Emmerdale Unleashes Explosive ITVX Cliffhanger as John Sugden's Revenge Strikes
Alarms scream, smoke thickens, and the exits bottleneck as rescuers battle the clock — the race is no longer to evacuate, but to survive.
Warning: Contains spoilers for today's (Tuesday 23 September 2025) episode of Emmerdale, now available on ITVX
Emmerdale comes in hot tonight with a proper nail-biter. John Sugden thinks he's found a clean exit plan, but the village has a way of crowding the getaway car. By the time the credits roll, you're either yelling at the TV or hitting play on the next episode.
Where we left off
Killer medic John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) has been busy manipulating the board. He blackmailed Caleb Miligan (William Ash) into smuggling him out of the country, and he did it with a very specific threat: when he got rid of Anthony Fox's body (Nicholas Day), he made sure his DNA wasn't on it. That little detail leaves Anthony's daughter Ruby (Beth Cordingly) — who is also Caleb's wife — in the frame for murder. So Caleb is stuck playing chauffeur to Rotterdam.
The morning after
We pick up the next day with Ruby clocking that Caleb is acting off. He papers over it with a flimsy cover story about a long-distance work drop-off. She doesn't buy it, but he's already halfway out the door.
At the hospital: shared scars
Over at the hospital, Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) — John's estranged husband and victim — is barely keeping it together. Ruby shows up, and these two actually get each other in a way that makes sense: both grew up under abusive fathers. When Ruby draws a line between John's manipulation and Anthony's, Aaron spirals into self-blame for not spotting who John really was. Ruby pushes back hard on that, and she and Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) try to reassure him that John isn't a threat anymore. Aaron's not having it. As long as John is out there, he's not breathing easy.
The road trip that isn't
John thinks Caleb is reluctantly on Team Getaway. Of course it was never going to be that simple. This is Emmerdale: nobody gets a quiet ferry to the continent.
Enter Cain
Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) steps in, because he wants John to pay for killing his son Nate (Jurell Carter). Let's just say Cain's presence wipes the smug look right off John's face. It escalates fast, and the episode leaves things on a properly troubling cliffhanger that makes you worry for pretty much anyone stuck in John's orbit.
- John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth): killer medic, on the run, wants out via Rotterdam.
- Caleb Miligan (William Ash): blackmailed getaway driver because his wife Ruby is being set up.
- Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly): Anthony's daughter and Caleb's wife; at risk if John's DNA trick sticks.
- Anthony Fox (Nicholas Day): murdered; body disposed of without John's DNA.
- Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller): John's estranged husband and victim, struggling in hospital.
- Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter): trying to steady Aaron.
- Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley): out for vengeance over his son Nate (Jurell Carter).
The bottom line
This episode pairs raw, smaller hospital scenes — Danny Miller and Beth Cordingly are excellent — with a tense, grim road story that keeps tightening the screws. The cliffhanger is nasty in the best soap way, and no, I'm not spoiling the final beat.
How to watch
You can stream today's episode now on ITVX. If you're waiting for broadcast, it airs on ITV1 at the earlier time of 7pm. Emmerdale usually runs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1, and you can catch up on ITVX.