2008

Events

 * 1st January - Rosemary King's funeral takes place, which Matthew King disrupts by attempting to fill in her grave.
 * 2nd January - Alan Turner injures his foot when one of the church roof slates fall off.
 * 3rd January - Chas Dingle and Lexi Nicholls are arrested after fighting over Ross Kirk
 * 8th January - Andy Sugden and Jo Stiles are to be married, but before the ceremony is due to take place, Andy is called into court for sentencing. Much to the devastation of his family, he is sentenced to three years imprisonment.
 * 14th January - Val Lambert is diagnosed with cataracts.
 * 15th January - When Jonny Foster accidentally blurts out Val Lambert's cataracts in front of the villagers, she tries to get away. However, she fails to see Samson Dingle behind her car and accidentally knocks him down.
 * 21st January - Sam Dingle is arrested for possession of drugs.
 * 22nd January - Eli Dingle and Lily Butterfield are arrested for possession of drugs.
 * 24th January - An altercation between Donna Windsor-Dingle and Val Lambert over Val's smoking results in Donna arresting Val for assaulting a police officer.
 * 28th January - Duke Woods leaves the village. (Final appearance of the character)
 * 29th January - Sam Dingle robs Eric Pollard's factory, aiming his gun at David Metcalfe when David interrupts him.
 * 30th January - Sam Dingle goes on the run to avoid having his son Samson taken away from him.
 * 5th February - Carrie Nicholls leaves the village for Canada alone after daughter Scarlett decides to stay in the village.
 * 18th February - Jo Stiles's hen night takes place.
 * 19th February - Andy Sugden and Jo Stiles marry in prison.
 * 21st February - Daniel Thomas dies of cot death. Final appearance of Jack Sugden.
 * 29th February - Paul Lambert and Jonny Foster's stag night takes place in the Woolpack.
 * 3rd March - Paul Lambert and Jonny Foster enter a civil partnership, the first of its kind in a primetime soap opera. However, they feel unable to tell their families so they remarry. Emily Kirk returns for the wedding (First appearance since 2007).
 * 4th March - Nicola De Souza's plan to kill her husband Donald by making him fall down stairs backfires when Nicola trips and falls down the stairs herself.
 * 6th March - Daniel Thomas' funeral takes place.
 * 11th March - Chas and Debbie Dingle try to get Charlie Sellers out of Jo Stiles's life by having him rob one of Brenda McFarlane's clubs. However, Charlie holds the manager hostage and he manages to get away with the money from the safe.
 * 17th March - Donald and Nicola De Souza go on a day out on the moors. Donald reveals that he knows she intends to kill him and he saves her the bother by releasing the brake on his wheelchair. The wheelchair speeds towards the edge of the cliff but it overturns, saving Donald's life.
 * 25th March - In a moment of anger, Andy Sugden lashes out at his wife Jo by throwing her to the floor.
 * 26th March - Shadrach Dingle reveals to Laurel Thomas that he had a daughter who he give up for adoption at birth.
 * 27th March - Laurel Thomas tells Chas Dingle that she has a half-sister who her father Shadrach put her at adoption.
 * 1st April - Ross Kirk accidentally knocks a girl off her moped. (First appearance of Gennie Walker)
 * 2nd April - First appearance of Brenda Walker.
 * 10th April - The King brothers and Donald De Souza attend the Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Hotten Golf Club. At the luncheon, Carl and Matthew clash and when a group photo is being taken for the Hotten Courier, fists start to fly. Carl leaves the building, but Matthew follows him outside. When Carl comments flippantly that it's a good job he killed their father, Matthew sees red and viciously beats his brother with a golf club.
 * 21st April - Gennie Walker discovers that Shadrach Dingle is her biological father.
 * 22nd April - Ashley and Laurel Thomas are told that they aren't the biological parents of their late son Daniel.
 * 13th May - Bob and Viv Hope are arrested for fraud, having been set up by Freddie Yorke.
 * 3rd June - Eric Pollard and Val Lambert marry.
 * 24th June - Sam and Eli Dingle burn down Eric Pollard's factory.
 * 8th July - Donald De Souza's daughter Anna arrives in the village. (First appearance of the character)
 * 25th July - Gennie Walker and Eli Dingle are arrested for stealing drugs.
 * 19th August - PCs Donna Windsor-Dingle and Ross Kirk are involved in car accident while in hot pursuit of conman Freddie Yorke. Ross manages to save Donna before the car explodes. Viv and Bob Hope's trial is cut short when they hear of this news.
 * 2nd September - Grayson Sinclair takes Matthew King and then Katie Sugden hostage, armed with a shotgun. When Matthew's brothers Jimmy and Carl arrive later on, Grayson takes them hostage too. Carl tries to talk Grayson down but when Grayson sneers at him, Carl furiously dares Grayson to shoot. Carl is then shot but thankfully not critically injured. When Grayson tries to escape from Home Farm, he is arrested by police. (Final appearance of the character)
 * 7th October - Andy Sugden gets impaled on a spike after trapping his wife Jo in a barn. Jo leaves Andy to die but has a change of heart and helps him.
 * 28th October - Louise Appleton leaves the village for her native Australia with a friend Jonty DeLorean. (Final appearance of the character)
 * 5th November - Lily Butterfield collapses following an argument with Val Pollard. Brenda Walker kisses Terry Woods at the village bonfire.
 * 7th November - Lily Butterfield is diagnosed with a cerebral aneurysm.
 * 18th November - Donald De Souza dies of a heart attack following an argument with Matthew King. (Final appearance of the character)
 * 28th November - PC Ross Kirk arrests Chas Dingle's son Aaron Livesy for possession of drugs.
 * 2nd December - Jasmine Thomas ransacks Shane Doyle's flat for evidence and discovers money and drugs. When Shane enters his flat, he tries to rape Jasmine, but Debbie Dingle turns up, hears Jasmine's screams and knocks Shane out with a table leg. Shane comes to and tries to attack Debbie, leading Jasmine to hit him with the chair leg again, the blow this time fatal.
 * 3rd December - The Dingle family rescue Aaron Livesy from the McFarlane family. Paddy Kirk discovers Donna Windsor-Dingle and Ross Kirk's affair.
 * 4th December - Eli Dingle helps Jasmine Thomas and Debbie Dingle to remove Shane Doyle's body from his flat.
 * 5th December - Eli and Debbie Dingle and Jasmine Thomas dispose of Shane Doyle's body by dumping him in the lake at Home Farm.
 * 9th December - Donald De Souza's funeral takes place.
 * 16th December - A massive fight breaks out between Matthew King and his brother Carl on Matthew's wedding day to Anna De Souza. The day ends in tragedy when Matthew dies after colliding his van with a wall and being catapulted out of the windshield when trying to run Carl down. (Final appearance of the character)
 * 22nd December - Jo Sugden leaves the village to get away from her husband Andy. (Final appearance of the character)
 * 25th December - Victoria Sugden falls through ice and finds a dead body underneath.
 * 30th December - The body of Shane Doyle floats to the surface of Home Farm lake, and is discovered by Daz Eden and Victoria Sugden.

Real life events

 * 1st January - Emmerdale airs its first regularly hour-long Tuesday episode, with each of these episodes having a title, a practice that lasted until August the same year.
 * 6th January - Emmerdale airs its final Sunday episode.
 * 29th February - Kathleen Beedles's final episode as producer airs.
 * 3rd March - Anita Turner's first episode as producer airs.
 * 1st May - Bernard Archard (Leonard Kempinski) dies.
 * 3rd May - Daniel's death won 'Best Single Episode' and Tony Prescott won a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at The British Soap Awards.
 * 30th May - Emmerdale's 5000th episode airs.
 * 3rd July - Clive Hornby (the second Jack Sugden) dies.