Coronation Street Blog: Conversation Street podcast celebrates 10th anniversary with Top 5 Favourite Things

You may remember last week we revealed that our friends at the Conversation Street podcast were celebrating their 10th anniversary this month.

They're running a special cast vs fans quiz to celebrate and you can read all about that here.

I spoke to Michael and Gemma, who run the podcast, about their special anniversary and asked them how they'd be celebrating the big event.

How will you both, as a couple, celebrate your 10th anniversary - bottle of Newton & Ridley and a hot pot?

Michael and Gemma: We'll be going up to Manchester for the week leading up to the podcast's anniversary, so we're sure there'll be plenty of opportunities to celebrate! We've made a good number of trips up there over the past ten years, so there are a few favourite places we'd like to revisit and friends to catch up with as well. We're sure we'll find our way to Jennie McAlpine's restaurant, Annie's, for a hot pot at some point, and we'll definitely be hanging around Media City quite a bit too! Plus there's the Cast vs Fans quiz that we'll be publishing that week too, which we're excited to share with everyone!

What have been your top 5 highlights of the podcast over the years that you're particularly proud of?

Michael and Gemma: It's been wonderful being able to visit Manchester so many times and get to know the city. Manchester and Salford are both full of rich history and lovely places to visit, and we're always made to feel welcome. It's also meant we've been able to have a snoop around lots of places that Corrie has filmed on location in too, like Heaton Park, the canal where Richard Hillman famously met his watery demise and, going back a bit further in Corrie’s history, Tatton Park.

Something that we didn't necessarily expect when we started the podcast was how it would put us in touch with so many of the cast and production staff working on Coronation Street. Sally Ann Matthews was the first cast member to get in touch with us, and she's been a firm supporter of the podcast ever since, but we've also been lucky enough to meet and interview plenty of other cast members over the years too, and in the case of a few of them, become great friends!

Another of the cast members who was very good to us was Connor McIntyre, who kindly invited us on a tour of the set for our 250th episode. A few years later, we got another tour from Charlie de Melo too, who's the loveliest guy! Having the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes and get a sense of how our favourite show is put together was a really special experience, and has given us a real insight into the making of Corrie.

Every year, we donate December's money from our Patreon fund to a charity we select from those who have helped Coronation Street put together storylines in that year, such as The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, The Lily Foundation and Women's Aid. It means a lot to us to be able to give back to these charities who have helped with stories that have touched us and so many other viewers.

One of the nicest things about doing our podcast and being a Corrie fan in general is being part of a community of fans. Corrie viewers are funny, clever, insightful, kind and generous people, and it's been wonderful to get to know so many people over the years to talk about our shared passion for the Street. A special shout out to our wonderful Facebook group, where there's always plenty of fun discussion to be had!

Congratulations to Michael and Gemma!

Glenda Young

Novelist published by Headline