No coronavirus mentions in future 'Coronation Street' episodes

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 1mo

Coronation Street will not reference the coronavirus pandemic in any of the episodes due to be broadcast before the soap drops off the air in the summer.

Coronation Street will not mention the coronavirus pandemic in any of its upcoming episodes, it has been confirmed.

The long-running ITV soap shut down filming at the end of last month as the health crisis deepened, hurriedly finishing off several episodes as production wound down.

The episodes already filmed up to that point are being rationed by ITV in order to keep the show on air until the summer, but even though coronavirus was a hot topic as those final few episodes were being made, execs took the decision not to address it on screen.

"They were finishing scenes that had already been written, so there are no references to social distancing and the like," a source told The Sun.

"As the episodes won't air until the summer they wouldn't have known - and still don't know now - what the situation is going to be by then.

"Once production begins again then the writers can decide how to reference the pandemic – hopefully in the past tense."

Depending on when the cast are allowed to return to work, Corrie looks set to be off air for at least two months as a result of the shutdown.