Emmerdale backstage secrets – Plastic food, real graves, tributes and spelling errors

Emmerdale is one of the UK’s most famous soaps – and Daily Star got a glimpse behind the scenes during a recent visit to the set.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary launch, we had a chance to explore the famous village where the exterior shots of the soap are filmed, and learnt a few interesting facts along the way.

From visiting iconic buildings including The Woolpack Pub and Cafe Main Street, to paying our respects to characters who are no longer in the soap, the Emmerdale set was full of behind the scenes secrets.

READ NEXT: Emmerdale Leyla ‘set for prison’ as fans of ITV soap predict devastating drugs twist

Here, Daily Star reveals some of the facts you may not have known about the Emmerdale set.

Emmerdale is filmed at two locations

Emmerdale is one of TV’s most iconic villages – but you may be surprised to learn that the interior and exterior scenes are filmed separately.

So while you may be hoping for a photograph behind the Woolpack bar, the actual interior of the famous pub is separate from the building itself.

The soap is filmed across two locations, including a studio in Leeds where the interior scenes are captured.

However, the exterior scenes are filmed in a specially built village on the Harewood Estate, which was created in 1997 after Emmerdale moved production away from the real life village of Esholt.

While no one lives on the estate, many of the buildings are instead used by various production departments working on the soap, including make-up, which is housed in Harriet Finch’s home of Woodbine Cottage.

The set and prop designers used techniques to make the village buildings look old and worn, including layering yoghurt and manure on the walls to encourage moss and lichen to grow.

One of the sets to have their scenes filmed entirely at the village is Barton and Dingle motors – but for a surprising reason.

The garage of Barton and Dingle motors is actually too small to fit most cars, which is why the characters work on them outside.

The village hall features tributes to past residents

One building on the Emmerdale lot that does feature an interior set is the village hall, also known as the Emmerdale Institute.

The interior features a beautiful stained glass window, along with sweet tributes to past residents, including photographs of characters and iconic families including the Sugdens and the Turners.

There’s even a stage where artists can keep the villagers entertained, and with this in mind, maybe it’s time to bring back the famous Woolpackers band for a new generation?

There’s plastic treats in the café window

Yes, we’ve all done it.

We’ve all looked at the window of Café Main Street and thought, “ooh, those cakes look tasty.”

However understandably, the realistic looking cakes and pastries in the window are not real and are instead made of plastic, in order to keep them looking fresh take after take.

Don’t worry though, as visitors to the Emmerdale set can treat themselves to an ice cream during their visit – and all for a price lower than what you would pay normally.

We managed to treat ourselves to a 99 cone with a flake, which usually retails for just 40p from the ice cream van in Emmerdale village – compared to upwards of £2.50 or more elsewhere.

St Mary’s Church keeps villagers ‘in the know’

The attention to detail on the Emmerdale set is jaw-dropping and deserves a standing ovation all of its own.

The St Mary’s Church sign is regularly kept up to date with all the latest village news, which in coming months includes a jumble sale and an outdoor theatre production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

During our visit to the set, we also spotted a beautiful sign for Marlon and Rhona’s upcoming nuptials, ahead of their wedding next week in Emmerdale.

There’s real gravestones in the churchyard

There have sadly been many deaths in Emmerdale throughout the years that have left fans in tears, including Valerie Pollard and Francis ‘Butch’ Dingle.

Visitors to the Emmerdale set can pay their respects to the late beloved residents, including Tricia Dingle and Alan Turner, as they walk through the churchyard in the village.

However, while some of the gravestones are fictional, the Emmerdale churchyard actually includes some real gravestones too.

A graveyard in London was going through renovations when the set was built in 1997 and offered up some gravestones for Emmerdale, which visitors will be able to see as they walk through the churchyard.

If fans look closely, they will also be able to notice that the allotments are also located right next door to the churchyard on the Emmerdale set too.

The grocers’ sign features a spelling mistake

David Metcalfe’s grocers shop is located across from the Woolpack Pub and a short walk from Café Main Street – but did you know that one of its signs features a spelling mistake?

A sign to the left hand sign of the shop lists all the products that are available for villagers to purchase.

However, if you look closely, “confectionery” is actually misspelt as “confectionary,” and it is reported that this is why there is never a close up of the sign on TV.

For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.

Emmerdale airs at 7.30 pm on weekdays on ITV.

READ NEXT:

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk