New soap specials on ITV will look back at memorable moments and beloved characters on Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
Coronation Street will revisit some key episodes, and Emmerdale will focus on three generations of its most popular families with a trip down Memory Lane.
The specials will air alongside the new episodes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale which are currently being filmed in Manchester and Leeds after a hiatus due to the coronavirus crisis.
One of the series has a working title of Coronation Street Memorable Moments and will be a clip-based series narrated by Jason Manford that will look back over 60 years, including the weddings, villains, battleaxes, scandals, and double acts from the show, as well as headline-making plots, famous faces that have graced the street and disastrous day trips and holidays.
Coronation Street Icons will be a four-part series narrated by Sally Lindsay, which will celebrate some of the longest-serving cast members and chart their characters’ journeys.
It will feature Ken Barlow (played by William Roache), Sally Metcalfe (played by Sally Dynevor), Liz McDonald (played by Beverley Callard) and Roy Cropper (played by David Neilson).
Meanwhile, the four-part Emmerdale Family Trees, narrated by Gaynor Faye, will look back at different generations of the Tates, the Sugdens and the Dingles.
Katie Rawcliffe, head of entertainment commissioning at ITV, said “Not only will new episodes of the soaps continue in the schedules, we now have these new specials to join them and entertain viewers.
“Both soaps have a rich history and we’ve delved into the archives with these new programmes to celebrate that.”
Tom McLennan, director of ITV Studios Entertainment North, said: “It has been a joy and a privilege to delve into the archives of the nation’s favourite soaps. The characters and storylines are as gripping today as they were then and it is the perfect opportunity to celebrate them.”
