Emmerdale has announced a dramatic Flashforward Week to air in early May.
These episodes of the ITV soap will begin with a flashforward that will see viewers trying to piece together what dramatic storylines will unfold for their favourite characters over the week.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, producer Laura Shaw teased the big week which is sure to be dramatic.
Shaw revealed that she had the “exciting job now of telling you about a really special week of episodes that we’ve got coming up from 9th May.”
She revealed of the week that producers had been “planning this for a while now and we know that the audience always love it when we step out of our usual storytelling style.
“We’ve done a similar sort of thing like this before – we did the nightclub, we had a big night out episodes, we did it with it Graham’s murder.
“We’re going to be following a similar pattern of starting the episodes with flashforwards that give the audience a chance to try and play a bit of Emmerdale detective and see if they can work out what’s going to happen during the week.”
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The producer noted that Emmerdale particularly has become known for these big event weeks and it is always “exciting” for the show to do them.
The week will see multiple twists for storylines “have been bubbling along for a while now” and will have ramifications for the rest of 2022, building up to the soap’s 50th anniversary episodes in October.
Shaw teased: “So on the Friday episode before the big week you’ll get a taste of what’s to come as we end that bouncing around the character groups that will feature in ‘Flashforward Week’, as it’s become affectionately known at Emmerdale HQ.”
She explained: “So when we get into the big week Monday we’ll start with a flashforward where you’ll be absolutely screaming at your TV to find out what on earth is going on.
“I think, I actually squealed with excitement going to start for the first week and then we’ll reveal a little bit more each day Monday to Thursday with the flashforwards with everything obviously being fully revealed by the end of the week.”
There are ultimately four storylines that will take centre stage throughout the week.
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One of the characters to come under the spotlight is Noah Dingle (Jack Downham) as his obsession with ex-girlfriend Chloe Lewis (Jessie Elland) reaches a dramatic “crescendo”.
Meanwhile, new mother Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) will be pushed to her limits at Home Farm as she fears that the widely presumed dead Jamie Tate will return and take everything she holds dear – including baby Thomas.
Gabby only recently discovered that her child’s father is still alive, but has kept this a secret from Jamie’s mother, Kim Tate (Claire King).
“There’s actually some lovely scenes exploring motherhood in these episodes, not just with Gabby but with Faith [Dingle] with her big, huge and shocking secret,” teased Shaw.
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Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter) will share this life-altering secret with daughter-in-law Moira Dingle (Natalie J. Robb) in “really touching scenes”.
Elsewhere, the “simmering rivalry” between Faith’s son Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) and scheming Al Chapman (Michael Wildman) will come to a head.
“Something big happen that will change the dynamic between these two forever,” revealed Shaw.
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Finally, the big week will also see epic stunts and action scenes in a style that the soap has never done before, with a special prop being built to complete it safely.
Shaw explained: “We’ve also used two new and very different filming techniques on one of the stunts, which makes you feel like you’re right in the middle of the action, and I can tell you it’s absolutely terrifying.”
One thing is for sure, this week will have lasting ramifications on the village.
Will all of our favourite villagers survive?
In case that wasn’t enough, Shaw also teased the storylines that fans can look forward to in Summer 2022.
Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV and ITV Hub with Flashforward Week beginning on 9th May 2022.
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