In a move that nobody expected, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks, Casualty, Holby City and Doctors will all be teaming up to air episodes around the same plot.
Sharon Marshall revealed the news on This Morning and stated that all the stories will be happening concurrently around the theme of climate change. Different characters will pop up across shows both in person and virtually. For example, pub residents in the Queen Vic will watch social media videos of Corrie characters.
The idea was conceived by Jane Hudson, Emmerdale’s Executive Producer. This is the first time anything of this scale has been done across soaps, and already theories are rampant on who will be interacting with who (Twitter is suspecting Phil Mitchell will be the new Nick Fury).
If you want to tune into this bizarre crossover event for yourself, then we have everything you need to know – including the air dates, channels, and how to watch the crossover from outside of the UK. We also have a similar article for Crisis on Infinite Earths.
When does the UK soap crossover event take place?
The storyline will begin on Monday 1 November 2021.
We haven’t had full confirmation on how long the event will last, but this date is the same week as when the world leaders will meet at the COP26 conference to discuss the climate crisis.
Therefore, we expect the event to last for one week to coincide with this – but once we know more, we’ll update this article.
How to watch the UK soap event episodes in order
The schedule for the event hasn’t yet been revealed. However, most days for the soaps and dramas tend to be the same week-to-week. Therefore, we can predict which episodes are likely to air when.
Here’s our prediction for when episodes in the soap crossover will air:
Monday 1 November – Emmerdale, Coronation Street, EastEnders, Hollyoaks, Holby City & DoctorsTuesday 2 November – Emmerdale, EastEnders & HollyoaksWednesday 3 November – Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks & DoctorsThursday 4 November – Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks & DoctorsFriday 5 November – Emmerdale, Coronation Street, EastEnders & HollyoaksSaturday 6 November – Casualty
Usually, the soaps don’t air on Sundays. However, considering this is a special event, things may change.
Once we have a full schedule, we’ll update this article with full times and channels.
How to watch the crossover episodes for Coronation Street, Emmerdale, EastEnders and more
To watch all the episodes in the event, you’ll either need to tune in to the channels on broadcast TV when they air, or stream them via the on-demand services.
Here’s the TV channels which the shows air on:
BBC 1 – EastEnders, Casualty, Doctors & Holby CityITV 1 – Coronation Street & EmmerdaleChannel 4 – Hollyoaks
If you can’t tune in exactly when the episodes air, or would prefer to stream them, then here are the on-demand platforms to watch them on:
BBC iPlayer – EastEnders, Casualty, Doctors & Holby City ITV Hub – Coronation Street & Emmerdale All 4 – Hollyoaks
None of the on-demand services cost anything to sign up, but if you want to sign up for iPlayer then you will need a TV license.
How to watch the UK soaps crossover from outside of the UK
All of these streaming services and channels are exclusive to the UK. However, if you’re on holiday or not based in the UK, then you should still be able to stream the episodes with the help of a VPN.
VPNs (virtual private networks) reroute your IP address, so you can browse the internet as if you’re from another country.
There are lots of VPN options available, but for the best performance and pricing we recommend either NordVPN or Surfshark. You can also take a look at further recommendations in our list of the best VPNs for streaming.
For more specific details on signing up for all the streaming services, take a look at our guides below:
How to sign up for BBC iPlayer from abroad How to sign up for ITV Hub from abroad How to sign up for All 4 from abroad
Hannah Cowton is a Senior Staff Writer at Tech Advisor and Macworld, working across entertainment, consumer technology and lifestyle. Her interests and specialities lie in streaming services, film and television reviews and rumours, gaming, wearables and smart home products. She’s also the creator of The London Geek, a geek culture and lifestyle blog.
