Coronation Street scrapping villainous Hope Stape stories for new direction

Hope Stape’s role on Coronation Street will change going forward as the show’s producers decided to switch up the stories that have centered on her being violent and manipulative for something a little lighter.

She won’t go down such a problematic path in the short, medium, or long term, executive producer Iain MacLeod remarked during an appearance on Loose Women earlier this week.

Actually, we’ve done some really twisted and terrible things with that character, and while those things will still be a part of her, for the next 12 months we’re going to do typical pre-teen things, we reasoned.

“We’re going to be forming a bond with her and Sam [Blakeman], and they’re going to try to navigate the seas of what could seem like a really innocent pre-teen romance.

“Well, okay, there will always be a Hope-centric twist because she may be little wired differently than other children her age. She might not receive assistance, but we’ll get to see a more sensible, grounded side of her.

While he had intended for Hope actress Isabella Flanagan to remain on the program for years and have her and Sam resemble a certain Byker Grove couple whose actors became popstars and TV presenters, he revealed that one of the reasons he made this decision was because he didn’t want to risk her burning out.

“I simply believe there’s a risk with any character that is so smart – and Isabella [Flangan] is such a good actress as well – that you burn them out by having them do too much big crazy stuff in a run,” the actor said. He continued, “If we’re lucky, God willing, we’ll have her for years and years.

“Hope and Sam, we’re using PJ and Duncan as our reference points. What if we could take these young children, who are about 10 years old, and nurture their friendship for ten years?

“Obviously, both of those actors are so amazing that they might very well be off to Hollywood by the time they are 14 years old, so that is what we hope to do. Nonetheless, we are attempting to PJ and Duncan them up if we can keep them.”