Longest-appearing actors

The 12 actors who have appeared in the series for 20 years or more are listed in the table below. The longest-tenured actor and the longest-serving cast member overall is Chris Chittell who has played Eric Pollard for 31 years. The longest-tenured actresses are Sheila Mercier (Annie Sugden) and Jane Cox (Lisa Dingle) with 22 years.

Longest-appearing Emmerdale actors (as of 2018)

Rank Actor Character Tenure

1 Chris Chittell Eric Pollard 1986– (31 years)

2 Richard Thorp Alan Turner 1982–2013 (31 years)

3 Clive Hornby Jack Sugden 1980–2008 (28 years)

4 Stan Richards Seth Armstrong 1978–2003, 2004 (25 years)

5 Steve Halliwell Zak Dingle 1994– (23 years)

6 Jane Cox Lisa Dingle 1996– (22 years)

7 Sheila Mercier Annie Sugden 1972–94, 1995, 1996, 2009 (22 years)

8 Mark Charnock Marlon Dingle 1996– (21 years)

9 James Hooton Sam Dingle 1995-1998, 2000– (21 years)

10 Dominic Brunt Paddy Kirk 1997– (21 years)

11 Paula Tilbrook Betty Eagleton 1994–2015 (21 years)

12 John Middleton Ashley Thomas 1996–2017 (21 years)

13 Kelvin Fletcher Andy Sugden 1996–2016 (20 years)