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.