OPINION ON TONIGHT'S SPECIAL CORRIEDALE EPISODE THAT SAW EMMERDALE AND CORONATION STREET MERGE TOGETHER

I think it's safe to say that tonight's special Corriedale episode was fast paced filled with a lot of twists and turns along the way for us viewers.

The episode of Emmerdale set up Corriedale brilliantly displaying how and why certain characters ended up where they did, whilst also remaining to give little away which many beautifully captured shots delivered. But Aaron telling John “You're nobody, you're deluded you really think I'd chose you over Robert? He's everything to me. He's the love of my life and he's 10 times the man you'll ever be” really made me smile.

Knowing that Corriedale was written by Owen Lloyd-Fox and directed by Duncan Foster - I knew this special cross-over episode was going to be great as Duncan is one of my favourite directors who delivers brilliant visuals - all the little nods on both shows pre-Corriedale were interesting to see.

Photo Credit: Mark Bruce

The First Part opened this special show wonderfully in my opinion with the drama beginning right away with a great use of different perspectives with Becky, Lisa and Betsy Swain's car colliding with Emmerdale John Sugden and Aaron Dingle's with Coronation Street's Kit Green and Carla Connor looking to be the ones to cause the pile being the ones to cause the crash with Carla and Kit Green being the first ones to arrive on scene, but the car bus flip saw an instant panic within the characters, however, it was wonderful to see many different characters all working together and teaming up were needed. but it Carl Webster moving Debbie Webster into the driver's seat was an interesting move as Sarah Dingle worried for Charity Dingle as John Dingle left Aaron Dingle.

Photo Credit: ITV/ Corriedale/ Emmerdale

The Second Part saw Asha Alahan panic as she knew she needed to start helping the casualties, with Aaron Dingle conscious telling Cain Dingle to go and help others that are many injured than he was, before telling people that John Sugden was there. With Cain doing all he can to help a severely injured Charity Dingle and Mackenzie Boyd. Elsewhere it was great to witness Carla reassure Betsy Swain the way she needed as she was panicking the most. It was great to see Jacob Gallagher helping Shona and David Platt, but Theo leaving Billy to die...

It was Robert Sugden's reaction to reaching the site of the crash with Joe Tate and screaming 'Aaron' and wanting to know if the love of his life was safe.

The final scene of this part saw the minibus go up in flames with Coronation Street's Billy Mayhew going up in flames - what a way for Daniel Brocklebank to leave.

Photo Credit: ITV/ Corriedale

However, it was the Third Part saw Robert find Aaron known as Robron to their fans sat by the side of the road after the accident with Robert saying “What is it about us and roadsides, eh? There'll be no proposals this time now.” With Aaron then adding “It's your turn anyway!” Before the moment was had all been waiting for with Robert beginning “Was that a proposal?” with Aaron saying “Why not? I love you... and you love me. Don't you?” as Robert said “Yeah” making many Robron fans extremely happy that we had a proposal as well as having heard a certain line “Messed up with you, forever!” being shared definitely made a little more sense as to why Ryan Hawley used the word romantic for the episode.

An unexpected moment of this part came when Robert shot Cain whether it was on purpose or by accident, it was a great moment as no-one watching would have expected this.

Photo Credit: ITV/ Corriedale/ Emmerdale

The Final Part saw the return of Graham Foster after seeing that Joe Tate was left injured seeing him in hospital which was definitely something I didn't see coming, but I'm pleased this was the moment Emmerdale chose to do it! However, it was great to see that Carla Connor and Carla Dingle won the vote along with Ken Barlow and Eric Pollard sharing a moment in the hospital as they are both the longest serving members for their shows, but the Cain Dingle news shocked me. 

The biggest shock of the episode came as it revealed that Victoria Barton was the one that killed John once and for all - It's gonna be interesting to see how this will be played out going forward and how this leads into her leaving as Isabel Hodgins is off on maternity leave soon.

One thing, I have to say at times it was a little too fast as there didn't appear to be time for us viewers to be allowed to catch our breath. However, as a whole I do think Corriedale was cleverly tied together in the most beautiful way allowing both Emmerdale and Coronation Street residents to return to their 'normal' lives in their villages even though nothing will be the same again.

What a masterclass this crossover was! Thank you, Laura Shaw, Iain Macleod, and Kate Brooks for all coming together and delivering a great episode.

Thank you to everyone involved from the all the Actors that were involved, Director, Writing teams, Press Teams, Hair and Make-up teams, Costume, Assistant Directors, Camera teams, Special Effects, Script Editors etc. Your hard work is very much appreciated!

This special soap crossover episode of Corriedale aired on Monday 5th January, 2026 on ITV1 and ITVX.