Emmerdale Emmerdale Emmerdale (known as Emmerdale Farm until 1989) is a British soap opera set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, "Emmerdale Farm" was first broadcast on 16 October 1972. Produced by ITV Yorkshire, it has been filmed at their Leeds studio since its inception. The programme is broadcast in every ITV region. The series originally aired during the afternoon until 1978, when it was moved to an early-evening prime time slot in most regions; London and Anglia followed during the mid-1980s. Until December 1988, "Emmerdale" took seasonal breaks;
Emmerdale Village's 500th anniversary the community. The rest of the villagers looked on in shock as the ambulance climbed the hill, taking their dear friend away. For this episode "Emmerdale" gained an average 8.6 million viewers, which peaked to 9.1 million viewers when Tom's son Carl confessed to the murder, between 7pm and 8pm. EastEnders could only manage 4 million between 7.30pm and 8pm. Emmerdale Village's 500th anniversary Emmerdale Village's 500th anniversary was a pivotal and historical episode for the ITV soap opera "Emmerdale". It first aired on 17 May 2007 on ITV1 in England and Wales, on UTV in Northern Ireland, STV in