Vote for Corrie in TV Choice / TV Quick Awards

Voting for 2009's TVQuick and TVChoice Awards has reopened as the shortlist has been announced. This year's nominations for Coronation Street include:

Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald) for Best Soap Actor.
Katherine Kelly (Becky Granger) for Best Soap Actress.
Craig Gazey (Graeme Proctor) for Best Soap Newcomer.
And Coronation Street is also up for Best Soap.

You've got until Friday 10 July to cast your final vote so get your votes in as soon as possible to help Corrie take home some well deserved awards. You can vote at the TV Quick and TV Choice website.

Helen Flanagan's a Loose Woman

Samia Smith, who plays Maria Sutherland, appeared on ITV's This Morning programme talking about baby Liam and Tony Gordon. You can watch that here if you'd like to.

And Helen Flanagan, Corrie's Rosie Webster, also turned up daytime TV when she popped into the Loose Women studio. Watch that one here.

Corrie's Sally in a pink tutu

Coronation Street's Sally Whittaker, who plays Sally Webster, donned a pink tutu for charity as took part in the Genesis Appeal's ‘Keep Fit and Pink 10km Walk' on June 14th. The Genesis Appeal walk helped raise over £75,000 for breast cancer charities.

Sally said: “Hats off to The Genesis team for organising a phenomenal event. It was awe-inspiring to see so many positive people who have been affected by breast cancer.”

See more pictures of pink people at The Genesis website.

Should Kev Webster grow his moustache back?

Michael Le Vell is reported to feel under pressure to grow Kevin Webster's moustache back on Coronation Street. What do you think, Corrie fans?

Ryan Thomas on playing Jason Grimshaw and being a dad

There's a good, long interview with Ryan Thomas, who plays Coronation Street's Jason Grimshaw over at Digital Spy.

Ryan chats about his storyline snogging Tina, hoping his on-screen brother Todd will return and in real-life, being a new dad. It's good stuff and well worth a read.

State of the Street - June

Eileen Grimshaw has not been very lucky in love but this month, she's reconnected with Jesse, a cowboy/electrician guaranteed to make sparks fly for her. David succeeded in getting Gary Windass banged up in the nick, hoping that Tina would be impressed. She's not and now she's snogging his ex-brother-in-law on top of it all. Rosie is even more insufferable than ever thanks to Prisoner 666, who also has Fiz eating out of his hand, handing her a load of dosh and her father is hitting mid-life crisis with astonishing speed, leaving smoking trainer tracks in his wake as he persues Molly Dobbs on the fun run circuit. Molly doesn't seem to mind one little bit. Yes, dear readers, that's the State of the Street for June 2009.

Read all about it.

Corrie episode review: In the Foreshadows, Mon June 29, 2009

Written by Damon Rochefort (7:30) and David Lane (8:30), Directed by Pip Short

So I was wondering when Rosie turned into Hugh Hefner? What's with the robe? I wonder if she shops at the same kimono store as Martha? Having said that, it's a nice robe. Rosie doesn't have a license to drive, but she's got a license to buy. And that's what she's done, a nice little roadster coupe for herself. I don't know who's more psyched, Rosie or her fairweather mother? The two of them in that sports car just screamed double-trouble to me. Has anyone seen Heartbreakers? Luke takes his turn to drool over Rosie's new ride. Tony is not as impressed. Luke treats Rosie and her fairweather mother to drinks at the Rovers. He really lays the cream on thick asking again about investing in Underworld and trying to coax her with the idea of designing items herself. Sally's just eating this up. Rosie says she'll need a bit of convincing. Ahem, and we know how and by whom. Luke understand full well and proceeds to wine and dine her starting with Teppanyaki.

At the factory, Janice Battersby PA, effs up royally. An error she made cost Underworld a huge client. Luke and Rosie announce to Tony that Rosie is now a partner. They convince Rosie to be "Executive of Administration." Essentially she'll resume her PA duties again, but own shares in the company. Oh, and design knickers of course.

Oh, looks like it's Jason's birthday today. Jason has give me two opportunities this episode(s) to ogle him shirtless. It was really tempting to use one of those captures as my title image, but I didn't want to be known as the woman whose captures are full of topless men. Heaven's no. Turns out, thanks to Eileen and 'Coco the Clown' that Tina didn't stay over last night after all. Eileen warns Jason about Platt, but like most things that are told to Jason, it's in one ear and out the next. Sean informs Tina that it's Jason's birthday. Sean let's Tina know that Jason wears "Frustration" by Calvin Klein. Ooh, I LOVE that scent on a man. Well, Tina actually buys him cologne for his birthday with cute irony. And Sean gives him a stylish new shirt, which he changes into in the Rovers amidst the hoots and hollers. Somewhere Stevey-boy is watching this and gurning whilst clutching his argyle sweater-vest. I see a real chemistry between J and T as they kiss later in the Rovers again. No points for guessing where they ended up that night! Or where this is heading...

What is an episode without any trouble? Or at least the fore-shadowing of it. By trouble, I mean Platt of course. David, accompanied by Darryl and Graeme, comes into the Rovers and sees Jason and Tina flirting and thinks she's trying to wind him up. Oh yeah, David, of course. As Dr. Phil would say: "If you knew how seldom people thought about you, you wouldn't worry so much about what they thought." Larry and Curly suggest that he not let her wind him up and just ignore it. Another piece of good advice. David eventually leaves after he's realises that his life's come down to hanging out with a couple of losers (Darryl and Graeme) while Jason is getting it on with his "girlfriend." He just can't get no satisfaction.

Jesse's back and invites Eileen for a drink later. He's quite the boob, isn't he? Maybe that's an understatement, but he's rather endearing. Eileen seems to think so too, or she just doesn't care! In the Rovers later, Jesse tells everyone that he needs a replacement for Hiawatha in his production. Kirk volunteers, and Jesse accepts. Looks like Kirk portrayal of Hiawatha didn't exactly go over well. Well, the kids had fun. Kirk told the kids he was really a stuntman, and they tried to test this by burning his headpiece on fire and pelting him with puddings. One broken expensive plate to pay for, a burnt headdress, and a cheesed off Jesse later they were downing drinks at the Rovers and Kirk found himself out of a job again. I think he looked a little like Cher in one of her Bob Mackie's in that get up. It's a matter of opinion I suppose. Graeme thinks he looks pretty good too. That boy is what we used to call "off-center." Jesse invites Eileen back to his parents place - they're out for the night! Eileen excitedly (desperately) takes him up on this offer. They run away in glee like a couple of school kids! Nice to see Eileen so happy actually.

Maria looks about ready to give birth to an entire football team, the size of her! She wants it out, and so do we! Baby Liam needs to succeed the throne of hot-ness left by his father. Maria later goes to the Rovers for Jason's birthday, and Tony freaks out when he can't find her at home and she doesn't answer her phone. He makes a scene in the Rovers looking like the completely possessive psycho that he is. Maria's not happy, but Tony immediately apologizes the breaths a sigh of relief after she accepts his apology. I can only imagine how much worse this will get. The signs are clear and present.

Bill and Pam mend fences after Uncle Umed (he hasn't disappeared just yet, people!) says that the old adverts they wrote about each other weren't really that bad. They agree, and decide to start over. *seeing sparks* *again*

Hayley is not so keen on Pam however, or her sarnies. She tells Pam to stop selling to her customers. Gee, it's like some kind of gang-war over turf or something. A real show-down. However, thanks to Bill's mediation, the girls have decided to work together. Hayley's got the permits, licenses and the premises and Pam's got the hutzpah! (sales talent) It was really about delivery. Their customer pool is extremely lazy. Well that's all wrapped up in a nice tidy bow. For now, at least.

Molly and Kevin meet to go for their run. Kevin is in a tank-top today, and he's not shirtless, but thanks to the x-ray vision I've honed over the years, I can gauge a pretty good rendering. From what I can see he's NO torso-of-the-week. Maybe torso-of-the-last-decade? Oh, I'm mean! He looks good for his age! Molly notes that Kevin has been quiet on their run. He's probably just lucky that he can open his mouth to get a gasp of air, never mind talk. Molly and Kevin find a bench and Kevin looks at her with puppy-dog eyes and says he can't stop looking at her. Why can't men say all those right things to the right woman? Well, that's all Molly needed to hear as she leans in for a kiss. It's done now. She's smitten. Later, they use the "books" as an excuse to huddle together in the garage office. This just foreshadows worse events to come. Poor Tyrone!

Coronation Street Weekly Update, June 29 2009

Greetings and welcome. Special notice: this week’s update covers only Wednesday 24th and Friday 26th June. Monday 29th June episodes will be covered next week.

This week the update comes to you a little hot and bothered with fingers sticking to the keyboards (yuck) as the temperature’s rising, barometer’s getting low, according to our sources, the Street’s the place to go. So tonight for the first time, just about half past seven, for the first time in history, it’s going to be raining Molly and Kevin. (Rubbish, get on with it – Ed.) And so, without any further ado, here we go with this week’s Coronation Street update.

Mid-life is probably the best time to have a crisis because then no-one’s surprised if you take up with a young girl and drive a fast car. Well, unless you’re a woman, then that might raise an eyebrow, well, it would round our way. Anyway, Kev Webster’s checked his calendar and the time is right to have his mid-life crisis, just about, oh, now. But if he’s not careful, he could do himself an injury. After years of drinking pints, eating pies and an annual birthday bonk from Sally, he’s now running around after Molly in a sweat. It’s just not right and I don’t like this one bit but Molly’s attraction to Kevin is fuelled by Tyrone who’s down in the dumps over Jack taking up with Connie.

In a wonderful scene this week, Connie was at Jack’s house doing her knitting and Jack held out his hands as she wound the yarn around them. It was such a touching scene and for this fan, brought a lump to the throat. Anyway, Sally doesn’t yet know that Kev’s splashing on the Old Spice she bought him for Christmas 1987 is for Molly to sniff at, not her. She’s too busy congratulating Rosie on becoming something big in ladies’ knickers when Rosie decides to invest in the factory after a night of lust with Luke Strong.

In the Rovers, Steve has a word with Hayley and tells her he’s not happy that Slug’s back in Becky’s life. Neither is Hayley when she finds out and sits Becky down for a talking-to about Slug. “He’s trouble with a capital T,” (Tslug?) warns Hayley, which for Becky is part of Slug’s charm. Hayley’s never been the same since Slug nicked Roy’s Woody.

Hayley is also confidante to Fiz this week who tells her that she’s now engaged to John Stape. I was waiting for Hayley to reprise the “Trouble with a capital T” about John Stape to Fiz, but I think even Hayley’s given up on this one.

The Windass clan have their day in court. Three Windasses set off and only two return as Gary gets sent down to the big house (I know all the terminology, me) for breaking into Audrey’s house. David’s overjoyed at the news Gary’s in jail but the people he’s hoping most to impress – Tina and Graeme – think David’s just sick. And as we all know, he is. When David finds out that Tina’s taken to wearing her push-up bra to attract Jason Dimshaw, he’s not going to best pleased, no.

Meanwhile, Ma Grimshaw showed the slightest hint of a smile this week when Jesse bought her a drink in the Rovers and told her that he was divorced. Are we sure, Eileen? That’s what the last fella told you too and look what happened there.

When Tony Gordon starts a sentence with the words “I could murder…” you should probably worry. But when he finishes it off with “…a curry…” then takeaway Tony was only trying to help induce Maria’s labour. She’s 16 months pregnant and that baby needs to come out of there soon before it takes up residency and starts paying council tax.

And finally, it was Steve McDonald’s 35th birthday this week. One of his gifts which he sported with glee was a woollen tank-top, the likes of which were last seen circa 1975 as worn by Jimmy Tarbuck.

And that’s just about that for this week.

Find out more about these Coronation Street Weekly Updates.

Coronation Street writers this week were Jonathan Harvey and Simon Crowther.

Glenda
--
Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com/

Windass-ing me up

Coronation Street spoilers say David Platt is going to get beaten to a pulp (yet again) after he takes his jealousy out on Jason.

A comment left on the blog by Danny-K mentions how Gary's first beating of David was unusually brutal for early evening telly. Yes it was, but they'd been portraying him as a thug from the get go, same as they have his Uncle Len, who is the one I've got my money on as the culprit in the Platt pulverisation, yet another graphically violent scene, no doubt.

The whole Windass family just doesn't seem to do it for me, nor for a lot of other people it seems. Why? Well, if you're interested in reading my thoughts on this plot and the family themselves, take a look over here.

Maxine Peacock joins Dancing on Ice

Tracy Shaw, better known as Maxine Peacock who was bludgeoned to death by Richard Hillman on Coronation Street, is joining the next series of ITV's Dancing on Ice.

The Daily Mail have photos of Tracy and some of the other, er, celebs, rehearsing for the show.

Find out more about Dancing on Ice at www.itv.com/dancingonice

See also: Maxine's legacy on Coronation Street

Norris Cole gets a graveyard shock

As if Ramsay getting cosy with Emily isn't enough to make Norris upset, he's going to get a shock when he finds out that Ramsay's been visiting their mum's grave, says The Sun.

The paper has pictures of Norris sobbing at his mum Eunice's graveside - and he's shocked to see illegitimate half-brother Ramsay has already laid flowers. And when Norris visits his mum's grave, he finds Ramsay there already with Emily who has taken Ramsay to visit Ernest's grave.

David Platt gets beaten to a pulp

Coronation Street spoiler of the week - so far, and it's only Monday, folks - is that David Platt will be beaten to a bloody pulp by a mystery attacker in a gripping Corrie whodunnit. So says The Sun.

David will be bludgeoned in a back alley and left bleeding and unconscious this summer. But he has made so many other enemies, the police won't know where to start hunting his attacker. The main suspects are Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), ex-girlfriend Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan), his mum's boyfriend Joe McIntyre (Reece Dinsdale) and Len Windass (Conor Ryan) - Gary's uncle.

Becky and Slug - a match made in muck?

There's a good insight into Becky Granger's relationship with the man who's Trouble with a capital T - Slug - over at Digital Spy today. With quotes from Katherine Kelly, who plays Coronation Street's Becky, the article digs into the history between Slug and Becky from their jailbird past to Slug slithering back as Neil into Becky's life.

Ashes to Ashes fans will recognise Slug/Neil as actor Marshall Lancaster who played Chris in the show. And Katherine Kelly also turned up in A2A playing a character called Heather, Sam's auntie in 1973.

Find out how Slug's set to ruin Becky's wedding to Steve McDonald

Three and a half minutes: Friday June 26, 2009 Corrie Episode Review

Written by Simon Crowther, directed by Tony Prescott

It's court day for Gary Windass and Gary is looking very sombre. Gary really needs to get rid of that peanut butter mustache. Ted threatens David that he'd better not go near that court room today. He tells David to behave with dignity. Waste of breath! Well, it's a victory for David as Gary never returns from court with his parents. However, no one is keen on celebrating with David. Or his Welsh cousin, Die Platt. David assures Graeme that Tina will come around to him again, because she loves him after all.

Fiz confesses to Hayley that she's proposed to John and he's said yes. Hayley thinks this is a terrible idea, like everyone else soon will. But she keeps Fiz's secret.

At Maria's, she and Tony are reading the pregnancy handbook on ways to induce labour, and they both get embarrassed when reading how vigorous sex can do the trick. Awk-ward! The decide a curry, window washing and a Desperate Housewives episode to be a good option.

Jack and Connie are getting on famously. It sounds like Jack is really happy and enjoying his life spending time with Connie and company. Apparently if you work all your life on the railroad, that buys you a life-time free pass to travel anywhere in Britain by rail. Somewhere Roy is squirming in his pants.

It's Steve's 35th birthday today. Happy Birthday Steve McDonald. 35 though? Really? He looks more like 45. And how exactly has turning 35 entitled him to dress like our favourite newsagent?

Jesse comes into the Rovers and spots Eileen. He drones on about his divorce and how he has nothing in his life and lives with his parents. Wow, charming. That's exactly what women want to hear.

Meanwhile, Tina comes into the Rovers dressed up as though she borrowed a shirt out of Rosie Webster's wardrobe. Jason promptly notices and buys her a drink. Later, he asks her if she'd like to come in for some wine. Tina tells him that she gets a bit tipsy and frisky when she drinks wine. So like the idiot that he is, Jason renegs on that and offers up a cuppa instead. Well, it looks as though the wine won (that is, red wine) because the two of them were very cosy-looking on Eileen's couch. Tina asks Jason if he fancies her. She tells Jason to kiss her and he does. I wonder if Tina actually likes Jason, or is doing this to get David's goat?

Well, Eileen invites Jesse back for a drink, and as they walk in they find Tina and Jason in a rather compromising position. That is SOME red wine! This is very awkward. Jesse is thinking the same thing as he runs out of there like a bat out of hell. Poor Eileen. She asks them how long this has been going on and Tina responds: "About three and a half minutes," then bursts out laughing.

Oh yucky! The screen just shot from Jason's chest to Eddie's! *shudder*

Anyway, there's still some passion fire brewing between Molly and Kevin. There is a lot of uneasy tension between them, so Molly goes to the garage to talk to him about what happened. They close the shutters for some privacy. Molly says she was very flattered, Kevin says he's embarrassed and they decide to remain mates. Her mouth says no, but her face says yes, yes, yes. I tell ya! Well, Sally knocks on the shutters to try to talk to Kevin about their own tensions, and Kevin and Molly freak out, and Kevin hides Molly in the boot of a car he's working on. Sally comes in and complains about Molly's work on the books, then Tyrone comes in and complains about Molly's attitude. All the while, Molly's overhearing this in the boot. Poor Molly! After Sally and Tyrone decide that they should all have dinner that night, they leave and Kevin gets an upset looking Molly out of hiding.

At dinner that evening, Sally notices Kevin is wearing aftershave and says if he's lucky, he might get lucky. Please, girl, he's not wearing it for your benefit! I don't know what it is with Tyrone's shirt, but I thought I was having a seizure when I first set eyes on it. At Sally and Tyrone's insistence, Molly and Kevin agree to go on morning runs together again.

Oh, trouble's a brewing!

Picture Puzzle: Name the Corrie actors

Can you name each of these seven past and present Coronation Street cast members? They're pictured above looking a lot younger and slightly different to how we see them on screen now but for many long-term fans, this shouldn't prove too tricky. There's no prize, so don't ring in.

For more Corrie picture puzzles, have a look here.

Eddie Windass look-a-like

On Friday night's Coronation Street, Eileen Grimshaw described Eddie Windass as looking like "a seedy Mick Hucknall". Sorry, I couldn't resist doing a look-a-like of Eddie Windass with the Simply Red lead singer.

For more Simply dRedful Corrie look-a-likes, have a look-a-here.

Corrie weekly awards, week of June 22

Angry Anorak of the week: Hayley. Did you see that double-take when she found out from Steve that Slug was on the scene again? Trouble with a "T" - brilliant stuff.

Completely lost touch with reality award:
Gold Star: Fiz Brown. I don't need to elaborate, do I?
Silver Star: Kevin Webster. (Molly? barely older than your daughter? Remember Stape?) That was the slap heard round the cobbles but didn't she look a bit pleased when she stropped off?

Cute couple award: I think "T"(ina) and Jay(son) make a really cute couple, don't you?

Fashion don't of the week: Steve McDonald's diamond pattern tank top. Looks exactly like something out of Mike Baldwin's golf wardrobe. Rather an old jumper for someone 35 isn't it? Seems it is a birthday pressie. Wanna bet Hayley picked it out and advised Becky to buy it?

Gobsmacking concept of the week: Rosie? Forward thinking? Shrewd? Sally's implants (that would be the blinders) certainly seem to have been reinforced of late.

Oh no, I don't want you to find me attractive at all award goes to Molly's cleavage and lip gloss. Earlier this week she was wearing a top under that little jacket. Friday night, her cups runneth over.

Lines of the week:
Pam describing Bill: "Strong. Practical. Reliable." Bill: "You make me sound like a flippin' power tool!"
Rosie about Luke: "It wasn't my money he wanted last night." (Oh, wasn't it?)
Kevin about Steve's diamond jumper: "Is it Jeeves or Wooster?" Tyrone: "More like Norris Cole!"

Corrie picture puzzle - whose knees are these?

Can you guess which Coronation Street actress these knees belong to? Go on, it's Saturday, what else have you got to do?!

See also other really daft Corrie picture puzzles such as:

Guess the hairy arm
Where's the Chair?
Who's the domestic goddess?
Whose Shoes?
Whose hat is that?
Whose toes are those?
Whose knees are these?
Who's giving who the elbow?

Sam Aston on playing Chesney Battersby-Brown

Now then, here's someone who doesn't often give an interview. It's 16 year old Sam Aston, who plays Coronation Street's Chesney Battersby-Brown, speaking to The Mirror. It's a nice interview and he reveals that he doesn't really get any crazy fan mail. He says: "Because people seem to love Chesney, they feel protective of him, so I get letters from all ages, from children to old ladies. Sadly, there’s nothing rude – on Valentine’s Day I got one card. Ryan Thomas gets about five million and I get one, great." Ah, bless.

Anyway, it looks like Chesney's going off the rails soon in Corrie. Have a look here.

Rosie Webster's new sports car

Rosie Webster's already treated herself to a Penny Chiew handbag, champagne from the Rovers and looks set to buy into Coronation Street knicker factory, Underworld. And now she's going to splash out on a sportscar, says The Sun. Umm.. am I the only one wondering if Rosie ever took a driving test. Anyway, reality notwithstanding, the car is a £30,000 PGO Cevennes.

Unfortunately for Rosie, Chesney looks set to nick her new car and he almost runs over Anna Windass.

Michael Le Vell reveals all about Corrie car crash

When one of the Coronation Street stunts went wrong last month, Director Kay Patrick was hit by a car and taken to hospital. Michael Le Vell, who plays Coronation Street's Kevin Webster, reveals to The Sun today what really happened.

Michael says the Corrie Director had a lucky escape: "The throttle was stuck on. It hit her full pelt. She went across the bonnet and then it went across the street and into water on the set. I swear, we all thought she was dead. It was like ‘This can’t happen. We are on Coronation Street — we are supposed to be wrapped in cotton wool’. Kay later sent me a message, saying another minute later and I would have had my back to the car. Fortunately she is OK now. She has had a plate put in her shoulder, her leg is still bad and she is going to be off work for a long, long time.”

Win tea with Malcolm Hebden

Would you like to meet and have tea with actor Malcolm Hebden, who plays Coronation Street's Norris Cole? Well, you can. Malcolm is supporting the Leonard Cheshire Disability's 'Home from Home Appeal in Cheshire'. The appeal aims to raise funds to redevelop and enhance the facilities for younger, disabled people at The Hill in Sandbach, Cheshire.

If you hold a tea party (at home or work, etc) and raise at least £50 for the charity, then email Chris Bryan at Leonard Cheshire by Monday 6th July and your name will be entered into a draw with three people winning the opportunity to bring a party of six people to The Hill in Sandbach at 3pm on Saturday, 11th July for afternoon tea with Malcolm Hebden.

Find out more about Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Coronation Street's greatest double acts

Not at Glastonbury this weekend? Nope, me neither. But who needs Bruce Springsteen when we've got Corrie? Anyway, why not discover some of Coronation Street's greatest double acts and partnerships over at the Corrie Corner blog.

Meet Kate Anthony on Saturday 27 June

Kate Anthony, who plays Coronation Street's Aunty Pam, will be opening BEN’s Summer Fete and Rally in Lynwood, Sunninghill on Saturday 27 June.

What's BEN? It's an automotive charity and it'll hold its annual summer fete on Saturday with Kate officially opening it at 1pm.

Find out more here.

Street Style: Molly Dobbs' cargo jeans look

Inspired by one of our readers, I have decided to start a special segment called Street Style. Do you ever see clothes worn by Corrie characters and want to know where you can get them? Or a suitable substitute? The aim of Street Style is to feature outfits or items of interest on our favourite characters so readers at home have the opportunity to wear them.

This week's street style is in response to a reader who wanted to know where they could get Molly Dobbs' cargo jeans. I'm personally not a fan of this style, the cargo jeans in particular. Myself, I would most likely pair this outfit with a skinny ankle jean and a longer blouse instead of a polo.

This look suits Molly perfectly because you can see she still has quite a bit of youth leftover in her personal style with the cargo pants and the shoes, but then she tries to make herself a little more stylish and mature by adding the blazer. Whereas, the polo shirt tells me she's not a woman with a lot of button-downs in her wardrobe, which means she doesn't have a professional job and as a result, is most likely a budget shopper. Also, the bag is typically trendy, and the ear-rings are a flash of glam, which indicate she cares a lot about how she looks and wants to present herself as such.

Keep in mind, this is also the outfit she goes to see Kevin in and we all know she has an interest in him, so I think the attempt to mature her look with the blazer and collared shirt could have been for his benefit.

So, here's our take on how you could get Molly Dobbs' cargo-jean look. We're not saying these are the exact same clothes which are featured on Coronation Street, but we'll try to find the closest match we can for fans who'd like to dress like their favourite Corrie characters.

Cargo Jeans: BonPrix, Jeans (click here)
Blazer: New Look, Boyfriend Blazer (click here)
Polo Top: Lands' End, Women's Regular Roll-Sleeve Pocket Polo Shirt (click here)
Shoes: TopShop, Tough-Lace Up Cuff Plimsole (click here)
Bag: BonPrix, "Gina" Bag (click here), Earrings: Miss Selfridge, Gold Chain Mail Earrings (click here)

In Pics: Steve and Becky's wedding

There's some wonderful on-location pictures from Steve McDonald's wedding v. 2.0 to Becky Granger over at Digital Spy.

I reckon Becky's wedding dress could be the campest thing we've seen on Corrie since Mavis Riley left the Street.

Coronation Street in 3D

We're always on the look-out for quirky Corrie items on the web, and here's another found today.

Yes, you can get your very own 3D model of Coronation Street online here.

Sneak preview of next week's Corrie, June 29 - July 3

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 29 June to Friday 3 July

Tony delivers Maria’s baby on a beach, Kevin and Molly get passionate, Rosie buys a sports car and shares in Underworld, Kirk plays Hia-Lowa to General Custard, Eileen spends the night with Jesse, Sean meets Leon at the gym, Emily and Ramsay grow close and Eddie proposes to Anna.

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

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

Steve McDonald gurn of the week - June 25 09

It's Thursday and that means only one thing... time for the Steve McDonald gurn of the week. Thanks go to Coronation Street fan Martin for sending in these fab Stevie McGurns.

If you've captured a good Corrie Steve gurn and want to share it via the blog, do email it in. To see more gurnage from Stevie McGurn, have a look here, there's loads. Some good, some bad and some really very funny.

Corrie gets a new Liam Connor

Liam Connor returns to Coronation Street - but don't get too excited ladies, it's not Rob James-a-hunk-a-hunk-a-hunk-Collier who's returning to the Street. It's Maria's little baby, who she's going to name Liam, according to the best soap magazine in the world (honestly) Inside Soap.

And you can see a picture of the little baby who's going to play the new Liam Connor over at the official Corrie website.

Trouble with a Capital T : Wed June 24, 2009 Episode Review

Written by Jonathan Harvey, Directed by Tony Prescott

Molly apologises again to Jack about Tyrone. Molly goes over to the garage to tell Tyrone to sort his issues with Jack, or Jack will move out. Sally remarks to Tyrone that Molly has a swing in her step, he must be doing something right. Oh, the irony. This plasters a big smile on Tyrone's face. The man that knew too little. Jack tells Tyrone that he's not replacing Vera, that Connie is just a mate. No, sorry I'm not having that. They're not just mates. It's definitely more than that, but let's not go there.

Steve is getting very jealous of Becky and Slug/Neil to the point where it's not so cute anymore. Hayley enforces Steve's suspicions and informs him that Slug/Neil is trouble with a capital T. Well put! Becky's not happy when she realizes Steve doesn't trust her.

Maria tells Tony she had a dream of him... and a bucket full of baby oil. Just kidding! *snap out of that daydream* In Maria's dream, Tony's eyes were red. Like the devil. She blames the bad dream on eating cheese before bed. Pfft, I eat cheese before bed (and all day long) and I don't have devil-dreams! Tony is happy to feel little-baby-fatherless-thanks-to-him kick in Maria's tummy, then looks ashamed afterwards. For shame.

The factory girls gossip over Tony and Maria's new "situation." Sean opines that you couldn't write that stuff, they should put it in a play. Then he tries his best to do Tony's Scottish accent. Hi-la-ri-ous!

Jason spends his morning doling out the apologies. Minnie first, then Tina. Tina is unforgiving (and unforgetting), but they settle on being mates. Mmm-hmm. *bobs head* Minne decides Jason's not her type. She asks Tina if he's her type and what her type is. Oh, I don't even want to know if there's more where David came from. Tina responds that her type is ANYONE besides David. Well, Jason should be happy that's him checking all her boxes!

Fiz hasn't said anything about her and John's engagement. They talk about John's mental state and Julie states that depression is like a prison, and it's ironic, because he's in a prison. That was pretty funny. C'mon. Side note: Did anyone notice an old fireplace now on the opposite wall in No. 5? Was it always there? Duh if it was.

Well, Rosie didn't come home last night after being with Luke. Three guesses as to where she was, the first two don't count. That's right, Rosie's cosy in Luke's bed looking very pleased with herself. Sally's just Rosie's No. 1 fan recently. I wonder (£££) why? After Rosie walks in from her walk-of-shame, Kevin tells her that Luke's just using her for her money. She says that's not what he was using her for last night. Uh.... Sally thinks Luke is just a fine bloke for her daughter. What? What kind of a mother is she? Her and Rosie remind me of characters in one of those old-timey movies where the manipulative mother tries to do anything she can to get her daughter married to a man from a "good family" with a title for her own personal gain, and the stupid snotty daughter falls right in line only to be the one who suffers in the end. Well, actually, the man was probably suffering all the way through. Watch out Luke!

Sally's quite forthright and asks Luke straight out if he's using Rosie for her money. He says he never intended for the night to end like that. Sure, sure. Rosie comes into the factory and tells all that she may be coming back as their boss. Cue open-mouthed stares.

Kevin tries to put the threat on Luke Strong about using Rosie, but his efforts are ineffective as usual. Kevin projects his bad mood onto Molly then later apologises. Kevin breaks down and tells Molly that all he cares about is her. Then he gives her that look: like he's the spoon and she's the ice cream. Molly asks what he's doing, but he says he doesn't know. Oh YES he does. Kevin goes on further to tell her that he can't stop thinking about her, he fancies her like mad and he wants to jump her bones! She looks somewhere between petrified and intrigued. Let's call it petrigued. Molly gives him five across the eyes and tells him to keep away from her! Well, that was awkward. As she leaves, Molly half-smiles to herself. Girl is trouble with a capital T! *makes Hayley's hand sign into a T* On a side note, what is Molly wearing? A cropped blazer with cargo-jeans? I didn't even know cargo-jeans existed! And for women! She doesn't need Kevin Webster to pump her self-esteem, she needs What Not To Wear.

Meet Corrie actors this weekend in Truro, Bridgend and Stockport

After Antony Cotton opened the new Poundland store in Stirling last weekend, pictured above, more Coronation street actors will be opening even more Poundland stores around the country on Saturday 27th June.
Catch Andy Whyment (Kirk Sutherland) in Princes Street, Truro. Antony Cotton (Sean Tully) will be opening the new store in Warren Street, Stockport. And Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre) will be opening the new store in Adare Street, Bridgend.

The Corrie actors will officially open each store, sign autographs and have pictures taken from 10am - 1pm on Saturday. They'll also be giving away 50 x £1 vouchers. See full details at Poundland.

Corrie rocks the Palace

Coronation Street cast members put on a show on Saturday night at the Manchester Palace Hotel. The do raised funds for the When You Wish Upon a Star charity for poorly children.

Katherine Kelly (Becky Granger) sang Dolly Parton's Nine to Five. Gray O'Brien (Tony Gordon) crooned Mr Bojangles, while Andy Whyment (Kirk Sutherland) and Sam Aston (Chesney Battersby-Brown) belted out Stand By Me.

You can find out more and see pictures from the event at the Manchester Evening News website.

New ITV Corrie site revealed

The official Coronation Street website at itv.com has had a bit of a revamp and it's looking good. The character profiles have all been redone and they're fun with good links, there's a news page, more engaging graphics and it's, just, well, better than it's been in a very long time.

Check it out here.

Is Slug's reformation genuine?

He doesn't 'alf clean up well. Slug, that is... or I guess I should be calling him Neil. Slug was Becky's boyfriend and partner in crime a few years ago but when they got drunk and she was persuaded to help him nick Roy and Hayley's car and then stranded her out on the road, she finally dumped him. She'd disappointed the Croppers after everything they'd done for her and they were more important to her than her greasy druggie boyfriend.

"Slug" was a good name for him back then too, he really was creepy and disgusting. Well, now Slug seems to have cleaned himself up, pulled his act together, got a job and is working towards being respectable. Has he really changed? Maybe... but the spoilers say he's going to be blackmailed by that corrupt and bitter cop, Cst. Hooch (with a name like that, could he be any other sort?) and it's going to cause havoc for Becky again.

What I want to know is, is this turnaround of his life genuine and down the road, Hooch just drags him down again into his scheme to get revenge on Becky, or has that revenge scheme already started and this whole "clean up" routine is a scam as well? I'm going with the latter. Watch this spot.

Who would Michael Le Vell bring back to Corrie?

There's a wonderful, long interview with Michael Le Vell, who plays Kevin Webster, in the Manchester Evening News. He reveals all about the most unlikely Coronation Street coupling as Kevin and Molly get together. And at the end of the interview, Ian Wylie asks Michael who he'd love to bring back to Corrie if he could.

His reply is this: "Obviously Jean Alexander, who played Hilda Ogden. I’d like to see her come back for a special. Maybe along with Geoff Hughes (Eddie Yeats) who used to be her lodger. That would be ace.” Ooh, indeed it would.

See also: Michael Le Vell's five favourite things about Corrie

Corrie characters come top in Soap Poll

The fab Inside Soap magazine has been running a Best Of soap poll for the last few weeks and the results have been counted and printed today in the mag.

Tracy Barlow was voted Best Soap Bitch.
Bet Lynch was voted Best Soap Landlady.
Richard Hillman was voted Best Soap Villain.
And the Greatest Ever Comic Character goes to the one and only Blanche Hunt.

Maggie Jones, who plays Coronation Street's Blanche, told Inside Soap about playing Blanche: "It's like putting on your best hat and going out. I love it." And so do we.

To see the full line-up from the poll, have a look at Digital Spy.

Ramsay Clegg heartache for Emily

Poor Emily. She finally gets a story that makes her smile and her hopes are dashed again.

There's a spoiler in The Sun today that says Emily's going to develop a crush on Norris' brother Ramsay Clegg but just as she thinks he's feeling the same for her, he does a runner and leaves Coronation Street.

See Michelle Keegan at Truckfest

Michelle Keegan, who plays Coronation Street's Tina Mclntyre will lead a celebrity line-up at Truckfest in Somerset next month.

Michelle will be joined at Truckfest by Ice Road Truckers star Rick Yemm who will appear on both Saturday and Sunday to sign autographs, present awards and meet fans throughout the two-day event which is taking place at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet on July 4-5. Also appearing are familiar voices from national radio, Radio 1’s Chappers and Dave, and BBC Radio 2’s Sally ‘Traffic’ Boazman.

Find out more about Truckfest

How Romantic: Mon June 22, 2009 Episode Review

Written by David Lane (7:30) & Julie Jones (8:30), Directed by Tony Prescott.

Tyrone finds out that Kevin thought Jason and Molly were sleeping together, and thought it was funny. It's clear that he thought Jason wouldn't be interested in Molly. Ouch! She's miffed now! Way to go Tyrone! Tyrone is being extremely rude to Connie at the tea Molly invited her to. A photo knocks over during tea, and Tyrone thinks it's a sign from Vera that she doesn't approve of Connie. When did Vera turn into poltergeist? Connie sets Tyrone straight about why she's with Jack. Jack however has had enough of Tyrone's acerbic personality and has decided it's time for him to fly the coop. That Tyrone is such a boob!

At the pub, Sean is twittering about his weight again. Becky suggests he try smoking. Yeah, she never had a shot at med school. Slug/Neil shows up and Becky is mildly suspicious, but delights in reminiscing with him about their "living la vida loca" days. Steve finds out that Slug/Neil is Becky's ex and gets jealous. It's kinda cute. Romantic even.

Bill and Auntie Pam are propping up the bar at the Rovers and decide they should write each other's singles ads. How romantic! They're jovially making fun of each other in the process. Pam describes Bill as "strong, reliable, practical." Like a tool. I didn't say it, Bill did. Bill takes it too far and describes Pam as a "bargain-basement Cherie Blair look-a-like seeking dough-boy type bloke for ducking-and-diving, wheeling-and-dealing." Pam does not find this as hysterical as Bill does and walks out in a fit! Oh Bill, now you've gone and done it.

Tina's having a good laugh with Minnie and Molly in Dev's shop until Gary walks in. It's been SO long since I've seen Tina smile that I've forgotten how pretty her face was! Anyway, Gary can't help himself and goes into the kebab shop later to try to talk to her. Jason "White Knight" Grimshaw oversees this and gets rid of Gary for Tina. Minnie mops up the drool on the floor in front of her in time to ask Jason for a drink. Tina is clearly jealous!

Tina and Joe are having a drink later at the Rovers and Tina can't stop watching Jason and Minnie. Minnie isn't terribly interested in Jason as she ditches him to go watch a documentary on obese women and the men who feed them instead. Minnie's a bit of a tease playing hard to get and all! Jason sidles up to Tina after Joe leaves. Tina ribs him for being ditched by Minnie. Jason says he didn't really like Minnie, but she was "giving it to him on a platter" so how could he say no? Wow, charming. Jason is drunk-as-a-skunk and tries to hit on Tina now, telling her he thinks they have a vibe going on. Tina seems to find this endearing until Jason suggests they go back to his. How romantic! Jason tries kiss Tina but she gets mad because she feels like sloppy-seconds after Minnie turned him down. Then she shuts him down like it's closing time. How the Knight-y has fallen.

Well, here's what we've all been waiting for. Fiz is a desperate woman and she decides to do what any sane person would do: go to the prison and setup a protest outside the front by chaining herself to the railing and refusing to budge until she sees John Stape. It seems her little act of defiance has caught the attention of the prison manager who is not happy about the bad attention she's generating. She's got a few supporters now chanting with her "break your rules, save John's life!" John is called to the prison manager's office and sees on the CCTV that Fiz is chained outside with a sign asking him to marry her. John finally agrees to see Fiz, and they embrace when they see each other. It is kind of romantic, if you don't think about it. I must mention at no time does he seem suicidal to me. He admits to Fiz he thought about suicide, but he'd never do it. The little weasel! This whole suicide watch was probably taken from some evil twisted little chapter in the David Platt handbook! There are comical undertones when the visit is up and John Stape is torn away from his Fiz whilst she protests he that answer her question. John says that he will marry her, that he loves that Fiz Brown! How romantic. Almost.

Earlier Sally suspected to Julie that John Stape could just be faking this suicide watch all for the attention. I think she's right. You know, Sally could have made a top-notch detective. One of those hard-knocks with humble beginnings, a shady past and a chip on her shoulder. Well, at least a good TV detective. Sally says she saw right through John Stape from the start. Girlfriend, please. Sally now has it in her head that if Rosie buys into Underworld that equals a promotion to PA for her. She every so subtly tells Luke that if he made some "managerial" changes (ie. her to PA instead of Janice) that she might be inclined to use her influence over Rosie regarding an investment in Underworld. She's planting seeds and she doesn't have a green thumb.

Rosie is still going on her mad spending sprees much to the disapproval of Sally and Kevin especially. Rosie meets with Luke later in the pub and lays it out for him: she wants 10% and to be totally hands-on. Rosie says she has no interest in being a silent partner and is not one to fade into the background. Nobody puts baby in the corner!

Coronation Street Weekly Update, June 22 2009

Greetings and welcome to another weekly update bringing you all the goings-on and gossip from the cobbles.

All’s not well at the Websters’ this week. First off, Kevin grows close to Molly. “Give me a dopey mechanic with a hairy back any day,” winks Molly to Kevin in the garage. These are magic words to Kevin’s ears after years of Sally nagging him to have a wash and not get oil on her pouffe.

As if the imminent affair of grease monkey and corner shopgirl was not bad enough, Rosie Webster’s only gone spend, spend, spend crazy with the hundred and fifty grand John Stape’s given to her. She blows a small fortune on a Penny Chew (well done, writer Mark Wadlow) designer handbag. “It’s not Penny Chew,” she smirks at Sophie, who knows nowt, but giggles just as we do at Rosie’s pretentiousness over her new handbag.

“It’s Penny Chiew. C. H. I. E. W,” she cries. That’s Rosie ripped off to the tune of three grand for a leather bag, then. That’s R. I. P. P. E. D. O. F. F. She also splashes the cash to buy champagne in the Rovers and the company of new best mate Minnie. “It’s blood money, give it back it’s tainted,” says Kevin. “Ooh, leave her alone,” coos Sally, hoping to have her mortgage paid off, a holiday to Barbados and a new Primark coat. Rosie’s other plans for the cash involve investing in Underworld. “I want to invest 10% and be very hands-on,” she coos to Luke Strong who doesn’t know which bit of Rosie's offer to get excited about first.

Now then, regular readers will know I can’t stand the Windasses. I really can’t, All they ever do is go “Eeeh, our Gary,” by the sofa every week. But the one redeeming feature of Eddie Windass, if you’ll allow me, is that he bakes. I bake too so I’m with him on this one and I love this little endearing feature of his. I can’t cook much but by ‘eck, I can bake. Anyway, Eddie bakes an apple and blackberry tart to take in for Gail to help make amends for Ted’s heart attack. Gail takes the tart in spite of herself and settles down to eat it with a smile on her face and a fork.

Jack returns from Spain this week and is rumbled by Tyrone who discovers Jack hasn’t been to Blackpool after all. Not only has he been to Spain, he’s been with that Connie woman too. Tyrone’s jealous and angry of Jack spending time with anyone but Vera and is rude and offhand to both Connie and Jack when Connie come for tea. As Tyrone berates Molly for using Vera’s best dish to serve up the sherry trifle, Vera’s photo falls off the sideboard and crashes to the floor. “See,” says Tyrone as he glares at Connie. “It’s a sign. Vera’s not ‘appy,”. Jack has a little word with me laddo when Connie’s gone home and says he’s not best pleased about Tyrone’s attitude to his new lady friend.

Fiz, for reasons best known to herself, goes to see John Stape in prison this week, again. John doesn’t want to see her. He hasn’t sent her a visiting order but this doesn’t deter Fiz. She chains herself to the railings and causes a scene that gathers a mob and almost turns into a mini-riot. She demands to see Stape and then unfurls a giant banner that reads: “John Stape, Marry Me”. The Guvnor brings John to his office and they watch Fiz on the monitor as a sly smile creeps across creepy Stape’s face. Finally Fiz is let in to see John, who says yes to her proposal and is led back to his cells with a simpering air about him. Let’s hope it’ll not be long before Fiz sees sense. I mean, really sees sense.

Elsewhere this week, Slug returns to slither about in the Rovers in a new suit demanding everyone call him Neil. Steve wants to know why Becky hasn’t told him that her ex has turned up drinking in the Rovers and wonders if there’s summat going on.

Eileen’s face set its default position to ‘fairly happy’ this week when kids entertainer General Custard aka Jesse Chadwick, returned to the Street and she swapped phone numbers with him. She’s either hoping for a date or wants to hire him for Jason’s next birthday.

And that’s just about that for this week.

Find out more about these Coronation Street Weekly Updates.

Coronation Street writers this week were Damon Rochefort, Mark Wadlow, David Lane and Julie Jones.

Glenda
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Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com/