Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 2017, by order of first appearance. Gerry Roberts (Shaun Thomas) became the first character to be introduced in the beginning of January as the friend of Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson). Maggie, (Philippa Howell), Ethan (Michael Warrender) and Jason (Samuel Edward-Cook) then made their debuts in February. Nell Fairfax was introduced in March as a friend of Jai Sharma's (Chris Bisson), while Matt (Jack Hickey) arrived in May as the ex-boyfriend of Carly Hope (Gemma Atkinson). Tim Richards (Mark Moraghan) arrived in July as the uncle of Chrissie White (Louise Marwood). In September, Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) was introduced as the father figure of Joe Tate (Ned Porteous). October saw the birth of Isaac Dingle. Jessie Grant (Sandra Marvin), Sebastian White (Lily Westmoreland) and Dee Dee (Mia Gibson-Reed) all made their first appearances in November. Additionally, multiple other characters appeared throughout the year.