Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared or will appear during 2014, by order of first appearance. William Makepeace (Dudley Sutton) and his grandson, Seb (James Redmond) arrived in February. The following month saw the introduction of Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth) and Marlon Dingle's (Mark Charnock) daughter, April (Amelia Flanagan). Tracy Shankley (Amy Walsh), Daz Spencer (Mark Jordon), Rakesh Kotecha (Pasha Bocarie) and Carole (Tracy Brabin) made their first appearances in July. Rakesh's son, Kirin (Adam Fielding), made his debut in August. The White family – Lawrence (John Bowe), Chrissie (Louise Marwood) and Lachlan (Thomas Atkinson) – arrived in September, October and November. Additionally, multiple other characters appeared in 2014. Liam Cavanagh Dr Liam Cavanagh, played by Jonny McPherson, made his first appearance on 9 January 2014. In June 2018, it was confirmed that McPherson had been promoted to the regular cast. The news came shortly after the character's wife and daughter were introduced. Dr Cavanagh examines a pregnant Priya Sharma (Fiona Wade) after there are concerns that her eating disorder may be returning. Dr Cavanagh tells her that her baby is fine, but he is still concerned for the health of her and the baby. He tries to give Priya the number for a support group but she refuses to take it, determined that everything will be fine. Later the same month, Val Pollard (Charlie Hardwick) called Dr Cavanagh out to Pollard's Barn to examine her husband Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell), whom she was concerned had contracted HIV. The doctor examined Eric and came to the conclusion that Eric had flu. Liam briefly visits the village and encounters James Barton (Bill Ward) and Finn Barton (Joe Gill) who express to him their concerns for their family member and his colleague, Emma Barton (Gillian Kearney), who has gone missing. James and Finn ask him if he knows anything such as where she might currently be working. Liam is initially reluctant, citing reasons of professional confidentiality but later relents and discreetly slips James some information. When Leanna tells Liam that she has taken a morning after pill as a result of being sick after losing her virginity to Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant), Liam goes to confront Jacob in front of his family. However Jacob insults Leanna in front of her, which results in Liam punching him