Cast photo marks 50 years of Emmerdale

The Yorkshire dales soap launched as Emmerdale Farm in the daytime schedules back in 1972.

Emmerdale will celebrate its 50th birthday with an hour-long episode on Sunday 16th October, exactly 50 years to the day since the programme first appeared on ITV screens.

To celebrate, Emmerdale unveils its official cast photograph taken earlier this year outside the Woolpack pub in the Emmerdale village in Yorkshire.

Everyone from the longest serving to our newer cast members, children and even the Dingle dog gathered in the Emmerdale village for this momentous occasion. – Emmerdale

Produced originally by Yorkshire Television the programme spent most of the seventies and eighties in daytime slots before moving fully to primetime as the decade came to a close. It was 1989 when the current programme, as Emmerdale, launched. The series, from the very beginning, has mixed everyday life with dramatic storylines.

Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV, STV and UTV from 7.30 pm. There’s an extra episode on Thursdays at 8.30 pm.