Kim Crowther (Producer, Corrie) Feb 2010 Interview

[Perdita]

At the end of last year, Coronation Street's leading showrunner Kim Crowther announced her decision to stand down from the role after two and a half years. Here, in her first in-depth interview since the news broke, Kim reveals how the handover with incoming producer Phil Collinson will work, what's to come for the show's 50th birthday and provides a hoard of storyline teasers for the coming months.

How's the build-up to the 50th anniversary going?
"We're still having lots of discussions about it. Obviously we've been talking about it for some time so we've got lots of ideas and we may do all of them or some of them or they may change as we develop them! We're storylining episodes that will be on screen in June at the moment so we're halfway through the year in terms of storytelling. We wouldn't start getting to talk about the end of the year until about July. However, we have to ensure that we have all of the key characters that we want to be at the centre of the show then, in good stories in the build-up so that they may climax coinciding with the anniversary."

Have you settled on a feel for the anniversary?
"Tone is something we've talked about at great length with the writers. We're agreed it needs to have certain elements. It needs to feel like Corrie and have a feel-good, warm and humorous element but it also needs to be dramatic and satisfying. Those are the elements we look for in any good story for the show."

You mentioned in a recent webchat that it would be based around a big event...
"Ah, yes! It's just that the event may change! (Laughs) This is the ongoing discussion - it's still being debated and would have to be part of the story which is building."

There's been a lot of talk about comebacks - are Curly and Karen returning?
"At the moment there are no plans to bring either of them back."

Fans were shocked when you announced your decision to step down as producer - how did that decision come about?
"Most producers on this show only usually do about two years because we are a small team, and the truth is, you just burn out. I've done over two years already and I think because it's the 50th this year there's been an expectation that I would stay till then. I would love to, but I'm pretty worn out! I'm very excited about what I am making until I step down in the spring but I've got two young children - one's 3 and one's 5 - who haven't really seen their mummy for two years and my nanny went on maternity leave at Christmas. I had to ask myself, could I do another 18 months? If the 50th had been in the Summer I would probably have stayed and seen it through but when I was looking ahead towards the end of last year, it was another 18 months away and I felt that I needed to get home before then."

But your ideas will carry on 'til the anniversary, right?
"Yes. There are stories we're playing from the end of last year that continue into 2010 and will be paid off at the end of 2010. Hopefully they will still continue and build and take shape and have wonderful payoffs that we've already discussed. However, with every round of debate, ideas change a bit so I will be very excited to see how they play out under Phil's guidance later in the year. When I step off storylines at the end of March, I will have just started filming a really big week when we see the return of Tony Gordon, so I'll get very hands on with that on the floor and take that through to final edit. Phil will take over on storylines and scripts from then on."

Are you pleased with Phil (above left) as a successor?
"Yes, absolutely. He's got Corrie running through him, just as I have, which can only be a good thing when you eat, sleep and breathe it as you have to as producer. He has a great track record of producing some fantastic drama so I think he'll be great for the show. I'm leaving it in good hands."

How's the handover process going to work?
"We've already had a couple of meetings to get him up to speed and of course he's reading everything we're writing now so he can be ready to start at the end of March. I invited him to the long-term conference last week when we discussed the 50th, so he's already part of those discussions."

How did you lure Kate Ford back as Tracy Barlow?
"The writers and I have always loved Tracy Barlow, she's a fantastic character - I was here when we decided to reinvent the character and when we chose Kate for the part. So this time around, we had this story for Gail and we thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if we added Tracy into the mix?' So I just talked to her and persuaded her!"

How on earth are you going to get her out of prison - is it as straightforward as a technicality?
"It might be! It's interesting - you have to get round these logistical things sometimes in shows like ours and I don't really mind it, I have to say. I don't mind the odd contrivance if you're on the edge of your seat going, 'How audacious! Look at that!' If it excites you, I don't really mind. We have a story to get her out and we've researched it so it's perfectly legitimate but I wouldn't really care if it wasn't particularly, because I just think it's so exciting anyway! As a viewer I wouldn't care."

[Perdita]

Part 2 of the interview:



Corrie producer offers 2010 story insights



When does the lesbian storyline between Sophie and Sian begin?
"Well, the story of Sophie's sexuality is a big and ongoing story which starts properly in April but will develop over the rest of the year. This is not something we deal with lightly and I just want to add that she remains a Christian throughout, too.

"It is a love story that has all the complexities of any teenage relationship, which would be complicated enough at the best of times. It will add another dimension to everything else that's going on in the Webster household. It's one layer in that family of stories but it's a big secret for quite a while. All the confusion of how Sophie feels and how Sian feels - we've played that all out truthfully, I hope."

Are we going to start seeing more of Carla soon?
"Yes - she gets a new love interest... Trev, Janice's lodger - the binman! It's a very unlikely triangle."

But he doesn't seem Carla's type...
"Steve Jackson is a lovely actor. It took me a long time to find him - I did over three screen tests and I'm so glad we did because we found him in the last screen test and he's exactly what we were looking for. Liam was very relaxed and laid-back. He wasn't a showy, pushy controlled businessman like Tony who pursued Carla for ages before she was interested. And Trev's very laid-back. He's got no airs or graces. He's not looking for status and that's what she finds attractive about him. He sees through to the real Carla, as Liam did and that's why she likes him."

How does Nick get involved in the factory?
"He worked in the factory years ago under Mike and learned the ropes and he's been working in that trade while he's been away, too. When he comes back, he thinks, 'I'd quite like to be a partner back in there'. He has to do a bit of wheeling and dealing, going through a few machinations before he manages to become part of it again but yes, he sets his sights on it."

Craig Gazey says he's signed until 2011 - what are the long-term plans for him?
"He's going to find some roots back within the Platt family and the Platt household. Also, he becomes a very good ally to one of our female characters who ends up in crisis. An unexpected friendship or partnership develops. We get to a deeper level with the character where we see that he kind of saves somebody who's drowning, in a way. He becomes their saviour."

Lewis apparently has a dark secret...
"I don't know if it's so much a dark secret but further down the line he does upset people and let people down. I'll tell you what, it's great this story, I absolutely love it! It's another one that's going to develop over the spring where Rita gets involved in the Audrey/Lewis friendship and you can imagine we just have great fun with that!"

Eileen seems to have slipped off the radar - are we going to see more of her this year?
"It's not that people slip into nowhere but when you've got 60-plus cast they can't all be in stories on screen all the time, otherwise you'd end up with very bitty episodes. When a story closes down a bit you sometimes look away and look at other characters whose stories are building. It's a natural ebb and flow of the show and that's always been the way, really. It's not that she's disappeared, it's just that her story comes to a point where we look away a bit but we will continue to see her in the cab office and the pub and through the Joe/Gail/Grimshaws/Platts story as well. We've also just talked about a great new story for her but it probably won't get properly started until late spring. I love her in the cab office best, though."

[Dazzle]

So the lesbian storyline with Sophie and Sian is definitely happening...

Sounds like there's lots of other drama to look forward to as well.