CORONATION Street’s cast are being BARRED from the Rovers Return as the soap desperately battles against ITV’s cash crisis.
A perfect storm of soaring telly production costs and a fall in advertising has put the future of the UK’s most-watched soap at risk.
We told yesterday how cobbles beauty Charlotte Jordan has QUIT - becoming the fifth star to leave the show in a month.
Now The Sun can reveal even more chaos on the soap, which turns 65 this year - and more well-loved stars could be out or have their appearance slashed back.
A show source said: “Charlotte quitting is just the tip of the iceberg. Corrie is on its knees financially and bosses are being forced to make hard decisions.
“TV production costs have soared by more than 50 per cent, while the advertising market funding them has all-but collapsed.
“The cast are not happy but ITV have no choice but to slash costs.”
One tough decision, that has infuriated show stars, is a decision to slash the number of established characters in scenes taking place in the iconic Rovers Return pub.
Every time they appear they are due a per-episode fee, which can mount up for actors on lucrative deals.
Only a few years ago you would see all the community in the pub - even if they didn’t speak.
A show insider revealed: “The cast loved the days when lots of scenes were filmed in the Rovers because it didn’t matter if you had 10 scenes in an episode or just sat in the pub - you’d get paid the same
“Playing a barmaid or the landlord was a dream gig and would guarantee you got paid a fortune because it didn’t matter if you just served someone in the background - you got paid for the episode.
“The bar staff obviously had to be in all Rovers scenes so it was a great earner for them. But those days are now long gone - it’s just too expensive.”
As a result for a large part of 2023 the Rovers was shut - ironically due to financial problems faced by landlady Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews).
The plot covertly saved bosses a small fortune and was part of a secret cost-cutting drive.
Matthews, who made her cobbles debut as Jenny Bradley in 1986, recently went public on social media to call out the fact that she is barely being used on the show.
She told fans on an Instagram live broadcast how she was looking for other work in the hopes someone would employ her - a clear dig at Corrie bosses.
“You’re not going to be seeing Jenny for quite a long while,” she said. “So that’s that.”
She only appeared in 36 episodes last year.
Changes to filming schedules were implemented and restrictions on freelancers - anything and everything was done to save cash - even the unthinkable.
It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that the characters that people know and love just don’t appear as much anymore, with some disappearing for months on end.
Long-standing characters command a higher pay rate per episode - so increasingly bosses are turning to newer, cheaper cast members to pad out episodes and save money that way.
It has led to criticism that the show is less like the old Corrie and more like The Bill with all the focus on newer characters like police officers Kit Green and Lisa Swain.
Over the years the character of Gail Platt has been the centre of several major plots.
Here we take a look back over actress Helen Worth's biggest storylines:
Teenage daughter's pregnancy
One of Gail's most controversial storylines was in 1999.
It came when her 13-year-old daughter Sarah became pregnant.
Multiple marriages
Gail holds the record for the series' most married female character.
She has been wed a whopping six times, each one worse the last.
Married to a serial killer
One of Gail's multiple marriages saw her wed Richard Hillman, who turned out to be a serial killer.
At the climax of the storyline, 19 million fans tuned in to watch Hillman drive his wife and her family into a canal.
Scrapping on The Street
Gail has proved over the years she can’t resist a good scrap.
Her most memorable bust-up saw her attack Eileen Grimshaw on the cobbles in 2004 while in her dressing gown.
Jail bird
In 2010, Gail found herself wrongly banged up in jail.
She was wrongfully arrested for murdering her 4th husband Joe McIntyre.
While beloved characters like Gail Platt are seldom seen - with Gail barely featuring in her own exit storyline.
In fact The Sun can reveal that actress Helen Worth appeared in just 26 - of 304 - episodes in her final, 50th year on the cobbles, leaving on Christmas Day with a whimper rather than a bang.
Kevin Webster (Mike Le Vell) was only given 46 episodes while Ken Barlow (Bill Roache) appeared in just 48.
Audrey Roberts (Sue NIcholls) had just 29 outings and Fiz Dobbs (Jennie McAlpine) was on screen for only 34 episodes.
Meanwhile Rita Tanner, played by Barbara Knox, 91, has only been seen in FIFTEEN episodes last year despite being a main character since 1972.
There are no longer any bumper pay deals for cast - who are increasingly having to take on extra work outside the soaps just to pay their bills.
One source said: “It sounds ridiculous but some people, household names, watched for years by millions, are worrying about how they will pay their mortgages.
“Soaps used to be steady employment for actors but now there’s no guarantee of even being able to pay your bills.”
The actors are increasingly taking other work - some on social media and on paid appearances.
Some like Dame Maureen Lipman are taking on other acting work and stepping back from the cobbles full-time.
But fans fear that further removes the characters from the show and damages the community feel that has been an essential part of soaps since Corrie kicked it all off back in 1960.
And Corrie is not alone - ITV’s other soap, Emmerdale, is also feeling the pinch and have had to find other ways to fund the show.
They both have studio and set tours running almost constantly once filming is done for the week.
Corrie now has Sainsbury’s with Argos and characters can buy a new mobile at Weatherfield's own EE shop thanks to so- called “product placement” deals.
And there is a host of merchandise for sale both on set and online - but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the funding they need to compete.
ITV couldn’t even afford to put the British Soap Awards on last year after more than two decades - though it has been confirmed to return this summer.
In comparison EastEnders - funded by the licence fee as well as lucrative overseas sales - is in a healthy position.
The Queen Vic is packed, the market stuffed with extras, and the BBC soap still provides the community feel that all the soaps have long previously been able to pride themselves on.
A brand new £87 million set is pride of place in soapland - but given EastEnders commands barely more than half the viewing figures of its ITV rivals - it sticks in the craw for some.
One ITV source said: “Compared to Corrie and Emmerdale, EastEnders is lavishly funded. The BBC has already axed Doctors even though it was an important training ground for TV stars of the future and its ratings weren’t that far behind EastEnders.
“Is ITV expected to fund the training and development of newcomers to TV while its BBC rival tempts them away with bigger pay and reaps the rewards?”
Another source said: “Corrie’s 65 this year and just five years ago this situation would be unthinkable. For the first time in its history there are significant concerns about whether it will make it to 70 in its current format, and whether it will reach 75 at all.”
EastEnders is riding high at the moment with an explosive double-success at Christmas and New Year episodes - while racing towards its 40th anniversary.
A string of high profile returns including Ross Kemp as Grant Mitchell, Paul Bradley as Nigel Bates and Patsy Palmer as Bianca Jackson has kept interest high - tapping into the nostalgia of the show.
And this is all fantastic - a successful soap should be celebrated.
But for soap fans it is hard to cheer on a taxpayer-funded show thriving when its commercial rivals are struggling to survive.
Last year Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks was forced to cut its weekly episodes by 40 per cent, axe 20 cast members and make 135 employees redundant.
The Government’s Culture, Media and Sport committee has launched an inquiry into the future of domestic high-end TV production - but this mainly focuses on 9pm dramas and Netflix shows.
The industry has called for tax breaks to encourage homegrown production.
CORONATION Street bosses have got some tough decisions to make if they want to stem the tide amid ITV’s cash crisis.
The situation isn’t of their making but I don’t envy boss Kate Brooks and the challenge she faces - but if anyone can do it, it’s her.
The strength in Corrie has always been its writing and its characters - and it’s there where the soap can continue to lead the way - as long as it keeps hold of the right ones.
You’ve got powerhouse performers like Sally Carman and Georgia Taylor, and comedic geniuses like Sally Ann Matthews and Sue Devaney - give them the material to work with.
To survive this storm, Corrie needs the best characters to stay - and that includes Sue Devaney. It would be a catastrophic mistake to lose Debbie Webster from the cobbles.
She is classic Corrie and even if her dementia story is heartbreaking and moving and brilliant - the end result is that Debbie is gone forever. That’s not something the soap can afford.
It also has to be said that Craig Tinker should probably have gone several years ago and he's not alone.
Now is the time to really focus on what Corrie is and should be - and reshape it in the hopes that ITV solves its cash crisis.
But actually this is a bigger issue than just Corrie and ITV - and the Government need to step in.
There are proposals for tax cuts for so-called high-end British TV production - but they also need to lend the soaps a helping hand.
A future without soaps is not something that will benefit any of us - even if you don’t watch them.
The survival of soaps is not just important for fans but to the wider TV business.
Soapland often gives new writers, producers and actors their first breaks.
Stars such as Sarah Lancashire, Michelle Keegan, Katherine Kelly and Surrane Jones all started out on Corrie along with writers Russell T. Davies and Sally Wainwright, who wrote Doctor Who and Happy Valley, respectively.
So while there might be a crisis on the cobbles now - if something isn’t done to fix it rapidly - it could spread and take great chunks of British television with it.
