Kim’s stepson had some history with Charity Dingle.
Introduced in 1989, Chris Tate was part of the original Tate family on Emmerdale, relocating to the village with his father Frank, sister Zoe and stepmother Kim.
During his 14 years on the ITV soap, the character (played by Peter Amory) got married three times, fathered two children and had long-standing feuds with both his dad (Norman Bowler) and Kim (Claire King). The only person who could get through to him was his sister (Leah Bracknell), with Chris vowing to protect her when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
In his final years, Chris’s fate was tragically intertwined with that of Charity Dingle, played by Emma Atkins. Revealed to be Charity’s unborn baby’s father, he never got to meet Noah (now played by Jack Downham) as he died by suicide before his son was born.
Read on for everything you need to know about the character.
Who was Chris Tate?
Chris Tate was the eldest son of Frank and his first wife, the late Jean Tate.
Together with Frank, Zoe and Kim, Chris moved to the village when his father bought Home Farm in 1989. He resented his dad for having assisted his mother suicide after her terminal cancer diagnosis, as well as marrying his much younger secretary Kim not long after Jean’s death.
As for his own love life, Chris began a relationship with Kathy Merrick (Malandra Burrows) and they got married in 1991. Theirs wasn’t a happy marriage, however, and things only deteriorated after Chris was left in a wheelchair following the plane crash that caused the collapse of the Woolpack.
While Kathy had been having an affair with Josh Lewis (Peter Warnock) at the time of the accident, it was only after the crash that Chris got close to his wife’s best friend Rachel (Glenda McKay), who had lost her brother in the tragedy. Kathy caught them kissing and, upon finding out Rachel was pregnant, she threw Chris out of his wheelchair.
Rachel gave birth to Joseph Mark and she and Chris said “I do” in 1995. Their marriage didn’t last long either, as Chris had grown more obsessed with wealth.
In 1997, he tried to rape Linda Fowler (Tonicha Jeronimo) and was kidnapped by her father Ned (Johnny Leeze), who had planned on killing him since finding out from Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). Chris’s father Frank intervened and managed to cover up his son’s vile actions.
Frank’s death in 1997 took a toll on the already unstable relationship between Chris and his step-mother Kim. Chris tried to blackmail her and even obtain custody of baby Jamie, but Kim attacked him with a paperweight, confessed to the murder and got him to reveal where Frank’s stolen money was, ultimately fleeing with her son.
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What happened to Chris Tate?
After a kidnapping ordeal at the hands of his half-brother Liam Hammond (Mark Powley), Chris began a relationship with Charity, which would mark the beginning of the end for him.
Suspicious of Charity over her past activity as a sex worker, Zoe tried to split them up. But Charity responded by kissing her, leading to a passionate affair. While Zoe planned on blackmailing Charity after she got engaged to Chris, her future sister-in-law confessed to the affair and was forgiven.
Chris and Charity got married, though he became increasingly paranoid over her relationship with her cousin Cain (Jeff Hordley) after he found out the pair had a daughter, Debbie Jones (Charley Webb).
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In 2003, his suspicions turned out to be true when he discovered Charity and Cain had rekindled their relationship. Diagnosed with an unoperable tumour, Chris orchestrated his revenge on Charity, inviting her to meet up for a final showdown. Unbeknownst to her, he had poisoned himself, intending to frame his wife for his murder.
A pregnant Charity was later sentenced to life in prison, but managed to get out when she agreed to give baby Noah’s custody to Zoe in exchange of evidence that Chris had died by suicide.
Nonetheless, Zoe wasn’t deemed fit to adopt Noah since she had two children of her own and had a complicated mental health history. Social services left the choice with Charity, who decided to raise Noah on her own.
Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Soaps hub.
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