THE real-life partners of cast members are being used as body doubles so EastEnders can film intimate scenes.
Bosses of the BBC One soap have also hired extras from Covid isolation bubbles, allowing them to adhere to social distancing rules.
Additionally, giant transparent plastic screens have been installed on the set.
Clay Milner Russell and Milly Zero, who play Bobby Beale and Dotty Cotton, filmed today on either end of a bench with a shield between them.
Executive producer Jon Sen said: “To reflect the world outside, we use support artists from the same household.
“We have supporting artists who are in a house of students or a husband and wife, who can be seen walking together and can kiss in the street.
“For those really crucial moments where two characters kiss, we’ve invited real life partners of the actors onto the set to cheat those kinds of moments.”
Sen added: “With Perspex screens, you can bring people really close together.
“That’s good because it gives an intimacy to the performance.
“We also use plate shots, where two actors look like they are sitting at the same table but they have been filmed in isolation.
“You put the shots together.”
Producers have admitted the return on September 7 after the break, the first its 35-year history, is being treated as a “second series” with new storylines.
Sen said: “We’re putting a lot of emphasis on getting people up to speed on where the characters have been during lockdown and what’s been happening.”
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