EMMERDALE BRINGS BACK PAUL OPACIC AS STEVE MARCHANT AFTER 28 YEARS

Emmerdale has brought back Paul Opacic as Steve Marchant, 28 years after the character left the ITV soap. In Monday's episode, Kim Tate, played by Claire King, tells her daughter DS Thea Ramsden, played by Chelsea Edge: "Your father is a man called Steve Marchant. We were married." Thea has been searching for her family since arriving in the village in August, determined to trace her biological parents. She sets out to find Steve, unaware whether he knows she exists.

Steve married Kim in 1998 and supported her through the kidnapping of her son James, but their relationship soured after he ran down Kathy Glover with a car while stealing her racehorse. Kim stopped him from suffocating Kathy in hospital, then turned on him, manipulating evidence to secure his conviction while concealing her own role in the plot. In a memorable court scene, Steve screamed that Kim was guilty as he was sent to prison. Kim had put their daughter Thea up for adoption while Steve was imprisoned, then left the village by helicopter with her son James.

Thea makes initial contact with Steve by posing as a solicitor. Opacic said: "Things were left rather bitter between Kim and Steve, so he's very surprised when a solicitor contacts him out of the blue. He guesses something is afoot when Kim starts brandishing notes to keep him away." Thea later leaves him a voicemail message. Producer Laura Shaw said: "Determined to uncover the truth about her father, Thea devises a clever ruse to lure him into a meeting under false pretences. But will Steve fall for her deception, and does he even realise he has a child?"