It was announced earlier this month that bosses at the ITV soap were planning an

hour-long special which would be set outside of the village, with the action following

Jacob as he begins his work placement in the A&E department at the hospital.

Ahead of the episode’s premiere in the new year, Plant – who has played the character since 2010 – teased elements of the storyline, sharing that the opportunity marks an important milestone for Jacob.

“For the last few years we have seen Jacob [have] his head down in textbooks, studying for university with the aspirations of becoming a doctor,” said Plant. “So after many exams and countless hours of revision the time has finally come for him to get his hands on experience.

“He is embarking on his first placement in A&E. He turns up at the hospital feeling energised and ready for the day. Knowing how long he has been waiting for this, [he] is proud of his new job so, before he starts his shift, he takes a quick selfie for social media.

“It’s been a pretty big deal for Jacob leading up to this point. Part of him wants to take his friends and his family on his journey with him,” added the actor, before he detailed the ways in which Jacob would soon feel the pressure of the intense environment.

“Doctor Todd and Jacob meet for the first time and you get the vibe that Doctor Todd is quite experienced within the hospital. She oversees the whole A&E area and she has got an important job to do in bringing these new trainees in and giving them as much knowledge as she possesses in quite a short amount of time.

“So you get the vibe that although she is strict she is also understanding. She is there to do her job and to also make it easier and as safe as possible for everybody involved. Jacob understands this and knows he is there to learn.

“He listens to her and takes it all on board. She tells him it’s a four week placement and it starts with observations and from that point on there are all the nurses and doctors to help the trainees along their way.

“After he has the induction with Doctor Todd he is naturally a little nervous but I wouldn’t say it is his overriding thought. At that point I think he’s generally very excited. He’s been dreaming of this day for a long time.”

“So I think that is his main emotion,” he continued. “I think it’s only later on in the day when the apprehensions start to show and he does start to feel a little overwhelmed. But at this point he is ready for it.”

Whilst Jacob will feel the heat in the hospital, Plant spoke about his own experience of filming on a new set, explaining that the new collaborators excelled in creating a “chaotic atmosphere” to match the subject matter.

“I remember turning up on the first day we were filming Leon’s block in the hospital. I think the thing that stood out to me at first was the costume. Obviously it was the first time I had ever worn a set of scrubs, so that immediately made it all feel different.

“It certainly helped set the tone for the rest of the day. The sets were also really busy. There are a lot of wonderful new artists and supporting artists that came in just for this one episode. I think it was important for them to create a chaotic environment to mirror what it can be like in a real A&E.

“In this episode they also used the roaming steadicam in a lot of the scenes. It felt different to the normal cameras that don’t allow for a lot of movement. It was nice shooting these scenes and they really put a lot of choreography into them. There were some really nice shots involved.

“I remember on the first day that we started in the hospital just realising how much the crew and the cast all cared about what was being filmed. Everybody really wanted to make it work and were interested in how it looked – I knew I was in for a good block of filming.”