Three 'Emmerdale' characters axed

Thursday, 7 May 2009

Three 'Emmerdale' characters will leave the show in the next few months.

Tony Haygarth, Lewis Linford and James Baxter - who play farm worker Mick Naylor, his grandson Lee Naylor and chef Jake Doland respectively - will leave the soap, reportedly because their characters have run their course.

'Emmerdale' producer Gavin Blyth said: "Every character has their time in the show, some longer than others."

Gavin also hinted one of the show's characters will be killed off this year, adding: "The Grim Reaper will visit at some point but not immediately. There will be a departure of that sort in the next 12 months or so."

Gavin has been overhauling the soap since his appointment as producer in January. He has made a number of changes to the cast including bringing back popular character Cain Dingle, overseeing the introduction of members of the Wylde Family and adding the first blind actress cast in a UK soap, Lizzy Lakely, who plays Kitty McGeever.

It was also announced this week 'Emmerdale' has 13 nominations at the British Soap Awards. The show is given default entry into six categories- including Best Soap, Best Actor, Best Actress, Sexiest Male and Sexiest Female - which are voted for by the public.

The rest of the awards will be decided by a panel, and are lead by 'Hollyoaks' which is nominated in all nine of the remaining categories. 'EastEnders' has eight nods, followed by 'Coronation Street' with seven and 'Emmerdale' and 'Doctors' which have six nominations each.

The British Soap Awards take place this Saturday (09.05.09) in London.