List of Emmerdale characters (2015)

Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared or will appear during 2015, by order of first appearance. All characters will be introduced by the series producer Kate Oates. The first character to be introduced was Emma Barton in January.

Emma Barton

Emma Barton, played by Gillian Kearney, made her first screen appearance on 2 January 2015.^[1] The character has previously been mentioned by her on-screen family and heard once on a family video.^[2] During a press event on 11 August 2014, series producer Kate Oates revealed that Emma would finally be introduced to the show.^[2] She said "Emma's had a bit of a build-up, hasn't she? She's the woman we haven't seen and she's a bit of a mystery at the moment. I think it's safe to say that she is going to show up, possibly in the not-too-distant future. She may cause chaos."^[2] On 2 December 2014, it was announced that Kearney had been cast in the role.^[1] The actress commented, "As an avid fan of Emmerdale, I'm delighted to be playing Emma Barton."^[1]

Emma is the mother of Pete (Anthony Quinlan), Ross (Michael Parr) and Finn Barton (Joe Gill), and the ex-wife of James Barton (Bill Ward).^[2] She arrives in the village after Finn tracks her down following a 22-year absence from her family.^[1] Kearney called Emma "a fascinating and complex character", while Oates added that her appearance would "cause fireworks" for the Barton family.^[1]

Finn finds his Emma's address and meets with her in secret. While Finn, Pete and Ross are at a bar, Ross gets into a fight and is injured. Emma comes over to help Ross and is shocked when she recognises her sons. Finn invites Emma back to the village. Ross tells her that James had sex with Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb) before she left. James is defensive and accidentally reveals that Adam Barton (Adam Thomas) is his son. Emma blames James for losing her family, but when he reminds her that the real reason she left was because she tried to kill Ross when he was a child. Emma asks if James has told their sons the truth and he tells her he has not. Emma leaves and Pete later tells James that she returned once before, but he sent her away. Emma returns to the village and Ross and Finn try to persuade her to stay. She tries to talk to Pete, but he reveals that he knows what she did and will not forgive her. Emma befriends James' partner Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), but remains hostile towards Moira. When Finn babysits Debbie Dingle's (Charley Webb) son, Emma comes over and Finn leaves her alone for a few minutes. When Pete learns this, he runs into the house and tells Emma to leave.

During an argument with James, Emma lashes out at him, causing a pallet to crash down on James and pin him under the load. Emma checks James to see if he is breathing and hesitates before calling an ambulance. Emma is defensive when Pete questions her about the accident. Pete tells Emma that he will keep her secret and she can stay in the village.

Darren Thompson

Darren Thompson, played by Danny Horn, made his first on-screen appearance on 5 March 2015.

Darren is a nurse who attends to Val Pollard (Charlie Hardwick) after she collapses with pneumonia. Darren sees Finn Barton (Joe Gill) acting nervous in the waiting area. Finn has a heart-to-heart with Darren and explains he feels confused as his mother Emma Barton (Gillian Kearney) has just recently come back into his life and Val was like a mother to him. Darren and Finn grow close and arrange to go for a drink. Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins), who had previously claimed she recognized Darren from somewhere, tells Finn that he was at one of Val's HIV talks. Despite not been bothered about Darren's status, Darren misunderstands things and leaves, though later they clear the air and rearrange. His mum Emma and his brother Ross Barton (Michael Parr) are both uncomfortable with Finn's relationship. When Darren returns from the toilet, he receives a text warning him to stay away from Finn and Darren accuses Finn. Finn denies this, but Darren leaves. After seeing how unhappy Finn is, Victoria later rings Darren and gets him to visit and apologize to Finn. As Finn goes to get changed for their date, Val vandalizes Darren's car by smashing the windows and spray painting it. She plants Finn's missing phone at the car to make Darren accuse Finn. Darren then drives off abandoning Finn. Finn, not knowing who did it, tells Val he is going to find out how did it, leaving Val uncomfortable. He accuses his brother Ross and then his mum and throws her out. When Val confesses to her husband, Eric (Chris Chittell) and explains how she did it to protect Finn from been in a relationship with someone HIV positive as it put her and Eric's relationship to the test, Eric makes Val confess to Finn. Finn later forgives Val, however, wanting to put things right, Val calls and meets up with Darren and tells him an obsessive ex of Finn's did it, but then confesses that she did it. Finn and Darren then get back together. To impress Darren, Finn pretends that he's a vegetarian and that he shares the same interests as Darren. However, Finn finds that Darren is too overbearing and doesn't get any time to himself. He won't dare dump him as he worries about Darren getting upset. When he misunderstands and believes that Darren is about to propose, with advice from Val, he acts dirty and disgusting to try and 'scare' him off. However, later on in the pub, Darren says he's being trying to dump him and that he finds him annoying, despite Finn explaining his rudeness. Darren then leaves and Finn is upset that someone found him annoying.

Donny Cairn

Donny Cairn, played by Alan Convy, will make his first screen appearance in 14 April 2015. The character and casting was announced on 24 March 2015.^[3] Donny is the father of Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson), and arrives in the village after his son admits to sexual assaulting Alicia Gallagher (Natalie Anderson).^[3] Donny's ex-partner, Chrissie (Louise Marwood), has tried to keep him out of the situation and Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy commented "viewers will have to wait and see how Donny's appearance affects the White family."^[3]

References

External links

• Characters and cast at itv.com
• Characters and cast at the Internet Movie Database