List of Emmerdale characters introduced in 2015

Emma Barton, played by Gillian Kearney, made her first appearance on 2 January 2015. The character had previously been mentioned by her on-screen family and heard once on a family video. During a press event on 11 August 2014, series producer Kate Oates revealed that Emma would finally be introduced to the show. She said "Emma's had a bit of a build-up, hasn't she? She's the woman we haven't seen and she's a bit of a mystery at the moment. I think it's safe to say that she is going to show up, possibly in the not-too-distant future. She may cause chaos." On 2 December 2014, it was announced that Kearney had been cast in the role. The actress commented, "As an avid fan of ''Emmerdale'', I'm delighted to be playing Emma Barton." Emma is described as "psycho" and one of the best soap villains of all time. Emma is the estranged mother of Pete (Anthony Quinlan), Ross (Michael Parr) and Finn Barton (Joe Gill), and the wife of James Barton (Bill Ward). She arrives in the village after Finn tracks her down following a 22-year absence from her family. Kearney called Emma "a fascinating and complex character", while Oates added that her appearance would "cause fireworks" for the Barton family.

On 9 May 2017, it was announced that Kearney would be leaving the role of Emma, as her character finally gets a comeuppance for her actions. Her final episode aired on 6 October 2017, where Emma was killed off in a whodunit-style storyline where she was pushed off a viaduct and murdered, however it was initially believed that the character committed suicide. Emma reappeared one last time during the 14 December 2017 flashback episode, where her killer was revealed to be Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb). The character made a brief appearance on 9 September 2024, after Moira begins hallucinating during a confrontation with Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly) in a barn.

Kearney has received acclaim for her portrayal of Emma. She was longlisted for the 2015 Inside Soap "Best Bad Girl" award but did not progress to the shortlist. Kearney was nominated for Best Serial Drama Performance at the 2016 National Television Awards. In August 2017, She was longlisted for Best Actress and Best Bad Girl at the ''Inside Soap'' Awards, while the motorway crash and James' death was longlisted for Best Show-Stopper and Best Shock Twist. While Kearney did not make the Best Actress shortlist, her other three nominations made the viewer-voted shortlist. On 6 November 2017, Kearney won the "Best Bad Girl" and "Best Show-Stopper" accolades.

Harriet Finch (Katherine Dow Blyton) helps Finn find Emma's address and he meets her in secret. She is thrilled to see him and is eager to get to know her other sons again but this proves complicated, given their history. While at a bar, Ross gets into a fight and is injured. Emma comes to help Ross and is shocked to recognise her sons. Finn invites Emma to the village and Ross tells her that James and Moira slept together before she left. James is defensive and accidentally reveals that Adam Barton (Adam Thomas) is his son. Emma blames James for losing her family but he reminds her that the reason she left was because she tried to kill Ross when he was a child. Emma asks if James has told their sons the truth and he tells her he has not. Emma leaves and Pete later tells James that she returned once before, but he sent her away. Emma returns to the village and Ross and Finn try to persuade her to stay. She tries to talk to Pete but he makes it clear that he knows what she did and will not forgive her. When Finn babysits Debbie Dingle's (Charley Webb) son, Jack, Emma visits and Finn leaves her alone for a few minutes. When Pete learns this, he runs into the house and tells Emma to leave.

Emma befriends James's partner Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), but remains hostile towards Moira. During an argument with James, Emma lashes out at him, causing a pallet to crash down on James and pin him under the load. Emma checks James to see if he is breathing and hesitates before calling an ambulance. Emma is defensive when Pete questions her about the accident but, thinking Emma saved James's life, Pete tells Emma that he will keep her secret and she can stay in the village. Relieved, she moves in with her sons after Ross "burgles" her house and then sets about ruining James's and Chas's relationship by making people think that they are having an affair. When Chas learns of this, she throws James out and he stays with Emma temporarily but this becomes permanent when she convinces him to give their marriage another chance. Emma then tries to make Chas think she is senile by smashing glasses in the pub and locks her in the cellar where Chas falls unconscious however Chas thinks Emma is continually breaking into the pub but is actually suffering from PTSD.

James falls down the stairs of his and Emma's new home during an argument with Ross, however while in the hospital Emma overhears a conversation between Ross and James about when he spent a night with Moira. Feeling betrayed Emma drugs James and holds him hostage in the bedroom for a week before confronting him, however she unties his hand after making him write and he hits her over the head with a glass bottle, Emma wakes up unconsciously and knocks James to the ground, in a struggle James manages to push Emma and she hits her head falling unconscious again, subsequently James believing he has killed Emma puts her in the car before stumbling away by himself. James is later in the woods by himself and Emma comes and confronts him leading them onto a bridge, after arguing and fighting. Emma accidentally pushes James from the bridge onto the motorway causing a large car pile up involving Ashley Thomas (John Middleton), Rhona Goskirk (Zoë Henry), Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) and Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather) with some cars overturning. Emma tries to warn Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) and Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) but Aaron and Robert drive into a nearby lake with Robert's former stepson Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson) in the boot in an attempt to avoid the pile up. While this was happening, Emma watched in disbelief, still standing on the bridge. Distraught, Emma flees and begins to pack her things. She answers Finn's phone call and makes herself sounds calm and concerned before finding out that James is still alive and in hospital. Emma later goes to the hospital and tries to kill James by squeezing his breathing tube but backs away, James however later dies.

Within the next few weeks Emma puts on an act of sadness mourning James. Dementia sufferer Ashley tells Emma he remembers seeing her on the bridge before the car accident and she later offers to look after him whilst his wife Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) is having a manicure, however she goes to confuse him which leads to Ashley becoming distressed by Emma telling him many different things at once to get rid of the memory of her on the bridge. Later when Laurel comes home she asks Ashley if he recorded anything on his video recorder which he says no too however it is shown that the video recorder is on and that it has recorded Emma telling Ashley he didn't see her on the bridge. In October 2017, Emma's crimes begin to catch up with her and she begins to unravel as Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) learns the truth about her killing James and her lies to Ashley. She confronts Gabby and they fight, leading to Emma being knocked unconscious in the river. She is found by Finn, but she locks him in the church. Later, startled by a noise, Emma accidentally shoots Finn, and he later dies from his injuries. Wracked with guilt for everything she has done, Emma seemingly commits suicide by jumping from a viaduct. As she dies, she is met by the ghosts of James and Finn. Dying, she asks for their forgiveness, which they give her. On the day of her funeral, a flashback reveals that she was actually pushed off the viaduct by Moira following a confrontation between the pair over Holly's death, as well as the murders of James and Finn. Provided by Wikipedia