“Let’s face it, soaps are always a bit unreal…”

Last week on our TVS, Emmerdale screened its first ‘proper’ episodes, featuring some scenes filmed under socialdistancing 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 new episodes will start to feel as real as any other episodes. Congrats to Emmerdale on keeping our soap going – we’re all extremely grateful!