‘Emmerdale’ stars had an online meeting with a doctor advisor before they started filming their lockdown episodes.
The ITV soap has resumed filming with a selection of actors shooting lockdown eps, which will begin to air from Monday (02.06.20), and Karen Blick – who plays Lydia Dingle – revealed the cast were able to raise any concerns or worries before they shot the socially-distant scenes, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
She said: "We had an online meeting with a doctor advisor first of all and he spoke about the virus and how it spreads and how we can protect ourselves.
"We got the chance to ask questions if we were worried or concerned about coming back to work.
"That reassured everyone there were to be stringent procedures in place and of course social distancing, and so filming with that in mind is very different. We only had a very small number of people in the studio.
"There were far less people in the space so we could observe social distancing. The big hugs when we all say hi have had to go. It’s strange having to stand back."
Karen and her co-star James Hooton’s episode will air on Monday, with Lydia and her husband Sam Dingle locked down together.
And the actress admitted she was most concerned about learning lines again, but felt "relaxed" once she saw the script.
When asked if it was hard to learn the script given the amount of dialogue, she replied: "This was what I was worried about most of all, but I relaxed as soon as I saw the script. It has not been hard to learn as firstly it’s been so well written so it flows really nicely.
"Lydia has some fantastic speeches so I’ve just had to sit down and do the work but it’s been enjoyable. It’s been good to use those muscles again after being at home in lockdown."
Karen cut her own fringe before returning to filming, and the process made her "more nervous" than recording the episode.
She said: "Ahead of the filming, the Head of Make Up, Jess, called me and asked how my hair was looking at the moment and she checked I’d be okay doing my own hair and make up on the day. She also talked me through cutting my own fringe.
"I have now cut my own fringe! It went well actually and I was more nervous about cutting my fringe than recording the episode."