Coronation Street’s Andy Whyment warns the soap could go ‘off air’ unless filming is able to recommence by June amid coronavirus pandemic
Coronation Street star Andy Whyment has warned the soap could go ‘off air’ unless filming recommences by June.
The ITV soap halted production last month just hours before Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.
And now the actor, who plays Kirk Sutherland, has admitted the soap potentially has until the beginning of July until they run out of episodes to broadcast.
Off air? Coronation Street star Andy Whyment has warned the soap could go ‘off air’ unless filming recommences by June
Speaking on the United Podcast, the actor said: ‘I think we’ve got until the beginning of July in the can.
‘So we need to get back hopefully by the middle of June with a bit of luck, otherwise it’s going to go off air.
‘We’ve cut down from six episodes a week to three episodes a week, obviously to stay, but hopefully we’ll get back.’
He continued: ‘A lot of the airlines have announced they’re going to start flying again mid-June, so I’m presuming if that’s going to happen then hopefully we should be able to get back to work with a bit of luck, so fingers crossed.’
Suspended: The ITV soap halted production last month hours before Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic
A Coronation Street representative told MailOnline: ‘We have always stated that with the new scheduling pattern we have enough episodes to keep the show on air into the summer. It is too early speculate beyond that.’
Amid the suspension of filming, Coronation Street, as well as Emmerdale, have been cut down to just three episodes a week, airing just one episode on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Filming for Coronation Street was halted last month just hours before the government placed the UK in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, with an end date to restrictions yet to be confirmed.
No more scenes? The actor, who plays Kirk Sutherland, has admitted the soap potentially has until the beginning of July until they run out of episodes to broadcast
An ITV spokesperson revealed that episodes that were planned to air around Easter or VE Day in May will inevitably be shown on a different dates, after cutting back on their weekly broadcasts to ration their filmed episodes.
In their statement a spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘In the coming weeks some episodes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale will understandably be out of kilter due to the temporary transmission pattern for both programmes which takes effect from Monday 30 March.
‘Episodes due to broadcast at Easter and those commissioned and filmed to commemorate VE Day, for instance, won’t now air on the dates we’d anticipated.
‘We’d hope the audience will understand the reasons for this and continue to enjoy the shows.’
Warning: ‘I think we’ve got until the beginning of July in the can. So we need to get back hopefully by the middle of June with a bit of luck, otherwise it’s going to go off air’
It also comes after Coronation Street made huge changes to their usual filming schedule and filmed several scenes at once ahead of the coronavirus lockdown.
A show boss revealed that the ITV soap hurried filming and writers rewrote scenes ‘at a moment’s notice’ to ensure there was enough scenes for the soap to stay on air as long as possible.
With no clues as to when production would recommence amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the soap crammed in as much filming as possible to ensure that episodes wouldn’t run out.
Coronation Street continues Friday at 7:30pm on ITV.
Halted: Amid the suspension of filming, Coronation Street, as well as Emmerdale, have been cut down to just three episodes a week, airing just one episode on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays