There were more horror scenes in Emmerdale as Sam Dingle became a victim of the soap's first-ever cow stampede. The ITV soap returned to screens on Monday night (October 17) after kicking off its big 50th anniversary week of 'death and destruction on Sunday on what marked its official five decades on air.
Fans of the Yorkshire-based soap saw the start of the chaos caused by a daylight windstorm during the hour-long special last night but it wasn't just a freak change in weather the residents of the village had to deal with as tonight, viewers witness Sam Dingle and Nate Robinson face the wrath of a bunch of cows.
The pair were involved in a cow stampede up at the farm and as they desperately tried to get away, Sam, played by James Hooton for the best part of 20 years, made a potentially fatal error as he dived over some hay bales and landed directly onto a piece of machinery which left him spiked!
When speaking to press, including the Manchester Evening News, ahead of the gruesome scenes, it was pointed out this was a first for James in his two decades on the soap as he joked: "I always wanted to take up javelin but it didn't pan out the way I imagined it when watching Fatima Whitbread winning gold all those years go."
He did add: "No, it was interesting. It was a break from the norm and you never know what this show is going to throw at you so I was told that this was happening and obviously, you don't know what the outcome is going to be of a story such as this."
And James was quick to reveal how Emmerdale's costume department helped make the brutal scenes look as realistic as possible. "It was good. Costume went all out to try and find the best way of dealing with this spike scenario. To me, it looks ultra realistic.
"But it's just made a foam. You've got one piece sticking out where the tractor piece would be and costume developed this sling that I put over my shoulder and it had a bit where part of the spike stick into [it] and on the other side they've ripped through the jacket to create the whole at the back, the exit wound, and stuck another bit of foam on that."
James explained how they spent all day recording one scene, which he says is "unheard of" in soap territory, but while it took a long time to film, he did say the crew were "good to him" in between takes. "They put something to support my knees because I was in that position, slumped over the spike, for two or three hours."
READ NEXT:
- ITV Emmerdale fans jump to soap's defence after complaints over anniversary special following show warning
- ITV Emmerdale star Claire King teases Kim Tate's fate as she jokes she's 'been in Spain'
- ITV Emmerdale's Kim Tate star Claire King says soap 'almost finished her off' as she ended up on antibiotics after storm drama
- Who dies in ITV Emmerdale this week as a 'deadly' storm hits the village?
- ITV Emmerdale boss defends village being hit by another storm and shares why it is set in the day
