Tom King flees after harrowing reminder of his past in Emmerdale

VILLAGERS were shocked to see Tom King had returned to the Dales after a decade of absence.

The reformed Emmerdale villain gets a shock of his own when he’s confronted with a reminder of his troubled past.

Newcomer James Chase reprised the role of Thomas King from Mark Flanagan in recent scenes of the Yorkshire-based drama as the son of infamous Carl King made his way back to the eponymous ITV village.

But while many soap fans expected him to return with a vengeance, it seems Tom is actually ready for a normal life in the Dales.

The lad bumped into former girlfriend Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and the pair managed to rekindle their romance in recent scenes.

He also stunned Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) at the vet office and she made him a job offer he couldn’t refuse.

But as he re-acquainted himself with life in Emmerdale, Tom struggled to contact his uncle Jimmy King (Nick Miles) to tell him all about his return.

Tom was eventually pushed into an awkward family reunion with Jimmy and his wife Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) after Belle pleaded with him to mend the relationship.

However, in sad scenes airing next week, Jimmy is crushed when an inadvertent mention of Carl causes Tom to flee the scrapyard.

What will Jimmy do?

Tom’s unresolved grief over Carl was made clear as he got back in touch with Jimmy at the Hide Café.

Diehard fans of the long-running soap will remember Carl was murdered by Cameron Murray after he’d tried to rape Chas Dingle.

Chas (Lucy Pargeter) was then stalked by Tom who blamed her for Carl’s death.

Despite their chequered past, Chas and Tom managed to lay their differences to rest as they crossed paths in the Woolpack.

Tom even apologised for his actions and Chas immediately cut him some slack as he was still a child at the time.

But why is Tom still struggling with the mere mention of Carl?

Emmerdale airs from Monday to Friday at 7.30pm on ITV.