Whilst most of us are still getting over the utter brilliance that was the 40th anniversary live episode of Emmerdale, it would seem that not everyone is in agreement over its success!

According to the Metro newspaper, TV broadcasting regulating authority, Ofcom, has received complaints from some viewers over some of the content shown in the first ever, hour long live episode of the hugely popular ITV soap.
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Chas Dingle has not had a good time of things in Emmerdale lately, to say the very least, but unfortunately for her, they are about to get a whole lot worse!

Fan’s of the hit ITV1 soap will know how during this week of anniversary celebrations, Chas (Lucy Pargeter) world has come crashing down around her quite spectacularly, when the storyline she has been entangled in for months finally came to its conclusion.
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Last night saw the amazing Emmerdale Live hour-long episode, which boasted two wedding, two births and a murder, whilst managing to maintain comedy levels to an all-time high throughout as well.

We all watched with utter amazement at what is already been classed as the best ever live soap episode, beating the likes of its two biggest rivals, Coronation Street and EastEnders who have both attempted similar live broadcasts to mark their own shows anniversaries. According to overnight figures, a peak audience of 9.2m tuned in for the show, the highest-rated episode of the soap to date, with viewing figures reaching their high in the last 15 minutes which saw Carl King (Tom Lister) meet his maker at the hands of Cameron Murray (Dominic Power).
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As we predicted a couple of weeks ago, Emmerdale bad lad Carl King did indeed meet a sticky wicket end in tonight’s stunning live episode, and his death was among the final acts in what was a truly outstanding piece of television.

Celebrating forty years of the soap, which began life as Emmerdale Farm, tonight’s hour-long live broadcast promised “all of life” in its two weddings, two births and a death, and my goodness, it delivered, and then some.

Nobody put a foot wrong, and all the main players will surely be needing the services of a carpenter to build them a whole rack of shelves on which to place their awards…

Lucy Pargeter as Chas Dingle was simply breathtakingly good, as was Tom Lister, who of course played Carl. How I hate to be using the past tense for him now! Read more & comment »

Tonight’s visit to Emmerdale is of course a very special one as it’s going to air live and be filmed entirely on location at the show’s set.

However, in the hour-long episode, though we’ll see the weddings of Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward) and Declan Macey (Jason Merrells) as well as the rushed nuptials of Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) and Dan Spencer (Liam Fox) the celebratory champagne we’ll see everyone drinking will be alcohol free!

That’s because the show’s bosses don’t want to risk the actors getting tipsy as they cope with nerves and remembering their lines.

TV Biz report that Matthew Wolfenden, who plays David Metcalfe, said, “I’m a guest at Katie and Declan’s wedding and there’s going to be a marquee stocked with champagne.

“I’d love it to be real booze, but it won’t be. In a live episode there’s no way they are going to give us real booze until after — not a chance.

“But I’m looking forward to having a big drink with the rest of the cast when it’s all over… Read more & comment »

With all of the nation’s eyes on him tonight, Emmerdale’s Liam Fox has admitted it was hard to keep the secrets of the Live Episode, from his ten-year-old son!

Fans of the hit ITV soap will know how tonight is a very special night in the village of Emmerdale, as the cast and crew celebrate 40 glorious years in the world of the Great British Soap, by entertaining us all with an hour long live episode to mark the occasion!
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With all the buzz and excitement today surrounding Emmerdale and its epic hour long live episode tonight to mark its 40th anniversary, we thought we would take a moment to recap over some of the amazing storylines the classic ITV soap has tackled in order to have kept it going up until this momentous occasion!

Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972, as Emmerdale Farm as it was back then.
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Emmerdale star Mark Charnock has revealed that something “really cataclysmic” is going to happen in the live hour long episode of the soap, due to air tomorrow night, which will “change the lives of a lot of characters”.

The celebrations began for this epic occasion yesterday, and are set to continue on par with a rollercoaster throughout the week.
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Fans of Emmerdale will of course know that the show’s landmark 40th anniversary celebrations begin today and continue all week ,with the jewel in the crown being the live broadcast on Wednesday…

We have all the details you’ll need to access special behind-the-scenes webcams on the big night – more on that shortly – but first, there’s at least one of the show’s stars who very much isn’t looking forward to the hour-long live episode!

Nick Miles, who plays the long-suffering gonk Jimmy King has told TV Biz that he’s dreading the live show.

He said, “I’m unenthusiastic about it. We shouldn’t be doing it. I’m not impressed.

“We seem to be doing it for the sake of it, because it’s become a soap tradition on an anniversary.

“For the crew, it’s a really huge challenge.” Read more & comment »

STV report today that scheming Robbie Lawson and his mum Megan Macey (Gaynor Faye) are going to do their best to ruin Katie and Declan’s wedding day after Robbie discovers that Declan (Jason Merrells) is intending to fleece Megan out of the money she’s earned in setting up the music festival.

Speaking exclusively to STV, Jamie Shelton, who of course plays Robbie, said, “Robbie finds out Declan and Katie are going to screw Megan over with the festival money, and then Megan finds out.

“And Robbie wants to tell Megan to mess up the wedding and he wants to help her do that.”

So that the plotline isn’t spoiled for viewers, Jamie added, “All I know really is that they’re out to spoil it and Megan’s going to make sure she does that…

“She’ll be bursting as they’re getting married and seeing how everyone reacts to that. That’s the plan.” Read more & comment »

Fans of Emmerdale will of course know that the soap is celebrating its 40th anniversary in a week of special episodes that being on October 15th…

And among those celebratory episodes is the hour-long live broadcast, which is making history for being the first of its ilk to air in its entirety on location at the show’s studios in Yorkshire.

During that landmark hour, we’ll be witness to the birth of two babies, a double wedding and of course, the murder of a “well loved” and “major” character, and here at Unreality Primetime, we have a theory as to who is going to breathe his/her last during that live episode…

So if you don’t want to read who we think is going to shuffle off the mortal coil, go no further! If you do want to know, click on ‘Read more…’ Read more & comment »

Emmerdale’s series producer Stuart Blackburn has been discussing the forthcoming landmark live episode – which airs on Wednesday, October 17th at 7pm – with BBC News, and he’s revealed that the organization of the hour-long broadcast has been “a logistical and financial nightmare at every single level.”

Blackburn has of course signed up award winning director Tony Prescott to oversee the live 40th anniversary episode, and the pair have had extensive discussions about planning for all eventualities with regard to what might go wrong during the live show.

But understandably one of their biggest worries is that the weather – which is not notoriously clement in October in Yorkshire – will scupper the live broadcast.

During the interview with the BBC, Blackburn revealed that at the moment, one of his biggest concerns is that there could be gale force winds on the night… Read more & comment »

The bosses of Emmerdale have released a new and extended teaser video for the show’s forthcoming 40th anniversary celebrations which recaps the major storylines of the year so far, and offers a few hints at what’s to come…

We also have parts one and two of the show’s cast playing ’40 Or Faulty’ as well as a behind-the-scenes video featuring the making of Emmerdale’s live show promo.

They’re all available after the jump, but first, Charlotte Bellamy, who plays Laurel Thomas, has revealed that when Ashley’s ex-wife Bernice (Samantha Giles) comes back to the village, her character’s going to experience a bout of the green eyed monsters.

Ashley (John Middleton) of course married Laurel after his relationship with Bernice broke down, ending with him having custody of their daughter, Gabby. Laurel has of course raised Gabby as her own, but now that she’s with Marlon (Mark Charnock) Gabby has turned against her and refuses to have anything to do with her… Read more & comment »

There are of course just a few weeks left until Emmerdale airs its landmark hour-long live episode, much of which will feature scenes outdoors…

And as Yorkshire and the surrounding areas are currently being battered by wind and heavy – damn near torrential – rain, the show’s bosses are said to be very worried that the live broadcast could be ruined if the extreme weather doesn’t improve.

When the live show was first announced, one of the first questions on everybody’s lips was, “Do you have a Plan B if the weather turns bad?”

And in response, the show’s series producer Stuart Blackburn joked that there is no ‘Plan B’

He added, “An hour one October evening in a field on a hill in Yorkshire – what could possibly go wrong?”

He went on to say, “It is thrilling and terrifying measure, I think. The village is my favourite character in the show… Read more & comment »

As fans of Emmerdale may know, when the show airs its live episode in October, we’re to see the double wedding of Katie Sugden and Declan Macey as well as Chas Dingle and Dan Spencer’s nuptials…

But of course, for Chas Dingle, there’s the spectre of Carl King’s (Tom Lister) threat to expose her affair with Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) hanging over her veil, so for her, the day may not have the fairytale quality it’ll have for fellow bride-to-be, Katie!

And as we’ve been reporting this week, the cast of the show have been talking to ITV about their roles in the live hour-long broadcast, and the latest of those is Lucy Pargeter and Liam Fox, who of course play Chas and Dan.

Beginning with Lucy, here’s what she had to say…

Tell us about Chas’ state of mind in the lead up to the 40th birthday week?

Chas is in a state of total confusion and fear. She’s not in a great place at all but she’s completely determined to marry Dan… Read more & comment »