Anne, the paper says, had to be helped off the set in tears because she could not bear to see madwoman Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly) smash up her front room with a hammer. Onlookers told how Anne, in the show since 1974, started crying: “Look what they are doing to my house… look what they are doing to it. It’s so horrible… I can’t bear to see this…” Cast members including Kate Ford, who plays Deirdre’s wayward daughter Tracy, and Bill Roache (husband Ken) had to lead her away from the smashed-up set in an effort to calm her down. They took her to the Green Room, where Anne eventually composed herself and completed the scenes, which took SIX HOURS to shoot.
A Corrie source said: “Anne is known to be emotional but these scenes really got to her and she obviously found it very hard to handle seeing the Barlows’ house being trashed. “It’s only a set, but in fairness she has spent a large part of her life in that front room. She was in a terrible way, absolutely wailing her eyes out. These were some of the most violent scenes many can remember. In all Anne had to take about four or five breaks.”
Viewers will see the drama next month as Becky launches the ferocious attack on love rival Tracy Barlow. The writers took inspiration from the Jack Nicholson horror film The Shining as Becky smashes in the Barlows’ front door yelling: “Heeere’s Becky!”
