If you could pick two characters from two soaps to meet, who would they be?
Think of the opportunities. Picture an epic staring contest between EastEnders’ Phil Mitchell and Hollyoaks’ Warren Fox in the battle of the constipated glares, with Coronation Street’s Kevin Webster seizing victory at the last second.
Perhaps Dee Valley’s own Sienna Blake would give a personal seminar to Weatherfield’s Becky Swain about how to be a better bunny-boiler. Or imagine how quickly a night in Wetherspoons would degenerate if Kat Slater, Chas Dingle and Mercedes McQueen were sharing a voddie and red bull goldfish bowl.
Out of all those glorious combinations, the very last pair you might expect to come face to face is legendary Emmerdale bad boy Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) and Coronation Street’s troubled young trainee paramedic, Asha Alahan (Tanisha Gorey). But that is exactly what happens in the upcoming main event on the soap calendar, the epic hourlong crossover episode of Corriedale.
Worlds literally collide when the residents of Coronation Street and the villagers of Emmerdale are involved in a devastating car crash in the dead of night. Beloved fan favourites such as Charity Dingle, Sarah Sugden, Carla Connor and Todd Grimshaw are all on the road for their own reasons; some to rescue their loved ones, others just to keep secret, some are just on their way back from a wedding.
Then disaster strikes. In the latest trailer, Asha is seen treating survivors and reassuring Cain that she is a paramedic. Let’s hope Cain doesn’t turn out to be the most difficult patient Asha’s ever treated.
Coronation Street viewers have seen her battle with mental health this year after a drunken woman who required medical attention racially abused her. This led to the character’s struggle with anxiety and depression, culminating in a suicide attempt.
While recovery is a long process, she has found support in her dad Dev (Jimmi Harkishin) and bestie Nina (Mollie Gallagher). But overwhelmed by the horrors she’s seen, Asha has been left questioning her chosen career path and considering alternative paths.
She only sets foot on that fateful minibus as a guest at Debbie and Ronnie’s wedding. Now Asha finds herself at the centre of an horrific accident, with multiple people requiring her help, including Cain. Perhaps to rediscover her confidence in her own abilities, she needs a trial by fire (literally!).
What about our Cain? What’s a nice boy like him doing in a disaster like this? He’s not the only Dingle set to be on scene, with Charity, Moira, Aaron and Chas all set to get caught up in the carnage.
Emmerdale have teased that Charity’s big juicy baby secret is about to be exposed this New Year, when Sarah and Jacob will be devastated to learn that the ‘surrogate baby’ Charity was carrying for them is actually a result of a one-night-stand with Ross Barton (Michael Parr).
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This baby bombshell is set to drop at the most unfortunate of occasions – Sarah and Jacob’s small, intimate New Year’s Day wedding. Cain doesn’t have the best relationship with his cousin/ex (don’t ask) at the best of times, but he’s certainly not going to be her biggest fan after this.
Full list of Corriedale cast members and characters
Coronation Street
- Sally Carman-Duttine as Abi Webster
- Tanisha Gorey as Asha Alahan
- Amy Cudden as Becky Swain
- Sydney Martin as Betsy Swain
- Daniel Brocklebank as Billy Mayhew
- Jonathan Howard as Carl Webster
- Alison King as Carla Connor
- Claire Sweeney as Cassie Plummer
- Jack P Shepherd as David Platt
- Sue Devaney as Debbie Webster
- Jason Callender as James Bailey
- Olivia Frances-Brown as Jodie
- William Roache as Ken Barlow
- Michael Le Vell as Kevin Webster
- Jacob Roberts as Kit Green
- Vicky Myers as Lisa Swain
- Vinta Morgan as Ronnie Bailey
- Tina O’Brien as Sarah Platt
- Julia Goulding as Shona Platt
- Simon Gregson as Steve McDonald
- Harriet Bibby as Summer Spellman
- James Cartwright as Theo Silverton
- Joe Duttine as Tim Metcalfe
- Gareth Pierce as Todd Grimshaw
- Kate Ford as Tracy Barlow
Emmerdale
- Danny Miller as Aaron Dingle
- Jeff Hordley as Cain Dingle
- Emma Atkins as Charity Dingle
- Lucy Pargeter as Chas Dingle
- Christopher Chittell as Eric Pollard
- Joe-Warren Plant as Jacob Gallagher
- Christopher Bisson as Jai Sharma
- Ned Porteous as Joe Tate
- Oliver Farnworth as John Sugden
- Jonny McPherson as Liam Cavanagh
- Lawrence Robb as Mackenzie Boyd
- Natalie J Robb as Moira Dingle
- Joe Absolom as Ray Walters
- Ryan Hawley as Robert Sugden
- Katie Hill as Sarah Sugden
- Isabel Hodgins as Victoria Sugden
Could the aftermath of this bombshell be what leads them all into the wrong place at the wrong time?
The hourlong Corriedale spectacular will see the death of at least one beloved character, and a shocking arrest. Iain MacLeod, ITV’s Executive Producer for Continuing Drama, previously teased the mega episode, saying: ‘It’s beyond exciting that filming is under way on Corriedale. There is a massive buzz around both the Leeds and Manchester sites and the images coming out of the shoot are utterly spectacular.
‘And that’s before we’ve even got to all the brilliant transpennine interactions between characters from the different shows! He added: ‘As a soap fan myself, I think my head is going to explode when the episode airs next year. It will be mind-blowing, historical and unmissable.’