There was a surprising soap swap aired recently as Emmerdale's Marlon Dingle appeared to suddenly switch the Woolpack kitchen for the cobbles of Coronation Street - although it was 25 years ago…

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ITV3's regular Classic Coronation Street reruns, showing in daytime every weekday, reached an episode from August 1995 featuring actor Mark Charnock in a guest role as a police officer, a year before he joined Emmerdale as the hapless chef.

Fans took to social media as they noticed the rival soap favourite, and even Charnock himself poked fun after noting just how fresh-faced he looked.

PC Turner shared the screen with Weatherfield legends Mavis Riley and Deirdre Barlow but it wasn't the actor's first time in Corrie as he popped up playing a pizza delivery boy a few years earlier in 1993.

Charnock had early success opposite Derek Jacobi in ITV period drama Cadfael as a novice monk helping to solve crimes (as you do) in 1994, but found fame as the most sensible member of the dysfunctional Dingle clan - he's played Marlon since 1996 and is one of the soap's longest-serving cast members.

Chris Chittell (Eric Pollard), Steve Halliwell (Zak Dingle) and James Hooton (Sam Dingle) are the only others ahead of him.

Soap fans are currently bingeing on reruns as new episodes filmed pre-lockdown are now close to running out, but Emmerdale are the first continuing drama in the UK to announce a return to filming from Wednesday 20th May with new measures in place to ensure the safety of cast and crew.

Six new episodes will focus on different village households coping in lockdown, including Marlon, Al Chapman and Ellis Chapman. The new lockdown instalments ensures Emmerdale remains on screen in June after the remaining episodes are shown.

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Visit our dedicated Emmerdale page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch check out our TV guide.

Authors

Johnathon HughesSoaps Writer, RadioTimes.com
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