Paul Opacic returns to Emmerdale as Steve Marchant after 27 years

Paul Opacic is returning to Emmerdale as Steve Marchant after 27 years away from the show.

Steve is Kim Tate's former husband and Thea Ramsden's father.

Thea recently learned that Kim is her birth mother, who left her as a baby, and wants to know more about her father.

Thea tricks Steve into meeting her by pretending to be a solicitor, and he heads back to the village suspicious that something is going on.

Steve still resents Kim for sending him to prison, so a reunion with Kim is not expected to be romantic.

Whether he knew he had a child, and whether he can build a relationship with Thea, remain unanswered.

The storyline also raises the possibility that Steve knows secrets Kim does not know.