List of recurring and minor Emmerdale characters

Ever since the first episode, there have been thousands of characters who have appeared on the show in a minor, guest or recurring role. They still have a role on the show today, whether it be a member of the emergency services, a friend of a regular character or someone who only passes by the village briefly.

The first

See also: 1972 minor characters

The first ever minor character was Alec Saunders (played by Alan Tucker), who appeared in Episode 1 and was never seen again. The first recurring character was the role of Barney, a postman who was regularly seen drinking in The Woolpack. Played by George Malpas, Barney appeared intermittently between 1972 and 1978. The first unnamed character and first medical professional was a Nurse in 1972.

Most guest roles

Two actors have portrayed the most amount of minor characters in Emmerdale, with a total of eight characters. These actors are:

Maeve Larkin
- Sian Harper between March and April 2005.
- An unnamed physiotherapist in September 2008.
- Dr. Eve Solomon in April 2010.
- An unnamed solicitor in October 2012.
- An insurance rep in October 2014.
- Dr Parsons in December 2015.
- An unnamed doctor in February 2016.
- Suzie in October 2018.

Christine Brennan
- Miss Dooley in March 1999.
- Dr. Dolan between May 2002 and January 2004.
- Sandra Flaherty in February 2006.
- Marcia Parker in June 2008.
- Miss Blomley in May 2012.
- A mum in November 2013.
- Sally in August 2018.
- An unnamed doctor in February 2020.

Police

Police play a pivotal role in the show, as many of the characters find themselves in trouble, or in harm's way. And so it is up to the police to come to the village and sort things out. A great number of officers, detectives, sergeants and inspectors have returned to Emmerdale time and time again, with some villagers even getting to know their names, and vice versa. Other characters, such as Abi Peterson and Nancy Ryan are not just used for their job but are active players in storylines.

PC Mike Swirling, who has appeared sporadically since 2004, is one of the longest running minor characters and with well over a hundred appearances to date. The recurring officer with the most appearances is Ian MacArthur, who appeared in 182 episodes between 1980 and 1993.

Some of the officers who have appeared multiple times include:

PC Fred Hallam (1973-1974)
PC Ted Edwards (1977-1980)
Sergeant Ian MacArthur (1980-1993)
Sergeant Sharples (1995-1999)
DCI Harvey (2000-2001)
PC Linda Johnson (2003-2005)
DI Tom Keysell (2003-2005)
PC Denzel Calburn (2003-2005)
PC Mike Swirling (2004-2020)
DS Karen Williams (2006-2009)

Supt. Charles Vaughan (2008-2009)
PC James Pierce (2010-2019)
DS Andrew Flanagan (2013-2018)
PC Williams (2013-2019)
PC Gary Stone (2014-2018)
DI Mark Bails (2014-2018)
PC Craig Bishop (2014-2020)
DS Hart (2015-2018)
DS Jason Wise (2016-2019)
DS Benton (2017-2018)

Medical professionals

Doctors, nurses, paramedics and GPs are all typical character types that return to care for regular characters. Dr Cavanagh was a minor character that was promoted to a regular in 2018. Doctor Jermaine Bailey was another character who appeared for a few months before also being promoted to a regular character for the whole of 2016 before he left. Another GP, Manpreet Jutla, first appeared in 2018 and by the start of the next year she was a regular.

Dr. Jacobs (1977-1981)
Dr. Sharma (1985-1986)
Jim Penn (1994-2004)
Kirsty Latham (1995-2004)
Nurse Ryan (1999-2006)
Midwife Malby (2001-2004)
Dr. Pam Bradshaw (2001-2006)
Dr. Dolan (2002-2004)
Dr. Carol Cohran (2003-2004)
George Sutton (2004-2006)

Dr. Josephine Abbott (2006-2013)
Nurse Summers (2010-2011)
Paramedic (2011-2018)
Paramedic (2012-2020)
Jess (2013-2015)
Gerald Tompkinson (2014-2015)
Dr. Norton (2015-2016)
Dr. Naya Hartley (2015-2019)
Dr. Elliot (2017-2019)
Dr. Alex Mason (2017-2018)

Fire services

Firefighters are also vital in the 'minor character' category and show up whenever there's a fire. They are less used than the police or medical characters and so there is less chance of returning characters. Recurring and minor characters who happen to be firefighters include Jez Hudson, an unnamed fire officer (played by Phil Croft) and Ted Barker.

Romantic interests

Some minor characters arrive in the form of a romantic partner of an already established character. Sometimes these can transform into fully-fledged regular characters too, but others act as just a plot device. Good examples of these characters introduced as love interests include:

Family

See also: Families

Some recurring characters happen to be related to regular characters, which is a good excuse for sporadic visits.

Liz MacDonald (1977-1990)
Jessie Renfrew (1978-1983)
Meg Armstrong (1979-1986)
Ezra Brearly (1983-1988)
Malcolm Bates (1984-1991)
Graham Lodsworth (1986-1987)
Leonard Kempinski (1992-1994)
Barry Clegg (1997-1998)
Barbara Kirk (1998-2002)
John Wylie (1999-2000)
Josh Hope (2001-2006)
Caroline Kershaw (2002-2006)

Eddie Hope (2003-2007)
Gordon Livesy (2003-2016)
Lilith Dingle (2004-2007)
Mark Dingle (2004-2007)
Matthew Dingle (2004-2007)
Colleen King (2004-2010)
Anya King (2004-2012)
Thomas King (2004-2013)
Sharon Lambert (2007-2008)
Caroline Swann (2007-2015)
Justin Gallagher (2010-2012)
Juliette Holliday (2014-2016)

Pets

Name	Duration	Animal	Owner(s)	Tenure
Tootsie	2002-present	Dog	Edna Birch & Harriet Finch	18 years
Alfie	2002-2017	Dog	The Dingles	15 years
Charlie	1994-2007	Dog	Betty Eagleton	13 years
Daisy	2003-2015	Dog	Marlon Dingle	12 years
Hamish	2004-2015	Pony	Belle Dingle	11 years
Cheryl	2012-present	Dog	Val & Eric Pollard	8 years
Gloria	????-2019	Pig	Dingle family	? years
Steve (deceased)	2016-present	Parrot	Lydia Hart	4 years
Tip	2017-2020	Dog	Jai Sharma	3 years
Dog	2014-2017	Dog	The Whites	3 years
Monty	2018-present	Dog	The Dingles	2 years
Batley	2000-2002	Dog	Edna Birch	2 years
Valentine	1994-1996	Horse	Kim Tate	2 years
Bess	1973-1975	Dog	Sam Pearson & Annie Sugden	2 years
Spamela Hamderson	2019-present	Pig	The Dingles	1 year
Freya	2019-present	Horse	Kim Tate	1 year
Tally	2019-present	Horse	Kim Tate	1 year
Blaze	2019-present	Pony	Kim Tate	1 year
Clyde	2009-2010	Dog	Aaron Livesy	1 year
Damon	2004-2005	Dog	Sadie King	1 year
Dark Star	1992-1993	Horse	Kim Tate	1 year
Snip	1980-1981	Dog	Matt Skilbeck	1 year
Bundle	1984	Dog	Caroline Bates	4 months
Daenerys	2020-present	Rabbit	Belle Dingle	1 month
Cossack	2006	Horse	Sadie King	1 month
Priscilla	1998	Pig	Farmer Matthews	1 month
Swifty	1994	Dog	The Windsors	1 month
Sampson	1993	Horse	Seth Armstrong	1 month
Boomerang	1992	Pigeon	Archie Brooks	1 month
Champion	1990	Horse	Alan Turner	1 month

Others

Name	Duration	Role
Barney	1972-1978	Postman
Jim Latimer	1973-1991	Criminal
Walter	1974-1985	Woolpack customer
Hunter Bell	1974-1987	Villager
Ernie Shuttleworth	1975-1999	Pub landlord
Auctioneer	1978-1985	Auctioneer
Doreen Shuttleworth	1984-1991	Pub landlady
Auctioneer	1995-2018	Auctioneer
Coroner	1997-2003	Coroner
Noel Young	1999-2005	Solicitor
Judge	1999-2019	Judge
George Postlethwaite	2000-2010	Bishop
John McNally	2004-2009	Journalist
Dean Morris	2004-2009	Foreman
Aubrey Bedford	2004-2015	Estate agent
Reporter	2006-2019	Television news reporter
Isaac Nuttall	2010-2019	Ex-boyfriend

Longest runnning minor characters

See also: List of longest running characters

#	Name		First Appearance	Most recent appearance	Time between first and last appearance
1	Ernie Shuttleworth	Peter Schofield •	11th March 1975	26th August 1999	24 years, 5 months
2	Auctioneer	Robin Bowerman	18th May 1995	10th October 2018	23 years, 5 months
3	Judge	Anthony Schaeffer	20th January 1999	24th October 2019	20 years, 9 months
4	Jim Latimer	Dennis Blanch •	22nd January 1973	10th December 1991	18 years, 11 months
5	PC Mike Swirling	Andy Moore	2nd April 2004	11th March 2020	15 years, 11 months
6	Sgt. Ian MacArthur	Martin Dale	9th December 1980	16th December 1993	13 years
6	Walter	Al Dixon •	11th December 1972	19th December 1985	13 years
8	Hunter Bell	Frederick Bennett	2nd December 1974	27th August 1987	12 years, 8 months
9	Liz MacDonald	Elizabeth Mickery	22nd November 1977	3rd May 1990	12 years, 6 months
10	Reporter	Duncan Wood	21st December 2006	14th May 2019	12 years, 5 months
10	Gordon Livesy	Gary Mavers •	2nd December 2003	11th May 2016	12 years, 5 months

List of prolific minor characters

See also: List of appearances

#	Character	Number of appearances	First appearance	Last appearance
1	Sergeant Ian MacArthur	179	1980	1993
2	PC Mike Swirling	154	2004	2020
3	Thomas King	101	2004	2013
4	Bishop George Postlethwaite	82	2000	2010
5	John McNally	68	2004	2009
6	Libby Charles	67	2005	2005
7	Anya King	63	2004	2012
7	Walter	63	1972	1985
9	Charlie Haynes	60	2010	2010
10	Eddie Hope	57	2003	2007
12	John Tuplin	54	1981	1984
13	Gordon Livesy	49	2003	2016
14	Wendy Posner	48	2019	2020
15	PC Denzel Calburn	45	2003	2005
16	Vinny	43	2019	2020
16	Mark Dingle	43	2004	2007
18	Matthew Dingle	42	2004	2007
18	Nellie Ratcliffe	42	1978	1981
20	Nicky Pritchard	40	2011	2011
20	Charles Vaughan	40	2006	2009
20	DI Tom Keysell	40	2003	2005
20	Ernie Shuttleworth	40	1975	1999
20	Liz MacDonald	40	1977	1990
25	DI Vikesh Dasari	39	2006	2007
26	Glynis Hardy	38	2001	2005
27	Effie Harrison	37	2005	2005
28	Jerry Walsh	36	2010	2011
28	DI Derek Spalding	36	1998	1999
30	Luke Posner	35	2019	2020
30	Kasim Sabet	35	2016	2017
30	Sandra Briggs	35	2005	2006
33	DS Benton	34	2017	2018
33	DS Andrew Flanagan	34	2013	2018
33	DS Karen Williams	34	2006	2009
33	Sharon Lambert	34	2007	2008
33	Jon Dingle	34	2004	2007
33	Luke Dingle	34	2004	2007
33	Peg Dingle	34	2002	2002
33	Daniel Hawkins	34	1980	1983
41	Liam Hammond	33	1999	1999
41	Steve Marshal	33	1992	1993
43	Stephen Butler	32	2003	2003
44	Noreen Bell	31	2005	2006
44	Rachel Whatmore	31	2003	2005
44	Barry Clegg	31	1997	1998
47	Michael Conway	30	2009	2009
47	Clifford Longthorn	30	1980	1986
49	PC James Pierce	29	2010	2019
49	DS Sanders	29	2018	2019
49	Misty Allbright	29	2018	2018
49	Dean Morris	29	2004	2009
49	Malcolm Bates	29	1984	1991
49	Helen Sutcliffe	29	1988	1988
55	Tess Harris	28	2015	2016
55	Dr. Josephine Abbott	28	2006	2013
55	Tamsin Charles	28	2005	2005
55	Clare Sutcliffe	28	1988	1989
55	Martin Gimbel	28	1975	1976
60	DS Jason Wise	27	2016	2019
60	DI Mark Bails	27	2014	2018
60	Lord Alex Oakwell	27	1997	1998
60	Leonard Kempinski	27	1992	1994
60	Penny Golightly	27	1973	1973
65	DC Wilson	26	2017	2018
65	Dr. Alex Mason	26	2017	2018
65	DC Laura Prior	26	2010	2011
65	John Wylie	26	1999	2000
65	Jed Outhwaite	26	1998	1998
65	Jim Gimbel	26	1974	1975
71	Dan	25	1990	1992
71	Christopher Meadows	25	1981	1988
73	Simon McManus	24	2016	2018
73	Craig Briggs	24	2004	2006
73	Barbara Kirk	24	1998	2002
73	Jo Steadman	24	1997	1997
73	Josh Lewis	24	1993	1994
73	Doreen Shuttleworth	24	1984	1991
73	Lucy Stubbs	24	1977	1977
80	Meg Armstrong	23	1979	1986
80	Jessie Renfrew	23	1978	1983
82	Tony Marchant	22	1987	1987
82	Graham Lodsworth	22	1986	1987
82	Ted Edwards	22	1977	1980
82	Barney	22	1972	1978
82	Robert Sharp	22	1974	1976
82	Clare Scott	22	1973	1973
88	Lee Posner	21	2019	2020
88	Josh Crowther	21	2017	2017
88	Aubrey Bedford	21	2004	2015
88	Charlotte Beecham	21	2007	2015
88	DS Shields	21	2013	2013
88	Helen Ackroyd	21	1995	1998
88	Daniel Weir	21	1995	1995
88	Peggy Longthorn	21	1980	1986
88	Ben Dowton	21	1973	1984
88	Beattie Dowton	21	1973	1975
98	Dee Dee	20	2017	2019
98	DS Hart	20	2015	2018
98	Justin Gallagher	20	2010	2012
98	Abi Peterson	20	2010	2010
98	Freddie Yorke	20	2007	2008
98	Doug Hamilton	20	1997	1997
98	Ted Sharp	20	1989	1989
98	Bob Jerome	20	1979	1981