An hour-long special of Emmerdale will see Jacob Gallagher spending his first day on a job placement in A&E and fans of the ITV soap are already looking forward to seeing the story

Emmerdale’s young medical student Jacob Gallagher is set for a challenging experience as he tackles a hectic A&E department in an upcoming hour-long special episode scheduled for ITV this January. Portrayed by Joe Warren Plant, Jacob will face his first day of a job placement amidst cases of severe injury and life-threatening emergencies, potentially overwhelming the newbie.

The announcement of the gripping storyline on X, which replaced Twitter, has sparked a wave of excitement among Emmerdale fans. Enthusiastic comments flooded in, with one viewer praising, “Loving this direction Emmerdale,” and another sharing their anticipation: “I really like the idea of this! Looking forward to it.”

Jacob will have a stressful first day on his work placement

Others expressed eagerness to see Jacob in the spotlight, with remarks like “This will be good. I’m excited for this and it will be great to see Jacob take centre stage,” while a humorous comment speculated if Jacob would visit the “magic hospital where you get healed and back home to Emmerdale in hours.”

Some fans voiced their concerns, hinting at a potential overlap with existing medical dramas. One naysayer pointed out, “If only we had a whole medical drama series for this, could call it Casualty or Holby City!” and another chimed in agreement about the show’s similarity to Casualty, a series known for depicting such intense medical situations.

Joe, who plays Jacob, says he feels “honoured” to be playing a medical student

Emmerdale’s producer, Sophie Roper, has given fans a sneak peek into an upcoming episode set to air next year. She said: “When Jacob first embarked on his aspirations of having a medical degree we knew at some point we wanted to show a day in his life. In this episode we step away from our usual environs of the village and head to the hospital.”

She added, “This episode takes place entirely on our purpose built hospital set. Accident and Emergency is a place many of our characters end up in, but seldom by choice. As the episode unfolds, Jacob will encounter some challenging situations that also affect some of our Emmerdale villagers, pushing Jacob to his limits both professionally and personally.”

Actor Joe Warren Plant, who plays Jacob, expressed his excitement about the storyline.

He shared: “When I met with our producer Sophie, she told me about this hour-long episode dedicated to Jacob’s first day of placement in A&E. I was hit with all these emotions. Knowing how many people have this high pressure job for real gave me the pressure to really knuckle down and get it right. Tackling this storyline scared me at first, but I feel honoured to know they trusted me enough to tell it. That means such a lot and I feel very honoured.”