Jasmine Thomas is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. She made her first screen appearance in the episode broadcast on 30 June 2005 and her last appearance on 26 March 2009.
Ashley Thomas is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by John Middleton. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 5 December 1996. It was announced on 22 October 2015 that Middleton would be departing as Ashley at the end of his contract after the character was diagnosed with vascular dementia in the episode aired on that day. The contract was later extended in order for the storyline to be extended. It was revealed that Ashley would be killed off at the end of the storyline. Middleton filmed his final scenes in March 2017 after his contract ended, and Ashley died on-screen on 7 April 2017, ending his 21 years on Emmerdale. Ashley appeared in further episodes in home movie scenes, making his final appearance on 13 February 2018.
Laurel Thomas is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Charlotte Bellamy. She debuted on screen during the episode airing on 3 September 2002. Laurel has been off-screen at various times while Bellamy has taken maternity leave. Laurel is shown to have a thoughtful and caring attitude towards other characters, however, this changed dramatically in 2015 when she developed an addiction to alcohol which often caused her to become violent and aggressive.
Cain Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Jeff Hordley. Cain made his first appearance on 30 March 2000, and in 2006, he was written out of the series when Hordley left the soap; however, the option for a return was confirmed, which occurred when Hordley returned to the cast in February 2009. Cain's main storylines have focused on discovering his "uncle" Zak Dingle is his father; his relationship with his cousin Charity Dingle ; discovering he is Debbie Dingle's father; his affair and subsequent relationship with Moira Barton ; being attacked in a whodunit storyline where his assailant was eventually revealed to be his father; being diagnosed with a brain aneurysm; supporting his nephew Aaron Livesy after discovering Aaron was sexually abused by his father Gordon Livesy as a child; reuniting with his and Chas' mother Faith Dingle ; his relationship with local vicar Harriet Finch ; building up a relationship with his children; being blackmailed by DI Malone to do drug runs for him; his feud with Al Chapman and taking blame for Al's murder to protect his younger son Kyle who was responsible for killing Al.
Edna Birch is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Shirley Stelfox. She made her first appearance during the episode first broadcast on 25 May 2000. Edna is characterised as a proud and independent Christian woman who often judges her neighbours' lifestyles. She is recognisable amongst the public for her pudding-basin hat and dog – firstly, Batley the Yorkshire Terrier, followed by Papillon Tootsie. Many of her stories have involved her dogs, including being run over saving Tootsie and the death of Batley, which won an award. The programme established friendships for Edna with many characters of a similar age, and in later years, she was paired with Sandy Thomas, which generated many comedic scenes.
Debbie Dingle is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Charley Webb. Webb has taken maternity leave three times, with the first time being in 2010, and the second in 2016, with Debbie departing on 1 January 2016. She returned on 24 January 2017, and then went on maternity leave for a third time in 2019, with Debbie leaving for Scotland on 13 August 2019. She returned for a short stint on 25 December 2020, and made her final appearance on 11 February 2021.
Betty Eagleton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Paula Tilbrook. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 12 April 1994. Betty is characterised as the village gossip who is kind hearted, fun, adventurous and enjoys a sherry. Tilbrook was initially cast for three episodes and the character was introduced as the wartime girlfriend of Seth Armstrong. Upon her arrival, the characters reconcile and their relationship continues until Seth's death in 2005. Tilbrook retired in 2015 and the character departs in the episode broadcast on 25 May 2015, returning briefly for a cameo appearance in the Christmas episode that year. The character and Tilbrook's performance were widely praised by both viewers and critics alike; Brian Beacom of The Herald labelled her "a national treasure".
Marlon Dingle is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Mark Charnock. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 17 October 1996. Following the departure of Zak Dingle, Marlon currently serves and the second longest-running character featuring in the programme, surpassed only by Eric Pollard. For his portrayal of Marlon, Charnock won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2023 British Soap Awards.
Leonard "Len" Reynolds is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Peter Martin.
Bernice Blackstock is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Samantha Giles. She made her first on screen appearance on 25 November 1998. In September 2012, it was announced Giles had reprised her role and Bernice returned on 20 November 2012 after over eight years away from the programme. In September 2019, Giles announced her departure from the series, with her final scenes airing in November 2019. In April 2021, it was announced that Giles would be returning to the soap, with her return scenes airing on 27 May 2021. However, it was announced on 17 July 2023 that Giles would be leaving the show once again later in the year with her final scenes airing on 14 November 2023.
Nicola King is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She has been played by Nicola Wheeler since she joined the soap in 2001. Wheeler left the role in January 2006, with her on-screen departure airing in March. In July 2007, it was announced that Wheeler had chosen to return to the soap eighteen months later and Nicola made her return on 12 September 2007. Wheeler took maternity leave throughout 2015, which was woven into the soap as Nicola departing temporarily on 26 March 2015, to work in Dubai for six months. She made a brief appearance on the soap on 7 May 2015, via webcam, and then made her full-time return on 11 November 2015, when she returned from Dubai due to an incident that happened there.
Gabby Thomas is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She made her first appearance on 25 December 2001. She was played by Annelise Manojlovic from birth in 2001 until 2015, with the role alternating with Jemma Giles until 2002. The role was recast in 2016 to Rosie Bentham. Bentham took a break from the series in 2017 and was off-screen between 17 April and 22 September.
Lizzie Lakely is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Kitty McGeever. Lizzie is Emmerdale's first blind character, and was played by a blind actress. She made her first on-screen appearance on 28 April 2009. Lizzie's last appearance was on 28 March 2013. McGeever had health problems, but, in June 2013, producer Kate Oates stated there had been plans for her to return. McGeever died in August 2015, however, without having returned to the series.
