Coronation Street

The final quarter of 2022 is likely to go down as one of the most significant periods in the long and remarkable TV career of Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Managing Director of media and entertainment.

For starters, there’s been one of the most successful ever series of the entertainment flagship I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, not forgetting ITV1’s high-profile coverage of the Qatar World Cup, with plaudits for the irascible studio pundit Roy Keane and, crucially, the overdue launch of the broadcaster’s shiny and heavily marketed new streaming service, ITVX.

There will be 12 in total taking to the ice, skating live each week with professional partners in the hopes of rousing the judges and viewers alike.

Sally Dynevor MBE

Swapping the cobbles for the ice is Coronation Street mainstay Sally Dynevor, who has played Sally Webster in the long-running soap opera since 1986.

What does the job involve?

I choreograph the physical action in the story, whether it’s with swords, a punch up or just a slap, ensuring that the motivation for the action lies in the story and the characters. It’s not about being fancy or funky: it’s about making the action the vehicle for the story, not the other way around.

So you must work closely with the director?

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby will once again host the proceedings, with John Barrowman joining the judging panel of Christopher Dean, Jayne Torvill and Ashley Banjo.

Here are the confirmed contestants.

JANUARY

“Great fears of the Sicknesse here in the City, it being said that two or three houses are already shut up. God preserve us all.” The very first mention of the plague in The Diary of Samuel Pepys, on 30 April 1665. Fast forward 355 years and there’s this on 11 January on the ITV News site: “Health authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan are reporting the first death from a new type of coronavirus.”

The Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown

Monday 7th December

BBC One, 8:50pm

Dawn French is once again donning the clerical collar as The Vicar of Dibley returns with a 2020 lockdown twist.

The four panellists, who are all in the early stages of their careers, discussed their jobs at two of the country’s premier soaps.

Joseph Hart switches between the roles of second and third assistant director (AD) on Emmerdale. “ADs are logistical, organisational roles, but the third AD does have a creative outlet – it’s really good fun,” he explained. “A third AD is based on the floor… and does the background action. You tell the extras when and where to go.”

Both soaps will air six episodes weekly, with Emmerdale airing every weekday with an extra episode on Thursdays, while Corrie will return with double bills on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Unprecedented times demand creative thinking. An RTS webinar heard that shows as different as ITV’s Coronation Street, the BBC’s Top Gear and Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch have all learnt how to adapt their production routines to keep cast and crew safe in the age of Covid-19.

“The biggest issue when we started gearing up to re-start production about six weeks ago was fear,” said John Whiston, who as ITV’s managing director of continuing drama is responsible for running flagship soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

He said that production staff and talent needed reassuring after being isolated at home watching news coverage of the pandemic every night for weeks.