ITV in ‘final stages’ of planning for Emmerdale and Coronation Street's production return

The channel announced they are looking to restart production on the flagship soaps
Schedule alterations: The Corrie cast seen in the show's recent 10,000th episode ( PA )
PA
Helena Rose9 June 2020

ITV is in the 'final stages' of working on plans for Emmerdale and Coronation Street to return to production, according to a spokeswoman for the broadcaster.

Filming of the two ITV soaps, along with many other TV productions, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The spokeswoman stated said: “The health and wellbeing of our people and those who work with us has always been our highest priority and remains so as we look to restart production.

“We are in the final stages of working with others across the industry on a return to production protocol and we are in active discussions with Government on this.

“We will share more news in due course.”

Coronation Street stamps created to mark the show's 60th anniversary

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The news comes as the BBC's flagship soap EastEnders announced they are set to resume filming by the end of June.

Charlotte Moore, the broadcaster’s director of content, said the famous Albert Square set will be up and running again as soon as possible, along with fan favourite Top Gear.

Emmerdale halted filming on March 22, ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing a UK-wide lockdown.

On hold: Chris Chittell and Leslie Dunlop in a recent episode of Emmerdale 

ITV has confirmed Emmerdale will run out of episodes at the end of May – although an exact date has not been specified.

ITV boss Kevin Lygo claimed Coronation Street has enough episodes to last until June if filming doesn't recommence.

EastEnders was the first to close its sets, announcing on March 18 they would be reducing the number of episodes per week from four to two.

BBC bosses haven't revealed when episodes will run out, but it’s thought the soap could be the first off air as it stopped filming a few days before the others.

The government has confirmed TV and film productions can start filming again if they adhere to social distancing guidelines, such as staying two meters apart on set, and filming scenes with smaller groups.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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