ITV’s flagship soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale will join forces in an unprecedented, one-off special episode to launch the broadcaster’s new power hour of soap which begins on ITV1 and STV in January 2026.
For the first time in British soap history, the hour-long episode will see characters from both soaps come together in a celebration of the soap genre.
To herald the beginning of the new scheduling pattern, both soaps will mark the occasion in spectacular style, as the combined production teams embark on an ambitious stunt that will have everlasting consequences for everyone involved.
The distinctive worlds of Emmerdale and Coronation Street will merge for one night only in a ‘mash-up’ of our two favourite communities.
The producers, scriptwriters and production teams have conceived an ingenious way of linking the two universes, but with characters then returning to the soaps they are renowned for inhabiting in Manchester and Yorkshire.
The episode will be self-contained, but the consequences of the high-stakes drama will have repercussions for both communities and see them linked forever as familiar faces depart and exciting new characters arrive into both soaps.
Each soap will then return to its new normal pattern of transmission - 30 minutes each evening - Emmerdale episodes at 8pm, and Coronation Street episodes at 8.30pm on ITV1 and STV. Episodes will continue to drop at 7am on ITVX and STV Player, before transmission that evening.
And in an extra treat for the viewers, the producers of both programmes are inviting the audience to choose which two characters, one from each soap, they would like to see meet and interact in a scene.
Glenda Young
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