List of Emmerdale characters (1995)
Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared during 1995, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the series producer Mervyn Watson. Emma Nightingale and Nellie Dingle were introduced in January. [|Terry Woods] and [|Sam Dingle] made their debuts in February. [|Daniel Weir] arrived in May, while June saw the birth of [|Joe Tate]. [|Mandy Dingle] began appearing from July, and [|Albert Dingle] made his debut in December.
Emma Nightingale
Emma Nightingale, portrayed by Rachel Ambler, made her first appearance on 19 January 1995. She is introduced as a love interest for Zoe Tate, who she later dates. Emma and Zoe share the soap opera's first lesbian kiss and have their relationship blessed over a year after her arrival. Ambler left the soap in 1996 and reprised the role in 2004. Emma returns to the village where she surprises Zoe with flowers. She departed several weeks later.Nellie Dingle
Nellie Dingle, portrayed by Sandra Gough in 1995 and Maggie Tagney in 2000, makes her first appearance on 24 January 1995. Nellie is the first wife of Zak Dingle and the mother of their five children, Nathan Dingle, Ben Dingle, Butch Dingle, Sam Dingle, and Tina Dingle.Nellie arrived in the village following the arrival of her family months previously. She left the village to care for her ill father in Ireland, and did not return. Nellie and Zak divorce in 1997 so that he can marry Lisa Clegg. Nellie returns five years after her departure and attempts to woo back Zak. When Butch dies following a bus crash, Nellie is devastated and after his funeral, she returns to Ireland.
Terry Woods
Terry Woods, played by Billy Hartman, made his first appearance on 2 February 1995.Sam Dingle
Sam Dingle, played by James Hooton, made his first appearance on 14 February 1995.Daniel Weir
Daniel "Danny" Weir, played by Matthew Marsden, made his first appearance on 25 May 1995. Marsden auditioned for the role a week after signing with an agent, and it marked his acting break. He played the role for three months before producers decided to write the character out. Marsden commented, "Looking back, that was probably a good thing. I don't think I could have moved to Coronation Street if my Emmerdale role had been any more high profile than that – and he wasn't that likeable a character for the viewers in the first place." Ian Hyland of the Sunday Mirror dubbed Danny a "toffee-nosed rich kid".Daniel has a relationship with Linda Glover, which their mothers' disapprove of. Linda breaks up with Daniel after learning that he has had an affair and is engaged to Libbis Foster-Cuthbert and soon realises that she is pregnant. In retaliation, Linda's father, Ned storms the Weir mansion and attacks Danny and attempts to drown him in the swimming pool. Linda's brother, Dave arrives in time to stop Ned but after Danny's mother Vanessa insults Linda, Ned and Dave throw her into the pool, too. Linda loses the baby after ingesting some drugs she took from the veterinary surgery.
Joe Tate
Joseph Mark "Joe" Tate, originally portrayed by Oliver Young, was born on 8 June 1995 and made his first appearance in the following episode. He is the son of Chris Tate and Rachel Hughes. He continued to appear on a recurring basis until 22 September 2005, when the character departed. On 13 September 2017, Ned Porteous joined the cast as businessman Tom Waterhouse, who was later revealed to be Joseph on 4 January 2018. Joe was seemingly killed off on 11 October 2018 but on 18 March 2019 he was revealed to be alive and living abroad.Joseph is born prematurely to parents Chris and Rachel, and named after Rachel's stepfather Joe Sugden and Rachel's brother Mark Hughes. Since Chris and his dad Frank Tate are away in a meeting when Rachel goes into labour, Chris's former wife Kathy Tate helps Rachel and becomes Joseph's godmother. When Chris and Rachel divorce, Rachel obtains custody of Joseph. The following year, Rachel begins a relationship with Graham Clark, who later murders her by pushing her off a cliff. Joseph begins living with Chris, although when Chris marries Charity Dingle, Joseph opts to attend boarding school. Two years later, Chris commits suicide, framing Charity for his murder and leaving Joseph an orphan. Zoe Tate, Chris' sister, obtains custody of Joseph and in 2005, they leave the village with Zoe's daughter, Jean Tate.
Joseph continues to attend boarding school in England where he becomes friends with groundskeeper Graham Foster and saves him from a fire. At the age of 15 Joseph locks his headmaster in a cupboard as a prank and Zoe makes Graham Joseph's guardian to prevent him being expelled. On leaving school Joseph starts his own business with Graham as his associate.
Twelve years after leaving the village, Joseph returns to Emmerdale, using the alias Tom Waterhouse. He meets Debbie Dingle about leasing a Bentley. Tom and Debbie later kiss and sleep together, he then buys her a Bentley and a house, Jacob's Fold. They begin a relationship. Debbie soon discovers that Tom has invested in a golf course that is to be built on the land that the Dingles' cottage, Wishing Well, is built on. Joseph reveals his true identity, takes back the Bentley, evicts Debbie and her children, Sarah and Jack Sugden, out of Jacob's Fold and ends his relationship with Debbie, telling her that she was collateral damage in his pursuit of seeking revenge on her mother, Charity, for driving his father, Chris, to suicide. Joseph buys his childhood home, Home Farm, from the Whites and later moves into it. He makes up with Debbie and starts a relationship with his brother Noah Dingle.
On 13 September 2017, it was announced that Porteous had been cast as Tom Waterhouse, a love interest for Debbie. Tom is billed as a "wealthy businessman", while Porteous described the character as "very cool and fun", the actor admitted he found his casting enjoyable but intimidating. On 4 January 2018, Tom was revealed to be Joseph Tate in a surprise on-screen twist which revealed that Joseph had returned to take revenge on Charity, blaming her for his father, Chris' death.
On 11 October 2018, Joe is seemingly killed after a single punch by Debbie's father, Cain Dingle. However, when Graham puts Joe in the boot of his car, Joe's hand twitches. Graham is then seen emotionally breaking down at the wheel of his car. Graham later confirms to his step-grandmother Kim Tate that Joe has been taken care of, and Joe was assumed to be dead. However, on 18 March 2019 Joe was revealed to be alive and living abroad, in Monte Carlo, living off money from Kim's business.
Joe's supposed death came in fourth place in the "Biggest OMG Soap moment" category and in sixth place in the "Most devastating Soap Death" category at the 2018 Digital Spy Reader Awards.