A former Emmerdale actor has hinted that the ITV soap risks being axed if it continues down the path of “stunt after stunt” – ahead of an epic super soap week.
Emmerdale bosses have gone all out for the programme’s 50th birthday, with a storm poised to wreak havoc on the village, throwing Kim Tate’s wedding to Will Taylor into turmoil.
Designer Duncan Howell admitted the soap is doing “feature film stuff” on a “soap schedule.”
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But, according to Ashley Thomas star John Middleton, whose character was killed off in 2017 after an early-onset dementia battle, it simply isn’t sustainable.
Speaking on the Soap from the Box podcast, John griped: “You have to be very, very careful, and I think it’s the big mistake that Brookside went down, they went after stunt after stunt after stunt.
(Image: MDM)
“Eventually, your audience is tuning in to watch a stunt, and then that’s it, then they go away.
“You’re aiming for a young, but very fickle audience, you’ve done your stunt and then they go off and watch something else,” he said.
Speaking about what bosses could change, John said: “What you need is a loyalty to the characters because that’s what brings you in and actually that’s what develops your understanding of drama and what it’s about.”
Brookside was cancelled after 21 years on the airwaves in 2003, having kicked off in 1982.
(Image: TWITTER)
And long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours came to an end this summer after nearly four decades on our screens – which proves that no soap is immune to the axe.
In a further blow to the soap, Eric Pollard star Chris Chittel has confessed it’s a “shame” to see “sensationalist” storylines so often.
He told the podcast: “The biggest change is the topic of storylines, they’re all sensationalist, which is a shame.”
“We have to look at life and be able to reflect it to do our jobs.
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“And life as we see it now, hells bells, you daren’t cough, walk in the street because there’s a death. But life is not like that.”
He even dished on what Emmerdale could borrow from rival soap Coronation Street, adding: “I saw a wonderful episode of Coronation Street with Sarah Lancashire and Julie Goodyear in the pub.
“They’d closed up for the night and it was just magical. It was perfect. That’s what’s missing.”
Emmerdale airs weeknights from 7:30pm on ITV.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
