Question: who is the longest running actor in emmerdale
Answer: Longest - appearing Emmerdale actors ( as of 2017 ) Rank Actor Character Tenure Chris Chittell Eric Pollard 1986 -- ( 31 years ) Richard Thorp Alan Turner 1982 -- 2013 ( 31 years ) Clive Hornby Jack Sugden 1980 -- 2008 ( 28 years ) Stan Richards Seth Armstrong 1978 -- 2003 , 2004 ( 25 years ) 5 Steve Halliwell Zak Dingle 1994 -- ( 23 years ) 6 Sheila Mercier Annie Sugden 1972 -- 94 , 1995 , 1996 , 2009 ( 22 years ) 7 Jane Cox Lisa Dingle 1996 -- ( 21 years ) 8 Mark Charnock Marlon Dingle 1996 -- ( 21 years ) 9 Paula Tilbrook Betty Eagleton 1994 -- 2015 ( 21 years ) 10 John Middleton Ashley Thomas 199