Exclusive! Coronation Street Blog interviews

If you're famous - even just a little bit - and you're a huge Corrie fan with 10 minutes spare to write about your love for our favourite soap, please do get in touch.

All we ask is for you to write a few paragraphs about why you love Corrie so much, your favourite characters and storylines and if you've any snippets you can share from behind the scenes.

We can't pay, sorry, but we will donate £25 to a charity of your choice - and your work will be read by up to half a million Corrie fans worldwide. Yes, that's half a million Corrie fans reading our Coronation Street fan website every month.  We will of course link to and promote you and any website or links, including your chosen charity, you'd like us to include with your blog post. 

If you're interested, please email a couple of paragraphs and your chosen charity for the donation, to me at glenda.sunderland@gmail.com  Thank you!

Some of our exclusive VIP bloggers and interviews so far include:

• Crime writer Martina Cole
• BBC6 Music DJ Chris Hawkins
• Corrie scriptwriter Debbie Oates
• The Coronation Street Digital Editor
• EXCLUSIVE interview with David Neilson (Roy Cropper) by our bloger Martin. It's in three parts. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 
• Bishop of Jarrow
• TV writer Caroline Corcoran
• Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley Cropper)
• TV writer (and husband of Julie Hesmondhalgh) Ian Kershaw
• Edna Walker, the original Head of Wardrobe at Coronation Street. The woman who  dressed the Coronation Street icons.
• Downton Abbey and Titanic creator - Julian Fellowes
• Novelist Maeve Binchy
• TV presenter Jon Connell
• Paddington Bear (yes, really!)
• Writer and Journalist Anne Marie Scanlon
• Comedian Tommy Reckless
• Cllr Fraser McPherson 
• Radio presenter Jonny Mac

Our exclusive interviews with some of the Corrie cast, crew and special invited others...

• Scriptwriter Jonathan Harvey. Read it here.
• Corrie Director Terry Dyddgen-Jones. Read it here.
• Joe Duttine (Tim Metcalfe). Read it here.
• Krissi Bohn (Jenna Kamara)
• Princess Jordan (Corrie's Maltese transvestite)
• Scriptwriter Susan Oudot
• Janet Hampson - Coronation Street casting director
• Marc Baylis (Rob Donovan)
• Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts)
• Furquan Ashtar - Coronation Street story associate
• Corrie writer Jonathan Harvey 
• Behind the scenes with Mark Llewellin
• Q&A with Craig Gazey (Graeme Proctor)
• Rupert Hill aka Jamie Baldwin
• Corrie secrets from Digital Spy
• Jayne Tunnicliffe aka Corrie's Yana
• Corrie secrets from Inside Soap magazine
• Grace Dent's soap secrets
• Ian Wylie's Corrie gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Cold Feet visits Coronation Street

Photo: Me in my Cold Feet costume standing behind the counter of The Kabin - look out, Rita!
Photographer: Janet Horsfield

Here at the Coronation Street Blog, we know we're read and enjoyed by Corrie fans around the world. We even know that we've got our share of celebrity Corrie fans - and you can read all of our VIP blog posts here.

Today we bring you a celebrity blog post from ex-Cold Feet actress Lorelei King.  Lorelei is one of the most successful and accomplished American actresses working in the UK today. She has appeared in numerous film and TV shows, and is a well-known voice on the radio. She is a multi award-winning narrator of audiobooks, a writer, script editor, and co-founder of the digital publishing company, Creative Content Ltd.

In return for Lorelei's blog post we have donated £25 to her charity of choice which is Dementia UK, a charity of which she is an ambassador.

And now, it's over to Lorelei:

"I've lived in this country for thirty-eight years, and I first saw Coronation Street on a little black and white television in the sitting room of a Victorian house in North London. The accents were impenetrable to this American in those days, but something about the human drama kept me coming back - and over the years my ear attuned itself to Lancashire.

Over the years I've loved it all: the romances, the murders, the mayhem - but mostly the heart. Coronation Street, like no other show I've seen, perfectly balances heartbreak and humour. It is a real credit to the cast, crew and writers that the show is peopled with believable, lovable (and sometimes hateable!) characters.

For a few years I was lucky enough to appear in another Manchester-based series - Cold Feet (now enjoying a well-deserved revival).

One day when we were filming nearby, my make-up artist, Janet Horsfield (who worked on both shows), took me over to the Corrie set for a visit and to watch a bit of filming. I walked from one set, where I played a bossy, confident woman (David's boss Natalie), to another set, where I became a bashful, tongue-tied fan. To watch a scene being filmed in the Rovers, to sit in Vera's chair, to stand behind the counter of The Kabin - all thrilling beyond belief.

To this day it is my favourite TV show - and I hope it runs forever!"

Lorelei King - October 2016

Twitter: @LoreleiKing
Website: www.loreleiking.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/loreleiking

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Exclusive! VIP Blog Post - the man who's played 10 Corrie roles

Actor and writer Dave Dutton has very kindly taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street.  Dave is a man who has starred in Coronation Street in 10 different roles. These are:
1.  Delivery man (1983) to Baldwin's Casuals
2. Eric Priestley (February 1985)
3. Gasman (September 1989) who cut off Baldwin's Casuals
4. Bert Latham (December 1990 - 18 February 1991)
5. Insurance man (July 1995) who assessed Kevin and Sally's kitchen after Bill set fire to it
6. Harry Benson (9 January & 3 July 1998; 21 - 23 April 1999)
7. Photographer (22 November 2000) when Jack Duckworth was presented with a cheque for £59,631 from Skinners bookies.
8. Photographer (16 May 2001) who photographed Curly Watts and David Platt during Curly's election campaign.
9. Gerald Unwin (2003) who attended the wedding of his niece Shelley Unwin - manager of the Rovers Return - and who liked a drink, a smoke and the ladies.
10. Clifford, the nosy neighbour of Joy Fishwick (2011). The spritely "Kung Fu" Cliff who, along with serial killer John Stape, found the body of neighbour Joy Fishwick after karate-kicking the door open. He later attended her funeral and also caught Chesney trying to snoop at the deceased's property.

In return for this blog post we've donated £25 to Dave' charity of choice which is the Ronald McDonald House Charity

And now, it's over to Dave...

"December 9th 1960. I'm sitting with my mum in front of the telly in a terraced house in a cobbled street in the heart of Lancashire. A plaintive theme tune strikes up and we start to watch a new programme which we don't know much about. We soon will. As the action unfolds, we see characters that we recognise from the everyday life on our little  street. Mum shouts upstairs to my grandma: "Mother. Come quick and watch this new television programme!"
"What's it about?" shouts Mother.
"It's about people like us."
And it was.

But what that 13 year old lad didn't know was that over the years to come, he would play ten different characters in that very show which was to become a national institution beloved by millions. If you’d told him that on the first night of the show, he would have thought you were mad.

To be honest, I still can't quite believe it. I started doing extra work chucking darts in the Rovers; got the odd line or two and then finally landed a few episodes as a superstore owner who sold Ken Barlow new units to replace his Uncle Albert’s old sideboard.

I'd always wanted to be in the show I loved, even when I was trudging the streets as a cub reporter or, later on, writing comedy scripts for television. I'd no formal training or anything and no idea how to go about it but fate must've heard me and pushed me in the right direction. I will be forever grateful.

I won't go into all the parts I've played – suffice it to say that I've enjoyed every one of them and always had a kind reception from the cast and crew. Bill Roache has come up to me several times over the years and greeted me warmly with "Hello Dave. Lovely to see you again."

It's always a wrench to leave after every part, believe me. The highlights for me include Jack, Curly and me drunkenly holding a fox hunt in the middle of the street at night and being bashed over the head with a pan by Mavis when we chased the fox into her garden.

I also really loved playing my last part - Kung Fu Cliff: the martial arts pensioner who with a “yoko geri” kicked down a door to find one of John Stape’s many victims. It's all been good though. A dream come true.

Last year, I bumped into Liz Dawn and her husband on a cruise and we spent many happy hours talking about the Street. She told me she was hoping to appear in Emmerdale, which I'd done several times. It was great to see her materialise later on the other side of the Pennines.

Will I ever return to Coronation Street? Well I don't know the answer to that one but what I do know is I'm very thankful to have contributed in a small way to this massive part of our country’s cultural history.

Sadly, my grandma never got to see me appear in Corrie but my mum did and was extremely proud Although I don't think she could ever quite comprehend how I'd gone from watching Coronation Street in our living room to appearing on it in our living room!

Dave Dutton's website is at www.davedutton.co.uk 

And Dave is on twitter @DaveDuttonUK

If you would like to feature as a celebrity blogger in exchange for a charity donation, all details are here.

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Exclusive! Coronation Street VIP Blogger - The Bishop of Jarrow

The Bishop on a pilgrimage to Corrie

The Bishop of Jarrow has taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street.  If you're famous (even just a little bit) and would like to write about your love of Corrie in exchange for a charity donation, have a look here.

In return we're donating £25 to The Bishop's favourite charity, which is DePaul and their work with homeless young people in the North East.

And now, it's over to the Bishop of Jarrow.  You can follow him on twitter @BishopMark1
"I simply cannot remember when I first started following Corrie. But I think I have been following it on and off – sometimes more “on”, sometimes more “off” for well over twenty years.

So some of my most memorable episodes include:
Hilda Ogden leaving on Christmas Day 1987 to “Wish me luck as you wave me good-bye”. A couple of weeks later I left a church in Wiltshire to move to the West Midlands and I made sure the organist played “Wish me luck…” at my final service. As a homage to Hilda.

The Duckworths getting the Rovers in 1995. I remember Vera, who of course did not have a clue how to cook, cutting a tomato in a fancy way and telling us she had learnt it from Delia  “on the telly”. The Duckworths are the patron saints of those who never quite make it and always feel a bit left out. I preached about them getting the pub at Midnight Mass, Christmas 1995. The congregation was full of different people – some were always there, some were there just because it was Christmas – and I just had that sense that talking about the Duckworths just brought everyone together that Christmas night.

Bet leaving the Rovers. As Bet waits for the taxi she puts the keys on the bar. The camera zooms in on the keys and, I later discovered, the next morning the phone for the key makers in the Black Country was red hot with people wanting Corrie keys. To cut a long story short I have a key to the Rovers Return – but I did not phone up to get one!

And of course Roy and Hayley - especially Hayley’s last illness and the visit to Blackpool. What was so moving was not Hayley dying – though that was moving – but the way Roy changed and became so loving and gentle. Soaps can unite a nation and that is what Hayley and Roy did in those final episodes. It made me wonder how I could cope if I was in Roy’s shoes. I used to go round talking to clergy about just that; soaps, at their best, make us think about the things in life that really matter.

Most recently Anna Windass going to the Foodbank. This was a brilliant portrayal of the courage and desperation that drives people to Foodbanks. In the part of the North East where I work, this is a daily occurrence. I was so glad Owen was alright about her going and the tender scene that followed was Corrie at its very best for my money; portraying the everyday lives, mistakes and lives of ordinary people.

I went on the Corrie tour the other week. The Pope used to kneel and kiss the ground every time he arrived in a new country, so what else could I do on setting foot on those famous cobbles for the first time but...

PS I’ve just noticed there is nothing about Raquel. You just had to love her!

So thanks to Corrie for all those stories – and no doubt many many more to come.


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Exclusive! Celebrity Corrie Blogger - TV writer Caroline Corcoran

TV writer Caroline Corcoran has kindly taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street.  If you're famous (even just a little bit) and would like to write about your love of Corrie in exchange for a charity donation, have a look here.

In return we're donating £25 to Caroline's charity of choice, which is the NSPCC.

And now, it's over to Caroline:

"In my Scouse family, it’s not popular to like many things from Manchester. If I’d suggested I supported a certain football team from that vicinity or brought home a boyfriend with an M postcode as a teenager, I’d have probably been disowned.

So it shows how good Corrie is that we not only allowed it into our house three times a week but even, pre-Sky Plus, found a blank tape to put in the video recorder for it if we were going to be out.

Because you just miss Corrie and when I moved out there was a certain reassurance about it: the theme tune, mostly heard in the form of a hungover omnibus once my 20s hit, was like someone playing a child the lullabye they had on their cot as a baby.

It’s handy then that as part of my job as a Freelance Journalist, I started to write regularly about Corrie for MirrorOnline and host live chat about it for TV social media app Beamly.

It’s nice to be able to find an outlet for my love of Sally Webster (the most under appreciated comic actress in Britain?), Deirdre’s one-liners about her belts and the speed that Carla and Michelle can put away a bottle of Merlot.

I love Kylie, I love Liz MacDonald, and of course, like everyone in the Corrie-speaking world, I wept my way through the loss of Hayley.

For me, Corrie’s all about the women. The strong, tough women who stick their eyeliner on and get on with it while Peter Barlow’s in the pub dancing around next to the jukebox with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth again.

Saying that, the remains of a teenage crush borne in a day trip to Granada Studios and a keyring from the gift shop mean I rather partial to Steve MacDonald.

Caroline's on twitter at @cgcorcoran, hosts a live Corrie 'room' and live chat at www.beamly.com/corrie. and writes a Corrie column for Mirror Online. 

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Exclusive! Celebrity Corrie Blogger - Julie Hesmondhalgh

Julie Hesmondhalgh has played Hayley Cropper on Coronation Street since January 1998 and has very kindly taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street.

In return we're donating £25 to Julie's charity of choice which is the Pancreatic Cancer UK charity.

And now, it's over to Julie..

"I was always a Corrie viewer.  Growing up in '70s Accrington it was a way of life, like fish on Fridays and half day closing on Wednesday, something that just WAS.  Our cat Frisbee used to go wild and climb the curtains whenever the familiar theme music came on. Perhaps some animal instinct told her just how important that theme tune would become to our family…

Later, I moved to London and went to a drama school with a lot of posh people, and Corrie became like a delicacy, a taste of home, a reminder of where I was from.

When I got cast as Hayley Patterson in the winter of 1997 it was a relief.  Any actor born in the north will tell you it is the cross you have to bear, to be asked every day of your life, no matter what theatrical or even cinematic success you may be enjoying, “When are we going to see you on Corrie then?” I swear that’s why Ian McKellan did his time on the cobbles. How fantastic to be able to finally say “Next Wednesday 7.30”!

And here I am, 16 years on, no longer a part of that wonderful institution, but still on screen (for a few weeks at least) and still a Corrie viewer and fan.  It’s always been a joke at work that I really belong at the gates with the fans and the autograph hunters…it’s like THEY LET ME IN!

I was still pinching myself right to the end, not being able to believe my luck, particularly when having the honour of filming with the Legends of the Street (Rita, Dennis, Deirdre, Liz, Betty, Becky, to name a few).

And to have these amazing storylines has been the icing on the cake.  To see attitudes shift towards trans-people over the years as the Croppers’ love story endured, was the highlight of my career, but then the phenomenal response to Hayley’s long and painful goodbye has been one of the things I’m most proud of in my life.

Pancreatic Cancer UK

Pancreatic cancer is a horrible disease, with a terrible survival rate that hasn’t improved in years.  A petition calling for better funding had less than 5000 signatures when the storyline began and is now just shy of 20,000. 

I have received hundreds of tweets and letters from people who have lost loved ones, who are fighting cancer themselves or are caring for sick relatives. Rather than switching off they’ve found some sort of comfort in seeing their experiences reflected onscreen.  It has been a privilege to have people share their stories with me.  

The Right to Die debate is a controversial and difficult one, but again I feel so proud to be part of the conversation. And that’s all I am…a part of it all.  The researchers, the storyliners, the producers, directors, the fantastic writers and the crew are the unsung heroes, and without David Neilson as my partner I would not have come this far. He is as brilliant as you think. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to all my friends, and what adventures await my darling Roy, once Hayley has gone. 
 
That people invested so much in this off beat love story in the first place was miracle enough; to see how much they care now it’s coming to an end means the world.

Thank you for all of it." 


See also:  Hayley Ann Cropper, This is Your Life

See also: All of our VIP exclusive interviews

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Celebrity Corrie Blogger – radio presenter Jonny Mac

Our Celebrity Corrie Blogger today is freelance radio and event presenter Jonny Mac, based in the East Midlands. He’s worked with many established radio stations including BBC Radio Leicester, 103 The Eye and Leicester Sound (Now Capital FM: East Midlands). As well as being a radio presenter, Jonny is also a radio and television voiceover.

Jonny has appeared as an extra in TV programmes including ITV’s other soap Emmerdale and Law & Order:UK and he made an appearance on BBC's The Weakest Link in 2011.

Jonny's taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street. And in return we've donated £25 to Jonny's charity of choice which is the Motor Neurone Disease Association. 

If you'd like to write a celebrity Coronation Street Blog post for us in exchange for a charity donation, all the details are here.

And now, over to Jonny:
“Coronation Street is often described as the nation's favourite soap and is loved across the country. With its gripping storylines, amazing actors and recognisable locations the whole country makes sure they're sat down as soon as the theme tune is played.

My favourite characters in the soap have got to be Steve and Lloyd. Their humour and one-liners make the show very light-hearted alongside its major storylines.

I started watching Coronation Street at the age of about 10 and even back then I was hooked and have been ever since! I visited the set in 2010 and was lucky enough to meet Craig Charles (Lloyd Mullaney) and a few other cast members, they're all very kind and welcoming.

My favourite storyline has got to be the tram crash which was LIVE. The fact they pulled it off was amazing, let alone include so many stunts in it!

My ideal storyline would see Norris taking to the charts and reaching number 1 as a 'Grandad' singer, haha!

The soap has been running for an incredible amount of years and to think they continue to grip audiences every night with storylines is unbelievable. The off-screen team behind the soap are just as important as the actors and deserve recognition. From the audio recorders and camera guys to the writers, costumer department and special FX teams.

Most recently we were all glued to our screens while the country's favourite pub, the Rovers Return burst into flames taking the lives of two characters. The scenes unfolding during the fire were acted very well namely by Fireman Paul (Tony Hirst), Stella (Michelle Collins) and Karl (John Michie).

I'm hoping to move away from radio work and focus on television acting/presenting so maybe I could feature in an episode or two!"

Follow Jonny on twitter @jonathanmcgrady and his website's at www.jonathanmcgrady.co.uk

You can follow us on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog and Facebook: CoronationStreetBlog


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VIP Corrie Blogger - Cllr Fraser Macpherson

Cllr Fraser Macperhson is a top Coronation Street fan - and the Liberal Democrat Councillor for the West End, Dundee City Council.  He's taken time out of his Councillor duties whilst on holiday to write about his love of Coronation Street. And in return we've donated £10 to Cllr Macpherson's charity of choice which is the Multiple Sclerosis Society

If you'd like to write a Celebrity VIP Corrie Blog post for us, all the details are here.

Cllr Fraser Macpherson writes :

"Looking back, I suppose I was, as a child, sort-of reluctantly spoon-fed Coronation Street.  My mother was and is the Street’s greatest fan and therefore, in the Macpherson household of the late 1960s and 70s, Coronation Street was compulsory viewing.

I have a distinctive memory of a caravan holiday in a windy and rainy Lossiemouth. I must have been aged about 7.  There was only one TV in the communal lounge on the site and who in 1970 had a portable telly in their caravan?  The ladies descended upon the communal lounge on Wednesday at 7.30pm to see what was bound to be a memorable edition of the street – the death of Jack Walker, landlord of the Rovers. On their arrival, many of the children were already watching the TV (Star Trek if I remember correctly). Battle of the TV buttons then took place between the ladies switching to Grampian (our then local version of ITV) to get the Street on, with various children switching it back to BBC1. The tenacious children won, and, in the days before video recorders and repeat showing on ITV2 later, the opportunity to see that edition of the Street was lost!

My other distinctive early memory of the Street was the death of Renee Roberts, hit by a lorry on the way back from Alf and her concluding the deal on their buying a rural sub-post office. Not entirely sure why that immediately springs to mind, but the departure of Renee did prevent the departure of Alf to the countryside and Alf was always one of my favourite Coronation Street characters, along with Hilda, Elsie, Rita, Audrey and Annie Walker.    

I suppose that, Coronation Street was a permanent TV fixture when I was a child, I have just kept on watching and enjoying the Street – brainwashed at 7, still watching it at 49!

For me, Coronation Street evokes that sense of community – of belonging – that so many people, particularly older constituents, say is missing in the 21st century.  The Street is warm, welcoming, you sort of feel part of it, and 52 years on from its arrival in 1960, it is still coming up with the great, gripping storylines that has kept it as my – and the world’s – favourite soap!

Read all of our Celebrity and VIP Coronation Street Bloggers

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Coronation Street Blog - I'm a Celebrity, get me in there!

Hey, you there! Are you famous? Even just a little bit? 

If you're reading this blog post the chances are you're a Coronation Street fan.  If you have just 10 minutes to spare to write a couple of paragraphs for us about your favourite bits of Corrie, what the show means to you and why you love it so much please do get in touch.

We can't pay but we will donate £10 to a charity of your choice - and your work will be read by up to half a million Corrie fans worldwide. Yes, that's half a million Corrie fans reading our Coronation Street fan website every month.  We will of course link to and promote you and any website or links, including your chosen charity, you'd like us to include with your blog post. We're nice like that.

See which famous people have written for us already...

Follow the Coronation Street Blog on Twitter and Facebook

Are you famous? Do you love Corrie? Please read this now!

If you're famous - even just a little bit - and you're a huge Corrie fan with 10 minutes spare to write about your love for our favourite soap, please do get in touch.

We can't pay but we will donate £10 to a charity of your choice - and your work will be read by up to half a million Corrie fans worldwide. Yes, that's half a million Corrie fans reading our Coronation Street fan website every month.  We will of course link to and promote you and any website or links, including your chosen charity, you'd like us to include with your blog post. We're nice like that.

Some of our exclusive VIP bloggers and interviews so far include:

• Downton Abbey and Titanic creator - Julian Fellowes
• Novellist Maeve Binchy
• TV presenter Jon Connell 
• Paddington Bear 
• Writer and Journalist Anne Marie Scanlon
• Comedian Tommy Reckless

• Corrie writer Jonathan Harvey
• Behind the scenes with Mark Llewellin
• Q&A with Craig Gazey (Graeme Proctor)
• Rupert Hill aka Jamie Baldwin
• Corrie secrets from Digital Spy
• Jayne Tunnicliffe aka Corrie's Yana
• Q&A with Kate Anthony (Aunty Pam)
• Corrie secrets from Inside Soap magazine
• Grace Dent's soap secrets
• Ian Wylie's Corrie gossip

Follow the Coronation Street Blog on Twitter and Facebook

Celebrity Corrie Blogger - comedian Tommy Reckless

Our Celebrity Corrie Blogger today is comedy singer Tommy Reckless. Tommy used to play in punk bands back in the 70s and 80s, and has now resurrected his career and become a popular entertainer on the Scottish comedy circuit.  He won Fife Comedian Of The Year 2011.

Currently playing as The Sensational Alex Salmond Gastric Band in comedy clubs across Scotland, he was once a regular on the Tommy Sheridan show on Talk 107 and SW1 radio in London, as well as appearing in several Edinburgh Fringe shows, including Tartan Special, Best of Scottish Comedian Of The Year and Mark Watson’s ‘The Hotel’. Tommy will be appearing at this year's Edinburgh Festival.

He writes The Daily Reckless – the paper that sings the news – and contributes to the Caledonian Mercury.
Collaborations include his work with Armando Iannucci, Adam & Joe and Stewart Lee. He was also half of the short-lived phenomenon that was Whyte & Mackay. Tommy’s other guises include mash up tart, The Plagiarist, The Fall tribute band, The Foul, They Might Be Gannets and Throbbing Thistle. He has released many, many CDs, all available at the Daily Reckless shop.

Tommy's taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street. And in return we're donating £10 to Tommy's charity of choice which is Waverley Care.  If you'd like to write a celebrity Corrie Blog post for us, all the details are here.

And now, it's over to Tommy...

I've watched Coronation Street since I was knee high to a barm cake. As a nipper in the 60s I well remember being in thrall to Elsie Tanner and thinking Albert Tatlock was well cool. Ena Sharples scared me. My initial heroes, though, were Stan and Hilda who I named my two goldfish after. I won the goldfish from a fair and, sadly, when Stan passed away, Hilda floated to the top of the bowl soon after. I sort of drifted away from it in the 70s, but it was always there in the background and I remember fancying Suzie Burchall.

I've always loved how they bring comedy actors into the Street and the great comic timing and mugging they add to it. Alec Gilroy's and Reg Holdsworth's lines and acting were always a joy. But it was Blanche Hunt who I'll always hold a candle for. Sheer bitching joy. I really miss her. The scenes where Blanche suspected Ken of being gay are the funniest I've ever seen on Corrie. I loved them so much I transposed the dialogue onto a Postman Pat video for my R.I.P. Blanche homage. I seem to have returned to Corrie for a lot of musical inspiration, including using the theme tune as a backdrop to Anthony Steen's pompous defence of his shady dealings in the MPs expenses scandal.

I was also a big fan of Eddie Windass and was sorely disappointed when he left the show. This moved me to write a song for him. Steve McDonald's brilliant gurns also prompted me to immortalise him in the video, Steve McDonald Had A Fart.

And the 50th anniversary of Corrie inspired me to bring out a whole EP of Corrie related ditties based on popular tunes, called 'Hot Pot.' These included 'See Emily Pray' based on Pink Floyd's 'See Emily Play', 'I Wanna Notepad, Norris' based on 'I Wanna Know What Love Is' and 'The Bar Is Low' based on 'The Bar is High'

So, yeah, Coronation Street has had a huge influence on my life and I was considering doing something Corrie related for my show at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, but instead I've plumped for a radical makeover of a Dickens classic, Oliver Pissed. Mind you, I do see a lot of Dickens in Coronation Street, he said, making a contrived link. Anyway, if you're around Edinburgh in August, do come along to the show. It's on at the Beehive Inn throughout the month and entry is free!

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Celebrity Corrie Blogger - A M Scanlon

Picture copyright: Woman and Home magazine

Anne Marie Scanlon is a writer and journalist who currently writes a weekly column for The Sunday Independent newspaper.  Over the past decade Anne Marie has contributed to many newspapers and magazines in Ireland, Britain and the United States including The Evening Herald, Woman & Home, Prudence and The New York Dog magazine (sadly no longer with us) as well as working as a broadcast journalist on RTE Radio.

Anne Marie has covered fashion, beauty, life-style, celeb interviews, gossip, book & theatre reviews as well as writing regular columns over the years.  She is also the author of It’s Not Me… It’s You! (A Girl’s Guide to Dating in Ireland) which was published in November 2005.  In January 2007 Anne Marie gave birth to her beautiful son, proving that her dating guide works!

Anne Marie has been recommened by novelist Marian Keyes as an authority on all things Corrie! She has taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street. And in return we're donating £10 to her charity of choice which is Barnados. 

If you'd like to write a celebrity Corrie Blog post for us, all the details are here.

And now it's over to Anne Marie...

Coronation Street & Me

Let me tell you about depravation – being a child in the 1970s with only ONE television channel.  Oh yes, dear readers, one lousy channel and that channel was RTE (Telly Eireann as it was dubbed in Father Ted).  I still have vivid memories of miserable Sunday nights when I had to stay quiet for an hour while my mother and Granny sat glued to The Riordans – a weekly rural soap.  They were both from the country but I was an urban child and had no interest in the price of heifers, silage or any of the other farm-related dramas that afflicted Tom and Mary Riordan.

When I was nine we moved house and gained access to what was then called ‘piped TV’ (sorry, no idea either).  Suddenly we had four, yes FOUR channels to choose from and better yet, we could finally watch Coronation Street.  Oh my, how different the exotic world of Weatherfield was from the farms of Leestown, the home of the Riordans.  My Granny and I were instant addicts and would sprint to the living room as soon as we heard the famous theme tune start at 7.30 on Monday and Wednesday nights.  “There’s that cat again,” Granny would inevitably comment as the famous feline settled on the roof.  I thought it was quite an insane thing to say, did she not realise the titles were filmed and not live?  You’d never know with my Granny because if you asked her she’d have said she didn’t hold with Coronation Street at all.  She pretended to disapprove of the whole thing and enjoyed tutting and sucking her lips whenever Elsie Tanner and Bet Lynch appeared.  To me they were (and still are) the epitome of glamour.  

It’s not news to hard core fans like myself that Corrie has always had strong women characters – Annie Walker, Ena Sharples, Rita, Bet, Elsie and of course Betty, were mainstays when I started watching and even though they were all very different they shared the same streak of independent thought and action.  In those dark days Coronation Street was one of the few places on TV where women were given leading roles and weren’t relegated to playing the ditz, dolly-bird or long-suffering wife.  The other thing about Corrie at that time was that they sometimes featured Irish characters who were not terrorists or priests, which was nice because most Irish people aren’t terrorists or priests (and they weren’t in the 1970s and 1980s either).

My beloved Granny passed away thirty years ago and I now have a five year old son.  My life has changed beyond all recognition (which is only right over three decades) and Corrie has changed too. Of course it has, but for long term fans like me, the great characters, the fabulous writing and the wonderful humour will always keep us watching, despite some of the plots stretching credulity (Betty owning the Rovers for thirty years and saying nothing – hardly).  My five year old is not a fan. Yet. However, he does recognise the theme music and always remarks on the cat when he sees the credits.  Everything changes while somehow staying the same.    

Twitter @amscanlon

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Celebrity Corrie Blogger - Karen Jankel

Karen Jankel is a lady whose name you might not recognise. But you're just going to have to take our word for it that she is a lady of some importance around these here parts - all the way to deepest darkest Peru and beyond.

If you'd like to know who she is, the clue's in the picture and that's all we're going to say although good old Google will reveal her connection to Paddington Bear.  And for music fans, you might recognise who her brother-in-law is too, what with that surname and all.  Sssh... that's all we're going to say.

Karen's taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street. And in return we're donating £10 to Karen's charity of choice which is Action Medical Research.   If you'd like to write a celebrity Corrie Blog post for us, all the details are here.

And now, it's over to Karen....

"My addiction to Coronation Street goes back to early 1985 shortly after my first baby was born. For the first time in my life I found myself at home during the early evening on a regular basis and started watching because there was nothing else on.  Within two episodes I was hooked and have been an avid fan ever since. 

When I first started watching, Gail was suffering at the hands of her family and Ken spent most of his spare time taking books back to the library. So nothing much has changed there, then. But that’s one of the things I love about Corrie: although many of the characters have come and gone, there are certain key elements which remain constant and there is a wonderful predictability about many of the storylines. 

I’ve decided that I would rather like to live in Weatherfield. I mean, where else could you guarantee that, if you lost your job, you would almost certainly find another one in the time it takes to call round at your local for a swift half? The same applies to needing a roof over your head: I lost track years ago as to who has lived in which house and with whom over the decades but nobody is ever homeless on the street for more than half an episode. You can also start a new business in under a week, organise a party in less time than it takes to heat up a packet of sausage rolls or decide to go off on a trip around the world at a moment’s notice. As for being involved in an accident, or being the victim of a knife crime – and, let’s face it, the odds are quite high – at least you can be sure of having a private room when you reach hospital. 

It would be hard to say which character is my favourite. The humour in the scripts is superb and I always love any scene involving Norris.  Sue Cleaver (Eileen) is a wonderful actress and recently, somewhat to my surprise, I’ve enjoyed seeing the way Kylie’s character is developing.

I have tried watching other soaps over the years but, to my mind, nothing else comes close to Coronation Street and, assuming I’m still around in another 27 years, I’m quite sure I’ll still be one of its keenest fans."

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Celebrity Corrie Blogger - TV's Jon Connell

Jon Connell is a TV presenter, writer and life long Corrie fan.  He has worked alongside Russell Brand on Big Brother's Big Mouth and more recently presented for BBC1's The ONE Show.  He also spent two years as Sneak magazine's official reality TV columnist and is currently a blogger for The Huffington Post.  If you'd like some more info, you can see Jon's biography here: and a sample of Jon's TV work here on YouTube.

Jon's taken up our challenge for a celebrity to write about their love of Coronation Street. And in return we're donating £10 to Jon's charity of choice which is St Joseph's Hospice, Thornton.   If you'd like to write a celebrity Corrie Blog post for us, all the details are here.

And now, it's over to Jon.... 

Jon Connell: A love letter to Coronation Street

A north-west lad born and bred, it’s mandatory for Coronation Street to be embedded in my DNA.  Born 1989 – the year in which a record 27 million viewers watched the Alan Bradley saga unfold and a fresh-faced 15 year old Steve McDonald first landed on the cobbles – I can’t remember a time when a regular dose of Corrie wasn’t part of my weekly routine.

Some of my earliest Corrie memories are grisly ones – the canal-side attack on Samir Rachid (on my 6th birthday!), Anne Malone’s fatal final night inside one of Firman’s Freezers, and Derek Wilton’s tragic demise in the shadow of his paperclip-bedecked green Corsa.

But it’s the humour, the warmth and the heart within Coronation Street that has always resonated most strongly with me. I fondly remember purple-rinsed Phyllis Pearce haplessly pursuing Percy Sugden, the shop floor bromance between Curly and Reg, the Kabin counter coalition of Mavis and Rita, the endearingly dippy Raquel, and, of course, the Street’s answer to Fred and Ginger, Jack and Vera Duckworth.

When it comes to favourite characters, Steve and Norris are the names that immediately spring to mind.  I have great affection for the old guard – Ken, Deirdre, Gail, Audrey – and dearly miss Blanche and Betty, but am also a fan of some of the more recent additions. I love the eternally effervescent Julie and her beau Brian, the delightfully eccentric Mary never fails to crack me up, and I can’t deny my soft spot for Tina.  I also adore Sylvia who, thanks to the deadly combination of Stephanie Cole’s brilliant comic sensibility and the scriptwriters’ knack for crafting wonderfully withering one-liners, continues the tradition of the acid-tongued, sharp-witted, blunt Northern battleaxe that has existed since Corrie’s inception.

John Stape was, in my view, one of soap’s greatest creations.  At the heart of the murderous farce was an ultimately decent but tragically flawed man ruined by catastrophic misfortune – a character Shakespearean in its quality, Grecian in its epic tragedy.  “All I ever wanted to do was teach...”

Corrie hasn’t been short of classic storylines and memorable moments in 2012.  Becky’s exit stands out as one of the best hours of telly I’ve seen this year, I was gripped by Frank Foster’s villainous ways and their repercussions on Carla and Peter, and have been thoroughly absorbed by the complex dynamic between Paul and Eileen.  I can’t wait to see what the return of Terry Duckworth brings, as well as the introduction of the magnificent Sue Johnston later this year.

I loved Jonathan Harvey’s play Corrie! at the Liverpool Empire last year and am really looking forward to seeing new musical, Street Of Dreams, at Manchester Arena next month.  I’m relishing the prospect of Elsie Tanner, Ena Sharples, Annie Walker, and Hilda and Stan Ogden being brought back to life on stage, as well as witnessing in person Bet in her trademark leopard print attire, Tricky Dicky Hillman unleashing his reign of terror, not forgetting sage of the Street, Ken Barlow himself.

At its best, Corrie is as dramatic as any drama, as comic as any sitcom and as real as any reality show.  It still provides as many laughs per episode as ever, without skimping on drama or shying away from tackling tough social issues.  It’s the ability to strike this delicate balance that has always set Weatherfield apart in the crowded landscape of soapland.

Governments will fall, taxes will rise, fads will come and go, but the cobbles will always have a place in my – and the nation’s – heart.  Here’s to the next 50 years of Coronation Street – I’ll raise a pint of Newton & Ridley to that!

Jon Connell

April 2012

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jonconnell

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YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JonConnoisseur

St Joseph’s Hospice, Thornton: http://www.jospice.org.uk/

 
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Exclusive: VIP celebrity writes for Coronation Street Blog

First we had the novellist and Corrie fan Maeve Binchy who wrote in and offered to write a blog post for us.

And as if that wasn't exciting enough, we now we have another (very) VIP who has written exclusively for us about their love of the show and how much it means to them - and which storyline they really didn't like. 

Find out who our VIP celebrity blogger is by checking into the Coronation Street Blog tomorrow morning - Wednesday 19 October.