Printable View
The live episode should be really interesting; if it is the aftermath of the tram crash then working with all the debri, rubble and general carnage in a live setting will definitely be a challenge for the actors. It'll test the crew (make up artists, costume dept, etc) as the live show will presumably be broadcast weeks after the actual tram crash sequence is filmed? It's very brave but I''ll definitely be tuning in!
Liz
CORONATION STREET sex kitten Michelle Keegan says she fears she will ruin the soap’s live episode.
Bosses confirmed yesterday that one programme will be shown live to help celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary.
It will be screened in December and capture the aftermath of the tram crash which is set to destroy half of Coronation Street.
But Michelle, who plays Tina McIntyre, says she’s desperate not to be involved. The 23-year-old said: “There’s a real buzz on set about it and there have been loads of meetings about what will happen and the storylines. I think everyone feels lucky to be a part of it. But I would panic.
“I’d probably wave at the camera and say hi to my mum.
“I’d shy away from being a part of a live episode. I’d run to the toilets because I would be so nervous.
“Trying to remember your lines and say them live would be a nightmare. Obviously, if I had to do it I would.” A spokeswoman for the soap said: “Everyone is very excited, if a little nervous, about the prospect of a live episode but we felt it was fitting to do one to celebrate the prestigious anniversary.”
Meanwhile the soap has been accused of frightening people away from adopting children. Fans watched Steve and Becky McDonald (Simon Gregson, 33, and Katherine Kelly, 30) come under an intense grilling from a panel of adoption experts as they desperately try to give a child a home.
Their bid was turned down, prompting real-life agency bosses to slam the soap. Patricia Hurst, of charity Caritas said: "It was portrayed as an ambush and that is just not the case.”
But a Corrie spokeswoman said: “We have to have some dramatic licence, but it was an accurate storyline.”
Linus Roache hopes his soap storyline will educate people who hold bigoted views.
Linus, the real-life son of Corrie stalwart William Roache, plays Ken Barlow's long-lost son Lawrence, who cannot tolerate his own son James' homosexuality.
The 46-year-old said: "There are a lot of people that hold these views. This is holding the mirror up to the way things are and you can see those views for what they are. Hopefully it will educate some people out of it."
Linus' half-brother James plays the part of his son in the soap.
The show sees Ken attempt to heal the rift between the two men.
Linus added: "It's got all the perspectives in the story. I play a particular function and in the end I'm the one who loses out because of my bigotry."
Coronation Street star Simon Gregson has admitted that the soap's cast are currently clueless over what producers have in store for the forthcoming live episode.
Last week, it was confirmed that the ITV1 drama will transmit live for an instalment airing in its 50th anniversary week. However, full details of the planned episode have yet to be announced.
Speaking about the live ep at the TV Choice Awards last night, Gregson - who plays Weatherfield's Steve McDonald - told DS: "There's some nerves. [But] we're that busy with what we're doing at the moment, nobody's really got the time to think about the live yet. It'll happen when it happens, you know what I mean?"
On what may occur in the special edition, he added: "No-one's got a clue! They've not given us the scripts yet."
Coronation Street veteran Bill Roache has promised that there are "exciting" times ahead for the soap as its 50th anniversary draws closer.
The ITV1 drama celebrates its milestone in December, and producers have already confirmed plans for a tram crash stunt and live episode to mark the occasion.
Speaking to DS at the TV Choice Awards last night, Roache - who plays Weatherfield's Ken Barlow - commented: "[We're] always nervous with a live episode. They strike terror into the hearts of actors! But we'll do it. And it's going to be a very exciting end of the year - we know the stories are brilliant. There's a great feeling of energy and vitality around, so we look forward to it."
Asked about the soap's new producer Phil Collinson, Roache added: "[He's] absolutely brilliant. Look at his pedigree. And the great thing about Phil is, as a child, he grew up loving Coronation Street - and that is so good. To have a man of his qualifications who actually loves the show is brilliant."
SAMIA Smith isn't fazed by the upcoming live episode to mark Corrie's 50th anniversary.
New mum Samia, 28, who has returned to the soap as Maria Connor, worked through her nerves with the live show ten years ago - months after she first joined the cast.
She said: "I did the 40th anniversary so I hope it will be OK."
Speaking about motherhood - daughter Freya arrived last year - she said: "It's been quite easy because my mum helps a lot and I only live 15 minutes from the set."
Coronation Street star Samia Smith has admitted that she "can't wait" to be part of the soap's forthcoming live episode.
Plans for a live instalment of the Weatherfield show were finally confirmed last week after being rumoured for some time.
The special edition of the drama will air in December as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations. Corrie previously went live for its 40th birthday ten years ago.
Speaking of the soap's upcoming milestone, Smith told Bang Showbiz: "It's nice. There's lots of exciting stuff happening because it's the 50th. It's nice to be involved in it all."
The actress - who plays hairdresser Maria Connor - added: "I can't wait for the live episode. I was there for the 40th and it'll be nice to do it again."
Reports suggest that the live episode will concentrate on the aftermath of the devastating tram crash stunt which will occur in December.
Coronation Street producers are taking unprecedented steps to keep their 50th anniversary storylines under wraps as filming is due to begin.
It is known that a tram will crash onto the street, killing some characters and destroying buildings. But ITV is keen to stop further details leaking out.
"We're actually being given scripts with just our own parts in it," said William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow.
"We don't read the other people's parts. I've never known such secrecy."
A street party has been held on the set in Manchester, where the cast is due to start shooting the first anniversary storylines on Monday.
Roache, who has been in the show since the first episode, has been named by Guinness World Records as the world's longest-serving soap actor.
Asked whether Ken might be written out, Roache told BBC News: "There's a great mystery around what's happening at the 50th anniversary.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
The scripts are written, they're all locked away upstairs in a big cupboard”
Phil Collinson
Coronation Street producer
Send us your comments
"They're really keeping it close to their chests. So we don't know. Some of us might make shrewd guesses but I'm not going to talk about those."
Keith Duffy, who plays Ciaran McCarthy, said: "Everything is pretty much behind closed doors at the minute. Even the actors themselves don't really know what's happening.
"I know this viaduct is coming down with a tram, I just hope I'm not underneath it."
While actors are usually given scripts a week in advance, they may only find out about the crucial scenes a day or two before filming, Duffy said.
"They want to keep it tight-lipped. Every good storyline in any good soap always gets leaks and they're just trying their best this time around to try and keep it schtum."
Producer Phil Collinson promised that the anniversary episodes would entail "tragedy and destruction on a previously unseen scale".
"The scripts are written, they're all locked away upstairs in a big cupboard," he said. "Literally under lock and key. We know where the story's going and we start filming on Monday."
Mr Collinson has enlisted special effects company The Mill, which won an Oscar for Gladiator and has worked on Doctor Who.
The first episode of Coronation Street was broadcast on 9 December 1960
"They will be the biggest, most spectacular episodes ever filmed," Mr Collinson said. "The Mill are very used to creating memorable, spectacular, effects-driven television."
The show will also feature a live episode, which will portray the aftermath of the tram crash.
As well as creating the explosive scenes, special effects will be used to show the rest of the fictional Manchester borough of Weatherfield for the first time, Mr Collinson revealed.
"The special effects work we'll do isn't just about crashing the tram," he explained. "We're going to see Coronation Street in the context of the wider world.
"So we're going to have great big wide shots that show you the rest of Weatherfield. Life has begun and ended at the top and bottom of the street, but for the first time we're going to see the wider world."
Jack Duckworth, played by Bill Tarmey, is one character who will leave before the end of the year. His final scenes - which are not part of the tram crash - will feature the return of his on-screen wife Vera, who died in 2008.
Mr Collinson declined to give details about the nature of her appearance, but did say: "She's not a ghost, she doesn't come in on a wire. It's beautiful and poignant."
Coronation Street producer Phil Collinson has said that the show's 50th anniversary week will be full of "absolutely unmissable drama".
Speaking to The Daily Star, Collinson hinted at the scale of the plans to mark the birth of the world's longest-running TV soap opera.
He said: "It's a week of television that people will remember forever. A week full of big ideas, big ambitions and absolutely unmissable drama. But this week does have to be special.
"How do we top what we’ve done in the past? Well, with a tram crash, a death, a wedding, another death, a birth, a murder, a fire and another death."
He added: "Yes, all of that in one week! I was lucky to have been given some extra money for the anniversary week.
"I’m a little terrified about the live episode but with plenty of rehearsals I’m sure it will be fine."
Collinson said of the plans for a tram crash on the cobbles: "The tram crash will cut through the lives of every resident on the Street. It’s the most ambitious week of episodes this soap has ever seen."
It was reported earlier this week that a Weatherfield resident may take advantage of the tram crash carnage to cover-up a murder.
CORONATION Street bosses may book a whole hotel to keep their tram crash plotline under wraps.
Their old studio bar has been turned into a hotel that overlooks the ITV1 soap's set.
Now they fear photographers may book rooms while they film the much-hyped crash, in which some characters will be killed off.
So they are considering forking out £20,000 for all 30 rooms while the scenes are filmed.
A Corrie source said: "It has been seriously discussed - people are paranoid that shots will be sent around the world, which would be a bigger disaster than the crash itself. There was even talk of asking the hotel to black out the windows." The hotel plan is just one security nightmare for Street producer Phil Collinson, who has beefed up efforts to halt any leaks before the big day.
He recently ordered electronic bug sweeps of conference rooms.
Bosses are remaining secretive about who dies in the crash, which will be aired at Christmas.
Characters due to leave include Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle), Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold) and Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns).
A source said: "There will be at least two deaths. Even the cast don't know who will be killed."