A list of all character deaths that have featured in Emmerdale's storylines, totalling to 203 deaths. These range from murders to manslaughters, crashes to hit-and-runs, disasters and suicides. The deaths listed include regular and guest characters, as well as characters that have been mentioned to have died some point post-October 1972. For example, Frank Tate's wife Jean Tate Sr. was mentioned at times between 1989 and 1997, but not seen, and died in 1984.
A regular character is usually killed off if the actor has passed away in real life, whilst their character is still appearing on-screen. For example, Arthur Pentelow passed away in August 1991, and his character Henry Wilks was killed off in October 1991. Sometimes, a character isn't killed off even if the actor playing them has died in real life. For example, Ronald Magill died in 2007, but his character Amos Brearly hasn't been worded dead.
Emmerdale has been noted for its frequent and dramatic deaths. As a matter of fact, Emmerdale's first episode began with the funeral of Jacob Sugden. A plane crash in December 1993 that killed all the two-hundred and fifty passengers and nine characters on the ground was watched by 17 million viewers, and doubled subsequent ratings. Despite the fact there were a total of 259 deaths in the Plane Crash, only characters that have been named appear on the list and count towards the total.
On-screen deaths[]
Off-screen deaths[]
Historical deaths[]
Historical deaths are when a character who has never appeared in Emmerdale or Emmerdale Farm is mentioned to have died months or years after their death has taken place.
Book deaths[]
No. | Date | Character | Cause | Book |
---|---|---|---|---|
1914 | Albert Oldroyd | Natural Causes | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
November 1914 | Bert Clark | Shell explosion | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
November 1914 | George Kirkby | Shell explosion | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
November 1914 | Ralph Verney | Shell explosion | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
1915 | Billy Hutton | Killed whilst serving in WWI | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
1915 | Alfred Porter | Shot in the lung | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
October 1915 | Sergeant Donald | Injuries sustained whilst serving in WWI | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
17th October 1915 | Frank Pickles | Killed whilst serving in WWI | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
November 1915 | Ava Bainbridge | Injuries sustained in The Woolpack blaze started by Levi Dingle | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
1916 | Nat Dingle | Killed whilst serving in WWI | Christmas at Emmerdale | |
1918 | Agatha Tucker | Influenza | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
June 1918 | Bill Colton | Influenza | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
1918 | William Petty | Infection | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
1918 | Arthur Haywood | Executed by firing squad | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
1918 | Will Hutton | Influenza | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
16th November 1918 | Walter Dinsdale | Influenza | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
December 1918 | Joan Carr | Influenza | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
1919 | Hugo Dawson | Asphyxiation from choking on his own blood, caused by influenza | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
1920 | Levi Dingle | Car accident | Spring Comes to Emmerdale | |
1929 | Rose Warcup | Fell down a ravine | Emmerdale at War | |
1930 | Polly Warcup | Unknown | Emmerdale at War | |
1935 | Rose Dingle | Brain aneurysm | Emmerdale at War | |
1939 | Robert Warcup | Unknown | Emmerdale at War | |
February 1941 | Ted Mickelthwaite | Killed whilst serving in Ethiopia | Emmerdale at War | |
February 1941 | George Ransome | Tank explosion in Libya | Emmerdale at War | |
February 1941 | Violet Pickles | House explosion during air raid | Emmerdale at War | |
1941 | Beryl Dubbs | Factory explosion during air raid | Emmerdale at War | |
1941 | Hanna Schrieber | House explosion during air raid | Emmerdale at War | |
1941 | Klara Schrieber | House explosion during air raid | Emmerdale at War | |
1941 | Edward Sugden | Drowned | Emmerdale: Their Finest Hour |