This is the week when The Bill moves to a new once-a-week 9pm slot, whereupon it upgrades to HD, a new title sequence and theme music. And to hammer that point home the channel have, confusingly, scheduled two episodes of the drama, running over Thursday and Friday.

In addition, it’s revealed that Coronation Street is to lose its traditional Wednesday at 7.30pm slot. Instead the soap will TX on Thursday nights at 8.30pm, while Emmerdale will screen two episodes also on Thursday, and its regular Tuesday hour-long episode will be cut back to 30 minutes.

An ITV spokesman said: “Coronation Street will make a move from Wednesday to Thursday nights on ITV1 from July 23 as part of a change to the schedule to reflect ITV’s contracts for the Champions League, FA Cup and England internationals, which will see ITV1’s live football broadcast on Wednesday evenings.  In addition, two separate episodes of Emmerdale will be broadcast on Thursdays from the same date.   We’re delighted that Thursday evenings on ITV1 will be a great showcase for soap from Weatherfield and the Woolpack.”

With no EastEnders to compete against (thankfully, one of the few decisions the Academy got right) Corrie was crowned King of the Soaps after a year in which it has been anything but. After the high jinks and gloriously compelling camp pantomime drama of Richard Hillman, it’s been all downhill – and at an alarming rate – for the grim Northern soap with only Fizz, Tyrone, Kirk and, latterly, Chesney, bringing any light relief to a rancorously bad run of form. Both Emmerdale and Hollyoaks (to a lesser extent) can lay claim to the unofficial crown of Britain’s Best Soap but, as usual, the “rich history and glorious tradition” of The Street won the day. Go figure.

Emmerdale, meanwhile, continues apace and maintains a far higher standard of acting and writing than its more venerable Lancashire rival. The performances of Mark Charnock as Marlon Dingle in particular have been a revelation; his portrayal of a grief stricken man has been, arguably, the most accomplished turn in a British soap in recent years and towers over anyone down Weatherfield way in the last year. Factor in the best youth cast in soapdom (by a country mile) and a wonderful corps of Silver Surfers and it’s frankly laughable that the turgid mess that is Corrie could win any award let alone a BAFTA.

Whilst EastEnders has ground to a shuddering halt after the marriage of Alfie and Kat (and indulged itself with a ludicrous storyline at New Year featuring the yoofs of Walford surviving a savage mini-bus crash in the inhospitable badlands of the Scottish Borders) and Corrie has stalled post-Hillman, Emmerdale quietly produces episodes and performances that are, individually and collectively, superior to their main rivals. If only Hollyoaks could lose its fixation with nubile, flexible young women and the aching desperation to be hip, it too could seriously rival the major players.

Tonight’s episode was a wonderful case in point. The use of a ventriloquist’s dummy was inspired (had it appeared in EastEnders you’d have struggled to differentiate between it and the cast) and deftly handled. The performances of those involved were uniformly excellent and the narrative build-up was subtly executed. Clive Hornby, as Jack Sugden, managed to walk the line between frustration and anger very well and Elizabeth Estensen provided a wonderful fulcrum for the storyline to hinge upon. Indeed, Estensen is one of the great revelations in this show. Her character has been beautifully written and allowed to mature at the right pace. Her performance was wonderfully judged and she delivered the bad news/good news to Jack with a palpable sense of incandescent understanding. Quite magnificent.

Another aspect of rural life that the writers have managed to convey with considerable aplomb is the role of the vicar. Whilst EastEnders has particularly struggled with God and his employees since its inception and Corrie only ever sees religion as an extension of Emily’s character, Emmerdale has managed to be the most inclusive soap in terms of religion and its depiction with regards to everyday life. John Middleton’s turn as Ashley has been sensitively written and Middleton, in turn, has repaid the writers with a string of superb performances. The recent addition of Liam O’Brien as Ethan Blake has altered the dynamics of a number of relationships and it should be interesting to see how this character, and the villagers’ reactions to him, develops. For once it is a pleasure to watch serious religious and moral issues be dealt with in a mature, rational manner rather than the usual Norman Stanley Fletcher approach of other soaps – ie. I’m in trouble so I think I’ll pray and discuss the nature of God, religion and existence with a cartoon canon in 60 seconds flat.

Emmerdale also scores high on the comedy scale. The on-screen pairing of Deena Payne and Anthony Audenshaw as Viv and Bob remains not only one of the small screen’s greatest couplings but a hidden gem that deserves greater praise. Utterly over the top performances can be instantly altered to encompass profound depths with scandalous ease and Viv and Bob are the best pairing in soap, no question. Whereas the characters of Laurel and Sam can veer to the caricature of the village idiot occasionally, Viv and Bob remain on the right side of stupidity to greater affect. The writing is also sharp and loaded – witness Marlon returning to work alongside the slutty Val in the kitchen with the immortal line, “I’d better get back on the old bike then”. Lovely stuff and brilliantly played.

Dramatic tension in the Dales tends to be two-speed; rhythmically slow or frantically fast but, in either case, it always seems to be imbued with a healthy dose of reality. Tonight’s show built up the Robert/Katie affair quite nicely; Jack simmered soporifically as the truth dawned, Jarvis decided to rage against the machine and Ashley and Ethan clashed over the welfare of their flock. Factor in a dummy called Alfie and you have another convincing slice of everyday life in a not-so quaint northern village. More tea, Vicar?

This particular episode was a quintessentially classic example of the show. In effect a handful of storylines split into 23 separate scenes, of which all but four were two-handers. Formulaic and derivative? Yes. Entertaining? Commendably so. This episode spun by with an hypnotic sensibility and the bold writing gamble paid off handsomely. By allowing the plot to flow between Cain/Charity, Terry/Chris, Ashley/Zoë and Sid/Scott, we were treated to bullet-point soap viewing that captured the viewers’ attention and propelled the story with an innate sense of passionate urgency. In recent weeks the convergence and inter-weaving of these storylines has been handled with an assiduous adeptness with only momentary lapses of quality and style.

With a standard of acting that is currently very high indeed, Emmerdale also retains amongst its cast a wonderful core of young actors who are possessed with a talent and joyfulness that clearly separate them from their peers. Factor in the excellent storylines they are given (in terms of realism they rank ahead – by some considerable distance – of all other soaps) and you have a vibrant, strong element of the show that is wonderfully built upon. Able to intricately conjoin the youth and adult communities and present them as an organic whole as well as two separate entities when required, the show tends to flow as a microcosm of rural life rather than speciously attempting to understand youth in the hinterlands, and youth issues. Similarly, plots, issues and events concerning the greyer haired members of the cast are handled with equal sensitivity and objectivity.

This clear constant from the writers – that the characters are themselves first and their age, station or ethnicity next – is a refreshing change in soapland. If you look at the introduction of the Ferreiras to EastEnders, we see an Asian family first and foremost rather than, simply, a new set of faces in the Square. The recent plot involving the Asian wedding was as insulting to the viewers as it was predictable. We were taking bets on how quickly that particular plot would appear – with unreasonable haste was the voice of popular opinion. That’s not to say that there are no flaws in the characterization of Emmerdale. Sid as the stand-up, regular guy requires some fleshing out. Eric is called in to be pantomime villain far too often for my liking and the writers have taken Laurel’s dizziness to a frightening height. However, these grumbles are minor and easily remedied.

There have been, recently, some wonderful moments. Ashley’s admission that the Young Farmers viewed him as the stereotypical gay vicar was a lovely portrayal of human predictability and a well-observed scene. But the plaudits, for me at least, go to Terry and Chris, particularly Terry. His performance as his master’s faithful servant in the face of abuse and anger has been quite magnificent. The actor in question has managed to convey the character’s journey through the emotional maelstrom with consummate skill. Bringing a wonderful depth and insight to the relationship, this has added to the poignancy of the storyline and deserves enormous praise. The writing also managed to be reined in rather than go for the extravagant and this too added to the storyline.

Yes, Emmerdale has managed to maintain an impressive momentum of late and this episode merely added to its merited reputation. I would heartily recommend this excellent programme to any soap viewer who still brings memories of Annie and Joe Sugden to mind when hearing the name. Things have changed over the last few years and they’ve changed for the better. If you go down to the Dales today, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.