Coronation Street and Emmerdale to face schedule changes ? including 9pm move

[Perdita]

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/cor...ember-changes/

Coronation Street and Emmerdale will both face one-off schedule changes in the first week of September.

New schedules released today (August 23) have confirmed that both soaps will make way for ITV's coverage of the Rugby World Cup.

Both shows air as normal on the Monday, but on Tuesday, September 5, Emmerdale will shift to an earlier 7pm slot for an hour-long edition.

The ITV Evening News will air in a shorter 30-minute slot to accommodate the change. Emmerdale will be followed by the live National Television Awards ceremony at 8pm that evening.

Episodes then air as normal on the Wednesday, but on Thursday, September 7, Coronation Street will have a rare post-watershed slot, airing for an hour from 9pm.

On Friday, September 8, Emmerdale and Coronation Street will both be off air, as ITV is showing live coverage of the Rugby World Cup 2023 game between France and New Zealand.

The extended Tuesday edition of Emmerdale that week, as well as the unusual Thursday outing for Coronation Street, will mean that both soaps have their regular episode output despite the different scheduling pattern.

Both shows are likely to ramp up the drama at the start of September, as soaps tend to preserve their biggest storylines for the autumn and winter seasons.

Corrie star Jack P Shepherd, who plays David Platt, has named the Stephen Reid serial killer storyline as one to watch in the coming weeks as more characters grow suspicious over the villain's secrets.

Emmerdale, meanwhile, has confirmed plans for the Charity Dingle, Mackenzie Boyd and Chloe Harris triangle to build up to a dramatic week of episodes in October.

Yesterday, it was announced that Emmerdale's executive producer Jane Hudson is standing down after five years in charge and overseeing nearly 1,000 episodes.