Kim Tate (previously Taylor, Marchant and Foster) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'', played by

Claire King Jayne Claire King (born Jayne Claire Seed; 10 January 1962) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Kim Tate in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' since 1989, and as Karen Betts in '' Bad Girls'' from 2000 until 2004. She has appe ...

. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 12 December 1989. Kim is portrayed in the serial as an

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Frank Tate (

Norman Bowler Norman Clifford Bowler (born 1 August 1932) is an English retired actor, best known for his role as Frank Tate in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Early life Norman Clifford Bowler was born on 1 August 1932 in London, England. His father, Cl ...

) was prominent. Writers also explored her difficult relationship with her stepchildren,

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

and

Zoe Tate Zoe Tate is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Leah Bracknell. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 12 December 1989. Zoe was involved in many major storylines during her t ...

(

Leah Bracknell Alison Rosalind Bracknell (12 July 1964 – 15 September 2019), known professionally as Leah Bracknell, was an English actress who played the role of Zoe Tate in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (1989–2005), for which she was nominated for th ...

). Kim's motive for her scheming was to gain control of the Tate family business; her marriage was problematic due to her affairs with Neil Kincaid ( Brian Deacon) and

Dave Glover David "Dave" Glover is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Ian Kelsey. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 4 August 1994. The character was introduced in a bid to attra ...

(

Ian Kelsey Ian Kelsey (born 17 December 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Dave Glover in the ITV (TV channel), ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Patrick Spiller in the BBC One, BBC medical drama ''Casualty (TV series), Casualty'', DI Rich ...

), the latter died after he saved Kim's son James Tate (Sam Silson) from a fire. Kim's other prominent stories include faking her own death to frame Frank before leaving him to die of a heart attack, and a business partnership with Lord Alex Oakwell (Rupam Maxwell), which culminates in the death of

Linda Fowler Linda Fowler (also Glover) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Tonicha Jeronimo from 1994 to 1997. It was reported on 6 May 1997 that Jeronimo had quit the soap after three years. The character w ...

( Tonicha Jeronimo). As revenge, Linda's mother

Jan Glover The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' in 1994, by order of first appearance. Dolores Sharp Dolores Sharp was introduced as a school friend of Luke McAllister who first met when he def ...

(Roberta Kerr) kidnaps James. Writers created a relationship between Kim and Steve Marchant (

Paul Opacic Paul Opacic (born 1966) is a British actor from Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax, England. Best known for his roles as Carl Costello in ''Hollyoaks'', Steve Marchant in ''Emmerdale'' and Mark Waddle in ''Bad Girls (TV series), Bad Girls''. In ...

), a subsequent marriage and more money making scams. King decided to leave ''Emmerdale'' and Kim departed during the episode broadcast on 19 January 1999, when she escaped the village in a helicopter with James and £190,000 of Chris' money. King returned to the series in 2018 for a guest appearance before returning the following year permanently. Her return featured Kim being pushed off a balcony at Home Farm by

Faith Dingle The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' in 2000, by order of first appearance. Carlos Diaz Carlos Diaz, portrayed by Gary Turner, made his first appearance on 9 March 2000. Turner depart ...

(

Sally Dexter Sally Julia Dexter is an English actress of stage and screen. She won the 1987 Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer for '' Dalliance''. Her other West End stage credits include the musicals ''Oliver!'' (1994), '' Sister Act'' (2010) and ...

). Early in her second stint, storylines involving her mostly followed her relationship with Graham Foster (

Andrew Scarborough Andrew Scarborough (born 1973) is an English actor, most widely known for his starring role on screen as Tim Drewe in the multi BAFTA and Emmy award-winning ''Downton Abbey''. He also co-starred as Colonel Fielding in the film ‘’ The War Be ...

) - who later turned out to be her husband; he was soon killed-off in a

whodunit A ''whodunit'' (less commonly spelled as ''whodunnit''; a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal ...

storyline. Later storylines saw her pursue a relationship and later marriage with her employee Will Taylor (

Dean Andrews Dean Andrews (born 6 August 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as DS Ray Carling in the BBC drama series ''Life on Mars''. He continued the role in the sequel series, '' Ashes to Ashes'', until 2010. As of April 2019, he ap ...

), her feuds with daughter-in-law

Andrea Tate ''Emmerdale'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that appear during 2019, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the soap's executive producer, Jane Hudson. Th ...

( Anna Nightingale), stepdaughter Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley), her son Jamie (now played by Alexander Lincoln), Jamie's ex-lover Gabby Thomas ( Rosie Bentham) and Will's ex-wife

Rose Jackson Rose Butler Jackson is an Australian Labor Party politician serving as a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 8 May 2019. Since 5 April 2023, she has been serving in the Minns ministry as Minister for Water, Minister for Hous ...

(

Christine Tremarco Christine Tremarco (born 1977) is a British actress. Her career began in 1992 when, at the age of 15, she starred as Lily in the ABC/BBC miniseries ''The Leaving of Liverpool'', for which she was nominated for an AACTA Award. Other television ...

). Critics of the genre have praised Kim and she has often been branded as "the ultimate soap bitch".

Storylines

1989–1999

Kim had an affair with Frank Tate (

) while she worked as his secretary. They later married after Frank's wife, Jean, died of cancer. Kim initially got on well with her stepchildren

(

Peter Amory Peter Amory (born Peter Walton; 2 November 1964) is an English actor best known for playing the role of Chris Tate in ITV's soap opera ''Emmerdale''. He was born in Norwich, Norfolk. Personal life He was married to actress Claire King, wh ...

) and Zoe (

), but her marriage to Frank soon wore her down. The Tate family move to Beckindale in late 1989 as the new owners of Home Farm. Despite an initial hostile reception from the villagers, including the arson of one of the family's caravans in 1990, they soon settle in and the family are happy for a short time. However, when Kim becomes pregnant and later loses the child, Frank falls into a deep depression and turns to alcohol, neglecting Kim in the process. Kim befriends The Rt Hon. Neil Kincaid ( Brian Deacon), a family friend, who is much closer to her own age and shares her equine interests. The pair find themselves travelling to auctions together and eventually, realizing their attraction to one another, consummate their relationship and embark on an affair. They soon come under threat from Chris' wife,

Kathy Kathy is a feminine given name. It is a pet form of Katherine, Kathleen and their related forms. Kathy may refer to: People In sports * Kathy Bald (Born 1963), Canadian freestyle swimmer * Kathy May (Born 1956), American tennis player * K ...

( Malandra Burrows), when she discovers a hotel bill that Neil accidentally dropped at Home Farm. The secret remains safe until Christmas Day 1992, when Frank finds an expensive watch he'd believed to be his present being worn by Neil. Kim is thrown out of Home Farm by Frank, residing at Neil's into the New Year and divorcing her husband. After Kim and Frank separate in 1993, she sets up stables under her maiden name of Kim Barker. This, however, doesn't last long as the stables are destroyed in the plane crash in December that year, killing many of the horses. After the plane crash, Frank and Kim put aside their differences and reconcile, remarrying in December 1994; Zoe becomes thoroughly skeptical of her father's decision, while Chris never trusted Kim again. In 1995, Kim begins an affair with Kathy's boyfriend

(

), shortly after Kathy had divorced Chris for having an affair with her best-friend,

Rachel Hughes Rachel Hughes is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', portrayed by Glenda McKay. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 7 September 1988 and departed following the character's death o ...

(

Glenda McKay Glenda McKay (born 2 February 1971) is a British actress. She is best known for playing the character of Rachel Hughes on the popular ITV soap ''Emmerdale'' from 1988 until the character was killed off in 1999, in a well-remembered scene in wh ...

). This time Kim is much more ruthless about keeping the affair secret and tramples Kathy's brother Nick with her horse when he threatened to expose her. She also threatens Nick's daughter Alice. When Frank has a heart attack and is advised to take it easy, Kim encourages him to sleep with her in the hope of inducing another heart attack. Kim became pregnant and isn't sure who the father is. When Frank overhears Dave and Biff Fowler (

Stuart Wade Brian Ian Francis "Biff" Fowler is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Stuart Wade from 1994 until 1999. Wade reprised his role as Biff in 2005 in a one-off appearance for Seth Armstrong's (Sta ...

) discussing the situation, he has another heart attack and ends up in hospital. He then has time to think and decided to pretend not to know about the affair while hiring a private detective to follow Kim and Dave before confronting his wife with the evidence. He also hires scheming Tina Dingle as a secretary in Home Farm who uses to wind Kim up by wearing her dresses that Frank had bought. He offers her a million pounds to dump Dave and name him as the father and Kim accepts. Their son was named James Francis Tate. However, after bonding with the baby, Kim and Dave resume their relationship, despite the fact that Kathy had forgiven his affair and married him. They plan to run away together, but a fire breaks out at Home Farm and Dave dies in hospital on Boxing Day 1996 of injuries sustained while rescuing baby James. In February 1997, Kim disappears from the village, and a few days later a woman was found dead at the wheel of her car. Frank identifies the body as Kim; however, in May Frank is stunned when Kim returns, revealing she had paid a lookalike prostitute to drive her car around the village to fool people into thinking she was still there (when in fact she had fled to the Caribbean) and that it is her body, not Kim's, that Frank had identified. The shock causes Frank, who had spent time on remand for her murder, to have another

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, this time fatal. Kim watches him die, saying "You're a dinosaur Frank – and you know what happened to them", checks he is dead with her compact mirror, then coolly redid her make-up. Chris blames her for his death and swears revenge. After Frank's will is read out, Kim inherits a half share of Home Farm. She later starts seeing Frank's business partner, Steve Marchant (

), who also had a share in Home Farm, and they soon marry in May 1998. As time went on, however, the couple became on the verge of financial bankruptcy and they soon planned to restore their problems by stealing a horse and selling it after replacing it with an older horse in the hope that no one would notice the difference. In September 1998, Steve stole the horse-box and nearly managed to flee scot-free, until he ended up running over Kathy. He later attempts to kill her in hospital, but Kim stops him after learning about the incident. Once Steve has gone, Kim manages to talk to Kathy when she is alone and reveals the truth about her hit-and-run incident – all the while hiding her involvement behind the plan of stealing horse. Kathy, manipulated by Kim, reports Steve to the police and he is arrested and charged. Steve learns of Kim's betrayal after puzzling the pieces behind her scheme. On the day of trial in January 1999, when the lawyers begin to question Kathy's validity as a witness for Steve's hit-and-run crime, Kathy herself begins to question how true Kim's words are. For this, and numerous other crooked tricks, the police are soon on Kim's trail. Needing to escape, Kim discovers that Chris has found the money from the robbery that she had buried in Frank's grave. She confronts Chris, tries seducing him, and knocks him out with a paperweight when he is not fooled. Then she confesses that she had indeed, as he speculated, caused his father's death – in precisely the location Chris is lying in. She leaves with her son, James, in a helicopter. The pilot asks her if she is Kim Marchant, and she replies, "No, Kim Tate". Shortly afterwards, her plan to frame Steve for their fraudulent dealings succeeded when he was found guilty; Steve was consequently sentenced to 10 years for Kathy's hit-and-run and 12 months for the crimes Kim had been charged with. In 2005, she sends flowers to Emmerdale for the funeral of Seth, and it is believed that she has since resided in Ireland. By 2013, Kim was sent to prison and sent James to boarding school.

2018–present

Kim is released from prison in October 2018 and greeted by Graham Foster (

) at the gate, who hands her the keys to Home Farm. Kim finds out that her former step-grandson, Joe ( Ned Porteous), has run into financial trouble on the day of his wedding to

Debbie Dingle Debbie Dingle (also Jones and Barton) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Charley Webb. Webb has taken maternity leave three times, with the first time being in 2010, and the second in 2016, with ...

(

Charley Webb Charlene Joanne Webb (born 26 February 1988), commonly known as Charley Webb, is an English actress. From 2002 to 2021, she portrayed the role of Debbie Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. In 2014, she was nominated for Best Female ...

). Kim arrives in Emmerdale and declares herself the owner of Home Farm once again and demands that Graham get rid of Joe. Instead, Graham packs Joe a bag and gives him £100,000 and demands him to leave Emmerdale before Kim arrives. During the welcome home party, Kim insults and alienates various people, including Kerry Wyatt ( Laura Norton),

Nicola King Nicola King (also Blackstock and De Souza) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. She has been played by Nicola Wheeler since she joined the soap in 2001. Wheeler left the role in January 2006, with her on-scr ...

(

Nicola Wheeler Nicola Wheeler (born 4 April 1974) is an English actress. After appearing in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in the recurring role of Melanie Tindel in 1999, Wheeler began portraying the role of Nicola King in the ITV soap opera ''Emm ...

) and Brenda Walker (

Lesley Dunlop Lesley Jane Dunlop (born 10 March 1956) is an English actress, known for her role as Brenda Walker in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (2008-2025). Her other roles include Anna Kirkwall in '' Where the Heart Is'' and Zoë Angell in ''May to D ...

), and when she goes upstairs, she is pushed from the upstairs balcony by an unseen assailant and plummets onto the champagne fountain below. She is rushed to hospital and survives the incident. Later, Debbie's mother

Charity Dingle Charity Dingle (also Tate, Sharma and Macey) is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Emma Atkins. Suranne Jones originally auditioned for the role of Charity prior to Atkins being cast in the r ...

(

Emma Atkins Emma Jayne Atkins (born 31 March 1975) is an English actress, best known for her role as Charity Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Early life Atkins grew up in the village of Silverdale, Lancashire, and then went to study at the Un ...

) is arrested on suspicion of pushing Kim as she and Kim were seen arguing during the party after insulting her and Chris's son,

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

(Jack Downham). However, it is later revealed that Debbie's grandmother,

(

), is the real culprit who pushed Kim. After she is discharged from hospital, Kim is detained again for six months for dangerous driving. In March 2019, Graham picks Kim up from prison and they drive back to Home Farm; however, the car slows down to a complete stop - forcing Graham to go out for help. While waiting, Kim flags down Debbie's father and Faith's son,

Cain Dingle Cain Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Jeff Hordley. Cain made his first appearance on 30 March 2000, and in 2006, he was written out of the series when Hordley left the soap; however, the opt ...

( Jeff Hordley) - when he comes across her. At first Cain helps Kim, but the two end up in an argument after he learns who she is. When Graham informs Kim that Cain killed Joe, having falsely claimed to have done the job himself, Kim plans to implicate Cain for Joe's murder. Kim tries to get Cain on her side, but he refuses. Later, Kim finds money has gone missing from an offshore account and catches Graham making a suspicious phone call. Kim does some digging and finds out that Joe is still alive and he withdrew money from Kim's offshore account at an ATM in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

. Kim steals Noah's phone and buries it in the woods. Cain goes looking for him and after hearing his phone ring, underneath the soil, he fears that Kim has killed him and begins to dig - only to be caught be the police. Kim then threatens to get Cain imprisoned for Joe's murder if he does not do what she wants. Noah becomes suspicious of Kim and Graham after hearing them talking about Joe. Kim finally tells Cain that Joe is not dead and tries blackmailing him into bed in exchange for her telling the police. Cain chases after Graham and fights him in a field, until his wife Moira Dingle ( Natalie J. Robb) intervenes to break up the brawl. Cain agrees to sleep with Kim but bails out at the last minute, enraging Kim. Graham phones Joe to say a final goodbye to him, but as Kim threatens to have him killed, he blackmailed her by saying he will tell Jamie if she does not leave Joe alone. Kim tries to contact Jamie but fails to. Debbie slaps Kim once she learns the truth about Joe. In April, Jamie arrives in Emmerdale to be interviewed for a job at the vet surgery. Later, Kim forms an unlikely friendship with local vet Rhona Goskirk (

Zoe Henry Zoe or variants may refer to: People * Zoe (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** Zoë (British singer) (Zoë Pollock, born 1969) ** Zoë (Austrian singer) (Zoë Straub, born 1996) Arts and entertainment F ...

) upon requesting her to find an incentive to keep Jamie at the vets. Kim also decides she wants her son living with her at Home Farm and does her best to persuade him to move in. Kim argues with

Lisa Dingle Lisa Dingle (also Clegg) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Jane Cox. Lisa's storylines include being raped by her colleague Derek Benrose (Stephen Bent), becoming a parent in later life, assaulting ...

(

Jane Cox Jane Cox (born 13 May 1952) is an English actress, known for her role as Lisa Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', a role she portrayed from 1996 to 2019 and again briefly in 2020 and in 2024. In 2011, she was nominated for the Britis ...

) but later finds out from Jamie that she's terminally ill. Kim suggests sending flowers and a spa voucher, but Jamie disagrees. Kim asks Jamie how she can be better and says she wants to be a proper mother to him but she's out of practice. Kim reveals that all she wants is to spend time with Jamie, with just the two of them and nobody else getting in the way. Jamie tells Kim that nobody forced her to alienate everyone and that she can't change that. Kim tells Jamie she can, and offers Jamie to stay for food and a glass of champagne. Jamie turns down the offer as he has an exam the next day, with Kim offering to help him revise. Jamie refuses and leaves. Some time later, Jamie gives Kim a choice, he will stay at Home Farm but only if she invites Lisa to dinner to make up for being so horrible to her. Kim agrees to do this. In June, whilst Kim is out riding her horse, a car comes speeding around the corner. It slows down to pass Kim, but the horse gets spooked and he bolts, with Kim chasing after him. As Kim walks her horse to the vet, she spots the car that spooked her horse parked outside the vets so she confronts the driver. Jamie notices Kim arguing with the woman, who he recognises as his wife,

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

( Anna Nightingale) with his daughter

Millie Millie is a feminine given name, or diminutive form of various other given names, such as Emily, Millicent, Mildred, Camille, Camilla, Camila, Emilia, Maximillian, or sometimes Amelia. People with the given name Notable people with the given ...

(Willow Bell) in the back of the car. Jamie introduces them to his shocked mother, who is at first frosty with them. At Home Farm, Jamie explains to Andrea that he was going to tell her about moving in when he came home. Kim listens to the pair's conversation from the other side of the door and is pleased that they're arguing. She believes Jamie regrets marrying Andrea and that's why he didn't tell anyone about her and Millie although Jamie states he did that as he was protecting his wife and daughter from her. After Jamie has left, Kim reveals to Rhona that Jamie is married with a child and didn't tell her about them. Kim refuses to sit back and let Andrea take her son away from her. Graham later reveals to Kim that he had hired Andrea to keep tabs on Jamie when he was in a bad place and unable to do so himself. But he then lost contact with Andrea, who had genuinely fallen for Jamie after she fell pregnant with Millie. Jamie is blissfully unaware of the arrangement and despite Kim's belief that Andrea is after Jamie's money, Andrea insists that the wealth is of no interest to her, she loves him. In July, Rishi Sharma made a deal with Kim to help save Sharma & Sharma. Realising Kim is his only way out, he reluctantly accepts the offer. During this time, Jamie and Andrea planned to get Kim to sign a contract which cuts her out of a deal. However, Kim found out about their plans through an accidental video call by Millie. With Kim having uncovered Jamie's secret plan to trick her into signing over her share of the vets to him, she was furious and sent Graham over to destroy Rhona's career by coming down hard on the vet surgery. Meanwhile, Kim once again appeared to be having a moment of conscience as Jamie threatened to leave. Determined to keep him in her life, she assured him that he could have her share of the vets. Kim became the co-owner of Sharma & Sharma, buying a 49.5% share, after a fire and explosion when the insurance company refused to pay out, causing the Sharmas to no longer be able to afford to pay for the repairs or wages for the workers. She later convinces Nicola to sell her 1% share to her, giving her the majority control over the business. However, she soon reveals the share was actually bought by her secret business partner, Al Chapman (

Michael Wildman Michael Wildman (born 10 June 1970) is an English actor. He appeared in the film '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', where he played the role of a centaur Magorian. Prior to accepting this role, Wildman was in the West End playing ...

). The pair then unveil their plans to build an outdoor pursuit centre at the factory grounds, to a shocked Jai and the horrified factory workers who fear they'll lose their jobs. Graham drops a bombshell on Kim, revealing it was Jamie who called the police on her which resulted in her being convicted in 2013. After Graham revealed he's in a relationship with Rhona, Kim grows upset and jealous. She texts him to come to the pub, where she reveals they are married and it's their anniversary, which left Rhona upset. Graham tells Kim that he is Millie's biological father, not Jamie, after having an affair with Andrea. Kim does a DNA test by getting strands of Millie's hair but Jamie is revealed as her father. Graham crashes their Christmas Day dinner by revealing to Jamie his affair with Andrea. Graham and Rhona decide to move to France develops feuds with several residents in the village, including Kim. In January, Graham lies to Kim about breaking up with Rhona but when she realises this, she orders Al to kill him, agreeing to pay off his £60,000 debt if he does it. Al finds Graham's body in the woods, realising someone else has murdered him. Kim pays off his debts after lying. However, Kim was struggling to cope with her husband's death.

Marlon Dingle Marlon Dingle is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Mark Charnock. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 17 October 1996. Following the departure of Zak Dingle ( Steve H ...

(

Mark Charnock Mark Charnock (born 28 August 1968) is an English actor. He is best known for his role in ITV (TV channel), ITV's ''Emmerdale'' as Marlon Dingle, a role he has played since 1996. Charnock and ''Emmerdale'' co-star Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy ...

) is arrested and imprisoned for Graham's murder. In February,

Pierce Harris ''Emmerdale'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that appeared in 2016, by order of first appearance. Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather), the husband of established character Tess Har ...

(

Jonathan Wrather Jonathan Wrather (born 16 March 1969) is an English actor. He is known for his soap opera roles in ''Coronation Street'' as Joe Carter from 2002 until 2003, and in ''Emmerdale'' as Pierce Harris from 2016 until 2017, making a guest appearance in ...

), Rhona's rapist ex-husband and Graham's murderer, deliberately cycles out in front of Kim, causing her to run him over. Kim invites Pierce into Home Farm to check him over, completely oblivious to who he is. Posing as a lawyer named Ollie, Kim falls for Pierce's lies and agrees to represent Jamie in his custody battle with Andrea over Millie. After Pierce is spotted by

Vanessa Woodfield ''Emmerdale'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared during 2012, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the soap's executive producer, Steve ...

(

Michelle Hardwick Michelle Hardwick (also known as Michelle Brooks, born 26 February 1976) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as hospital receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk in the ITV drama series ''The Royal'' and Vanessa Woodfield in the ITV soap oper ...

), he kidnaps her and ties her up, revealing she has bowel cancer. He used Vanessa to lure Rhona. However, Kim is knocked out by Pierce and is tied up with Vanessa. Rhona live streams him confessing to Graham's murder and drugs him. Pierce is then arrested by armed police and Kim is freed.

Development

Characterisation and portrayal

Kim is an archetypal soap "superbitch," a ruthless and scheming

gold-digger A gold digger is a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of Transactional sex, transactional sexual relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience. Etymology and usage ...

. In the 2014 Channel 5 documentary ''TV's Nastiest Villains'', King explained that as a big fan of the American soap operas ''

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

'' and ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

'', she realised that British soap operas did not have a "bitch" character at the time and intentionally played up Kim's bitchiness. In King's autobiography, "Confessions of a Bad Girl', she wrote that Kim was originally going to be married to Chris, but the writers decided that Kim was more interested in the Tate money and would have "cut out the middle man" by marrying Frank.King, Claire, ''Confessions of a Bad Girl'', John Blake Publishing,

Departure (1999)

King left the series and Kim departed in January 1999. Speaking about Kim's departure in 1999, series producer Kieran Roberts felt that it would have been wrong to kill off the character as she was the "ultimate survivor". Roberts added that Kim's escape in a helicopter was fitting and signified her triumph over those around her.

Reintroduction (2018)

On 24 September 2018, it was confirmed that Claire King had reprised her role as Kim Tate after almost twenty years off-screen. Her return aired as part of a "special week" of episodes between 8 and 12 October 2018. King noted that she had been asked to return in the past, but felt the timing was right this time around as there was already another Tate in the show following Joe Tate's ( Ned Porteous) return in 2017. King knew about Kim's return about a year before it was announced. To keep the return under wraps, King's name was kept secret on call sheets and scripts, and the actress had to enter the set through a back entrance to avoid fans at the front entrance. On 12 October 2018, it was confirmed that Kim would be returning permanently in 2019. Speaking about Kim's return, executive producer Jane Hudson said: "Although Kim's initial return was fleeting, she caused such mischief and chaos that we simply couldn't resist bringing her back. Kim Tate is just getting warmed up for an explosive 2019 which will see her hell-bent on getting exactly what, and who, she wants." Kim returned on 14 March 2019.

Reception

Kim Tate is considered one of ''Emmerdales most "iconic" and "notorious" characters. According to ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Kim's arrival was a turning point for the show: "Suddenly, it was more ''

'' than dales, and Tate threw herself into the role with gusto, cheating on her husband with a younger man, plotting to kill him to inherit his business, etc, etc. The red-top tabloids, used to a diet of ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' and '' Corrie'' storylines fed to them by the publicists, suddenly woke up to the existence of ''Emmerdale'' – it helped when King began a relationship with another actor, who played her stepson." Her original departure from the show on 19 January 1999 was watched by nearly 15 million viewers and won Best Exit at the 1999 British Soap Awards. According to ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'', Kim "basically wrote the book on British soap bitches." The character was featured in the 2001

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

countdown of the top ten "TV Bitches" (placing 4th) and the 2014 Channel 5 countdown of "TV's Nastiest Villains" (placing 15th). She has appeared in various published lists of the top soap opera villains. Kim came in fifth in a 2003 ''

TVTimes ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine. From 1955 until 1991, it was the only source of seven-day listings for ITV and, from 1982, Channel 4 (as well as S4C in Wales in an enclosed local supplement titled '' Sbec''). The magaz ...

'' poll of the top soap villains of all time, the highest-ranked female on the list. She was also named one of the top ten most evil soap villains by the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' in 2009 and came in fourth in a 2016 ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

'' list of the top ten female soap villains of all time. The character was selected as one of the "top 100 British soap characters" in a 2012 poll run by ''What's on TV'', with readers also voting on "Who is Soap's greatest Legend?" In anticipation of her return in 2018, ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'' wrote: "viewers fondly remember soap's biggest superbitch, the woman who killed off her ex husband by merely showing up – and applied her lipstick as he drew his last breaths."

References

;General * * ;Specific

External links

Kim Tate
at

itv.com itv.com is the main website of ITV plc, the UK's largest commercial television broadcaster which operates 13 out of 15 regions on the ITV network under the ITV1 brand. The website offers the ITVX streaming service, with sections for ITV News, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tate, Kim Emmerdale characters Television characters introduced in 1989 British female characters in soap operas English female characters in television Fictional businesspeople in soap operas Fictional criminals in soap operas Fictional blackmailers Fictional fraudsters Female villains Fictional con artists Fictional characters incorrectly presumed dead Tate family (Emmerdale)