Emmerdale cast: who was in the original Emmerdale Farm cast, will they return for 50th anniversary episode?

Emmerdale will commemorate its 50th anniversary with an hour-long episode this weekend, which will air on Sunday 16 October, exactly 50 years after the ITV soap debuted on television in 1972.

To mark the milestone as the special was announced last month, producers released an official cast portrait taken earlier this year outside the Woolpack pub in the Emmerdale village in Yorkshire.

The photo included everyone, from the longest-serving surviving cast members to the most recent additions, as well as the Dingle family dog.

But who was in the original cast of Emmerdale - or, as it was known half a century ago, ‘Emmerdale Farm’ - and which faces will be returning for the upcoming special?

Here is everything you need to know.

Who was in the original cast of Emmerdale?

The ITV show was originally shot in the real-life Yorkshire Dales village of Arncliffe, before shifting operations to Esholt in West Yorkshire.

When the village grew too crowded to film, with congestion and disruption caused by visits from fans eager to see the soap’s characters and locations, production was relocated to the Harewood Estate 22 years later, where a replica set of Esholt was built.

The move occurred over the Christmas period of 1996 - the only time the soap takes a break from production - and the new set was first used the following year.

The first episode of the show - broadcast as ‘Emmerdale Farm’ on Monday 16 October 1972 - set in motion 50 years of events as it told the story of the Sugden family, who were surprised to learn that the farm had been left to the freshly returned Jack on the day of Jacob’s funeral, infuriating Jacob’s other children, Peggy and Joe.

Jack was played by Andrew Burt, a Wakefield-born actor who appeared in many TV series and soaps, over his career including The Bill, Casualty, EastEnders, and Heartbeat.

Before his death in 2018, Burt would endear himself to comedy fans, particularly those of bumbling Radio Norwich DJ Alan Partridge, when he appeared in a series two episode of I’m Alan Partridge as Frank “Sweaty” Raphael, Partridge’s old school-teacher who had once caned him for drawing a chalk penis on his back.

He also provided the voice of the fictional Radio Norwich’s idents and inter-programme stings.

Peggy was played by Jo Kendall, an actress who holds the honour of speaking Emmerdale’s first ever line of dialogue. She would go on to appear in shows like The Pickwick Papers, and played the mother of regular character Roland Browning in Grange Hill in the 1980s.

Joe was played by Frazer Hines, who had appeared as a child actor alongside Charlie Chapling before his time on Emmerdale, and played Jamie McCrimmon, the companion of Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor in Doctor Who, appearing in 117 episodes of the series, more than any other companion.

He stayed in the role of Joe Sugden for over 20 years, leaving Emmerdale in 1994.

Elsewhere on the cast, Sheila Mercier played Peggy and Joe’s mother Annie. Mercier would stay on the cast even longer than her on-screen son, leaving the production in the mid-90s. She died at the age of 100 in 2019.

Frederick Pyne played Matt Skilbeck, the husband of Peggy, until 1989, and Toke Townley played Sam Pearson, Annie Sugden’s father, appearing in over 800 episodes of the show.

Marian Wilks, the daughter of Henry Wilks who had just bought the adjoining land to Emmerdale, was played by Gail Harrison, while her father was portrayed by Arthur Pentelow.

Henry Wilks went into business partnership with the landlord of The Woolpack, Amos Brearly, played by actor Ronald Magill, for almost 20 years, adding a humorous dimension to the soap.

Who’s returning for the 50th anniversary special?

With a mostly middle-aged cast making their Emmerdale Farm debuts 50 years ago, it’s not surprising that many of the show’s original cast members are sadly no longer with us.

The only original cast members who are still alive are Frazer Hines, Gail Harrison and Frederick Pyne. None of these cast members have been confirmed to return in the anniversary special.

Hines’ character was killed off in 1995, while Gail Harrison was switched for another actress when she left the show in 1987, before her character was written out entirely a year later. Pyne’s last appearance as Matt Skilbeck was in 1989

But, many of the show’s fixtures from its later years will be making special returns to show their faces for the celebratory episode.

The show’s executive producer, Jane Hudson, previously said they want to make the 50th birthday month “a treat for all our loyal viewers” which has them “gripped to the edge of their seats as the stories unfold”.

She added that the storylines will “have you in tears, make you laugh out loud and of course, amaze you with some of the most epic stunts you will have ever seen.”

Some iconic characters who previously left the show will return for the anniversary - they include:

• Diane Sugden, played by Elizabeth Estensen, who appeared in the show from 1999-2021
• Aaron Dingle, played by Danny Miller, who starred in the soap on and off between 2003 and 2021
• Tracy Metcalfe, played by Amy Walsh, who first appeared in 2014

When can I watch it?

The 50th anniversary special will air on ITV on Sunday 16 October at 7pm - 8pm. Unlike the soap’s 40th anniversary special, the episode will not be broadcast live.

The special will be available to catch-up on demand on the ITV Hub shortly after broadcast, and a special documentary - Emmerdale - 50 Unforgettable Years - will air at 6pm ahead of the anniversary episode.