Emmerdale

**Emmerdale** (known as **Emmerdale Farm** until 1989) is a British soap opera. It is shown on ITV.

## History

Emmerdale Farm was first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The idea for the soap was thought up by Donald Baverstock. Emmerdale Farm was unique in British television at the time because many scenes were filmed outdoors on a farm, something that had been pioneered on the Irish soap The Riordans. While devising the concept for Emmerdale Farm, the production team for Emmerdale Farm visited the set of The Riordans to understand how the programme was filmed. Baverstock recruited Kevin Laffan to be the scriptwriter for a three-month run. Laffan worked on the soap for 12 years.

## Broadcasting times

When Emmerdale Farm was first broadcast, it was a daytime programme shown in the afternoons. Towards the end of the 1970s, the programme was show in the evening. Emmerdale Farm started to be broadcast all year round in 1988. Emmerdale started to be broadcast five days a week in 2000, having previously only been broadcast twice a week.

## Storylines

### 1970s

In early episodes, the storylines focused on the Sugden family, who owned Emmerdale Farm. The first episode showed the funeral of Jacob Sugden, with his son, Jack Sugden, returning to the village after many years. Towards the end of the decade, more characters were introduced, such as Seth Armstrong.

### 1980s

In the 1980s, Emmerdale Farm began to focus less on the farm and more on the nearby village. The title was shortened from Emmerdale Farm to Emmerdale in 1989 to reflect this. In the same year, the wealthy Tate family were introduced.

### 1990s

The Windsor family were introduced in 1993 The aeroplane crash story took place in 1993, which killed a number of characters.  Chris Tate was also paralyzed from the waist down in the crash. The Dingle family were introduced in 1994.

### 2000s

In this period, characters played by high-profile actors and actresses were introduced. Sadie King, played by Patsy Kensit, was introduced in 2004. Carrie Nicholls, played by Linda Lusardi, was introduced in 2007, and Mark and Natasha Wilde, played by Maxwell Caulfield and Amanda Donohoe respectively, were introduced in 2008.

### 2010s

In 2012, to mark the 40th anniversary of the soap, a live episode was broadcast. In 2016, a special episode devoted to Ashley Thomas's Dementia was shown, which showed the world from the perspective of a person with Dementia. In 2018, Emmerdale's first transgender character, Matty Barton, was introduced. The character is played by Ash Palmisciano.

## Filming location

For the first three years, Emmerdale Farm was filmed in the village of Arncliffe. In 1975, production moved to the village of Esholt, until 1998. From 1998 onwards, indoor scenes are filmed in a studio in Leeds, while outdoor shots are filmed at a purpose-built set in Harewood, in the outskirts of Leeds.

## Controversy

The 1993 plane crash was criticised for being shown close to the five year anniversary of the Lockerbie Disaster.  In 2007, Ofcom warned ITV that Emmerdale was too violent to be broadcast before the 9:00 PM watershed. Emmerdale was criticised in 2015 for showing a helicopter crash that resembled the 2013 Glasgow Helicopter Crash

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/emmerdale-the-village-that-won-over-a-nation-5329802.html
2. ↑ https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-plough-and-the-stars-how-tvs-revolutionary-riordans-changed-ireland-26512103.html
3. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kevin-laffan-122891.html
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1360294/index.html
5. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/british-soaps-ranked-worst-best/4emmerdaleitv-1972-presentoft-overlooked-third-soap-yorkshire/
6. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/jul/03/uknews1
7. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/15/emmerdale-keith-richardson-leaves
8. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv\_and\_radio/4354023.stm
9. ↑ https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-61055363/em-people-as-emmerdale-farm-celebrates-25-years
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 https://www.ok.co.uk/tv/emmerdale/1474738/emmerdale-kim-tate-family-tree-joe-tate-how-related-frank-tate-who-is-joe-mum-claire-king-return
11. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11514734
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/phil-redmond-man-of-the-people-780239.html
13. ↑ https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/emmerdales-dingle-family-tree-everything-13545127
14. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/feb/13/broadcasting.ITV
15. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7013986.stm
16. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/3065607/Amanda-Donohoe-to-join-cast-of-Emmerdale.html
17. ↑ https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/9975894.emmerdale-makes-television-history/
18. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4052860/Emmerdale-breaking-heart-Soap-fans-floods-tears-dementia-special-loved-vicar-Ashley-Thomas-fails-recognise-family-friends.html
19. ↑ https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/entertainment/2018/07/12/news/emmerdale-s-first-transgender-star-you-can-achieve-your-ambitions-1381067/
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 https://www.radiotimes.com/travel/2016-03-29/behind-the-scenes-of-emmerdale-from-the-valley-of-littondale-to-leeds/
21. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6584893.stm
22. ↑ https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/tv/emmerdale-facing-online-backlash-shocking-6199002