Emmerdale has aired a shock cliffhanger for Will Taylor.

The ITV soap’s festive episode ended with Will’s life hanging in the balance after an angry showdown with his wife Kim Tate.

Will suffered a heart attack in the final moments of the Christmas Day edition, leaving his fate uncertain as Kim delayed getting him the help he needed.

The trouble all kicked off as Will’s revenge scheme came back to haunt him following weeks of secretive behaviour.

Will has recently been hell-bent on making Kim suffer, so he joined forces with her financial advisor Peter to bring her down once and for all.

Peter was also working with a third party – Joe Tate, who is now back in the village following a six-year absence. Ned Porteous has reprised the role as a regular cast member again.

Joe has been pulling the strings from afar by giving instructions to Peter. However, when he turned up at Home Farm in the Christmas episode, the charming businessman told a very different story.

Joe made an unannounced arrival just as Will and Kim were enjoying some time alone after exchanging their wedding vows. Now recognising how much Kim means to him, Will had approached the ceremony with genuine intentions as he wanted to make their marriage work.

Although Will had abandoned his plans of revenge, Joe thwarted his hopes for a fresh start by ratting him out to Kim – warning her that her deceitful husband wasn’t to be trusted.

Spinning a tale, Joe lied that Will had betrayed Kim by directly approaching her son Jamie to seek back-up for his revenge plans.

Joe also made out that he and Peter were only ever playing Will, testing him to see how far he’d go.

Giving his version of events, Joe explained: “I was a very bitter man. Jamie still is. Having him back in my life made me realise that family really is everything – and I made a choice not to let history eat me up inside, but to fix things.

“Me being here, opening your eyes to what [Will] really is, is me fixing things. So trust me when I say that I take absolutely no joy in telling you that your husband was planning on humiliating you in the worst way possible.”

Kim wasn’t sure how much of Joe’s story to believe, but as it was clear that Will had some explaining to do, she asked for some time alone with her husband.

With Joe gone, Will’s desperate attempts to apologise to Kim fell flat as she refused to forgive him.

Suddenly, Will collapsed from agonising chest pains but an unimpressed Kim merely watched on, believing him to be faking it. Could this delay prove fatal for Will?