Corriedale has been hailed one of the greatest hours of soap in years by viewers.

The one-off special, which aired on Monday night, saw the two worlds collide with major characters killed off, kidnapping, murder, a tumour discovery and Graham Foster returning from the dead.

Fans were in disbelief as Graham (Andrew Scarborough) appeared on screens, six years after he was killed by Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather).

Within minutes, a huge car pile-up left characters fighting for their lives, before beloved vicar Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brockelbank) became engulfed in a terrible explosion.

Billy, who has been on the cobbles for 12 years, had been driving the mini van that was carrying Weatherfield residents back from Debbie Webster’s (Sue Devaney) wedding.

Todd Grimshaw’s abusive boyfriend Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) ultimately sealed his fate as he clipped Billy’s seatbelt back in, before retreating to safety.

And the action didn’t stop there as Emmerdale favourite Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) was shot by a rampaging John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth).

Viewers feared Cain might have met his end, but later saw him in hospital where he received the news he could have cancer after doctors found a tumour when doing scans for his internal injuries. Cain was told he will need to undergo further tests.

John was hunted down by Cain and Aaron Dingle, Robert Sugden, Joe Tate and Coronation Street’s Kit Green.

At the end of the sixty minutes, the serial killer lay dead in the woods. In a big twist, Robert’s sister Victoria Sugden stood over him – but is she really the killer?

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As for Graham, he spent most of the episode with his identity concealed, appearing only as a mysterious hooded figure in the back of a van with a woman called Jodie, who was tied up.

It was only at the end, Joe Tate appeared to get a glimpse of him from his hospital bed, before he slipped away.

David Platt, who has epilepsy, collapsed, while his pregnant wife Shona (Julia Goulding) watched in horror after her own waters broke.

Elsewhere, there was a call for emergency as Carl Webster’s heart stopped beating and Becky Swain was arrested by Lisa Swain, in the back of an ambulance.

And fans didn’t waste anytime in taking to X after it aired to praise the cast and crew for giving them ‘the most special piece of tv’, predicting the crossover would win a slew of awards and expressing their desire for another Corriedale in the future.

They praised: ‘Standing ovation from my living room. What an episode’; ‘That was the greatest hour of television I’ve ever seen. Everyone involved should be incredibly proud.’

‘I think that was the single best episode of a soap I’ve ever seen in my life and I’m not even being dramatic. My brain is going to take 3-5 business days to process this. So many questions. Absolute cinema. Everyone who worked on it take a f***ing bow.’

Viewers wrote on X: ‘What an episode. Outstanding!’; ‘That was amazing!!! So many shocks I am in disbelief’;

‘Corriedale brilliant, guns, crashes and Billy got a cremation’;

‘Brilliant. Well done’; ‘Nooo they weren’t telling Cain he had cancer were they!? Could it be Aaron. What a fab hour tho #Corriedale and the best part Graham is back’.

‘I didn’t know what I wanted or expected but my GOD that blew it out of the water. Absolutely incredible!!’

‘They’re gonna need a bigger stage for the NTAs when #corriedale sweep all the awards’; ‘#CorrieDale was some of the best  TV I’ve watched for years’.

‘You know what screw it cancel both shows and make #Corriedale permanent. That’s just single handedly saved their year’. ‘give emmerdale and corrie all the awards because that was absolute cinema’.

 

‘to both of the teams at @emmerdale and @itvcorrie tonight. WELL DONE. For both soaps, that was one of the best episodes that I have seen in a long time. And to all of the actors, each and every one of you pulled an absolute blinder tonight. You were all incredible’.

‘Great work from both @itvcorrie & @emmerdale tonight. That episode of #Corriedale was absolutely amazing. Every emotion experienced I think. Looking forward to the aftermath.’

‘i am so bloody proud to be a soaps fan right now. congratulations to every single person who worked on that episode because it was beautifully done and felt like such a gift. i am in shock, i grew up with both these shows and that was the most special piece of tv’.

‘gonna need a #corriedale every 4 years like a world cup’; ‘CORRIEDALE 10/10 I’M LITERALLY SOBBING LIKE THAT WAS BRITISH HISTORY RIGHT THERE’.

Despite the huge success and fans tipping it to sweep the board when it comes to award season, drama executive producer Iain MacLeod previously ruled out any long-term plans for Corriedale.

‘People love Corrie and people love Emmerdale and their distinct entities,’ he told The Sun.

‘They have their own tone of voice and their own sense of humour and their way of telling stories, and they wouldn’t blend long-term at all.

‘I think it’s brilliant to bring them together for this but no, there are no plans to do anything similar in the future.

‘Sorry to be the killjoy, those of you who were hoping there was more.’