Coronation Street confirms special Christmas episode for Peter and Carla
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street couple Peter and Carla Barlow will take centre stage in a special episode during the festive season.
The popular pair will star in "a huge two-hander" edition, which is due to air on Boxing Day.
Corrie fans know that the Barlows' marriage seems to be heading for heartbreak, as Chris Gascoyne – who plays Peter – is leaving the show.
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Peter's recent decision to mow down Stephen Reid on the road – which killed the villain – is expected to lead to his departure. However, a prison-based exit was seemingly ruled out last week when the police decided not to take any further action against him.
Speaking to Digital Spy and other media in a recent press call, Coronation Street's producer Iain MacLeod commented: "What we wanted to do with Peter was try to play the reality of a man who's got demons and a history of alcoholism and depressive episodes – and his reaction to what he did to Stephen.
"[It's] the battle to get straight in his own mind if what he did was justified and necessary, and how much of it was actually informed by his anger over what Stephen had done to Carla and was there an element of revenge to that?
"Obviously that puts him on the rack, emotionally speaking. We were very clear when we started this story that we didn't want him to fall off the wagon again, so you won't see that.
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"We thought it was important as a transplant recipient that Peter didn't drink again as we were worried about the messaging, but that does not mean that he won't profoundly struggle psychologically and that will start to impact on his level of happiness in Coronation Street.
"There are a few explosive Peter Barlow-style outbursts that start to bring to Carla's attention that he's really not okay. They reach this enormous fork in the road where they love each other, but perhaps their happiness is no longer reliant on each other. Maybe they start to wonder if they'd be happier in some other situation somewhere else, basically."
MacLeod continued: "It all builds up to this incredibly surprising Boxing Day episode. There's a huge two-hander between the two of them – more or less they are the only two cast in the episode.
"It's a greatest hits compilation for those of you that have been big fans of Peter and Carla since the start. It picks over every single detail of who they are, what they've been as a couple, what they want for their future and what happiness looks like for them.
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"It's building towards an exit for Peter, which is really brilliant and bittersweet and feels like Corrie at its very best. We often think that Peter and Carla are the Burton and Taylor of the cobbles and we want it to have this highly emotional, very nuanced and realistic ending, which I think is what the writers have achieved.
"It's filming right now and I cannot wait to see the result. If it's even half as good as the script – and experience tells me it will be even better because the actors and the directors elevate the material – it's going to be a really stunning episode for us because they are brilliant in-love characters and brilliant actors.
"It's the culmination of a decade-long love story, and I think the viewers are going to really love it."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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