EMMERDALE bosses are to stage a massive stunt which will see three soap favourites trapped in a car after it plunges into a frozen lake.
In horrifying scenes filmed last week, Leyla Harding, played by Roxy Shahidi, is one of three women who will be seen fighting for their life as the vehicle sinks.
Leyla Harding, played by Roxy Shahidi, will be seen fighting for her life on the soap[/caption]
And sources told how ITV bosses pulled out all the stops to make the storyline as dramatic as possible.
Measures included dispatching a crew to cover an entire field with thick candle-wax, replicating the ice on the surface of a lake.
One soap insider said: “The bosses want viewers to have their hearts in their mouths when they see the car career off the road and into the water.
“It’s a nightmare scenario and everything was done to make sure this was a scene with real impact. Hours were spent creating a layer of ice, then the actors spent hours out on the frozen field in the pitch black trying to do the storyline justice.
“It will be a real heartstopper moment when it airs in January.”
The Sun on Sunday revealed earlier this year that Emmerdale favourite Roxy, 41, was being killed off after 16 years on the ITV soap.
Until now, the explosive circumstances of her exit had been kept secret.
Our revelation comes after Emmerdale bosses announced earlier this month that January will see a special episode of the soap, following Leyla’s son Jacob Gallagher on shift in a busy A&E ward.
They went on to add that Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) will be “pushed to his limits” as he deals with crises involving Emmerdale villagers.
And the news has sparked fan speculation that Jacob will be tasked with saving his mother as she fights for life.
Actress Roxy, who filmed her first scenes in Emmerdale in 2008, is the third star confirmed to leave the soap this year as bosses cut their cast down.
Lesley Dunlop, who plays Brenda Walker, is also due to leave the Dales.
And viewers will have to wait to learn if the two characters trapped in the sinking car with Leyla survive the accident or not.
TOOTH HURTS, JOEL
WHAT is better than Joel Dommett?
Two Joel Dommetts, of course.
Joel with Turkey Crown on the Christmas special[/caption]
At least that is what the creative minds at The Masked Singer think.
Joel will unwrap the huge surprise on the ITV show’s Christmas special, on Boxing Day at 7.30pm.
Hidden inside Giant Joel is a celebrity, but viewers will have to wait until series six kicks off on January 4 to find out who it is.
Joel said: “When I first saw Giant Joel, I thought, ‘Is my nose really that shape?’ Then everyone confirmed it is and said ‘your teeth are that big’!
“My wife has said that I’m not allowed to keep it because we don’t have space, so I have told her that we need to buy a marginally bigger house.
“Maybe we can turn it upside down and turn it into a really cool laundry bin or something.”
I reckon Joel’s lovely wife Hannah Cooper-Dommett would rather bin it . . .
FANS of The Split will be wondering if the legal drama is set for a return after next week’s two-part special drops.
They already feared it was over when the third and final series ended in 2022.
But then the BBC announced the Barcelona spin-off, which will air on December 29 and 30, and appear on iPlayer too.
Writer Abi Morgan said of the series, starring Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan: “I’d love to write for it again. I just want to make sure the story’s there. I hope it will go forward in some way.”
Abi should set up a crowdfunding site – I’m sure devotees would chip in to bankroll a return.
MARTIN’S MASTER PLAN
FINANCIAL whizz Martin Lewis reckons he is ready for battle on Taskmaster’s annual New Year Treat.
The Money Saving Expert enlisted help ahead of filming the Channel 4 show, hosted by comic Greg Davies and Alex Horne.
Martin Lewis reckons he is ready for battle on Taskmaster’s annual New Year Treat[/caption]
Martin said: “I probably shouldn’t admit this but I have an amazing research team on Money Saving Expert with about seven or eight seriously die-hard Taskmaster fans.
“I said to them, ‘Can you write me a briefing?’, because I’m the boss! I mean, I’m not some kind of tyrant, they loved doing it.
“So they made me this amazing Taskmaster briefing pack, which is like a lot of the research packs I normally work with, which included all this information on the way it works and tips on how to do it.”
Pretty sure that sucks the joy out of bumbling your way through Taskmaster’s challenges while viewers are all laughing at home.
