Good to see Priya doing better

Well done April!!! Well deserved!!!!

18 [06] Eric Pollard - 7.77% Round 3
Ranking History (05-04-06-18)

Four massive characters eliminated in a row, thus four major shocks, for me! Eric receives his worst ranking to date after falling 12 places and out of the final for the first time ever! Eric's not really a character I rate and I think he's only done so well in the past because of his status on the show; not that I'm trying to take anything away from Eric, he's a solid character, but not top six worthy. This ranking seems much more suited to him.

17 [18] Zak Dingle - 8.13% Round 3
Ranking History (13-17-18-17)

Up next is Zak, who's been incredibly consistent in the competition. I find Zak way more annoying than Lisa. He seems like a shadow of his former self, but that's not a criticism, I think it's a fantastic portrayal of someone who suffered a mental illness, but in general, he does irritate me. I acknowledge he's a good character and understand why viewers like him, but he isn't my kind of character, unfortunately.

I really like Chrissie, I think she could be a good character once the Robert stuff is over with. She's been made to look dumb for the sake of Robert getting away with the affair and to facilitate Katie's exit.

Also, April is over-rated.

16 [11] Diane Sugden - 9.10% Round 3
Ranking History (08-13-11-16)

Diane falls five places and receives her worst ranking to date. Diane's another funny one that I love or hate depending on the situation she's in. That's not a bad thing, I think it's great that Emmerdale don't write scripts so black and white. Sometimes Diane is in the wrong, other times she's perfectly right in what she's saying, but that's what makes such good characters - we all have flaws and to put characters in different situations where they show all sides of their personality is something Emmerdale does well. I find the other soaps seem a bit 'good vs. bad' with their characters. Despite this being Diane's worst ranking, it's still a brilliant one, and well deserved.

15 [57] Leyla Harding - 9.17% Round 3
Ranking History (X-X-57-15)

Leyla's up a whopping 42 places! She had a tough heat last year to contend with and considering she hadn't been back long, I predicted she'd do much better this year and I'm glad that I was right! I love Leyla; I wish she'd get away from the dreadful Jai, but apart from that, I love her.

14 [04] Jimmy King - 10.06% Round 3
Ranking History (14-03-04-14)

Another shock exit! Jimmy falls ten places and finds himself back where he was four years ago! Jimmy's the last King standing as Tom, Matthew, Carl and Max have all died on screen over the past 11 years. Sister Scarlett was lucky to get out alive! Emmerdale struck gold by putting Jimmy and Nicola together and their characters success is, I suspect, majorly down to their relationship.

13 [27] Finn Barton - 10.18% Round 3
Ranking History (X-X-27-13)

Finn climbs 14 places and just misses out on a place in round four! Finn started off on shaky ground with me; I wasn't keen at all, but he's really come into his own in the past year or so. I really enjoy the relationships he has with Victoria, Val, Eric and Ross. I'm glad Aaron didn't want him, and I hope it stays that way once Robert leaves (if he leaves). I don't want Finn being ruined by that miserable sod.



Onto Round 4 now and onto the last two characters before we get to the most important and exciting part...

12 [10] Debbie Dingle - 6.86% Round 4
Ranking History (32-45-10-12)

Debbie misses out on the final as she drops two places, but considering how she was faring two years ago in this competition, she's clearly managed to win a lot of people round and they seem to be sticking by her. Debbie's someone that makes me feel a whole range of emotions - exactly the type of character I was talking about in Diane's summary. To me, Debbie is probably one of the most 'real' characters in soap. I don't love her or hate her or feel indifferent towards her - what I feel towards her completely depends on the scene. We see her flaws but we see that she's also a person. Very few characters in soap are as complex as Debbie, and if this was based purely on which character is the most believable as a real person, Debbie would win it hands down.

11 [12] David Metcalfe - 6.94% Round 4
Ranking History (01-11-12-11)

Ugh, this moron climbs back up the rankings. How? Why? He was heading in the right direction until now. What's worse though is he actually won it one time! I just don't understand the appeal of this character. The way he has no backbone whatsoever and comes running back to Alicia telling her he never put X straight, then he finds himself in a 'comedy' situation later on when X confronts him and he's seen worming his way out of being direct. It's not funny, it's not cute, it's absolutely bloody pathetic. So infuriating!!!



That's that, folks! 12 - 73 all done! We're at the stage you've all been waiting for. Who will be crowned champion, but more importantly right now, who will be finishing in 10th place? I hope it's not your favourite, but I hope it's not mine more so

I'm glad Debbie is improving year on year, she's back to her normal self now and I enjoy watching all of her scenes. A far cry from 2 years ago.

David is a weird one for me, he can be hilarious but then he can be dumb and spineless as you say and it's annoying to watch. Alicia manages to bring the best out in him when they have something decent happening. It's a tough one as I managed to hate him when he wouldn't break it off with Priya though he and Alicia loved each other. They still don't really get any tender scenes together like they used to before they were together but he's better with her and he can be good when given something proper to do.

Finn was doing really well earlier in the year with Robbie, then he fell off the radar and has mostly been sidelined for his brother, Ross. I'm hoping this changes in the future Aaron isn't the only gay in the village and other people need screentime too.

10 [13] Chas Dingle - 8.14% - 345 points
Ranking History (17-12-13-10)

Chas gets her best ranking to date and took part in her first ever final. It proved a step too far though as she couldn't compete with the rest and is our first finalist out. A place in the final is still a great achievement though and they're all (sort of) winners from this point on.

Thanks for all this Reserved!! I've really enjoyed this, very excited to hear the top 10, but gutted Debbie is out already

Thanks again for all the time and effort you've put into this x

Great thread Reserved! Brilliant observations too. Thanks for the hard work.

09 [20] Kerry Wyatt - 8.52% - 361 points
Ranking History (X-32-20-09)

Kerry continues to rise in the rankings. I'm really surprised at how well Kerry's done. After seeing the likes of Val and Bernice eliminated in round two, I thought Kerry would be out by round three since she's a character of the same mould, but she's managed to pull through each round and land herself a place in the big finale! Well deserved

08 [03] Charity Dingle - 9.51% - 403 points
Ranking History (02-09-03-08)

So annoyed, upset, angry, bitter and hateful towards DS right now. When will this amazingly, brilliant, fantastic, wonderful, gorgeous character win this damn competition?! THE BEST CHARACTER OF SOAP. Fantastic actress, too. Charity adds so much to Emmerdale for me and it really wouldn't be the same without her. I'm gutted that we've lost her for a year, but at least it's not a permanent exit. One of only three characters to make the final every year, so I guess you all sort of redeem yourselves a little bit, but not much

Really good competition this year. I agree with pretty much all the rankings. There's a few I'd chop and change. Not sure why David and Finn are so high. Val is definitely in my top 10. Debbie and Charity would be 1 and 2 for me but aside from that it's pretty close to what my personal list would be.

Interesting to see the top 10. I'll post my personal top 10 once the results have finished. Maybe we all should? See how close our personal lists are to the 'group chosen' one

Aww, I love David. Great characters don't have to be hard-edged and bolshy. Matt's so good at comedy, and the Alicia/David relationship is just as good as Nicola/Jimmy, in my opinion - and David is very realistic, not often doing the OTT things the Dingles always do (even though I love most of them too!)

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN:

Nicola King
Cain Dingle
Victoria Sugden
Alicia Metcalfe
Ross Barton
Aaron Livesy
Robert Sugden

Any predictions before we move on?

No predictions but how the 'effing heck are Victoria and Alicia better characters than Charity, Debbie and Val???

Yay for Lawrence and April!

Think Charity deserved higher - she is a goddess.


I predict Aaron and Robert will be strangely absent from the judging and will turn up later looking guilty and with messy hair.

Lovely Alicia will definitely be out next

Glad at how far she's come though!

Hahahahaha!

Whaaaaaat? Queen Charity 8th

I really don't get the Victoria Sugden love!!!!!

They're not - but I think Charity, Debbie and Val are marmite characters - they provoke strong reactions. Victoria and Alicia are sort of all-round likeable, so they win out in polls like this. I hate to say it, but I don't actually rate Victoria that much now. She's OK. But it's like choosing vanilla over mint choc chip.

Neither do I. She's alright but nothing special imo

07 [09] Alicia Metcalfe - 9.63% - 408 points
Ranking History (16-07-09-07)

Alicia climbs two places and hits her peak position once again. Alicia is a really good character played by a decent actress, but I'm not sure whether the David relationship works. I enjoyed her a lot more whilst David was with Priya and she was up at Home Farm, but at the same time, I feel she has more potential with David - does that make sense? Either way, Alicia's proving to be a solid, consistent character that DS clearly loves.