British television history marked a milestone on January 5, 2026, when two of the nation’s most beloved soaps, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, collided in an unprecedented crossover event dubbed Corriedale. The hour-long special, airing at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX, brought together characters from both Yorkshire and Lancashire for a drama-packed evening that left fans reeling—and, by all accounts, glued to their screens.
The anticipation for Corriedale had been building for weeks, and ITV made sure to stoke the excitement by scheduling two half-hour episodes of Emmerdale and Coronation Street before the main event. This new “soap power hour” scheduling pattern, launched in tandem with the crossover, meant viewers were treated to a full two hours of continuous soap action—a move that many saw as a celebration of the genre itself.
At the heart of Corriedale was a dramatic multi-vehicle pile-up, a storyline that saw favorites from both soaps thrown together in a high-stakes, emotionally charged scenario. Julia Goulding, who plays Shona Platt in Coronation Street, described the experience as both physically and emotionally demanding. “There was a big stunt. I was in the minibus. I had a harness on. Felt very much like Lara Croft, and for that day, luckily, I didn’t have to wear the baby bump either,” Goulding told BBC Breakfast. She added, “We had to do a really big physical warm-up before getting into the harnesses, because we were hanging by obviously different parts of our body that aren’t used to taking our full weight.”
Goulding’s character, Shona, is seen being tended to at the roadside by Emmerdale paramedic Jacob Gallagher, played by Joe-Warren Plant, following the crash. The episode also featured more than a dozen other residents from both soaps, weaving together multiple storylines and emotional arcs. Goulding reflected on the camaraderie that developed during the demanding night shoots, which spanned three weeks for her and six weeks in total for the production. “There was such a fantastic atmosphere on set. It was really special to be able to work with the Emmerdale cast and crew. We kept the energy levels high with coffee and lots of sugary sweets!”
Behind the scenes, the logistics were just as challenging as the on-screen drama. The car crash scenes were filmed over three weeks in October 2025, with 12 nights spent on a disused road near Harrogate, Yorkshire. Cast and crew from both shows worked together for the first time, turning what could have been a tense shoot into a memorable bonding experience. According to Danny Miller, who plays Aaron Dingle in Emmerdale, “The night shoots were a lot of fun and it’s been great working with the Corrie team. I can’t wait to see how the episode plays out with the separate storylines from both Emmerdale and Corrie. It’s going to be epic and every soap fan’s dream.”
The genesis of Corriedale was as quirky as it was inspired. Iain MacLeod, executive producer for continuing drama at ITV and ITV Studios, revealed that the idea sprang from his own frustration with the infamous M62 motorway between Manchester and Leeds. “I’d spent about the last 10 years stuck on the M62 between Manchester and Leeds, and Corrie is obviously very Manchester, and Emmerdale is very Yorkshire, very Leeds. And I thought: well, actually, why don’t we draw on my negative experiences of commuting and find some drama in that? And so it was born from many, many hours of me sitting in traffic on the M62,” MacLeod explained.
But as with any ambitious television project, dreams had to meet reality. The original plan was to stage the crash on the M62 itself, but as MacLeod told Digital Spy, “The main difference [between the original idea and final product] was that it started off as a crash on the M62. The very level-headed production people had the job of going, ‘well, we can’t quite do that’, so the nature of the road changed. But the nature of the stories stayed very much as originally conceived.”
Screenwriter Owen Lloyd-Fox was tasked with bringing the crossover to life, and MacLeod had high praise for his approach: “He’s worked at length on both soaps and has written both of them impeccably. I knew he would embrace the madness. Compared to some of the fantastically mad pitches Owen puts in the story conferences, this is relatively sane! Owen likes the big crazy stuff. I knew he’d write it with cleverness and wit.”
On the night of the broadcast, fans took to social media in droves, their reactions ranging from breathless excitement to nervous dread as the fate of beloved characters hung in the balance. Comments like “#Corriedale has me on the edge of my seat already” and “SO MUCH DRAMA. #CorrieDale” flooded X (formerly Twitter). Some viewers were particularly moved by the high production values, with praise for director Duncan Foster’s “stunning” work and the “movie-like” feel of the episode, complete with single-shot takes and creative camera angles. “The camera work and lighting in tonight’s #Emmerdale is EPIC! It really adds to the feel of the episode,” one fan enthused.
The plot itself was packed with twists and emotional gut-punches. In one of the most talked-about moments, Carl, after causing the crash while drunk, moved Debbie into the driver’s seat before fleeing the scene, sparking outrage among viewers. The episode ended on a cliffhanger, with Aaron holding John at gunpoint, only for John to threaten both their lives in a tense standoff that cut to black, leaving fans desperate for answers.
While Corriedale was billed as a one-off event, its impact will linger. As MacLeod explained, “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 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.”
For fans eager for more, ITV offered a behind-the-scenes special, Corriedale Backstage Pass, hosted by Luis Elkes and available on ITVX, ITV3, and YouTube. The special gave viewers an insider look at the making of the episode, complete with exclusive interviews and candid moments from the set.
With its ambitious storytelling, technical bravado, and a spirit of fun and collaboration, Corriedale proved to be more than just a television event—it was a celebration of the enduring power of British soap operas and the communities they inspire, both on and off the screen.
