The TV schedules are continuing to be changed in the wake of the death of the Queen. There was an outpouring of shock and sadness on Thursday when at around 6.30pm, it was announced Queen Elizabeth II had died.
Concerns for the 96-year-old monarch began on Wednesday evening when she pulled out of a virtual Privy Council on Wednesday, a day after appointing Liz Truss as PM at Balmoral Castle. However, this escalated Thursday afternoon when, at 12.32pm, Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying royal doctors were concerned for health.
Later, it was confirmed that her Majesty had died peacefully at Balmoral, her Scottish Highlands home, at the age of 96. The Palace said in a brief statement: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."
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As a result, the likes of BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 have all reverted to continuous news coverage and have scrapped their planned programming.
This includes, for fans of Emmerdale and Coronation Street, the soaps which were due to air at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on Friday night following cancellations earlier in the week due to the football.
Live broadcasts returned to ITV at 6am this morning (Friday) with Good Morning Britain hosted by Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard. Susanna, who returned to the programme following her summer break on Monday, is usually off for the last show of the week but returned for coverage of the Queen's passing.
From 9am until later in the evening viewers are able to watch an extended ITV News Special. At 8.30pm, a programme titled Queen Elizabeth II - The Longest Reign, will air. Presented by Jonathan Dimbleby, the programme is an authored tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, charting her historic reign, from its unlikely beginnings, through the splendour of the coronation, the triumphs and tragedies of the 20th century, to the present day.
Using a powerful archive, this feature-length documentary examines the vital role Elizabeth has played both at home, during a period of rapid social and cultural change, and abroad, leading Britain and the Commonwealth on the international political stage. This will then be followed by ITV News At Ten.
It has not yet been confirmed whether Emmerdale and Coronation Street will return to their usual slots on Monday evening (September 12).
The cast of Coronation Street have been sharing their own tributes following the Queen's death. Elizabeth II, 96, was the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, serving as head of state for more than 70 years. Her last visit to Greater Manchester came just over 12 months ago when she paid a special visit to the Coronation Street set in Salford on July 8, 2021 following the soap marking its 60th anniversary in December 2020.
The monarch was given a whistle-stop tour of the famous street, chatting to members of the cast who lined the cobbles for her arrival. She started her visit by chatting to Corrie's own king and queens, Bill Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, Barbara Knox who is cast as Rita, Sue Nicholls who plays Audrey and Helen Worth, known to millions of soap fans as Gail.
They greeted the Queen with bows and curtsies outside the Rovers Return before thanking her for coming and lifting their spirits. "You know you are like a ray of sunshine," Barbara told her. "And you’ve given us all such a lift (with) you coming, thank you very very much indeed. We all absolutely adore you, the world adores you."
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