Coronation Street has announced a number of ways it will be addressing safety on set as production prepares to start up again.
John Whiston, the managing director of continuing drama for ITV, told Lorraine Kelly that the soap will feature a number of new measures to keep cast and crew safe, while adhering to social distancing rules.
This includes an initial ban on child actors on set due to the extra chaperones they require, the wearing of face masks and poles to prod actors who accidentally breach the two metre rule.
Show bosses are also going to have to use their imagination when it comes to portraying dramatic scenes such as affairs or romantic moments.
ITV announced earlier this week that the soap is restarting production after more than two months off.
The programme was one of many TV shows that was forced to halt production back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite output being halved, fans were concerned that episodes might run out - but today John said that they were “determined” not to go off air.
“If we get back early next week, we will manage that,” he explained.
“We have been putting in all sorts of new protocols. We have got the two metre distance, which is going to be paramount.
“We have got people with poles who will go around prodding actors to make sure they stay two metres away from each other and cameramen.
“Our production manager has got a retractable pole that they were given as a present.
“We have got perspex shields on the cameras. We have had to make a lot of this up ourselves because there are no real guidelines for it.”
The show is of course well known for its affairs and drama, which all lead to close contact between cast members, but John explained that they are having to dig deep into their imaginations for ways to combat this.
He said: "I think it's more like going back to the 1920s in Hollywood when two people went into a bedroom then you would see waves crashing on the sea, or fireworks going off.
"I think we will have to use our imaginations a bit."
John went on to explain how time consuming scenes can be due to props not being allowed to move between actors.
“No one had done drama in a socially distanced way,” explained John.
“When somebody is handling a letter, the other cast member can’t handle the same letter, so they have to give it to them, put it down on the table, we have to stop filming, take that letter away, put another letter in its place for the other cast member to pick up.”
As revealed by Iain MacLeod last month, coronavirus will be referenced in the storylines - but only “lightly”.
John said: "We will be referencing it but we will be doing it relatively lightly. The Rovers will be a takeaway place, they will do takeaways.
"Our communal sets will work in that kind of way. You'll see the odd person wearing a mask out.
"If things loosen up, then obviously it is easier for us to build that into the scripts when filming than to build lockdown into our scripts.
"We will be reflecting the pandemic, the Underworld may even be making PPE."
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30pm on ITV.
