Who played Ashley Thomas in Emmerdale?

Ashley Thomas was played in Emmerdale by John Middleton. He played the role for 21 years, from 1996 until 2017. Born on September 7, 1953, John...
Carena Crawford
By Carena Crawford

Ashley Thomas was played in Emmerdale by John Middleton. He played the role for 21 years, from 1996 until 2017.

Born on September 7, 1953, John is now 71 years old. He is married to Christine and they have two children together.

Coronation Street roles

John joined Emmerdale in 1996 and prior to that he also appeared in Coronation Street. Here he played John Hargreaves – the man who knocked down and killed Lisa Duckworth.

Two years after this 1993 appearance, he played a hospital consultant in Corrie when Deirdre’s husband Samir Rachid was attacked and killed by a gang of thugs.

John Middleton lands the role of Ashley Thomas in Emmerdale

He went on to play PC John Jarvis in Emmerdale before landing the role of Ashley in 1996. When he then left in 2017 John went under the radar for a while.

John didn’t appear on TV again until 2021, and it was in fact his last television role to date. He played Feargal Lumsden in Doctors. In this he once again was playing an elderly man with dementia who was put into a specialist care home by his daughter.

John has mostly starred on stage since his exit from the Dales, however. He appeared in play Strangers on a Train after his initial exit. Then in 2024 he was in a touring production of My Fair Lady playing Colonel Pickering. Fans were shocked at his appearance for the role as he had to seem more rugged and unshaven, unlike clean-cut Ashley.

Could Ashley Thomas ever return to Emmerdale?

Ashley is of course unlikely to ever return as himself – unless he reappears as a ghost. But John did joke to The Sun that he could make a comeback in another form.

Avid fans of the soap will know Ashley has a twin brother called Luke, who lives abroad and has never been seen on screen.

John explained: “There’s no hint of Ashley coming back as a ghost but Ashley does have a twin brother called Luke, so that could happen.”