Coronation Street Blog: August 2016

Wednesday, 31 August 2016

Preview of tonight's Coronation Street - Weds 31 Aug

Wednesday 31st August
MARIA’S FEARS PLAY INTO CAZ’S HANDS Caz is disappointed when Maria tells her that grateful though she is, she’d like her to find somewhere else to stay. As Maria comforts Liam and promises him the burglar won’t come back, her phone rings but there’s nobody there. Maria’s clearly unnerved, meanwhile Caz kills the call and guiltily puts her mobile away. As Caz prepares to leave, Liam finds his dad’s watch in Caz’s bag. Will Caz be able to explain? Meanwhile unnerved by the weird phone calls, will Maria have a change of heart and ask Caz to stay?
SALLY LEADS FACTORY WALKOUT Aidan calls the girls together and asks for volunteers for overtime. One by one the girls refuse, angry with Johnny for docking their wages. When the girls demand to know how Johnny found out about their film ruse, Johnny refuses to say. Accusing the management of spying on them, Sally leads the girls out on strike. In the pub, the girls congratulate Sally for standing up to the management. Tim too is proud of her but warns her she’s wrong about Phelan.
STEVE HAS A WORD WITH LIZ Aware that there’s something up with Liz, Michelle puts pressure on Steve to find out what’s eating her. Steve promises to have a word. Steve lays the law down to Liz and tells her if she can’t disguise her feelings over the situation with Leanne then she needs to find somewhere else to live as he can’t risk losing Michelle. Liz is stunned.
ELSEWHERE Having reassured Eileen that she’s doing the right thing with Jason’s money, Phelan’s relieved when Eileen promises to transfer the £65k today. Todd calls in the cab office and is gutted to hear she’s at the bank transferring Jason’s money. Tim sympathises, and reckons Todd’s right not to trust Phelan. Todd tells Eileen she’s mad to invest in Phelan’s project but is Eileen prepared to listen?

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Tuesday, 30 August 2016

Coronation Street's Tristan Gemmill joins All Star Mr & Mrs

Tristan Gemmill, who plays Robert Preston in Coronation Street, will be putting in an appearance on All Star Mr & Mrs next week.

Tristan will be on the show with his wife, actress Emily Hamilton as they compete to win up to £30,000 for their chosen charity.

The show also features Dr Who star Peter Davison and his wife Elizabeth Morton and TV presenter Amanda Byram and her husband Julian Okines.

You can watch Tristan on the show on Wednesday 7 September on ITV at 8pm. We'll post a reminder on the day too!

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Coronation Street Episode Review Monday 29th August

Maria! I just met a girl called Maria! It's a bank holiday nightmare for Mrs Connor née Sutherland as Eva's idea of looking out for her is to get the crimper do to her highlights ("I've got more roots than Kunta Kinte!") and tries to bully her into going out with her and Aidan, as well as enduring Audrey's hypocritical remarks ("A sensible girl with her feet on the ground, but when it comes to men!"), then finds out her flat has been broken into, is attacked by a burglar, hits her head, and ends up with Caz living with her all over again. On the face of it, this is the karma that Eva believes in, as, earlier, Maria spotted Caz sleeping rough on the Red Rec and didn't help her beyond giving her some small change. But Caz makes her own luck and, having already made friends in the homeless community, has persuaded a man to break in to scare Maria, so she'll want someone (Caz) around for protection. "You'll be safe with me," she tells Maria as the latter asks her to stay the night. But will she, Caz? Will she?

Sleeping arrangements are tonight's theme. Leanne is moving into Nick's, helped by Gail, with a peace offering of a peace lily, Liz, shooting daggers at Gail every time she talks about "her" incipient grandchild, and Steve, compaining about a pouffe hurting his fingers. Liz, not bothered about one day being in her sixties - "Why worry about the distant future" *cough* - is very worried about Gail already talking about Harry and unborn baby Battersby having sleepovers when she, Liz, won't be able to have anything to do with her grandchild. Steve can't see the problem; Liz will already be living with a newborn, his and Michelle's baby, but Liz thinks you can't share out kids "like slices of cake."

Leanne moves out, Aidan moves in, apart from he's not packed yet. He spends much of tonight's ep persuading Eva to have nothing more to do with Maria, something Eva is quite keen on after Maria's satisfying salon rant. Aidan thinks that if Eva finds out about the sofa shenanigans with Maria, Eva'll dump him, not seeing that if he doesn't put his Debenhams suits and his bottles of Dior Homme into a suitcase soon, she will break up with him.

Another one enjoying the Victoria Court lufestlye is Jenny, who spends the night with Johnny, although she eschews his cafetiere for "tea and toast amongst Rita's nicknacks". He must have done something right though, because when the factory girls down tools in order to guzzle popcorn, set up a makeshift cinema with Sean's projector and a sheet, and talk all the way through (the seventeenth viewing of) Titanic, she dobs them in to Johnny and he docks their pay.

The sleeping arrangements of the entire community are Evil Phelan and Villainous Vinnie's (fake) concern as they press forward with the flats development, bribing Cllr Metcalfe with compliments and dinner time drinks. Sally, to her credit, is unsure about the plan once she's discovered that it would lead to the demolition of the Calcutta Street community hall, which houses disabled adults film club, Oakhill Fencing, Under 11s Dodgeball abd Feral Folk Choir (all sixty of them). Instead of doing the easy thing, given that this development is never going to happen, and including a new community centre in the plans, Phelan gets Alex on his side and incorporates independent living flats into the bogus scheme. "I've been in this game a long time," quoth Phelan. He certainly has.

Gary, although staying out of Pat's way, knows what he's like: "Once Phelan gets his claws into something, he won't let go." Seeing Craig overdoing it in the gym, he persuades him to try lighter weights and also to keep an eye on Bethany. On hearing this, Bethany gets the wrong end of the stick and infers a romantic interest on Gary's part. I think we know who Gary's next girlfriend is going to be, don't we? Clue: it's not a 16 year old.

Rachel Stevenson - personal blog

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Spoilers for next week's Coronation Street, Sep 5 - 9

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

Week of Monday 5 September to Friday 9 September

Nick tries to reveal Leanne's baby news to Michelle, Todd moves in with Billy after Eileen chucks him out, David cuts Lauren’s hair off, Caz develops feelings for Maria, Craig goes in search of his dad.

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

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Monday, 29 August 2016

Mary's Burning Man

I was curious as to whether there actually is a festival called Burning Man, something Mary mentioned recently. It turns out, there is. It started in 1986 when two men decided to build a "man" out of scrap wood, soak it in gasoline and burn it on a beach near San Francisco for the solstice. Since they used gasoline (petrol), it went up like the sun flare but nobody got hurt.

The Burning Man leaped from 8 to 15 to it's current 60 feet tall and the popularity of the event now sees nearly 70,000 people attending. It's now held in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada where a temporary city, Black Rock City, rises up every year and it's a full blown themed festival with a midway and art installations and all sorts. After the event, the temporary city vanishes from the desert without a trace. Read more about it here.

The thing is, when I read the story of that first outing of the eight foot tall effigy, this little detail struck me:

"The next thing we knew, a woman, impetuously, ran at the figure, and we had the urge to stop her, but it was too late. The wind was shunting all the flames to one side, and so she ran up to him and she took him by the hand, and stood there. And I think Jerry still has a souvenir photo, and you see the little hand down in the corner of it, holding his hand."

And do you know, I like to think that maybe that was our Mary! It could have been, you know, in an alternative world where Weatherfield exists and free spirits like Mary Taylor abide. It seems like a Mary sort of thing to do, doesn't it? It's more probable, however, that Mary ended up at the current location in Black Rock Desert where it relocated in the early 1990s because she explained "My dream to drive through to the Grand Canyon, the majesty of Mother Earth at her most inspiring, took a wrong turn coming out of Nevada". That wrong turn probably didn't lead her to the beach in San Francisco but maybe that's only because the writer didn't know about the hand holding of the burning effigy.

Tvor (@tvordlj on Twitter)

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Coronation Street fan of the week - Tracey Annette in Salford

It's time to meet another Coronation Street fan of the week.
Would you like to be our Corrie fan of the week?
Find out more here!

Who are you and where are you from?
Tracey Annette, I live in Salford.

How long have you been watching Corrie?
Since 1965, so I'm told. I'd have been a few months old. I can't ever remember not watching Coronation Street.

Who are your favourite female and male characters - and the reasons why?
At the moment my favourite female character is Mary. I love imagining the life she's led. I love her stories, her optimism, her resilience, her upbeat attitude, her wit, her comedy face ... There's nothing I don't like about Mary. She's fantastic.

My favorite male character is a tie between Norris and Todd. But then there's David and Steve aggghhhhh ...... I can't choose. Oh I'm going right off piste and saying Phelan. I know we don't usually pick the evil ones as our favorites but this character is pure evil and has me completely engaged. I just can't wait for downfall and I want him found out by Todd and Michael. It's gonna happen soon and I can't wait.

What's been some of your favourite Corrie storylines over the years?
The Ken, Mike and Dierdre love triangle.
The triple murder committed by John Stape and the kidnap of Rosie Webster - comic genius!!!!!
Alma and the end of life scenes.
Hayley's final weeks.
When David turns psycho on Gail. Him pushing her down the stairs was a tense time.

And what would your fantasy Corrie storyline be?
Oh it's got to be about Mary finding love. The arrival of a mystery letter from a long lost love of decades ago explaining that he's searched the world for her. Of course, he'd be loaded and handsome and it would end in true love and happy ever after.

Have you any snippets or news about meeting any of the Corrie cast, or trips to the set, etc., that you'd like to share?
I was once walking down the side of the Midlands Hotel and walking towards me was Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch). There wasn't another soul on the street and I knew I had ages to work out something really great to say. She got closer and closer and nothing would come. I was gutted. She flashed me the broadest smile which I returned silently.

Would you like to be our Corrie fan of the week?
Find out more here!

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Preview of tonight's double Coronation Street - Mon 29 Aug

Monday 29th August
IT’S A DARK DAY FOR MARIA Instructing Aidan to pack his stuff and move it over to her flat, Eva heads out to find Maria. Aidan masks his concern. In the salon, Eva and Audrey needle away at Maria suggesting she should never have split up with Luke. Maria finally snaps and telling Eva her relationship with Aidan won’t last, storms out. Smarting after her exchange with Maria, Eva’s even more put out to discover Aidan hasn’t even started packing. Meanwhile finding the door to her flat open, Maria enters with trepidation as a burglar lurks in the shadows.
THINGS GO FROM BAD TO WORSE FOR CAZ As Maria and Liam walk Ozzy on the Red Rec, they’re shocked to find Caz sleeping rough on a bench. Explaining that the army has kicked her out, Caz hopes Maria will take pity on her. But pointing out she’s already had her fingers burnt once, Maria hands her some cash and tells her she’ll have to sort herself out. A kid approaches Caz on her bench and whilst he distracts her, his mate steals her rucksack. Caz is at the end of her tether.
SALLY AND PHELAN GO HEAD TO HEAD Having cast her eye over Phelan’s development proposal, Sally assures him he has her full support. But when she finds out from Tim that the proposed development will mean the knocking down of the community hall, Sally tells Phelan and Eileen she may have to withdraw her support. Phelan fumes.
ELSEWHERE Loved up after spending the night with Johnny, Jenny tells him she’d better get going as they wouldn’t want anyone to spot her leaving his flat. With Johnny out at a meeting, the girls down tools, produce an array of snacks and sit back to watch a film in the factory. Jenny’s appalled. Concerned for Bethany’s welfare, Gary asks Craig to keep an eye on her.

Monday 29th August
MARIA COMES FACE TO FACE WITH FEAR Shoving Maria out of the way, the burglar makes a run for it. Maria falls, cracking her head on the edge of a table. Caz calls at Maria’s flat and is horrified to discover she’s been attacked. While tending to Maria’s wound, Caz phones the police to report the burglary. The police question Maria who breaks down as she relives her ordeal. Caz comforts her. Scared at the thought of being on her own, Maria asks Caz if she’ll stay over. Caz is only too pleased to act as Maria’s rock but is there to this than meets the eye?
SALLY HAS A CHANGE OF HEART Sally explains to Phelan and Eileen how the building he intends to pull down currently houses a film club which Alex attends. Realising he needs to have Alex on side, Phelan takes him for a drink. Phelan calls at No.4 with Alex in tow and explains to Sally that he’s had a rethink and would like to include some extra affordable housing. Tim remains sceptical.
NICK AND LEANNE PUT THE PAST BEHIND THEM Having brought in the last of Leanne’s things, Nick cracks open a bottle of fizz and tells Liz, Michelle, Steve, Leanne and Dev how happy he is that they’re back together.
ELSEWHERE When Kate warns the factory girls that Johnny’s on his way back, they quickly kill the film and clear up the debris. Johnny enters to find the girls beavering away. Grabbing a moment with Johnny, Jenny gives him the heads up on how the factory girls have been taking him for a ride. Fuming, Johnny accuses the girls of wasting work time and docks their wages. As Sean suspects someone grassed them up Jenny squirms. Craig explains to Bethany how Gary has asked him to keep an eye on her. Bethany’s quietly chuffed at Gary’s interest in her.

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Sunday, 28 August 2016

Pics: Coronation Street on Tour opens in Glasgow

Corrie on Tour opened to fans yesterday at the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow. For the first time outside of Manchester, Coronation Street’s iconic cobbles, sets, props, costumes and memorabilia have gone on tour.

Corrie on Tour is at the SECC in Glasgow until 1st January 2017 before relocating - possibly to Belfast.

An impressive, purpose built inflatable showdome – the largest touring structure in the UK – will feature authentic sets and preserved memorabilia in a compelling and extraordinary environment.

Tickets are now on general sale at ticketmaster.co.uk/coronationstreet
You can follow Corrie on Tour on twitter @CorrieOnTour where some of these great fan pics have been tweeted.

Blogger Sunny Jim and I are braving a 5.40am start on Wednesday 31st August to catch a train to Glasgow. We'll be visiting the new Corrie on Tour and will bring you all the pics and fan information in a blog post afterwards.

In the meantime, you can watch a short video on the STV website showing exclusive behind-the-scenes setting up of Corrie on Tour! ... It's here!

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Coronation Street double episode review, Friday 26 August 2016

Whether or not the bins were to go out front or back didn’t remain a pressing issue for long on Friday’s double Corrie, as a number of lies took centre stage to varying effect.

Universal smiles greeted Nick as Eva and Simon found him making morning coffee at Leanne’s flat, which, of course, can only mean one thing. It's all moving rather quickly for the couple, and Nick has gone from uncertainty to asking Leanne that she and Simon not only move in with him, but that he be declared as the father of her baby. Nick may like to think he has snipped Gail’s apron strings, but she appears the main motivation behind this latest suggestion, as he thinks she will cope better with the news that they’re back together if she believes the child is his.

I do enjoy a Platt convention, and there have been interviews at Weatherfield station less intense than Gail’s interrogation of Nick and Leanne in the Rovers as they confirm they’re back on.

It wouldn’t be like Tracy Barlow to see them emerge from the antenatal clinic, and not reveal this to maximum effect, however, and announcing their news in front of the Platts is the only thing to put Gail on mute, temporarily at least. This would appear to leave Leanne with no choice but to publicly announce her pregnancy, and say that Nick is the father.

Meanwhile Liz and Steve watch agog from the bar with as many questions as Gail. This, together with Michelle's obliviousness, was played for comedic effect, and while I did laugh, it's perhaps at odds with the seriousness of the situation. Steve didn't cover himself in glory by confronting Leanne in the bathroom and acting like this was the best solution ever. He even raised a toast with the couple despite looks from Leanne which I'd never wish to be on the receiving end of.

While I do like Leanne and Nick as a couple, their history aside, I'm not yet sure how I feel about how this is playing out.

Meanwhile, Michael is at home with Max and Lily in the wake of her first birthday without their Mam. Sensitive to how Max is feeling, Michael agrees to help him find Kylie’s favourite beach pebble in the garden. After he does, Michael presents a shoebox into which Max can put his memories of his Mam. This was a beautiful set of scenes and more fitting of Lily's first birthday without Kylie than the Platts arguing in the Rovers, as amusing as it was.

Gary continues to be a concerned friend to Bethany, and is astute enough to spot there’s more going on behind the diet pills, which she insists she’s stopped taking, than she is making out. He later finds her in tears at the bus stop and it transpires she’s failed three exams. Gary encourages her to tell her Mam, and he’s by her side as she does. Sarah blames herself and feels terrible even though Bethany says she can resit them.

Later, however, Gary catches Lauren taunting Bethany at the gym and jumps in just after Bethany throws a punch. After kicking Lauren out, Gary tells Bethany the school must know and gives her two choices; tell her Mam, or he goes with her. I'm glad she opts for the latter, as this storyline of Gary offering support and encouraging her to share her problems is right up my street.

Aidan is a man on the edge and thinks Maria’s making it too obvious that she’s trying to avoid Eva. He wants them to act normally yet, as Maria points out, he has called into the salon when she’s alone without getting a haircut. After a reluctant trip to the gym with Kate, Sophie and Eva, Maria becomes more than Eva’s boxercise punch bag as she extends the hand of friendship to help her find a man after breaking up with Luke.

I'm enjoying Aidan's palpable panic in this storyline, and Maria certainly has the feel of a loose cannon about her at times, so it's justified. It will be interesting to see how they both cope with Eva's mission to see Maria paired off.

Vinny may appear to have the upper hand on Phelan when he cops that the money needed for the development is coming out of Eileen’s pocket, and not his, but I still think Phelan would have him for breakfast if it came to it.

When she returns from Thailand to reveal that Jason thinks the investment is a great idea, the relief on Phelan's face is followed closely by a set of eyes peeping over an unassuming mug that would give jaws a run for his money.

By Emma Hynes

www.emmahynes.net
Twitter: @ELHynes
Facebook: @EmmaHynesWrites
Instagram: emmalouhynes

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Pics: Nick and Leanne's three Coronation Street weddings

As Nick and Leanne get back together - and I love this pairing, by the way - let's have a look back at their three previous weddings. Although they've had three weddings, only two of them ended in marriage.

Wedding number one - 1998

Leanne started Nick in late 1997. Gail instantly disapproved as she did not like the Battersbys. Leanne and Gail frequently clashed, but this did not stop the teenagers from running away to Scotland to get married at Gretna Green in January 1998.
However, when Nick met Darren Whateley, the man who had killed his father, Brian, the relationship started to strain. And when Leanne told Nick she was pregnant with his baby he was horrified at the thought of becoming a dad. Furious, he demanded that she abort the unborn child and pretend to everyone else that she had miscarried the baby. Leanne reluctantly agreed, but their relationship couldn't survive such trauma and they consequently divorced.

Wedding number two - Christmas 2012 - the one that didn't end in marriage

In June 2012, Leanne got back together with Nick after divorcing Peter. Leanne realised that she loved Nick and proposed to him in the Rovers. Nick suggested a Las Vegas wedding but just as they were departing Peter and Carla returned. Simon refused to leave and Nick cancelled the trip to Vegas. Nick revealed to Leanne that he had rebooked the wedding for Christmas Day.

On the morning of the wedding, Leanne offered herself to Peter, who didn't want her as Carla had returned from abroad. She went ahead and decided to marry Mr Second Best, Nick, instead. But at the wedding ceremony Eva revealed the truth about why Leanne was late, Nick cancelled the wedding and they split up.

Wedding number three - January 2013

Realising they still loved each other, Leanne rebooked the wedding to Nick. Leanne and Nick re-married on 11th January 2013. The wedding reception was held in The Bistro.

They divorced in 2014 after Leanne had a fling with Kal. Nick's brain injury symptoms made him lash out and hit Leanne.

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Corrie Weekly Update - Sapphire, Sonia and the seven year affair

Corrie weekly updates from 1995
All the wit and warmth of Weatherfield
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It’s the Nazir’s 45th wedding anniversary and while they celebrate their Sapphire anniversary, Sonia turns up in a sari. Now then, Sonia, it appears, is more than just an old friend of the family, she’s been having a seven-year saucy affair with Sharif. There’s already too many words beginning with the letter ‘s’ in this sentence so I won’t bother you with another short one telling you what I think of this storyline.

Bethany starts taking diet pills after Max jokes and calls her fat when she breaks Lily’s swing that David’s put up in the garden. David hasn’t fixed the swing right, there’s a screw loose – in both David and the swing. He holds the screw in his hand, tight, until it draws blood. Coping with Kylie’s death he is not. Convinced she’s overweight, Bethany works out at the gym and collapses in a sweaty heap. Bully Lauren also throws her weight around and Bethany confides in lovely Gary.

Leanne decides to move to Liverpool but when she’s on the bus in the station and before it pulls away, Nick gets on and begs her to stay. He knows about the baby after Eva tells him and tells Leanne he’ll bring it up as his own. Well, when Gail finds out, ooh, you should have seen the face on her, it was Corrie gold. She’s never liked Leanne. Nick asks Leanne and Simon to move into his flat up at Victoria Court. This leaves Leanne’s flat available for Eva to move Aidan in, something Eva wants but something Aidan doesn’t.

Eileen returns tanned from Thailand and Phelan’s straight onto her asking if Jason wants to invest in his dodgy scam. Eileen confirms that it’s what Jason wants and Phelan is over the moon that Eileen’s as thick as he thought.

Short and sweet, that’s just about that for this week.

Remember, you can sign up to get these Corrie weekly updates by email at http://www.corrie.net/updates/weekly/subscribe.htm

This week’s writers were Chris Fewtrell (Monday double); John Kerr (Wednesday); Joe Turner (Friday double). Find out all about the Coronation Street writing team at http://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.com/2008/11/exclusive-all-current-corrie-writers.html

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

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Coronation Street: Bigger than The Olympics?

A guest post written for us by Paul Lanagan - he's on twitter @CorrieArt

Coronation Street fans' dreams came true today, in more ways than one, when ITV threw open the doors to the drama's filming backlot to a lucky selection of visitors as part of the nationwide Team GB event. Meanwhile, in Manchester city centre, other fans were able to watch the colourful Coronation Street float parading as part of the city's Pride celebrations.

The famous cobbles at the new exterior set, which opened in Trafford Park in 2013, were partly covered up with artificial turf as the Street was transformed into a sporting arena with a climbing wall, table tennis tables, hula hoops and portable badminton courts. Fans who applied for the free tickets (and were lucky enough to be chosen in the ballot) rubbed shoulders with Olympians, sportsmen and sportswomen plus a famous face or two from the Corrie cast.

Even the actors joined in with what was billed as 'the country's biggest sports day' with many other similar events taking place around the country. The Corrie cast and crew tried their hands at table tennis, hula hoops, badminton and rock climbing. Indeed it was like watching the Classic Coronation Street episode (Ep 2428 July 9th 1984) when Bet Lynch, Hilda Ogden and Vera Duckworth supported the Rovers Return team against the Flying Horse at the Pub Olympics, with bunting and flags stretching across the Street both then and now.

Corrie actors in attendance today included:

Rhea Bailey (Caz Hammond);
Richard Hawley (Jonny Connor);
Michael Le Vell (Kevin Webster);
Dolly-Rose Campbell (Gemma Winter);
Daniel Brocklebank (Rev Billy Mayhew);
and Marc Anwar (Sharif Nazir) who was booed and hissed at for his character's recent infidelities but was still in high demand for photos and autographs.

Following the closure of the highly popular 'Coronation Street: The Tour' at the old Granada Studios backlot in December 2015, the Team GB event offered Coronation Street fans an exclusive opportunity to visit the actual filming location of the soap and while many of those in attendance had clearly come especially for the Corrie element, the sporting aspect was definitely not ignored. This was demonstrated in the warm atmosphere and excitement around the sporting stars in attendance, which included:

Elinor Barker (Rio Olympic Gold Medalist, women's team pursuit, cycling);
Bianca Walkden (Rio Olympic Bronze Medalist, taekwondo);
Kelly Sibley (London Olympic Bronze Medalist, table tennis);
Ellie Downie (gymnast);
Becky Downie (gymnast) and
Harry Fairchild (table tennis).
Marcus Ellis (Rio Olympic Bronze Medalist, men's doubles).

In fact, unlike at the old Corrie Tour where visitors clamoured to be photographed outside the famous Rovers Return, many were today totally engrossed in trying their hands at the free sporting activities on offer around Coronation, Rosamund and Victoria Streets and ignored the iconic Corrie buildings.

The Team GB event coincided with the Manchester Pride Festival which celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender life and sees revellers enjoying a 'Big Weekend' of entertainment in and around the Canal Street area of the city. Coronation Street traditionally participates in the Pride Parade with a decorated float and this year was no exception. Corrie's assistant director, Woody Wade, tweeted a hint of the float's theme last week and today it was finally revealed at the Liverpool Road starting point as being fairy tale inspired.

Spectators who lined the route were visually treated to ginger bread versions of the Rovers Return pub and corner shop which were adorned with icing, Bourbon biscuits, wafers, jammy dodgers, candy canes and jelly sweets. The float's tagline was "Once upon a time, a boy called Tony Warren...." in homage to the creator of Corrie who's fairytale struggle to get the show made was dramatised in Daran Little's 'The Road to Coronation Street' in 2010. Kym Marsh (Michelle McDonald) and Faye Brookes (Kate Connor) dressed as princesses while Katie McGlynn (Sinead Tinker) was pixie-perfect as Tinkerbell and Rhea Bailey (Caz Hammod) was a very mad Mad Hatter.

Other Team Corrie faces supporting the float included:

Daniel Brocklebank (Rev Billy Mayhew)
Sair Khan (Alya Nazir)
Patti Clare (Mary Taylor)
Mickey North (Gary Windass)
Antony Cotton (Sean Tully)
Debbie Rush (Anna Windass)
Martin Sterling (Senior Storyliner)
Damon Rochefort (Scriptwriter)
Peter Eccleston (Props Buyer) and
Johnny Grimshaw (Supporting Artiste).

Today could easily have been renamed 'Coronation Street Day' in Manchester as #TeamCorrie enthusiastically showed its support for the country's Olympians and LGBT community, but as this weekend's festivities in Manchester come to an end, fans now have the new 'Coronation Street on Tour' exhibition to look forward to up in Glasgow.

Paul Lanagan, twitter @CorrieArt

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Coronation Street weekly awards for Aug. 22 - 26

Temper, temper: Loved that they got the little one that plays Lily to look all angry! What a little star!

Make it stop award: Another contrived plot point: I totally refuse to believe Craig would ever humiliate Bethany by posting that photo online or even take it in the first place. I'm sure she can find plenty of reasons to neck diet pills without that happening.

Seven Year Itch: Revelations of Sharif's 7 year affair sure came out of nowhere and then after we heard how much he loves his wife, has no regrets and has planned a bucket list trip across Europe for her.

It's all about Me-chelle: Surely Steve's questions for the doctor are every bit as valid as any Michelle might have but she obviously didn't think so and rudely interrupted him.

Nick "The Flash" Tilsley was able to get into the city center through traffic, park, and get to the bus before it left and all that *after* Leanne told Simon "it's not long now" (before the bus was due to leave) and have a conversation with Simon that he managed to get Nick to overhear, making it even closer to departure time.

Risky Business award: Sharif and Sonia cuddling in the kitchen with Yasmeen upstairs!

Parenting fail: What's Nick doing offering a 13 year old coffee?

Musical ambience "How Will I Know (if he really loves me) while Aidan is grilling Maria in the salon.

Nice Guy award: Michael giving Max the memory box was exactly what the lad needed.

Lines of the week:
Nick about Gail "Walls have ears"
Steve "Don't worry about the fare because I'll sort it" Leanne "Yeah. but maybe keep the
fist pump until after I've gone, yeah?"
Yasmeen "45 years married to him and you wonder why I'm crying!"
Nick "Have I got Mug written across my forehead?"
David "The thing is, brother, life's a bitch" Nick "So what's the point" (the point is you grab happy where you can find it for however long you get to keep it)
Leanne "I thought you probably would have moved on by then. Met someone" Nick "Like who?" Leanne "Like someone that's got a lot less baggage than me" Nick "I'm not exactly traveling light, am I?"
Yasmeen, going out the door "I won't be long. Look after her" (So that's you given permission, then!)
Vinny to Phelan "If you think I'm going to wait for you to woo your way to 65 grand, you've got another think coming"
Leanne "You mean lie to everyone?" Nick "I mean not treat everyone to every detail of our messy lives" (that's one way to put it, I suppose)
Eva "I love punching things, me" (Maria didn't look too happy with that thought)
Gail "It was only 5 minutes ago that Carla was the love of your life and look how that ended" (she's got a point)
Gail "This is a rebound and it's a completely bad bounce" (I agree)
Michelle "We're all in this together. All four of us!" (Awkward!!)

Tvor - twitter @tvordlj & @bluenosecorrie

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First-look pics: Nick confronts Steve over Leanne's baby

Here's some preview pictures from ITV from the episode of Coronation Street to be shown on Monday 5 September 2016.

This is the dramatic moment when Nick confronts Steve after discovering he is the father of Leanne’s baby.

Leanne confesses to Nick next week that she slept with Steve and that she is carrying his baby. Whilst Nick had been prepared to bring up someone else’s child he struggle with this revelation and Leanne is devastated when he walks out on her.

Determined to get more answers Nick asks an unsuspecting Steve to go with him on a test drive for the new Bistro delivery service he is planning with Streetcars.

But once the two men are on the road it becomes evident to Steve that Nick has more on his mind than food deliveries when he asks Steve to stop the car on some waste ground and demands he gets out.

How will Nick deal with this turn of events? Will he be able to stay with Leanne and bring up Steve’s baby with the father living just around the corner? Will Nick believe that Michelle deserves to know the truth?

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Saturday, 27 August 2016

Pics: Fans on the Corrie set enjoy I am Team GB

The Coronation Street set was today opened to fans as part of I am Team GB. Here's Corrie fan Ryan Oxley on the set with Michael Le Vell (Kevin Webster) and Richard Hawley (Johnny Connor).

Pics courtesy of https://twitter.com/rybazoxo

ITV opened the doors to the Coronation Street set today, inviting people to take part in a whole host of sporting activities.

The exclusive and free event was suitable for all ages and sessions ran on hourly rotations from 10.00am – 4.00pm.

Pic: @bethano1

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Pics and video: Coronation Street at Manchester Pride 2016


Pic: @JohnnyGForce

Here are just some of the many pictures of this year's Coronation Street float at Manchester Pride. The pride parade takes place today, Saturday 27 August.

Pic: @CelebManchester

On the float from Corrie is Kym Marsh (Michelle McDonald), Daniel Brocklebank (Billy the vicar Mayhew), Faye Brookes (Kate Connor) and Sair Khan (Alya Nazir), Patti Claire (Mary Talor), Mike North (Gary Windass) and Corrie writer Damon Rochefort.