Coronation Street and Emmerdale boss reveals verdict on more crossovers - and talks "evolving" both ITV soaps
Iain McLeod discussed his vision for the future.
ITV's flagship soap operas Coronation Street and Emmerdale could soon look quite different - as the broadcaster's creative director of continuing drama Iain MacLeod has voiced his decision to make them look more "cinematic".
The dramas - which have been on air for a combined 118 years - have always had somewhat of a kitchen sink feel, reflecting the often far-fetched lives of normal folk living in the North.
However, a huge upgrade is on the way, including new equipment and post-production infrastructure at studios in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and Leeds.
"We’re in the midst of a big piece of work around evolving what they both look like,” he told the This Is MediaCity podcast. "I want there to be a somewhat consistent visual feel between the soaps so you sort of know when you turn on Emmerdale or turn on Corrie that it’s an ITV [show], without homogenising it too much.”
MacLeod also noted that they are exploring the possibility of shooting in a higher resolution than HD.
"What we don't want is to be left behind. If your mum's now watching Squid Game on Netflix, you don't want those viewers to turn on Corrie or turn on Emmerdale and it looks like a completely different century - or genre, even," he said.
"We want to evolve our look so it retains some of the cinematic flavours that we saw in Corriedale recently."
There's some unfortunate news if you were a fan of the high-stakes crossover instalment, and were hoping for more. It was very much a one-off.
"My fear is a lot of the joy of the first iteration was that you’d never seen it before," he said. "I just don’t know that if you did it again, firstly, there wouldn’t be the same level of excitement because you’ve seen it before."
He added: "Sometimes one and done is great."
Despite that, the idea of vertical content for social media, effectively making mini-dramas for a younger audience, is being considered. EastEnders have already made a number of these 'soap bubbles', the most recent featuring Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier) and his great grandmother "Big" Mo Harris (Laila Morse).
Fear not though, Corrie fans. MacLeod has said he hopes to retain as much of the creator Tony Warren's original vision as possible in the 21st century.
"We always want to maintain as much of Tony Warren’s Corrie DNA as we can," he said. "Essentially, it’s strong women, feckless men, working class lives, northern humour, and there has to be a place for that in Coronation Street."
Corriedale can be streamed on ITVX.
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
