Behind the scenes at Helen Worth’s last Corrie recording

The Street won’t be the same without Gail…

As the dust settles on Helen Worth’s Christmas Day departure from Weatherfield, the social media team have revealed what happened when the camera’s stopped rolling on her final scene. Fittingly Helen’s last lines were delivered in a scene featuring all her family in the Platt’s living room but what the actress didn’t know was that hundreds of other cast and crew had gathered in secret to give her a rousing send off.

In the emotional video the first assistant director calls cut and announces that Helen has completed her final scene and called a wrap on 50 years of Gail. As the show films out of order Gail’s final on air scene driving away from the cobbles had been filmed some days earlier.

Helen’s final day at Coronation Street

As Helen notices the huge number of her colleagues gathered behind the cameras, she can be seen getting tearful as the applause and cheering rings out across the studio. Her voice breaking with emotion she says: “The reason I’ve been here all these years, and it’s a lot of years, It’s more than I can think about really, Is because of all of you people that have been here for, well, some of you for all of those fifty years and others for half of that time.

“But I couldn’t have done any of it without you. I really couldn’t. You are the most amazing team of people, and I really do say thank you. And as for this lot, who didn’t tell me (about this). Oh God, I love them so much. I don’t quite know what I’m going to do without you. But thank you for everything.”

Gail’s on screen mum Sue Nicholls (The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin, Crossroads) then calls for three cheers for Helen as the rest of the family fight back the tears. Jack P Shepherd, who plays her son David Platt said of the surprise: “It was important to us all that we were in her final scene and able to give her the send off she deserves. All the other crews filming that day stood down and there were hundreds of people there to say goodbye.”

Helen, as Gail, drove out of the street in scenes recorded prior to her final in-studio last scene recording