Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street‘s new producer Kate Brooks has shared further details of Gail Rodwell’s exit storyline.
Legendary character Gail will bow out from the ITV soap on Christmas Day following Helen Worth’s decision to leave the role.
In recognition of Gail’s incredible 50-year run on the show, she’ll take centre stage in the festive episodes alongside the rest of her family.
Viewers have recently seen Gail reunite with old flame Jesse Chadwick and they’re now engaged to get married. The stage seems set for a happy ending, but will everything really run so smoothly?
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Speaking to Digital Spy and other media at a recent press event, Brooks commented: “In a word, Christmas is very fun this year. It’s a very lively Christmas on the Street and lots of bombshells are dropped.
“Obviously, this is set against Gail’s wedding. Whether she goes through with that or not, I cannot say anything! But this is a story with the Platts at the heart of it.
“It’s really festive. Basically it’s a story about family and how secrets impact and implode on a family. There are a lot of betrayals. Lots of secrets are exposed during this episode and it will be like classic Corrie, with a bit of a twist.
“I think we’re all in need of a bit of escapism at the minute and we’ve had quite a dark but brilliant few months on the cobbles. The Christmas period for us is all about trying to tap into the family dynamics of the Platts, what makes people tick, and ultimately trying to make sure that we give glorious Gail the exit that she deserves.”
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Brooks continued: “Gail has been such an icon on the Street for such a long time – 50 years of television, which is amazing. We can’t tell a story on Christmas Day about her exit without it being steeped in nostalgia.
“There’s tons of nostalgia in this episode and hopefully people will be crying, they’ll be laughing, there’ll be gasps as people watching it go: ‘Oh my goodness, that’s just happened!’
“It’s old-school Corrie but just with a modern twist and I think people will really, really enjoy it. I want people to sit down on Christmas night with a full tummy, watch this episode and go: ‘You know what, that is exactly what I needed’. So that’s what Corrie is this Christmas.”
Brooks confirmed that the Christmas Day episode won’t be released early on ITVX at 7am, so fans will have to watch on the night to see exactly how Gail leaves.
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In a very busy time for the Platts, some of the secrets being kept in the family directly involve Gail, while others centre around other members of the clan.
Brooks added: “All of those secrets come to the forefront on Christmas Day. You basically have Gail, who’s going to leave the Street, but in the run-up to Christmas she has found out that some of her nearest and dearest have absolutely betrayed her.
“She doesn’t know who to believe. Even her dear old mum has kind of lied to her and she really struggles with that. She’s thinking: ‘I don’t know whether I want this. I don’t know whether I want to be with Jesse’.
“She contemplates and questions everything and every decision she’s ever made. Obviously Gail has had a really colourful past, so that’s a big part of that Christmas Day episode, but she is there and she is going to leave the Street and it’s going to be so wonderful and sad.
“I’m devastated that Gail’s leaving. It really devastates me because she’s so iconic. It was really important to make sure that her exit felt really fitting and in keeping with who she is as a character. But she is there and you’ve got all these different bombs going off around her and she’s oblivious to them all. It’s wonderful – it’s a great Christmas.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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