Author: Rebecca Sayers

The Emmerdale cast is ever-changing, whether that’s growing or shrinking or a recast – there’s always something happening.

But occasionally when they lose a fan-favourite for various reasons, the show takes a hit. So sometimes these characters appear back on our screens looking completely different.

Recasting characters is a tricky move. The show needs to find someone who will do the role justice and has a familiar feeling. But it does pay off sometimes.

So here are some characters that everyone wants back on the show – even if they need to be recasted.

Emmerdale recast: Adam Barton.

Adam Thomas played this iconic Barton boy from his first arrival on screen in 2009, right up to his exit in 2018.

But many fans feel that Adam should be back in the village, especially since Moira just had brain surgery.

His return to the village could work so well with many of the current storylines. So why not?

While some fans on a reddit thread called for him to be recast, others believed they couldn’t see him “played by anyone else.”

Joe Tate

While many argued on reddit that some characters shouldn’t be recasted, they seemed to agree that Joe Tate could be – if Ned Porteous didn’t want to return to the show.

Joe’s exit in 2018 left a lot of things unsaid and waiting. The potential storylines that could work if the show had a Joe Tate return is endless.

And many fans on that reddit thread agree because Ned “only stayed a short amount of time” on the show, a recast wouldn’t be completely ridiculous.

However, there are a lot of theories Joe is the mystery man working to take down Kim Tate at Christmas…

Debbie Dingle

Just like Adam, this one is tricky. Charley Webb created a statement character during her time on Emmerdale. And so to imagine anyone else playing her would be strange.

But it’s still not impossible. Charley has made numerous returns to Emmerdale over the years, but none seem to have stuck.

If there was any time that would be good for a Debbie return – it would be now.

She would be arriving right back into family drama. Cain has just cheated on Moira, and Charity is dealing with the Ross and Mackenzie feud. So who better to help Ross through it than the girl he spent years wanting to be with?

Emmerdale recast: Daz Eden

This one takes fans back a while. Luke Tittensor played the role from 2003 until his sudden exit in 2009.

The years he spent on the show, he was at the height of some huge storylines, and his character seemed to mix well with others.

Unfortunately Luke’s contract got terminated in 2009 as he pled guilty to grievous bodily harm and so Daz left Emmerdale.

But some fans commented that his identical twin brother, Elliot, could easily appear in the show to bring Daz back.

They wrote: “I will never understand why they didn’t recast Daz Eden. He could have been recast with his identical twin brother.”

It would be a blast from the past, but it would create a shake-up to the Emmerdale cast.

Was John wrongly cast?

Some fans point out that Oliver Farnworth’s talents aren’t being completely shown through his portrayal of John Sugden.

Instead they believe he should have been an entirely different character.

A user wrote: “Oliver Farnworth should have been a Jamie recast. Although he would have to put on a southern accent.”

One pointed out he is “far too old”, but another backed them reminding them that “Emmerdale change ages all the time.”

An Emmerdale recast that worked!

There is a lot of debate on reddit about the issues of recasting characters. While it’s quite normal and frequent for soaps to change a young actor (Sarah and Gabby for example), it’s quite rare for a successful older recast.

One fan pointed out that Robert Sugden was Emmerdale’s last successful recast, noting the issue seems to be the writing changes.

Ryan Hawley took over the role from Karl Davies in 2014. And he immediately fit right in.

They wrote: “Recasting hasn’t been great for many years now. But the main problem is Emmerdale’s writing changes the character. They don’t fully know what they want to do with their direction and give them anything, even if it doesn’t make sense to their previous personality.”

Who would you like to see recast?

Read more: First look at Christmas in Emmerdale

Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an early release at 7am on ITVX. 

Classic Emmerdale usually airs weekdays on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm. 

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