Corriedale airs 5 January 2026 at 8pm on ITV1
Iain MacLeod is clearly passionate about the quality of the crossover, describing the final product as ‘absolutely stunning’. He joked that ‘If anyone has the temerity to look down their notes at soap as a genre after watching this, then I’ll be writing them a strongly worded letter’.
The ambition was to show off the very best of what the soaps can do, using a ‘shopping list’ of classic tropes, from pregnancy reveals to murderers, to create what Iain hopes is the ‘best episode of soap you’ve ever seen’.
The technical team went to great lengths to capture the feeling of being trapped on the Pennines when the ‘M62 has been closed, which is usually a nightmare, to be fair’.
While they were largely ‘blessed with the weather’, the Director – Duncan Foster – admitted that the pressure of capturing the perfect final shot was immense. ‘You know, failed to prepare, prepared to fail and sometimes you’re lucky’, Duncan added, reflecting on the hard work that went into the “visual aesthetic” of the special.
It involved 14 grueling nights. Jack P. Shepherd described the experience as ‘explosive, hairy, destruction’. To keep the cast going through the 4am finishes, they relied on a makeshift survival kit.
Despite the freezing temperatures and the ‘nerve-wracking’ pressure of the big screen, the cast described a deep sense of ‘camaraderie’ between the two shows. Emma Atkins admitted she had a ‘childlike mentality’ toward the special, calling the entire project a piece of ‘genius cross-pollination’.
As for the title ‘Corriedale‘ Iain admitted that choosing the name ‘Corriedale’ involved a lot of overthinking. The team spent ‘months and months torturing ourselves’ trying to find a name that wasn’t too obvious, even briefly worrying that ‘Emmernation’ was too confusing because it sounded like a ‘real word’.
In the end, Iain describes the project as a ‘sober first’ for the industry and something he is ‘incredibly proud of to an almost embarrassing extent’. He is so attached to the new brand that he joked about having the logo ‘printed on a T-shirt or a beer mat’ just so the memory stays with him forever.
Beyond the spectacle, the panel discussed why this crossover is the perfect launch for the new ‘Soap Power Hour’. Iain noted that viewers are increasingly moving to ITVX, making the new 30-minute formats ‘much easier’ to fit into a busy day.
Catch up on ITVX, and for classic visits to Corrie, these episodes air weekdays on ITV3 as well as on YouTube.