Bernice Blackstock returns like a gust of unpredictable Yorkshire wind, sweeping into the village with the kind of comic timing and emotional bluntness that has defined her since she first stepped into Emmerdale in 1998. Her homecoming is wrapped in mystery—no one knows exactly when she will arrive, only that she is coming back at a moment when Gabby needs a battered, brilliant truth-teller more than ever. Bernice’s presence promises to crack open old wounds and mend others with the awkward, messy affection of family; she will not let the Thomas household settle into false calm. Whether she barges in with a scandalous secret, a badly judged romance, or that uncanny ability to say the thing everyone else is avoiding, Bernice will upend lives and remind viewers why she is such an indelible part of the fabric of the Dales. Fans will watch with bated breath as her return catalyses both tender reconciliations and combustible clashes, proving that sometimes a single character’s arrival can tilt the entire village’s axis.

Mackenzie “Mac” Boyd’s story is hurtling to a tragic and shocking close as whispers grow louder that his life will be cut short by none other than Jon Sugden. Mac has survived betrayals, brutal rows and the savage everyday of village life, but this autumn insiders say his war is about to end in violence that will send shockwaves through every family and friendship tied to him. The bitterness that has surrounded Mac—his raw grief at losing a child, the fractures in his marriage to Charity, the simmering resentments that have dogged him—makes the idea of his death painfully resonant rather than merely sensational. If the reports are true, his end will not be a neat, off-screen fade but a dramatic, devastating pivot in Jon’s dark story—proof that villains in Emmerdale don’t just threaten; they change the landscape forever. Charity’s world will be left in shards, the Dingles will roil with grief and rage, and the village will be forced to confront the cost of long-running feuds that escalate into final, irreversible acts.

Jon Sugden himself is reported to be fast approaching the end of his reign of terror. A character who has haunted the village ever since his return, Jon has manipulated, gaslit and engineered situations so precisely that many feared his malevolent genius could last indefinitely. But sources suggest that hubris—the classic villain flaw—will be his undoing. After surviving countless scrapes, Jon is tipped to make a catastrophic mistake which will expose him in spectacular fashion; viewers should expect the fallout to be as cinematic as it is ruinous. The end of Jon’s arc will not only be cathartic for the characters who have suffered because of him but will open a vacuum of power and vengeance that has the potential to reshape multiple storylines. His downfall will be the kind of soap event that everyone talks about—villainy burned out by its own flames—leaving the village to pick up the pieces and reckon with the truth that evil, like everything else in Emmerdale, leaves long, jagged scars.

New blood arrives in the form of Kev, a character played by Chris Cogill, whose casting has already set tongues wagging given his history of playing chilling, complex antagonists. Arriving in September, Kev is described as a mysterious figure with a deep connection to someone already in the village, and his presence is expected to trigger ripples across numerous storylines. With Cogill’s talent for imbuing villains with a plausible, unsettling charm, Kev could be the kind of character who wears masks—friendly one moment, dangerous the next—shaking up relationships and loyalties. His arrival combines with the industry-wide budget cuts at ITV that threaten one in ten cast members with exits, creating an atmosphere of instability both on-screen and off. With new arrivals like Kev stepping into that precarious stage, the Dales will become a fiercer, darker place where alliances are tested and fresh chaos is never far away.

Not every departure is permanent—Kathy Hope’s temporary exit offers a quieter but equally important change. Written out as she copes with PMDD and the tragic loss of her twin brother Heath, Kathy’s absence carries emotional weight and the promise of growth when she returns. Unlike the explosive finales predicted for Mac and Jon, Kathy’s storyline is a reminder that leaving can be a path to healing and transformation, not just drama. Rebecca Sarker’s confirmation that Dr. Manpreet Sharma (Manpreet) is staying put is a stabilising note amid the upheaval; her character’s continued presence promises continuity and emotional ballast as other arcs twist and turn. Meanwhile Moira Dingle faces losing Butler’s Farm—an upheaval that threatens her identity and livelihood and could force her into one of the most poignant exits or transformations the village has seen in years. As the Tates circle and corporate ambition threatens rural heritage, Moira’s battle will become emblematic of Emmerdale’s enduring themes: family, land and the fierce love that keeps people rooted.

What ties all these comings and goings together is a sense that 2025 is a year of reckoning for the Dales. The return of beloved figures like Bernice will bring laughter and heart, while the prophesied deaths and downfalls—if they come to pass—will reshape loyalties, marriages and power structures for years to come. New faces like Kev will stoke conflict and create new allegiances, and budget pressures behind the scenes mean more exits could be looming, giving producers reason to make each storyline count. The result is a village on a knife-edge: families fracture, enemies rise and fall, and the very ground beneath Butler’s Farm and the Woolpack feels less stable than it has in decades. For viewers, that means the emotional stakes are higher, the surprises sharper and the consequences real; for characters, it means that every choice is freighted with risk. Emmerdale has always thrived on reinvention, and 2025 looks set to be one of its most turbulent, thrilling years yet—where returns rekindle old fires, exits leave scars, and new arrivals fan the embers into dangerous flames. Tune in, because the Dales are changing and you won’t want to miss a single, devastating moment.