Emmerdale SPOILER: Dramatic funeral scenes sees Dr Liam caught in a bust up while Ella is branded a ‘scumbag’

Emmerdale’s newcomer Ella Forster (played by former Coronation Street star Paula Lane) is already at the center of the village drama.

The operating room receptionist was branded a bastard when a dramatic bust-up broke out at a funeral.

The service was for a character named June Phillips, who has yet to be introduced to the show, and Ella appeared at her grave to pay her respects.

But when she returned for the service later in the day, she saw Dr Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) and Simon Naylor’s character, whose name has not been revealed, along with other mourners paying their respects to the woman.

Ella watched discreetly from a distance until things got ugly between the two men, causing them to come to blows.

Nervous and angry, Jonny stormed away, but Simon grabbed his arm three times, becoming more aggressive each time.

Simon called Jonny’s character a ‘sick freak’, causing their feud to reach boiling point and Ella appearing from the woods.

They demanded the couple stop, brushed her off and branded her a ‘scumbag’. Ella walked away angrily.

Coronation Street star Paula, who played Kylie Platt on the Cobbled Street from 2010, joined the village in November 2023 as Ella.

Introduced as Ella in January, she found herself out of a job when she stood up for Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley), who had attended a veterinary ball with her partner Paddy Kirk.

Speaking about her new role ahead of her departure on SE, Paula said: ‘I’m so excited to be joining the cast of Emmerdale. Everyone has been so welcoming and I can’t wait to start a new chapter playing the role of Ella.

‘I’ve already heard there are big plans for her and I can’t wait to see her discover a new life in the village and hopefully make some friends!’

Producer Kate Brooks said: ‘Ella is a complex and layered character who comes to the village and is sure to make an impression.

‘Obviously she has a good, moral character, but is there more to her than meets the eye?

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome an actor of Paula’s caliber to the show and we can’t wait to have her light up our screens.”

Elsewhere in Emmerdale, Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) continued to cling to life in the latest episode.

In Thursday’s double bill, Tom King (James Chase) viciously attacked Vinny for spending time with Belle (Eden Taylor Draper).

Tom was supposed to be on a business trip with Vanessa Woodfield, but he was busy spying on Belle at home with his dodgy ‘dog camera’.

He became furious after seeing Vinny visiting Belle for a dog date and became increasingly angry and their couple enjoyed their day.

Tom’s anger boiled over after he saw Belle tell her guest that he would be someone’s “brilliant boyfriend” one day.

‘You’re kind, you’re caring and you’re funny. What more could a girl want?’ Belle assured him.

When Vinny noticed the dog camera was recording their conversation, Belle turned it off and jokingly promised to give him some “lessons in love.”

Instead of attending his conference, Tom returned to the village, arriving just as Belle and Vinny were taking the dogs for a walk in the woods.

Belle was frustrated that her cell phone was no longer usable, so Vinny offered to take it and try to fix it.

This angered Tom even more as he was unable to connect to the secret tracker he had put on her device.

Later, Vinny was fixing Belle’s phone when Tom snuck into the trailer and knocked him out from behind.

Tom stood over Vinny’s body as the episode came to a close.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.