Coronation Street and Emmerdale are exciting fans ahead of the first-ever crossover between the two shows by releasing a string of behind-the-scenes images from filming the historic episode.
Those who follow the two ITV soaps have been counting down the days until Corriedale, a single special episode that will see casts from both shows join forces for an epic TV event that you won’t be able to see anywhere else until after it has aired on the network on Monday night (January 5) at 8pm.
The one-off episode was announced earlier this year and is set to kick off the network’s new ‘soap power hour’. ITV announced in February that the two long-running programmes will move to a new scheduling pattern on ITV1, airing from Monday to Friday.
Fans will be able to get their soap fix every night, with 30-minute Emmerdale episodes at 8pm, and 30-minute Corrie episodes at 8.30pm, while episodes will continue to drop at 7am on ITVX and YouTube, before transmission that evening.
To mark the change, producers, scriptwriters and production teams conceived the ingenious way of linking the two universes of Weatherfield and the Dales, with the characters then returning to the soaps they are renowned for inhabiting in Manchester and Yorkshire, but with the horror that unfolds linking them forever.
While many details have been kept under wraps, Corriedale has been teased in two atmospheric promo videos that give a glimpse at the multi-vehicle crash at the centre of the drama, and the aftermath of the smash that sees characters from both shows calling for help in the darkness as the emergency services arrive at the scene on a country road near the village of Hotten.
The unique crossover episode was filmed over three weeks in October, including a 12-night shoot on a disused road near Harrogate, Yorkshire. And with just hours to go until the highly anticipated Corriedale hits our screens, fans have been welcomed behind the scenes of the episode with the cast of Corrie and Emmerdale.
Corriedale promises to be full of drama, secrets, lies, injuries and potential deaths, and these photos show just how much fun the actors from both soaps had working together for the first time, 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.
Corrie actress Julia Goulding said: “There was such a fantastic atmosphere on set. It was really special to be able to work with the Emmerdale cast and crew. It certainly helped with the night shoots to be able to work with new people. We kept the energy levels high with coffee and lots of sugary sweets!”
Emmerdale’s Danny Miller added: “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 build-up to the episode starts at 7am Monday, when half-hour episodes of both shows will land on ITVX and on ITV at 7pm and 7.30pm. And its now been revealed that once the show has aired, fans can get exclusive behind the scenes access to the making of Corriedale with ‘Corriedale Backstage Pass’, a 30-minute show including exclusive interviews, on ITVX, ITV3 and YouTube.
