Corriedale spoilers follow.
Tonight’s the night! After eight months of teasers and anticipation, Coronation Street and Emmerdale are about to cross over for the first time ever, as ITV airs a history-making one-hour special: Corriedale.
We’ve covered all of the news and updates every step of the way since the exciting episode was first announced last May, so if you’re looking for a quick refresher on the main things to know, look no further…
1. When does Corriedale air?
ITV
Corriedale airs tonight at 8pm on ITV1 in an hour-long slot. The episode is not being released early on ITVX or YouTube, as soap bosses want to preserve the big surprises and ensure that everyone is watching at the same time.
Emmerdale and Coronation Street are also airing regular episodes tonight at 7pm and 7.30pm respectively, which show the build-up to Corriedale. These are available to watch early on ITVX and YouTube as usual.
2. What is Corriedale’s storyline?
ITV
Corriedale brings the universes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale together for an epic stunt storyline as a multi-vehicle crash takes place on a country road, which involves characters from both soaps.
The official synopsis reads: “The worlds of two major soaps collide in a catastrophic, life-changing one-hour special. It begins with Debbie Webster’s dramatic wedding to Ronnie, where a desperate, drink-fuelled Carl speeds away with Debbie in the car.
“Simultaneously, Becky – fleeing her past with Lisa and Betsy – loses control of her vehicle, triggering a multi-car pile-up on a stormy road between Hotten and Weatherfield.
“The minibus carrying wedding guests – including Billy, David, pregnant Shona, Steve, and Tracy heads towards the crash, but can Billy steer them out of danger? With a drunken Carl careering out of control on the wet road, is he about to put more lives at risk?
ITV
“Elsewhere, the desperate love triangle between Aaron, Robert and the vengeful John Sugden culminates in the chaos, as Aaron is held at gunpoint. Hot on their heels, Kit and Carla arrive to save lives and pursue fugitives.
“Cain and Moira are taking Jacob and Sarah to the airport and are blinded by Mack, in his car with Charity, flashing his lights. Cain desperately tries to avert disaster when Mack’s car crashes nearby. In the queue of traffic, a mysterious van pulls up, concealing a terrified, bound woman.
“The episode ends at Hotten General, where the injured arrive, but life will never be the same. The aftermath of the crash gives rise to fear, murderous intent, death, destruction, closely-guarded secrets, and lies.”
3. Which characters are in Corriedale?
ITV
Corriedale features 40 characters from the two soaps – a full list was released in December and can be found separately here.
A 41st character is also on the list – newcomer Jodie, played by Olivia Frances-Brown. She hasn’t appeared in either of the shows before, but was included in the Corrie section of characters on ITV’s official release.
4. When was it filmed?
ITV
Corriedale was filmed across three weeks in October. This included a 12-night shoot on a disused road close to Harrogate, Yorkshire.
“Cast and crew from both shows worked alongside each other for the first time ever to film the multi vehicle pile-up, and when the cameras stopped rolling, the tears and trauma turned to laughter as they shared hot cups of coffee, mountains of sweets and had a good old catch up,” an ITV statement recently revealed.
5. What is the Corriedale fan vote?
ITV
Corriedale bosses are giving fans the chance to influence the episode by voting for an extra crossover scene, which will see two characters from separate soaps interact. A shortlist was drawn up based on viewer suggestions from social media:
- Coronation Street’s Carla Connor and Emmerdale’s Charity Dingle
- Coronation Street’s Tracy Barlow and Emmerdale’s Ross Barton
- Coronation Street’s Roy Cropper and Emmerdale’s Nicola King
- Coronation Street’s Kirk Sutherland and Emmerdale’s Sam Dingle
Voting is open via the official social media pages – click here for details.
“Voting closes 15 minutes before transmission,” ITV soap boss Iain MacLeod recently said. “I will be in the transmission suite on the night going, ‘Play that one! Hopefully that’s the right one!’ I’m already feeling a little sweaty about that, to be honest.”
He added: “We’ll find some avenue for you to see all of them at some point, I’m sure. But in terms of what goes in the episode, the final version of Corriedale to be enshrined for posterity, that will be up to the audience.”
6. Why are Coronation Street and Emmerdale crossing over?
ITV
ITV is merging the soaps for one night only to mark the beginning of a new scheduling pattern for the two shows. From Tuesday (6 January), the ITV soaps move into a new “power hour” slot from 8pm to 9pm every weeknight.
The new schedule sees Emmerdale air for 30 minutes each weeknight at 8pm, followed by Corrie for 30 minutes at 8.30pm. This means that both soaps are losing 30 minutes of screen time each week, reducing from the equivalent of six episodes per week to five.
Kicking things off in dramatic fashion with Corriedale will give the new era the best possible start, boosting interest with some big storylines.
7. Are Coronation Street and Emmerdale merging permanently?
ITV
No. Although there have been subtle crossovers recently in the build-up to Corriedale, this won’t continue in the longer-term once the special is over.
“They have their own tone of voice and their own sense of humour and their own way of telling stories, and they wouldn’t blend long-term at all, I don’t think really,” ITV soap boss Iain MacLeod told us recently.
“So it’s brilliant to bring them together for this. But no, there are no plans to do anything similar in future. Sorry to be a killjoy, to those of you who were hoping there was!”
Asked how things go from here, MacLeod added: “There are two stories that emerge from Corriedale that do pursue parallel lines, one in one show and one in the other show. So, there’s some degree to which those stories are in conversation with each other, but not literally. There’s no crossovers or anything like that.
“But, you know, in the MCU, all those characters exist in the same fictional universe, and now the same is true of Emmerdale and Corrie, but I don’t think there’s going to be much inter-referentiality beyond Corriedale.”
8. Who’s on writing and directing duties?
ITV
Corriedale has been written by Owen Lloyd-Fox, who has penned episodes for both soaps before this.
Duncan Foster, who’s overseen some of the most memorable Corrie and Emmerdale stunts over the years, is on directing duties.
9. Does anyone die?
ITV
Iain MacLeod announced last September that the Corriedale special would feature at least one death.
“The soap gods demand a sacrifice when you have an event of this kind,” he told the Daily Star.
“Sometimes the biggest and best exits are for characters that you care the most about. It’s going to be shocking. There will be lots of trauma, lots of drama and lots of twists.”
Meanwhile, an official spoiler released for the aftermath of Corriedale reads: “Weatherfield grieves the loss of one of its residents after the dramatic multi-car crash.”
10. Are there any bonus shows?
ITV
Once Corriedale has aired, fans can get exclusive behind the scenes access to the making of the episode with Corriedale Backstage Pass, which includes exclusive interviews, on ITVX, ITV3 and YouTube from 9pm.
“Hosted by Luis Elkes and packed with cast interviews and behind-the-scenes access, this one-off special gives audiences the ultimate insider experience and captures the excitement of two soap worlds colliding,” ITV said.
Emmerdale and Coronation Street continue tonight from 7pm on ITV1, followed by Corriedale at 8pm, and the soaps also stream on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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