Emmerdale in major schedule shake-up as ITV soap pulled off air this week
Emmerdale’s upcoming schedule shake-up has been confirmed, with the ITV soap being pulled off air this week.
The show, which typically airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, will not be shown on Thursday, October 9.
Instead, ITV will broadcast an international friendly match between England and Wales. It will be the first meeting of the sides since a 3-0 win for England in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The game, which is being held at Wembley Stadium, will kick off at 7.45pm, with coverage running from 7pm to 10.05pm. The ITV News at Ten will then follow until 10.35pm.
Emmerdale will return the following night (Friday, October 10) with a 30-minute episode at 7.30pm.
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That’s not all, as the soap will also face changes on Tuesday, October 14.
Emmerdale will be pulled off air again as ITV makes way for coverage of the FIFA World Cup Group K qualifier match between Latvia and England.
The match is set to kick off at 7.45pm at the Daugava Stadium in Riga, with the live broadcast running from 7pm to 10.05pm. Emmerdale will air as normal for the rest of the week.
It’s been a busy few weeks in the Dales, following villain John Sugden’s (Oliver Farnworth) crimes finally coming to light.
The villain notably pulled himself and his husband Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) off a cliff, before blackmailing Caleb Miligan (William Ash) into helping him escape abroad.
Elsewhere, Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) and Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) have been navigating through some marriage problems after Gabby learned of Vinny’s struggles with his sexuality. Vinny also found out about Gabby’s one-night stand in Portugal.
Another ongoing storyline involves April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan), who has been reluctantly dealing drugs for Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) in an attempt to pay off Dylan Penders’ (Fred Kettle) debt.
Last week, April’s double life crumbled when she abandoned her brother Leo Goskirk (Harvey Rogerson) to meet Ray’s demands.
While rushing to leave the house, she accidentally dropped pills from her bag. Her worst nightmare then unfolded when she returned home to find Leo being loaded into an ambulance after taking the pills.
A panicked April later ran into local farmer Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths), who was revealed to be the mastermind behind the drugs gang, as well as Ray’s mother.
Celia warned April about the rules and consequences of telling the authorities the truth, warning: “Maybe one day you’ll go missing again, only this time, they won’t find you. Not all of you anyway.”
This week, April moved in with her grandfather Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw) after her step-mum Rhona (Zoe Henry) wanted some space.
Celia seemed pleased with the development, telling Ray: “That grandad Bob could be a useful link to exploit a bit more… We can work with this.” What is Celia planning?