Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared during 2023, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the soap's executive producer, Jane Hudson. January saw the introduction of Marshall Hamston (Max Fletcher), a classmate of Arthur Thomas (Alfie Clarke). Gus Malcolm (Alan McKenna) debuted in April as the ex-husband of Rhona Goskirk (Zoë Henry). In June, Flo Wilson joined as Claudette, the mother of Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin). She was soon followed by Victor (Eddie Osei), her husband and Charles' father. Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana then joined in July as Suni, Jai Sharma's (Chris Bisson) cousin. Corey Sanderson (Kyle Row) debuted in August as an old friend of Nate Robinson's (Jurell Carter). He is followed by his boss, Damon "Harry" Harris (Robert Beck). Later that month, Ben Addis joined as Craig Reed, a man that grew up with Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) in a children's home. Additionally, multiple other characters appeared throughout the year.
Marshall Hamston
Marshall Hamston, played by Max Fletcher, first appeared on 5 January 2023. He was introduced as a classmate of Arthur Thomas (Alfie Clarke), who has a crush on Marshall. In a "cruel bet" arranged by Marshall's friends, he pretends to like Arthur back, but when Arthur learns the truth, he is left devastated. Leeds Live wrote that viewers had "taken to" Marshall and were rooting for him and Arthur to become a couple. Eventually, they become a couple. On 11 July 2023, it was announced that Marshall would be leaving the serial at the end of his storyline with Arthur, making his final appearance on 20 July 2023. The exit was described as "sudden" by Radio Times.
Faye Helders
Faye Helders, played by Jane Gurnett, 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. However, as time goes by, it transpires that Faye is trying to scam Mary and other villagers by setting up fundraisers for a charity she has made up. When Mary finds this out, Faye attacks her and leaves her unconscious, to later be found by ex-son-in-law Gus Malcolms, and departs on 2 May 2023.
Digital Spy announced on 4 July 2023 that Faye would be returning to the soap, and Gurnett returned on-screen on 17 July 2023. She appears to be homeless, but this also turns out not to be true. She then blackmails Mary with a nude photo of her, she but manages to have Faye arrested. However, Faye sends the photo to all of Mary's contacts. Gurnett made her final appearance as Faye on 19 July 2023.
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. Village bosses need to dig deep and find a reason to keep her around for good. She's just too damned watchable to be festering in jail!"
Gus Malcolms
Gus Malcolms, played by Alan McKenna, made his first appearance on 5 April 2023. He was introduced as the ex-husband of Rhona Goskirk (Zoë Henry). The pair were married off-screen in the 2000s, in the time between Henry's two stints on the soap. 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). Gus catches up with Rhona the next day, with the request to use one of their frozen embryos for his new wife they still have stored, which Rhona thought had been destroyed. She is shocked to learn that the embryos still exist and later becomes horrified when she learns that Gus has contacted the clinic pretending to already have her consent.
Speaking on Gus and Rhona's marriage, Henry said that their ending was not happy. She explained that they both wanted children and due to stressful rounds of IVF, Rhona left him and the divorce went on for years. 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".
Gus makes an unannounced return on 1 November 2023, along with his wife Lucy (Charlotte Asprey), when they bump into Marlon in the hospital. Lucy is pregnant, which Marlon notices, which makes him realise that Gus has used the embryos without Rhona's consent. Gus admits to faking her consent by which he stole her passport, which was previously believed to be done by Faye Helders (Jane Gurnett). Marlon threatens to tell Rhona about what has happened.
Ally
Ally, played by Josh Horrocks made his first appearance on 20 April 2023. He the secret boyfriend of Nicky Miligan (Lewis Cope), who turns up ahead of Nicky's wedding to Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham), which was part of a revenge scheme set up by Nicky's father, Caleb Miligan (William Ash) against Kim Tate (Claire King) for the death of his father Frank Tate (Norman Bowler). Ally was Horrocks' second role in Emmerdale after playing Josh, a character who was chatting to Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) in a bar in 2020. Producer Jane Hudson had told Radio Times: "There is something else you're going to learn and there is going to be someone from Nicky's past turning up as well and you'll be left wondering what that means for Gabby."
Initially, Ally was introduced as a friend of Nicky's but on 25 April 2023, it was revealed that they were actually former lovers, who then went on to share a passionate kiss on a roadside. As time goes by, Nicky finds it harder and harder to go through with the wedding to Gabby, and Ally continues to persuade him to break it off, but then throws him when he proposes to Nicky, making him more determined to end things with Gabby. After jilting Gabby before their wedding, she finds a beaten up Nicky in the stables and he reveals Caleb's plan to her. The next day, Gabby has Nicky's phone and Ally calls Nicky, only for Gabby to pick up the call and tell him everything. When Ally meets up with Nicky again on 8 June 2023, he breaks off the engagement and hasn't been seen since.
Reuben Harris
Reuben Boyd Harris, played by Sebastian Kenneth Downes, is the son of Chloe Harris (Jessie Elland) and Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb). He was conceived after a one-night stand when Mackenzie's partner, Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) briefly broke up with him. The pair later discovered that Chloe was pregnant, but didn't tell anyone. Mackenzie later proposed to Charity and the pair later got married, however he still did not tell her.
Eventually, Charity found out when she saw him sat next to baby Reuben after he was born. The pair later split up and Mackenzie ended up with Chloe and proposing to her before he and Charity got divorced. However the engagement was broken off after Mackenzie slept with Charity the two of them along with Chloe were involved in a car accident that led to the car hanging over the edge of a cliff. Mack was able to exit the car and save Charity first, but before he could save Chloe, the car tumbled down the cliff edge. 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. He is however rescued by Charity and Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), the former of which shoots him after she gets hold of the gun whilst fighting him. As a result of the events, Chloe departs on 26 December 2023, taking Reuben with her.
Claudette Anderson
Claudette Anderson, played by Flo Wilson, made her first appearance on 25 May 2023. She was introduced as the mother of established character Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin). Emmerdale announced her casting on 24 April 2023, with Wilson having begun filming on the soap that month. On the character, ITV wrote: "Claudette is a force to be reckoned with and totally unafraid to speak her mind. She is deeply proud of her son Charles' position as a vicar and grandson Ethan's (Emile John) legal career. 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."
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. Wilson felt blessed to be cast on the serial and hoped that her work would make the cast and crew proud. Mathurin, who portrays Claudette's son Charles, had worked with Wilson prior to their Emmerdale stints. Of her casting as Claudette, he said: "when I saw her name on the sheet I knew she'd be perfect to bring Claudette to life. Flo is a wonderful soul, an amazing actress and is already settling in."
Claudette's first scenes see her arguing with Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker), unaware that she is dating her son. Daniel Kilkelly, writing for Digital Spy, said that Claudette's debut appearance was memorable. 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". Claudette speaks her mind, believing that speaking her truth and being clear is the best way to be. Wilson reckoned that having been alone for a long time, Claudette has forgotten how to behave around others. She appreciated Claudette's personality and described the writing as "absolutely brilliant". She loved Claudette's lines says and the way that she could deliver them as an actress.
On Claudette's relationship with her son, Wilson said that she infantilises Charles since she is too motherly. She is used to caring for him, and upon her arrival to the village, she continues to do it despite him being a grown man. Claudette is religious and put Charles through Sunday school as a child. This made him religious, so she believes that she is the reason for him becoming a vicar, which she is "very proud" of. Due to her religious beliefs, she disapproves of Charles and Manpreet being together due to not being married and "living in sin". Claudette believes that Manpreet has led them into sin since she feels her vicar son would not do that. Wilson said that Claudette would stick around in the village for a long time to ensure that Charles is on the "straight and narrow" and hinted that she would not approve of Manpreet for a long time.
Victor Anderson
Victor Anderson, played by Eddie Osei, made his first appearance on 8 June 2023. 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. Prior to his first scene, Charles was seen acting strangely and he later pays a visit to a high-security prison. He sees Victor out of prison and warns him to stay away from him and mother Claudette (Flo Wilson). Emmerdale producers confirmed that his sentence was long, but kept the reason for his imprisonment secret.