Jason Donovan reveals why he said yes to Emmerdale and confirms new tour plans
Emmerdale is set to receive a very special visit from music and TV royalty as Jason Donovan heads to the eponymous village.
Fans of the ITV soap will know that mainstay Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) is a big fan and all her dreams are set to come true this week as Any Dream Will Do hitmaker Jason arrives in the Woolpack.
The surprise is organised by Kim Tate (Claire King), who Lydia reckons is taking their friendship for granted, as a way to make things up to her ‘best friend’, who is totally taken aback by the effort she’s gone to.
Jason serenades Lydia with a legendary track, leaving all in The Woolpack – but especially super fan Lydia – in good spirits.
Discussing his Emmerdale cameo, star Jason told Metro: ‘The only reason I decided to do that was because there was a connection with the character of Lydia, who is a big fan!
‘Part of what I do is I try to lift people up and this storyline sort of worked from that perspective. I’m not returning to a soap, do you know what I mean? I’m just making a guest appearance as myself!’
The Too Many Broken Hearts hitmaker said that the whole Emmerdale team – ‘the crew, cast, production ‘ – couldn’t have been nicer. ‘What a great day I had filming that,’ he said. ‘I was very lucky’.
Jason is no stranger to the world of soap, having rose to fame as Scott Robinson in Neighbours, where his on-screen alter-ego famously married longtime love Charlene Mitchell (played by Kylie Minogue) in a ceremony watched by 19 million UK viewers.
‘It’s a long time ago now but I feel very grateful for all the opportunities it gave me,’ he said of his time in Ramsay Street. ‘I didn’t come in to this business to become famous, I went into it to become an actor.
‘The success of the show was really a by-product of the hard work and the chemistry that people like myself and Kylie and a number of the cast had on set at that time.
‘I’m very grateful for what that show’s given me. Working on a soap is hard work, it’s a big discipline, it’s a great training ground.
‘My daughter spent some time on Neighbours and that gave her a wonderful experience. I’m really pro what TV shows like that can bring to careers and the foundation of craft that enables careers to go on to other things’.
Kylie and Jason famously returned to Ramsay Street three years ago when Neighbours was axed by Channel 5 for what was thought to be the finale of the long-running serial drama.
The show was subsequently revived by Amazon Prime Video and enjoyed two more seasons, before ultimately concluding once more this week.
‘Neighbours has provided wonderful work opportunities and a great training ground for many performers, many production directors, writers,’ said Jason of the show’s success.
‘It’s also shone a wonderful spotlight on Australians and Australia. For many years we were regarded as an existential version of Crocodile Dundee, which is not what Australia really is about.
‘Neighbours enabled the world to see Australia as a middle class meritocracy of all types of wonderful and interesting people and I think that’s a great legacy to have’.
Away from the world of soap, Jason will hit the road next year with his Doin’ Fine: Encore tour, which was inspired by his 1990 Doin’ Fine show.
‘It’s quite a personal show, this one,’ he told me. ‘I’m sure for every tour everyone goes, “This is my best tour yet,” but I really believe comprehensively that this show is my best show.
‘There’s a bunch of songs from my theatrical life, there’s a couple of good covers, I’ve got all the songs people know and love.
‘I’ve even got footage of my dad I found from the 1960s singing a song called I’ve Got You Under My Skin and I managed to coordinate the video footage with me singing another section of that song. It works on a number of level.’
The 57-year-old said that Doing Fine Encore is a celebration of his career thus far. ‘I’m very fortunate to still be able to reach an audience and give people a good night out,’ he said. ‘I think through my theatre work I’ve managed to secure a reputation as being a live player and someone who’s consistently tried to do different things with his live work.’
‘A lot of what I do has an element of nostalgia to it. A lot of the songs that people know from the 80s particularly are the soundtrack to their youth.
‘I’m very grateful and very lucky. I’ve never made any excuses about what I do – I hope I deliver authenticity, good value for money and a good night out and escapism’.