Inside Soap UK 28 - 2020

Last week on our TVs, Emmerdale screened its first ‘proper’ episodes, featuring some scenes filmed under social-distancing guidelines. The episodes were partially completed before lockdown, and while we’ve let ourselves have a little wry smile at some hairdos that are a bit different from scenes shot earlier (more on that on p90!), what really struck me is how quickly we’re going to get used to the new style of filming. Let’s face it, soaps are always a bit unreal, even at the best of times. People don’t really sit around just three sides of their kitchen table so the camera can see all their faces, and they don’t go to nightclubs in the afternoon – but we accept that’s what’s real in ‘soapworld’. Soon, anything that seems unreal in these…

Desperate Cain refuses to leave estranged wife Moira’s bedside this week, as she continues her fight for her life. Cain still has no idea that reckless driver Jamie Tate was behind the wheel when Moira was run down – or that he’s hiding out as he decides whether or not to come clean. All Cain cares about is his wife pulling through. Together with his devastated stepson Matty, he keeps watch over Moira in her hospital bed. Her condition is grave, and doctors don’t yet know if she’ll survive, but Cain is willing Moira not to give up. “I don’t think that Cain could live his life without Moira,” insists Jeff Hordley, who plays the Dingle hard man. “Whether that means he wants to be in a relationship with her,…

While Moira fights for her life, calculating Andrea hits upon the perfect plan to keep husband Jamie in their marriage – by blackmailing him over his terrible secret. It was Jamie who knocked down Moira and left her clinging to life, as he recklessly raced to find Andrea. In his shock, he confessed to his wife that he knew he hit something – or someone. So, this week, when they discover that it was Moira who was the victim of Jamie’s dangerous driving, he realises the hold Andrea now has over him. “Andrea starts off wanting to support her husband and family – however, things change,” teases Anna Nightingale, who plays Andrea. “She knows Jamie is honest and goes out of her way to make him see what he could…

Jamie’s accident is the second time he’s knocked over a villager – after he hit Pollard and left him in dire straits last year. So actor Alex Lincoln, who plays Jamie, fears this is becoming a habit! “He’s not a great driver, is he?” chuckles the star. “I actually think that it’s typecasting, because I’m not a very good driver either!” Whatever Jamie’s abilities behind the wheel, he now finds himself in a bit of a bind, so is he willing to entertain Andrea’s blackmail? “Andrea tries to fix things for him, which is a huge relief to Jamie because he’s not good at doing that himself,” insists Alex. “He really tries to convince himself that he and Andrea could work, and it could be the smart choice to keep…

Geoff hopes to regain control of Yasmeen this week, by offering to retract the original statement that he made to the police accusing her of his attempted murder! After intercepting a call from Yasmeen when she rings Alya from prison, Geoff offers to drop the charges against her in return for getting help for his behaviour, and Yasmeen agreeing to be his wife again. But is he telling the truth? And will Yasmeen fall for him again? “Yasmeen hears Geoff’s voice and doesn’t put the phone down,” explains actress Shelley King, who plays her. “The sound of his voice calms her, in a way. When she hears him, it means comfort and security. Geoff says, ‘Listen, I still love you – I’m going to get professional help’. Yasmeen really wants…

Just as Geoff inches towards gaining the upper hand again, sex worker Nicky could be poised to bring him down a peg or two. It’s no secret that Geoff was using escorts while married to Yasmeen, and since Nicky hooked up with Daniel recently, speculation has been rife over whether she was one of the prostitutes Geoff used to employ. Geoff contracted chlamydia as a consequence of his sordid double life, and passed the infection on to Yasmeen. So, if the CPS drops the charges, and Yasmeen does indeed return home to Geoff, might Nicky serve as a painful reminder to her about the man to whom she’s married?…