Who was Frank Tate in Emmerdale?

We’ve heard his name mentioned hundreds of times, but just who was Frank Tate in Emmerdale and why does his legacy live on? The Tate family...
Carena Crawford
By Carena Crawford

We’ve heard his name mentioned hundreds of times, but just who was Frank Tate in Emmerdale and why does his legacy live on?

The Tate family arrived in the soap in 1989, bringing a touch of class and a lot of drama to the village. During the past almost four decades, they’ve been at the centre of many of the show’s most explosive storylines.

Their arrival came when the soap was changing direction. It had dropped the ‘Farm’ from its title and was trying to spice things up a bit – and the Tates certainly did that!

Frank Tate rules them all in Emmerdale

Francis ‘Frank’ Ronald Tate, played by Norman Bowler, was the patriarch of the wealthy Tate family and Emmerdale’s first true villain. He had five children – Chris and Zoe, and then Liam Hammond and Caleb Miligan, who he knew nothing about. He shared Jamie Tate with second wife, Kim, but Jamie’s paternity was questioned when he was first born.

Frank’s second wife was the Queen of Emmerdale, Kim Tate. However, he was previously married to Chris and Zoe’s mum Jean, who fell ill with cancer in 1984. It was revealed Frank had assisted in Jean ending her own life and was having an affair with Kim at the time of her death.

A successful haulage baron, Frank was rich and powerful. However, he also drank too much alcohol and had a violent temper. Frank and Kim’s marriage was tempestuous and littered with affairs and betrayals.

After baby son James was born, Frank tried to have Kim murdered. But he ended up killing her lookalike instead.

The death of Frank

Frank suffered a fatal heart attack 1997. It came after Kim ‘returned from the dead’. She had had Frank framed for her ‘murder’ and then in one of the most iconic scenes in Emmerdale history, she strolled back into Home Farm.

Frank died on the living room floor at the manor house, shocked at the sight of her. Cold-hearted Kim used her compact mirror to check he’d taken his last breath before reapplying her make-up. Ouch.