'Emmerdale's' Claire King says filming Kim's whodunit poisoner dinner party was 'a nightmare'

Katie Archer
FROM ITV STRICT EMBARGO Print media - No Use Before Tuesday 25th May 2021 Online Media - No Use Before 0700hrs Tuesday 25th May 2021 Emmerdale - Ep 9061 Monday 31st May 2021 Once the guests are assembled Kim Tate [CLAIRE KING] declares sheÕs stepping back from the business, but first needs to anoint her successor, revelling in the reaction it creates and soon the bickering amongst her guests commences. Kim addresses her guests one more time with a speech designed to manipulate her poisoner into taking actionÉ Picture contact David.crook@itv.com This photograph is (C) ITV Plc and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms
Claire King says the dinner party scenes were a nightmare. (ITV Plc)

Emmerdale star Claire King has said that filming the dramatic dinner party where her character's poisoner is revealed was "a nightmare".

Thanks to coronavirus restrictions, the ITV soap only allows four cast members on set at a time - but with six suspects and the host herself making seven, some of those involved in the scene were forced to read their lines from another room.

Read more: Emmerdale's Gemma Oaten nearly died four times during anorexia battle

King's character Kim Tate has been at the centre of a long-running storyline where she is being poisoned by a mystery enemy and as frequently been passing out and appearing confused.

FROM ITV STRICT EMBARGO Print media - No Use Before Tuesday 25th May 2021 Online Media - No Use Before 0700hrs Tuesday 25th May 2021 Emmerdale - Ep 9061 Monday 31st May 2021 Once the guests are assembled Kim Tate [CLAIRE KING] declares sheÕs stepping back from the business, but first needs to anoint her successor, revelling in the reaction it creates and soon the bickering amongst her guests commences. Kim addresses her guests one more time with a speech designed to manipulate her poisoner into taking actionÉ Picture contact David.crook@itv.com This photograph is (C) ITV Plc and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms
Kim Tate gathers her suspects for a dinner party. (ITV Plc)

With six other villagers having an axe to grind against Kim or a reason to want access to her money, fans have been eagerly awaiting a Poirot-style whodunit scene where she gathers the suspects together in one room to get to the bottom of who has been drugging her brandy.

But the dinner party at Home Farm ended up being an even more select group than the six shady characters Kim invited because of strict rules about who could gather around the table.

King told Good Morning Britain on Monday: "Because we’re basically allowed only four of the cast on the set at one point and there were seven of us in the scene, we literally had to have four of us on set, the other three were in another room delivering their lines while we responded to their lines to their photos on lollipop sticks.

FROM ITV STRICT EMBARGO Print media - No Use Before Tuesday 18th May 2021 Online Media - No Use Before 0700hrs Tuesday 18th May 2021 Emmerdale - Ep 9057 Wednesday 26th May 2021 Will Taylor [DEAN ANDREWS] tries to check in on Kim Tate [CLAIRE KING] but in her paranoid state this only makes her more suspicious. She sends him packing and firmly bolts the door behind him. Picture contact David.crook@itv.com This photograph is (C) ITV Plc and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms
Kim turns detective to find out who is poisoning her. (ITV Plc)

"And then we swapped the actors round, then they came back again. So it did take an awful long time but we were in the wonderful hands of (director) Brett Fallis, so I think he’s done a really good job with it because it was a nightmare to film!"

The suspects include Jai, Gabby, and even Kim's own son Jamie, and will be gathered together for the dinner party in scenes airing this week as Kim turns detective trying to work out which one of them it could be.

Watch: Emmerdale soap scoop! Kim Tate tries to trap the poisoner

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