Emmerdale fans are convinced they’ve spotted a nod to the iconic plane crash in last night’s episode.
As Emmerdale gears up to celebrate its 50th anniversary next week, the soap seems to be throwing in nods to days gone by.
And eagle-eyed viewers were quick to pick up on the opening scenes in Tuesday’s episode (October 11).
Emmerdale plane crash tragedy theory
Fans spotted young Johnny Woodfield playing with an aeroplane in the village.
At the same time as he threw the plane and it crash-landed there was the sound of an aeroplane flying low overhead.
The scene stood out as Johnny was alone in the street and his plane was bright yellow. The camera then focused on the plane flying through the air.
Viewers immediately theorised it was a reference to the plane crash tragedy of 1993.
“Paper plane flying over the Woolpack….idk if that’s funny, ominous, or in poor taste,” joked one.
“Was that scene at the start a nod to the plane crash?” asked another.
A third also said: “Was that a nod to the plane crash?”
“Omg! There’s been another plane crash! What a month eh!” another added.
When was the Emmerdale plane crash?
The Emmerdale plane crash aired in 1993.
It was between Christmas and New Year and a passenger jet exploded, falling from the sky in a fireball.
Four characters died: Leonard Kapinski, Archie Brooks, Mark Hughes and Elizabeth Pollard.
The village was destroyed and characters’ lives were changed forever – especially Chris Tate, who ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
The plane crash established Emmerdale as one of the main TV soaps and attracted eight million viewers.
But the storyline was controversial, as it aired very close to the fifth anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing, which many people thought was insensitive.
Emmerdale airs nods to days gone by
In a recent press interview with Entertainment Daily and other media, show boss Jane Hudson revealed the anniversary episode would pay tribute to the first ever episode of Emmerdale.
“We start very purposefully paying homage the very first episode where you see a hand going across the meadow, you see somebody on horseback, you see people in farms, you see the graveyard with Jacob Sugden’s grave,” she revealed.
“And then we get into the emotional relationships, the families, and progress to a big event, a wedding.
“And then we get to the crash, bang, wallop stunt, everything’s thrown at it, all the technology, it’s all there.
“So it really is kind of Emmerdale’s journey in an hour.”
Read more: Complete Emmerdale cast list 2022 – meet them all here!
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour episode on Thursdays.
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