Nick Miles said Jimmy King’s death on Emmerdale was a surprise to him after 22 and a half years on the soap. He described the exit as something the show wanted to keep hidden from everybody else, turning Jimmy’s final scenes into a tightly guarded ending rather than a routine cast departure.
National Television Awards in London
On Tuesday, September 8, Miles discussed the exit at the National Television Awards in London, where Emmerdale won best serial drama. He said, "It was quite momentous. I've been on Emmerdale for 22 and a half years and the death was a surprise to me, and they really wanted to keep it a surprise to everybody else."
That timing matters because Jimmy’s death had already aired earlier this month, after he crashed his car into the wedding marquee at Joe and Dawn’s ceremony. The sequence left Jimmy King and Dawn dead, ending a long-running part of the show in one move rather than stretching the exit across multiple episodes.
Jimmy and Nicola final scenes
Miles said the reaction inside the production was immediate. "I cried when I read it, we cried when we shot it. It was very hard, I cried when I watched it," he said, adding that everybody involved wanted to give Jimmy the best send off possible. He also said the finished work left him happy with how the departure was handled.
He also said he still has not managed to say goodbye to Jimmy King and is still having very vivid dreams about the character. That gives the exit a different feel from a standard soap reset: the role is gone on screen, but the emotional break for the actor is still unfinished off it.
Patsy Kensit return
Sadie King’s return added another layer to the exit story. Patsy Kensit came back as Sadie, who claimed to have had an affair with Jimmy King in the lead-up to his death, and Miles said he had a big hug with her in the make-up room. He also teased her return bluntly: "All I would say is, don’t believe a word that woman says. If you really love Jimmy King, why are you listening to Sadie?"
For viewers, the important shift is already in place: Jimmy King’s 22-and-a-half-year run is over, and the soap used a death scene, not a slow fade, to close it. The open question now is whether Sadie King’s claims will keep driving the aftermath, or whether Emmerdale leaves Jimmy’s exit as the final word.
