Graham Foster

Graham Foster is Joe Tate's father figure and legal guardian, and the father of Millie Tate.

Backstory
Graham was the eldest of at least 2 children, he had a brother Steven who was 3 years his junior. Steven had Downs Syndrome and died aged 15. Graham later served in the British Army, participating in campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. The "work hard, play hard" attitude of the forces led him to develop a drinking problem, for which he was discharged from the army. It is known that Graham served in the SAS for 6 years before being discharged. During his time in the SAS he served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia on such missions he was teamed with two US NAVY SEALs.

At some point between 1989 and 1998, Graham met Kim at a function in Beckindale/Emmerdale and hit it off, remaining in touch. The pair began an affair shortly after Graham met a woman named Cheryl whom he got pregnant. Although Graham didn't love Cheryl, he did the decent thing and married her. Around Cheryl's due date, Graham took leave so he could be at his daughter's birth. After dropping Cheryl off at her baby shower, Graham headed to the pub where he downed a bottle of whisky. Cheryl was used to Graham being drunk so didn't make a scene when he arrived to pick her up intoxicated. On the drive home, Graham lost control of the car and crashed it. Instead of phoning for an ambulance, Graham phoned for Kim and the car exploded, subsequently killing Cheryl and their unborn baby.

Kim supported Graham through the ordeal and got him out of the mess, getting Graham a job at Joseph Tate's school as a groundsman. Joe's aunt Zoe Tate asked Graham to be Joe's guardian. Graham managed to hold onto his job due to his army background. One night, Graham set his groundsman's hunt on fire with himself inside. Joe found him and pulled him out. After the fire, Graham ditched the booze, left his job and started working for Joe.

When Kim went to prison around 2012, she tasked Graham with looking after her son, Jamie. However, at the time, Graham was in the depths of alcohol addiction and not in a good place to keep an eye on him, so he instead enlisted a barmaid at the pub he frequented named Andrea, to get close to Jamie and report Jamie's movements back to him. However, Andrea stopped reporting back to Graham after about six months.

2017: Arrival, Joe and Kim
In September 2017, he met Charity and Debbie Dingle at a hotel in a bid to keep their luxury car hire firm afloat. Debbie wasn't happy with Charity's presence in the meeting and got her thrown out of the hotel. With Charity gone, Debbie showed Graham some figures, which Graham thought was a good deal but had to run them past his employer. Later, when Debbie went to show Graham the car, it had been taken from the car park. Debbie concluded Charity had taken it when she left and told Graham she would sort things and get back in touch.

After Joe revealed himself, Graham thwarted his plans and saved Wishing Well Cottage from demolition in January 2018, and saved trapped Noah Dingle and Samson Dingle, with the help of Eric Pollard. Debbie trusted Joe less until Graham helped them get back together.

Months later in October, Joe had to go on the run after his step-grandmother Kim, who had just returned after being released from prison, wanted Graham to kill him, he left with £100,000. Furious about what Joe did to Debbie, her father Cain Dingle punched Joe which caused Joe to fall and hit his head off a rock. Graham checks for a pulse but can't find one. He tells Cain that Joe is dead although Cain thinks it's a sick joke. Cain is in disbelief. He reminds Graham he only punched Joe once although Graham states once is all it takes. He orders Cain to get in his car and drive towards Hotten to create an alibi. Cain can't understand why Graham is doing this. Graham comments it saved him a job. As Graham places Joe's body into the boot of his car, Joe's fingers twitch. Graham disposes of Joe's body near the viaduct. When he gets back into the car, he bursts into tears.

In early 2019, Graham was accidentally ran over by a drunken Daz Spencer, who had gone out to retrieve his car after it has stolen.

In March 2019, Kim returned to Home Farm after she was re-released from prison and found out that it was Cain who "killed" Joe. Kim met with an associate to find out who was making withdrawals from an offshore account and discovered through CCTV pictures that Joe was alive and had been taking money out from the account in Monte Carlo. Kim confronted Graham about this, and he revealed that Joe is no longer in Monte Carlo as he moved him on.

2019: Relationship with Rhona Goskirk
In July 2019, with Kim having uncovered Jamie’s secret plan to trick her into signing over her share of the vets to him, she was furious and sent Graham over to destroy Jamie's colleague Rhona’s career by coming down hard on the vet surgery. But as Rhona defied Graham and locked them both in, they had no option but to engage in conversation.

As Rhona pressed Graham as to why he always does Kim’s bidding, he admitted that it was complicated but eventually told her about him having to keep tabs on Jamie while he was in prison. He then bared more of his soul by delving into what happened when he got behind the wheel of a car drunk and killed his wife Cheryl. As Rhona and Graham developed a new understanding of one another, Rhona reminded him that his life was too short to be ruled by someone selfish like Kim – and she suggested to him that he breaks free of her and joins up with Joe wherever he is. In response, Graham didn’t follow through with Kim’s orders. Meanwhile, Kim once again appeared to be having a moment of conscience and determined to keep him in her life, she assured him that he could have her share of the vets with no strings and there’d be no consequences for Rhona or the other vets, Vanessa and Paddy.

Graham and Rhona later began a relationship, which Kim later became aware of. Despite her threats, Graham refused to allow himself to be controlled by Kim any longer, telling her that if she went near Rhona, he would kill her. Graham then left the scene, and Kim broke down in tears.

Other Information

 * One of Graham's hobbies is making model aircraft, according to Episode 8142. According to Joe, it keeps him 'zen' at the end of the day.
 * Graham has implied that Millie Tate is his daughter, but if this is actually true or not has yet to be confirmed.

Quotes
"And you must be Miss Dingle." - First line to Charity Dingle.

"A soulless husk of a man, going through life desperately trying to feel something, because you know, deep down, that you're completely unworthy...and unloveable." - Drunk Graham lashing out at Joe on the anniversary of his late wife Cheryl Foster's death.

"OK, so, yes, I suppose there's only so much a person can take, and if they're pushed too far, well, who knows? Inevitably, they're gonna snap. And I think that's what we're looking at here." - during a police interview.

"GO! NOW!!" - to Cain Dingle after he punches Joe.

"He was like a son to me. We shared a mutual obsession with chess." - to Rhona Goskirk about Joe.

"Secrets and lies, Kim, secrets and lies. So? Are you going to tell her, or shall I? Yes, please, Jamie, please tell mummy where your loyalty was when she was in prison. Okay. Looks like I'm going to have to do the dirty work again. Remember wracking your brains as to who grassed you up to the police? Well, wonder no more, because he's standing right next to you. So please, don't question me about loyalty." - to Jamie Tate.

"Millie isn’t Jamie’s daughter, she’s mine... Happy anniversary!" - to Kim Tate.