Coronation Street and Emmerdale are off air tonight as ITV clears its Thursday schedule for The Pride of Britain Awards 2026, hosted by Carol Vorderman and Ashley Banjo from 8pm to 10:05pm.
The pre-emption is a measure of the Pride of Britain Awards’ stature: ITV is willing to displace two of its most reliable ratings performers — soaps that have anchored its weeknight schedule for decades — for the ceremony. Hosted by Vorderman and Banjo, the awards honor ordinary people for extraordinary acts, and the broadcast regularly ranks among ITV’s biggest nights of the year.
When the soaps return
Fans will have to wait another day for the drama of the Yorkshire Dales and the Weatherfield cobbles. Emmerdale returns on Friday, October 23 at 8pm, followed by Coronation Street at 8:30pm. To make up for the night off, both soaps are also billed for episodes on Sunday, October 25 at the usual times, per Radio Times.
The Sunday make-up episodes soften the blow for regular viewers, effectively turning a one-night gap into a weekend catch-up opportunity. ITV has used this playbook before: rather than simply skipping a night, the network reschedules the missed episodes so storylines stay on track — a courtesy that matters when millions follow weeknight cliffhangers.
What viewers are missing
The next Emmerdale sees vengeful DS Thea Ramsden get hold of birth mother Kim Tate’s phone and head off in search of evidence, while Sadie King causes tension between Ruby and Caleb Miligan. Over in Corrie, Tyrone Dobbs horrifies wife Fiz when he reveals his dad Ross Wilkes took his phone in the pub, per Radio Times. The Leigh Journal confirms the schedule shake-up and notes the soaps face further disruption next week, when the Carabao Cup’s Liverpool vs Chelsea clash airs Wednesday, October 28.
The upcoming storylines show why fans will be keen for the Friday return: Emmerdale’s Thea Ramsden plot is building toward a confrontation with long-term consequences, while Corrie’s pub-phone farce promises classic Weatherfield comedy. And viewers should brace for more disruption — with the Carabao Cup clash on October 28, October is proving a bumpy month for soap schedules.
A bumper night for ITV
Between the Pride of Britain Awards and the soaps’ weekend return, ITV is asking a lot of its Thursday audience — but the network’s calculation is clear. The awards deliver the kind of feel-good national moment that soaps, for all their loyalty, cannot, and the displaced episodes will find their audience on Friday and Sunday. For one night, the cobbles make way for real-life heroes.
