'Emmerdale' boss proud of revamp impact

Emmerdale's series producer Gavin Blyth has revealed that he is "thrilled" by the soap's recent ratings performance.

Viewing figures for the Yorkshire-based programme have increased since Blyth took over as its leading producer in January.

His time on the rural serial has seen the launch of an ongoing revamp, which has so far included the arrival of the new Barton and Sharma families, as well as the return of Emma Atkins as superbitch Charity Tate.

Speaking to DS about how the show is faring, Blyth commented: "The ratings are in great shape and autumn has seen us more than 1% up on the same time last year, so that's no mean achievement. I'm thrilled that we're topping 7m on a regular basis now.

"I don't know what more I could have expected within the year as when I came on board, that's what I wanted to do. Collectively, to have achieved that turnaround - in a relatively short space of time - it's fantastic. It would be great to maintain that and continue to build on the level we're currently at."

Blyth credited the drama's "consistent" storylines for its improved performance in recent months.

He explained: "Getting the overnights through and seeing how the episodes on Thursdays [have performed], that's been so rewarding. The consistency has made me proud, too - even those eps where it's not all about high drama. We've definitely raised the bar in terms of our consistency."

Blyth's appointment followed the departure of Anita Turner, who headed up production for a year.

emmerdale/news/a189564/producers-
perspective-2009-gavin-blyth.html">> Click here to read Gavin Blyth's Producer's Perspective 2009
> Click here to read what's to come in Emmerdale in 2010

More: Gavin Blyth, Soaps, Emmerdale, A Year in Soap 2009

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