‘Coronation Street’ will celebrate its 10,000th episode with an hour-long special.
The ITV soap – which aired for the very first time in December 1960 – is set to mark the impressive milestone with a bumper edition next month.
The special Friday episode is confirmed for February 7 at 7.30pm, and the announcement comes after boss Iain MacLeod previously suggested the team were working on a cobbles "classic".
He said: "It’s an astonishing landmark. And at the start of the year, we have our 10,000th episode that we are intending to mark with something ‘classic Corrie’ that has a comedic and character driven vibe."
The soap will also be recognising its 60th anniversary this year, and the executive producer promised "something more explosive" than the 10,000th episode celebration.
He added: "The expectation from the audience now with anniversaries isn’t necessarily death and destruction, but that a spectacle is attached to it.
"We have some fairly novel ideas that we are exploring at the moment, so that should be exciting."
The cast was previously spotted shooting scenes with an ambulance in Blackpool – which could air next month – while pictures emerged of Mary Taylor (Patti Clare), Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews), Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor), Sean Tully (Antony Cotton) and Rita Tanner (Barbara Knox).
For the 50th anniversary, the soap marked the occasion with a week of episodes centred on a tram crash, which culminated in a 60-minute live broadcast.
Although the programme’s 40th anniversary episode was also live, that edition did feature a pre-recorded segment as Prince Charles visited Manchester and met Audrey Roberts.
Coronation Street set for hour-long special for 10,000th episode
