Trivia / Emmerdale

• The Character Died with Him: Following Clive Hornby's death in July 2008, his character Jack Sudgen was killed off months later in a storyline that marked the brief return of Sheila Mercier as Jack's mother Annie.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Lesley Dunlop shaved her head for the Brenda Walker brain tumor storyline, where her character was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
• Follow the Leader: The show was inspired by an Irish RTÉ soap opera called The Riordans which was notable for filming outside for its farm based setting, with outdoor filming being limited on British and American soap operas at the time.
• The Other Darrin: Frequently used with the child characters; less frequently used with the adults (though Robert Sugden is one adult example).
  • Though Clive Hornby is best known for playing Jack, he's actually the second actor to play him as Andrew Burt played him in the early years before leaving in 1976 as he didn't want to be identified as Jack. Burt outlived Hornby by a decade before passing away in 2018.
• Playing Against Type: Pauline Quirke, best-known as a comedic actress from Birds of a Feather, playing an extremely dramatic part as Jackson's mother during his exit storyline (which included him becoming quadraplegic following a car crash and eventually committing suicide)
• Referenced by...: Eddie in Bottom is a bit of a fan of the show, as he is seen watching it more than once (and has even taped it so that he can watch multiple episodes late at night when there are no actual programmes being broadcast). He persists in calling it Emmerdale Farm even though it had stopped using that title by the time Bottom was broadcast, although he actually does discuss the change of title at one point. And, of course, he gets very angry at the sight of the extra who gets paid to spend all day in the pub.
• Role-Ending Misdemeanor:
  • Ben Freeman, who played the second incarnation of Scott Windsor, was sacked after he was arrested for sexual assault.
  • Shila Iqbal, who played Aiesha Richards, was sacked after some offensive tweets she had posted in the past were brought to the producers attention.
  • Asan N'Jie, who played Ellis Chapman, was sacked after he threatened, and then attacked, Hollyoaks actor Jamie Lomas at the TV Choice award show in 2019.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Morrissey was once offered a part:
    I was to play an intruder in jodhpurs - an intruder at Home Farm, but I refused to wear the jodhpurs. As they say, it's nice to be asked.
  • Andy's daughter Sarah was originally going to be killed off due to a rare genetic illness in a 2011 storyline, but it was discarded to avoid upsetting younger viewers.
  • Zoe's departure was originally going to be temporary as her actress Leah Bracknell decided to take a nine-month break on the soap to focus on finishing her teaching diploma in yoga. However, when it became clear that her actress had moved on from the show, her return storyline was scrapped and any chance of her making a return sadly ended following Bracknell's death with cancer in 2019.
  • Elisabeth Sladen was offered a recurring role in The '80s, but declined to focus on her family.
  • Frazer Hines claimed that he tried to get Patrick Troughton to appear on the show, but the producer refused, as he was wary of their notorious reputation as pranksters.

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