‘Emmerdale’ revisits Holly Barton's shocking overdose: Everything you need to remember
The untimely death of Holly Barton will come back to haunt her mum Moira Dingle — Natalie J Robb — in tonight’s Emmerdale, which airs on ITV at 7.30pm.
When Moira attends a showcase by Take A Vow and the HOP, she’s shocked to see a photo of her late daughter appear on the screen; and she’s wearing the dress from the day she died.
Newcomer Suzy Merton (Martelle Edinborough), who recently gave up taking cocaine herself, discovered a dark connection to Holly, who she had hired to photograph weddings.
Read more: Emmerdale: Suzy's past with Holly Barton exposed
Suzy recalled giving the young woman money for drugs not realising that Holly was a recovering heroin addict, and that she would lose her life hours later.
While you wait to find out what happens next, you may be struggling to remember exactly what happened to the tragic Emmerdale character. Reprising her role in 2016 after four years away, Holly was played by Sophie Powles on the ITV soap.
Holly relapsed while living with her mum and stepdad Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), resulting in the break-up of Moira’s marriage as Cain wouldn’t tolerate Holly’s behaviour, having grown up with an addict himself.
Moira stood by her daughter and helped her get clean again, and Holly was able to put her life back together.
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She used her talent for photography to secure a job working with Take A Vow, and formed a bond with Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) who had also quit drugs for good. The pair’s tentative romance was going well, and he joined Holly at the nuptials of her old school friend, where she also agreed to take the wedding photos.
As she headed out to the event, this would be the last time viewers saw Holly alive. Emmerdale did not release any details of what was to come, but ITV issued a warning for scenes of distress ahead of transmission.
As the episode opened, Moira was doing the rounds at the farm while chatting to pal Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick). But when Moira went to wake Holly, she found her daughter dead in her bed. An empty heroin wrapper was seen on the floor, revealing that Holly had died of an overdose.
Read more: Emmerdale: Suzy discovers connection to dead character
Moira’s son Adam Barton (Adam Thomas) broke down as he told Cain the news, and Moira was seen saying a heartbreaking goodbye to Holly before she was taken away. Cain arrived at the farm just as Holly was being driven away; and a broken Moira wept for her girl.
The devastating storyline shocked fans across the nation, with actors Robb and Thomas hailed for their moving performances. Moira would later learn of Holly’s relationship with Jai, but he couldn’t shed any light on what had happened that day.
For years, Moira has lived with unanswered questions, wondering what led Holly to turn back to heroin when she seemed so happy.
Little does she know that she could be close to solving that mystery at last.
Tune in to Emmerdale tonight at 7.30pm as Moira comes face to face with a reminder of Holly’s final hours.
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