Jack P Shepherd teases unscripted Corriedale moment that made the final cut

Just like life itself, the world of Soap Opera doesn’t always go according to plan.

Throw in all the action, drama and explosions – both metaphorical and actual – you like. Sometimes, unintended moments of realism can creep their way on to camera. There’s Jo Joyner’s famous “How’s Adam?” Blunder where she mixed up the names of actor Adam Woodyatt and his character Ian Beale during a live episode of EastEnders.

And who could forget the famous missing hard hat from Coronation Street’s tram crash episode, where Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor) was explicitly instructed to wear a hard hat to enter a dangerous wrecking site, only to baffle viewers by walking into the scene without ever wearing one.

Sometimes, these little unscripted moments can enhance the realism of an episode and become iconic for all the right reasons. Let’s hope this happens in Corriedale.

In the epic soap crossover where Emmerdale meets Coronation Street on a dark road to destruction, a devastating car cash brings several major characters from both soaps together as they fight for their lives.

Amid all the carnage, viewers might be surprised to see Corrie legend and sharp-tongued hairdresser David Platt doing his best impression of Bruce Willis in Die Hard.

Actor Jack P Shepherd reveals how an unplanned split-second reaction to the roaring explosion made it to our screens. ‘The little sprint, yeah.’ He laughs. ‘A little run. I kind of just went, I’ll go full Tom cruise and I’ll just bomb towards the danger.’

Fortunately for Jack, Corriedale is not short on danger. The trailblazing hourlong special is set to explode the biggest stories of the year from both soaps, including Todd Grimshaw’s (Gareth Pierce) domestic abuse nightmare, Carla Connor (Alison King) versus Lisa Swain’s (Vicky Myers) deranged ex Becky Swain (Amy Cudden) and Charity Dingle’s (Emma Atkins) shocking surrogate baby lie.

All our favourite characters find themselves on a dark road in the dead of night for their own reasons, whether it’s to protect a secret, save a loved one from danger, or attend Debbie Webster’s (Sue Devaney) wedding. All those juicy ingredients make one heck of a bang! Jack P Shepherd reflects on his experience onset filming the big Corriedale stunt.

‘Great!’ he enthuses. ‘In all the years we’ve watched Emmerdale stunts they’ve always gone down in history as being better than ours. It was nice to work with them and show us how to do it! There’s lots of car crashes, and that was right at the beginning of the episode as well. You’re right there straight away, seeing all these cars collide and everything. I only saw little bits of it on the night when we were filming.’

What’s the secret to surviving a gruelling night of massive drama, high stakes and flames? With Haribo apparently! ‘There’s fire and everything!’ laughs Jack. ‘And we’re all there, we’re all just having a laugh and we’ve got Haribo and sweets and stuff and chocolate.’

Everyone involved in Corriedale brings their own drama to the screen, and David is no exception. He and his partner Shona’s tragic discovery that their unborn child has a cancerous tumour was bad enough, but then they learned that the only surgery that could help the baby may put Shona’s life at risk.

While David has been plagued with doubts over their decision not to terminate the pregnancy, Shona refuses to acknowledge the risks of surgery and is determined to carry to term. Will the next chapter of their baby story be kick started by the shocking aftermath of the stunt?

While Jack spilled very little tea, he raved about the episode and teased that it is absolutely crammed full of story. ‘There’s so much to cram in. What is it, 45 minutes? Something like that? I think it’s a fantastic job of getting all those stories in and with all the crashes and it looking so filmic and cinematic. I know we are watching it in the cinema, we have been spoiled, but I think it’s a brilliant job.’

You heard it here first, folks!

Comments Add as preferred source