Coronation Street actress Harriet Bibby is set to be the first of the ITV soap's cast to film in the newly unveiled Weatherfield Precinct. The new part of the set, which has been referenced by characters on the cobbles for decades, was revealed for the first time on Thursday (December 1) with Harriet among the stars seeing it for the first time.
The 24-year-old, who plays Summer Spellman in the ITV soap, was joined by on-screen boyfriend James Craven (Aaron Sanford), Elle Mulvaney (Amy Barlow), Channique Sterling Brown (Dee-Dee Bailey), Daniel Brocklebank (Billy Mayhew), Colson Smith (Craig Tinker), Jack P Shepherd (David Platt), Antony Cotton (Sean Tully), Sally Dynevor (Sally Metcalfe), Tanisha Gorey (Asha Alahan), and Jimmi Harkishin (Dev Alahan).
Viewers will soon get to see the Weatherfield residents as they head over to the two storey construction which features maisonettes, a staircase and balcony leading to the properties, a piazza and an array of accessible local shops - including a bakery, dessert shop, and a charity shop - as well as a children’s park and play area with swings and a roundabout.
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The first scene will be filmed next week, nine months on from when the building work started on the new exterior set, before appearing on screen for the first time on January 13. What we do know is that the first scenes set at the Weatherfield Precinct will feature Summer meeting a mystery person.
Harriet, who joined Corrie in 2020 when she took over the role of Summer from another actress, said of the new part of the set in an exclusive chat with the Manchester Evening News: "I love it. I think they've been so smart. I've not seen it until this morning but some people have snuck round and had a look. But looking at it, it looks lived in, weathered and it looks real. It looks like you've walked onto a real precinct."
Teasing her first scenes in the Precinct, the soap star added: "I'm excited... I'm not allowed to say who I am meeting but I'm meeting someone here." Harriet is currently in the throws of a big storyline with her character. Summer recently suffered a miscarriage but is keeping the loss a secret so that Esther and Mike, who had planned to buy the unborn child, will keep providing the money for Summer to use on Aaron's dad's rehab.
"It's whirlwind to be honest," Harriet told us of the storyline. "I don't think Summer is thinking straight and I think she's carrying a lot of trauma from the last year she's had. She hasn't really stopped for breath and reflect on the decisions she's making. Previous to all this she was very logical and calm but I think because the universe has been throwing things at her thick and fast, it's like she's not had time to process what's happening."
Back to the Precinct and Harriet's co-stars were also impressed by the new 'lived-in' part of the set. "I like it," Jack told us. "This looks grubby, the little park area. That's true to life," the actor, who has spent more than 20 years playing the song of Platt matriarch Gail, joked.
While Jack joked David is a bit too old to be in the park, he agreed that troubled son Max Turner may find himself getting into mischief. "There's quite a lot of drama and turmoil for the Platts," he also teased when revealing he has already filmed Christmas and New Year scenes for the ITV soap.
"They've done such a good job to make it look like it has been here for years," Elle said of the Precinct. "There's tonnes of scenes where we've said 'we're nipping to the Precinct' so to have it look like it's been here for years is so good from the art team." James added: "The attention to detail, even down to the brickwork. I don't know how they've managed to do it around us filming on the street filming 24/7."
Colson also shared his thoughts. "The thing that's really weird is whenever we have something new, it's got to look like it's been here forever so it's almost a shame that we build something brand new and put graffiti on it and make it so it's not perfect but it is amazing. We have built a Precinct that looks like it's been here forever.
He added: "It's going to be a great place to tell stories and it's a new place for characters to live which is always something we need. It gives us more space and for me, I think there's going to be plenty of crime round here which is good for Craig on the beat. He's going to be busy."
Sally echoed: "I think it's great. I think it's brilliant we've got another space to work on and we're expanding our footprint and they're investing in Coronation Street... it's really good." She added: "I can't wait to film down here. I'm trying to work out where Sally will go. I think she'll like the charity shop and she'll be in the bakery definitely buying her bread. But she's probably been buying her bread from down here for 36 years and we've just not seen it."
And Antony Cotton added: "It's amazing. We've done it very well and the people who work here are very clever. I find it fascinating, I'm interested in the history of things and they've designed it so it looks like characters like Elsie Tanner and Hilda Ogden came to the bakers. It's absolutely perfectly done so for me, it's a big hats off to the design team... some of them are my family!"
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