Coronation Street Blog: Damon Alexis-Rochefort on writing 15 years of Corrie

There's a wonderful interview in Wales Online with Coronation Street writer Damon Alexis-Rochefort.

Damon has been writing for Corrie for 15 years and in the interview he talks about growing up in Wales.

"Eavesdropping on other people and listening out on turns of phrase and Corrie is made on that really. [Creator] Tony Warren used to say he wrote the first episode of Coronation Street after sitting under the table and listen to his aunties talking.

"Originally it was Elsie, Ena and Annie Walker and they represented three different kinds of women - the snob in the pub, the landlady, Elsie who was no better than she should be - the tart with the heart - and Ena the old battleaxe.

"And that’s why I love Corrie, it’s got those strong women and certainly my mother was a strong woman. I used to love listening to gossip."

Damon also says that he loved writing for Blanche Hunt.

"... she was one of my favourite characters, she could say all the things that no-one could say. And when Maggie Jones died I was very, very honoured to write the episode of her funeral. And then I was even more honoured when Bill Roache asked me to write the eulogy for her actual funeral, and I met a lot of her old friends from the theatre. Things like that are a great honour. Being to able to write a eulogy for one of your favourite actresses and then have it read out by Bill Roache at Salford Cathedral is pretty amazing."

You can read the full interview here.