Coronation Street to Resume Filming

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The ITV soap Coronation Street is set to recommence filming, with the cast and crew returning to work after an enforced production break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The production team began a health and safety induction today (June 1) to familiarize themselves with the new protocols that are now in place throughout the studios and on the Coronation Street set. The crew is also undertaking preparatory work to resume filming next Tuesday, June 9. The pattern of recording will initially produce three episodes per week.

Among the new safety measures is a fixed cohort system with crew members designated to a specific studio or the Coronation Street exterior lot. The filming units will be maintaining safe social distancing with cohort managers in place to ensure this takes place. Cast and crew will have their temperatures checked on a daily basis by an external company with specialized medical advisors. Intensive cleaning and sanitization of areas where filming is taking place will occur on a daily basis, crew members will use their own assigned equipment, props will be sanitized with the design team working at a safe distance, makeup and costume will work remotely with members of the cast and office staff will continue to work from home to ensure fewer people in the building.

Further, members of the cast and crew who are over the age of 70 or have an underlying health condition will not be on set in the initial period of filming. For those members of cast and crew who fall into a Clinically Vulnerable category, an individual risk assessment process will be followed that will enable them to return to work if it is safe for them to do so.

The return to filming will ensure that Coronation Street stays on air in July. The new episodes will be scheduled following the installments recorded earlier this year before COVID-19 halted production.

John Whiston, managing director of continuing drama and head of ITV in the North, said:
“Getting to this point has taken a huge amount of work and goodwill from a huge number of people, not least our cast and crew. With the peak past, all indications are that the time is right for a return to filming. And with the extensive protocols we have put in place, we have made our workplace as safe as possible. I’m sure our audience will appreciate having the show they love continue on air. For many who have written in it is a vital escape from all the fears and stresses this virus brings in its wake.”

Iain MacLeod, series producer, added: “The whole team at Coronation Street has pulled together to generate an ingenious, intricate set of protocols, to allow filming to restart as safely as humanly possible. We are really pleased to able to resume making the nation’s favorite soap at a time when people need the reassurance of their regular Corrie fix more than ever. Safety remains our number one priority and we are under no illusions about the challenges still facing us and the nation as a whole. However, I can assure viewers that Corrie’s ever-present humor and brilliant storytelling will be there in abundance in the episodes due to begin filming next week and beyond.”