Emmerdale star Harry Whittaker dies: Soap pays touching tribute to toddler who played Leo Goskirk

Lisa Dingle returned to Home Farm in May to break the heartbreaking news to daughter Belle that she was suffering from terminal heart condition, Amyloidosis.Of her departure, actress Jane Cox said, "Lisa is so close to my heart as she's been such a huge part of my life for the past more than 23 years."So I know I will shed more than a few tears when it comes to filming her final scenes."But I'm really looking forward to my return to the show to tell this story and to give the character of Lisa a deserving farewell. I will miss her."

After a whopping seventeen years, Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) returned to the village for the wedding of her ex-husband Paddy Kirk to her cousin Chas Dingle.Her return wasn't last and she left once more after the nuptials,

Kim Tate crashed back into the village after her stint in prison fuming with right hand man Graham Foster for lying to her about son Joe's whereabouts and determined to get Cain Dingle to help her do away with Joe for good. She was never going to be away for long, was she?

With Joe Tate's whereabouts still unconfirmed, Graham passed on the details of Kim's estranged son Jamie as a bargaining chip to stop her going after Joe herself. Last seen as a toddler, Jamie's apple seems to have fallen pretty far from the tree with a personality a million miles from Kim's.

Paddy Kirk tracks down his long lost dad, who turns out to be a semi professional wrestler who goes by the name of Bear Wolf.After following him to Belfast for an emotional reunion, Bear Wolf reveals he never wanted to lose Paddy and the pair of them slowly begin to rebuild their relationship. SOB.

Gaynor Faye announced she would be leaving the soap in May."I know it's a risk but I need to push myself out of my comfort zone," she told OK! magazine."I've always been the type of person who doesn't want to stay playing the same character for too long. I've been on the show for over six years and have naturally reached a point where I'd like to do some other stuff."

Maya Stepney actress Louisa Clein has quit the soap after her explosive grooming storyline which lead to her facing some horrible trolling online. "Louisa's had fans glued to their seats with her brilliant performance," a soap insider said. "They've been wondering what the future might hold for Maya and savouring the potential for her to continue to feature."

Here's one you didn't see coming: Football pundit Chris Kamara will be making a cameo appearance in Emmerdale at the end of June."I watch Emmerdale with my wife and my son – in fact, my son is a massive Emmerdale fan so if I was coming down, they had to come too," he said."It was a great day and I loved it! I essentially got to play myself and not a character, but hopefully that'll be the next thing along the line."

Ryan Hawley, who's played Robert Sugden since 2014, is set to leave his role at the end of the year."[Ryan] has decided to take a break from the show for the foreseeable future and try other projects," an ITV source said."He will leave later this year, but fans can expect to see him on screen right up until the end of the year. He will be sorely missed."

Sandra Marvin will quit her role as Jessie Dingle later on in the year, following the dramatic grooming storyline that saw Jessie suspended from her job as Head Teacher at Hotten High. Jessie travels to Dubai to pursue other career opportunities.Jessie will be the second character to leave Emmerdale because of the scandal, following in the footsteps of Maya Stepney (Louisa Clein).

A new teenage love interest for Sarah Sugden Jr, Danny, is set to join the village in coming weeks.He'll be played by Louis Healy - son of Denise Welch and Tim Healy, and younger brother of The 1975's lead singer Matt Healy.

Comedy legend Tommy Cannon will be joining the cast as they mysterious Derek, who's set of have a major impact on the village dynamic.81-year-old Tommy was one half of comedy duo Cannon and Ball for nine years and have appeared on a number of ITV reality series since.

Pete Barton, played by Anthony Quinlan, left Emmerdale after a traumatic six years that saw him lose his entire family in freak accidents. "Anthony has loved his time on Emmerdale but he is really keen to try and make a name for himself away from just soaps, and is looking at auditions," said a source."He says he would be up for doing a reality show too, like the jungle or Strictly, but with a full-on filming schedule for Emmerdale that's quite tricky."

Andrew Scarborough, who plays Graham Foster, was reported to have been filming his last scenes in November."Andrew's been a great addition to the cast and has been involved in some of Emmerdale's biggest storylines since he arrived in the village in 2017," a source told The Daily Star."So he was never going to leave in the back of a taxi. His exit will be huge and will kick start a drama filled and action packed year in the Dales."

Relative newcomer Asan N'Jie was FIRED from the soap after getting into a drunk fight with fellow soap actor Jamie Lomas (Hollyoaks' Warren Fox) at a fancy awards ceremony in September.His sudden departure was explained by his half-brother Billy Fletcher who said he'd gone to join his mum Jessie in Dubai.

Sally Dexter, who plays Faith Dingle, announced she was leaving in October and teased her exit storyline, telling Metro, "There's a lot of fallout from the Moira, Cain, Nate debacle, I am probably going to be collateral. It's going to be an explosive October. I may have to leave for a little while."

Samantha Giles announced she was quitting her role as Bernice Blackstock in September after seven years. "After 7 fabulous years I am shortly to be hanging up Bernice's aprons and leaving the dales to pursue other creative projects," she wrote on Twitter."I will miss all the friends I've made on the show, but I'm very excited to be moving on to pastures new."

Frank Clayton died in a fire whilst trying to rescue his daughter Tracy.Actor Michael Praed said, "Sadly, it's the demise of young Frank."I would just like to thank all you guys for your support and I hope you continue to love the show as much as I do and all the people in it."