Socially-distanced filming on Neighbours is “working”, according to an actor who stars in the Australian soap.
Stefan Dennis told This Morning that it has been “fantastic because we have got the opportunity to get back to work”.
He added that despite stringent new rules being in place, production of the programme has been able to continue.
“I have to say, it’s working. It’s actually working,” he told the ITV programme.
Dennis, who plays Paul Robinson, added that because the production of television programmes around the world has largely not yet begun to restart, Neighbours is being used as a “model” of how it can be done.
The programme has “pretty much led the way with this”, he added.
He said that some of the crew on the programme are wearing protective equipment.
As lots of you have probably heard, Neighbours is back in production, but under very strict rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19. ⁰⁰We caught up with some of the actors to see what it’s been like getting back on set and how they are ensuring cast and crew are staying safe. pic.twitter.com/TpmMQEzP7I
— Neighbours (@NeighboursTV) May 7, 2020
“When you walk into the make-up department it is like walking into a surgery because you have got the make-up artist with rubber gloves on, masks and full gowns and the wardrobe or the costume department, they have to be masked and gloved obviously,” Dennis said.
“We have to keep the one-and-a-half metre rule, that is extremely strict.”
He added that a nurse checks the temperatures of those arriving on set before filming gets under way.
The actor said that being able to restart filming is “almost like a 35th birthday present for us… because of course this is our 35th anniversary”.
Episodes of the soap have continued to be broadcast on Channel 5.
In the UK, filming of soaps including EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale were halted because of coronavirus.
However, EastEnders is now set to resume filming by the end of June, according to an article written by BBC director of content Charlotte Moore on Thursday in The Telegraph.
Plans that will see the production of Coronation Street and Emmerdale are also in their “final stages”, according to a spokeswoman for the ITV programmes.