CORONATION Street will be stretched to seven episodes a week, according to one of the soaps star writers.
Ellen Taylor, who penned the recent Sinead Tinker cancer storyline, said she thinks the ITV soap is likely to follow Emmerdale in the move but is already suffering from having too many episodes a week.
Taylor had fans in tears as they watched Sinead – played by Katie McGlynn – lose her battle with the illness last month, with the episodes tipped to earn the 26-year-old actress and the show a host of awards.
But the writer says the move to six episodes has already put a strain on actors, directors and the writing team as the storylines have to be more and more dramatic and increasingly high octane in an increasingly pressurised effort to hook in viewers.
And she fears things are only set to get more difficult for the team and is certain it wont be long before the soap goes to seven episodes a week.
She explained: Increased volume isnt always a good thing. Its a lot more work for everyone. Its great for more Corrie, but is it best in the long run? I dont know.
Were never going to go back down. Emmerdale are already at seven episodes so you know its going to happen at some point.
She added: There are a lot of challenges in terms of production obviously, you need more cast and you need a bigger set.
Also, it throws up challenges, for me, in terms of stories, and not always good ones if Im honest.
Thats because when you have six episodes, particularly with our transmission pattern, its like you have to ramp up the story very quickly.
When its six episodes a week you have to ramp everything up more for the next Monday and I think it makes the story telling more heightened – youve got to have more dramatic moments because youve got to keep hooking the viewers in and Im not sure thats always a good thing.
I think thats the nature of television today, everything has become a bit more high octane, sometimes theres a lot more action on a show that traditionally wouldnt have it.
I still think Corrie maintains a balance very well but I think because of those six episodes a week those high octane storylines and hooks to keep the viewers there have become a more dominant feature of the process.
Also some stories drop off a cliff because of the six episodes and the scheduling.
