Emmerdale's executive producer Jane Hudson has branded suggestions that background extras could be replaced by mannequins "insulting".
The ITV soap resumed full production last month after around two months on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, albeit with enhanced health and safety measures in place to protect cast and crew.
Initially the show worked on six 'lockdown' episodes featuring just two or three cast members but is now switching back to a state of semi-normality with more of the cast being gradually incorporated into scenes.
New Zealand soap Shortland Street has explored the idea of temporarily replacing background actors in pubs and restaurants with mannequins, but in a call with reporters on Tuesday, Hudson dismissed the idea as disrespectful.
"I just think that's quite insulting to supporting artists, really, to go, 'a mannequin can do your job'," she said.
"I mean, we're all happy to get around it [... but] if you put a mannequin in the background, you'd know it was a mannequin. And knowing our luck, an arm would drop off during a take!"
Emmerdale continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV, with the first of the lockdown episodes airing next week.
Neil Wilkes
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