Coronation Street to broadcast special live episode in 2015
ITV's 60 years on air will be marked by a live visit to Weatherfield next September
Coronation Street is to go live once again in September 2015 to mark ITV's 60 years on air.
Cast and crew were told of the news this morning ahead of an announcement by Peter Fincham, ITV's Director of Television, at the Salford Media Festival.
It will be the first live episode of Corrie's new production base at Trafford, where the show moved to at the start of 2014. The last time the soap went live was during its 50th birthday in 2010 when the residents of Weatherfield dealt with the aftermath of a devastating tram crash.
Speaking today, Kieran Roberts, executive producer, said: “We’re delighted to be marking ITV’s 60th anniversary with a live episode from Coronation Street’s brilliant new studios and set. We’re immensely proud of our new home and it’s been the most amazing first year of production. The cast, writers, and production team are exhilarated by the prospect of a live broadcast as the programme’s 50th anniversary episode was received so brilliantly by the audience."
Producer Stuart Blackburn, who was in charge at Emmerdale when it aired a live special for its 40th birthday, commented: "It’s an honour to be at the helm as Coronation Street goes live once more. We’ve a reputation to uphold after the success of the tram crash and I’m going to enjoy working with the storyliners and writers as we plot stories for our live episode in 2015. We’ll be doing all we can to eclipse what’s gone before."
The news comes following an announcement made by the production team at EastEnders in October that it would be going live over the 30th anniversary of the BBC1 soap in February 2015 in order to unmask the killer of Lucy Beale.
You can watch a 60-second rundown of all next week's drama on Coronation Street below:
