EMMERDALE

ADVENTURE / DRAMA / CRIME

UNITED KINGDOM

1972-now

EMMERDALE (known as Emmerdale Farm until 1989) is a British soap opera set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale Farm was first broadcast on 16 October 1972. Exterior scenes were first filmed in Arncliffe in Littondale, and the series may have taken its name from Amerdale. Exterior scenes were later shot at Esholt, but are now shot at the Harewood estate. In 2004, Emmerdale became the first British soap opera to broadcast six episodes a week. EMMERDALE consists of 9280 episodes of 30 minutes.

STORY: The series early years as Emmerdale Farm centred on the Sugden family and rural farm life. By 1993, Emmerdale was into its third decade on the air and December 1993 saw a major turning point in the show's history, when an episode featured a plane crashing into the village of Beckindale, killing four main characters, 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.

GAY COUPLE STORYLINE: In February 2007 Richard Grieve made a television comeback when he landed the role of farrier Jonny Foster in the rural-based British soap opera Emmerdale. His character set his sights on barman Paul Lambert (Matthew Bose), almost immediately on arrival and the two were together for several months. His character was also the centre of Emmerdale's first gay proposal when he asked Paul to marry him