“Old school Corrie with a modern twist” is how new producer Kate Brooks describes Corrie’s upcoming Christmas Day which will see fans bid goodbye to Gail Platt after five decades.
Having previously worked on Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, Kate’s now bringing her brains to Corrie in one of the most exciting, and dramatic Christmases yet for the soap. Earlier this year, Helen Worth confirmed her departure as Gail Platt after 50 tremendous years. Kate admits she’s “gutted” to see the icon go, and is making sure she gives her the exit she deserves on the big day.
“Christmas is all about tapping into the family dynamics of the Platts and trying to give the glorious Gail the exit she deserves. She’s been such an icon on the street for such a long time. 50 years of television is amazing.”
“We can’t tell a story on Christmas Day about her exit without a feeling and being steeped in nostalgia and there’s tonnes of nostalgia in this episode,” Kate teases on the big December 25th episode.
Gail is renowned for her failed relationships, but could she finally get her happy ever after? After the return of Jesse Chadwick (John Thomson) following his off-screen escapades in Thailand with Gail, she took matters into her own hand, and popped the question.
Although Kate can’t reveal whether the wedding goes ahead or not on Christmas Day, she teases: “It’s a story about family and how secrets can impact and implode on a family. So there’s a lot of betrayals, lots of secrets are exposed during this episode.
Gail has reunited with Jesse (
ITV)
“She’s found out that some of her nearest and dearest have absolutely betrayed her. She doesn’t know who to believe. She contemplates and questions everything and every decision she’s ever made.”
Although the big life change for the Platts is Gail’s exit, the younger generations are distracted by other ongoing events in their lives.
Gail’s daughter in law Shona Platt (Julia Goulding) hits the self-destruct button when David (Jack P. Shepherd) hides prison visitation notes from her son Clayton, who murdered David’s ex-wife Kylie.
Meanwhile, Gail’s granddaughter Bethany (Lucy Fallon) gets embroiled in a love triangle with Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) and Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan), which will carry on throughout December and into the beginning of January.
Leanne is set to ‘get revenge’ on Toyah and Nick
It’s not looking good for Gail’s son Nick either. After a turbulent 2024, Leanne Battersby’s (Jane Danson) year is about to get a whole lot worse as she once again discovers the secret relationship between her sister Toyah Habeeb (Georgia Taylor) and her former fiance, Nick Tilsley (Ben Price).
Earlier this year, Leanne was scammed by Rowan Cunliffe (Emrhys Cooper) into investing in his self-improvement organisation, the Institute.
If that wasn’t enough, it was then revealed her fiance Nick Tilsley was having an affair with her sister Toyah, leaving her devastated. The pair then secretly got back together and a classic Christmas will see things come to blows.
“I felt it was really important to kind of see a different side to Leanne. She’s had a really tough year,” says Kate.
“Leanne really wants to make them pay and she is intent on getting her own revenge,” says Kate. “It can be at the detriment of her own kind of sanity sometimes.” An avid Corrie fan since she was younger, Kate reminisces on when Leanne and Toyah joined the street in 1997, during the peak Spice Girls era.
“Little Sporty Spice and Scary Spice came barrelling onto the street. For me, just tapping into how they were and how they were as Battersbys was really important and that kind of all comes to the forefront on Christmas Day. It doesn’t end well for anyone.”
Elsewhere, two people who may finally get their happily ever after are Carla Connor (Alison King) and Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers). After months of will they/won’t they the couple’s relationship will finally come to the forefront during the Christmas period.
Fans of the soap have been rooting for the relationship for months, and they’ll finally get their wish. “Christmas will be when they really commit to each other, when they declare how they feel about each other, and when they stop circling each other and touching each other’s hair,” Kate laughs.
However, it wouldn’t be a soap romance if there weren’t hurdles involved. The two have their own personal problems. DS Swain is still grieving her late wife, who she lost in the line of duty, whilst Carla is navigating “unknown and uncharted waters,” during her first relationship with a woman.
“We want to keep them secure. We want to keep them grounded. We want to make that relationship really believable, and it is like what I’m seeing on screen is fantastic between the two of them,” Kate says although she tells viewers to expect lots of curveballs.
A jam packed Christmas on the cobbles is set to have fans on a roller coaster of emotions, Kate hopes. “Hopefully people will be crying, they’ll be laughing, there’ll be gasps as people kind of watch and go, oh my goodness, that’s just happened! I think people will really, really enjoy it.”
