Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared during 2018, by order of first appearance. Leanna Cavanagh (Mimi Slinger) and Maya Stepney (Louisa Clein) were introduced in March. Misty Allbright (Hedydd Dylan) and Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) were introduced in April. Terry (Daniel Casey) made his first appearance in May, while Ryan Stocks (James Moore) made his debut in June. Manpreet Jutla (Rebecca Sarker) and her daughter, Aiesha Richards (Shila Iqbal) arrive in July. Ellis Chapman (Asan N'Jie and Aaron Anthony) and Obadiah Dingle (Paul Copley) arrived during September. Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) was introduced in December. Additionally, multiple other characters appeared in 2018.
Leanna Cavanagh
Leanna Cavanagh, played by Mimi Slinger, made her first appearance on 6 March 2018. She is introduced following the decision to promote her father Liam (Jonny McPherson) to a regular character, where producers explored his family life. She feuds with stepmother Maya Stepney (Louisa Clein), as well as his later partners Bernice Blackstock (Samantha Giles) and Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi). She develops an on-off relationship with Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant), as well as making a frenemy out of Bernice's daughter Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham).
Actress Slinger stated that the "proudest moment" of her life was the day that her mother called her to inform her that she had landed the role of Leanna. In an interview with Susannah Alexander of Digital Spy, Slinger described Leanna as a troublemaker, and that she loves the attention that comes from being that way. She stated that Leanna is "that stereotypical mean girl who creates drama to keep her position". Slinger explained to Alexander that Leanna has a "hard exterior" due to events in her backstory, which causes her to be too harsh to people and not regard their feelings. The backstory of Leanna involves her mother Lara's death, which led her to not have a mother figure throughout her formative years. Viewers have "slammed" Leanna for her actions, describing her as "horrible" and a "devil child", as well as being branded "evil", "vile" and a "horrible little bitch".
Maya Stepney
Maya Stepney, played by Louisa Clein, made her first appearance on 8 March 2018. She was introduced as the wife of Dr Liam Cavanagh. She later begins a relationship with David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) and begins to groom his son, Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant).
Maya attends a dinner hosted by David and his wife Tracy Metcalfe (Amy Walsh), along with her husband Dr Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) and stepdaughter Leanna (Mimi Slinger). She and Dr. Cavanagh later split up, and she begins dating David, shortly after Tracy leaves him. She becomes close to his son, Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) and begins to groom him, later sleeping with him in February 2019, after his sixteenth birthday. Their love affair is exposed to Liv Flaherty (Isobel Steele) when she walks in on Jacob and Maya having sex. Liv later demands £5,000 from Maya or their affair is exposed. Maya tries to convince Liv that blackmailing her would send Liv to prison, which makes Liv angry and tells Maya that she now needs £10,000. While on a night out with Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) and Priya Sharma (Fiona Wade), David and Tracy, David kisses Tracy, Maya gets upset and leaves the club to meet Jacob. Priya goes out to find her purse but on her way she finds Maya and Jacob kissing. She later tells Leyla and Tracy. Leyla, Tracy and Priya kidnap Maya, and the following morning it is revealed that they badly injured Maya and left her for dead in the woods. Later that day, they go back to the place where they assumed they left Maya, but they only find bits of her blood-stained clothing. Leyla, Priya and Tracy later burn all the evidence, as they think that Maya's body might have floated off in the river near the woods. Liv later catches them and confesses to Leyla that she knew about Maya and Jacob, leaving Leyla repulsed.
On 20 June 2019, Maya is sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for her inappropriate relationship with Jacob. However, she is released on 19 November and it is revealed that she is pregnant. In December 2019, she gives birth, abandons the baby on David's doorstep and flees abroad.
Misty Allbright
Misty Allbright, played by Hedydd Dylan, made her first appearance on 9 April 2018. The character was introduced as Rodney Blackstock's (Patrick Mower) new love interest. Misty is a sex therapist, who meets Rodney in Ibiza and returns to the village with him. On Misty's presence, actor Nick Miles, who plays Rodney's son-in-law Jimmy King, said "It's a living hell and only adds pressure to Jimmy's lack of bedroom performance. The fact the writers have named her after my dog has added to the idea that this is my nightmare." The character departed on 24 August 2018. Dylan said she enjoyed her time on the show, and would return to Emmerdale if she was asked.
Misty's pairing with Rodney was nominated for "Most Bizarre Soap Storyline" at the 2018 Digital Spy Reader Awards; it came in eighth place with 6% of the total votes.
Misty follows her new boyfriend Rodney Blackstock to Emmerdale. Rodney introduces Misty to his daughters Bernice Blackstock (Samantha Giles) and Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler), after they hear them having sex. Nicola confides in Misty about her husband Jimmy King's intimacy problems, and Misty tells her she and Rodney will look after their children for the night. Misty later offers Jimmy her services as a sex therapist and he accepts. Nicola learns that Jimmy was not completely clothed during the session and worries that Misty and Jimmy had sex. Misty explains that Jimmy initially thought that she was going to give him a massage, but she got him to relax and embrace his spirit animal. Misty offers to arrange Brenda Walker's (Lesley Dunlop) hen-do and Brenda agrees, even though they have different tastes. Misty performs a cleansing ritual at the hen-do, and the other women decide to go to The Woolpack. Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) worries that he is cursed, so Misty performs a cleanse at the pub. She charges Paddy £125, but he gives her £5 and Misty tells him to enjoy his karma.
Dawn Fletcher
Dawn Fletcher (also Taylor), played by Olivia Bromley, made her first appearance on 25 April 2018. The character was introduced as part of Ross Barton's (Michael Parr) revenge storyline against Simon McManus (Liam Ainsworth), who threw acid in his face. Following her first appearance, a writer for Inside Soap noted in the 5–11 May 2018 issue of the magazine, "Emmerdale fans thought they spotted a spark between Dawn and Ross when he took pity on the drug user's plight and helped her out last week." The writer also reported that Bromley would soon be returning to the show. Her management confirmed that she would be a regular cast member. It was announced in March 2026 that Bromley's contract with the soap had not been renewed, with Dawn set to be written out later in the year. Bromley's final scenes aired on 30 August 2026 when her character was killed off after giving birth.
Ross Barton grabs Dawn when she returns to Simon McManus' flat. Dawn tells Ross that she does not know Simon and asks him to leave, but when Ross pours her cocaine down the sink, Dawn admits she does know Simon and that her friend Lee was supposed to be a witness at his trail, but he overdosed. Ross notices a basket of children's toys and Dawn reveals that she has a son, but he was taken into care. Ross gives Dawn a bottle of pills and his phone number. When her pimp Connor (Cameron Jack) returns, he finds Dawn has taken the pills. She gives him Ross's number and tells him Ross lives in Emmerdale. Ross later meets with a bruised Dawn, who is looking for some drugs. Ross encourages her to go and see a doctor, but later gives her £100. His brother Pete Barton (Anthony Quinlan) walks in on them and later warns Dawn to stay away from Ross.
A couple of weeks later, Dawn returns to the village and admits that she is working for Connor again. Ross asks her to call Connor and persuade him to come over. Ross punches Connor after Connor encourages him to, and Dawn pulls Ross off of him. Dawn later hands over a package containing drugs to Ross for him to sell on Connor's behalf. The following day, Ross asks for Dawn's help in persuading Connor to meet with him. Dawn warns Ross that Connor is dangerous and Ross shows a gun. After his meeting with Connor, Dawn asks Ross what happened and he reveals he did not use the gun. Dawn later comes to Ross to ask if he has seen Connor, as he is missing. She bonds with Ryan Stocks (James Moore) and tells him that as she is clean, she has had contact with her son. Ross tells Dawn to forget about Connor, and they have sex. But when he remarks that he has not got enough money to pay her, Dawn leaves. She returns to tell Ross that Simon is in the village and is planning on carrying out a raid at Home Farm. A few weeks later, Dawn lets herself into Dale View, where she is confronted by Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry).
In 2021, Laura-Jayne Tyler from Inside Soap praised the character, writing, "We really, really like Emmerdales Dawn now. We night not have known it at the height of all the Malone nonsense, but his murder cover-up has been the absolute making of her. And we're really rooting for Dawn and Jamie. Their chemistry is proper Romeo & Juliet, true-love-thwarted-at-every-turn stuff...Plus, he's much less of a complete and utter tool when she's around."
Terry
Terry, played by Daniel Casey, made his first appearance on 24 May 2018. Casey is one of a few actors to have made appearances in the three British soap operas Emmerdale, Coronation Street and EastEnders. Terry was introduced as the uncle of deceased character Gerry Roberts (Shaun Thomas).
Terry is in The Woolpack when he overhears Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) telling Doug Potts (Duncan Preston) that if Gerry Roberts was still around, he would be telling Aaron to cut Doug some slack. Terry throws his pint over Doug and calls him a murderer. He then reveals that he is Gerry's uncle. Doug does not argue with Terry when he says Doug should be in prison for causing his nephew's death. Doug apologises and offers to help with the funeral costs. When Terry learns that Doug is likely to receive community service, he tells Doug that he will be suing him and the B&B, where Gerry's death took place.
Terry returns to help organise Gerry's funeral and gives Doug a letter from his solicitor. Gerry's friend Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson) asks Terry if he can have Gerry's sketchpad, but Terry refuses to give it to him. During Gerry's funeral, Terry leaves the church claiming that he is upset, before robbing the B&B and fleeing. The police arrest a Terry Roberts, but Doug and Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen) learn that he is not the conman, as his identity was stolen. Lachlan finds the conman, whose real name is revealed to be Paul Tozer, at another funeral, and follows him in his car, killing him off-screen through unknown means and burying the corpse in the woods. Lachlan later returns home with blood on his shirt. Weeks later, the police find Paul's DNA in the woods. Lachlan digs up Paul's body and puts it in the boot of his car. However, Sam Dingle (James Hooton) sees the corpse, leading to Lachlan attacking him.
Ryan Stocks