Soaps Christmas 2023 TV schedule: EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale

In true Christmas fashion, there is a whole lot of drama taking place in soapland!

By Katelyn Mensah

Published: Tuesday, 05 December 2023 at 17:25 PM

Nothing says Christmas like getting ready to watch a drama-filled few episodes of your favourite soaps after a day of festivities.

All of the soaps this year are going above and beyond with some truly exciting storylines, with the highly anticipated reveal of the dead body this Christmas on EastEnders, which fans have been teased with ever since the flash-forward in February.

Elsewhere in soapland, Emmerdale will see the Charity/Mackenzie/Chloe love triangle come to a dramatic climax which will see Chloe pushed to her absolute limit as she reaches out to her father for help.

Meanwhile on Coronation Street, Paul Foreman will have his last Christmas on the cobbles as his terminal diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease will take its deadly toll.

Wondering how you’re going to fit all of these in? RadioTimes.com has your guide to the festive schedule for the four major soaps.

Read on for your guide to the soaps schedules for the 2023/24 festive period!

EastEnders – BBC One and BBC iPlayer

Stacey Slater (LACEY TURNER);Suki Kaur Panesar (BALVINDER SOPAL);Linda Carter (KELLIE BRIGHT);Sharon Watts (LETITIA DEAN);Denise Fox (DIANE PARISH);Kathy Beale (GILLIAN TAYLFORTH)
The Six. BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

Ever since February, fans of the BBC soap haven’t stopped talking about Christmas.

In a flash-forward episode earlier this year, Stacey, Sharon, Linda, Denise, Suki and Cathy all came together for a pub lock-in as they toasted to men getting what they deserve. Moment later, the scenes time-jumped to Christmas Day 2023, where there was a dead body on the floor of The Vic.

Who is the body? We’ll find out on Christmas!

Meanwhile, the Beales and the Knights will come together on Christmas Day and Cindy is at the centre of the drama.

Showboss Chris Clenshaw previously teased: “I think what becomes quite evident is that even though one may think that she wants to spend it with her daughters, you can clearly tell that she’s actually very, very, drawn closely to George, just as they kind of reminisce about Christmases in Marbella, which obviously isn’t what necessarily what Ian and Elaine want to hear.”

Finally, Whitney and Zack will have a big storyline at the end of this year, but it all remains very secretive.

Clenshaw told RadioTimes.com: “I can confirm that she’s leaving next year in 2024 and she and Zack have a big storyline at the beginning of the year and they get a lovely, little Christmas/New Year miracle.”

23rd December – NO EPISODE

Christmas Eve – NO EPISODE

Christmas Day – 9.45pm (1-hour special)

Boxing Day – 8.25pm (35 minutes)

27th December – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

28th December – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

29th December – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

30th December – NO EPISODE

New Year’s Eve – NO EPISODE

New Year’s Day – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

2nd January – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

3rd January – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

4th January – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

5th January – NO EPISODE

Coronation Street – ITV1 and ITVX

The Winter-Browns enjoying an early Christmas
The Winter-Browns enjoying an early Christmas. ITV

It wouldn’t be Christmas on the cobbles if there wasn’t a spot of drama!

As teased by show boss Iain MacLeod, there will be an “incredibly surprising Christmas Day episode” for Carla and Peter Barlow which leads to “a huge two-hander between the two of them [on Boxing Day].”

Elsewhere on the cobbles, Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) will unfortunately have his last Christmas on the Street as his terminal diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease will take its deadly toll.

Paul’s mum, Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) will risking missing her son’s last Christmas due to her being sentenced to three months in prison, in which she has to serve at least half of her sentence.

Tommy Orpington (Matt Millburn) will be making a return to the Street and there is romance ahead of him and one mystery lady.

Finally, someone will manage to revive the beloved Rovers Return, but there’s a catch…

23rd December – NO EPISODE

Christmas Eve – NO EPISODE

Christmas Day – 7pm (30 minutes)

Boxing Day – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

27th December – 8pm (1 hour)

28th December – NO EPISODE

29th December – 8pm (1 hour)

30th December – NO EPISODE

New Year’s Eve – NO EPISODE

New Year’s Day – 8pm (1 hour)

2nd December – 8pm (1 hour)

3rd December – 8pm (1 hour)

4th December – NO EPISODE

5th December NO EPISODE

Emmerdale – ITV1 and ITVX

Caleb and Tracy share a passionate kiss on Emmerdale
Caleb and Tracy share a passionate kiss on Emmerdale. ITV

It’ll be anything but a quiet Christmas on Emmerdale this year.

Following on from Super Soap Week, which saw a clifftop drama for the love triangle of Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb), his wife Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), and the mother of his newborn baby, Chloe Harris (Jessie Elland) – and things will reach a dramatic climax this festive season as Chloe reaches out to her father for help.

Looking into the New Year, Rhona Goskirk (Zoë Henry) is pushed to “breaking point” as she is forced to make a risky decision that threatens to affect her whole family.

There is trouble ahead of Tracy Robinson (Amy Walsh) and Robinson (Amy Walsh) as somebody on Christmas Day is going to find out about their affair. But could it be?

Caleb’s estranged wife, Ruby Milligan, will be arriving in the soap in the New Year, who producer Laura Shaw described as “an absolute firecracker” and will put a “real spanner into the Dingles”.

23rd December – NO EPISODE

Christmas Eve – NO EPISODE

Christmas Day – 6.30pm (30 minutes)

Boxing Day – 7pm (30 minutes)

27th December – 8pm (1 hour)

28th December – 8pm (1 hour)

29th December – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

30th December – NO EPISODE

New Year’s Eve – NO EPISODE

New Year’s Day – 7pm (1 hour)

2nd January – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

3rd January – 7.30pm (30 minutes)

4th January – 7.30pm (1 hour)

5th January – 7pm (30 minutes)

If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our Soaps hub.

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