‘Emmerdale’ viewers got a surprise on Thursday (13 April) night, when a scene featuring Ashley Thomas was aired.
The former vicar died last week, after a long battle with dementia, but after his funeral, Ashley’s wife Laurel saw him in a dream.
It all started when Laurel fell asleep watching home videos, and Ashley then appeared in the television screen, speaking to her directly.
“Hello, I miss you,” he said. “It’s not even been a week yet, but, my goodness, I miss you like it’s been years.”
The couple then discussed the highs and lows they have been through, including the death of their son, Daniel, and the birth of Dotty years later.
Actress Charlotte Bellamy, who plays Laurel, has revealed how the scene was filmed, explaining: “We did it one take, with no breaks – it’s all done on one continuous take.
“To do that in a studio, with somebody who is in a telly, is a huge technical triumph. I was talking to John through the telly with an ear piece. I couldn’t see him, I could just hear him. It was all very cleverly staged.
“It is really a soap first. No one has ever done anything like this. It’s all done once and we did it once. Iain [MacLeod, the soap’s producer] has been so clever at pushing the boundaries and telling the soap in a different way. And because we had to do it in one take, it gave it an edge.
“It was also nice for the audience to see Ashley as Ashley again. ‘Emmerdale’ has given us that moment that other people would maybe want to say to someone they’ve lost. It’s heartbreaking but it’s joyous.”
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