has been like for some of the ITV soap’s most beloved characters. Despite being one of the most iconic stars of the show, the villain won’t be featuring in any of the stand-alone instalments. This hasn’t stopped her from causing trouble from afar though and it seems Lydia (Karen Blick) is onto her latest scheme. Will she inform the authorities about what the ruthless businesswoman has been up to?
As viewers will know, Sam (James Hooton) has been the groundskeeper of Home Farm for many years and when the villain reclaimed the premises following her return to the village last year, she kept him on.
Through all his family dramas, involving the discovery his wife had given birth to a stillborn son and how she might have inherited the Huntington’s Disease gene, he has still managed to carry out his duties.
Unfortunately, to accurately reflect the impact of the coronavirus on the workforces, bosses ensured Kim had put her worker on furlough during the lockdown period.
However, when he told his doting wife about his agreement with his employer, Lydia didn’t seem convinced she was playing fair and even slammed her actions as “illegal”.
With the show set to air four more special episodes in the coming weeks, will the aftermath see the ruthless businesswoman destroyed as she has to face up to what she’s done?
READ MORE: Emmerdale fans spot glaring error in Dingle’s lockdown episode
The furlough scheme, which was brought in by the government to help pay employees unable to work during the lockdown, sees 80 percent of wages paid by the state.
It is then the responsibility of the employer to top up the rest from their pocket, but it seems Kim hasn’t been doing this for poor Sam.
Telling his wife about the agreement, the father-of-one explained his boss wasn’t helping with the extra funds and how he was still having to work.
Although he said it would only be in the mornings, Lydia had clearly done her research as she knew the maths didn’t add up.
One viewer wrote on Twitter: “ #Emmerdale Are we going to ignore that Kim Tate is breaking the law with the furlough?”
Another added on the social media platform: “Should have known Kim Tate would scam the government! #Emmerdale.”
So, could Lydia do some more digging and find out what her husband’s rights are when it comes to making a claim against his employer?
This would alert the authorities to what Kim has been up to, so will she finally crumble as her scam is exposed?
As well as Sam and Lydia facing their own struggles in lockdown, viewers also saw how Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) were coping together.
Next week, it’s the turn of Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler) and her husband Jimmy King (Nick Miles) as well as Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) revealing a 15-year secret to Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson).
To conclude the stand-alone episodes, Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) will be discussing her fears with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) and Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) will be seen adjusting to life living with Al Chapman (Michael Wildman) and Ellis Chapman (Aaron Anthony).
Things will then pick up where they were left off prior to lockdown, but the repercussions of the special episodes could be long-lasting.
Emmerdale continues Monday at 7pm on ITV.