Inside Soap explores Corrie’s new Victoria Street
As viewers explore an expanded Weatherfield for the first time this week, we take a detailed look at the new Victoria Street set – and recall the cobbles of years gone by...
If you’re an eagle-eyed, keen-eared Corrie fan, you’ll already have a sense that something mysterious is afoot in Weatherfield. Maybe you’ve spotted Gail hoofing about with giant bags of shopping from the Co-op. Or perhaps, when the coffee machine broke down recently in Roy’s Rolls, you’ll recall Chesney pulling a face. “Oh, I’ll go down the road,” he said, “and get a proper cappuccino.” But where might Chesney have meant? Surely Roy’s is the only café for miles around?
In fact, these were the first clues to a world beyond the Weatherfield we already know. It’s called Victoria Street, and you’ll find it just along past the kebab shop, the community centre and that bit where Tina Mcintyre was bludgeoned to death. This week, we’ll see our favourite characters step off the edge of the world we know, and walk the full length of Victoria Street for the first time.
“It’s new to viewers, but not new to the residents of Coronation Street,” explains series producer Kate Oates. “To them, it’s always been there. But these additional locations have so much dramatic potential for the programme – we’re going to have a lot of fun!”
Inside Soap enjoyed an access-all-areas tour of Victoria Street – and here we present a guide to some of the special little details you might miss…
Shops and businesses
As well as branches of the Co-op and Costa Coffee – which both offer bonus sponsorship income for ITV – there are other new venues where the residents of Weatherfield can hang out. Tattoos and body piercing are available from the punningly named Tattoo’ll Do Nicely (cash-only payment, mind you!). We wonder who’ll be the first Weather fielder to pledge eternal love to their partner with an ink tribute, just days before they embark on an affair? Next door to the tattoo parlour is an old-time snooker hall – where
we foresee many a fortune lost to an ill-advised gamble.
Curry no favours
Zeedan has found lovely premises for his new restaurant, Speed Daal. (They like a pun on the cobbles.) However, it’s not the menu that draws our eye, but the height of that vertiginous fire escape running up the outside. How long can it be till a cheating spouse is pushed to their untimely end from that top landing? Ker-splat!
Care in the community
The calm centre of Victoria Street is the community garden – planted and tended by locals, and we can only assume that it’s long been a project close to the hearts of the likes of Roy and Yasmeen. At the heart of the garden is a beautiful bench, dedicated to real-life Corrie fan Martyn Hett and all who lost their lives in the Manchester Arena attack of May 2017. The bench is decorated with a mosaic of worker bees – one of the symbols of the spirit of the city.
“We wanted to remember Martyn and everyone who was injured in the attack, and the people who are still coping with loss and life change,” shares Kate. “We wanted to show that we stand in solidarity with Manchester.”
While we’re sure the tribute bench will be treated with all due respect, we can’t help but notice a second bench in the community garden, tucked out of view under a red canopy. Inside Soap has officially christened this The Bench Of Dirty Doings, as it’s surely destined to be the scene of many a lustful lunge in the years to come.
On the right track
Welcome to Weatherfield North tram station, the new gateway to Manchester and the whole wide world – maybe even as far as Didsbury.
“It’s great for us to have a tram station,” enthuses Kate. “Because if a character leaves normally and we need to have a ‘Don’t go!’ scene, then we have to film at a train station or an airport. Now we can do it on our own doorstep!”
You’re nicked!
Given the sky-high crime rate on the cobbles, one new location that’s sure to see a lot of use is the police station – which turns out to be a lot nearer to Coronation Street than we’d ever thought. The timing is perfect, too, just as Craig is accepted for training as a full-time police officer. Will we soon be following the lives and loves of the plucky men and women of the Weatherfield constabulary? Let’s hope so, because we really miss The Bill!
Meanwhile, one cute little detail on the set suggests that there’s a sci-fi fan working somewhere in the Coronation Street design department.
The sign above the emergency phone is a copy of the one on the door of Doctor Who’s famous
Tardis!