Four unlikely characters are brought together in Emmerdale when a brand new storyline begins at The Woolpack. With darts enjoying a surge in popularity, dubbed the Luke Littler Effect after the young sportsman took the game by storm, the ladies of Emmerdale are setting up their very own darts team.
The storyline aims to “inject fresh social dynamism back into the heart of the community: the village pub,” according to soap bosses.
Vanessa Woodfield, Mary Goskirk, Caitlin Todd, and Claudette Anderson band together to form the team in upcoming scenes.
ITV
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Speaking about the inspiration behind the storyline, producer Sophie Roper explained: “We had heard local darts teams, particularly those made up of women, were springing up across Yorkshire. It felt right that the ladies of Emmerdale would mirror this by setting up their own pub darts team.
“With fewer people heading out mid-week, many rural pubs are finding times tough. These teams, much like pub quizzes, are a fantastic way of encouraging people back in to socialise face-to-face. And The Woolpack, like other village pubs, is a vital rural community hub.”
It’s not the first time the world of soaps and darts has crossed over, with a former world champion player revealing that he had been appearing in EastEnders for a decade.
Last year, Scott Mitchell, who won the BDO World Darts Championship in 2015, shared that he appears in the soap to throw darts in the Queen Vic, but is never shown on screen.
“I don’t know whether I’ve had the duff duffs because I haven’t been watching it,” he told talkSPORT.
ITV
“But yeah, I’m a bit of a, I’m like the Stig of the Darts world where I pop in to various shows and throw a dart, but you never see me.”
Explaining his role, he continued: “Basically, we see the darts hit the board where they want the actors to put them.
“Obviously, it’s part of the script. So sometimes, where the dart lands is where the script is heading and going. So it needs to land in certain places.
“So if they need a bullseye to win a match, obviously, then the script goes to the next two minutes off the back of that bullseye. I haven’t watched EastEnders for a long time. It’s just the way the game works.”
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast from Inside Soap magazine. The latest episode delves into next week’s soap spoilers for EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale – as Carla and Lisa get married and Charity goes into labour.