Third Coronation St episode postponed

Coronation Street has been postponed for a third night running in the aftermath of the Cumbrian shootings, ITV said today.

Tonight's show has been shelved until next week, following cancelled screenings on Wednesday and yesterday, due to the show's climactic plot which features the use of guns.

The scheduling headache will now see extra programmes slotted into next week's programming to get the soap back on track.

This week the Street's high-profile launch in HD was to revolve around an armed siege, orchestrated by escaped convict Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien), which leaves two characters dead.

But programme bosses thought it would have been inappropriate to screen the episodes in the wake of the killings.

Extra instalments of the soap will now be shown on Wednesday and Thursday.

And two half-hour episodes of Emmerdale due to be screened at 7pm and 8pm on Thursday will now be shown in an hour-long chunk at 7pm.

The timetable change means that Florida - Paradise Lost will be dropped on Wednesday, as will Thursday's Tonight: Britain's Broken Roads.

An ITV spokesman said: "We apologise to ITV1 viewers for the interruption to this week's Coronation Street scheduling but, against the backdrop of Wednesday's tragic events in Cumbria, it would have been inappropriate to broadcast these episodes this week."

On Tuesday night, the channel will broadcast an episode of Tonight focusing on the events in Cumbria.

* Coronation Street will now be shown at the following times next week (with original broadcast dates in brackets):
- Monday June 7: 7.30pm (postponed from 9pm on June 2), 8.30pm (postponed from 9pm on June 3);
- Wednesday June 9: 8pm (postponed from 9pm on June 4), 8.30pm (postponed from 7.30pm on June 4);
- Thursday June 10: 8pm (postponed from 8.30pm on June 4), 8.30pm (as planned);
- Friday June 11 - 7.30pm (as planned); 8.30pm (as planned).