Coronation Street stalwart Dame Maureen Lipman has issued a stark warning, suggesting the world's longest-running soap opera is being 'run into the ground' by its own broadcaster. The veteran actress, who portrays the iconic Evelyn Plummer, points to a perfect storm of collapsing viewing figures and a controversial new ITV schedule as the primary culprits.
The heart of the issue lies in a significant scheduling shake-up. ITV's decision to strip its flagship news programme, ITV News at Ten, down to a mere five minutes on Friday nights has had a catastrophic ripple effect. This move pushes the evening's programming later, resulting in Coronation Street episodes airing at a time when many loyal, traditional viewers have already gone to bed.
'You have an identity and that identity is being stripped away,' Dame Maureen lamented, highlighting the disconnect between the network's strategy and the show's core audience. The data supports her concerns; the soap has recently suffered the humiliation of recording its lowest-ever viewership numbers, a mere 800,000 tune-ins for a single episode.
Further fanning the flames of discontent is the scheduling clash with its stablemate, Emmerdale. Lipman criticised the 'daft' practice of pitting the two soaps against each other in simultaneous time slots, a move that inevitably fractures the audience and damages both brands.
The actress's critique extends beyond mere scheduling. She perceives a broader shift in the show's content, suggesting a move away from the warm, character-driven humour that defined its golden years towards a grittier, more issue-based format. For Lipman, the soul of the show is at stake, not just its time slot.
Despite the gloomy outlook, Dame Maureen's love for the programme and its crew remains undimmed. Her powerful comments serve as both a heartfelt plea and a serious alarm bell for ITV management to reassess its strategy before irrevocable damage is done to a British television institution.
