As 2025 begins in Emmerdale, so does an exciting new career path for Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant).
The character has been at university studying to become a doctor. When January kicks off though, Jacob will finally put all of his revising to the test when he embarks on his first placement in A&E.
Discussing this standalone episode set in a local hospital, actor Joe-Warren Plant explained how Jacob’s first day plays out.
‘He turns up at the hospital feeling pretty energised and ready for the day. Knowing how long he has been waiting for this. I think part of him is proud of his new job so before he starts his shift whilst he has a little bit of time he takes a quick selfie for social media.
‘It’s been a pretty big deal for Jacob leading up to this point. Part of him wants to take his friends and his family on his journey with him.
‘Doctor Todd and Jacob meet for the first time and you get the vibe that Doctor Todd is quite experienced within the hospital. She oversees the whole A&E area really and she has got an important job to do in bringing these new trainees in and giving them as much knowledge as she possesses in quite a short amount of time.
He added: ‘You get the vibe that although she is strict she is also understanding. She is there to do her job and to also make it easier and as safe as possible for everybody involved. Jacob understands this and knows he is there to learn.
‘He listens to her and takes it all on board. She tells him it’s a four week placement and it starts with observations and from that point on there are all the nurses and doctors to help the trainees along their way.’
While Emmerdale has aired special instalments before, this one feels very different due to it entirely being set in a hospital.
Joe revealed how he felt filming Jacob’s daunting experience: ‘I remember turning up on the first day we were filming Leon’s block in the hospital. I think the thing that stood out to me at first was the costume. Obviously it was the first time I had ever worn a set of scrubs. So that immediately made it all feel different.
‘And very different to how Jacob usually dresses. It certainly helped set the tone for the rest of the day. The sets were also really busy. There are a lot of wonderful new artists and supporting artists that came in just for this one episode.
He pondered: ‘I think it was important for them to create a chaotic environment to mirror what it can be like in a real A&E. In this episode they also used the roaming steadicam in a lot of the scenes. Which we do use on occasion but not as heavily as we did in this episode. So it felt different to the normal camera on sticks shots that don’t allow for a lot of movement.
‘It was nice shooting these scenes and they really put a lot of choreography into them. There were some really nice shots involved and I remember on the first day that we started in the hospital just knowing and realising how much the crew and the cast all cared about what was being filmed.’
Reflecting on his reaction when he was told about this episode, Joe said: ‘When I first went up to the meeting with the producer Sophie she told me there was going to be an hour long episode coming up dedicated to Jacob’s first day of placement on A&E, I remember being hit with all these emotions.
‘Knowing how many people have this high pressure job and I felt the pressure to really knuckle down with it and get it right.
‘Tackling this storyline scared me a bit at first but to know but they trusted me to tell it, it means a lot and I do feel very honoured.’
