An Emmerdale superfan who has enough collectables to “rival a small museum” has given more than 1,000 guided tours of the famous TV village and hopes to one day feature as an extra in the show.
Steve Marshall, 47, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, spends his Monday to Friday working in commercial strategy, but on Saturdays he wakes up at 3.45am to travel to the Emmerdale Village Tour at Harewood House, in Leeds, where he is the duty manager.
He first fell in love with the ITV soap when he visited the original Emmerdale sets at Leathley and Esholt, aged seven, and he said standing on Main Street for the first time was “surreal”.
Since then, Steve has become a long-standing member of the Official Emmerdale Fan Club and has collected “thousands of pieces” related to show, including books, street signs, historic scripts and coffin plaques.
He said his favourite aspect of the Emmerdale Village Tour is meeting all the guests from around the UK and worldwide, with some even visiting from Brisbane, Australia, and Toronto, Canada.
The Emmerdale Village Tour enables guests to experience a behind-the-scenes look at Yorkshire’s famous TV village and Steve said the place is “magical”, with people visiting from across the globe and couples even getting engaged there.
Steve has watched every single episode of the soap and said the thought of it ending one day is “spooky” – and with Emmerdale holding “a special place” in his heart, his ultimate dream is to feature as an extra one day.
He told PA Real Life: “From the very first moment I ever drove down that access road into that village, the one word that stuck in my mind was surreal.
“Emmerdale has a fantastic ability to take a story, tell that story and the audience invests in it.
“There’s something for everybody … and you can actually turn that from the screen into reality because you can come and experience the village for yourself.”
He added: “Everybody always asks me, but I would love to just be an extra in Emmerdale.”
Steve has “always watched Emmerdale” and said one of his first memories is seeing the “likes of Annie Sugden sitting around that farmhouse table” and other characters at the pub.
He remembers visiting the original Emmerdale sets at Leathley and Esholt with his parents when he was seven years old – and that is when his love for the soap truly began.
“Standing on Main Street for the first time was a magical experience – being in the exact spot where my onscreen favourites acted out their scenes was surreal,” he said.
Steve later joined the Official Emmerdale Fan Club and started buying merchandise, such as postcards from The Post Office in Esholt, which featured in the show.
Now, he has thousands of items connected to Emmerdale and other soaps, including “every book going”, magazines and street signs, with one of his “quirkiest” items of memorabilia being a coffin plaque for the character Harriet Finch.
“I have a collection that could rival a small museum,” he said.
“Literally, I could have my own bookshop, but I’ve got everything from magazines to teapots, kitchenware, replica models of some of the properties in the village, pictures, autographs and things that have appeared in the show.
“I’ve got posters that might have appeared around the set when a character went missing, and I’ve even got props that have appeared on set.”
In 2013, Steve said he was honoured to represent Emmerdale fans at the funeral of Richard Thorp, who played Alan Turner for more than 30 years.
He did a reading at his funeral, which was “a deeply moving experience”, and he has also attended a private memorial for Zak Dingle actor Steve Halliwell, alongside current and former cast members.
“These moments meant the world to me,” he said.
The Emmerdale Village Tour launched in 2015 and Steve was among the first tour guides there – and to date, he has done approximately 1,080 guided tours.
He wakes up at 3.45am every Saturday to drive to Harewood House and, by 8.45am, he is welcoming the first group of guests, of which there can be up to 900 each weekend.
He said he loves seeing the village during the different seasons and the “fabulous sunrises” on his way to work, and although it is a full-on day and some people think he is mad, he “wouldn’t have it any other way”.
“I think the fact that I’ve done this for years is hopefully testament to the fact that I love it, but I also want to make sure that it’s magical for our guests who come on the tour as well,” he said.
Steve said people can be “emotional” during the tours and, along with birthday celebrations, he has witnessed some marriage proposals on the set.
“One time, I was talking about the storylines, the iconic characters, and I turned away to talk about the cottages at the other side, and then, I don’t know what made me look back, but there was a guy down on one knee,” he said.
“We’re creating that ability for people who have a passion with soaps to come to the set and they will probably always remember that as a magical moment.
“‘So where were you when you proposed?’, ‘I was actually on the steps of The Woolpack’.”
With Steve’s knowledge and experience, he has helped with the script writing for the tours, along with the content for the visitor guidebook – and guests have even asked him to sign this on occasion.
There are also Star Tours, where visitors get to meet surprise guests, and Steve said he has had the pleasure of working with the likes of Jeff Hordley, Danny Miller, Michelle Hardwick and many more.
Steve would encourage anyone who has not watched the show to give it a go and he hopes he can continue creating “magical moments” at the Emmerdale Village Tour, which is operated by Continuum Attractions, for years to come.
“When you talk to the guests they say ‘I’m here celebrating my 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th’, or ‘We’re here as an anniversary present’,” he said.
“People are celebrating milestones, and doing that in a place like Emmerdale is magical.”