For the folk at Emmerdale, its 50th anniversary episode and huge stunt has been more than a year in the making and fans of the ITV soap have been teased for months about the dramatic storm that's set to rock the village and leave everyone's lives different to how they were before.
But finally, on Sunday night (October 16), which is the soap's official 50th birthday, viewers will finally get to see death and destruction hit the much-loved Yorkshire village and its residents. It was revealed back in August that a wind storm will hit and Kim Tate and Will Taylor's wedding will kickstart all the drama that's to come.
The episode opens with a shot of the Emmerdale village with Kim thoughtful as she rides her horse in the beautiful surroundings. We see Moira Barton looking out across her farmland whilst in the village Dawn and Lucas set a red kite off up over the houses. Up at Home Farm a brooding Will looks pensive ahead of his wedding day.
Meanwhile, Priya hurriedly dashes about preparing the wedding, above her we see that the sky darkens ominously. Eric strides out returning from visiting the grave of his deceased wife Val whilst stressed vicar Charles is surprised to spot his bride-to-be Kim out riding ahead of her wedding day. And when Kim eyes Harriet from her horse, it’s clear there’s unfinished business.
But newer fans of Emmerdale may not realise that the opening of the episode was actually a special tribute to the soap's very first episode, which aired on October 16, 1972.
"It’s interesting because when I watched the hour episode for the first time I was like ‘gosh this is like the journey of Emmerdale in an hour,'" Jane Hudson, Emmerdale's executive producer told the Manchester Evening News and other press.
"We start very very purposely paying homage to the first ever episode, where you see a hand going across the meadow, you see somebody on horseback, you see people in their farms, you see the graveyard with Jacob Sugden’s grave.
"Then we get into the more quieter relationships, the emotional relationships, the families and then we progress to a big event, a wedding and then we get to the crash, bang, wallop stunts. Everything’s thrown at it, all the technology, it’s all there, so it really is Emmerdale’s journey in an hour."
Director Ian Bevitt also revealed that there will be a nostalgic nod to the soap's debut episode. He said: "Eagle-eyed viewers will spot similarities with the opening of the very first episode and the opening of the 50th episode and there are nods to older characters no longer with the show."
And Jane also revealed that the natural disaster will test not only the much-loved characters' physical strength but also their mental capabilities. Speaking about the stunt week she said it's "a rollercoaster of emotions, and there is a visual impact that will blow more than your socks off, put it that way."
She went on: "There's death, there's destruction but also real moments of intimacy, heartbreak and love. We're gonna see our characters tested not just by their physical strength, but their emotional strength as well. There’s gonna be a lot of tears, I must warn you about that, and we're gonna see our community have to deal with the aftermath of this horrific storm."
And it won't just end when the anniversary month is over as Jane explained how the seeds have already been planted for what's to come, and that the aftermath will last throughout the rest of the year - at least! "When you just think things can't get any worse for our Emmerdale characters, they really, really do and we end the month on a really big bang that propels us well into the new year."
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