Corriedale (crossover episode)

Corriedale is an upcoming crossover episode between two long-running British soap operas, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, which is scheduled to be broadcast on ITV1 at 8 pm on 5 January 2026.^[1]

Crossover references and episodes involving soaps have previously been featured on British television, with the BBC One soap EastEnders mentioning Coronation Street on at least two occasions. The first mention of the soap was in Episode 219, which was originally transmitted on 19 March 1987. In a scene set in The Queen Victoria public house, Nick Cotton (John Altman) is attempting to sell counterfeit CDs to Chris Smith (Allan O'Keefe). When Nick asks Chris where he is from, Chris replies "Cheshire", to which Nick replies "Seen them before; I don't suppose they'll reach round Coronation Street yet."^[2]

The second mention on EastEnders was in Episode 451, which was originally transmitted on 1 June 1989. This episode featured Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher) appearing on the fictional television game show Cat and Mouse. Where he was asked the question "Who played Ena Sharples in Coronation Street?", Arthur gave the correct answer: Violet Carson.^[3]

Channel 4 soap operas Brookside and Hollyoaks have frequently referenced each other, with a crossover episode broadcast in October 2025 to mark Hollyoaks' 30th anniversary,^[4] The Emmerdale Plane crash of 1993 storyline, created by programme consultant Phil Redmond (creator of both Brookside and Hollyoaks) was referenced in the Brookside Episode 1351, originally transmitted on 5 January 1994. in a scene with character Mick Johnson (Louis Emerick) who was seen reading a newspaper with the front page headline "Air Crash Latest - Village Mourns As Many Die".^[5][6] but both Coronation Street and Emmerdale have also been involved in crossover projects.

In November 2010, a charity crossover episode featuring characters from both Coronation Street and EastEnders, titled East Street, was aired as part of that year's Children in Need telethon.^[7] Also on 9 December 2010, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Coronation Street, EastEnders character Dot Branning (played by June Brown, who appeared in Coronation Street as Mrs Parsons from 1970 to 1971) explains in a scene in the laundrette, involving Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner) and Kat Moon (played by Jessie Wallace, who appeared in The Road to Coronation Street as Pat Phoenix) that she would not be attending the choir rehearsals later that evening for a very good reason: "Tonight, I'm going to open a bag of marshmallows, share them with Jim and watch Corrie! With Kat replying "Yeah!, I think I'd rather watch my dirty washing spinning round"^[8] Dot replies, "Oh Kat, I love it; it's my favourite. Never miss it."^[9][10]

In November 2021, characters in Casualty, Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Holby City and Hollyoaks made references to one another during a special week of episodes,^[11] highlighting issues around climate change and the environmental crisis.^[12] The episodes were broadcast the same week as the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.^[12] On 19 November 2021, three characters, Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) from Coronation Street, Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) from EastEnders, and Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) from Emmerdale, all appeared in a First Dates special for Children in Need.^[13]

Plans for a one-hour crossover episode involving Coronation Street and Emmerdale were first announced by ITV in May 2025 to coincide with a new scheduling pattern for both series.^[14][15] In October, ITV announced that production on the one-off episode had begun in September,^[16] and confirmed Corriedale as the episode's title.^[17] Both soaps also began to include references to each other's storylines in episodes, an example being a wanted poster giving details of the Emmerdale character John Sugden (played by Oliver Farnworth, who appeared in Coronation Street as Andy Carver from 2014 to 2017) appearing in a scene set at a police station in an episode of Coronation Street that aired in September.^[11] Another example is Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) from Emmerdale having to cancel as the wedding planner for Coronation Street characters Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) and Ronnie Bailey's (Vinta Morgan) wedding.^[18] A trailer was released in early December showing a multiple-vehicle collision,^[19] with a second trailer released two weeks later. At the same time, ITV confirmed that, unlike regular episodes of both series, Corriedale would not be made available on ITVX prior to its transmission.^[20] On 16 December, it was announced that an audience of cast members from both soaps had attended an advance showing of the episode at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire.^[21][22]

On 11 December, ITV published its television listings for the first week of January 2026,^[23] and confirmed the episode, co-produced by Kate Brooks (who has produced Emmerdale from 2017 until 2023, and Coronation Street since 2024), and Laura Shaw producer of Emmerdale since 2017. Corriedale is written by Owen Lloyd Fox and is directed by veteran director of soaps Duncan Foster (who has long-served as director of Coronation Street since 2002 and Emmerdale since 2001 respectively)^[24], would air on ITV1 at 8 pm on 5 January.^[25] It will be preceded by individual episodes of each soap, both of which will be available prior to their transmission through ITVX as usual. The launch coincides with ITV's new soap "power hour", which will see both series air for 30 minutes each between 8 pm and 9 pm on weekdays.^[21][26]

Several characters from both series are involved in a multiple-vehicle collision.

On 21 November 2025, it was announced on This Morning that viewers would be able to vote for one of four combinations of Coronation Street and Emmerdale characters to interact during the Corriedale special: Alison King (Carla Connor in Coronation Street) and Emma Atkins (Charity Dingle in Emmerdale), Kate Ford (Tracy McDonald in Coronation Street) and Michael Parr (Ross Barton in Emmerdale), David Neilson (Roy Cropper in Coronation Street) and Nicola Wheeler (Nicola King in Emmerdale), or Andy Whyment (Kirk Sutherland in Coronation Street) and James Hooton (Sam Dingle in Emmerdale).^[27] Voting is expected to open on 1 January 2026.^[18] On 16 December 2025, ITV announced the full cast list expected to appear in the episode.^[28] ITV also announced that Olivia Frances-Brown had joined the cast for the special episode as Jodie,^[29] but gave no further details as to how her character was connected to the plot.^[30]

• Corriedale at IMDb