2002

Events

 * 2nd January - Marc Reynolds is sentenced to a year in prison for death by dangerous driving. Eve Birch takes her anger out on her grandmother Edna's dog Batley by kicking him, witnessed by Betty Eagleton.
 * 3rd January - Eve Birch confesses to grandmother Edna that she kicked her dog Batley.
 * 4th January - Sean Reynolds and Tara Thornfield leave the village. Eve Birch goes to live with aunt Lily Butterfield. (Final appearance of Sean Reynolds and last appearance of Tara Thornfield until 2007, and last appearance of Eve Birch until 2006)
 * 6th January - Len Reynolds returns home to discover he has been burgled.
 * 8th January - Robert Sugden tells Katie Addyman that his brother Andy killed their mother two years previously.
 * 17th January - Paddy Kirk's mother Barbara dies.
 * 23rd January - Paddy Kirk proposes to Emily Dingle.
 * 24th January - Paddy Kirk proposes to Emily Dingle again. She accepts.
 * 25th January - The Dingle van catches alight.
 * 31st January - Jason Kirk leaves the village.
 * 11th February - Following a period of ill health, Edna Birch's beloved dog Batley is put to sleep.
 * 18th February - In a dramatic four-hander, Bernice Thomas admits that motherhood is becoming too much to bear.
 * 20th February - Zoe Tate is arrested for drink driving.
 * 4th March - Zak Dingle learns his father is not dead as he thought.
 * 6th March - Zak Dingle learns his brother Shadrach had known their father was alive this whole time. (First appearance of Shadrach since 2000)
 * 19th March - Eric Pollard sees Gloria Weaver at the awards ceremony. She apologises to him and he proposes to her. (First appearance of Gloria since 2001)
 * 25th March - Jerry Mackinley and Syd Woolfe arrive to work on Viv Hope's café. (First appearance of the characters)
 * 4th April - After realising she has been set up, Maggie Calder attacks Nicola Blackstock.
 * 15th April - Chloe Atkinson and Scott Windsor return home from holiday to find their cottage trashed.
 * 16th April - Ray Mullan collapses outside the Woolpack and is found by Scott Windsor and Chloe Atkinson.
 * 19th April - In the show's second four-hander this year, Bernice Thomas decides to leave Emmerdale without her daughter, Gabby.
 * 21st April - Bernice Thomas leaves Emmerdale. (Last appearance of the character until 2004)
 * 2nd May - Eric Pollard and Gloria Weaver marry. Latisha Daggert is arrested by Angie Reynolds under the suspicion of stealing credit cards.
 * 6th May - Rodney Blackstock suffers a heart attack.
 * 9th May - Charity Tate discovers Ray Mullan has been trafficking immigrants when she finds them banging around in the Tate Haulage truck.
 * 3rd June - Katie Addyman discovers she is pregnant. Her pregnancy is revealed to the villagers by Viv Hope.
 * 10th June - Betty Eagleton discovers that she has been watched via web-cam.
 * 21st June - Nicola Blackstock punches Syd Woolfe in full view of the Woolpack customers.
 * 24th June - Rhona Goskirk returns to the village to replace Zoe Tate at the vets surgery when Zoe takes time off for medical reasons. (First appearance of Rhona since 2001)
 * 1st July - Tony Bell is murdered by Ray Mullan off-screen.
 * 2nd July - Zoe Tate collapses at the vets surgery after taking a large dose from tranquilisers.
 * 3rd July - Zoe Tate is discovered unconscious by Paddy Kirk. She later tries to drown herself.
 * 4th July - An unhinged Zoe Tate seeks refuge in the church and tears pages out of the Bible. The building soon catches fire after a candle collapses on a Sunday school display.
 * 5th July - Following the fire at the church, Zoe Tate is taken to hospital and is sectioned.
 * 8th July - Latisha Daggert is arrested and cautioned for shoplifting. She is later thrown out of home by her mother.
 * 19th July - Upon discovering girlfriend Maggie Calder's affair with Rodney Blackstock, Phil Weston leaves the village to be closer to his daughter. (Final appearance of the character)
 * 26th July - Syd Woolfe tells Scott Windsor of his affair with Chloe Atkinson. Scott attacks Syd and is arrested by Angie Reynolds.
 * 7th August - Robert Sugden loses his virginity to Nicola Blackstock.
 * 17th September - Tricia Fisher's friend Edith Weatherall dies.
 * 18th September - A school-themed disco is held at the Woolpack.
 * 20th September - Katie Addyman suffers a miscarriage.
 * 25th September - Edith Weatherall's funeral takes place.
 * 9th October - Zoe Tate is told she is pregnant.
 * 16th October - Marlon Dingle's stag night. His cousin Chas is the stripper at the party. (First appearance of the character)
 * 17th October - As part of Emmerdale ' s 30th anniversary, Paddy Kirk and Emily Dingle marry. Marlon Dingle and Tricia Fisher were originally due to marry, however, on the morning of the wedding, chewing gum got stuck in Tricia's hair and when Tricia turns her head around too fast, her neck cricked, leaving her in a neck brace.
 * 22nd November - Angie Reynolds and her colleague Adrien Collins die in a car accident after a chase with Cain Dingle. (Final appearance of Angie Reynolds)
 * 16th December - Angie Reynolds' funeral takes place.
 * 17th December - Zak Dingle meets his long-lost father Jedediah in hospital. Jed tells Zak that he has a lost fortune in Chile. He then dies soon after.
 * 24th December - Paddy and Emily Kirk foster Debbie Jones. (First appearance of the charatcer)
 * 25th December - Louise Appleton realises that her boyfriend Ray Mullan is her stalker.
 * 26th December - Ray Mullan dies after being bludgeoned over the head with a vase by Louise Appleton. (Final appearance of Ray Mullan)
 * 31st December - Zak Dingle leaves Emmerdale in search of the Dingle fortune.

Real life events

 * 18th May - Batley the dog wins 'Best Exit' at The British Soap Awards.
 * This year is the 30th anniversary of when Emmerdale first aired.