TVSA can confirm that South African soapies are emerging from the dungeon of Level 5 in a return to "Lights, Camera, (Limited) Action!"
The first three soapies to confirm it's "Yay for May!" are 7de Laan, Skeem Saam and Binnelanders who fire up their productions on Friday (1 May) when Level 4 begins.
Binnelanders star Ramey Short is on his way to the studios in Joziburg as we speak:
And 7de Laan will now be able to continue running new episodes without repeats as they scrape in on tight deadlines.
As we've mentioned, they have new episodes up until 25 May so they'll be using planned production breaks, the public holiday and all available time between now and then to catch-up to keep new episodes on air.
Workers will be working on Workers' Day.
So what's it going to be like for a soapie emerging from the darkness?
This is how 7de Laan are going to do it:
We will resume filming tomorrow 1 May 2020 within the rules of level 4 requirements
Only critical staff are on set and site, scripts have been rewritten to comply with social distancing including eliminating intimacy.
The studio facilities, filming equipment and catering have been aligned to the safety and sanitation requirements as per the directive of the National Government.
Skeem Saam also returns within the Level 4 rules and tells us that those who are able to work from home will do so.
They start finalising and planning tomorrow and shooting resumes on Monday (4th).
If these three shows are returning, we have no doubt that others will return too.
Keep a lookout on actors' profiles to see if they give anything away and we'll keep you updated here as we receive news about others.
In the meantime, what measures do you think the soapies should take to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on set? Sound off below!
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Why South Africa's soapies should be Essential Services