Key Events & Episode Guide

Stories from:
[1995]

Complete Episode Guide

#2043-2146 --- 2 January - 31 December 1996

#2147-2304 --- 1 January 1997- 31 December 1997 Updated

Old episodes of Emmerdale air in the UK on Satelitte and Cable Channel Granada Plus Monday-Fridays at 9:30am with repeats at 12:30pm & 6pm. An Omnibus of the weekly episodes is shown Sunday Mornings at 6am. They are currently airing episodes from November 1997

Kathy's divorce settlement from Chris Tate gives her enough money to open the Old School Tea Rooms in 1995.

Series Landmarks

The 2000th Episode aired in August of 1995 as the tension mounted in the Kim Tate and Dave Glover affair.

From the 1 January 1997 the show went thrice weekly with the first Wednesday showing.

1995, 1996 and 1997 were probably Emmerdale's most successful years in terms of viewing figures and successfully bringing the series into the 1990's, but still maintaining the show's rural roots.

The Path To Continued Success

In the early 1990's Southern regions were threatening to drop Emmerdale from the Prime Time schedule, if the producers didn't find a way to raise the ratings. At the time it was being aired Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm. On the 30th December 1993 the famous Plane Crash took place. It gave the show a chance to revamp.

October 1994 saw Mervyn Watson take over as head of production at Emmerdale. His job was to either make or break this series once and for all.

Click for your complete guide to every Dingle

Among Watson's previous credits were Coronation Street's two most successful storylines ever (the Mike Baldwin, Ken & Deirdre Barlow love triangle; and villain Alan Bradley and his dealings with Rita Fairclough). It was quite clear if anyone was to save Emmerdale, then Mervyn Watson was that man.

Emmerdale was facing an uncertain future when Watson took over, it had come off a very controversial year which had seen the plane crash in December 1993 and the Post Office workers being taken hostage in the summer of 1994. While these had momentarily grabbed ratings, it hadn't sustained them and the programme had got in trouble with the ITC due to the violent content.

Watson decided it was time to completely revamp and think again. Two of the main things he was responsible for, was bringing in a host of younger characters and introducing the Dingles as main characters!

Detailed Dingle Family Tree by Chris Ward
(in png format)

The show has since grown from strength to strength. 1995, 1996 and 1997 were probably its most successful years.

ITV was particularly delighted in 1996 (by which time it was receiving 13-14 million viewers) when Emmerdale proved the only show to gain viewers, rather than loose or sustain them on that network.

Two particular episodes stand out from February and May 1997, in which they beat EastEnders in the ratings by over four million viewers. These were 1 hour specials (and their last half went head-to-head with the BBC's crown jewel). The first episode was when Ned Glover took his revenge on Chris Tate and it looked seriously like he was going to kill him. The second episode saw the return of Kim (back from the dead).

In 1997, the then Prime Minister, John Major, opened the new Emmerdale Production Centre in Leeds

WHO'S WHO - Your Guide to the characters & actors

[The Sugdens
/Skilbecks/Merricks
/Hughes/Pearsons
/Brearlys/Kempinskis]

[The Tates]

[The Dingles]

[The Bates]

[The Feldmanns, Chappells & Pollards]

[The Windsor/Hope Family]

[The Glovers/Fowlers]

[The McAllisters]

[The Turners]

[The Cairns]

[The Armstrongs & Eagletons]

[Rest of Cast]