Emmerdale's Amy Walsh calls filming the factory fire her 'most challenging' career moment
It was such a tragic episode
Author: Emma DoddsPublished 6th Aug 2019
Emmerdale's Amy Walsh has opened up about filming the factory fire which devastated fans up and down the country. It was revealed that Amy's character Tracy Metcalfe's father, Frank Clayton (Michael Praed), had been killed in the fire after saving his daughter, who had got trapped in a cupboard when the fire started.
On a recent press day, Amy opened up about filming the harrowing scenes, and admitted that filming those scenes had been the "most challenging" thing she's ever done in her career.
She explained how the cast had been watching the fire scenes, adding that you could feel the heat even from a way away. "Seeing the stunt double for Michael makes me want to cry now. We were all so sad to see him go, it's weird because we saw him lying dead on the ground and it's quite a harrowing thing to witness.
"It was an amazing day, it was really boiling hot and really intense and I loved it. Everyone was so supportive of me because I had so much screaming and crying to do, reacting to what happened. I just had to keep in the zone that day otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get through it.
"It's going to be an amazing episode. It's 100% the most challenged I've ever been in the show and professionally I think. I've done a lot of crying in my time in plays, and obviously I'm a girl so we cry a lot! But this is another extreme, she's absolutely broken after this and completely in turmoil. I absolutely love it and have loved every minute of it but it takes its toll physically."
Swipe through to see all the Emmerdale spoilers you need to know for next week...
Drowning her sorrows at the Woolpack after resigning from her job, Jessie is confronted by Nicola over Maya and soon she gets aggressive, letting rip on the kids in the village.
Emmerdale's Amy Walsh calls filming the factory fire her 'most challenging' career moment
2 of 20
Indebted to Kim, Jai is concerned when Kim announces her plans to undertake a full review of the company's staffing procedure.
Drowning her sorrows at the Woolpack after resigning from her job, Jessie is confronted by Nicola over Maya and soon she gets aggressive, letting rip on the kids in the village.
As she's ushered home by Ellis, Billy and Marlon, a disgraced Jessie turns her wrath on her family and blames Marlon for her outburst at the pub. As they walk they're watched by a figure from the trees.
The next day, Ellis is surprised when he meets a potential client, who turns out to be a prominent figure from his past. Ellis tries to tell his mum about his shock meeting.
Later on at April's birthday party, the family are celebrating when they're interrupted by a car horn from outside, and as they go to investigate they're confronted by Ellis's mystery visitor again.
Jessie introduces Marlon to Al – Ellis's dad. But as they politely shake hands, Jessie can't help but wonder why he's here, and what it is he wants...
Faith is determined to cheer up Zak, who's been a shadow of his former self since Lisa passed away, but Zak feels guilty about having fun without Lisa.
As they continue to chat, Faith manages to make Zak smile as they reminisce about the old days together.
As they laugh over shared memories, the chemistry is hard to ignore and the two share a brief kiss.
Hearing the others arrive home, Zak springs out of his reverie and, feeling guilty about moving on so soon after Lisa's death, storms from the room.
The next day at the Woolpack, Zak wants to talk about what happened between them, and seeing an opportunity for more alone time, Faith suggests they talk in the cellar.
But they're once again interrupted after Faith gets the fuse box soaked in beer and the upstairs lights go out, forcing Bear and Paddy to go down and investigate.
Acutely aware of how suspicious it must look to have been caught in the cellar with Faith, Zak quickly tries to cover his tracks.
But scheming Faith is quick to deflect attention by telling everyone that Bear is illiterate to protect their own secret. Bear is left humiliated.
Elswhere, after the full details of Lydia's past are revealed, she and Sam are nervous about explaining things to Samson.
Their concerns are validated by Samson's furious reaction, who's clearly horrified by the truth. Can they win him round?
Debbie prepares to leave Emmerdale and half the village offer to help her move her things and lend a hand with the move.
Debbie and Sarah share an emotional farewell – but there's one family member who won't be so easy to say goodbye to.
Debbie and Charity meet shortly before Debbie's due to head off. Will Charity find it in herself to wish her daughter well?
Cain is shocked by how aggressive Matty turns when the two have a fall out.
Indebted to Kim, Jai is concerned when Kim announces her plans to undertake a full review of the company's staffing procedure.
Drowning her sorrows at the Woolpack after resigning from her job, Jessie is confronted by Nicola over Maya and soon she gets aggressive, letting rip on the kids in the village.
As she's ushered home by Ellis, Billy and Marlon, a disgraced Jessie turns her wrath on her family and blames Marlon for her outburst at the pub. As they walk they're watched by a figure from the trees.
The next day, Ellis is surprised when he meets a potential client, who turns out to be a prominent figure from his past. Ellis tries to tell his mum about his shock meeting.
Later on at April's birthday party, the family are celebrating when they're interrupted by a car horn from outside, and as they go to investigate they're confronted by Ellis's mystery visitor again.
Jessie introduces Marlon to Al – Ellis's dad. But as they politely shake hands, Jessie can't help but wonder why he's here, and what it is he wants...
Faith is determined to cheer up Zak, who's been a shadow of his former self since Lisa passed away, but Zak feels guilty about having fun without Lisa.
As they continue to chat, Faith manages to make Zak smile as they reminisce about the old days together.
As they laugh over shared memories, the chemistry is hard to ignore and the two share a brief kiss.
Hearing the others arrive home, Zak springs out of his reverie and, feeling guilty about moving on so soon after Lisa's death, storms from the room.
The next day at the Woolpack, Zak wants to talk about what happened between them, and seeing an opportunity for more alone time, Faith suggests they talk in the cellar.
But they're once again interrupted after Faith gets the fuse box soaked in beer and the upstairs lights go out, forcing Bear and Paddy to go down and investigate.
Acutely aware of how suspicious it must look to have been caught in the cellar with Faith, Zak quickly tries to cover his tracks.
But scheming Faith is quick to deflect attention by telling everyone that Bear is illiterate to protect their own secret. Bear is left humiliated.
Elswhere, after the full details of Lydia's past are revealed, she and Sam are nervous about explaining things to Samson.
Their concerns are validated by Samson's furious reaction, who's clearly horrified by the truth. Can they win him round?
Debbie prepares to leave Emmerdale and half the village offer to help her move her things and lend a hand with the move.
Debbie and Sarah share an emotional farewell – but there's one family member who won't be so easy to say goodbye to.
Debbie and Charity meet shortly before Debbie's due to head off. Will Charity find it in herself to wish her daughter well?
Cain is shocked by how aggressive Matty turns when the two have a fall out.
Indebted to Kim, Jai is concerned when Kim announces her plans to undertake a full review of the company's staffing procedure.
But when Amy heard that there was going to be a fire in the factory and that she'd be involved, she did worry that her days were numbered! "I think everyone was a bit worried, you don't know which way it's going to go, it could have gone that way.
"I think I was told quite early on that I was saved. It's been a bit of a weird one in that respect because everyone's so sad to see Michael go, but this is what the soap world is and we have to just remember that it could be any of us at any point and just enjoy it while you can whilst you're here."
Amy also explained that it's her on-screen sister Vanessa Woodfield, played by Michelle Hardwick, whose reaction is the hardest to take, "The only person who points blame to Tracey initially is Vanessa, she finds out why she was in that cupboard and why Frank was obviously there saving her and she reacts quite badly to it.
"I've really enjoyed how they've written Vanessa and Tracy, because I think it's so true to life how people - even as close as sisters - can deal with grief in different ways. You see Vanessa being quite stoic and hard and strong for the first time, and she's normally more soft with Charity for example, but she gets a real strength and she's quite awful to Tracy.
"When I first read it, I was like, 'As if she'd be like that to her poor little sister who's crying,' but she is in pain too and she's dealing with it in a different way. It's much more interesting to see how that plays out."
Emmerdale airs every weeknight at 7pm on ITV, with a second showing on Tuesday nights at 8pm.
For great music, brilliant banter and incredible competitions tune into Northsound 1 on 96.9, 97.6 or 103.0 FM, online, on our Northsound app, your DAB digital radio, or say ‘Play Northsound 1’ on your Smart Speaker. We give you the biggest hits from the world’s hottest artists. You’ll find new favourites every day and hear the songs you've missed from the last few years.
