Maureen Lipman has insisted ‘Coronation Street’ bosses won’t be ditching the older characters.
The 74-year-old actress – who plays Evelyn Plummer on the cobbles – has opened up on suggestions soap bosses could reduce the use of older cast members once filming resumes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on the ‘Jewish News’ podcast, she said: "I had a word with the producer last week online and I said: ‘Don’t ditch the oldies because the oldies is what Corrie is all about.’
"They said: ‘Oh no we’ve no intention of doing that’, so I said: ‘Why don’t you just let me and Roy Cropper sit in a garden somewhere and have a conversation about Donald Trump’s hair?’
"We could film it in a garden in Hampstead, it could be anywhere. I think they’re planning to start again in June but I don’t know when they’ll bring the oldies back."
Maurreen also discussed how the writers, cast and crew will have to work around the ongoing health crisis, and what it will mean for viewers at home.
She added: "There will be less storylines, a concentration on a narrow panel of actors so you’ll see less people each week and I think there’ll be less episodes each week.
"One camera crew will work on one story and we’ll never meet. How we’ll do the make-up I don’t know – long garden shears, perhaps?!"
Maureen’s comments come after she revealed she is convinced she had a "mild form" of COVID-19 while ‘Corrie’ filming was still underway.
She said "I believe myself to have had a mild form of coronavirus masquerading as a fortnight’s persistent cough, with attached fatigue and sweats.
"If I did have it, then I flung my viral breath cheerfully around the ‘Coronation Street’ corner shop at anyone who popped in for a bag of crisps and a confrontation."