Emmerdale's Ruby Miligan to be buried alive in Joe Tate twist

Emmerdale's Ruby Miligan finds herself in a horrifying situation next week, when she wakes up to discover she's been buried alive in a coffin.

Seeking to avenge Dawn Fletcher's tragic demise, which he blames on Ruby and Caleb, Joe Tate hatches a sinister plot to destroy the couple. On the day of Dawn's funeral, he decides to show Caleb how it feels to lose the love of your life and enacts his sick plan. Will Ruby survive her ordeal, or has Joe claimed a life for a life?

Related: Emmerdale star predicts Joe Tate's role in secret DS Ramsden revenge plot

In the lead-up to the funeral, remorseful Ruby had pleaded with Joe to back down on banning Billy Fletcher and the children from attending. Joe resentfully relented, but Ruby's interference has further fuelled his anger towards her and Caleb.

At first, everyone puts Joe's erratic behaviour at the funeral down to his intense sorrow. After he struggles to deliver his eulogy, Kim comes to his aid and gives her own special tribute to Dawn.

Joe can't bear to watch Dawn's burial and walks away, making Kim and Graham concerned for his state of mind. But when Joe later sees Caleb and ominously hints he's put Ruby in danger, the terrible truth begins to unfold…

Once Dawn's funeral is over, Joe is then seen at a graveside in a sombre mood. At first it appears he's paying his last respects to his other half, as he talks of payback for her passing – but it turns out all is not as it seems!

"Joe starts talking to the grave and you think it's Dawn's," explains Beth Cordingly, who plays Ruby. "But then it goes beneath the ground and you see that Ruby has actually been buried alive in a coffin! She's been unconscious and it's not clear how she got there. We see her waking up, then coming to the terrifying realisation she is trapped."

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Back on the surface, Joe relishes in Caleb's mounting panic about Ruby's safety. Taunting his increasingly worried enemy that his wife is in serious trouble, Joe drip-feeds information on her whereabouts, loving every minute as distraught Caleb starts to fall apart.

Imprisoned underground, Ruby begins to feel the effects of her confinement.

Related: Exclusive – Emmerdale's Beth Cordingly responds to "tough" Ruby and Caleb change

While Ruby slowly slips into unconsciousness as she runs out of air, Caleb frantically tries to track her down. Determined to force smug Joe into telling him where Ruby is, Caleb is crushed when his nemesis merely laughs in his face and reveals she is stuck in a coffin that's submerged in the ground – and no doubt fearing for her life!

Caleb begs Joe to let Ruby go, but his pleas are ignored. With Ruby perilously close to suffocating, it's a race against time for Caleb to find her before her final fate is sealed…

Read more Emmerdale coverage:

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- Emmerdale to air Lewis proposal heartbreak amid devastating Vinny secret

- Emmerdale to unleash another huge Sadie bombshell as she confronts Cain

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.

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