The murder of Emmerdale’s Graham Foster will spark a major whodunnit in a string of January specials, soap bosses have announced.

The grisly fate of the butler-turned-bodyguard, played by Andrew Scarborough, will rock the village as the drama unfolds in a week of episodes in which the audience will see the same day play out from different characters’ perspectives and reveal their motive to kill.

Over the next month the list of Graham’s enemies will become clear, as he heads towards his untimely end.

Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw said: “Graham’s murder will form part of an unmissable week of drama packed full of exciting twists and turns.

“It’s always exciting to step outside of our usual story-telling style and viewers will be on the edge of their seats as some of our villagers have their lives irrevocably changed forever.

“Graham has been a huge character at the heart of some of our biggest storylines so it felt only fitting that he left us with an enormous, explosive bang, to kick off what promises to be a massive year of drama for Emmerdale.”

Emmerdale is on ITV on weeknights at 7pm with an extra episode on Thursdays at 8pm.