Emmerdale: Belle decides to face Tom King in prison, but will she go through with it?

Belle Dingle has made a bold choice in Emmerdale. In recent episodes, she decided she wanted to visit Tom King in prison, the ex-husband who spent more than a year controlling and abusing her before he was jailed.

The decision came at the end of a punishing day for Belle. Her Victim Liaison Officer brought the news she had been dreading: Tom is due for early release and will be leaving prison on strict licence conditions. Tom was sentenced to three years in 2024, so the prospect of him walking free before that term is up has left Belle reeling.

What followed only added to her unease. When Belle confided in Nicola, Charles overheard and revealed that he has been speaking to Tom through his work as a prison chaplain.

According to the vicar, Tom now accepts that he is to blame for what he did and wants Belle's forgiveness. For Belle, who has heard Tom's promises before, those words were hard to hear, and rather than wait for him to turn up on her doorstep, she resolved to see him first and find out for herself what he has in mind.

It is easy to understand the reasoning. Tom's abuse was built on keeping Belle off balance, isolating her from the Dingles, spying on her through cameras and trying to persuade the village that she had stopped taking her medication. Seeking him out on her own terms is a way of taking back some of the control he stripped from her. Yet it also means walking straight back into a room with the man who did so much harm, and that is exactly what worries the people closest to her.

Belle will not be making the trip after all, at least not yet. In Tuesday's episode Cain and her partner Kammy urge her to think again, and she agrees to stay away from the prison. It is Rhona who then helps Belle feel more in control, drawing on her own experience with Pierce Harris.

The question now is whether she can hold on to that feeling once Tom is actually out. Producer Laura Shaw has said that when Belle learns Tom is up for parole, "she's forced to confront a trauma she battled hard to overcome", and James Chase, who plays Tom, has described the character as "driven by obsession and a desperate need for control".

Neither comment suggests that a quiet, remorseful Tom is what lies ahead. For anyone catching up on how this began, our guide to what Tom King did to Belle Dingle covers the full story.

There is more for Belle to deal with before the week is out, as Kammy finally tells her how he feels, and his timing could hardly be more difficult. With Tom's release drawing closer and Charles vouching for him, Belle is going to need every ally she has. Emmerdale continues on ITV1 and ITVX.

Images: ITV.