Let's start with the public's reaction to Maggie. How much are you aware of the reaction? How has it been when you've been out and about?
I don't go out of my way now to see anything that's going to be written online or anything like that. I don't Google myself! In general, I'd be like that whatever kind of show it was; if I was in a theatre show, I wouldn't read reviews. So, I'm basing it totally on literally people I know who watch the show, and it's been great. People do seem to like that we have already seen so many different sides to Maggie. I have also been meeting people on the streets here in Manchester who are going, "Oh, I'm really looking forward to you serving people tea!" I've had to say to them, "Well, I have offered people tea in the show," because I did; I offered Debbie and Glenda some tea. So we've covered that. It's a compliment to the show that they're hoping they'll see me drinking a cup of tea, which they will very soon.
I think people are just really delighted that there's such relatable stuff they can invest in with this new family, and that's great. It's been wonderful to just see how the new family have blended in. I was genuinely terrified that maybe we'd stick out or wouldn't look right. Introducing a whole family can be a lot. It’s like when people move into a real neighbourhood and everyone goes, "Ooh, who are you? Who are they?" But no, I think the reception has been very warm.
The writers have done a great job, haven't they?
Absolutely. And I know it'll have come from the producers as well. They’re putting in little sly references to the fact that they're new. Things like when they're put on this neighbourhood chat app, and Maggie says, "Who's this Gail? She said she lived in France, like, what's she no business being on this app? And I'll tell her that!" Stuff like that has made the job of us arriving so much easier; it's so beautifully set out.
We've established her relationship with her family, her grandsons, and her daughter-in-law, Eva. She loves Ben and the boys, can you explain how she interacts with them and what her real feelings are?
Well, she's one of those very fierce women who's fiercely protective of the family. And that's even within the family group. Obviously, she just doesn't really approve of Eva. She may like her, and if Ben wasn't around, I'm sure they'd get on really well. But it's that thing of, you can approve of somebody until they're joining your family; then it's a whole other set of restrictions that need to be put in place. So far, there's been loggerheads going on there, and she's just so mean to Eva. It's really about to reach a crisis point, I believe. That rings true to me; this is what it's like to be part of a family. She sees herself as the matriarch; it's her way or the highway. That's always great as well because it means that a character can be perfectly unreasonable in a very understandable way.
And it makes for good comedy, all those barbs and snipes
Yes, they make for great comedy. There are some great lines coming up and ones that have been broadcast already. I think it's one of the things that Coronation Street does so well; it's like holding a mirror up to family life. One of the reasons you'll get to stay in a family, even when you're knocking several shades out of one another mentally, is if you can do it with humour as well.
One thing she's not aware of, which we the viewer are all aware of, is Megan and Ollie. She's kind of missed that one. Why do you think that is?
She has a particular blind spot when it comes to the youngest grandchild, Will. I suppose it's such an unexpected thing to happen in any family that I think that's why nobody has found out. They'll be completely blindsided, because it's the sort of wicked thing that you really don't expect, Also, Megan is a consummate liar and manipulator. Beth, who plays her, describes her as a dangerous narcissist and very, very clever at manipulating people. Because she looks so innocent and young herself, there's no way anyone is seeing anything glaring, if it's there at all. They've had some near misses. When the truth comes out I honestly think it's going to be life-changing for everyone.
It's coming up to her birthday. I imagine she's keen to be the centre of attention in the pub and have the party to end all parties. Tell us a little bit about that and the build-up to the party.
It is going to be a very big birthday. She's 65, which is a nod to the show's anniversary. The whole birthday thing is kind of a "Happy Birthday to the show" element too. When it comes to events, Maggie, we discover, is like anybody who's the head of the family, as she sees it. You put on your game face every day, you go out, and you do what you have to; you put on a performance, I think. What we'll find out during the birthday is we get to know a little bit more of the personal Maggie, whether she likes it or not.
Because birthdays are always a reflective time, aren't they?
They're always a kind of red letter day, and because it's a landmark birthday, it's inevitable that you would think about the past: what got you to where you are, and people that aren't around anymore. Things that have happened. You literally see her prepare for it. We've seen her put on a show on theme nights in the pub already, like during the cocktail night that was going wrong. But you see her almost exhausted before the big 65th, just going, "Right, it's showtime," and she literally says it to herself, puts on the lipstick, and goes out there.
How do we see the flashbacks of her life?
As all the merriment is going on around her, she remembers when they were growing up—she has two sons, one lives in America. We finally find out a bit more about her husband. For me, it was just the most magical, strange thing ever because there is a flashback scene that you see through Maggie's eyes, and I got to meet the younger me.
As an actress, you usually know your character's story when you do a play. Coming into a soap, you're only given a thumbnail sketch. How did you feel to know that you were actually going to be able to watch her past and how will that affect you playing her?
I haven't actually seen the scene yet, but I've read the script. Because it was going to be someone else being a younger me, I did ask to see what they were going to film. I was wondering, are they going to do something with the dialogue that I think, 'Oh no, I've been in the show for so long already and I didn't know that.' But happily, the incredibly skilful writing team made sure it was all fine.
To meet a younger me, and it's plausibly me—I wish I had looked that lovely when I was that age—a really lovely young woman who I was able to speak to. She saw me in character on one of the days when they were about to start filming. Then I met her and the young man playing my husband later when I was out of all my gear. I went over and said, "Look, be careful. This is what could happen to you if you don't look after yourself!" It was really lovely that we could have a relationship like that.
I'm absolutely longing to see it because sometimes if you're doing a flashback, you'll be in the flashback, of course. But this was properly going back in time The art department, the costume department, and the makeup team did such a great job of putting it together because anything retrospective is really hard to get the look and the writing right. They are just so brilliant on that, and the detail is fabulous.
Without giving too much away what do we find out in the flashback?
It's actually very moving when you see what happens in the flashback because it shows the difficulty of being a young mother. I won't say whether she was happy or unhappy in the marriage; you can decide for yourself, because there's no slant on it, it's just presented as what happened. It's intriguing, and it's one of those things that you know when you see it, that this will have repercussions somewhere, somehow. It could be way down the line. We don't know, so you'll be waiting for somebody to say, "Can I just ask you...?" and then it'll just take one question to unlock a whole load of things. It could even be a question from her son, Ben. It's obviously something they don't talk about.
Does it explain some of her behaviour? This putting on this show and this front and keeping the family strong and together.
Oh yes and about protecting her boys. Right from the beginning, we know that that's been a huge thing for her, and that's why she's so fierce. She's terrifying when she's like that. You'd be a fool not to be terrified of her, I think.
Have you based her on anybody?
What's happened to me is I'm just becoming more and more like my late mother Sheila as she grew older. She had this great way of fronting down any bad behaviour. Sometimes she'd only do it for a bit of attention; it was absolutely harmless, but she was a menace. It was a pure mischief factor with her, but she would also never explain and never apologise. Very Maggie. Sometimes I'll find myself saying things that the writers have written for her, but that sound so like my mother. I'm thinking, how is she in their heads as well? This may seem weird to say, but because bits of her—and more and more of her—are so like my late mother, it's like I'm getting to spend time with her, as well. Which is just bringing everything. I know she'd be thrilled. She'd be saying, "Were you doing me the other night on Coronation Street?" Because it wouldn't have been the first time I'd based a character on her. She would love it. She'd be thrilled, but particularly if her sisters were ringing to say, "Oh, that was very you, Sheila in last night’s episode.”
How pleased are you that the Driscolls are also at the centre of the Christmas Day episode?
Well, you know, it's such a big thing, growing up and everything, to watch the Christmas episode of Coronation Street. I will be watching it with some family this year, and it'll be just the strangest, most wonderful, and really surreal thing, because it's one of the traditions of Christmas television. I happen to know that the family will behave as badly as any other family at Christmas. We have to forgive a lot, I think, with families when it comes to Christmas, because somebody always dirties their bib, don't they? And Maggie behaves particularly badly, I will have to say. She's particularly mean to a range of people—it's not just one. It's a kind of equal opportunity insulting of everyone. And she's invited half the street around, so there's plenty of people there to choose from to insult or to just let be witness to the insulting of other people.
Glenda Young
Bestselling novelist published by Headline
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