New filming rules have got the Emmerdale cast doing all sorts…
So Emmerdale has started filming again, albeit in a new normal.
The soap’s bosses have recently revealed the lengths they are going to stick to new health and safety guidelines in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Talking of the rules, in a recent press conference, producer Jane Hudson joked about Emmerdale star Danny Miller, who plays Aaron Dingle.
“Danny Miller has had to wash up saucepans in a scene – it’s the most he’s touched saucepans, like ever!”
Describing the on set behaviour of the pared-down cast and crew as a ‘game of Twister’, Jane also revealed how they’re maintaining the two-metre social distancing rule:
“We have our famous 2 metre pole and we physically bring it out on the set and hold it between actors and the crew. We have two metre distanced dots across every set and you stand on your dot.”
Speaking of the special lockdown episodes they have been filming – which are set to air from next week – Jane continued: “I hope you will be amazed how little you notice that they are two metres apart. There are some clever camera tricks involved.
"There will be little moments where you might expect a hug and they don’t but I’ve been on set the whole time and the end result amazed me.”
The three-week chunk of newly filmed episodes will feature some of Emmerdale’s best-loved characters such as Chas and Paddy (Lucy Pargeter and Dominic Brunt), Cain and Aaron Dingle (Jeff Hordley and Danny Miller) and Mandy Dingle and Vinny (Lisa Riley and Bradley Johnson). But these 'specials' will only loosely tie in to current storylines.
“It’s a snapshot of characters in lockdown but they do pick up in places of what was going on the show before hand," explained producer Laura Shaw. “Each episode reveals a new bit of information or a secret that will feed into future storylines.”
Said producer Kate Brooks: “We hope the audience will be very positive to see these familiar characters going through what we all are going through albeit in a soap like fashion. To see them just doing day to day instead of big storylines, and to discover new things about each other.”
The first of the lockdown episodes airs on Monday 8 June at 7pm and stars Sam and Lydia Dingle, with the second going out on Wednesday 10th June at 7pm with Cain and Aaron Dingle.
Emmerdale continues on ITV.
