Watch Sally Whittaker on ITV's Loose Women

Sally Whittaker was interviewed by ITV's Loose Women about playing Sally Webster on Coronation Street. Did you know that Sally's been on the Street for 23 years and in that time she's had 9 affairs? The video is online right here.

Sally says she loves working on Corrie and has never thought about leaving in all of her working career on the Street. She talks about her husband Tim, who is a writer for rival soap Emmerdale and admits she takes advice from Helen Flanagan and Brooke Vincent who play her on-screen daughters, Rosie and Sophie.

See also: Sally Webster's new hairdo

Nikki Sanderson: "I miss Candice."

Coronation Street crimper Candice Stowe is a legend. While most Corrie characters leave the cobbles in tears in the back of a taxi or on the Weatherfield Wayfarer with their belongings in a Freshco carrier bag, Candice hit the big time and left to be the hairdresser to Status Quo. What a way to go.

Nikki Sanderson, who played Candice, gives a great interview here about life on the Street as Candice and says: "I think I'll always miss her. She was my first major role and a massive part of my life. She will forever be loved in my heart! I loved it. With Candice it was fantastic. Sometimes she was moody and nasty. Next moment she was crying her eyes out. Then she was doing these really funny, comedic scenes. It was up, down and all over the place."

When asked if she would ever return to the Street as Candice, she said: "That's a major, 'I don't know'. You don't know what will happen in the future. Candice was fantastic but you don't know whether she could ever come back or whether she would fit back in with a storyline because quite a lot of people I was working with aren't there any more."

Nikki Sanderson is currently starring in The Vagina Monologues at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham from on February 4-15. Sally Lindsay, who played Shelley Unwin, is on the bill with Nikki too.
For more information click here.

See also: Nikki Sanderson plays young Cilla Black

Anne Reid and Maureen Lipman star in Ladies of Letters

Two wonderful ex-Coronation Street actresses are starring in Ladies of Letters, which starts on ITV3 on Tuesday 3rd Feb at 10pm

Anne Reid, who played Ken Barlow's wife Valerie before she was electrocuted by a faulty hairdryer, and Maureen Lipman, who played Rovers Return relief manager Lilian "and never, ever Lily" Spencer star in the comedy as Irene and Vera.

Anyway, Ladies of Letters is based on the books and Radio 4 series written by Carole Hayman and Lou Wakefield. It's the first time that it's has been shown on TV. You can find out more at the ITV3 Ladies of Letters website which includes interviews with Maureen and Anne. The actresses have known each other since 1969 when Anne was on the Corrie cast as Valerie Barlow. Anne is pictured to the right as Valerie Barlow with the Barlow twins, Peter and Susan.

Anne's late husband was Peter Eckersley, head of drama at Granada TV and he shared an office with Maureen's husband, the late Jack Rosenthal. There's a brand new book about Jack Rosenthal which has just been relased and includes details of his work on Coronation Street. Find out more here.

Spooky similarities between Ken Barlow's girlfriends

Does anyone else think that Ken Barlow's new love Martha Fraser (played by Stephanie Beacham) on Coronation Street has a look of his ex, Denise Osbourne (played by Denise Black) about her?

Your chance to work on Coronation Street

Fancy working behind the scenes on our favourite soap? Well, there's a way and it's via the Media Guardian / Edinburgh International Festival Network for young people.

You can find out more on the website right here.

Listen to Coronation Street theme tune online

Fellow blogger Siblingshot has the Coronation Street classic theme tune as an mp3 to listen to and enjoy on his blog right here.

The Corrie theme tune might have lost out to EastEnders' more dramatic one, but it's a theme tune we all love, isn't it? It was written by Eric Spear in 1960 and described as: "a cornet piece, accompanied by a brass band plus clarinet and double bass."

According to Slingshot, a then unknown musician from Wimslow, David Browning, was contracted by Granada Television (ITV) to supply trumpet for the original theme - and its re-recording in 1964 - for the princely sum of £36. Of course, had he opted instead for royalty fees he would still be coining it in today. Under two score no doubt seemed like a relatively huge sum half a century ago.

Is Carla Connor the new Elsie Tanner?

Strong, dark, mouthy, pushy, full of herself and nobody's fool, ready to put the world to rights with another lashing of lipstick.

Has Coronation Street finally found the new Elsie Tanner in Carla Connor? I'm starting to think that perhaps they might have.

Missed Corrie this week?
Catch up with the Coronation Street Weekly Updates.

Guess who's not happy about Steve marrying Becky...

Liz McDonald is going to be livid (I love that word) when she finds out that Steve is going to marry Becky.

The Daily Star says that Liz pledges to stop Becky walking down the aisle with her son. And Michelle sticks her oar in when she tells barmcake Becky that the engagement ring Steve has given her is actually hers. Well, the path of true love never did run smooth, especially for Steve McDonald and especially on Coronation Street.

John Stape's baby

Just when Coronation Street had more than enough of its cast on maternity leave or due to go off to have babies, the Manchester Evening News reports that the actor who played John Stape is going to be a dad too.

Graeme Hawley and his actress wife Elianne have announced they're expecting their first child this summer. This makes Graeme the ninth Coronation Street star to announce baby news over the past year, part of an unprecedented baby boom on the cobbles.

What are they putting in the beer in the Rovers Return? Blanche Hunt had better be careful.

Which is your favourite fight on Coronation Street?

There's still no sign of that slap that Sally Webster gave Natalie Horrocks but hey, can't win 'em all.

As well as there being a YouTube of Corrie slaps from the Street, The Sun's now got pictures of eight of the best fights from the cobbles. Well worth a click of your mouse to take a peek at some of Coronation Street's finest fights.

Steve McDonald gurn of the week - January 29

Yes, it's that time of the week, time for another gurn from Coronation Street's sensational Steve McDonald. If you've captured a good gurn and want to share it via the blog, do email it in.

There's loads more Steve McDonald gurns right here.

Did you know that Steve is getting married again? Click here for more.

Next week's Corrie in 50 words or less - February 2 to 6

Without any piffle, here's the storyline for the week ahead on Coronation Street, all wrapped up nicely in 50 words or less.

Week of Monday 2 February to Friday 6 February

Tony confesses to Carla then tries to kill her, Janice wants to train as a nurse, Sophie’s boyfriend arrives, Ken tells Ted about Martha, darts champ Phil Taylor arrives, Windasses and Platts come to blows, Rita and Colin get closer, Steve and Lloyd make up and Vicki leaves for Poland.

The full weekly preview, with pictures, is right here on Corrie.net

Missed last week's Corrie?
Catch up here with the Coronation Street Weekly Updates

Coronation Street's pregnant pause

There's a wonderful interview with Corrie's publicity manager, Alison Sinclair, in Inside Soap magazine in which she explains how Coronation Street manages when so many of their cast are off on maternity leave. Before we get into the interview, let's just recap on who's off, who's coming back and who's pretending to be pregnant.

Off on maternity leave but coming back soon is Julia Haworth (Claire Peacock). Alison King (Carla Connor) has just gone off on maternity leave and will be back after the baby is born. Did you know that Alison's fella Adam Huckett is a Corrie sound technician?

Due to go off on maternity leave soon are Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby), Wanda Opalinksa (Wiki Dankowska) and Kym Marsh (Michelle Connor).

On paternity leave soon will be Jack P Shepherd (David Platt) whose girlfriend Lauren Shippey is expecting their first child in February.

Those who have recently had babies include the wife of Andrew Whyment (Kirk Sutherland) and Tina O'Brien (Sarah Platt).

And pretending to be pregnant is Samia Smith playing a heavily pregnant, demented Maria Connor with a cushion up her shirt.

Anyway, Corrie's publicist admits that's it been tricky covering up so many baby bumps on screen. "We use every trick in the book, from looser clothing to lots of scenes with the character sitting down witha cushion over their tummy or behind a desk. Sally Whittaker (Sally Webster) spend almost the entirety of one of her pregnancies behind the Kabin counter. And when Jane (Leanne Battersby) was expecting her first baby, we had a special box made for her to carry about in Underworld so that her bump would be inside the box and hidden with lingerie!"

Stephanie Beacham pens autobiography

She's made an impact on Ken already as the radio listening, book loving Martha Fraser who cooks up a mean leek and potato soup to woo her prey. And now Hollywood actres Stephanie Beacham is writing her autobiography, which no doubt will include some behind-the-scenes gossip from her short stint on Coronation Street.

Stephanie's career spans over 40 years and includes roles in Dynasty, The Colbys, and um, Strictly Come Dancing.

Want to know which ex-Corrie actor is also releasing his autobiography this year? Click here.

Michelle Keegan likes a bit of romance

Michelle Keegan, who plays Coronation Street's Tina McIntyre, tells Inside Soap that her boyfriend (model and footballer Bradley Howard) took her away for a romantic break to Las Vegas. Michelle talked about taking some time off around St Valentine's day and said: "The guys I've been out with in the past haven't been into making a fuss about it, but I like a bit of romance."

She also said that she started feeling a bit broody when she found out that her onscreen boyfriend David Platt, played by Jack P Shepherd, was going to become a dad.

"I'm excited for Jack and his girlfriend, Lauren. I got a bit clucky because people kept bringing their babies into work. But then I got a dog called Phoebe and now I'm against having kids. If you want a baby, my advice is: Get a dog."

Steve McDonald to marry Becky Granger

Inside Soap has always been, and remains, my favourite soaps mag. I bought it today after a too-long hiatus and a huge Coronation Street spoiler fell out of its pages and onto this blog.

It looks like Steve McDonald is going to make an honest woman of Becky Granger when he asks her to marry him. A Corrie source tells the mag: "Steve and Becky's wedding day will be a wedding to watch. Coronation Street fans have taken Becky to their hearts and it'd be wonderful to see her come out on top for once. However, there'll be plenty of hurdles for her to overcome before she gets that ring on her finger." Not least the fact that she gets two proposals - one from Steve and one from Jason Grimshaw.

See also: Steve McDonald gurns of the week
Katherine Kelly on playing Corrie's Becky

Celebrating Corrie's 7,000th episode

Wednesday 28 January 2009 will be Coronation Street's 7,000th episode.

Ian Wylie at the Manchester Evening News writes a wonderful celebration of all things Corrie as the soap gears up for the special episode. You can read it all here.

Antony Cotton launches Best Bar None 2009

Antony Cotton, who plays knicker-stitcher Sean Tully in Coronation Street, has helped launch Manchester's sixth Best Bar None Awards. The aim of the awards is to recognise licensed premises (that's a pub, to thee and me) that provide a safe and enjoyable environment through good management, discouraging binge drinking and preventing alcohol-related crime. I wonder if the Rovers Return qualifies?

Anyone wanting to find out more about entering the awards should contact GMP’s city safe team on 0161 856 3017.

Two fat ladies... play Corrie bingo

Two fat ladies, Eileen and Blanche. Top of the shop, The Kabin. Maggie's Den, number er... well, you get the idea.

Yes, it's Coronation Street bingo and you can play it online at itv.com. As it costs money to join in (something I'm never in favour of) I'll say no more about it and if you really want to, it's eyes down over here to learn more about it.

Roy and Hayley Cropper voted best Corrie wedding

Roy and Hayley Cropper, don't you just love them? Well, I do. And loads of other Coronation Street fans do too as the Croppers' onscreen wedding has been voted the best in the soap's history according to a new poll, says The Sun.

Sixty-three per cent of people cast Hayley and Roy's wedding service as their favourite Corrie wedding in the poll conducted by Printworks. Ken and Deirdre's wedding gaining 22 per cent of the vote (althought it doesn't say which of Ken and Deirdre's weddings...) and Raquel and Curly's nuptials came third with 10 per cent.

But wouldn't it be great, now that the law's changed, for Roy and Hayley to marry again and this time, legally?

Underworld's new sign of the times

Has anyone else spotted there's a new Underworld sign on the factory wall?It's been there for a couple of weeks now, a lovely pink and white candy stripe thing. Watch out for it, once you know it's there you can't fail to miss it on the Coronation Street factory wall.

Missed Corrie this week?
Catch up with the Coronation Street Weekly Updates.

Coronation Street Weekly Update, January 26 2009

Sign up to receive the Coronation Street Weekly Updates by email, click here.

Greetings fellow Corrie fans and fanettes and welcome to another of me weekly wotsits full of comments from the cobbles. Settle back with a cuppa and a nice slice of cake and without any further ado, here we go with this week’s Coronation Street update.

Maria’s in her jim-jams and out of her mind when she heads to the Rovers to accuse Tony Gordon of killing both Liam and Jed. The thing is, as we all know, Maria’s not mad, she absolutely right except that Jed’s not dead but she doesn’t know that. I do, ‘cos I’ve seen pictures of him in the papers. Anyway, Maria’s not right in t’head and after the cops don’t believe her story about Tony killing Jed (maybe they’ve seen pictures in the papers too) Maria turns up the volume on the CD in the car – it’s The Stone Roses singing ‘I am The Resurrection’ – and runs down Tony Gordon before crashing into Underworld. She’s fine, the baby’s fine, Tony’s fine, but the cops come sniffing again and warn Maria that she could face the charge of attempted murder if she’s not careful.

Corrie turned glam this week when Hollywood actress Stephanie Beacham swapped the Colbys for the cobbles. She turned up as Martha who lives on a barge and is set to get together with Ken who floats her boat. Ken meets her when he takes a walk along the canal and Martha saves Eccles who falls into the icy canal after chasing a duck. Ken’s flirt alert picks up Martha on his randy radar and warms to her wooing with some homemade leek and potato soup. When she asks about his family and he tells her his son’s mother is dead, she assumes he’s a widower and Ken does nowt to put her right. Martha’s a book reading, radio listening, Shiraz drinking, barge floating lady. And Deirdre as we all know, is not. Never fear, Deirdre's got just the thing to warm Ken up when he comes in from his cold canal walk, it's leek and potato soup but this time, from a tin. Would've guessed Corrie would see soup as metaphor for marital strife? Life in the Barlow house is going to be rocky for a while. Again.

Over at the builder’s yard, fingers point at Joe for nicking the copper pipes as everyone knows he’s skint with no cash after Joe's Klever Kitchens Koincided with the Kredit Krunch. David knows it were the Windass clan who nicked the pipes and reports them to the police, for all the good it’ll do. Eddie Windass then pretends he’s been mugged and all the lads' darts subs have been nicked from his pocket. What he’s really done is knocked himself in the face with the living room door and pocketed the cash. He’s a wrong ‘un, that Windass.

Chesney decides to cheer up Fiz and fixes her up with Graeme. Bless him, he writes a poem to her, an ode to her flaming hair. It goes: “Your flaming hair, your flaming hair…” Well, you get the idea but it doesn’t do the trick as Fiz is still mooning over John who’s in jail. Graeme admits to Fiz that his first love was Aqua Marina from Stingray. Me too, and I’m a girl.

There’s chaos in the Webster house when both Rosie and Sophie manage to upset Kev and Sally this week. First off, Kev chokes on his corn flakes when he opens the paper at breakfast to see a double page spread of Rosie with her cleavage centre-fold. She’s sold her soul to the papers after being locked up by John Stape. And as if one little trollop wasn’t enough, Sophie then admits that she’s pregnant. Only she’s not, it’s all a cry for help from a desperate Sophie who’s starved of affection when her parents pass her over for her older sister. Kev tells Sophie she can speak to him about boys or about anything she likes, as he plays with an Airfix Model at the dining room table. I only hope he’s thought on to put a cloth underneath otherwise Sally will give him what for.

Norris puzzles over the issues of the day when he tries to come up with a slogan to sell Oldham. A lightbulb pings over his head, he’s got it, so he has. “Oldham!” he cries “Home of the tubular bandage!” I think he could be onto something there.

And over in the Rovers, Eileen discovers that Julie Carp’s mum Paula is one of her old school mates but for some strange reason Julie’s being cagey about what her mum’s up to or indeed, where she is.

And that’s just about that for this week.

Coronation Street writers this week were David Bowker, Julie Jones, Mark Burt and Chris Fewtrell.

Glenda
--
Blogging away merrily at Flaming Nora
Coronation Street Weekly Updates website

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Suranne Jones stars in new gay play

Suranne Jones, who played Coronation Street's Karen McDonald, is starring on stage in a gay play in Manchester called The Newspaper Boy.

Set amidst Manchester’s vibrant gay scene in the early 90s, The Newspaper Boy deals with the effects of fame at a young age, and explores issues surrounding the age of consent for gay men. The play runs at the Deaf Institute on Grosvenor Street, Manchester from Feb 8-10. Catch it while you can.

For more on the representation of gay men in soaps, have a look here.

Tony Gordon beds Maria Connor

This might be spoiler of the week from The Sun but as I'm no big fan of Maria Ozzy Connor, I wasn't gripped by the news that Tony Gordon's going to bed the Coronation Street crimper. I've never been a huge fan of Maria and this storyline smacks, to this Corrie fan, of the powers that be not really knowing in which direction to send Maria or indeed what to do to her character to develop it more.

Anyway, with my words updated from an old Corrieblog post written moons ago, here we go with How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

She curls a perm and washes hair

Her frocks are all cut low

She waltzs on her way to work

And wears jim-jams at the bar

And underneath the dryer’s
Blanche with curlers in her hair
I’ve even heard her singing in the Kabin
How do you get an appointment with Maria?
She washes hair and perms it, pins it down
Where do you find a crimper like Maria?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
Tony's got something that he’d like to show her
When Carla finds out she might not understand
But how does her make-up stay
On Maria’s face all day?
When she’s working in the salon’s heat and grime?
Oh, how do you get an appointment with Maria?
How does she hold that hairspray in her hand?

Gray O'Brien on playing Tony Gordon

There's a really nice interview with Gray O'Brien, who plays Tony Gordon, in The Sunday Mail. He reveals that he can't do his own stunts in Coronation Street as bosses were afraid of him breaking bones. And he shows a softer side than the one he portrays on the cobbles as evil Tony.

He said: “My father Eddie – who passed away in 2000 – was Coronation Street’s biggest fan. He absolutely worshipped Bill Tarmey who plays Jack Duckworth. It was lovely to walk up to Bill and tell him. My dad wouldn’t let me talk if the Street was on television. He hated being interrupted watching his favourite soap. Now I’m on screen with all his soap heroes. I’m sure he’s still watching and guiding me through it."

He also hinted that there are further twists and turns in the relationship between Tony and Maria. “Let’s just say their relationship gets a little bit softer over the next few months.”

Corrie celebrates 7,000th episode

Coronation Street celebrates its 7,000th episode on Wednesday 28th January, 2009. It'll be written by David Lane, produced by Kim Crowther and directed by Stuart Davids.

So, what's going to happen in this milestone episode? Have a look at fantastic Corrie.net for full programme information.

New book: Jack Rosenthal's Coronation Street

Jack Rosenthal remains one of the most highly regarded British television dramatists. But did you know that his career began with Coronation Street in the 1960s? He then went on to write popular sitcoms during what is often known as the 'golden age' of British TV drama. He also wrote plays such as Spend, Spend, Spend and my favourite, P'Tang, Yang, Kipperbang.

There's a brand new book out now called simply Jack Rosenthal and it's the first-ever critical work on the writer. Written by Sue Vice, who is Professor of English Literature at the University of Sheffield, this book will be of interest to students and researchers in Television, Film and Cultural Studies, as well as contemporary drama and Jewish Studies, and the general reader. Highly recommended.

And did you know that Jack Rosenthal's wife, Maureen Lipman, once appeared on Corrie? She played the part of Lilian (never, ever Lily) Spencer, a relief manager at the Rovers Return.

Coronation Street loses out to EastEnders

Coronation Street's been beaten by EastEnders in a poll to find Britain's best loved theme tune.

The Corrie theme tune came 10th in the poll while EastEnders was 5th. In 1st place was the theme from Only Fools and Horses. The full top 10 best loved theme tunes are:

1. Only Fools and Horses
2. Minder
3. Dr Who
4. Match of the day
5. EastEnders
6. A-team
7. Friends
8. The Pink Panther
9. Ski Sunday
10.Coronation Street

Want to listen to a reggae version of the Corrie theme tune? Click here and jive

Corrie's Curly stars in Pot Noodle calendar

He's dirty and you know you shouldn't lust after a bin-man but sometimes you just can't help yourself. Ladies, calm yourselves. Coronation Street's Curly Watts stars alongside other soap hunky chunks in the Pot Noodle calendar. This is Curly as Mr October, above. Other flavours are available. For details on how to get your hands on Curly's calendar, have a look here.

Did you know that Curly Watts is the No. 1 Corrie character that fans want back on the Street?

Sister Sophie Webster's chastity vow

Could it be Sophie Webster's latest cry for attention on Coronation Street? She's going to find religion (I wonder where it was hidden?) when her new boyfriend Ben Richardson - pictured - played by Lucien Laviscount, arrives on the Street.

Ben's going to be an independent evangelical Christian and Sophie will take a pledge of celibacy as a commitment to her new faith. You can read the full interview and report at the MEN here.

Read more and see pictures pictures of Sophie and Ben.

Rovers Return darts team are men of steel

Coronation Street writer Mark Wadlow is Middlesbrough born and bred and he managed to get a mention of his home town onto the cobbles last week. When Eddie Windass was talking about his addiction to playing darts he said: "Photo of me and Bristow there at the Ironopolis Social Club in Middlesbrough. Best night of my life that.”

Members of the real Ironoplis Social Club up in Boro were a bit surprised to hear their club mentioned on Corrie, but overjoyed nonetheless and the story got a write up in the local Evening Gazette.

Read more on the new Corre darts team here and find out which celebrity darts player will be joining the cast of Corrie as darts player Disco Dave.

Anti-crime group backs Katherine Kelly

Katherine Kelly, who plays the wonderful barmcake Becky on Coronation Street has revealed to the Daily Record how bosses at Nacro, a group which aims to help offenders re-integrate into society and tackle social exclusion, praised her portrayal of former jailbird Becky Granger.

She said: "I was quite nervous about meeting them as I was not sure how they would respond to me in case they thought Becky was a bit of a caricature. Because Corrie is on before the watershed, she can't swear and do certain things. So I wondered if they thought she'd be too tame, weak and not a true representation. But it was exactly the opposite really, and they told me it was so nice to see a positive character in the media rather than a negative. That's the nicest compliment anyone has given me about Becky. It nearly made me cry. I thought it was really wonderful."

Want to see Katherine Kelly advertising cheese? Click here.

Kym Marsh makes a stand against hate

Kym Marsh, who plays Coronation Street's Michelle Connor, has spoken out against discrimination and hatred ahead of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday January 27.

She said: "Hatred is a huge and often under estimated issue in contemporary society. People are regularly attacked, discriminated against, persecuted and bullied because of who they are and because of their religion, sexuality, race or disability. As we approach Holocaust Memorial Day 2009, I urge all Britons to recognise hatred in whatever form it takes and encourage those around them to do the same."

Coronation Street's harmonica player

Deirdre Barlow is a woman of many talents, not least of which is that she can play the harmonica. And isn't it about time she got it out in the Rovers again?

Anyway, if you're like Deirdre and can play the mouth organ, you might be interested to know that the theme tune for Coronation Street is now available online for you to make sweet music on your harmonica too. Have a look here for more.

Why does Ken Barlow say that Deirdre is dead? Find out here.

Read more about Anne Kirkbride's hidden talents.

Fiz's flaming hair

Ian Wylie at the Manchester Evening News liked Graeme's love poem to Fiz so much he's reproduced it on his blog here.

He reckons the scene when Graeme wooed Fiz with a poem about her flaming hair is destined to be one of his favourite TV moments of 2009. And so, from an episode written by new Coronation Street writer David Bowker, altogether now...

“Your burning eyes, your burning eyes,
Have led me to your door.
Oh, I’ve kissed the ground you walk upon,
And now my lips are sore.
Your flaming hair, your flaming hair…
I know you think your life is over.
That only loneliness remains.
But you still have your youth and beauty.
And you will live and love again.”

The return of Claire Peacock

Emails are finding their way to my inbox asking when Julia Haworth will return to Coronation Street as Claire Peacock. Julia is currently on maternity leave from work on the Street after giving birth to a baby girl in July last year. She'll be back on our screens in the next few weeks as she's involved in the upcoming haunted hat story, oh yes!

Did you know that Julia Haworth is one of only a few Coronation Street actors who have their own, official website? For a complete list, click here.

Next week's Corrie in 50 words or less - January 26-30

Without any piffle, here's the storyline for the week ahead on Coronation Street, all wrapped up in 50 words or less.

Week of Monday 26 January to Friday 30 January

Ken’s flirt-alert picks up Martha on his randy radar, Maria tries to kill Tony Gordon, Eileen discovers Julie is the daughter of her friend, Jed’s not dead and returns to the Street, Blanche works in the bookies, Norris wants nookie with Mary and Emily tells Carla the truth about Jed.

The full weekly preview, with pictures, is right here on Corrie.net

Missed last week's Corrie? Catch up here with the Coronation Street Weekly Updates

Bill Ward stars in Look Back in Anger

Bill Ward, who played bashed-up builder Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street is joining the cast of Look Back in Anger at the Northern Stage Theatre in Newcastle.

Bill takes the lead role as Jimmy Porter in the play. Many people think Bill is from Manchester; however, he’s actually a born and bred Geordie from Gosforth. Bill makes his debut at Northern Stage as the original disillusioned, working-class ‘angry young man’. The play runs from March 6-21.

For tickets and further information, have a look here.