Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has brought some “Order! Order!” to ITV’s Emmerdale by playing a cameo role in the hard-hitting TV soap.
Proud Lancastrian Sir Lindsay turned up in the fictional Yorkshire Dales village playing a rambler visiting its bar and bistro, wearing a tweed jacket and wellies.
Since the long-running soap first broadcast in 1972, its dramatic storylines have included more than 150 deaths, 100 weddings and a plane crash in the village.
But Sir Lindsay’s appearance, displaying the theatrical aplomb he employs in the Speaker’s chair, was much more low-key, complimenting the bistro’s proprietor on her Yorkshire tea.
It was also very brief. He headed into the bistro, paid for his cuppa and said: “It was a lovely cup of tea.” Then, told: “See you again,” he replied: “I hope so.” And that was that.
Soap fan Sir Lindsay visited Emmerdale set to mark its 10,000th episode in May last year, but the broadcasting of his visit was postponed because of the general election campaign.
Speaking before his cameo aired, he said: “Incredibly, Emmerdale has been on our screens for more than half a century, shining a light on the lived experience of others, entertaining viewers with its hard-hitting storylines, while also making a major economic contribution to the north.
“It has been an honour to help the cast celebrate the 10,000th episode of this enduring Yorkshire-based soap, with a visit to the Woolpack.”
And he added, tongue-in-cheek: “As a Lancastrian, I’m hugely impressed by the talent and warmth of our friends on the other side of the Pennines.”
Sir Lindsay is not the first senior politician to appear in a top TV soap, however.
In 2009, when he was London mayor, Boris Johnson turned up in Albert Square in a storyline that saw Barbara Windsor’s character Peggy Mitchell decide to stand as a local election candidate.
The scene for his arrival was set…
