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BBC soap EastEnders will broadcast in high definition for the first time in the autumn, it has been announced.
The Walford serial's switch to HD ties in with the BBC's plans to simulcast "the majority" of BBC One programming before the end of the year.
Other programmes scheduled to make the transition include Holby City, Waterloo Road and Casualty.
Last year, former executive producer Diederick Santer revealed that some parts of the Albert Square set didn't "pass muster" in the high quality filming format.
He said: "Until we've either completely refurbed the exterior set or moved the programme somewhere else and built it from scratch, then we're not going to be going HD."
Preparations are currently afoot at the soap's home at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Herts, ahead of its move to HD production within the next few months.
In September, EastEnders revamped its title sequence, replacing the old blue, green and grey map with a three-dimensional version, for HD broadcast.
Hollyoaks became the first of the Big Four UK soaps to air in HD in June 2008.
On Monday, Coronation Street makes it debut on ITV HD with its stripped week of 9pm editions featuring Tony Gordon's prison break and factory siege.
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CORRIE stars party with military heroes outside the Rovers Return - to kick-off Armed Forces Day.
The cast enjoyed butties, buns and beer then saluted the RAF, Army and Navy.
And they urged us all to do the same on June 26 - the second Armed Forces Day.
Beverley Callard, 53 - Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald - did a conga with soldiers.
Call to arms ... Bill Roache hugs RAF girl Mandy
Paul Cousans
She said: "Communities need to celebrate our boys and girls. Landlords and landladies can get parties running. I know Liz would."
Pick me up ... Navy lads give Staci a lift
Neil Jones
Page 3 Girls Sam, 23, and Chloe, 22, served drinks while Staci, 21, enjoyed a lift from Navy heroes.
Meanwhile Ken Barlow star Bill Roache, 78, who served in the Army after National Service, had a hug with RAF Senior Aircraftwoman Mandy Mortley, 34.
He said: "Soldiers are dying for their country. They need our support. I'm glad to do my bit."
Weatherfield's Kym Marsh (Michelle), Samia Smith (Maria), Jennie McAlpine (Fiz), Andrew Whyment (Kirk), Sue Cleaver (Eileen) and Debbie Rush (Anna) toasted the forces visitors and showed them the Manchester set.
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Helen Worth, the Street's Gail, said: "It's a chance to show our appreciation."
Mikey North, who plays squaddie Gary, said: "I've learnt from speaking to soldiers they're like brothers and sisters.
"They're willing to die for you and that's the biggest gift of all."
Moved RAF Sergeant Andy Dipple, 43, said: "It's great to know celebrities care so passionately."
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Coronation Street's Samia Smith has admitted that reports suggesting she had been axed were "upsetting".
The actress, who plays hairdresser Maria Connor, took maternity leave from the show last year and will return for Siege Week.
She told the Daily Star: "If anyone read that they were going to be axed they'd find it upsetting. Being off on maternity leave made it even worse, as I was completely out of the loop.
"I put a call in to work and asked what was going on and they reassured me that the rumours were not true.
"Whenever a new producer [Phil Collinson] comes in, my name always seems to be on the list of possible characters that is going to be axed. It’s really quite upsetting."
The star continued: "I was gearing myself up to return for the special episodes and suddenly it was like my whole world was collapsing.
"It really stressed me out. I was always going to return after having Freya and had organised for Matthew’s mum to look after her while I worked. Fortunately, the rumours about me weren’t true."
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Coronation Street's Samia Smith wants to see a "stronger" Maria Connor upon her return to Weatherfield.
The actress revealed that, despite her woes, she hoped to see Maria as a more tenacious character. Her prolonged trip to Dublin coincided with Smith's maternity leave.
She told the Daily Star: "Maria's been in Dublin for so long it would be nice to see a new Maria. I'd like to see her come back a lot stronger.
"I'm surprised she's not topped herself with everything that's happened. So it'll be nice to get back in the salon with Audrey."
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Coronation Street's head of production Claire Winnick has admitted that the soap's team faced many challenges as they prepared for the switch to high definition filming.
The Weatherfield serial was last night broadcast on ITV1 HD for the first time, coinciding with the launch of the programme's dramatic Siege Week.
The development required a number of improvements to be made to the show's exterior sets to bring them up to high definition standard. Among other changes, chimney stacks on the characters' houses have been rebuilt and new walls have been erected in their back yards.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Winnick explained: "With traditional television, the picture on the screen wouldn't have been clear enough to show that some parts of the set weren't quite what they seemed. HD changes that - the pictures are so much clearer that we have to take care that viewers will still be convinced by what we see on screen."
Discussing what the cast look like in HD, she continued: "In some cases we discovered that [they] actually needed less make-up. We now also have to far more conscious of things like a little bit of dandruff, which would show up on screen.
"Many of our characters are quite 'bling' and we've had to be careful that the clothes and jewellery they wear aren't too distracting. The point is that people should be able to concentrate on what the character is saying and the emotions that they are portraying."
Last night's episodes of Coronation Street also saw the launch of a new title sequence and revamped theme tune.
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Coronation Street actress Patti Clare has described her character Mary as "oddly uninhibited".
Speaking to the Radio Times, the actress also praised Malcolm Hebden - who plays Norris Cole - for his "comic" ability.
She said: "She gets things wrong. She finds it difficult to express emotion, she's socially awkward and desperately lonely. She really does love Norris, though.
"There's a lot of passive aggression there - perhaps from looking after what I imagine was a domineering mother. I don't think she'd harm anyone, but you never know."
Clare added: "Working with Malcolm brought Mary's comedy to the fore because he's such an accomplished comic actor.
"In her heart of hearts, I think she knows he will never love her. But she sails on anyway, unwilling to give up on romance. For someone who's so contained, she's oddly uninhibited."
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RYAN THOMAS has been given a megabucks deal to keep him on the Street.
But he’s been warned by new prod*ucer Phil Collinson to stay out of trouble.
Ryan, 25, who plays builder Jason Grimshaw, signed a £160,000 year-long deal with ITV before heading off on holiday.
A show source said: “Phil’s decided that Ryan is part of his long-term plan for the Street.
“He’s going to get some dynamic story-lines over the coming months that will have viewers glued to their seats.
“Obviously Ryan’s over the moon bec*ause he loves working on Corrie and is excited that Phil has some big story-lines in the pipeline for him.”
But Collinson, who started in his new role as executive producer last month, has warned Thomas to keep his nose clean after a string of incidents.
In April he was fined £2,020 at Manchester Magistrates’ Court after he owned up to leaving the scene of a car crash and failing to report the incident to police.
The actor was at the wheel of his Chrysler when he crashed into barriers near Manchester city centre.
In 2006 Ryan hit the headlines over rep*orts that he smashed up a hotel in Shropshire. He’s also been caught up in a couple of pub brawls.
Our insider added: “Phil’s told him he needs to keep out of trouble. No slip-ups will be tolerated.”
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Coronation Street star Ben Price has revealed that he is keen to explore Nick Tilsley's emotional side in the coming months.
The 38-year-old was cast in the role of Gail Platt's eldest son late last year, and viewers have seen an 'edgier' version of the character since he made his debut in the part.
Speaking to Inside Soap, Price confessed that he would now like producers to delve deeper into the businessman's past and give him more scenes with ex-wife Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson).
He explained: "It's about time we saw a bit of a softer side to Nick. So far, he's been hard and ruthless. I want to explore the pain he feels about his broken family and his failed marriage to Leanne."
A future storyline for the Weatherfield soap will see Leanne - who now dates Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) - helping Nick to rescue his business career. However, whether the former couple grow closer due to the arrangement remains to be seen.
Price said: "In my opinion, it'd be mad not to mine the history between Nick and Leanne. It'd bring more conflict to the Tilsley-Platts and Barlows and send ripples across the Street. It'd be great fun."
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BUXOM Rovers landlady Liz McDonald has had her cleavage BARRED - because it's too eye-popping on screen in HD.
Corrie bosses have realised her tarty low-cut tops look even more revealing in the super- sharp high-definition shots.
Now they're urgently toning down the outfits so Liz - played by Bev Callard, 53 - doesn't flash the flesh too much. A source said: "Her cleavage was bursting out of the screen in HD. Viewers would have felt like her boobs were virtually in the living room with them."
Liz's chest isn't the only thing to be tweaked since the Street went HD live on Monday.
Stars with a few flakes of DANDRUFF look like they've been caught in a blizzard on screen. Plastic GRUB has been binned because viewers can now tell it's fake - so Roy's cafe will have real bacon and eggs and Dev's corner shop will stock fresh fruit and veg. The source added: "It stood out like a sore thumb that all the food wasn't real."
Even the iconic CHIMNEY POTS have been replaced with fibreglass ones and the BRIDGE at the end of the street will be changed because it's obvious now that it's just painted wood. Bosses have also produced the Street's own gossip mag, Chit Chat, because viewers would be able to spot old dates on prop papers and mags.
Clare Winnick, head of production, said: "The pictures are much clearer in HD so we have to take care that viewers will still be convinced by what's on screen."
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DRINKING in The Rovers Return while SNOOP DOGG was on the telly wishing Coronation Street a happy 50th sounds like a dream had after eating cheese.
But on Saturday night y that surreal showbiz event took place on the famous Weatherfield cobbles.
Adidas Originals threw a street party with the cast of Corrie - including ANTONY COTTON and CRAIG CHARLES - to mark the milestone anniversary.
NEW ORDER and JOY DIVISION legend BERNARD SUMNER played a gig with his new band BAD LIEUTENANT on a stage at the end of the most famous street in soapland.
His set list included hits Ceremony, Bizarre Love Triangle and Love Will Tear Us Apart.
And all that just opposite Roy's Rolls. Class.
ZUTONS and LAST SHADOW PUPPETS star MILES KANE joined me at the bar for the night.
Oh, and DARTH VADER and his Star Wars stormtroopers were there as part of the sport giant's new World Cup advert.
Snoop flashed up on a giant screen to greet the 150 lucky punters who blagged the top ticket in town.
The Corrie cast are more used to Betty's hotpot than hip-hop. But his speech left even Janice Battersby speechless.
The rapper, who had a US No 1 with Drop It Like It's Hot, said: "What up dog. It's your boy big Snoop Dogg saying happy 50th anniversary to Coronation Street and all my peoples in Manchester UK gettin' in there doin' it big.
"You know how we do it - Adidas, big Snoop Dogg, we're coming together. Wish I could be there with y'all but you know I gotta bounce ball and get in there real quick like, so I just wanna congratulate y'all for all the success of the many years of doin' what y'all do.
"Snoop Dogg is on the Adidas team. Coronation Street, happy 50th anniversary, big Snoop Dogg live and direct."
He added: "Be on the lookout when I come to Glastonbury when I come to rock the roof cause I'm gonna tear the roof off."
Snoop, there's no roof at Glastonbury, but I see your point.
STONE ROSES legend IAN BROWN also filmed a video tribute because he's on tour.
He was seen wandering into the Rovers and telling the barman that Manchester started the party years ago, and to keep the tear-up going.
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