There’s only one question that Emmerdale fans want new producer Iain MacLeod to answer: What are his plans for Robron?
They might have more ups and downs than Paddy Kirk’s had hot dinners, but fans can breathe something of a sigh of relief for their favourite Emmerdale lovers.
Aaron just can't resist Robert (ITV)
When it comes to the relationship between Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller) and Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley), it turns out that Iain is as big a fan as their fans.
The incoming producer said that he would “absolutely” want to please Robron’s fandom now that he’s in charge.
“They’re great together,” Iain said. “I think the performance chemistry between those two lads is just great, and I’ve watched a lot of stuff that’s coming up where just seeing them stand next to each other and shift awkwardly – the little awkward glances between them – there’s such good playing chemistry between them!
“There’s years left before I’m even slightly bored of watching them two together. I think they’re in it for the long haul.”
Aaron and Robert will continue their rocky relationship (ITV)
And if you were wondering what outgoing boss Kate Oates (who has moved to Coronation Street) left in his office when she departed, it wasn’t an A3 framed picture of Marlon (Mark Charnock). It was a bottle of gin.
“If I ever do need some inspiration, I’ll just have a tipple of that and everything will be fine,” joked Iain, who has come to Emmerdale fresh from being a producer at Hollyoaks.
Iain has also revealed that a new member of the Dingle family will be arriving in the village, and she will be "a chaotic mess. It will look like she's a whole lot of fun at the start but the story we get to with her will be a lot more serious. But that's much later this year. We haven't even cast her yet."
And there will be more trouble for Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley).
Now the head of the Dingle clan, Cain will face “an acute test of loyalty” with wife Moira (Natalie J Robb) when old flame Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) gets out of prison at the end of this month.
Iain admitted that some Emmerdale fans on social media had reacted negatively to his appointment.
“When I got the job, I did look up the Emmerdale hashtag on Twitter and there was quite a lot of people going, ‘I’m never watching Emmerdale again – he’s going to ruin it’.
He added: “But I’m absolutely not going to change it into something viewers don’t recognise. It’s too much of a precious thing to mess around with.”
He also revealed that “quite a few” former cast members had contacted him with regard to a possible return.
“It means the show’s doing really well, that people still hold it in really high regard, that they enjoyed working there,” he said. “I think it’s a massive compliment to Emmerdale, but I can’t say any more than that at this point because it’s top secret.”
Emmerdale, ITV
