Emmerdale fans will finally get to watch the highly-anticipated 50th anniversary special this weekend.
An hour-long edition of the ITV soap will air on Sunday (October 16) to mark the ITV show’s landmark birthday.
Viewers can expect plenty of drama all next week as well as a huge storm, which is set to change the lives of some villagers forever.
READ MORE: Emmerdale bloodbath teased as several lives in danger after storm rips through village
Designer Duncan Howell has opened up about the challenges he’s faced while trying to create the epic viewing for fans.
He said: “Making it fit within the time frame has been the biggest challenge because we are doing feature film stuff on a soap schedule.
(Image: mirror.co.uk)
“But it’s been brilliantly done. It’s a great team. We have had massive special effects, big wind machines and tight turnaround times.
“Sometimes there were two units filming in different locations so we had to split the special effects crew.”
It has also been revealed that a cow stampede will be one of the big elements of the week, which has never been done on a soap to the extent before.
Duncan explained: “We began with conversations and lots of planning with the farmer. It was really important that this did not cause any harm or stress to these animals.
“The cattle we used all actually live on the farm. For the filming element we created a new cattle pen near to a run which was a fence running down to one of their fields.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“So when they came out of the pen they gathered to go down the run to their field. They know they get fed both in the pen but also in the field.
“We did a rehearsal which was useful as it ensured the producers and everyone was happy with what we were doing and it was recorded to ensure there was no distress or any stress being caused to the animals.”
He added: “We put their food on the back of a feed hopper and whizzed that down first so the cows had seen their food go.
“So when they came out of their pen they ran as a group to get to the food. It was successful.
“Of course there was a bit of trickery as we used a thing which we called ‘cow cam’.
“An amazing company called Animated Extras from Shepperton Studios created a cow’s head that could be puppeteered.
“This will enable the audience to see a cow’s point of view. In the scene it will look as if the cows are running towards the Emmerdale characters as the cows stampede. It worked perfectly.”
Emmerdale airs weekdays on ITV at 7.30pm
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
