It was a proper privilege to be invited to the reveal of the new Coronation Street set yesterday in Manchester. Armed with notebooks and camera, we set off from Sunderland at 6.30am to arrive by train at the new set just as the heavens opened and the rain chucked down. Typical Weatherfield weather!
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| Flaming Nora! It's Weatherfield weather! |
All of
our pictures are here from the day, and the official ITV time-lapse photos from the big build
are here. The press were out in force and you can read lots of good stuff from proper journalists at
The Guardian and
The Mirror and the
Manchester Evening News and of course, the official
Coronation Street website.
But how did it feel for
us, as bloggers and fans, to be allowed to see the new set and what did we think about it? Well, it felt as fantastic as you’d expect, and a real privilege. Thank you from the bottom of our Corrie hearts to ITV for inviting us in.
So, without any further ado and with some of our own pictures from yesterday’s visit, here we go with our write-up of yesterday’s big trip.
The first thing you notice when you see the new set is...
It looks exactly like the old one. I was worried it was going to look too clean, too tidy, too new. It doesn’t. It looks exactly as it should. And because of that, it positions you right at the heart of our favourite show - and that’s when I got the goosebumps. It’s a new set, with new cobbles, new windows, new doors, new paintwork, a new tree. But that newness brings with it the old magic. For bricks and mortar to create such a strength and depth of emotion and feeling that I got goosebumps and a lump in my throat was incredible, and it took me completely by surprise.
Things that are obviously different and new on this set...
It’s wider, so that two cars can pass on Coronation Street and on Viaduct Street. It’s longer and this means there’s an extra window upstairs in the Rovers Return. There’s an additional door called 16a next to Roy’s Rolls. Lamp posts have been pushed to the back of pavements and kerbs have been dropped (for ease of production).
There’s now a path behind the gardens of the houses to allow the cameras more access than they had before. Mawdsley Street is now visible as a 3D backdrop that can be lit.
Things that are the same as the old set…
The magic - and I can’t stress that enough. The new cobbles are as difficult to walk on as they are on the current set (and I had flat boots on).
Items of note…
The attention to detail is incredible to make the new set look as old as possible. It’s a new set but already looks suitably and rightly worn down by generations of Weatherfield worry.
The best bits of our day…
Being given permission to graffiti the garage door.
Watching raffle winning, Salford legend Mike Sweeney put up the new Coronation Street sign.
Listening to Clint Boon from The Inspiral Carpets’ DJ set in the press tent while swigging champagne, eating mince pies and wondering how much 54,000 cobbles cost to buy. Seeing Corrie creator Tony Warren giving interviews to the press.
Things we learned from the press pack...
The new bus stop has been specially designed by JC Decaux for Coronation Street with a higher and shorter roof to allow for boom mics and a hinged glass sidescreen for better camera angles. The tree outside of Audrey's salon is 25 years old and is called an Alnus Icana (if you squint a lot, it looks like the tree's called Almas Incarnation). Interior filming done in Underworld and Streetcars will now be done inside the cab office and factory on the new set rather than in the studio.
Our overall feelings about the new set...
More than anything it was relief that it’s not changed – too much. Will we notice the changes when we see it on TV? It’s hard to say because they’ll do such a fantastic job with the camera angles.
And finally, the new set is...
It's truly fantastic. It’s magical. It’s Coronation Street.
We've been caught on camera too -
have a look at this!
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