Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that debuted during 2021, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the soap's executive producer, Jane Hudson. Ethan Anderson is introduced in January as the son of vicar Charles Anderson. Frankie Robinson is then born in February. In August, Rob Jarvis joined the cast as Wendy Posner's ex-husband Russell, later followed by Chloe Harris, the sister of Sarah Sugden's heart donor. Ben Richards then joined the cast in November as loan shark Gavin. He was followed by Carol Butler in December, who was introduced as the sister of one of Meena Jutla's victims. Additionally, multiple other characters appeared in 2021.