Frank Tate (Emmerdale) Frank Tate (Emmerdale) Frank Tate is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, "Emmerdale", played by Norman Bowler. He made his first appearance on 21 November 1989 and remained a regular for almost eight years, before Bowler opted to quit in 1996, leading to his character’s exit the following year. Introduced as the patriarch of the new Tate family, who were brought in as part of the show’s rebranding, in 1989, many of Frank’s storylines revolved around his volatile relationship with his wife Kim Tate (Claire King). During his time in the programme, Frank and Kim divorced and
Emmerdale since then, it has been broadcast year-round. Episodes air on ITV weekday evenings at 19:00, with a second Thursday episode at 20:00. The programme began broadcasting in high definition on 10 October 2011. "Emmerdale" is the United Kingdom's second-longest-running television soap opera (after ITV's "Coronation Street"), and attracts an average of five to seven million viewers per episode. October 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of the show. During that month, the show made a live episode to mark the anniversary. "Emmerdale Farm" came about after creator Kevin Laffan was asked to write a lunchtime farming serial for ITV, as the