Right climate for Corrie’s new storyline says writer Glenda

A CORONATION Street expert and superfan has given her stamp of approval to the soap’s climate crisis storyline, which raised eyebrows for dealing with current affairs.

Bestselling author Glenda Young, who has written TV tie-in books for the show, founded the ‘Coronation Street Blog’ in 2007 and now heads a 16-strong team exploring every aspect of the world-famous soap opera.

She says the story is one ‘whose time had come’ and that it helped make the soap more true to life in terms of acknowledging a hugely pressing social issue.

“It’s an interesting experiment in terms of the narrative, launched to coincide with the recent COP26 summit,” she said. 

“In some ways, soaps tend to exist in a bubble and rarely deal with socially important issues but I think climate concerns have become such a big thing that, in a way, this storyline’s time had come.”

The unique climate story has involved all six of the UK’s leading soaps – Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, Eastenders, Casualty and Doctors – with the first-ever cross-over, where soap storylines have intertwined.

Glenda, who lives in Sunderland, said: “The Coronation Street storyline started with Gary and Maria Windass being enthralled by an Emmerdale video on a mobile phone, which was a bit surreal.

“But it felt like a significant moment in the history of soaps and I’m glad it was about a non-political issue and one that seems to be concerning everyone across the generations.

“By virtue of the time when soaps are aired – before the watershed – the most serious issues in society rarely get a look-in before 9pm.

“But I think the great thing about soaps is that they are able to deal with socially important issues in a subtle but important way that raises awareness.”

Emmerdale’s executive producer, Jane Hudson, who came up with the idea for the unique initiative, coordinated it with her fellow executives.

After months of planning between the soaps, the scriptwriters on each of the productions took on the task to feature the others’ storylines.

Jane, on behalf of ITV Studios, said: ”Never before have all five soaps and both continuing dramas come together and united in telling one story.

“And we certainly haven’t seen characters pop up in other shows before. 

“This is a real treat for our audience, whilst also allowing us to get across a very important message.”

Some have criticised the storyline for potentially being too ‘preachy’ but Glenda reckons Coronation Street writers will avoid that danger.

“The storyline involves Maria, who is one of the more comic characters in the Street, so that you know that while the scriptwriters will deal with the storyline sympathetically, there’ll be plenty of laughs along the way,” she said.

“The humour of Coronation Street is one of its greatest strengths and they’ll be able to treat the issue with the seriousness it deserves but will also be able to keep it light if they need to.

“It’s an interesting experiment but I think the signs are it will be a successful one.”