House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has dropped into the Emmerdale bistro, as production added him into an episode after being unable to use footage of him last year because of the general election.
Sir Lindsay’s cameo on Monday sees him enter the fictional Yorkshire village’s Hide Bar & Bistro in a tweed jacked and wellies as a Lancastrian rambler, and compliment Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) on her Yorkshire tea after ordering it.
He said: “Incredibly, Emmerdale has been on our screens for more than half a century – shining a light on the lived experience of others; entertaining viewers with its hard-hitting storylines, while also making a major economic contribution to the North.
“It has been an honour to help the cast celebrate the 10,000th episode of this enduring Yorkshire-based soap, with a visit to the Woolpack.
“As a Lancastrian, I am hugely impressed by the talent and warmth of our friends on ‘the other side’ of the Pennines.”
Sir Lindsay visited the ITV soap as they celebrated their 10,000th episode back in May 2024, but producers were unable to use his footage of him because of restrictions on political coverage shortly before the election last June.
He was gifted wellies and met the cast, with ITV saying “with the magic of post-production Sir Lindsay was back in the Hop (Hawksford Outdoor Pursuits) in relevant time and making his order, for posterity”.
Hop is co-owned by Laurel, and has the Hide Bar & Bistro on its premises.
Emmerdale, first broadcast on October 16 1972 by Yorkshire Television, first covered the Sugden family, opening with the funeral of patriarch Jacob Sugden, and was called Emmerdale Farm.
On November 14 1989, the word farm was dropped from the title of the programme as the show shifted the focus beyond the Sugden family and the land to the wider village.
There has since been more than 150 deaths along with some 100 weddings and more than 40 babies born on the soap, along with lots of storylines addressing issues such as alcoholism and domestic violence.
