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 dead wood, and reinvent the soap virtually from scratch," which included survivors changing the village name from "Beckindale" to "Emmerdale". Since the plane crash, "Emmerdale" has had increasingly dramatic storylines and glamorous characters. In 1994, former "Coronation Street" producer Mervyn Watson was hired to inject more humour into the show. New long-term characters, such as the Windsor and Dingle families, were also introduced in the 1990s. The Tates became the soap's leading family during the decade, overshadowing the Sugdens and remaining at Home Farm for 16 years. Family members left or died and the last, Zoe Tate, left in 2005.