Joe Tate

This article's content is marked as Mature
The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older.

If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page.
Note: Content classification services hold no influence over the template's criteria and usage. Only the content itself matters.

“	"FINALLY she gets it!".	„
	~ Joe Tate revealing his dark side to his stepsister and girlfriend, Debbie Dingle, after she discovers his plan to demolish the Dingle homestead and get revenge on Debbie's mother Charity for 'driving' his late father Chris to suicide back in 2003.

Joe Tate is a fictional character and major anti-villain of the British soap opera Emmerdale.

Originally a minor character in 1995-2005 at the time, he returned as an anti-hero in 2017-2018 before returning in December 2024 and becoming the show's primary antagonist in 2025 so far.

He was portrayed by Ned Porteous.

History[]

Joe Tate first appeared on the episode following his birth; 13 June 1996, with parents Chris Tate and Rachel Hughes subsequently raising him over the years - even when their marriage quickly ended a year later in 1997, during which Chris grew increasingly distant from his son following the death of his father and Joe's grandfather, Frank Tate. Rachel continued to raise her son through 1998 as Chris was in the midst of his longstanding feud with his father's second wife and killer: Kim Tate. Following Kim's eventual departure in January 1999, Chris was left as Joseph's sole parent four months later when Rachel is murdered by her fiancé: Graham Clark. Although Chris was too compelled with his business practices over the course of the early 2000s, he still managed to spend some quality time with his son; Joseph even supported his father when he got married to Charity Dingle, which unfortunately came to an end in 2003 when Chris learned that Charity was having an affair with her cousin Cain Dingle. In that same year, Chris discovered that he had a brain tumour and - knowing that it's merely inevitable before he dies - spends his last moments with his son before surrendering his birthright to his aunt, Zoe. At this time, Joseph was unaware that his father had a brain tumour and decided to proceed in staging his own death to frame Charity for his murder in revenge for cheating on him. Eventually, after coping with his father's death throughout 2004, Joseph left with Zoe and the rest of her family in 2005 after she was conned into selling her home to Frank's former rival Tom King (although she exacted revenge by blowing up the mansion).

Prior to reappearing in 2017, twelve years later, Joseph slowly learned the true about his father's demise and sought to exact his own revenge against Charity and the Dingle clan. To do this, he started his own company called "Waterhouse Industries" and used the alias as "Tom Waterhouse" to cover up his true identity when targeting the Dingles at Emmerdale. His plan was eventually revealed: to demolish down the Dingle house and transform it into a golf park resort. He took advantage of his agenda when Charity's daughter Debbie becomes involved with his developments, ignoring his new partnership with Chrissie White in the process. Eventually in January 2018, Joe revealed his identity after Charity learns about his plan and he himself proceeded to buy Home Farm from Chrissie's father Lawrence.

After Joe revealed himself, Debbie trusted him less until Graham helped Debbie and Joe get back together. Joe knocked down the Dingle home which Debbie confronted him about and to get revenge Debbie asked Simon to hurt Joe. Instead, Simon threw acid in Ross Barton's face. Debbie and Joe rekindled their relationship and got engaged, and he asked to marry Debbie at the hospital chapel but had to deal with the masquerade ball.

Unfortunately, Joe had to go on the run after his step-grandmother Kim, who had just returned after being released from prison, wanted Graham to kill him, he left with £100,000. Furious about what Joe did to Debbie, Cain punched Joe which caused Joe to fall and hit his head off a rock, and it was believed that Graham later finished the job to avoid Kim from hiring someone else to give him a more painful death.

From then onwards Joe was presumed dead for the next five months, with everyone in the village assuming that he had fled. Cain, on the other hand, was riddled with guilt as he thought that he killed Joe. Joe was subsequently reported as a missing person, and Cain confessed to Debbie that he killed Joe, which resulted in the breakdown of their relationship. Kim returned to Home Farm after she was re-released from prison and found out that it was Cain who "killed" Joe. Later on Kim met with an associate to find out who was making withdrawals from an offshore account and discovered through CCTV pictures that Joe was alive and had been taking money out from the account in Monte Carlo. Kim confronted Graham about this, and he revealed that Joe is no longer in Monte Carlo as he moved him on.

In December 2024, up towards Christmas that year, Joe resurfaces once again after five years away from the village. He has been secretly plotting against Kim and even managed to exploit her marriage with new husband Will Taylor by making him a pawn in the scheme. Then on Christmas Day that year, Joe comes face-to-face with Kim at Home Farm and encounters Will at the same time. Joe tells Kim about Will's plot against her and the couple fall out until Will dies of a heart attack in front of her. Joe then comforts Kim and manages to convince her to give him a chance and she reluctantly agrees after Will's funeral.

Soon enough Joe gets acquainted with Will's daughter Dawn and they have an affair despite the fact she is married to her husband Billy Fletcher. He also reunites with Noah and Charity along with the rest of the Dingle Family, thus causing a rift between Noah and Charity as he trusts Joe whereas she does not. Joe also reunites with Cain and Ross following his grievances with them, and the pair individually square up to Joe on several occasions.

By then, Joe also meets his half-uncle Caleb Miligan and they too clash despite being related. It is soon revealed that Joe has kindly faliure and is dying. He attempts to extract one from Noah by spiking his drink, but Noah is not a match and the result ultimately leads to a disastrous limo crash that kills three villagers as a result. Joe then targets Caleb and successfully acquires his kidney before tricking him into having a bond once he comes back from a business trip.

Navigation[]

Trivia[]

Ned Porteous (the actor who plays Joe Tate) was nominated for some awards for his contribution to both the character's performance and his storylines.
- Most notably, he has been nominated for fhe "Villain of the Year" category at the 2025 British Soap Awards.