Emmerdale fans were left stunned as the ITV soap morphed into Fatal Attraction this evening, with DI Malone rising from the dead and jumping to his feet - only to be brutally shot by Dawn.
The detective's reign of terror finally appears to be over, much to the relief of fans who have been pleading for his demise since the first of his many blows to the head.
And the one to kill the unkillable detective was drug addict Dawn Taylor, who shot him three times in the chest and ensured that his coffin was nailed firmly shut.
Vicar Harriet Finch had rushed to future stepdaughter Dawn's aid after she was ambushed by Malone in her own house.
The evil detective had tried to push addict Dawn into killing herself by overdosing on heroin.
Dawn had infuriated Malone after filing a complaint against him at the police station following her discovery of his affair with Harriet.
But when things seemed hopeless for Dawn, Harriet smashed a lamp over his head, seemingly killing him in the process.
Unsurprisingly, that wasn't the end of it this evening as the pair frantically thought about what they should do.
"I should have known this would happen," Harriet said as she stared down at Malone's lifeless body."
However, Harriet was startled when Dawn admitted that she had gone to the police about Malone.
"I didn't know what to do, I was scared he would hurt me or Lucas," Dawn said as Harriet picked up the phone to call 999.
"We need to tell them," Harriet insisted. "We need to tell them about all the threats he made to you."
But Malone suddenly jumped up behind Harriet and warned that the police would "never get here in time".
Grabbing a candlestick, he readied to attack Harriet when Dawn grabbed the gun he'd left on the floor and fired three bullets at him and he collapsed onto the floor...
*Emmerdale airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7pm on ITV
