BREAKING NEWS:” ‘Crisis’ for Coronation Street as they struggle to find new boss: ‘No-one wants to do to it’
Coronation Street are said to be in a ‘crisis’ following the departure of producer Iain MacLeod after six years.
We reported in January that McLeod was moving to an executive producer position, overlooking both Corrie and fellow ITV soap Emmerdale following the departure of their own EP Jane Hudson.
During his time with the programme he has spearheaded award winning storylines such as the acid attack on Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott) and Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew) coercive controlling wife Yasmeen (Shelley King).
More recently, episodes have focussed on the disappearance of Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) and the impact the departure of Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) has had on son Simon (Alex Bain).
It’s understood that his wife, assistant producer Verity MacLeod, is replacing him in the interim.
A source told the MailOnline: ‘ITV have had conversations with a number of television executives who are currently working on other serial dramas or have in the past been at the helm of big shows,’
‘But no one wants to do it. One of the things putting people off is the fact that you’d be answering to Iain while having his wife as your deputy’ they continued.
‘It’s a “MacLeod sandwich” that no one wants to be in the middle of and it’s now become even more of a headache for ITV.’
It should be noted however that the appointment of a new producer is always a lengthy process and that in the soap’s first three decades the role was often more fluid and shared amongst several people who would take the helm of much shorter stints.
Legendary boss Bill Podmore was in the position across eight separate stints between 1976 and 1989.
Since 2013, a line of succession from Emmerdale has seen both Stuart Blackburn and Kate Oates move across the Pennines to take the reins, but with Kate Brooks and Laura Shaw remaining in their current posts, it looks unlikely on this occasion.
The news comes just days after William Roache, who has played street stalwart Ken Barlow since the first episode in 1960, addressed how the show has to change to appease new viewers.
‘The difficulty the producers have is you’ve got an older generation that’s getting older, there’s a younger generation that’s coming in and you’ve got to keep appealing to the younger generation and that isn’t easy’ he said to a fan in a personalised Cameo video.
‘If it had remained what it was it would have been a dinosaur and would have died by now. It has to be an organic process, a living thing of drawing in the youngsters.’
