Why did Moira Dingle kill Emma Barton and who is she? Character ‘returns’ as storyline revisited

Why did Moira Dingle kill Emma Barton and who is she? Character ‘returns’ as storyline revisited (Image: ITV)

Emmerdale viewers will be left gripped to their televisions on Monday night as Moira Dingle causes a huge barn fire.

Only recently, Moira (Natalie J Robb) has caused alarm with her erratic behaviour with memory lapses and violent outbursts. In more worrying developments, Moira recently collapsed and lashed out at Ruby Fox-Milligan (Beth Cordingly) after she jumped to conclusions she was having an affair with her husband Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) following an innocent chat.

Even though she had agreed to undergo blood tests to find out if there was something worrying causing her behaviour, episodes last week revealed that Moira had forgotten her medical appointment entirely, leading a frustrated Cain to storm off. However, things are only going to get worse for Moira on Monday night when she causes a barn fire due to a troubling hallucination.

In the upcoming scenes, Ruby arrives at the barn to gloat but her attitude changes when Moira doesn’t respond to her taunts. As a stressed Moira accidentally spills tractor fuel in the barn, Ruby’s voice starts to blend with that of Emma Barton, Moira’s old nemesis who she killed back in 2017. A disoriented Moira then points her shotgun at a terrified Ruby, seeing Emma instead of her.

Emmerdale viewers will be left gripped to their televisions on Monday night as Moira Dingle causes a huge barn fire

The situation escalates when Moira fires a warning shot into the air, causing panic in Ruby as the bullet hits a light bulb and sparks fly. A struggle for the shotgun results in Moira knocking Ruby unconscious with a blow to the head and when Moira comes to, she is left confused by the events that have unfolded.

In dramatic scenes, the spark ignites the spilled tractor fuel, quickly turning into a fire as Moira stands frozen next to Ruby’s body. Spotting the smoke from afar, several villagers, including Moira’s brother Mack, rush towards the barn. With multiple residents trapped inside the burning structure, a massive explosion sends them all flying… will everyone survive?

Longtime soap watchers will remember Emma (Gillian Kearney) on the ITV soap and her explosive death back in 2017. However, for new viewers, here’s a refresher…

Why did Moira Dingle kill Emma Barton?

Moira murdered Emma Barton back in 2017 (Image: Shared Content Unit)

Moira murdered Emma Barton back in 2017. Before this, it was revealed that Moira’s son Adam Barton’s biological father was actually James Barton, not John Barton as he’d been led to believe. This revelation meant that Adam gained three siblings – Ross, Pete and Finn – whose mother was Emma.

However, in a classic soap twist, James met his end in 2016 after a jealous Emma held him captive as she was envious of Moira. In a bid to escape her wicked grasp, James was pushed off a bridge by Emma, causing a massive car pile-up involving several villagers. He later succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

Emma faced her downfall in 2017 when she found herself in a fight with Moira during a barn fire at Butlers after admitting to James’ death, where Moira shockingly went into labour without even realising she was pregnant. After claiming Emma’s son Pete was the father of her baby – soap fans will recall that Cain Dingle is in fact the dad, Emma helped Moira escape from the burning barn and assisted in the delivery of Moira’s baby boy thinking it was her grandson.

Emma faced her downfall in 2017 when she found herself in a fight with Moira during a barn fire at Butlers (Image: ITV)

However, it wasn’t long until Moira’s son Adam showed up, seeing Emma stand over his unconscious mother and newborn baby brother. Adam then chased after Emma with a shotgun but the unhinged character managed to take the gun off Adam and flee into the night. During the explosive scenes, Emma accidentally killed her son Finn with the gun and later she found herself at the Hotten Viaduct.

In an explosive twist, it was later revealed that Moira had pushed the nurse to her death following Emma’s evil behaviour and cruel taunts about her parenting skills, even suggesting she was responsible for the tragic drug overdose death of her own daughter, Holly Barton, in 2016. Despite Moira responsible for the crime, her son Adam confessed to the murder in a bid to protect his mother, who had recently given birth to Isaac. But instead of serving time in prison, Adam chose to flee the village and hasn’t been seen since.