Corriedale director reveals "nerve-racking" challenges filming Coronation Street and Emmerdale crossover

It's something Coronation Street and Emmerdale viewers never thought would happen – the two ITV soaps are about to combine worlds for one special evening of death, destruction and deceit.

The idea, the brainchild of Executive Producer for Continuing Drama Iain Macleod, sees a multi-vehicle pile-up on a dark and stormy road somewhere between the fictional environs of Weatherfield and Hotten.

Following a screening of the episode to RadioTimes.com, fellow press and other media outlets, director Duncan Foster seemed pleased with the outcome.

"[It's been] quite nerve wracking. I didn't think it would be, but it was. We've been so close to something for six months, and I know every line, every moment, every gasp," he said.

"I think we did 14 nights in total, because we did two nights of the pre-driving sequences, which you'll see a little bit in the pre-half hours as well.

"This was also incorporated into the title sequence that we did which was just basically headlights heading towards each other, to try and give this feel that it was somewhere on the Pennines.

"We were blessed with the weather, which was the most amazing thing, because in the 12 nights of the crash, it rained only once.

"On that night, the explosion night, we were able to sort of stand down to let the worst of the rain disappear, and we still completed the day and did the big explosion."

Duncan also explained that he was able to secure a perfect shot of a sunrise over the devastation, which could only be achieved on one occasion.

"At the very end, with the sunrise, we had one hit. We had one night/morning, where we were going to get that," he reveals.

"I remember standing in the field at 4am and I couldn't feel my feet. It was cold. Everybody was standing around. We were looking up at the sky. We could see the stars. And I kept thinking, well, there's no clouds – we could get it.

"That was the most stressful part of the entire shoot for me, because I just wanted to get the sunrise for the end so that we felt that the two worlds were going back into their own world.

"And it left you with a slightly positive feeling. And wow, we got it. It was incredible."

Corriedale airs on Monday 5th January 2025 at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with no early release on ITVX.

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