Sunday 31 January 2016

Coronation Street Chit-Chat news catch-up, January 2016

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Here we go with Coronation Street chit-chat, a catch-up of some of the shorter news stories that haven't made it into their own blog post. 

Current Corrie cast members
Richard Hawyley (Johnny Connor) talks about his late father's fight with Alzheimer's Disease. Read it here.
Brooke Vincent (Sophie Webster) has split up from her boyfriend after 4 years together. Read it here.
Daniel Brocklebank (Billy the vicar) posts selfie to twitter. Papers pick it up. Read it here.
Ted Robbins (Brendan) visits the Manchester Arena where he suffered his heart attack. Read it here.

Ex Corrie cast members
Sean Wilson (Martin Platt) finds love again after his divorce. Read it here.
John Thomson (Jessie Metcalfe) to reprise his role in a new series of Cold Feet. Read it here.
 



Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Sunday Comments January 31

Will Nick be able to talk Carla round? He thinks it's just nerves at first but asks that big question, is there someone else? Of course there isn't, not in the way he was afraid for. She hasn't fallen for Robert, after all, but a fling is a fling. He wants to make it all better for her but he can't and she's feeling the pressure of someone who's trying to fix her and the pressure of everything else. He managed to talk her around, for now. Her self esteem has never been at a high level and she's always her own worst enemy. Well, Nick was spouting phrase after phrase of doom so well all know how this is going to end, sooner or later.

Carla picks the wedding date, the end of May. She's determined to do this and determined they will make each other happy. The words "time", "ticking" and "bomb" come to mind. She even asks Kate to be a bridesmaid so at least two people are getting in the family mode.

Tracy's getting ready to open the new shop and thinks to get Robert to do the catering. Not sure why that would endear her to him but oh well. Training Todd to be a florist looks like it's going to be an uphill battle. Meanwhile, everyone is trying to guess what she's called it. Before I find out, I'm hazarding a guess that it's something to do with Deirdre. Wouldn't that be nice? And her plan to get Robert on site backfired, he sent Zeedan with the food. Amy to the rescue and Robert knew very well she wasn't going to give up until she brought him back to the shop.

True to her goal, Tracy named the salon Preston's Petals, hoping she'd get to change her name back to Preston sooner than later. Robert might have been annoyed but I also got the feeling he wasn't *that* annoyed and might even have been a bit flattered. He does have quite the ego after all and he later as much as admitted to Leanne he's still hung up on her. Tracy is determined, though Robert isn't having any of it, He'd rather buy into Nick's though why he would tell that to Tracy is beyond me. And where did he get the money since he had to buy out his ex-wife. He says he came into a small amount lately. That's new.

That leads us nicely into Robert vs Nick. Robert's ego reckons he has Nick's ego over a barrell. He's the best chef they've ever had and the reviews and punters are proving it. Nick thinks Robert's "only a chef" but any restaurant's success is ultimately down to how good the food is. But Nick doesn't want a business partner but another restaurant owner wants to make an offer under Nick's nose for his chef so it's Use me or Lose me. It might not have been a set up since word does get around after a good review but it doesn't matter. Leanne had good advice.

Robert certainly used it for leverage and Nick certainly was patronizing but Carla thought Robert was going to spill the beans about the fling. He nearly did but Leanne seemed to diffuse the situation and in the end Nick bent to Robert's request and Carla wasn't too happy about it. Tracy was, she tried to sneak in a hug across the bar but wasn't successful. And guess what, the whole thing was set up by Tracy, the competition being a friend of her mother's. And guess what, further, it looked like it worked, at least, the show ended with a snog.

The morning after, Robert and Tracy are all loved up. Ken is happy but is skeptical about how long it will last. As are we all! Later on, Tracy decides to surprise Robert. She finds out he's stayed behind in the empty powerless Bistro to rearrange deliveries and such so dons a sexy little number and lets herself in the back entrance at the kitchen when she finds the front door locked. Why is it locked? Because Carla has been trying to persuade Nick that a partnership with Robert is a Very Bad Idea. She discovers the power crisis has put off the solicitor's visit so there's still a chance. she has gone to the Bistro to talk Robert out of it but he has no intentions. He's happy back with Tracy and he's got a good thing going with the Bistro and Carla isn't going to talk him out of it.

They dodge around the subject a bit more, with Tracy listening from the back until the fateful phrase comes out. Robert says that what happened between them while he was split up from Tracy made him realize how much he loves Tracy. Carla throws it back at him, being more specific so Tracy can find out the truth, sleeping with me made you realize you loved Tracy??? That's a very big cat out of the bag and a very dangerous person that's discovered it.

Another old storyline rears it's ugly head. Jamie (him from the nude photos thing with Steph) is out on bail. Well, why wouldn't he be? I'm only surprised Luke was surprised and Andy's really taking it badly. He's going to take revenge and expose his recent history to his boss. Jamie might say he's sorry for everything but the fact remains, he did it. I guess bars don't require a criminal records check on staff though you'd think they would if said staff will be working with money. Luke and Andy got Jamie and his friend fired. Now we know what kind of man Jamie is and revenge is his middle name. Steph knows, too, upset but she's pulling herself together. Ominous music plays as we see Jamie and his friend in the shadows watching Andy and Luke. On the day of the powercut, Jamie and his mate have been observing the Bistro much of the day again and it sounds like they're planning to give Steph the shock of her life. They don't know that the Bistro has been closed and all the staff are gone.

Anna pretends her date is someone she met at the singles' night and boy, wasn't Sally patronizing about it!!! It's going to make watching her discover who Anna is really seeing even sweeter. Laughed at Sally feeding Tim and Faye a broccoli bake that neither of them liked and that she had to add salt to in order that it be palatable. Across the road, Kevin and Anna snog in a taxi but they are seen by Tim who tells Kevin he knows.

They make another date and try to get Faye to go to Tim and Sally's but Sally decides to bring Faye over to her flat to look for a DVD because she wants to get an eye on whoever the bloke is. Kevin and Sally nearly get caught! Sally has been really over the top patronizing about Anna dating so it will be very satisfying to see her reaction when she finds out it's Kevin! Anna's ready to go public, too so it won't be long!

Kevin and Anna are all loved up, too. They determine they'll go public later today after Craig finishes the new mural. They'll tell Sophie and Faye first and then Sally later. Tim wants to know when so he can be well clear of the explosion!

Craig finishes up the new mural for Maddie only for the council to show up to powerwash it all. How they found out, I don't know. Sally and Sophie and Maddie are determined to defend it but the bloke threatens to power wash them. I don't think he actually could but he might call in reinforcements. They're quite happy to call the police which they should have done on their own but no, that's not what they do. Sally goes running for Kevin's help and walks in on Anna and Kevin snogging in the garage office!!!! Her face is a treat!

Roy is avoiding calling his aunt about his mother, which confuses and upsets Cathy. He admitted to cathy the same thing Anna told her, about his mother's exit when Hayley got ill and I can't really blame him for being upset over that. But Cathy still thinks he needs to do the right thing and she held Roy's advice to Carla about Johnny up to a mirror. Busted. Turns out his mother broke her wrists and her sister is booked to go to Australia. Non refundable. Roy's first step is to arrange for carers but contrary to his usual methods he's stalling the departure until the very last minute.

Roy was only in Hastings with Sylvia for the weekend but apparently he was no sooner back than his Aunt called from Australia to tell him that his mother has fired the latest in a long string of carers and refuses to have anyone else in the house. His mother therefore has nobody to help her.

Tyrone and Fiz have been given very optimistic news but they still have to wait a couple of weeks for the definitive news. That's always the hard part. And now Fiz has a bad cold and can't be at the hospital. She has to stay home and conveniently, one of the people Tyrone owes money to comes banging on the door. The secret is out. And he had to admit it wasn't just the bank account in the red, it was a "payday loan", too. And I can't blame Fiz for being furious, can you? And the lies on top of it makes it worse. She's right, he sacrificed their future for one day even if he did it to make his daughter happy for that one day. It was irresponsible. Is this the end of Tyrone and Fiz? No, but it's a big dent in the relationship. She's going back to work to add that income back into the pot.

Dev wasn't fooled that the sock is Mary's but she's embarassed. Dev was then embarassed to be caught out talking to Erica about Mary's love life. Luke is still living with Tyrone, he must be staying in that playroom in the attic that they built. Can't think where else! Anwyay, he's going to live at home for a few days and let Tyrone and Fiz work things out because you knew they wouldn't break up for good. With Nessa out of the picture, Rita thinks Audrey should waste no time but Audrey thinks time is exactly what she needs. There's no hurry, after all, now there's no competition! Meanwhile, Alex has turned up. His mother is driving him mad and he's lost his job. Kevin's looking at quotes for the renovations and isn't automatically about to give it to Jason, though "shopping locally" should give him an edge. No, apparently it does not. He got a cheaper quote and is going with it in spite of Jason.

Ken tries twice to ask Audrey for drinks but twice she manages to put him off, first citing how busy they are at the salon now Nessa has left and then lying that she and Gail are going to see the new Mad Max movie which is pretty obvious to all and sundry that it's an excuse. Audrey later tells Gail she doesn't want to give the gossips any further fuel.

Things have begun on the building site today with workers in starting the excavations. One of the workers gets shouted at for skiving off, standing outside having a drink of water. In the middle of the lunch rush at the Bistro, the power goes out and it turns out someone at the building site next door cut a power cable. The same man tells the foreman the name of someone that can help quickly but the restaurant won't be open for at least a day or two. Nick isn't happy as you can imagine. Kevin goes to introduce himself to the unnamed worker only to have him unmasked as Pat Phelan, the man that caused so much trouble last year with Anna and Gary and Owen!!!! Wait until Anna claps eyes on him!




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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David Neilson and Chris Gascoyne as you've never seen them before

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

As we revaled here on the Coronation Street Blog some months ago, David Neilson is taking a break from Coronation Street and his role as Roy Cropper.  He's acting in a Beckett play with Chris Gascoyne, who played Peter Barlow.


There's a preview interview in today's Guardian with these wonderful picture of David and Chris dressed as the characters they'll play in the stage show, Samuel Beckett’s Endgame.

Davd plays Hamm, tyrannical master of the servant Clov, played by Chris.  Endgame, first performed in 1957, has been acclaimed as a tragicomic masterpiece, but is sometimes seen as a “difficult” and alienating play.  We'll be bringing you blogger reviews of the show from both our bloggers Emma and Stevie.



Chris Gascoyne tells the Guardian: “Hopefully me and David, having been in Coronation Street, will bring in an audience who have maybe never been to the theatre. They may run out screaming and want their money back. But we shouldn’t underestimate people. Beckett is for everybody. He isn’t middle-class, highbrow theatre. He’s just not.”

Gascoyne, 47, first encountered Beckett while he was a drama student. But it was the death of his elder brother, Ray, from cancer 21 years ago that deepened his understanding – and love – of the writer’s work. During his brother’s final illness, Gascoyne returned home to Nottingham to help his parents look after him. He remembers the long nights, the pain, and how his mother, when Ray died, cradled and rocked him back and forth; when the undertaker came, Gascoyne had to remove her arms from around his brother’s body.

“When you see things like that, you never forget them,” he says. “Endgame, afterwards, had a resonance of all that for me. I found it deeply funny, uplifting and, at the same time, tragic. I didn’t know this until recently, but Beckett wrote the play after he had looked after his own brother, who passed away from cancer.”

There’s a famous line from Endgame: “Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.” Does Gascoyne agree? “Yes. When my brother was ill, we never laughed so much in our lives than at the most dreadful points, because laughter was all we had.”

Given that the material is so personal to him, will he feel the emotion on stage intensely? “I already do. I feel very close to Ray when rehearsing. I can feel that little room we were in for a year. Death is very close in Endgame. It clings to all the characters. You can smell it.”

David Neilson discovered Beckett as a teenager. “I left school at 15 and worked as a gas fitter,” the 66-year-old recalls. “One day, I went into Loughborough library, saw Waiting for Godot on the shelf and stood there and read it all the way through. I didn’t even know how to pronounce Godot, but I was so interested.”

It was one of the texts Neilson discovered en route to a new life as an actor. He has taken three months’ off from Coronation Street to perform in Endgame. His last stage appearance was eight years ago as Lucky in Godot, a character who bears more than a passing resemblance to his TV alter ego . “Lucky is Roy,” Neilson says, laughing. “He’s got his bags, and the cares of the world on his shoulders.”

So how does he feel about those who snigger at the idea of soap actors taking on such a serious writer? “That’s just snobbery, isn’t it? It’s all about keeping you in your place. If I’d have listened to all that stuff, I’d still be a gasman.”

The suggestion that they appear alongside each other in Endgame came from Gascoyne. The idea, initially, was simply to read the play together as a way of recharging actorly batteries running low after years on the Street. For one backstage reading, during downtime between shooting Corrie scenes, they were joined by fellow cast members Stephanie Cole and Malcolm Hebden, raising the delicious fan-fiction prospect of an Endgame featuring not only Peter and Roy, but Sylvia and Norris, too.

Make no mistake, however: there is no dilletante-ism about this production, no whiff of soap. “We’re not f***ing about,” Gascoyne insists. “This is an important thing. It’s life!”

The play will run from 4 Feb 2016 to 20 Feb 2016 at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and then from Thu 25 Feb 2016 – Sat 12 Mar 2016 at HOME in Manchester.





Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Saturday 30 January 2016

Exclusive! VIP Blog Post - BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Chris Hawkins

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

BBC6 Music DJ,  presenter and Coronation Street fan Chris Hawkins has very kindly taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street.  Chris recently appeared on Celebrity MasterMind where his specialist subject was Coronation Street from 2005. 

In return we've donated £25 to Chris' charity of choice which is
the Christie Hospital in Manchester


And now, it's over to Chris...

"My parents watched three programmes religiously when I was a kid. My mum loved Dallas, my dad loved Magnum and we all watched Corrie. From the age of five, I was one of the 15 million viewers who regularly tuned into the soap. The big stars back then were Annie Walker, Len Fairclough, Hilda Ogden, Elsie Tanner and Ivy Tilsley. 
One of my earliest memories is watching Fred Gee’s Rover 2000 roll into the lake at Tatton Park. I was harrowed by Brian’s stabbing and sad when Phyllis Pearce left to join her beloved Percy at his retirement home. But the beauty of Corrie is that the characters have always been incredibly strong. From Mike Baldwin to David Platt and Norris Cole to Carla Connor, the show has always been a perfect blend of kitchen sink drama, humour and folk you feel like you know.
As a devotee of the show, it was a special day when my grandparents took me on the old Granada Studios tour. I remember excitedly getting an autograph from Alf Roberts (Brian Mosley) and there was this thing where you could be superimposed into the Rovers Return. It was green screen technology at it’s most basic but thirty years later I still have a VHS tape, in a blue Granada sleeve, of me asking Betty Turpin for a pint. 
In recent years I’ve become a massive fan of Steve McDonald. In fact, I’d sort of like to be him.

In advance of my Celebrity Mastermind appearance my lovely friend Samia Ghadie (who plays Corrie's Maria) helped me swot up. It was an obvious choice of subject for me. Corrie, Shrewsbury Town FC and music have been three constants in my life. Interest in Shrewsbury Town is (sadly) limited and lots of people have done music subjects, so I went for the TV programme I never miss. 
Mastermind is as nerve racking and tense to film as it is to watch. It’s just how you expect it to be. I was first up with my Corrie questions and managed to correctly answer ten out of eleven. Right on the buzzer, what did I fall down on? Despite being able to picture him, I couldn’t for the life of me remember that John Thomson played the part of General Custard. Would you have known that?"

Chris Hawkins is a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music



Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Friday 29 January 2016

Corrie red carpet pics from National Television Awards

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Coronation Street lost out to EastEnders again at the National Television Awards last week in the catergory of Best Serial Drama.

However, Shayne Ward won an award for the soap and bagged the Best Newcomer Award. Alison King lost out on Best Serial Drama Performance too, sadly.

Here's some of the red carpet pics as the Corrie cast walked into the awards ceremony.  It's always nice to see them done up in their best bib and tucker.

Alison King (Carla Connor)
Brooke Vincent (Sophie Webster)
Cath Tyldesley (Eva Price)
Cherylee Houston (Izzy Armstrong)
Antony Cotton and Kym Marsh (Sean Tully and Michelle Connor)

Faye Brookes and William Roache (Kate Connor and Ken Barlow)

Jennie McAlpine (Fiz Stape)
Les Dennis (Michael Rodwell)
Melanie Hill (Cathy Matthews)
Shayne Ward (Aidan Connor) with his award

Tina O'Brien (Sarah Platt)
Tisha Merry (Steph Britton)




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Conversation Street podcast 182

Gemma and Michael's podcast for the episodes in Canada that aired (up to last night's Canadian Corrie) can be heard here.

This was Robert Preston's week on Corrie. He gets his name above a door and gets a share of the Bistro after a bit of trumped up blackmail. Tracy opens her flower shop. Fiz finds out about the debts and she and Tyrone  are struggling. Kevin and Anna are officially an item. Roy waffles about his ailing mother this week until he's persuaded to go to her aid. There are listener questions and feedback as well.




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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How do you solve a problem like Leanne?

(This post was originally posted by Michael Adams on the Coronation Street Blog in December 2015.)

A few weeks ago you may have seen a post all about ideal Christmas presents for Corrie fans. From a Helen Worth advent calendar to a Barbara Knox mask, you really can get it all. Even a cardboard cut-out of your favourite cast member, notably Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby), Kate Ford (Tracy Barlow),  Helen Flanagan (Rosie Webster), Helen Worth (Gail Rodwell) and the dearly missed Sarah Harding (Joni Preston).

Browsing through the countless pages of Celebrity Cut-outs with my mum, we had countless laughs at the variety of cut-outs on offer, and if you can spare half an hour, it's certainly worth a look. Anyway, skipping forward about a week or two to Christmas day, I'm now the proud owner of this...

Ta-dah!
Though hilarious for the first few days, Leanne has now been stood in various places in my living room for nearly a week, and it's becoming worrying...what on earth is next? By the sounds of things, she'd be better off in my living room than in Weatherfield with Simon still around, but on the other hand, she's becoming a piece of dusty furniture. Oh dear.

Do you readers have any suggestions? Perhaps she could be like an all year Christmas tree, with seasonal decorations.

You can follow me on Twitter @MichaelAdamsUk, if you so wish to.




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Thursday 28 January 2016

Corrie Canada sneak previews Feb. 1 - 5

Without further ado here is a brief sneak preview of what you'll see on  next week's Corrie in Canada.



There's a break in at the Bistro and Carla's left fighting for her life (again). Tracy has found out a secret, and revenge is on the menu. Sally takes a stand and later decides to mount a campaign. An old foe of Anna's returns. Gail's heating plans leave David and Kylie cold and worried. Roy makes "Haste" again. The cafe gets new temporary staff. Sophie helps Rita get set up online.



For more detail and photos check out the Moosejaw Mercury at Corrie.net.





Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Wednesday 27 January 2016

National Television Awards: Shayne Ward wins Best Newcomer Award

Shayne Ward has won the award for Best Newcomer at last week's National Television Awards.

Shayne's portrayal of Aidan Connor won him the award at tonight's ceremony.  




The NTAs were shown live on TV, direct from the O2 London and presented by Dermot O'Leary.

Well done, Shayne Ward!




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Preston's Petals - what do you think of Tracy's florist shop name?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

The big reveal came last night on Coronation Street.  It was a moment I'd been waiting for, for a long time. No, it didn't involve a car crash. There were no explosions. No-one died. No celebrity joined in a cameo role.

It was the big reveal of the name of Tracy's flower shop, a subject that has had us on the end of our seats (or at least a blog post) for a few weeks.  I've loved the suspense.  If ITV can keep the name of Tracy's flower shop such a secret for such a long time, I do wish they'd do the same with the big spoilers too. 

So, what do you think of Tracy's florist shop being called Preston's Petals?

The shop is sponsored by Interflora, in a deal worth a rumoured £1m for 12 months.  Will Preston's Petals branch out and grow?

ITV have missed a trick, I feel, with Tracy's florist shop.  The frontage of her shop last night proudly declared the website address of www.prestonspetals.co.uk.  Click on it, go on. Nothing (yet?). Just an empty site with a domain name they must have paid for.  Not even a link or a auto-bounce to itv.com/corrie





Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Corrie sites to visit in Manchester now Corrie Tour is shut

Photo by @jonnygforce

It's a sad enough time of year as it is, but sadder still is the thought that fans can no longer visit the Corrie Tour.  There is a rumour that the Museum of Science and Industry is in talks with ITV to save some of the set pieces. Read more on that here. We'll bring you more on this as soon as we hear anything.

For fans planning a trip to Manchester who want to see some Corrie sights, where would you recommend they visit in addition to these suggestions below... ?

Visit the exterior of the Granada TV  Building on Quay Street. On the entrance, up the steps leading into the building are blue plaques dedicated to some of the Corrie classic actors.  Well worth a look.

Find the Coronation Street mural in the Northern Quarter. The Mural is outside Affleks Palace which is a great market at the corner of Short and Oldham Street, in the Northern Quarter of Manchester.   Here's a picture of it.

The Daisy Nook garden centre There's a lovely garden center outside Oldham and they have a little Corrie memorabilia display there. You might even run into a Corrie actor if you're lucky. Check their web site for directions. 

Corrie walking tours around Manchester are operated by the following:
New Manchester Walks

Visit Manchester 

Corrie tours around Manchester by taxi 

Also check Mark Llewllin's blog for any upcoming Corrie locations tours by coach. Mark also has a list of Corrie fan sites to visit. And, Mark runs the Daisy Nook garden centre which has a Coronation Street tribute in-store with Corrie official merchandise for sale. Read more on that here.

Places to visit in central Manchester: 

Annie's restaurant - owned by Jennie McAlpine (FIz) and partner Chirs Farr. Located just off St. Ann's Square on Old Bank Street, Annies is tucked away from the hustle and bustle and the interior reflects just that with its cosy feel.

Ascott Hotel (as stayed in by Ken in 2007): 6 Half Edge Lane, Eccles. M30 9GJ

Audrey's house (old filming location): 91A Victoria Road, Salford. M6 8EF.

Audrey's house (current filming location): Manor Road, Salford. (Not sure of the number, but it's opposite the junction with Dronfield Road)

Chimney Pot Park (used in old credits, and sometimes used for Red Rec): Langworthy Road, Salford

Heaton Park, Manchester (used for larger Red Rec scenes, including the boating lake where Roy and Hayley had their first kiss): Manchester M25 2SW

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich (used for many Corrie weddings and funerals)

Phelan's house: 5 Ringley Chase, Whitefield

The Old Grapes pub was once owned by Liz Dawn (Vera Duckworth) on Little Quay St.
Visit a pub called The Rovers Return in Salford, Manchester.

Further out from Manchester:
The Navigation Inn, once owned by Pat Phoenix (Elsie Tanner)
The Lantern Pike Inn, where Tony Warren wrote his first Corrie scripts
Doris Speed's house, commemorated by Manchester City Council with a plaque

If you can add to this list of places for Corrie fans to visit when they're in Manchester or the surrounding area, do please leave a comment below, with a weblink if you can, and I'll add details in.



Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Tuesday 26 January 2016

What should Tracy name her new florist shop in Corrie?

I'm thinking either Barlow's Blooms or Tracy's Triffids.  I'd like it to be called Deirdre's.. what do you think Tracy might name her new florist shop on Coroantion Street?

Whatever it's called, the Interflora brand will be on display as the flower delivery company has just signed a one year deal with ITV.

This means that whatever she calls it, Tracy's flower show is going to feature in Coronation Street for at least one year. It looks set to be a nice little earner for Tracy, then.

Interflora is thought to have paid nearly £1 million for the partnership, which will see the character Tracy Barlow run the new florist from 13 January.

ITV said no brand has had "such prominence" in the soap before and "it demonstrates how seamlessly an iconic brand like Interflora can naturally sit side by side with our content".





Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Monday 25 January 2016

Corrie Canada Weekly Awards for Jan. 18 - 22

Speculation Street: The gossip mill doesn't know the truth about Carla's parentage (yet) but that doesn't mean they can't make something up!

Obvious Woman award: Joanne keeps making excuses to come round to see Kevin.

Voice of Reason award: I love that Eva was able to talk to Aidan. She does know how it feels when a parent has lied to you all your life.

Fire Fail: That was an awful lot of fire for a dozen or so letters in a metal bin and it spread like everything was soaked in gasoline.

Contrivation Street: So a few hours through the morning, the Council had that whole mural completely cleaned off without anyone at all noticing the workers or a van that they likely had parked out on the street? Not even anyone that works in the pub and is probably in and out all the time with crates and deliveries and things? I think not.

Soft Spot award: Norris doesn't often show his softer side, but he does still have that soft spot for Maddie.

Lines of the week
Tracy to Ken "And you and Nessa are the new Posh and Becks?"
Liz to Sean who was earwigging "This is a private conversation" (then don't conduct it in the middle of a pub!)
Mary "I suppose you two are becoming a moralistic double act, now. A sort of disapproving Sonny and Cher"
Erica to Anna "You mean you have no gossip that I'm not supposed to know?"
Carla "I knew it would open a can of worms but not one this big"
Sophie about Joanne's manicure "Was they nails or was they claws?"
Joanne "I thought I'd found a decent man" Anna "Oh no, he is decent, he just can't say no to other women" (HA!)
Craig "Art will always divide people"
Dev about his new gym top "It's like muscle compression gear" Aadi "Don't you have to have muscles for that?" (out of the mouths of babes!)
Kate "I dropped the F-bomb (family). Better get used to it"
Nick about Robert "The last thing that man needs is a huge ego boost"
Michelle "I love Steve and I wanted to spend the rest of me life with the great lummox"




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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