Scheduling of Emmerdale and Central Television chose to move the programme to 19:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays in February 1989, This was the first time Anglia had screened "Emmerdale Farm" in the 19:00 slot, Central were simply returning to the slots they used until December 1987, for a period Anglia and Central saw episodes one week later than other regions. From January 1990 all other regions followed the Central and Anglia schedule in the familiar Tuesday and Thursday 19:00 slot. Most companies continued to broadcast the series at 7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, repeats was shown in the daytime slot of the
Major Emmerdale storylines Rogers), wanted to move in straight away, but Matt was happy with his life in Emmerdale Farm. Phil Pearce (Peter Alexander), had decided to renovate the cottage in early 1988; however, one day, he carelessly left some rags, which caught fire. Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier), who had been inspecting the cottage on Matt and Dolly's behalf, was trapped in the inferno. Luckily, Dolly and Phil had been on the way to the cottage that afternoon and witnessed one of the windows explode and heard Annie's cries for help. Phil dashed into the burning cottage and rescued Annie just in time.