'Coronation Street' will get a new park, restaurant and shops as part of a set expansion.
The long-running soap's boss Kate Oates has confirmed that the new businesses will feature on the show from next spring after producers decided to turn the street into a whole town in order to keep up with the demand for more scenes following their decision last year to add an extra episode a week on Wednesdays from later this month.
Speaking to What's on TV magazine, Kate said: "There will be a couple of new businesses and we're going to have a little park area. So not everything will happen at the Red Rec. Sometimes we say in the story office that if Maxine hadn't died where would people go to think - because it is Maxine's bench where people have their pensive moments. There may also be another eaterie with a different kind of vibe. We have already got the cafe and bistro. It's nice to see a community feel.
"It does well for social dynamics if you've got people who were friends who are now colleagues or someone is someone's boss. It always adds a nice energy."
The first week of the new six episode double Wednesday transmission pattern will kick off in fittingly spectacular style with the double wedding of Aidan, Eva, Jenny and Johnny.
The action-packed week will have viewers gripped to the edge of their seats as Aidan Connor (Shayne Ward) confesses he's been having an affair with Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon) to his fiancee Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) on their wedding day.
But the drama ramps up a notch when the barmaid agrees to go ahead with the wedding and then the hairdresser gatecrashes the wedding in truly jaw dropping style.
The show's Executive Producer Kieran Roberts said: "Getting ready to deliver our extra weekly episode has taken our amazing team more than a year of hard work on everything from story-lining to studio building. Now we're thrilled to be launching our extra weekly episode on Wednesday 20 September, at the heart of a truly unmissable week of high drama, high emotion and heartwarming comedy."
