Coronation Street won’t be sticking to the classic “dark and gothic” tropes like many other soaps this Christmas, an ITV producer has said.
The popular ITV soap is thought to be pushing more “heartwarming and joyous” themes for this year’s Christmas special to bring the community together again for the festive celebration.
While many soaps including Emmerdale and EastEnders plan for a dramatic and dark turn, the festive feature will be seeing a more lighthearted episode as they introduce the return to a “community-focused” style on the cobbles.
This will mean that characters will be able to stand in closer proximity to each other as it was filmed when restrictions were eased on social distancing for the actors.
Now, the programme’s producer has reflected on the hard work and “dedication” of the whole team behind the show after a hectic two years due to the ongoing pandemic.
As he discussed Christmas on the cobbles, Iain MacLeod said: “It’s quite jolly actually. Obviously, there’s a tradition on some soaps of going really big and dark and gothic at Christmas and we’ve occasionally dipped our toe in that water, but I think it’s fair to say this year is maybe more akin to a traditional Coronation Street Christmas.
“So, it’s got more of that Coronation Street community on the cobbles type feeling than some of the previous Christmases had, certainly last Christmas we were shooting it in the midst of the strictest of restrictions so we couldn’t really do that.
“But this year, it’s very jolly and very community-focused, very family-focused.”
As fans prepare for the festive special, Iain told fans they could expect one of the “silliest fights” in soap history and will contain the hilarious line “smell my Marigold”.
He said that when he first watches the Christmas special back in November he did not feel “very festive” but by the end of it he had a “mince pie-shaped lump in his throat”.
He added: “It was just really heartwarming and tears of joy rather than misery, it was just a glorious thing. So, I’m really hoping the audience will like it as much as I did.”
As he reflected on how filming the soap has been over the past year with the restrictions enforced throughout and confessed he was “incredibly proud” of his team amidst the coronavirus restrictions.
Iain went on: “Our team have been particularly brilliant this year, working in all the restrictions we’ve had to force them to endure in terms of social distancing, and reduced numbers of staff in studio, reduced numbers of characters and scenes, nobody’s able to do their jobs the normal way.
“And to keep producing what I’m sitting in edit suites every week watching, which is brilliant episodes of Coronation Street, is a heck of an achievement.
“The quality has just been exceptional, the determination that everyone connected to the show has had to just keep it at the top of its game has been just a really humbling thing to see from my point of view.”
Coronation Street continues on ITV.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
