TOWIE, Coronation Street And The Friends Reunion: Here’s How Coronavirus Is Affecting Our TV Schedules

The coronavirus has meant many of the mass gatherings we were looking forward to this year, like Glastonbury and big sporting events, have been cancelled. But it’s now having an impact inside our homes, as TV schedules adapt to the ever-changing situation. Like Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid, some presenters in the UK are even self-isolating and presenting from home{ =nofollow}, meanwhile other programmes are happening without the usual claps and cheers from audiences. For the first time ever, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway happened without a live audience. And in preparation, the production team - including the pair - held meetings over Skype.

But, for some shows, they’ve had to stop filming completely due to safety fears. Last week, the BBC announced that EastEnders, Casualty, Doctors and Holby City would suspend filming, with the number of EastEnders episodes screened will being cut from four to two per week, as the channel tries to make the shows they have already filmed last. But it's not only soaps which have been affected, as other BBC dramas Peaky Blinders and Line of Duty have halted production. And BBC One show Celebrity Race Across The World, which was set to begin filming in April, has also delayed production.

The BBC has also put in place a contingency plan, with the broadcaster planning to bring back old favourites like Spooks and The Missing. Other highlights include exercise classes for the elderly, religious services on a Sunday, food advice for low-income families and education for different age groups.

ITV have announced today that filming on Coronation Street and Emmerdale has been halted, too. In a further shake up,Loose Women will show repeats rather than being live, and Lorraine Kelly will be in the Good Morning Britain studio instead of hosting her own show. However the broadcaster has said that it will try to keep This Morning and GMB - which has been extended to 10am - on air for as long as possible. And earlier this month, _The Only Way Is Esse_x axed filming of its Tenerife special. The cast had hoped to continue filming the rest of the series on Tuesday, but it's now been delayed.

But perhaps the saddest thing to be halted due to coronavirus is the Friends reunion the whole world was waiting for. According toThe Hollywood Reporter, the HBO Max unscripted special was due to be filmed next week at the Warner Bros Studio lot in Burbank, California. However, due to the pandemic, production has now reportedly been delayed until at least May. Sob. (Though it probably won't stop us watching it the whole ten seasons, for the tenth time, on Netflix.)

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