Eva and Maria at a Crossroads with fountain fight

Coronation Street’s newly-instated Wednesday double bills kick off tonight with a Dynasty-esq catfight.

Joan Collins as Alexis and Linda Evans as Krystle get brutal in a lily pond for ABC/Spelling/CBS series Dynasty.

New images from the ITV Granada Salford based production show love rivals Eva, played by Catherine Tyldesley and Maria, actress Samia Ghadie, battling it out in a fountain.

The scenes described as reminiscent of the kind seen in stateside super-serial Dynasty, may come as no surprise. Current Corrie boss Kate Oates was party to similar proceedings on defunct ITV Central soap opera Crossroads in 2003 when motel owner Angel, portrayed by Jane Asher, had a jealous cat-fight in the motel fountain with love-rival, and motel manager, Kate Russell, played by Jane Gurnett.

The glam era of the Midlands based saga was dubbed by tabloid The Mirror as Dallas in Dudley – and its camp revamp swiftly saw Crossroads taken from ITV screens after only five months. Corrie regular viewers will be hoping the addition of a sixth episode won’t be the start of a terminal decline for the Weatherfield set saga.

Take it to the fountain: Coronation Street ‘does a Crossroads’ and takes a row into a water feature.

In the 1980s Dynasty became notorious for its female fight scenes with a slap about in the lily pond becoming one of the best remembered. Krystle, actress Linda Evans, and Alexis, played by Joan Collins, saw hard smacking, frock ripping and tight laddering tussles across its run from 1981 to 1989.

Now Coronation Street viewers will see the Eva versus Maria showdown follow on from Monday night when over 7 million viewers saw Maria expose Eva’s baby lie at her wedding to Aidan – actor, and indeed singer, Shayne Ward.

Eva had originally planned to turn the tables on her cheating fiancé at the ceremony until he confessed his dirty deeds on the morning of the wedding. Tonight, scorned bride Eva unleashes her fury on Maria, pushing her into the water feature, before jumping in to give her a dunking for good measure.

Oates also saw during her Crossroads time in the script department another cat-fight in the motel leisure centre’s jacuzzi, so if Gail and Audrey start pulling each others hair out in one we know history is really repeating. Corrie regulars can tune into ITV, STV and UTV at 7.30pm and 8.30pm to find out if Aidan and Eva will finally tie the knot or if Maria’s revelation has put paid to their relationship for good. 

Angel (Jane Asher) is torn away from Kate (Jane Gurnett) by husband Max (Stuart Milligan) after the water feature fight.