Emmerdale set for ‘major cast cull’ as fans predict epic ‘mine shaft collapse’ storyline
Emmerdale has seen some epic tragedies over the years, from the plane crash that cemented its place in soap history to the recent storm that killed off various residents
Emmerdale fans are sure that a long-forgotten location in the ITV Dales will be brought back to cut back the cast in a major way.
Fans have taken to social media this week to share their predictions about the next “big catastrophe” we could see in Soapland, after the 1993 plane crash which cemented the programme’s place in history. The Beckindale Air Disaster saw four main victims killed off – along with the entire Hutchinson family.
Since then, we’ve seen serial killer murder sprees, killer storms, an away weekend gone wrong and flooding in The Woolpack. In 2015 the village was shaken by a helicopter crash that killed Val Pollard, and a year later Mill Cottage was caught in an explosion which trapped Nicola King inside.
Now fans think they’ve spotted one key location around the Dales which could be used in an upcoming catastrophe storyline – the old mining shaft. In 1978, the mine was at the centre of a storyline involving Reverend Hinton and his son Clive.
Desperate to extract valuable deposits from the mine, Clive headed over with Ian Hepton and Rod Blake to set off a controlled explosion, which ended up going wrong – leaving Clive and Rod unconscious. Though both survived, it left the community shell-shocked.
Now over on Reddit, some fans think the mine could be brought back for a current storyline, resulting in a collapsing shaft and numerous members of the cast killed off. Taking to the Emmerdale subreddit, one fan theorised: “Maybe something like a mining disaster. Jack and Sarah’s old farm started sinking due to old mine shafts or something, so there’s obviously scope to say they ran under the village too.
“Maybe a big sinkhole could open up and take half the village down with it. They could even do it on the cricket pitch or something to save the set. Get the whole cast there for a wedding, let the ground open up and have at it.”
Someone else suggested combining the event with a flood, writing: “Combine it. Flash floods weaken the ground, a shaft collapses, everyone’s trapped, it’s filling with water etc. I feel sold. I want this.”
As for who could meet a deadly fate in the new plot, the user suggested: “Amit, Suni, Nicky, Tom, Claudette, Ella, Will and Wendy. And I’d bring back David and kill him, just to make sure we don’t get any surprise returns.”
If the writers were going in that direction, it would make sense with weddings on the horizon. Paddy Kirk star Dominic Brunt has teased a possible union between Mandy Dingle and his character, gushing: “That’d be amazing!” when asked by Inside Soap.
And with Belle Dingle working for Take A Vow, it makes sense to have most of the villagers gathered even if it wasn’t two central cast members tying the knot.
