Emmerdale chief 'wants Norris Cole' in the Dales
Emmerdale producer Stuart Blackburn has said that he would love to see Coronation Street busybody Norris Cole and EastEnders' Dot Cotton to appear in the soap. Speaking to Inside Soap magazine, Stuart suggested the two beloved soap characters - played by Malcolm Hebden and June Brown respectively - should appear in the village for a crossover, and that it would shake things up among the current residents. "I adore Norris, and I'd love to bring Dot and Edna together, because despite being superficially similar, I think they'd hate each other," he said. "They'd probably each describe the other as sanctimonious and po-faced!" Stuart also revealed that he is planning some strong 2012 storylines for Emmerdale to coincide with its 40th anniversary. "We're hoping to do something very different that redefines our new, modern Emmerdale. I want every story we play to be big, powerful and emotional," he told the magazine. "I want to try to find a way of giving every single character a voice and a role. I want 2012 to have the best storylines the show has ever had. That's a start - and the rest will be unveiled shortly!"
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.