Street Appeal Coro's Great Kiwi Catch Up

THERE ARE BIG CHANGES AHEAD BUT NOT ALL FANS ARE HAPPY.

- Donna Fleming

It’s a long-running soap opera set in a working-class neighbourhood 18,500km away. Many of the storylines are incredibly far-fetched – such as the drug dealer buried under the floor of Gail McIntyre’s bedroom – and some of the characters are so annoying, you can’t help wishing somebody would do them in and stick them under Gail’s floor too.

But there’s just something about Coronation Street that has endeared the show to Kiwi viewers since it started screening here in 1964, and we’re quick to speak out whenever TVNZ has dared to mess with its scheduling.

Back in the 1990s, TVNZ proposed cutting Coro but had to back down in the face of a backlash from viewers. Then, in 2011, there was an outcry when it was moved from 7.30pm to 5.30pm and replaced with MasterChef. Within weeks, it had returned to its normal time.

Now there are more major changes afoot. TVNZ has announced that because we’re 18 months behind episodes being screened in the UK, it is going to catch up by skipping ahead to show the programme here a week after it airs there.