Whether it’s running a marathon, visiting every tube station on the map, or drinking a beer in every Red Lion pub, humanity has long been determined to challenge its endurance.

But have you ever considered watching every episode of Emmerdale? If the staggering number of Google searches asking how long an episode would be is any indication, you might be in good company.

The Yorkshire soap celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and has won fans around the world, including The Cardigans singer Nina Persson, who named the Swedish band’s first album after her grandmother’s love of the series.

It was first broadcast on 16 October 1972 under the name “Emmerdale Farm” and is currently broadcast five evenings a week on ITV 1. This name remained until 1989.

The ITV classic shows the highs and lows of country life and follows beloved characters over decades. There are plenty of reasons to watch the series – and don’t worry, there are only just under 10,000 episodes to watch.

How long would it take to watch all the episodes of Emmerdale?

The above number was slightly exaggerated, there are actually “only” 9,548 episodes.

According to Bingeclock, if you were keen to binge-watch from the start, it would take you 132 days, 20 hours and 30 minutes to complete it, unless you take a break.

While this would bring with it the obvious obstacle of having to go several months without sleep, it does not take into account that Emmerdale is broadcast five days a week and that all episodes are half an hour long, with Thursdays being a full hour long.

This means that after watching the 9,548 episodes, it would take you several additional weeks to catch your own tail.

According to Bingeclock, Emmerdale is the tenth longest series to watch in one sitting. EastEnders is in ninth place with 137 days, just a little longer.

Number one on the list is the US quiz show “Jeopardy”, which has had more than 8,000 viewers since its first broadcast in 1962.

Why would anyone want to watch 10,000 episodes of Emmerdale?

When a Reddit user recently suggested he should join from the first episode, commenters laughed and suggested he should test his IQ. “Of all the shows available, why on earth did you choose Emmerdale?” asked one.

But no show would survive 50 years if it didn’t have its diehard fans.

Robin Barron claims he hasn’t missed an episode since 2003 and has transformed his house into a replica of the Woolpack pub, he told Leeds Live.

Barbara Frain, meanwhile, was such a well-known fan that “Emmerdale” stars Michelle Hardwick and Lisa Riley sent her messages in the hospital when she fell ill with Corona.

Persson said of the Cardigans’ 1995 album title: “My grandmother saw it – it was broadcast daily in Sweden. We were Anglophiles and thought it was a beautiful word.”

“But we didn’t see it. It was for old people. There was something very safe about it – misty fields and damp wool. We wanted that stereotypical feeling of the English countryside. We were total cultural appropriators and had no idea what we were getting into.”

And the series still offers variety: at the beginning of the year, for example, an all-male episode was broadcast that dealt with the topic of mental health.