The coronavirus pandemic will be in the stories of Coronation Street

Coronation Street characters will be seen dealing with life during the coronavirus pandemic in the stories when filming resumes, its producer said.

But the crisis will not “dominate every story,” Iain MacLeod promised.

The ITV program has stopped filming and is making plans to return when real-life restrictions begin to lift.

MacLeod said he decided that the virus “has to exist in our world,” but that the problem would be “handled with a light touch.”

He did not say whether any characters would contract the virus, but its impact will be seen through things like hand-washing protocols and food-to-take-out outings.

MacLeod said he and his team had “talked a lot” about whether to bring the coronavirus to the cobblestones, or whether Weatherfield “would exist in a parallel universe where everything proceeded pre-pandemically.”

It is not a “fantasy land”

“The coronation street we love is the one that reflects modern Britain, although sometimes in a higher way,” he said.

“And I just felt that if there were no coronaviruses on Coronation Street, it would cease to be a reflection of modern Britain and would instead be a parallel fantasy land. So we feel it has to exist in our world.”

“However, I am also aware that people also tune into Coronation Street for escapism to some degree, and to see dramas and stories that they would never normally experience in their own lives, and things they would never normally see in their own lives. Living rooms onscreen.

“So while the virus will exist on Coronation Street, we were also interested in it not dominating every story and every scene.”

“Coronavirus is practically the only topic of conversation in my house, but people would not want to tune into Coronation Street and see that all the scenes are people talking about the coronavirus.

“It will be there, it will be handled with a light touch, but apart from that, our narration will be as always.”

Soaps have reduced the number of episodes that air in an attempt to prevent air fall.

MacLeod’s comments come a week after ITV television director Kevin Lygo said the channel’s soaps hoped to resume filming, but with some remaining restrictions.

“They are being creative and creative in readjusting the stories,” he said. “I think we have to accept that there will be no more than two people talking in a room and looking for ways to shoot where people don’t seem to be 6 feet apart.”

Filming will not begin “until we are convinced that it is safe,” he added.

“Some people who are in a dangerous zone, because of age or health reasons, will not be there, I am sure, for a while.

“I don’t want Ken Barlow [played by William Roache, 88] get sick on my watch. “

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