Uncovering Coronation Street Uncovered

With thanks to Coronation Street blog reader David Hatton for writing this great blog post. David was in the live studio audience on Monday night at Coronation Street Uncovered Live and writes about his experience for us here on the blog:

"It was a very cold December Evening in Manchester, the pavements still icy from the previous week’s snow; all transportation had been compromised, but I had made it to Quay Street, home to the ITV Studios for the evening's events. A live show called Coronation Street Uncovered for ITV2 was to take place, and I had been invited to be in the audience for this celebratory event.

I was a little early so I decided to detour to Great John Street, the entrance to Coronation Street; fans usually stand outside glimpsing into the tiny part of the Street which is viewable from the entrance, glancing onto a couple of houses which held residence to some of the nation’s most loved characters; but not tonight. The entrance gates were closed and locked, behind them the street was covered up so that there wasn’t a chance of a glimpse from anyone, especially that very evening when they would be completing a dress rehearsal for the show’s live special later in the week. With nothing to see, I meandered along to Quay Street and met some of the other ‘super-fans’, which were to be apart of the evening’s audience.

The super-fans entered the building and were welcomed into a recording studio where ITV programmes have their theme music recorded; but tonight this was to be the venue where the fans and the staff of ITV watched the tram crash which was to destroy the lives of the Coronation Street residents. Those who were due to die in the crash were kept very hidden; it was debated over whether the cast knew themselves, but whoever it was to leave Britain’s best loved soap, it was sure to be an explosive week of entertainment. ITV had put on a buffet and provided us with a variety of wines as we prepared to watch the program; the alcohol being a clever move from the producers as Coronation Street Uncovered was planned to spark a debate amongst the super-fans, and the alcohol allowed fans to let loose on camera later in the evening.

It was 7:30pm, time for the first of two episodes which fans across the country were waiting for, the big moment! It was countdown; Emmerdale had finished, the adverts had passed, and the Harvey’s sponsor advertisement had begun. The opening credits were about to begin, but then suddenly the unexpected occurred; the television shut off. The fans sat there in horror as the researcher for the show quickly fiddled around with the television trying to fix it; it went back to ITV but it declared there was no signal. There were around ten to fifteen ITV employees in the room, and not one of them knew how to work the television. Suddenly a girl ran through the room shouting that the show was showing in the canteen; there was hope at last! The fans ran to the canteen and watched the show; it was so interesting and entertaining to watch the show with the hardcore Corrie fans; everyone laughing, booing and cheering at various events across the show, it was as if we were at the theatre.

By the second episode, the television had been fixed, and we were back in the recording studio. The first explosion caused disappointment along the room, as everyone wondered if that was it; explained to us that it was the most expensive stunt on British television, the fans were wondering what the money had been spent on. But the producers had not let the fans down, as moments later, the tram came, and the scenes of the crash were comparable to those seen in Hollywood. There was shock, cheers and a mixture of emotions amongst the room, and the debates over who could be dead was already beginning. There wasn’t much time to debate however, as we had to prepare for the live Coronation Street Uncovered show.

We were welcomed in groups down to the studio that was to hold the evening’s events; I walked down with the ITV employees and as I walked into the studio, a very camp ‘hello’ welcomed me. Before me, was Antony Cotton (Sean), smiling and welcoming me to ITV; it was so unexpected that I stumbled for words and quietly said hello back, before he showed me where to sit, which was delightfully on the front row. On the way to my seat, I noticed Antony had some sheets of paper in his back pocket, which I was later to learn was the script for Thursday’s live episode which included some of the deaths of the characters; I couldn’t believe I had been so close to the secret scripts which the nation’s press couldn’t wait to get their hands on. Antony ran off, and then another famous face suddenly appeared and struck up a conversation with me, Stephen Mulhern, who was presenting the show.

After a couple of rehearsals, the show began, and if you saw the show, you know the rest.  Alan Hallsall who plays Tyrone was the first guest, and he caused surprise amongst the fans as he was so much slimmer and quite a good looking man in reality, which the lady to the right of me quickly joked that the camera adds a few pounds. He was very friendly and came over to talk to the audience, asking specifically what makes us super-fans.

At the end of the show, some of the stars of the soap stayed around and talked to us super-fans for a few minutes, before we were quickly ushered out of the room towards the exit of the ITV studios. On the way I was talking to one of the ITV employees who had worked here for sometime, and I was showed the room which was to hold Friday night’s 50^th birthday party for the show, which apparently was to be under lock-and-key, and only actors who had starred in the show in the last ten years were welcome to the party, which had caused some commotion for some of the big names which had appeared before the past decade.

I walked out the exit of ITV after a wonderful evening at the studios, meeting some fantastic people and celebrating the show’s birthday with some of the program’s biggest fans. As I left the building I passed some of the portraits of some of the most famous characters in the show, smiling to myself thinking about the last fifty years of the soap, and as I let the door of ITV close behind me, I wondered off into the dark Manchester evening, contemplating what the next fifty years will bring to Weatherfield and the characters of Coronation Street. "

Visit David's website here