If we thought Emmerdale had already destroyed us emotionally with those Ashley death scenes, we had another think coming when he returned to the show for a final goodbye with Laurel.
Following his heartbreaking funeral, Laurel went home for a rest and in a heartfelt dream sequence she shared one final scene with her husband.
It was an emotional double bill last night as Laurel laid her husband to rest after he passed away from pneumonia following his dementia battle.
The service was lovely, even though Harriet stumbled over her words and felt incredibly guilty letting Ashley down.
By the graveside, the tears fell again as young Arthur tried to read a poem he’d written about his dad before running off halfway through.
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He explained to his mum that he didn’t want to finish reading it as there would be no more memories of his father after it. Heart. Broken.
Throughout it all, Laurel kept it together and stayed strong for her family. But eventually her dad and Diane sent her home and said they’d look after the kids.
As she lay down on the sofa with old videos of Ashley playing in the background, she drifted off into a deep sleep.
We saw her supposedly wake up, but when Ashley started talking to her through the TV, it was soon made very clear she was still asleep and in the middle of a dream.
As she tried to turn the TV off, she said: “This isn’t real.”
“Of course not,” Ashley replied. “It’s a dream, but I am here, I couldn’t go without saying goodbye, could I?”
He went on to list his 10 favourite Laurel moments – number one being the moment she arrived in Emmerdale in her bumble bee costume!
Laurel was sobbing as much as we were as she begged him to come out of the telly and he said he couldn’t.
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And then he was gone, after telling her she could do this and she could be strong.
Viewers were beside themselves with emotion as the heartbreaking, but truly fitting episode came to an end.
The entire sequence between Ashley and Laurel was utterly brilliant @emmerdale – poignant and beautiful end to their story ❤️#Emmerdale
— olivia mcghie (@oliviarose18xx) April 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/Abbie19Taylor/status/852655404601528321
https://twitter.com/geldergoddessH/status/852620421568626688
https://twitter.com/missy_cahill/status/852810655899897856
https://twitter.com/candycrush22/status/852818780207972352
Emmerdale did an amazing job with the dream sequence with Ashley & Laurel how dare some bloke sit there and insult the storyline
— Cody (@iaincanfuckoff) April 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/larna92/status/852804679771619333
https://twitter.com/bethy145/status/852754651564843008
It’s hard to believe this is really the last we’ll see of Ashley. But he’ll always be in our hearts.
And there’s still the video of Emma Barton confusing him to be found – so he’s gone but not forgotten, and even from beyond the grave, he’ll be doing some good.