Coronation Street boss teases Kelly's exit as "cataclysmic explosion"
He reacts to the recent news that the star is bowing out.
Kelly Neelan (Millie Gibson) will be leaving our screens soon as the character is set for an 'explosive' exit from Coronation Street.
Speaking for the first time about star Gibson's departure, producer Iain MacLeod is saddened to confirm the news, but adds that Kelly's final scenes will take place during a huge week for the ITV soap.
He reveals to RadioTimes.com and other press: "We all know, and it leaves me with a heavy heart to say it, but we all know Kelly’s leaving the show.
"So we thought, well, the fact that Millie is going and therefore Kelly is going allows us to go really big and do something incredibly high stakes, to maybe have some characters step on all these landmines that we’ve buried for them over the years and have them all go off in one cataclysmic explosion."
MacLeod is referring to one bombshell in particular – the fact that Kelly has been left unaware that her guardian, Gary Windass (Mikey North), killed her dad Rick! Gary has got away with more than one murder over the past few years, but now that Kelly is on her way out, the time has finally come for Gary to face the music.
"Finding ourselves in a position where we have to exit Kelly just means it’s kind of now or never," MacLeod adds. "So we’ve gone for broke with it and done something I think is really special.
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"We’ve really thrown everything at this week to try and bring out all the big secrets, lies, reveals, schemes; it’s literally got very high stakes jeopardy."
He also teases that the episodes in question will feature technology that no continuing drama has ever used before.
"The centrepiece to the week is a sequence that we’ve shot using technology that’s more commonly found in things like The Mandalorian. It’s called a volume wall. Basically, it means you can put your actors anywhere that you can imagine – you can essentially design a 3D world.
"What we’ve done is create this incredible rooftop sequence with a twinkling Mancunian cityscape behind it, so that we can do things that you can never normally do in a location shoot. You can put real actors in what appears to be very real danger without using stunt performers, you can have the camera behave in a way that it can’t do in the real world unless it was being operated by an Avenger!"
You'll just have to tune in to find out what happens between Gary and Kelly – but make sure you don't miss a moment, as there's not long to wait!
Read more:
- Coronation Street star Millie Gibson 'quits' role as Kelly Neelan
- Who did Gary Windass kill in Coronation Street as past catches up with him?
Visit our dedicated Coronation Street page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.
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