Classic Emmerdale

The episode containing the plane crash was broadcast on 30th December 1993.

https://emmerdale.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_1829_(30th_December_1993)

The narrative seems to suggest the plane crash took place at Christmas in the storyline, despite it being scheduled on 30th December. There was an outdoor carol service in the episode that played on 28th December, and on the 30th (the same evening in the storyline), Frank Tate was watching carols on the TV prior to delivering a present to Kim at the stables (which she didn’t get until two days later due to what unfolded). A Dickensian night was being held in the Woolpack on the night of the crash, the date of which must surely have been mentioned in previous episodes. Yet on the day after the crash, Frank says to Kim “It’s been a hell of a year”, which could imply it’s New Years Eve. We would need to watch all of the episodes leading up to the crash to get a better idea of the exact date it’s meant to be for the villagers.

Setting the crash at Christmas time was the ridiculously insensitive considering the timing of Lockerbie.

As I say I think the episode with the outdoor carol service is actually 23 December. It's definitely not the same day in the story as the plane crash. With regards to the Dickensian night on the first crash episode one character mentions how odd it is to have it in the lull between Christmas and the new year.

Thanks - I missed the reference to The Dickensian evening. It’s been a while since I saw any of those episodes, but I remember Elizabeth throwing out Eric during what I think was a carol service, and I thought it happened in the 28th December episode. I must be wrong. I’ll have to watch the episodes leading up to 30th December again to see if they have the feeling of having been padded out so the crash occurred a couple of episodes later - but that’s the first I’ve heard of the date being changed, and I imagine it wouldn’t have been easy to insert extra footage without affecting the continuity of episodes already in the can (such as the Dickensian reference).

EDIT: Just flicked through the episode labelled as 28th December. It does feature the carol service, and Kathy refers to the fact it’s not yet Christmas. Shirley and Alan refer to the Dickensian evening that’s due to take place between Christmas and New Year. So I can only assume we don’t see Christmas Day in the storyline, it jumps from Christmas Eve or thereabouts (tx 28th December) and a date between Christmas and New Year (tx 30th Dec through to 6th Jan: plane crash evening and following day). By 10th Jan it may be New Years Day, but this isn’t referenced as far as I remember. The few days following the crash go on until mid January at least by tx date.

Knowing our luck, ITV3 will stop showing it or jump ahead before we get to the plane crash episodes and we don't get to answer those questions.

That episode is definitely set on Christmas Eve (Michael Feldmann refers to Elizabeth throwing Eric out on Christmas Eve several months later) and I think it was in fact broadcast on 23 December because I'm sure there's another episode between that one and the crash, which would have been shown on the 28th.

I did think it odd the storyline jumped from Christmas Eve to (probably) 30th December. Perhaps the uploader has the date incorrect.

According to the Emmerdale Wikia, the episode on 23rd December is 1828, and 28th December is 1828A. Perhaps originally intended to be an hour long and split, or this theory that additional episodes were inserted may hold some water. That said, the detailed synopsis for Ep 1828A on 28th December matches the YouTube upload and ends with the carol singing and Nick and Archie outside the Woolpack.