A vote for crime and violence

and hotness

45 [17] Zak Dingle - Round 1 - 8.49%
Ranking History (13-17-18-17-45)

Zak's fall is only second to Paddy's. I wonder why? I've always been pretty indifferent towards Zak, but since his affair, he's been rotten. Have no idea why he's done better than Lisa, absolute tragedy.

44 [61] Arthur Thomas - Round 1 - 8.66%
Ranking History (X-X-53-61-44)

Arthur takes one of the biggest climbs this year, and his support shocked me. He was in the top five in Round 1 throughout his heat, it was only towards the end where he slipped out, but the fact he held on for so long was impressive.

43 [48] Adam Barton - Round 1 - 8.90%
Ranking History (45-42-40-48-43)

Adam's always been consistent in this competition and this year is no different. He's never broken into the top 40, but nor has he ever fell out of the top 50. He's had a few meaty storylines over the years, with John dying, James being his dad and him not being Johnny's dad, but somehow, he doesn't ever seem to leave any sort of impression on me.

Edit: Whoops, yes he has. Top 39, then?

42 [52] Sarah Sugden - Round 1 - 9.18%
Ranking History (52-56-51-52-42)

Sarah's impressive climb sees her become the last child standing. I love Sarah and I really hope she doesn't return with a new head or I'm gonna scream - it's not EastEnders!

41 [51] Megan Macey - Round 1 - 9.41%
Ranking History (X-39-25-51-41)

Megan also climbs 10 places. It's good to see a character be strong and not go running back to their partner every two minutes. More of them are needed, and I'm glad it's paid off for Megan in this competition.

Poor Princess April

But seriously, thanks so much for this Reserved, I love these rankings, and it must take a lot of time and patience.

40 [50] Kirin Kotecha - Round 1 - 9.50%
Ranking History (X-X-X-50-40)

Kirin continues the trend and climbs exactly 10 places. I liked that Rakesh couldn't manipulate him - it's good to see characters that aren't stupid and always falling into the traps of others. There really isn't many around as the majority of characters take everything at face value. Kirin thought outside the box, in that sense, especially when it came to his dad.

39 [29] Priya Sharma - Round 1 - 9.74%
Ranking History (54-43-37-29-39)

Priya climbed year on year until now. It was expected after the dull, quiet year she's had. Apart from moaning over who runs the factory, what has she done in the past six months? Exactly. A lot of characters are becoming spare parts because unfortuntely a select few are taking up every single storyline, every single episode, and every single bit of attention by those behind the scenes... screw the rest of the characters

38 [43] Dan Spencer - Round 1 - 10.00%
Ranking History (X-36-15-43-38)

Dan climbs five places and yet again I'm weeping into my pillow. Why, oh, why do characters like this even exist, let alone are actually liked?!

37 [39] Bob Hope - Round 1 - 10.53%
Ranking History (24-15-31-39-37)

They bring back Carly to give Bob something to do but then ignore their relationship and keep them separated? Makes sense. I just have no opinion of Bob; if they can't be bothered to put in the effort outside him serving in the cafe, I can't be bothered to care for him either way. When was the last time Bob was in the pub socialising? He's permanently stuck in the cafe, switch it up a little, Emmerdale.

Round 1 is done and dusted - any rankings that raised an eyebrow from you?

I loved Sarah in full on Ross- baiting mode. Although of course she went down in my estimation when swayed by a pair of tacky trainers. I hope she doesn't t come back with a new head though.

OP, are there any characters you do like?

God, that would be terrible. I love her.

Amazed Dan is so high - I don't mind him, but he has sod all to do these days.

Charity Dingle!

I think Dan's great, he's one of my favourite characters.

36 [35] Brenda Walker - Round 2 - 3.80%
Ranking History (46-38-45-35-36)

Brenda just about managed to hold onto a place in Round 2, but falls one place and is unable to beat her personal best. I like Brenda, but she's another character who often gets overlooked. Other than serving people, often terribly with ditzy comments, what does she do? The writers are lacking in creativity.

35 [34] Rodney Blackstock - Round 2 - 4.87%
Ranking History (35-22-25-34-35)

Rodney also dips one place, but I'm surprised he managed to maintain his support this year considering his lack of screen time. Does anyone see a theme here?

34 [25] Pearl Ladderbanks - Round 2 - 5.98%
Ranking History (18-23-22-25-34)

Pearl takes a tumble and out of the top 30 for the first time. Finally, a character that's actually had a storyline this year! Pearl had a bit of a problem with gambling earlier this year, but the storyline seems to have done no favours for her popularity on DS. I'm guessing many didn't care either way for the storyline, though. Am I right?

33 [NE] Emma Barton - Round 2 - 6.44%
Ranking History (X-X-X-X-33)

Fantastic placing for newcomer, Emma! I really enjoy watching her, especially when she locked Chas in the cellar. I only wish it'd killed her. I'm going to really enjoy watching the rivalry between Emma and Charity in the next few months (hopefully)!

32 [40] Sandy Thomas - Round 2 - 6.52%
Ranking History (29-31-28-40-32)

Sandy's remained fairly consistent over the years. I expected a better performance this year due to the prominence of the Thomas family over the past year, and whilst climbing eight places is impressive, the rest of the Thomas family have improved much more than Sandy has on their previous performances.

31 [46] Pete Barton - Round 2 - 6.53%
Ranking History (X-X-61-46-31)

Pete is one of very few characters that has climbed year on year. He was struggling by the time his exit came, but he's come along way from 2014's performance

30 [12] Debbie Dingle - Round 2 - 6.91%
Ranking History (32-45-10-12-30)

Next up is a shocker! In 2014, she was in the final, and in 2015, she lost out in the semi-final. This year, she got no where near and is one of the biggest fallers of 2016. Her ranking sees her go full circle back to the opinion DS thought of her in 2012. Personally, I blame Ross for her downfall. The two of them don't work well together and they were being shoved down our throats.

29 [22] Vanessa Woodfield - Round 2 - 7.03%
Ranking History (X-61-14-22-29)

Vanessa continues to fall despite some heavy screen time throughout the past year. I really like Vanessa, she's a very grounded character and despite disliking a lot of her storylines, I find myself relating to her and rooting for her. I think her position this year is pretty spot on.

27 [29] Harriet Finch - Round 2 - 7.07%
Ranking History (X-X-36-29-27)

Harriet continues to take a steady climb and I'm glad. Harriet is one of the most underrated and underused characters on the show! She's been able to show many layers without any real storyline. I really hope the new producer uses her to her full potential - there's so much you could do with her and I hope we don't see it go to waste.

Really surprised about Pearl, I think she's great. And I liked that storyline, she was cracking in it. Maybe the older characters suffered because we never get to see the gang of them any more.

Only because his massive nose gets exposed to the sun too much.

27 [18] Eric Pollard - Round 2 - 7.07%
Ranking History (05-04-06-18-27)

Eric's out of the top 20 for the first time after his position continues to tumble. I generally like Eric but his grieving did nothing for me. Val was a big part of him, and whilst I understand Eric was around a long time before she came onto the scene, she was a big part of his life for the best part of a decade and I'm not sure where they can take him next. I just hope it's something original and not something desperate from the writers, like declaring his love for some random woman in a few months time.

26 [31] Andy Sugden - Round 2 - 7.13%
Ranking History (41-24-34-31-26)

Andy continues to climb the rankings and just misses out on achieving his best ranking to date. I think Andy gets a tough time on here - the actor, too... but then he did call us all 'vile' and 'bitter', so he deserves it

25 [37] Rhona Goskirk - Round 2 - 7.17%
Ranking History (36-47-16-37-25)

Rhona missed out on Round 2 by just a few points last year, but this year she got through relatively comfortable and manages a decent boost up the rankings. Rhona's a great character and even though I dislike(d) the affair plot, I'm glad the reveal will put Rhona at the forefront for a bit, even if it's just an episode or two before the usual suspects take back over. A bit of Rhona is always nice

There is one trend in here Kate Oates and new dude...what's his name need to take note of all of the characters that cheated on their spouses have fallen hard Debbie, Paddy and Zack.

Also I demand a recount!!! No way Wendy should be that high on the list, she belongs at the bottom with Jai.

24 [37] Belle Dingle - Round 2 - 7.28%
Ranking History (28-41-29-37-24)

Next up is the crackin' Belle! Wow - what a character! Always been a great actress from a young age, and it's certainly no different now she's reached adulthood. Some FMs seemed to find her mental illness plot a bit annoying/tedious last year, but she seems to be back on form now with her best ranking to date!

23 [26] Lawrence White - Round 2 - 7.80%
Ranking History (X-X-X-26-23)

Lawrence jumps three places ahead. I'm really liking the dynamics of the White household, especially with Bernice now involved. The best episodes of last year was the night before the wedding. I really hope we see more from them all.

22 [31] Edna Birch - Round 2 - 7.93%
Ranking History (10-20-17-31-22)

Edna leaps nine places ahead, and due to the passing of the actress Shirley Stelfox (RIP ) this will be her last appearance in the competition.

21 [14] Jimmy King - Round 2 - 7.95%
Ranking History (14-03-04-14-21)

Jimmy's up next and receives his worst ranking to date. Comedy storyline after comedy storyline; it's just nonsense and clearly it's getting to a lot of us now. Jimmy and Nicola are great, and the comedy between them is hilarious, but when it's natural! It's so forced these days and there's absolutely no balance with them.

20 [01] Ross Barton - Round 2 - 7.98%
Ranking History (X-X-21-01-20)

The champion finds himself nearly on a par with his debut ranking after winning last year! His relationship with Debbie is much to blame for his fall, I reckon, but then there's also the fact he's not been off our screens since... well, since he arrived, really.

19 [NE] Carly Hope - Round 2 - 8.90%
Ranking History (X-X-X-X-19)

Carly's proved to be a success with DS as she storms into the competition inside the top 20 - and rightly so! A brilliant addition to the show, can't wait to see more of her. The actress is a natural.

Onto Round 3!

Thank for the special thanks Reserved! And for doing this
I love Pearl btw.

18 [36] Laurel Dingle - Round 3 - 8.60%
Ranking History (19-48-54-36-18)

Laurel had the best storyline of 2015 with her being a drunk. The only interesting storyline and it had me hooked. As soon as those ties were cut from Marlon, she was like a whole different character. Not only did she have the best storyline, but she also had the most memorable scenes. The scene in the pub where she screams at Marlon and smashes the tray out of his hands was fantastic, and the scene where she gets off the bus with Gabby and calls her a little bitch is even better! Laurel is well on her way to being one of the best characters on the show again - just like she was before the Marlon nonsense. The actress is one of the best, too.

17 [11] David Metcalfe - Round 3 - 9.36%
Ranking History (01-11-12-11-17)

David's always reached the semi-final, so this is new territory for him as he hits an all time low. Still an impressive ranking history, but personally I feel he's overrated and I'm glad he's finally taken a hit!

Thanks so much for all your work! I live for this poll.

But be nice to David when he comes up

Oh I was just too late!!

Thanks for voting in every heat! Amazed some can do it considering the length of time it takes from Round 1, Heat 1 to the final vote!


Was that nice enough? I'm usually tough on David, but I haven't got the energy to let rip... I'm saving it for much bigger fish later on

Not surprised that Ross has only got 20th place. They ruined him the second he started pining over Debola. Awful couple with no chemistry yet we still had to watch him become Debbie's lapdog.

I miss cheeky, sarcastic Ross

He hasn't had much scree time since Debbie left though, hopefully the producers have realised shoehorning him into everything only damages the character. I'm looking forward to him getting a storyline that isn't Debola related though.