Emmerdale viewers have found Tom King’s abuse of new wife Belle – and of Piper the Dog – an extremely hard watch so far.
And that’s not surprising. Tom’s controlling behaviour has really stepped up in recent weeks, and he has become physically abusive, as well as horribly manipulative.
Poor Belle’s discovered she’s pregnant, but is planning a termination, while Tom’s busy telling everyone in the village about their ‘good’ news.
Piper’s in trouble!
Meanwhile she doesn’t even know the extent of her husband’s hold over her.
A few weeks ago, Tom hatched a plan to make Belle think her mental health was an issue again. But his evil plot backfired, because Belle knew exactly where to go for help, and she was soon on her way to a unit where she could be supported – away from her husband!
With things having gone wrong, as far as Tom was concerned in any case, he resorted to desperate measures to get his wife back home where he could keep an eye on her.
And those desperate measures shocked the Emmerdale fans!
Because vet Tom decided to risk the life of Belle’s adorable dog, Piper! He injected her with medication that made it seem like she was poorly. When Lydia saw the poor pup, she told Belle that her pet was sick.
Belle rushed home to find Piper – not surprisingly – had made a full recovery which manipulative Tom put down to her owner being back.
What a terrible person he is!
Shocking scenes
Emmerdale received more than 850 complaints about the storyline’s dark twist, but assured viewers that Minnie, who plays Piper, was fit and well!
It seems that’s not put the Emmerdale bosses off, because now producer Laura Shaw has confirmed this storyline is going to get even more sinister!
And it’s NOT good news for poor Piper.
“Piper will definitely have a future role in the story,” Laura has warned when speaking to Entertainment Daily! and other media.
She pointed out that Tom using the pup as a weapon is part of his abuse.
“It’s research-led,” she explained. “One of the things that we’ve found was that that is what abusers use. They will use family pets, people that you love, they will use them as weapons against you. So, this is all based on research. I promise you it’s not just us being mean to the dog for the sake of it.”
Good news for Minnie, if not for Piper!
Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale in 2024? Cast exits, arrivals and returns
Emmerdale usually airs on weekdays at 7.30pm, with an hour long episode on Thursdays.
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