PUNCH UPS & BUNK UPS BACK ON?
With Covid restrictions lifting, can the soaps now get up close and personal again? Inside Soap investigates…
After the government announced its plans for a roadmap out of lockdown, the magic number marked on our calendars for when all restrictions might be lifting is 21 June – and naturally, we want to know what that means for our soaps!
Following a temporary hiatus last year due to the first national lockdown, our favourite shows were able to resume filming provided they met strict healthand-safety guidelines, cutting out close physical contact on set – which includes key moments such as punch-ups and kissing scenes. So, if it really is a case of all the rules relaxing in four months’ time, could the soaps be going all out for love and war this summer? Well, our insiders tell us not to get too excited just yet...
“We continue to be led by government guidelines and will be monitoring how the roadmap progresses,” says a spokesperson for Corrie and Emmerdale. “It’s too early to say right now, so we’ll be carrying on as we are, and will wait to see how things go in the coming weeks.”
ADVANCE PLANNING
It’s important to remember that under Covid rules, the soaps have had to completely rejig the way that they work in order to ensure episodes make it onto our screens, with storylines and scripts – which are written months in advance – tailored to ensure they can be filmed with social distancing. And with the soaps also filming a good six weeks in advance, insiders predict that we won’t see any change on screen until later in the year, as the soaps retool and adjust back to their previous production model.
CLOSE TO ME!
Meanwhile, it could also be a while longer before we see characters jumping into bed with one another again. Even as the rules relax, the soaps may wish to take a cautious approach to filming intimate scenes, depending on whether the actors in question are comfortable, and the soaps deem it responsible from a health-and-safety point of view. It’s also worth remembering that the vaccination programme for younger adults will run into the autumn, as second doses are administered. By then, however, the over-50s will be on jab two – so maybe it will be a case of soap’s more established faces leading the way out of lockdown, showing the youngsters how it’s done!
Inside Soap will be monitoring the situation closely to bring you all the latest news, as and when it comes in…