Along with the two major stories happening on Coronation Street this week, (Gail's trial and the Factory seige), Coronation Street debuts the new opening titles and is going to be shown in HD. A lot of work had to be done to the set to get it ready so that it would look more realistic. It was more than just a lick of paint as well. Things like changes in actors' makeup, clothing and jewelery had to pass muster. Sometimes jewelery draws the eye to an actress's neckline and subsequently down her cleavage which isn't what they want. (But why dress someone like Liz with plunging necklines in the first place if that's the case?)
A lot of things on the outdoor set also needed rebuilding. There's an interesting feature in the MEN that describes some of the changes that had to be made. I didn't realize a lot of the brickwork in the chimneys and walls (i.e. in the Ginnel) were plastic bricks and they had to be rebuilt in fibreglass so they wouldn't look fake.
Food in the cafe now has to be real as opposed to plastic until they can find a suitable substitute (assuming that when the actors are seen eating, that's the real thing!) I don't have an HD telly, so it probably won't look a great deal different to me but please jump in with comments if you do and want to let us know how it looks to you!