Emmerdale set was like 'big game of Twister' during lockdown filming

Emmerdale\'s set was like a "big game of Twister" when stars were shooting lockdown episodes.

The ITV soap is to broadcast the first of its six special episodes tonight (08.06.20), which will see Sam and Lydia Dingle (James Hooton and Karen Blick) locked down together, and executive producer Jane Hudson revealed there were dots everywhere on set to ensure the cast and crew remained two metres apart at all times to follow social distancing guidelines.

She said: "The biggest difference is the social distancing. We have our famous two-metre pole and we physically bring it out on the set and hold it between actors and the crew.

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"We have two metre distanced dots across every set and you stand on your dot - it\'s like a big game of Twister."

And the stars had to be in charge of their own props.

She added to Metro.co.uk: "Everyone who walks onto set to adjust a light, they have masks.

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"The actors are in charge of their own props, which have been sanitised, cleaned and wiped down - no-one is allowed to touch them, the actors have full responsibility in bringing them on and off."

Karen revealed last week that \'Emmerdale\' stars had an online meeting with a doctor advisor before they started filming their lockdown episodes, to address any concerns they had about filming amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: "We had an online meeting with a doctor advisor first of all and he spoke about the virus and how it spreads and how we can protect ourselves.

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"We got the chance to ask questions if we were worried or concerned about coming back to work.

"That reassured everyone there were to be stringent procedures in place and of course social distancing, and so filming with that in mind is very different. We only had a very small number of people in the studio.

"There were far less people in the space so we could observe social distancing. The big hugs when we all say hi have had to go. It\'s strange having to stand back."