Emmerdale back filming with six special lockdown episodes
They will air in June!
Back in March, all of the nation's favourite soaps, including Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, EastEnders and Coronation Street, were forced to postpone filming and work on a reduced schedule due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
And with reports suggesting the already recorded episodes will run out in mid-June, Emmerdale bosses have been working hard to get their cast back into work, whilst following all of the social distancing guidelines.
Announced today (Thursday 21st May), Emmerdale returned to filming yesterday, with the cast working on six special lockdown episodes, all filmed with just two cast members.
The six new episodes, which will air in June, will be recorded at Emmerdale's studio in Leeds and will feature the following cast members:
Episode One: Cain and Aaron (Jeff Hordley and Danny Miller)
Episode Two: Chas and Paddy (Lucy Pargeter and Dominic Brunt)
Episode Three: Sam and Lydia (James Hooton and Karen Blick)
Episode Four: Marlon, Al and Ellis (Mark Charnock, Michael Wildman, Aaron Anthony)
Episode Five: Mandy and Vinny (Lisa Riley and Bradley Johnson)
Episode Six: Jimmy and Nicola (Nick Miles and Nicola Wheeler)
Bosses at ITV have ensured new ways of working in order to follow all Health and Safety guidelines, with the cast members doing their own hair, makeup and wardrobe.
The crew filming the six new special episodes will also use their own sanitised equipment, whilst other staff continue to work from home.
The new episodes will see the characters reflecting the nation's current situation, including the weekly NHS clap for carers and people who are working on the frontline to keep the country safe.
Check out the current soap schedule below:
When is EastEnders on TV?
EastEnders bosses announced episodes have dropped to just two per week.
Mondays: 8pm
Tuesdays: 7.30pm
When is Emmerdale on TV?
Emmerdale have suspended filming and episodes have dropped to three per week.
Monday: 7pm
Wednesday: 7pm
Friday 7pm
When is Coronation Street on TV?
Corrie has also been dropped to three episodes per week, with filming on the soap also now suspended.
Monday: 7.30pm
Wednesday: 7.30pm
Friday: 7.30pm
When is Hollyoaks on TV?
The cast of Hollyoaks have been expressing their sadness that filming has been temporarily suspended, with the show also going down to three episodes per week.
Monday: 6.30pm
Tuesday: 6.30pm
Wednesday 6.30pm
However, Hollyoaks bosses announced they will be showing 'classic' Hollyoaks episodes on E4 on both Thursday and Friday, calling it 'Hollyoaks Favourites'.
Introduced by Kieron Richardson and Jorgie Porter, this series will give viewers a chance to revisit some of our biggest episodes, from weddings, bust-ups, heartbreaks and some of the biggest and best stunts from the last 25 years.
John Whiston, Managing Director of Continuing Drama for ITV Studios, said, “It's brilliant that Jane and the team at Emmerdale have risen to the challenge of getting these episodes shot using the new protocols for filming drama while observing the Government's social distancing guidelines. Also, it will be great to see what the likes of Chas and Paddy and Jimmy and Nicola have got up to while they've been going through lockdown the same as the rest of us!”
Emmerdale boss Jane Hudson added, “Lockdown has created an opportunity for us to focus on what is important in our lives. When we first discussed commissioning these episodes back in March the writers instantly rose to the challenge. Seven weeks into lockdown and the scripts have an added poignancy and meaning. The response from everyone at Emmerdale to filming these episodes has been fantastic and we’re really grateful for their support.”
The six brand new episodes will air on ITV in June.