Coronation Street fans were quick to do a double-take as they spotted an actress who used to appear in the long-running show make a new appearance in Emmerdale.
There were harrowing scenes in the ITV soap on Sunday (June 7) as Charity Dingle was seen being assaulted by Dr Caitlin Todd. Those who have been watching in recent weeks will know that Dr Todd has been blackmailing Charity after discovering baby Leyla is actually her biological child.
Charity agreed to be a surrogate for her granddaughter Sarah Sugden and her new husband, Jacob Gallagher. But amid starting the fertility treatment, Charity slept with Ross Barton and fell pregnant with their second child.
Only Chas Dingle was aware of the secret, but after Charity dramatically gave birth in the hospital lift with Ross and Mackenzie Boyd by her side, before Dr Todd had to intervene to save her life, the bullying medical professional overheard Chas warning Ross to stay away.
Todd has since been using the information to worm cash out of Charity, who has been struggling to cope under the pressure that her secret about baby Leyla could be exposed. During the latest episode, she ended up turning to drink as Dr Todd continued to make more demands.
As Todd continued to get more menacing, things took an even darker turn as she arrived at Charity's home later on, where the latter was lying asleep on the sofa. Noticing she'd finished a bottle of wine, Dr Todd hovered over Charity and sneered: "Wake up. Drunk, disgusting w****! One too many? Bad, bad girl. You should know better... ..than to lose control."
It was then that the horrific assault aired as Todd could be heard unzipping Charity's trousers before she awoke and realised what was happening, and instructed Todd to get off her.
During the follow-up episode on Monday (June 8), a distraught Charity is seen reporting the assault to the police. She was seen bravely telling a female officer what she had been subjected to as the relevant actions were taken.
As the difficult scenes unfold, fans couldn't help but notice that former Corrie actress Angela Lonsdale, who found fame as cobbles policewoman Emma Taylor, had been cast to play the officer Charity gave her statement to.
Noticing the soap switch, @sam_Fletcher78 asked: "Is that Emma Watts from Corrie in Emmerdale? #corrie #emmerdale." @snationed said: "Wow, Emma Watts got promoted! One for the #Corrie long time watchers #Emmerdale." @HeyItsCallisto posted: "Angela Londsdale, who appears as DS Reid in tonight's #emmerdale, was also in #corrie as Emma Watts - appearing in over 200 eps. Nice to see her on screen playing a supportive role on Emmerdale, in such a very powerful and harrowing storyline."
Angela played Sergeant Taylor, who met Curly when she arrived to investigate crimes in the area, from 2000 to 2003. They married on Christmas Eve 2000, and Emma gave birth to their son Ben on Boxing Day 2001.
In 2003, the couple put number 7 Coronation Street on the market and moved to Newcastle. But when Curly made a comeback for the 2010 spin-off DVD movie A Knight's Tale, he revealed that his marriage to Emma had since ended.
After Corrie, Angela starred in The Bill, Doctors and the children's TV drama Wolfblood. She played Grace Lane, the mother of Michelle Keegan's character Lance Corporal Georgie Lane in the BBC drama Our Girl and in 2018 she played 'Scary' Sue Buchanan in hospital drama Holby City.
