Murder, rape and violence have all been rife on the cobbles in Coronation Street in recent months.
Now bosses are reportedly keen to inject some more “comedy” back into the soap so they can better “cater for everyone”.
According to the Daily Star, the soap will still feature “high drama” but it will be “balanced out with the emotional family domestic drama” which is “Corrie at its best”.
The report that the show will return to it’s more family-friendly roots will music to the ears of many who have found recent storylines, such as Pat Phelan’s murder spree and young Bethany Platt’s sexual exploitation, too dark and upsetting.
A forthcoming hard-hitting storyline will also deal with the rape of David Platt.
Some, including former star Bruce Jones, aka Les Battersby, have accused the soap of alienating its loyal older audience with all the the recent horrific scenes.
Meanwhile chat show host Michael Parkinson recently told the Radio Times that the soap’s Phelan plot is “more suited to a horror channel than a family show.”
Hundreds agreed with him as Ofcom received 662 complaints from viewers after the scenes aired saying they were too “violent” and “harrowing” and should not have aired before the 9pm watershed.
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Actress Sue Cleaver, who has been involved in the storyline playing Eileen Grimshaw has also said she’s found the “dark” scenes harrowing to film.
She said: “It’s all getting very dark. It’s just too complicated at the moment. I’m so knackered. I’d love a break. I want to travel to China and Japan.”
As previously reported by ED! Coronation Street producer Kate Oates has also admitted the soap has become “divisive” under her watch.
She told the Radio Times she personally prefers “dark humour and gallows humour” because she has “never been a fan of slapstick” or “comedy strands”.
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But she also echoed the sentiments in the Daily Star report saying they “cater for everyone in the mix” in the future.
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