Today I went along to the "Wonderful Wizards of Weatherfield: 50 years of Coronation Street - A Masterclass" at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. It was a Q & A with Katherine Kelly, TV critic Gareth Maclean, executive producer Keiran Roberts, and a BBC trustee called David Liddement.The photo shows the venue and my "other half" holding up the leaflets, by the way. It wasn't very well-attended, possibly because it was on at 11am on a weekday, but it was very entertaining and we also got a free Radio Times - result!
Main items of interest - Katherine Kelly looked wonderful and talked enthusiastically about the development of her role as Becky Macdonald. I was interested to learn that the writers and cast rarely meet, but that the actors have a large say in how their character develops - though not in the actual storylines. Katherine said that she made the decision for Becky to drink cider - apple juice and lemonade, apparently - and for her to be a smoker. She clearly loves being in Corrie and the producer seemed very keen on the character as well, saying that there is to be a big storyline with Becky, Steve and Tracy next year. I must say my heart sank at that point, as I'm not a fan of either Tracy or Becky (small doses only) - but let's move quickly on. We also got a sneak preview of next week's "wedding" episode, which looks hilarious. The looks on people's faces - Anna Windass's especially - are classic as the camera pans round when Claire drops the bombshell about Sophie and Sian snogging instead of minding the kids.
The tram crash was mentioned, of course - and apparently, it is a "homage" to the '67 one - but nothing new revealed. Five or six families' lives are to be "turned upside down" - but we knew that already.
For me, the highlight of the whole thing was a clip of an early episode of Corrie - it might have been the first one, I'm not sure - with Ena Sharples at full throttle in the corner shop. Long time fans will know immediately the scene I mean - it's the one where she talks about rolling away to "Crimmon", and says "you owe me an egg". Tony Warren's dialogue and Violet Carson's delivery are unbeatable, in my view.
Anyway - well worth ten quid (oh - less the free Radio Times!).
