EQUITY CALL FOR 'SOAPSTARS' TO BE DROPPED

EQUITY have made strenuous efforts to persuade Granada to drop their plans for a docusoap in the style of ‘Popstars’ with would-be performers competing for a part in the award-winning soap ‘Emmerdale’.
Known as ‘Soapstars’, the programme will put contenders through a series of auditions before selecting five performers to become a new family in ‘Emmerdale’. Equity have objected that this breaches Granada’s undertaking, as a signatory to the ITV agreement with Equity, to use professional performers as far as possible.
Members of the ‘Emmerdale’ cast have also complained. In an open letter to Granada bosses, the cast wrote: “The show has affection and respect because of the quality of our product. We don’t think of it as just another soap. It is evident the network does. We find this disrespect shattering. ‘Soapstars’ is a rotten idea. It must be stopped.”
Equity have now referred the problem to the ITV disputes procedure. (CD)