Tram crash to kill off major characters
By LUCY CONNOLLY
7th July 2010
thesun.co.uk[/align]
CORONATION Street is to kill off major characters in a horror tram crash. The viaduct seen in the opening credits of the soap will collapse sending a tram careering onto the cobbles. The massive December storyline will see the events of one single night played out over a week of episodes. New producer Phil Collinson warned that none of the cast will be told whether or not they will survive. Soap bosses said that alternative scripts will be used to keep details of the plotline 'under wraps'.
The massive stunt will see the bridge collapse sending the tram past The Kabin and Corner Shop. That leaves the axe hangin over favourites like shopkeeper Rita Sullivan, played by Barbara Knox. The crash will happen at night with The Rovers set to be turned into a shelter for victims.
Special effects experts from The Mill - an Oscar-winning visual effects company who worked on Gladiator and Doctor Who - have been brought in by producer Phil Collinson to ensure the crash is as sensational as possible. The production team have also been working closely with GMPTE who run the Metrolink trams in Manchester.
Former Dr Who producer Phil Collinson said: "As we celebrate the show reaching such an incredible milestone it feels fitting that we will be screening a dramatic event of this magnitude which will affect the lives of all the residents of Coronation Street. We'll be using all the wonders of modern television production to bring you a disaster that will rock the lives of everyone in Weatherfield. At the heart of the drama though will be ordinary people on an ordinary street battling adversity - the template for the programme created by Tony Warren 50 years ago." A spokesperson for GMTPE said: "We are very pleased to help Coronation Street and ITV with preparations for what will be a very dramatic storyline."
Producers say the drama will continue into 2011 as the residents come to terms with the tragedy and the dramatic twists and turns that follow. The image of the tram going across the viaduct at the Corner Shop end of the street has been an integral part of the opening titles of Coronation Street for the past 9 years.
Since Collinson took over at the Manchester-based drama earlier this year he has announced a number of cast departures. Those to be axed from the show include Julia Haworth and Steven Arnold (Claire and Ashley Peacock) and Vicky Binns (Molly Dobbs).
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I remember saying a couple of years back that the one thing Eastenders hadn't done was a train crash off the bridge at the end of Albert Square... I've been robbed!
