Coronation Street producer scrapped new romance storyline for Gail Rodwell
"We didn't want Gail to get together with another serial killer!"
Gail Rodwell comes home to Coronation Street on Friday 25th October following actress Helen Worth’s short break from the show.
The last time we saw her was in July, when she got so fed up with the family feud over sons David Platt (Jack P Shepherd) and Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) stealing cash from gran Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) that she spontaneously escaped to Thailand.
Now the Mancunian matriarch is back, with a newly-discovered air of calm and peace about her – and she’ll need it as she walks straight into granddaughter Bethany Platt’s (Lucy Fallon) scandal surrounding her kiss with Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) which has made her the local pariah as his wife Sinead Osbourne (Katie McGlynn) lays dying of cancer.
Refreshed and full of wisdom, Gail’s quest for self-discovery seems to have been successful, but Corrie producer Iain MacLeod reveals her new outlook was somewhat toned down from the original idea behind her return.
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“Less has happened to her in Thailand than in some versions of the story we had, where she came back fully meditative and yogic flying and the like,” he told RadioTimes.com.
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“She’s still the Gail we recognise but is a little more grounded and ‘Mother Earth’, as demonstrated in some moving scenes with Bethany. Plus, there might be a few more harem pants in her wardrobe and different coiffure choices!”
Also on the table when discussing what the Weatherfield favourite had got up to in Asia was a potential holiday romance, which was eventually shelved. “We moved away from that idea in the end because it felt like we don’t want Gail to get together with another serial killer,” MacLeod candidly explained.
“And if we were going to do that we’d want it to be on screen rather than off screen. So Gail hasn’t had a fling, she’s just had a zen-like epiphany.”
Gail’s comeback episode also contains the final scenes for Katie McGlynn as her alter ego passes away from her terminal condition.
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