Coronation Street and Emmerdale’s epic crossover event is getting closer – and ITV bosses have officially announced the scheduling details today. So, when can fans expect to see two worlds collide in Corriedale?

New schedules have been released confirming that it all plays out on Monday 5 January once the festive fortnight is over, so there’s not long to wait for this historic soap moment.

That evening, a regular 30-minute episode of Emmerdale will air at 7pm, followed by a 30-minute Coronation Street at 7.30pm.

At 8pm, Corriedale will follow in an hour-long slot, merging the two soaps for the first time ever.

The crossover comes as ITV launches its new “power hour” scheduling for the soaps, which will mean slightly less screen time each week.

From Tuesday 6 January, Emmerdale moves to 8pm on a permanent basis with Coronation Street following at 8.30pm.

Both soaps will air five 30-minute episodes per week in these new fixed timeslots, down on the current output of six each. This marks a new era for Corrie in particular, as it’ll now be screening over five nights on a regular basis.

Earlier this month, ITV announced that a multi-vehicle pile-up will be at the centre of the drama as Corrie and Emmerdale appear in the same storyline for the first time.

A foreboding trailer, currently airing on the network, shows the aftermath of the crash – which takes place on a dark and stormy country road near the village of Hotten.

Corrie’s David Platt, Tracy McDonald and Lisa Swain have been confirmed to feature, alongside Emmerdale’s Liam Cavanagh and Aaron Dingle.

An ITV statement teased: “But what has brought the residents of Weatherfield across the Pennines to Yorkshire, and how have the characters from the two soaps ended up in the catastrophic collision?”

ITV’s scheduling shake-up for the soaps was announced in February after internal research showed that viewers preferred “digestible” 30-minute episodes rather than hour-long ones.

Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment, said at the time: “The new commissioning pattern is viewer-led. We already give more choice than ever to viewers on how they watch us through ITVX and we want to present their favourite soap to them in the most digestible way.

“In a world where there is so much competition for viewers’ time and attention, and viewing habits continue to change, we believe this is the right amount of episodes that fans can fit into their viewing schedule, to keep up to date with the shows.

“Research insights also show us that soap viewers are increasingly looking to the soaps for their pacey storytelling. Streaming-friendly, 30-minute episodes better provide the opportunity to meet viewer expectations for storyline pace, pay-off and resolution.”