Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 2017, by order of first appearance. (Shaun Thomas) became the first character to be introduced in the beginning of January as the friend of Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson). , (Philippa Howell), (Michael Warrender) and (Samuel Edward-Cook) then made their debuts in February. was introduced in March as a friend of Jai Sharma's (Chris Bisson), while (Jack Hickey) arrived in May as the ex-boyfriend of Carly Hope (Gemma Atkinson). (Mark Moraghan) arrived in July as the uncle of Chrissie White (Louise Marwood). In September, (Andrew Scarborough) was introduced as the father of Joe Tate (Ned Porteous). October saw the birth of . (Sandra Marvin), (Lily Westmoreland) and (Mia Gibson-Reed) all made their first appearances in November. Additionally, multiple appeared throughout the year.