Later that month, Ben Addis joined as Craig Reed, a man that grew up with Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) in a children's home.
This formed the start of a "hard-hitting storyline" that sees Marshall's father, Colin Hamston (Mark Noble) become abusive as a result of his homophobic views.
[6] His departure was criticised by the Metro, with journalist Stephen Patterson finding it disappointing that Emmerdale were showing an inability to keep their LGBTQ+ couples together.
[8] Faye Helders, played by Jane Gurnett,[9] first appeared on 29 January 2023 as a love interest for Mary Goskirk, whom she initially goes on a date with and the pair agree to see each other again.
Laura-Jayne Tyler from Inside Soap praised Faye, writing, "Forget Emmerdale serial killers of legend: Jane Gurnett's ability to turn on a sixpence from teary tea leaf to ruthless con woman is genuinely terrifying, and makes Faye easily one of the best Dales villains we've seen in years.
[13] It was said that Gus's arrival will "tug at the heartstrings" for Rhona when he unexpectedly interrupts a date between her and husband Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock).
She stated that his arrival brings back memories of a turbulent and unpleasant time in Rhona's life which she thought had ended.
She also said: "While Rhona is thrilled Gus is happily remarried, him suggesting she allows him to use these embryos - and his wife carry the child - is enormously complicated".
As a result, Chloe had severe injuries that she made a full recovery from, and after so sought revenge on Mackenzie by making contact with her father Damon (Robert Beck), who kidnaps him and holds him at gunpoint.
She believes herself to be a loving matriarch, but secretly Charles finds his mother rather overbearing and soon the other villagers will learn not to get on the wrong side of Claudette.
"[18] Executive producer Jane Hudson hinted that Claudette's arrival on Emmerdale would impact the drama of the Anderson family unit and was excited for viewers to be introduced to her.
[19] After making numerous jibes at Manpreet, Wilson opined that her character "doesn't have a mean bone in her body", but that she unknowingly "walks over people's feelings and emotions".
The character was not announced prior to his surprise arrival in the series, when he was introduced as Charles' (Kevin Mathurin) father being released from prison.
The brilliant addition of Eddie Osei as Victor has allowed us to learn more about who the Andersons are and we can't wait for the audience to watch as the drama unfolds.
While Claudette is confronted by the husband she prayed she'd never see again, Charles has to face up to painful past traumas and he makes no secret of the fact that Victor is not welcome here.
[20] After struggling to settle back into his family unit, Victor reveals that he has been diagnosed with an unruptured aneurysm, though Charles suspects he is lying.
Ramana opined that Emmerdale is brilliant at "making sure there's accurate representation of real people and telling their authentic stories".
[24] Executive producer Jane Hudson echoed Ramana's excitement and stated: "he certainly hits the ground running as we throw him right into the heart of a big Sharma story.
Beck previously appeared on Emmerdale as Gavin Ferris, a love interest for Bernice Blackstock (Samantha Giles), and was excited to return to the soap in an unrelated role.
She hinted: "Harry will bring drama and peril to some of our most loved villagers, with some twists and turns along the way that our viewers really won't be expecting!
He was referenced on-screen in 2019 when Emmerdale explored Lydia's backstory, which involves falling pregnant at the home and fearing the repercussions, she does not confide in anyone about the pregnancy and eventually gives birth to a stillborn baby.
Sophie gets into contact with Gail when Oscar is thirteen years old since he has been diagnosed with aplastic anemia and requires a bone marrow transplant.
[35] Ryan tried to reach out to Oscar by sending him a friend request on Facebook, but this leads to Sophie confronting him and Gail in The Woolpack and telling them that he is upset and doesn't want anything to do with them.
Oscar Grisham, played by Harley Hamilton[36] is the biological son of Ryan Stocks (James Moore) and Gail Loman (Rachel Gill-Davis) who is thirteen and was born in 2010.
[35] Ryan tried to reach out to Oscar by sending him a friend request on Facebook, but this leads to Sophie confronting him and Gail in The Woolpack and telling them that he is upset and doesn't want anything to do with them.
[37] However, when Charity tells Oscar her age when she gave birth to his father, he reassures her that he's glad his grandfather is no longer around and she's relieved by his understanding reaction.
When Jai finds this out, he tries to avenge Rishi's death by pushing him down the stairs just like he did to his adoptive father and threatens him that he would expose his murder if he doesn't leave the village.
However, the stress of the treatment caused their marriage to end in a bitter divorce, meaning their embryos would remain frozen for close to two decades.
In April 2023, Gus reappeared with his current wife Lucy to ask Rhona's permission to use their frozen embryos, which angered her having believed that they had been destroyed long ago.
We'll see how this affects Billy and Dawn's relationship, the wider family in Kim Tate (Claire King) and Will Taylor (Dean Andrews), and all of their friends.