Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw has revealed the soap’s original plans for DI Malone’s murder, which included him being bludgeoned to death.
In Wednesday’s episode (August 19) the corrupt copper met his end when Dawn Taylor shot him three times in the soap’s first social-distance murder.
But this wasn’t how the scene was originally going to play out. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, plans had to be changed.
Producer Laura explained: “His intention was always to go and kill Dawn as he had trapped her in Woodbine. We would see a cat and mouse game as Dawn tried to fight back, before Malone took control and had his hands over Dawn’s nose and mouth, planning to suffocate her to death.
“Just at the moment you felt it was game over for Dawn, Harriet appeared and used all her strength to grab Malone off Dawn, causing him to crash into the sideboard, hitting his head, knocking him out.”
She added: “Similarly to what’s played out on screen now, you see the two women fearing he’s dead before Malone shocked them by rearing himself back up, the fatal blow delivered by Dawn.
“In the original script this was with a brass candlestick, taken from the mantelpiece!”
Emmerdale: Having to start Malone’s plans again
Due to the pandemic and changes in filming , Laura said it felt like they had to start all over again when it came to shooting Malone’s death scenes.
In the original script this was with a brass candlestick.
She revealed: “When we shut down filming we were a week of starting to shoot Malone’s murder.
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“We had spent months carefully crafting the storyline. This was a story we had embarked on knowing exactly how it ended, we had been building to this moment since Malone first appeared.
She added: “We had spent weeks finessing the scripts and Duncan Foster and I had spent hours on set working out and choreographing every move. We had discussed every tiny detail and I knew all that hard work needed to be scrapped and we almost needed to start again.”
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However, Laura realised the changes made it more exciting.
She continued: “What I hadn’t realised at that point is that changing everything would ultimately make it more dramatic, exciting and thrilling than it had ever been.”
Emmerdale: What’s next for Harriet and Dawn?
The two women planned to dispose of the body. Although Dawn wanted to go to the police, Harriet wanted to cover it up.
But before they could leave the village with the corpse, Dawn’s dad, Will, returned home.
While it hasn’t been revealed whether they’ll get caught, actress Olivia Bromley doesn’t think Dawn will cope well with the secret.
Will they manage to get away with Malone’s murder? Or will it all come back to haunt them?
Emmerdale airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7pm on ITV.
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