Maureen Lipman insists "oldies" will not be dropped from Corrie

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 1mo

Coronation Street star Maureen Lipman assures fans that older cast members will not be written out of the soap.

Coronation Street star Maureen Lipman has denied that older cast members will be written out of the show due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After more than two months out of action, the soap is due to resume filming on June 1, with production adapted to comply with social distancing guidelines.

Recent reports have suggested that cast members aged over 70 - those most at risk from coronavirus - could be temporarily written out, but 74-year-old Lipman is adamant that they will remain on screen.

"I had a word with the producer last week online and I said: 'Don't ditch the oldies because the oldies is what Corrie is all about'," Lipman, who plays Tyrone's grandmother Evelyn Plummer, told Jewish News.

"They said: 'Oh no we've no intention of doing that', so I said: 'Why don't you just let me and Roy Cropper sit in a garden somewhere and have a conversation about Donald Trump's hair?' We could film it in a garden in Hampstead, it could be anywhere. I think they're planning to start again in June but I don't know when they'll bring the oldies back.

"There will be less storylines, a concentration on a narrow panel of actors so you'll see less people each week and I think there'll be less episodes each week.

"One camera crew will work on one story and we'll never meet. How we'll do the makeup I don't know – long garden shears, perhaps?"

Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV.