'Coronation Street' includes black family for 1st time in 60 years

London — The long-running British TV soap Coronation Street is welcoming its first black family in its 59-year history.

The soap opera is set to introduce the Baileys, a family with two sons. It will explore themes of racism and homophobia in sport, with a storyline featuring one of the sons, a soccer player, coming out as gay.

The show has charted the goings-on in the fictional northern England community of Weatherfield since 1960. It has cast individual black characters but not brought in a black family together before.

Producer Iain MacLeod said Saturday he didn't really know why it has taken so long, but it "did feel sort of overdue we did this and represented modern Manchester a bit more accurately."

MEET THE BAILEY FAMILY HERE:

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ICYMI: Have you met the Bailey family yet!? ??? ? Give our HIGHLIGHTS a tap to find out more!? ? #Corrie #NewFamily

A post shared by Coronation Street (@coronationstreet) on Apr 7, 2019 at 4:38am PDT

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CASTING NEWS: Say hello to the Bailey family - Ed, Aggie, Michael and James. A brand new family moving to Weatherfield in June this year! ? ? Check out the link in our STORIES! ? ? #Corrie #Exclusive #NewFamily #News

A post shared by Coronation Street (@coronationstreet) on Apr 5, 2019 at 4:30pm PDT

Coronation Street airs weekdays on ITV Choice (DStv 123) at 15:50.