It’s no secret that if you live in Emmerdale, your life will always be at risk – and this summer is no different, with an explosive stunt rocking the village, but who will live and who will die?
Given that this is the soap of mega-storms, motorway pile-ups and exploding speedboats, there’s no risk of them not going all out with some bells and whistles.
In coming weeks, storylines will build to a crescendo, with a big week of episodes then centring on blockbuster moment and gripping aftermath.
New Emmerdale producer Sophie Roper was holding a lot of her cards close to her chest but teased to Metro.co.uk: ‘We’ve got a lot of stunts coming up! Some we’re actually due to be filming this week…
‘I’m not going to tell you too much, but what I can tell you is there will be fire engines involved, so take from that what you will. It’s going to be a really explosive week of Emmerdale.’
And, let it be noted that she did put a heavy emphasis on the word ‘explosive,’ which suggests things are going to be heating up.
But which residents will be having a blast – and who will be reduced to ashes?
The boss – who has taken the role alongside Laura Shaw after seven years as a story producer – was a lot less cagey about what else is going on, from the latest in Tom King’s (James Chase) abuse of Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper), a shocking turn of events for Caleb and Ruby Miligan (William Ash and Beth Cordingly) and the dramatic return of Ella Forster (Paula Lane).
In fact, with Belle and Tom, their storyline will be a heavy focus for another, separate special episode in the not too distant future.
‘Belle and Tom – that’s obviously a huge storyline for us at the moment, an incredibly important if not difficult storyline to watch at moments. It’s resonating with our audience because it’s such a huge, real issue,’ Sophie continued.
‘We’re continuing with that story and trying to be really truthful to those kind of relationships. We’ve got a special episode coming up that sees Tom and Belle head off to Wales on a trip away together.
‘Actually we recreated Wales in Yorkshire with our fantastic design team. We’ve got a cottage up in the village that we’ve re-dressed and made this beautiful Welsh retreat.
‘It’s really fantastic the lengths that they’ve gone to to create that in our world. The story, of course, though set to the backdrop of this beautiful cottage, will be really hard-hitting and difficult at moments.
‘Tom is very much isolating Belle from her family, from her surroundings, from everything that she knows and loves, which is very much unfortunately a typical trait of abusers.
‘It will be difficult drama at moments, but a really important message and a really important story we’re keen to continue to tell.’
Meanwhile, there will be some new faces, one who will create waves for Caleb and Ruby as they are forced to look to the past.
‘Caleb and Ruby have had a real impact but we don’t know much about them. There’s lots in terms of their history, particularly Ruby’s, that is yet unknown.
‘We’re going to see a bit of a blast from their past come back and really give us more about this complicated relationship between husband and wife and the complicated family dynamics we have there.’
Not to mention another Sugden, who Sophie announced would be played by Coronation Street star Oliver Farnworth, who is known for doomed Andy, one of Pat Phelan’s murder victims.
He is expected to create waves when he comes face to face with Victoria (Isabel Hodgins).
We’ve got some returning and new exciting faces coming into the show over the next few months,’ she enthused.
‘The Sugdens, just like the Dingles, are an iconic family group in Emmerdale and we’re keen to cement them back in the show so Oliver’s a brilliant new addition, incredibly talented and we’re looking forward to welcoming him.’
As for Ella, we last saw her flee the village after it emerged she was in prison for killing a child when she herself was aged just 12.
She will be drawn back to Emmerdale and have a lot to answer and deal with.
‘We’ve had the Ella storyline recently which had a really huge twist which I think was quite unexpected but really powerful,’ Sophie said.
‘Ella will continue in the show, but her past will continue to haunt her. Her relationship with Liam will remain complicated and we’ll continue to question whether she’ll ever get her happily ever after and can she ever really escape the past that’s led her to this point.’
With he stunts landing amid all of this drama, it remains to be seen which characters are most at risk here – and if everyone will make it out alive.
But let’s also not forget that Kim Tate (Claire King) is o the cusp of discovering Ruby and Rose’s plotting against her, which is sure to see fireworks explode.
And Sophie also confirmed a chaotic wedding day in coming weeks for Paddy and Mandy (Dominic Brunt and Lisa Riley).
However, with all of the pure soapiness going on, there will also be a much more emotional and grounded series of episodes as the show pays tribute to a TV legend.
Sophie told us: ‘The Dingles have been at the heart of our show for 30 years now and will continue to be so. As many of you know we lost Steve [Halliwell] recently, so we’re going to be marking Zak’s passing in the coming months with a Dingle funeral.
‘It’s very difficult for a lot of people who work on the show and for many of our viewers who have loved Zak for many, many years, but there’ll be a fitting tribute to such an iconic character.’
