Emmerdale boss Jane Hudson has pledged to continue delivering escapism television during the latest lockdown which came into effect this week.

TV shows, which have very strict Covid-19 protocols on set, have been confirmed as being allowed to keep creating episodes – and Jane has insisted that for many viewers, regular episodes of soaps can be their only sense of continuity in the day when locked down.

The producer said to Metro.co.uk: ‘Welcome to 2021, what a start to the new year. Emmerdale is opening up while everything else is closing down – we’re here to entertain our fans and viewers, we haven’t locked down our imaginations over the next 12 months.

‘We have a very much loved character coming back to the village – they are fantastic, light up the screen, the actor is shooting already, we are massively excited. That’s coming up very soon!

‘We have births, wedding, funerals, relationships starting and ending. It’s a massive year – we have loads coming up. We will keep drip feeding across the year. We are still shooting – we stood down in March as they were no safety procedures in place.

‘We returned in May and our strict procedures are safe – we have social distancing and masks. Everyone is glad to be on set so we will continue. It is so crucial that people have something familiar and it’s escapism.

‘Something you can rely to be there. Soaps are invaluable – all of them. We’re all there making sure viewers have that place to escape to for a night. We are shooting, that will continue, touch wood!

‘We have two new characters – Charles and Ethan. They don’t come quietly, they come in with a bang that keeps on exploding – lots coming up, some things they don’t even know about. There’s lots going on. We’re about to do a script edit for our April scripts!’

Storylines she revealed included Kim’s horror when Gabby falls pregnant with Jamie’s child as well as an abduction storyline for Nicola and Jimmy and an ambitious set piece that will lead to a shocking death.

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