Cara Robinson, portrayed by Carryl Thomas, made her first appearance on 9 January 2020. Cara is introduced as the mother of established character Nate Robinson, who arrives in the village after receiving a voicemail from Moira Dingle about the affair Moira had with Nate. Cara attempts to persuade Nate to leave the village with her, but he stays in Emmerdale. When Nate is accidentally shot by Cain Dingle, she returns, suspicious of Cain and Moira. However, as he feels guilty over the affair, Nate covers for them by lying to Cara about what happened, saying he was shot by random farm hustlers. The character's backstory states that Cara was in a relationship with Cain, but Cain's father, Shadrach Dingle, detested the pair together due to his racism. Cara fell pregnant, and when Cain's mother Faith Dingle found out, she persuaded her to leave. After having the baby, Nate, Cara made numerous attempts to contact Cain but Faith intercepted in an attempt to cover up what she had done.
DI Mark Malone
Detective Inspector Mark Malone, portrayed by Mark Womack, made his first appearance on 5 March 2020. Mark is a former colleague of Harriet Finch, and the boss of Will Taylor former gang. Mark arrives in the village to investigate the shooting of Nate Robinson. He is later revealed to be a corrupted police officer, and he blackmails Will, Cain Dingle and Billy Fletcher into working for him, threatening their arrest if they do not comply. When he is reintroduced to Harriet, the two begin to have an affair behind Will's back. When he learns that Harriet and Will are set to get married, Mark attempts to frame Will for possession of drugs. When Will learns what he is trying to do, he attacks Mark by bludgeoning him with a spanner. Upon the announcement of his casting, the EmmerdaleTwitter account described him as a "police officer with a dark history". In an interview with Stephen Patterson of Metro, actor Womack talked about his character saying: "He likes messing with people's heads, especially Will's. I think he's generally just enjoys the whole game of it all. That's his thing, there's a bit of him that just enjoys manipulating people and getting them into situations and controlling people and that might be his downfall. He kind of loses control along the way and that might be what gets him." He hinted that Mark could be responsible for his own downfall, as well as the downfall of other characters, and added that he enjoys playing a villain. Talking to Inside Soap, Womack described Mark as "very dastardly", and stated that "you wouldn’t want tolock horns with him". He added: "Malone will stop at nothing to get what he wants and is very Machiavellian. Even though Malone's a policeman, he behaves in much the same way as the criminals he’s going after."
Paul Ashdale
Paul Ashdale, portrayed by Reece Dinsdale, made his first appearance on 15 April 2020. Upon his casting, it was revealed that Paul would have a connection to established characters Mandy Dingle and her adoptive son, Vinny Ashdale. On his casting, Dinsdale commented "I'm absolutely delighted to be joining the cast of Emmerdale. Having recently directed a couple of episodes and seen at close quarters the superb work the cast, crews, and creatives produce, I can't wait to become part of the team once again – albeit in a different capacity." Paul is revealed to be the ex-partner of Mandy, as well as the biological father of Vinny. It has been suggested that Paul and Mandy will rekindle their relationship.
