Corrie 'not ruling out' live birthday ep

Coronation Street's new series producer Phil Collinson has revealed that the soap's team are still holding discussions over whether to air a live episode later this year.

The Weatherfield drama previously went live for its 40th anniversary in 2000 and cast members like Kym Marsh and Helen Flanagan have called for it to do the same again for the 50th birthday celebrations in December.

In an interview with DS, Collinson was asked whether the possibility has now been ruled out.

He replied: "Nope. We've not ruled it in either, though. Something like that takes an enormous amount of planning. We're still talking about it but I'm not particularly an advocate of doing it.

"We did it ten years ago and obviously EastEnders did it this year… if we were to do one, we'd need to find a way of making it radically different from any that have gone before."

In February, then-producer Kim Crowther confirmed that the 50th anniversary episodes will be based around a "big event". However, at the time, bosses had not yet made a firm decision on what the event would be.

Asked whether the matter has now been settled, Collinson replied: "Yes… It's still quite early and we're still planning what we're going to do. We'll be announcing more details soon but what I can say is that it'll be massive. It'll be Corrie like you've never seen it before."

> Click here to read our interview with Phil Collinson
> Character teasers from Corrie's Phil Collinson