Soap fans hoping for their usual evening fix were left disappointed tonight as ITV’s football coverage bumped both Emmerdale and Coronation Street from the schedule – leaving viewers in suspense over a sexual assault storyline and a murder inquiry.
Neither soap aired on ITV1 or ITVX on Tuesday, June 9, replaced by the Lionesses’ World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. Coverage began at 7.30pm, with kick-off at 8pm, taking over the soaps’ usual power hour between 8pm and 9pm. The match runs until 10.25pm, followed by ITV News at 10.
“Emmerdale and Coronation Street are off air tonight as football coverage disrupts schedules, leaving dramatic storylines unresolved.”
The disruption is the latest in a series of schedule shake-ups caused by ITV’s sport coverage, and it has not gone down well with everyone. A source told The Sun: “It’s proving quite the headache behind the scenes. Soap fans have already had to get used to the new slots, which came in at the beginning of the year, so with more changes coming there’s a real fear they could lose more viewers.
“Airing the episodes on a Sunday just does not work and now with the new schedule it’s very unlikely they’ll be able to run before these big World Cup matches start. There are lots of discussions behind the scenes about what they can do.”
The missing episodes will be made up later in the week. On Wednesday, June 10, both soaps return but earlier than usual: Emmerdale at 7pm and Coronation Street at 7.30pm, making way for England men’s World Cup warm-up against Costa Rica. Thursday, June 11, sees no soaps at all as ITV airs the World Cup opening ceremony from 6.15pm, followed by the tournament’s first match between Mexico and South Africa. On Friday, June 12, viewers get an hour-long Emmerdale from 8pm and an hour of Coronation Street at 9pm. Further disruptions are scheduled for June 17 and 18 due to men’s World Cup coverage.
Tonight’s hiatus means Emmerdale fans must wait to see what happens to Dr Todd after Charity Dingle reported her to the police. For weeks, Dr Todd had been blackmailing Charity, threatening to reveal that while Charity was a surrogate for her granddaughter Sarah Sugden, she secretly fell pregnant with Ross Barton’s baby instead. After a confrontation on the day of Sarah’s 21st birthday party, an intoxicated Charity passed out and Dr Todd sexually assaulted her.
In Coronation Street, the investigation into Theo Silverton’s death continues. Summer Spellman is awaiting trial in prison after her brooch was found in Theo’s flat. However, in Monday’s episode, Tyrone Dobbs admitted he had seen Summer on the night of Theo’s murder and could prove her innocence. The revelation panicked Gary Windass, who had been Kit Green’s number one suspect and now worries attention could turn back to him.
For now, fans must wait until Wednesday for any resolution – unless the football schedule throws another curveball.