It’s a major milestone in ITV history and carries the burden of incredibly high expectations from soap fans, who, if they’re anything like us, are beyond excited for Corriedale.
However, not everyone is convinced that the crossover between Coronation Street and Emmerdale is going to work.
It is understandable that some viewers are wary of what Corriedale will mean for the future of both soaps, especially as it has been teased that the consequences of the one-off, hourlong special will continue to be felt in both soaps down the line.
These fears have also reached the ears of the cast members, with Emmerdale’s Aaron Dingle star Danny Miller recalling a conversation he had recently with a stranger.
‘I had one guy in the M62 service station who said to me, “I don’t think it’s going to work”,’ Danny explained to Metro and other publications.
‘And I said, “Oh right, so what do you do for a living?” Not that it was a problem, by the way, and he said “I’m an HGV driver,” so I just kind of joked, “Well I wouldn’t tell you how to drive an HGV!”
‘I thought it was really interesting that nobody’s seen it, nobody knows what the script is, but yeah, they don’t think it’s going to work,’
ITV’s Executive Producer for Continuing Drama Iain MacLeod has had his eye across Corriedale from the very beginning, and has known all along that there is a lot at stake.
‘In terms of the visuals, we were keen to give it a premium feel,’ he explained at the Corriedale premiere. ‘Part of that is showing what we can do in terms of our visual aesthetic.
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
‘We started off with a list that looked at the best things that could happen in a soap. Affair reveals, murder reveals, we literally had a list and thought wouldn’t it be great if we could have all of these? We had a good go!’
The stage has certainly been set for exactly this, with current storylines building in each individual soap as we get ever closer to the moment the two worlds collide.
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‘We wanted to showcase the best of our storytelling, our technical craft, the crew, everyone behind the scenes, it’s absolutely stunning,’ Iain continued, before offering up a challenge: ‘If anyone looks down their nose at the soap genre after watching that I’ll write to them!’
There is a lot for soap fans to look forward to in the jam-packed crossover. We know from the recent trailer that things are set to get explosive as our favourite characters get caught up in a multi-vehicle pile-up.
In the lead up to the episode, Charity Dingle’s (Emma Atkins) baby secret is set to finally explode, while across the Pennines Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) is getting ready to tie the knot.
It also looks like Carla Connor (Alison King) has finally escaped captivity and found herself in the middle of the carnage, while Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) tries to help pregnant Shona Platt (Julia Goulding) on the side of the road.
With countless lives at risk, expect to be screaming at the telly, laughing through tears and gasping at all the right moments, as Corriedale serves up twist after twist in true soap fashion!
Corriedale is set to air at 8pm on Monday, January 5, following Emmerdale at 7pm and Corrie at 7.30pm.
