Emmerdale bosses have played down the show's 'ratings war' with EastEnders, insisting that their main focus is on quality rather than soap rivalry.
The ITV serial has pulled ahead of EastEnders on numerous occasions in the past few months, and high figures are expected once again next week as a major storyline sees killer Cameron Murray create a hostage situation at The Woolpack.
However, speaking at an Emmerdale press conference yesterday, the programme's chiefs insisted that they aren't gloating over their successes.
Series producer Kate Oates explained: "I think that we're really ambitious with our storytelling and trying to be quite finely tuned with our balance of stories as well, with light and shade. [We have] really heart-wrenching stories and then these moments of high drama.
"As long as we can continue to strike that balance and be ambitious, then hopefully people can enjoy us for us. Good, strong drama is all we work for.
"What makes me happy is when people say, 'Isn't the show brilliant at the moment?' EastEnders can do brilliantly and we can do brilliantly."
John Whiston, ITV's creative director for soaps, added: "[Next week's] episodes tell you so much about the relationship between Chas and Debbie, between Debbie and Cameron, and between Chas and Cameron. There's something brilliant about these episodes because they just encapsulate everything that's gone wrong in this weird triangle.
"What's fantastic about the show is that it follows the characters where the characters lead, and the writers feel that. They say, 'We've got to take this to its logical conclusion because we want to know what happens with those characters'.
"We don't really think, 'Oh great, we beat EastEnders again'. We just think the show has been true to itself and true to its characters."
Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon Dingle, also insisted that he doesn't pay attention to ratings.
He said: "I don't think we define ourselves by beating EastEnders. It sounds corny but it's true - we're such a family team, we're proud of what we do and we're on such a roll at the minute.
"I just think that we shouldn't be defined about whether we beat EastEnders or anything like that. It's got to a point now, with these episodes now, where it doesn't feel like soap anymore - it's just this relentless, gripping drama.
"Everybody at work in the green room is buzzing all the time at the moment. We're so excited, because we know what's coming as well. This isn't the end."
