Coronation Street and Emmerdale filming could be 'shut down' as Covid cases 'rise'

The shows are "under threat"

Author: Marianna MansonPublished 12th Jul 2021

ITV soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street are reportedly set to face another shut down on set as cases of Covid among cast and crew spiral out of control.

Fans will remember that last year, at the start of the pandemic, major soaps were forced to stop filming, with networks laying on old or iconic episodes to fill the gap in programming.

But now it looks as though Emmerdale and Corrie will once again shut down their sets with Head of ITV in the North, John Whiston, warning that the soaps are “under threat”, according to MailOnline.

There's been a number of explosive storylines recently

A source said: “It’s been a really hard year for both soaps. They’ve had to work through the most difficult period in television history. Everyone has decided that a break is in order, which is almost unprecedented.

“The storyliners plan a long way in advance, and there's certain things they'd have hoped they could write in for later in the year.”

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Coronation Street and Emmerdale filming could be 'shut down' as Covid cases 'rise'
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The temporary shut-down comes at a “critical” point for both soaps as they prepare to film episodes for what’s been referred to as Super Soap Week – a period of explosive scenes and high drama storylines.

Back in March last year, Corrie’s Andrew Whyment, who plays Kirk Sutherland, told of how bosses feared they would run out of episodes to air during the extended break from filming.

"We worked up until the Friday when Boris Johnson closed all the pubs and clubs,” he said. “We had a schedule to work until the following Thursday then on the Sunday we got an email saying they were standing everyone down. It was the right thing to do.”

He added: “We’ve got until July in the can, so we need to get back mid-June otherwise it’s going to go off air."

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