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Coronation Street is set to celebrate a milestone 65 years on our screens later this year, and boss Iain MacLeod has teased how the show plans to mark it – and it involves the brutal death of a major character.
The Manchester-based soap first hit our screens in 1960, and it has been non-stop drama ever since!
In the last year alone, residents of the cobbled street have faced kidnappings, shootings, car accidents, murders, affairs, illnesses and robberies, just to name a few.
So, it seems only fitting for a show legend to meet a grisly fate during this momentous anniversary episode.
Though the 60th anniversary aired during the Covid-19 pandemic, complete with restrictions, there was still plenty of drama to be had, including a whodunnit after Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson) was attacked.
It also saw the highly anticipated demise of the evil Geoff Metcalfe, who met his end falling off the roof into a garden full of chickens.
And of course, no one can forget the epic 50th anniversary live episode, which saw a tram crash on the street, claiming the lives of Ashley Peacock and Molly Dobbs, and allowing John Stape to get away with the murder of Charlotte Hoyle – for a while, at least.
‘The soap gods demand a sacrifice when you have an event of this kind,’ Iain, who is the executive producer for continuing drama at ITV, told The Mirror.
He continued to tease the 65th anniversary episodes by saying: ‘It’s going to be shocking. There will be lots of trauma, lots of drama, lots of twists.
‘Sometimes the biggest and best exits are for characters that you care the most about…’
He went on to discuss how much deliberation goes into the planning of these episodes, admitting that there are often disagreements among the production team.
‘There’s always that equation where you think, “If they were to go, the viewers will really care, but what damage will it do to the landscape of the show in terms of the ability to tell stories?”
‘It’s a big responsibility so we do agonise about it quite a lot and argue about it. Our story conferences are fiery places at times and this period of the show is no different.’
It won’t all be doom and gloom, though, as Iain has promised a return from ‘a few familiar faces’.
This isn’t the only big event Corrie is set to mark in the coming months, with huge schedule changes set to take effect in the new year.
Following audience research, bosses have concluded that 30 minute episodes attracted higher audience figures throughout 2024, and as a result, a new broadcast pattern will be adopted from January.
This means that Emmerdale will air Monday to Friday from 8pm, with Coronation Street following on the same days at 8:30pm in what has been dubbed as a ‘soap power hour.’
Consequently, both soaps are cutting one episode per week.
To mark this change, the soaps are coming together for a major crossover episode, which will see characters from both soaps interacting for the first time.
‘All of it is feeding into this crossover episode we are doing in January,’ Iain said of the events of the 65th anniversary episodes.
He continued to the publication: ‘It’s going to get bigger and bigger. Things will peak in a big way.’
Fans are already speculating which characters could be set to face the swinging axe, with many fearing for their favourites.
Several big names have already announced their upcoming exits from the show, including Daniel Brocklebank and Sally Ann Matthews, who play Billy Mayhew and Jenny Connor respectively.
Could either of these characters fall victim to whatever grisly fate the 65th anniversary has in store, or will we be blindsided by someone completely unexpected?
Anything is possible in the world of soap!
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