‘Emmerdale’: James Hooton reveals stunt secrets as Sam’s life hangs in the balance

Sam Dingle (James Hooton) has been left brutally injured in tonight’s Emmerdale, as he found himself impaled on a spike after he, sister Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and nephew Nate (Jurell Carter) were forced to flee from a herd of cows during the village storm.

The much-loved character is now at serious risk of becoming the next fatal casualty in the soap’s 50th anniversary week. But, as star Hooton tells Yahoo, filming Sam’s ordeal wasn’t as harrowing as it looked.

“Costume went all out to try and find the best way of dealing with this spike scenario.

"So it looks, to me, ultra realistic when you see it on-screen, but it’s just made of foam, basically.

“So you’ve got one piece sticking out where the normal tractor piece would be, and costume developed this sling that I put over my shoulder. I had a little bit sticking out and part of the spike sticks into that; and on the other side they ripped through the jacket to create the exit wound.”

Read more: Emmerdale 50th anniversary spoilers: Chas injured in storm, Amelia in labour alone

The actor also reveals all on the stunt that led to Sam’s accident. “We did it as a plate shot. We set up a number of different cameras in a fixed position; and the actors, myself and Jurell, were first up.

“We had to play the stampede as if the cows [were] in the same shot as us, and there was nothing there. The cameras stayed in that fixed position, and when we shot all of our angles they sent out the cows.

“So they sort of marry up the two shots together in the edit, and I’ve seen a rough edit of that sequence, and it already looked fantastic.”

Hooton adds that the team even created a new filming method for the occasion. “They had so many different angles and things that they could cut to, including this ‘Cow Cam’ they had specially designed for a specific shot, with a camera on the back of its head!

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“They covered all angles, basically, and it was a joy to shoot, it was really interesting to shoot and see how they put these two elements together to create the stunt.”

As for Sam’s fate, Hooton can’t give anything away as he sums up shooting the shocking cliffhanger. “I always wanted to take up the javelin, but it didn’t pan out the way I’d imagined it when I was watching Fatima Whitbread, winning gold all those years ago” he grins.

“I was told that this was happening, and obviously you don’t know what the outcome’s going to be [in] a story such as this. The viewers don’t know whether Sam lives or dies.”

Read more: Emmerdale: Soap’s 50th anniversary storm will leave the village 'derelict'

Sam's wife Lydia (Karen Blick) will be given awful news later in the week. Has the worst happened? While we wait to find out, Hooton discusses the origin of the role he has played since 1995.

“I was brought in for 8 episodes, and I was a young jobbing actor,” he tells us.

“I think I was 20 when I first started on the show, and I was rubbing my hands together, I thought ‘8 episodes, that’s brilliant! I’ll get a few quid in the bank, I can get down to London for some more auditions, this is going to be the making of me!’

“And it has been the making of me, but in a different way! I originally shot 13 episodes from that first 8 episode contract, I was written out and then invited back; and it’s been the mainstay of my adult career, working on this show.

“I’ve loved it, and I continue to love it up to this point - it’s been fantastic.”

Find out what happens to Sam as Emmerdale continues tomorrow on ITV at 7.30pm.

Watch the latest Emmerdale spoilers