Coronation Street can start filming again after government gives go ahead

There’s some good news for Corrie fans as soaps have been given the green light from the government to begin filming again.

Soaps like Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks have been given the go ahead in terms of returning to filming, although they’ll have to stick to new safety conditions and social distancing rules, Metro reports.

It’s good news for the industry as a whole, as the future of the shows looked uncertain – although when they return it will be a very different landscape, with busy pubs and kissing scenes likely to be dropped for the time being.

Corrie had enough shows filmed to last through July, and now it may not even need to leave the air at all, if they can get started soon enough.

ITV

However, at this point no soap is ready to start laying out concrete plans for returning to filming, because consultation on broadcasting and filming guidelines isn’t set to finish until this Friday.

Coronation Street producer Iain MacLeod told Metro.co.uk: “Scripts are changing all the time – we have talked a lot about whether Coronation Street would exist in a parallel world or had a coronavirus in it.

“The Coronation Street we love reflects modern Britain albeit heightened. So to not reference it wouldn’t feel right. It has to exist but people also tune in for escapism and to see dramatic stories and stuff they don’t normally see in their own lives.

“The virus will exist but we’d be keen for it not to dominate everyone’s lives. It’s the only conversation in my house – but people don’t want to see that as the only topic of conversation on screen.

“We will see it reflected in how businesses are run, hand washing and the way people behave but we will still tell dramatic storylines and a dollop of comedy as we don’t want to lose what the show is. Our storytelling is business as usual.”