Thursday night is normally a bumper night for soap fans, with several of your favourites taking to the airwaves.
The evening normally sees us paying a trip to Hollyoaks, before Emmerdale and EastEnders, giving viewers plenty of drama to keep them happy.
But tonight there are no soaps on TV at all – so just what’s going on? Where have our regular visits to the Dales and Albert Square (among others) got to?
Here’s what you need to know…
Why are there no soaps on tonight?
There are no soaps on TV tonight following a number of schedule changes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The outbreak has seen all of the main soaps forced to suspend production and cut back on the number of episodes screened weekly, so as to have enough episodes to remain on air until production resumes.
EastEnders was the first soap to suspend production in the wake of the outbreak, shutting down production on 18 March – with the number of weekly episodes subsequently being halved also.
‘In light of the spread of Covid-19, after much consideration, it has been decided that filming on EastEnders will be postponed until further notice,’ a BBC spokesperson said at the time.
‘We will continue to follow the latest news and advice from the World Health Organisation and Public Health England. We have also taken the decision to reduce the amount of episodes we broadcast each week to two, so that we can ensure the audience can continue to enjoy EastEnders in their homes for as long as possible.’
Emmerdale and Coronation Street shut down the following week and have also cut back on their episodes, with both soaps now airing only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
An ITV spokesperson said: ‘ITV has sadly taken the decision to suspend production of the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale with effect from Monday 23 March.
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‘We’ve been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the Government’s latest health guidelines, to ensure we’ve episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer.
Hollyoaks was the final one of the soaps to shut down production – and is now airing new episodes only twice a week, with classic instalments of the soap on other nights.
When are the next episodes of the soaps?
Emmerdale and Coronation Street return to ITV on Friday night in their usual timeslots of 7pm and 7.30pm, while EastEnders is back on Monday night on BBC One at 8pm.
Hollyoaks, meanwhile, continues on Channel 4 on Monday at 6.30pm.
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