ITV Halts Production on Soaps ‘Coronation Street,’ ‘Emmerdale’ Due to Coronavirus Crisis

Leo Barraclough
·1 min read

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British commercial broadcaster ITV has halted production on the U.K.’s most popular scripted shows — soaps “Coronation Street” and “Emmerdale” — due to the coronavirus crisis.

In a statement, the company said: “We’ve been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the government’s latest health guidelines, to ensure we’ve episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer.

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“However, the health and well-being of the production teams, actors, crew and their families is of paramount importance to us and we now feel that the time has come to stop filming.”

“Coronation Street,” based around a blue-collar neighborhood in Manchester, an industrial city in the North-West of England, is the world’s longest-running drama serial. It recently completed its 10,000th episode, having debuted in 1960. “Emmerdale,” another long-running show, is set in the Yorkshire Dales, a beautiful rural area in North-East England. The shows, which regularly attract more than 6 million viewers each, are the most popular dramas in the U.K.

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