TV soaps to swap characters to highlight climate change

If you see one of the BBC Doctors walk on to the set of Corrie next month, do not adjust your set.

British soaps and continuing dramas have joined forces for the first time in a bid to highlight climate change.

Casualty, Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Holby City and Hollyoaks will all film scenes referencing the environment.

Some will see characters from one soap appear in another, with a Hollyoaks star set to appear in EastEnders.

The week-long campaign begins on Monday 1 November, which coincides with the COP26 conference in Glasgow where world leaders will meet to discuss the climate crisis.

Not every show will see characters swapping sets. Some will just make reference to each other instead, such as a scene where a social media video featuring two Emmerdale residents is shown to Coronation Street characters.

Casualty will also be discussed in Emmerdale's Woolpack, and a social media clip from Weatherfield will be chatted about in The Queen Vic.

Emmerdale's executive producer, Jane Hudson, came up with the idea and has been co-ordinating with her counterparts.

She said: "Never before have all five soaps and both continuing dramas come together and united in telling one story. And we certainly haven't seen characters pop up in other shows before.

"This is a real treat for our audience, whilst also allowing us to get across a very important message."

Lucy Allan, executive producer at Hollyoaks said: "We know how important climate change and environmental issues are to our youthful audience, and to all soap viewers. It has been great to work together on an engaging way to, hopefully, inspire conversations about issues that are so important."