Coronation Street’s Helen Worth talks about resuming filming

Coronation Street star Helen Worth has said filming on the ITV soap is to resume in a few weeks.

The 69-year-old, who plays Gail Platt, also said she hopes that it will return to airing six episodes per week.

Filming has been halted since March due to the coronavirus pandemic and weekly episodes have been reduced to three a week.

Speaking on This Morning, she said: “We are going back in a few weeks, I think, it has all been organised by ITV.

“Everything will be safe for us to go back and we will start filming again to put more programmes back on hopefully… We could even get back up to six (episodes) a week, I think. I’m not sure.”

Worth also told presenter Phillip Schofield she was unsure how much Covid-19 would feature in the soap when it returns.

She said: “I think Iain (producer Iain MacLeod) said there will be some reference to Covid-19 but again I’m not sure how much; it would all be speculation on my part, to be honest, but I do know they have been working on it since lockdown started.

“The writers are brilliant at coming up with ideas when they need to, I don’t see this time being any different.”

Last month, ITV’s director of television, Kevin Lygo, said soaps could return to screens with older cast members absent.

Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival, he said filming would not resume until “we are convinced it is safe – we don’t want to put any of our staff, our cast and our crew, at risk”.

He added: “Some people who are in a dangerous zone, by age or health reasons, they won’t be there, I’m sure, for a time. I don’t want Ken Barlow (played by William Roache, 88, in Coronation Street) to get sick on my watch.

“We will be very careful and mindful about that sort of thing.”

Lats week the BBC confirmed that EastEnders and motoring series Top Gear will resume filming by the end of June.