EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street decided to incorporate the Covid pandemic into their soap storylines, but fans spotted several glaring errors in episodes
Covid didn’t stop your favourite soaps from airing, but it did cause some chaos.
It’s been five years since the Covid-19 pandemic began – which saw many tragically lose their lives and the rest of us sent into lockdown for months. Confined to our houses, many of us sought comfort and joy in our favourite films or TV shows – when we weren’t playing endless quizzes on Zoom.
Covid forced soaps like EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street to halt filming for a short while in 2020, but they didn’t let the dreaded virus get in the way for long. ITV and BBC were able to adapt their sets so that social distancing and other lockdown rules were adhered to.
It meant fans didn’t go long without their daily fix of soap drama – as long as they got used to their favourite actors wearing face masks. However, incorporating Covid into storylines proved to be a rather tricky affair, and fans began to notice a few apparent Covid blunders in episodes.
Sold out footy match
In November 2020, viewers were a little confused when they found out Weatherfield County’s football match was sold out. This is because, at the time, Premier League clubs were forced to play behind closed doors and most fans weren’t able to go and watch their beloved teams play.
Cobbles favourite Sean Tully was desperate take his son Dylan to watch the game, and ended up forking out a whopping £300 for two corporate tickets that included a tour of the ground and the chance to meet the players. Sean was taken aback by the price but happy to pay it; Dylan was buzzing.
However, fans were wondering why Weatherfield was hosting sold out football matches at a time when people in the real world weren’t allowed to watch footy games. Fans complained on X, formerly Twitter, that it didn’t reflect reality.
“Now the writers can’t even be realistic,” said one. “Tell them no-one is allowed into football grounds just now.” Another wrote: “How come Sean can get tickets to watch Weathie County but no one else can watch a football match in the entire country?”
However, the soap confirmed the episodes were shot a few months before it went to air, so there was a delay before episodes reflected the latest changes to the government’s policy on the pandemic. Corrie’s Twitter account wrote: “We film a couple of months before transmission so there will inevitably be a time lag before we can begin to reflect the latest changes to Government policy.”
The Queen Vic
Albert Square’s iconic boozer, The Queen Vic, was absolutely packed in an episode that aired at the end of March 2020. The soap was spacing out episodes to cope with the pandemic, which had halted production at the time.
Whitney Dean made her return to the Square after being locked up in prison following the murder of Leo King. Her solicitor, and neighbour, Gray Atkins announced her surprise return to residents in the Vic as Whitney appeared through the pub door to a very welcoming crowd.
Danny Dyer’s Mick Carter was manning the bar and the pub was crammed with punters, but viewers were left wondering why it was still open at all. The UK had announced it had closed all of its pubs due to the latest lockdown restrictions, but everyone in Walford was sinking pints and not social distancing.
One person commented on social media: “WHY WHY WHY IS EVERYONE IN THE PUB IN @bbceastenders?? @BBCNewsPR Need to sort this our right now. Completely irresponsible programming. @BorisJohnson.”
Another commented: “So is Covid-19 not a thing in Albert Square? Take me there now!!! #Eastenders.” A third added: “I know I’m Coronavirus’d out when I’m watching Eastenders stressing out about the amount of people in the Queen Vic!!”
It’s likely that this, too, was filmed before the latest lockdown restrictions came into place. Mick Carter does things on his own terms, but we’re not suggesting he was flouting Covid rules.
‘Insensitive’ joke
Fans of Emmerdale complained to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom when a resident made light of the pandemic. The ITV soap aired six special lockdown episodes which saw residents isolating as per the government’s rules.
Some viewers took issue with a joke Jimmy King made to his hungover wife Nicola. He scoffed at no longer having to do the school run for daughter Angelica and his two sons, Elliot and Carl.
Jimmy joked: “At least we don’t have to do the school run. Thank you coronavirus.” Nicola, who had been drinking wine with Jimmy, smirked in agreement, but Ofcom revealed they got 12 complains related to Jimmy’s Covid remark.
The UK’s reported death toll had risen over 43,000 at the time, so it’s possible people felt it was an insensitive joke to make when so many people were suffering.
Belle’s hospital blunder
Belle Dingle was rushed to hospital with hallucinations in distressing scenes that aired in November 2020. She had been hearing her mum’s voice ever since she stopped taking her medication, and the voice told her to attack Jamie Tate.
She stole a cake knife from the baby shower and ran into the woods, believing Jamie had followed her. She then came at a pregnant Tracey with the knife, believing she was Jamie, but Tracey managed to talk her out of the attack and called for help.
Belle was taken to hospital, with Cain, Sam and Charity all going to see her after she’d been rushed in. However, fans noticed everybody had removed their face masks or left them under their chins – a violation of Covid rules.
One fan said: “Chas with no mask Cain and Sam with there’s under their chin in the hospital sorry # Emmerdale you’re not setting a very good example.” Another commented: “Since when do you walk into a hospital and THEN take your mask off.”
Sonia’s new car
Nurse Sonia was raving about being gifted a brand new car from a former Covid patient. He pulled up in the car and left it with Sonia, prompting Whitney Dean to ask if she had a new boyfriend on the scene.
Reading the note he gave, Sonia said: “It’s from a Covid guy that I treated in hospital. I ain’t got a new boyfriend, I’ve got a new car!” But NHS guidance makes it very clear Sonia would have to declare the gift because of its high value.
NHS England says on its website: “The guidance will permit staff, such as nurses, to receive a box of chocolates or other small tokens of gratitude from patients but will require them to decline anything that could be seen to affect their professional judgement. Gifts with a value over £50, accepted on behalf of organisations, will need to be declared.”
Viewers also noticed this, with one writing: “Doesn’t supernurse Sonia know all gifts in the NHS have to be declared.. #Eastenders “. Another asked: “Not sure the NHS Trust sonia works for would allow her to accept a gift like that! #Eastenders “.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
