Coronation Street spoilers follow.
The team who created the incredible Coronation Street stunts for Super Soap Week are sharing some secrets.
This week's episodes have been filled with unbelievable moments, including the Alahans' explosive car crash, drug boss Harvey Gaskell returning to town for his revenge and the sinkhole disaster.
Coronation Street's Head of Production Design, Rosie Mullins-Hoyle, and Art Director, Chris Kay, have taken fans behind the scenes of the six months of work they've done to make these episodes possible.
"It can feel overwhelming when you look at it as a whole but it was about dividing and conquering, breaking it down into areas that felt achievable," Rosie explained.
"Chris did a lot of background research, getting photos and drawings of sewer systems and then applying it practically to what would be realistic under Coronation Street for the sort of era it was built. We wanted it to feel as real as possible."
Chris concurred: "Secondly it was a case of where the hell are we going to film this, normally you'd go somewhere with a tank but we needed more than just that so we used Space Studios where we hired portable swimming pools and suspended the sets into the pools.
"We couldn't put any weight onto the floor, it was a whole new world of engineering for us and we didn't know if it would work until we tried it."
Throughout all this time, the duo and their teams were meticulous in covering every detail needed to pull over these stunts safely and so that they were COVID-compliant.
The sewer scenes featuring Johnny trying to rescue Jenny and Abi confronting Corey were perhaps the most complicated.
"The biggest consideration was the water," Chris remembered. "We got the pools but then we had to speak to Space Studios to say is it safe to hold that much water in a studio. There were five full tanker loads of water and it took over two days to fill all of the pools.
"It took us about two months to build the set from start to finish, before that it was all the design process."
The duo also discussed where they'd rank this week's stunts in comparison to iconic Coronation Street disasters, such as the tram crash, the Christmas shooting, and the factory roof collapse.
"It's right up at the top, I think the last time we did anything on this scale was the 50th anniversary with the tram crash," Rosie reckoned. "Then you throw into the mix a pandemic and the constraints that come with it, which when you watch it I don't think anyone would be aware of."
Chris weighed in: "There were four crews all filming at once with four different directors and we had to make the link between those units seamless, whereas before covid one director would have overseen all those episodes. Communication was so important and, hopefully, you'll see it all came together."
Rosie later noted as well: "The thing I love about these episodes is there's not just one thing going on, there's like six things all happening at once. It's so fast-paced, just reading the scripts I was completely drawn into it.
"From the rushes I've seen so far, I wasn't even looking at our backgrounds because the performances are so good.
"But I know that because those backgrounds are so good that's what's helped the cast get into character and make it look so real.
"We smashed up a prison van, blew up Dev's car, collapsed a sinkhole, then just at the end when you think things might be calming down there's a load more on the street, it's action-packed throughout. There are so many different elements, it's been a really full-on few months."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Coronation Street X Joanie - Gilroy Retro Newton And Ridley Sweatshirt
60 Years of Coronation Street by Abigail Kemp
![The Road to Coronation Street [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1568634215-51d4CaKIrCL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "The Road to Coronation Street [DVD]")
![The Stars of Coronation Street - 50 Years, 50 Classic Characters [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1568634418-51we2BNTW1yL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "The Stars of Coronation Street - 50 Years, 50 Classic Characters [DVD]")
ITV The Stars of Coronation Street - 50 Years, 50 Classic Characters [DVD]
Night News Editor
Justin has been with Digital Spy since 2010, and in that time, has covered countless major news events for DS from the US.
He has worked previously as both a reporter and sub editor for the brand, prior to taking on the position of Night News Editor in 2016.
Over more than a decade, he has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. As a US contributor to Digital Spy, Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo.
