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Annie Roberts

From untimely deaths to reality TV: Where are Emmerdale's biggest stars of the '90s now?

Soap opera Emmerdale is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year after gracing our screens with the gossip and drama-filled village since 1972.

Alongside murders and disasters, there have been multiple owners of the famous Woolpack pub - which itself has seen plenty of drama from babies being born to recently being blown up - and Home Farm which has also been home to many ruthless owners.

The evening soap is best known for its iconic characters and if you've recently been enjoying the re-runs of the classic Emmerdale episodes from the '90s and early noughties on ITV3, then you may already recognise some of these characters.

Read more: Where are Coronation Street's biggest stars of the '90s now?

Of course, over time some of them have left to go on to do other things, sadly some have now died, but others have made spectacular revivals as their characters in recent episodes of the show.

Here's everything we know about some of the biggest Emmerdale stars of the '90s and where and what they are doing now...

Annie Sugden - Sheila Mercier

English actress Sheila Mercier who played the character of Annie Sugden (United News/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Sheila played the role of Annie Sugden for more than 20 years, she was one of the staple and original characters of Emmerdale appearing in the series when it first started in 1972, up until 1994.

She did make occasional reappearances to the soap, most notably in 1995 for Joe Sugden's funeral and was last seen on the TV soap in 2019 when she returned for her son Jack Sugden's funeral.

Sadly Sheila died in December 2019 at the age of 100 but her memory in Emmerdale continues to live on. In 2020, her on-screen granddaughter Victoria Sugden, played by Isabel Hodgins, discovered Annie had left her some land in the village which is now being farmed by Moira Dingle.

Kim Tate - Claire King

Claire King arriving to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house at Elstree Studios in 2014 (Ian West/PA Wire)

Claire King joined the village as Kim Tate in 1989 and since then has had one rollercoaster of a journey in the soap.

She first married Frank Tate, who owned home farm before having an affair with Dave Glover in 1998, who later died in a fire at Home Farm. Just a few months later Kim disappeared from the village - believed to have been in a car incident.

She returned to shock husband Frank Tate and watched him die from a heart attack before marrying Steve Merchant in 1998, after a robbery involving a horse Kim left the village in style in 1999 via helicopter.

She starred in Bad Girls between 2000 and 2005 and appeared in Coronation Street as Erica Holroyd between the years of 2014 and 2017.

In 2006, Claire took part in the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing and entered the Big Brother House for Celebrity Big Brother in 2014.

She rejoined Emmerdale in 2013 and 2018 both for a short time before making a permanent return to the village in 2019.

Zak Dingle -Steve Halliwell

Has there been an Emmerdale episode without Zac Dingle I hear you ask? Well, believe it or not , the Dingles have not always been at the centre-front of the Yorkshire soap.

Zak first appeared in Emmerdale in October 1994, he joined the soap as a former bare-knuckle champion of the Dales and his original family were wife Nellie and sons Butch and Sam and daughter Tina.

But he later went on to marry Lisa Dingle - a marriage that would span more than 20 years on screens but not without some bumps in the road.

Steve still features on the soap, making occasional appearances but his role as patriarch of the Dingles has now been taken over by Sam Dingle played by James Hooton and his on-screen wife Lydia played by Karen Blick.

Steve starred in the original All Creatures Great and Small from 1983 to 1990 and Coronation Street between 1984 and 1994 before taking on his role as Zak.

Anne Cullen - Heather Peace

Heather only had a brief role in Emmerdale in 1997 she played Andy Sugden's - played by Kelvin Fletcher - school teacher.

Andy caused some trouble during his time in school but Anne Cullen played by Heather stuck up for her pupil and made sure he was still able to attend school.

Heather has since gone on to have a successful acting career with roles in hit TV shows such as Waterloo Road, The Bill, Heartbeat, Coronation Street and Silent Witness. In 2021, she joined the cast of EastEnders as Stacey Slater’s former prison mate.

Sean Reynolds - Stephen McGann

Stephen McGann in 2019 (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Recognise this familiar face? Stephen is now best know for his role on BBC One's hit period drama Call the Midwife where, since 2012, he has starred as Doctor Patrick Turner alongside his on-screen wife Shelagh played by Laura Main.

But back in late '90s, Stephen played the role of Sean Reynolds - who worked in the Tate's haulage firm from 1999 to 2002.

Mandy Dingle - Lisa Riley

Lisa Riley attending the National Television Awards 2020 (Isabel Infantes/PA Wire)

Lisa starred as Mandy Dingle between 1995 to 2001, during that time she married her cousin Butch Dingle in 1998 before later marrying fellow villager and vet Paddy Kirk in 1999. She also had a mud fight outside the Woolpack with barmaid Tricia in 1999, an iconic scene many Emmerdale fans will remember.

She went on to star in TV series Age Before Beauty, Waterloo Road and the mini series Three Girls, before recently returning to the village in 2019 with her adoptive step-son Vinny's Dingle.

Since arriving back in the village have seen turbulent times with Vinny's dad Paul arriving in 2020 which set off a catalyst of drama.

Zoe Tate - Leah Bracknell

Leah Bracknell in 2006 (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Leah's character Zoe Tate first joined the village in 1989 and went on to have a wide range of intense storylines in the Dales, she set fire to the church, injected Scott Windsor with drugs and later blew up Home Farm before leaving with her daughter for New Zealand.

She started her time on the soap as a student vet, before setting up a practice with Paddy Kirk. In 1993, she made TV history by becoming the first lesbian character in a British soap.

Leah won the 2006 British Soap Award for Best Exit and later went to star in the likes of Judge John Deed, The Royal Today, Casualty, A Touch of Frost, Doctors and DCI Banks.

Sadly, the actress died in 2019 at the aged of just 55 after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016.

Terry Woods - Billy Hartman

Billy played the long-running character of Terry Woods for 16 years, starting in 1995 before leaving in 2011. He worked behind the bar in The Woolpack for many years alongside Alan Turner.

His character had an affair with Viv Windsor, suffered a stroke in 2003 and later married Dawn Hope, Bob Hope's daughter. In 2011, he tried to rescue Viv from the burning Post Office but sadly they both died in the fire.

Billy, who is now 64-years-old, has since starred in Casualty and BBC drama Keeping Faith.

Betty Eagleton - Paula Tilbrook

Paula Tilbrook who played Betty Eggleston, second left (Pool Photograph/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

The original village gossip before Brenda picked up the gauntlet - was Betty Eagleton. Paula who played the iconic long-standing character first appeared on the soap in 1994 looking for her former lover Seth Armstrong.

She soon settled back in to village life, becoming a loyal friend to many in the village, old and young. She became a popular character with fans but in 2004, Betty took a long break from the soap saying she had gone to visit fellow villager Kathy in Australia but she did make occasional returns.

Paula's last appearance as Betty was in 2015, when she announced her retirement after 21 years. In December 2019, sadly the actress died at the age of 89

Katherine "Kathy" Brookman - Malandra Burrows

Emmerdale actress Malandra Burrows (PA/Yui Mok)

Malandra Burrows made her first appearance as Kathy in the village in 1985 but had some prominent storylines throughout the 90s before being written out of the show in 2001 - where Kathy heads for a new life in Australia.

She did make a return in 2005 - for a very brief appearance at Seth Armstrong's funeral. She married three times whilst on the soap.

In 1990 Malandra Burrows released a single called Just This Side of Love which she performed on Top of the Pops.

In 2006, Malandra was in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! alongside Matt Willis and Myleene Klass.

Andy Sugdon - Kelvin Fletcher

Kelvin was just a teen when he joined the Emmerdale cast in 1996 and had a career on the soap spanning 20 years.

Kelvin Feltcher is now a racing driver but has kept up his acting career starring in Death in Paradise and he is currently at the forefront of his own BBC programme Kelvin's Big Farming Adventure and starring in Channel 5 drama The Teacher.

In 2019, he won BBC Strictly Come Dancing with his professional dance partner on the show Oti Mabuse.

Kelly Windsor - Adele Silva

Adele starred as Vic Hope's daughter Kelly Windsor in the Yorkshire soap between 1993 and 2007 - but she did make an appearance on the soap in 2011 too.

During her early years in the village, Adele's character Kelly was best friends with Mandy Dingle, she also had a younger half-sibling called Donna and an older half-brother called Scott - who she later has an affair with.

Since leaving the village, Adele has had roles in Casualty and Hollyoaks as Angela Brown.

New episodes of Emmerdale air weekdays on ITV from 7pm and on Thursday's a second viewing airs from 8pm.

From March, you can watch the soap every weekday at a new time of 7.30pm.

You can also watch the classic episodes of Emmerdale on ITV3.

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