Coronation Street offer a tour of the ITV set (Image: Gemma Jones / Daily Express)
Television enthusiasts and super fans alike probably often wonder what goes on behind the scenes of the ITV soap. The fictional street has been home to many much-loved characters and families over the years including the Platts, the Barlows and the Duckworths.
With the soap being on our screens for more than 60 years, it has a huge history in British television. With multiple episodes a week, some fans just still can’t get enough and want to know every little thing about the popular programme.
Because of this and due to the popularity of their programmes, Granada Television launched their very own studios tour in 1988 – allowing fans to walk the hallowed cobbles themselves.
For the last 10 years, has been filmed at the show’s purpose-built production base in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester. Before that, the ITV show was filmed for 53 years at the former Granada Studios in the of Centre.
Since the set relocated, a dedicated visitor experience has been built on site at the current studios, and is open to guests 7 days a week, known as the Experience.
The Coronation Street Tour lets fans see the exterior sets (Image: Gemma Jones / Daily Express)
The set sits on a 7.7 acre site, made up of six studios where the interior scenes are filmed. The exterior set spans multiple ‘streets’, while there is also room on the huge plot for offices, dressing rooms, prop stores, costume and make up.
Of course the most iconic part of the soap are on show at the set too – the cobbles. The studio is home to 54,000 cobbestones, which are featured in all outside shots.
Weatherfield has its own council, hospital and police force, with custom signage throughout the fictional town. The businesses such as the iconic Kabin newsagents, Roy’s Rolls, the precinct full of shops and the Bistro can all be seen during the tour.
However, one thing that I learnt when taking the tour myself was that all of the exterior sets are just fronts. They are facades, with all interior filming being done inside top-secret indoor studios.
Lee, a tourguide at the Experience, was more than informative as he spilled a few of the show’s secrets. He told us that the false fronts used to be made from wood, but with the typical British weather they sadly rotted over the years.
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Fans can take pictures with some of the soap’s key locations such as the Bistro and the Kabin (Image: Gemma Jones / Daily Express)
Because of this, as the sets expanded the designers decided to rebuild the street using bricks and recreated the homes to be more realistic in size. He also explained that there is a lot of camera trickery going on when filming the ITV soap.
For example, could be seen walking into her home, with the front door shot being filmed outside. But in reality, when the actress enters the home she would then move to a different set completely – with those watching at home being none the wiser.
Other building fronts have multiple uses. He showed us Weatherfield General hospital, which the tour guide admitted sometimes doubled up for other uses. All that they do is change the signage and instantly they have a new location.
One thing that I learnt about the soap was that they are always more than prepared. Lee informed the group that every single prop ever used in the soap is kept and carefully stored away. That way, whenever there is a nod to the past, the prop can be resurfaced and used as needed.
He said that the soap loves to “don its hat” to the past, and it is a small feature that creates a nostalgic feeling for the viewers.
The past isn’t the only timeframe that thinks of when filming. The soap’s set has currently been transformed for – in September.
Despite the bright blue skies over Manchester, the fictional street was more than ready for the festive season, with Christmas trees and lights scattered around.
Lee explained that the soap films up to three months in advance. He comically added that if you ever wanted to propose to your superfan other half for Valentine’s Day then you’d better do it in December so that all of the right decor is in place.
All in all, if you want to reminise on ‘s past or learn new things about your favourite soap then definitely give it a go. There is even a souvenir shop where you can get your own themed goodies to keep the memories forever.