50 Years of Emmerdale: The official story of TV's most iconic rural drama

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A selection of picturesque photographs of the purpose-built village set on the Harewood Estate in West Yorkshire have also been released on the countdown to the milestone occasion.

With a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes secrets and anecdotes, the acclaimed cast will remember key moments from the last five decades. That's because the soap's much-loved characters have been transformed into minute cake-toppers as part of a huge Emmerdale-themed cake. An ITV talent show, Soapstars, was held in 2001 to cast the new five-member Calder family; the Calders made their debut on the show in November that year, and all members had left by August 2002.Producers of the soap explained that "each hour-long episode on Tuesday will be specially written and won't be two half-hour ones put together. And then we get into the emotional relationships, the families and progress to a big event, a wedding.

The director Matt Rhodes worked with the costume, hair and makeup departments to pose the actors carefully for each scene, making it look as if they were in the midst of a hurricane. As of 2024, only Donna Windsor's daughter, April, and the Hope branch of the family (Bob and his daughter Cathy) remain. Home Farm is a mansion in Emmerdale; it was first introduced on-screen as Miffield Hall in 1973 and was renamed in 1978. Hordley also teased: "Sometimes it can even surprise us, so you never know what the producers have got up their sleeves. In March 2019, an episode featuring an exclusively female cast and crew was aired in support of International Women's Day.The original eight characters were Annie Sugden, Jack Sugden, Joe Sugden, Peggy Skilbeck, Matt Skilbeck, Sam Pearson, Henry Wilks and Marian Wilks. There will be a special hour-long episode on this day to mark the milestone, while it normally airs Monday to Friday.

The brief from the art director was to create an edible miniature set of the drama series including the famous Woolpack pub, the woods and many iconic scenes. The idea of the soap was thought up by former actor and playwright Kevin Laffan, with it being launched as Yorkshire television living through the eyes of the famous Sugden family.There's also set to be a stunt or story that "only Emmerdale can do", and that hasn't been done before. Sugden’s character was killed off in 1995, while the actress playing Marian was switched in 1987, before the character was written out a year later. The programme began broadcasting in high definition on 10 October 2011, and in 2016, Emmerdale won the award for Best British Soap at the British Soap Awards for the first time. Over more than a decade, he has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise.