Emmerdale spoilers follow from Thursday’s episode (October 17), which is available to watch now on streaming service ITVX but hasn’t yet aired on ITV1.
Emmerdale has recast the role of Tina Dingle after 28 years.
Samantha Power has taken on the role of Tina for a stint tying in with Zak Dingle’s funeral storyline.
Tina made a dramatic reappearance in Thursday’s episode, which is streaming early on ITVX ahead of its ITV1 airing this evening.
The returning character is the daughter of Zak and Nellie Dingle and sister of Cain, Sam and Belle. She previously appeared on the soap from 1994 to 1996, then played by Jacqueline Pirie.
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Thursday’s chaotic scenes saw Tina arrive back in the village just as her family were laying Zak to rest on the Dingles’ land.
It emerged that Mandy had let Tina know about the funeral, as they’d stayed in touch over the years.
Mandy immediately regretted this decision when Tina started insulting the family and picking fights, which threatened to overshadow Zak’s send-off.
Tina also claimed to have rights to a share of the Dingles’ home following Zak’s death. This sparked outrage, but Lydia quickly set her straight by revealing that she had a written copy of Zak’s last wishes which stated otherwise.
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A furious Tina ended up being carted away by police, as she was wearing an ankle tag and was in breach of her release conditions.
As she left, she fiercely warned the Dingles that their dispute wasn’t over.
Samantha Power has previously appeared in a number of other shows, including Brassic, Ackley Bridge, Wolfblood and Cold Call.
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Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine yesterday, Jeff Hordley – who plays Cain – had teased her arrival by saying: “I can tell you that she’s a good friend of some of us in the cast. Zoe Henry’s worked with her on stage. William Ash and I have done a play with her.
“So it was really great to welcome this character to the show and she’s very, very good indeed.”
Zak’s on-screen send-off has been written in as a tribute to actor Steve Halliwell, who passed away last December at the age of 77. He’d played Zak since 1994.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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