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User:JuneGloom07/Live

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"Emmerdale Live"
Emmerdale episode
Episode no.Episode 6372
Directed byTony Prescott
Written byPaul Roundell
Original air date17 October 2012 (2012-10-17)
Running time60 minutes
Episode chronology
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"Episode 6373[1]"

"Emmerdale Live" is a live episode of the British television soap opera Emmerdale, broadcast on ITV1 on 17 October 2012. The episode was commissioned as part of the show's 40th anniversary celebrations, and was the first Emmerdale episode to be broadcast live. It was the series' 6372nd episode, and was written by Paul Roundell, directed by Tony Prescott and produced by Stuart Blackburn.

Production

Announcement and conception

"In our spectacular live episode viewers will be taken on a whirlwind journey encompassing every life experience from the two cradles to the grave with love, hate and betrayal along the way. We want to avoid speculation as to which character dies but suffice to say it will have major, far-reaching repercussions.[2]

—Stuart Blackburn on the live episode

In December 2011, series producer Stuart Blackburn revealed that "big plans" were being made for Emmerdale's 40th anniversary, along the same lines as fellow British soap opera, Coronation Street's 2010 tram crash storyline.[3] Blackburn explained "What Corrie did with the tram crash was amazing - but we want to do something as big but very different."[3] The producer refused to rule out filming a live episode for the anniversary, saying "That would be amazing."[3] The following year, Blackburn stated that the week, in which the 40th anniversary fell, would see a "real celebration of everything that's great about Emmerdale", as well as "weeks and months of betrayal, lies, deceit and blackmail" coming to a head.[4]

On 1 May 2012, Daniel Kilkelly and Tom Mansell from Digital Spy confirmed that Emmerdale would broadcast a live episode for the anniversary.[5] A spokesperson for the show commented "In celebration of its 40th birthday, Emmerdale will be going live for the first time for an episode in October. Series producer Stuart Blackburn has already confirmed that the anniversary will be a week long celebration of 'must see TV featuring two weddings, one of which will be the most unexpected we have ever seen, plus the birth of two babies'."[5] It was later revealed that a death would take place during the live episode.[6] The broadcast date for the live episode was set for 17 October 2012, with the shoot taking place on location at the Emmerdale village set in the Yorkshire Dales.[2][7] It was also confirmed that the hour long episode would be followed by a live "aftermath" programme hosted by Stephen Mulhern on ITV2.[2]

In the development stages there had been six different versions of the script.[8]

Cast

A total of sixty-one cast members were involved in live episode and also on-set were four new-born babies.[8] Elizabeth Estensen who plays Diane Sugden, told Alison Graves from My Weekly that "everybody" would be involved and it was a "lovely" opportunity for the entire cast to work together. She added that they shared "nerves, apprehension and excitement" because a live show is a "very brave thing to do".[8]

Two of the new born babies used were twins Max and Louis Webster, the latter who played the character of Jack Sugden in scenes which Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) gives birth.[9] Sue Francis from the Kreative Talent Agency told the Evening Gazette's Laura Woodcock that Emmerdale had approached her to find babies for the episode. Francis was going to post an advertisement on social networking site Facebook, but she met Kerry Webster and her twin babies at the doctors the following day. Webster agreed and Max and Louis were given screen tests and on the night the production team decided to use Louis during the filming of the episode.[9]

Rehearsals

On 3 October 2012, a reporter for the Press Association revealed that rehearsals had started for the live episode.[10] The Emmerdale cast and crew spent eleven nights rehearsing until 1:00 am and there were 110 hours of rehearsals in total.[11][12]

Filming

Twenty-seven cameras were used during the filming of the episode. There were seventy crew members present, which was twice as many compared to the taping of a normal episode. There were thirty costume crew and twenty-three make-up artists, but only one stunt coordinator was required as the cast carried out their own stunts. In addition to this there was twenty-six prop assistants who also had seven wedding dresses on standby.[8]

Broadcast

Reception

Gambling

On 4 October 2012, David Brown of Radio Times announced that gambling firm Ladbrokes had released betting odds data on the character who would die during "Emmerdale Live". The early favourite to be killed was the long-standing character of Alan Turner (Richard Thorp) with odds at 3/1.[13] Next was Carl King (Tom Lister) with 4/1 and in joint place Betty Eagleton (Paula Tilbrook) and Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) with odds of 5/1. Clear outsiders were Debbie Dingle, Jimmy King (Nick Miles), Megan Macey (Gaynor Faye) and Charity Tate (Emma Atkins) all sharing 25/1.[13] Four days later Craig Kemp from Ladbrokes released a statement revealing that Carl had overtaken Alan as the favourite to be killed pulling odds at 1/2. While odds on Cameron had changed from 5/1 to 8/1.[14] Also in the running was the child character of Sarah Sugden (Sophia Moore) with odds of 6/1 then 8/1.[13][14] Kemp stated that Sarah was an obvious candidate due to her illness, but warned that it would be "far-fetched" to kill a child live on air. He did not think the elderly characters Alan and Betty would die. He noted that the character of Len Reynolds (Peter Martin) had been killed during a special episode and it risked being similar.[14] One day prior to "Emmerdale Live" Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes announced that Carl was still the favourite. With odds at 1/2 she added "Carl's the king of evil but the money suggests he’s going to be brutally dethroned on Wednesday night."[15]

Ratings

"Emmerdale Live" was watched by a cumulative audience of 9.2 million.[16] Its original screening averaged 8.84 million viewers, attaining a 40.0% audience share. Although the episode peaked at 9.15 million during the scenes in which Carl was murdered. An additional 374 thousand viewers watched the time shift episode on ITV+1. The "aftermath" show titled, Emmerdale Live: The Fallout took 1.59 million viewers on ITV2 and 218 thousand during the time shift edition.[17]

Polls

A variety of polls have been created around the episode. Polls to determine the identity of the "Emmerdale Live" fatality saw Carl a clear favourite with 47.51% in a poll ran by Radio Times, while he also topped polls ran by Digital Spy and MSN.[18][19][20] MSN also asked their readership to chose theit favourite live episode from a soap opera. "Emmerdale Live" was the popular choice with more than double the percentage of rivals "Coronation Street Live" and "EastEnders Live".[21]

Critical response

Rachel Ward from The Daily Telegraph said that "Emmerdale Live" was "flawless". They noted that Paula Tilbrook was the only one to stumble her lines, but defended her because she had to shout over music.[22] She noted that "much needed humour and light relief from all that violence" of Carl's murder was provided by the two birth scenes involving Debbie and Gennie Walker (Sian Reese-Williams). They added that it was "all very over-the-top" and the "minor characters giving stagey performances". Though they were impressed with Lister and Pargeter's work because it aided a slow build-up of tension to Carl's death scene.[22] Laura-Jayne Tyler from Inside Soap said that "Emmerdale's 40th birthday went off with a bang, as the cast and crew delivered a brilliant hour-long live episode."[23]

Accolades

"Emmerdale Live" won Best Episode at the 2013 British Soap Awards and went on to win the Outstanding Achievement accolade at the Inside Soap Awards.[24][25] It was also nominated for Best Episode at the 2013 All About Soap Awards and for TV Moment of the Year at the Virgin Media Awards.[26][27]

References

  1. ^ "Emmerdale - Episode 6373". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company Ltd. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Brown, David (3 October 2012). "Emmerdale live 40th anniversary episode date and time revealed". Radio Times. (Immediate Media Company Ltd). Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Kilkelly, Daniel (9 December 2011). "'Emmerdale' boss Stuart Blackburn promises "big" anniversary episode". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  4. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (4 April 2012). "'Emmerdale' boss teases "spectacular" anniversary plans". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  5. ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel; Mansell, Tom (1 May 2012). "Exclusive: 'Emmerdale' live episode confirmed for 40th anniversary - video". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  6. ^ Wylie, Catherine (17 October 2012). "Live Emmerdale episode tonight as the soap hits 40". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  7. ^ Millar, Paul (25 June 2012). "'Emmerdale' 40th anniversary live episode director confirmed". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d Graves, Alison (16–22 October 2012). "Emmerdale Live – I'm so nervous!". My Weekly (5145). D. C. Thomson & Co.: 6–7.
  9. ^ a b Woodcock, Laura (23 October 2012). "Ingleby Barwick twins star in Emmerdale's 40th anniversary live show". Evening Gazette. (Trinity Mirror). Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  10. ^ "Emmerdale begins live rehearsals". Press Association. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  11. ^ Donnelly, Claire (17 October 2012). "All white on the night? Behind the scenes as the Emmerdale cast rehearse live wedding episode". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  12. ^ Ward, Rachel (17 October 2012). "Emmerdale's 40th anniversary: a countdown to the live episode". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  13. ^ a b c Brown, David (4 October 2012). "Emmerdale's Alan Turner tipped for shock live-episode death". Radio Times. (Immediate Media Company Ltd). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  14. ^ a b c Kemp, Craig (8 October 2012). "Cameron and not Carl to be Emmerdale's anniversary death". Ladbrokes. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  15. ^ Armstrong, Laura (17 October 2012). "Sham-pagne toast for the Dales brides". The Sun. (News International). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  16. ^ Plunkett, John (18 October 2012). "Emmerdale live episode draws dramatic 9m viewers". The Guardian. (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  17. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (18 October 2012). "'Emmerdale' live episode thrills 8.8m". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  18. ^ Brown, David (17 October 2012). "Emmerdale 40th: Carl King frontrunner to be killed in live episode". Radio Times. (Immediate Media Company Ltd). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  19. ^ Millar, Paul (17 October 2012). "'Emmerdale' live episode death: The Contenders". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  20. ^ Wardle, Hilary (17 October 2012). "Emmerdale Live". MSN. (Microsoft). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  21. ^ Wardle, Hilary (18 October 2012). "Emmerdale live review: Cast and crew were on top form". MSN. (Microsoft). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  22. ^ a b Ward, Rachel (17 October 2012). "Emmerdale, 40th anniversary live episode, review". The Daily Telegraph. (Telegraph Media Group). Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  23. ^ Tyler, Laura-Jayne (27 October – 2 November 2012). "Soapbox". Inside Soap (43). Hearst Magazines UK: 96.
  24. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (18 May 2013). "British Soap Awards 2013 – winners in full". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  25. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (21 October 2013). "Inside Soap Awards 2013 - winners list in full". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  26. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (10 February 2013). "All About Soap Awards 2013 nominations revealed". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  27. ^ Chau, Fong (12 February 2013). "Virgin Media Awards: The winners". Virgin Media. Retrieved 8 April 2014.

Category:Emmerdale Category:2012 television episodes Category:2012 in British television

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