Coronation Street boss teases Shona Platt's dramatic exit as "serious new storyline" kicks off at Christmas

"This Christmas, the central family is the Platts," Corrie producer Iain MacLeod tells RadioTimes.com. "The events of Christmas Day precipitate a really serious story for David and Shona.

• Here's when Coronation Street is on this Christmas

"I realised the other day that David has never really cheated on any of his partners before, and I will hasten to add he's not going to this time, but their relationship will be sorely tested for the whole of next year."

A crazed gunman going on the rampage with a loaded rifle in a festive fairground packed with families – it sounds like one of the riskiest, boldest Christmases in cobbles history, which MacLeod admits is precisely the point.

"When we were planning the Christmas episode we were conscious that there is a certain expectation of a 'Corrie Christmas', with a certain feel, warmth and humour to it.

"There is a pressure and expectation normally to make Corrie feel fluffy at this time of year – to some extent we conformed to that in the last few years but this time we wanted to try something huge, different and cataclysmic.

"We wanted to subvert people's expectations about what they might get from a Corrie Christmas. While there is bags of warmth and family nonsense, there is also that edge-of-the-seat final reel."

The identity of the unlucky local who gets killed off remains a closely-guarded secret, but could MacLeod be hinting that Shona is in the firing line and that the actress won't be returning after having a baby off screen? So far it's been assumed Goulding's absence would be temporary, but it sounds like Shona won't just be packed off to look after a sick relative for a few months…

Is tragedy about to befall the cursed clan, just weeks after David was released from prison and finally tied the knot with his other half?

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