Where have you seen Charlotte's parents before?

I was wondering where I'd seen them before and now thanks to the Sun - who posted this picture here - I know their names!

Charlotte's mum Dorothy is played by Jean Fergusson who is a Wakefield native like me! I didn't know that. She played Marina in Last of the Summer Wine for 25 years, and also played Gary Mallet's mum in Corrie in 1999!

Charlotte's dad Alan is played by John Woodvine who has had a long and illustrious career, but I think I know him best as Frank Gallagher's dad in Shameless, which probably says a lot about me.

I'm sorry to say goodbye to Charlotte and her parents, though. I think they've all been great characters.

See also: Where have you seen...?
Ken Barlow's grandson James, Ken Barlow's son Lawrence, Dr Matt Carter, Saucy Charlotte, Izzy's dad Owen Armstrong,The Corrie coppers, Colin Fishwick, Trevor the binman, Connie Rathbone, Uncle Umed,Julie Carp's mum, Luke Strong, Sophie Webster's boyfriend, Eileen Grimshaw's dad, Norris' girlfriend, Graeme Proctor,Molly's Aunty Pam, Maria's mum and dad, Gail's dad, Scary Brian, Tina's dad, Tony Gordon's henchman, Little Simon Barlow

Miss Jean Brodie

Well, The Week That Was is just getting underway, but I have to interject here to say that I laughed out loud just now as John answered his phone to the nutty Charlotte. Did you catch it? He has her saved in his phone as "J Brodie". Classic.

Is John Stape becoming Richard Hillman Mark II?

Desperation makes a man go to extremes. We've already seen John bury the body of Colin Fishwick who dropped dead at his feet. He's been ducking and diving for weeks trying to keep that from Fiz but the reappearance of his partner in mischief, Charlotte, is making that increasingly difficult. According to the Sun, he's going to kill Charlotte (probably in the heat of another argument, I'm assuming) and make it look like she was caught in the upcoming and oh, so convenient for him tram crash. This is what happened with Richard Hillman and his ex-wife Patricia who threatened to expose him. He lashed out with a spade and killed her during the argument. It wasn't pre-planned.

Later, as you will recall, his money worries increased and he did plan to kill Emily Bishop, making it look like a break in and setting up young Aiden Critchley to take the blame. Maxine came home unexpectedly and he bashed the two of them. Emily survived, Maxine didn't. John is apparently set to allegedly kill Colin Fishwick's mother in the new year and make it look like she died of natural causes. It's already been established that she has a heart condition, after all. John is getting more and more desperate that his secret stay hidden, desperate to keep his new family from finding out. When Fiz does find out, and she will because that's Soap Law, will he try to kill her and the baby along with himself? The parallels are already creeping in, I think. What say you all? How will the Stape-gate storyline finish up? Maybe you all can give the writers some inspiration!

Becky Hindley was surprised to be the stalker

Becky Hindley plays loopy Charlotte Hoyle to perfection but even she didn't see it coming when she found out that Charlotte is the one that's been sending anonymous letters and dvds to John and Fiz! In an ITV video feature chatting to the cast involved in this storyline, she reveals that she never had a clue until the script for last Friday's episode landed on her doorstep. She thought it was a great twist and confides that Charlotte is going to get as much mileage out of this as she can! I can hardly wait, myself! I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing John squirm though it breaks my heart to see what he's doing to Fiz!

John Stape - what the flaming heck's going ON?

Going by the bits and pieces I've picked up from spoilers and so forth, my impression is that John Stape murders Charlotte by bashing her head in with a hammer. Nice. (What is it with Corrie just now - tram crashes, bloodbaths, murders...)

Anyway. Will this really happen, or is it just another red herring? I haven't the foggiest.

However, Stape is definitely reading about a nine point nine nine on the tension scale at the moment and despite showing flashes of the old Stapian wit it's clear that his nerves won't take much more. He's laughing maniacally and getting into bother from Peter Barlow for screaming at wrong numbers in the bookies. He's thinking about Edgar Allan Poe stories and wondering if it's his heartbeat he's hearing or Fishwick's. Is it Charlotte who's driving him to the brink of insanity by making the silent phone calls and sending the mysterious flowers and letters? Personally I'd be surprised - but then I generally am. Who else could it be though? Who else knows about the body hidden in the old sump hole under the factory floor?

I do hope that John doesn't bash Charlotte's head in with a hammer! I could live with him bungling another death, but not full-blooded murder. However...if he DID get done for murder, perhaps there could be an insanity plea, and he could stay in Corrie albeit as an inmate of a maximum secure unit, receiving therapy sessions and being visited by Fiz and the baby on a weekly basis? I just don't want the Stape saga to end!

Anticipating Charlotte

I, for one, am looking forward to the upcoming weeks and the return of Charlotte "Busy on Sunday" Hoyle. Yes, she is apparently being killed off and that's a crying shame, but before that, we get more twists and turns and we get to see John squirm and lie even more. The late Colin Fishwick's mother has been mentioned and will turn up asking hard questions. Charlotte's mother is in the mix too. I wonder if she's as dippy as her daughter?

Charlotte is very likely the one that left the flowers at the factory. I should imagine her tenuous hold on reality is slipping rapidly due to the guilt. Collaborating with John's Big Secret isn't such a rush now, is it? She'll be back next week to deny she sent the flowers but I don't trust that. She's apparently going to pretend to have a stalker to get back in with John so it makes sense that she'd deny, deny, deny doesn't it? Looks like she hasn't given up on using what she knows to worm her way into John's bed and John is as lily-livered as they come so what are the chances he'll cheat on Fiz to keep Charlotte quiet in the long run? If she's being killed off, will he kill her on purpose or by accident? Will Charlotte stage her own death and make it look like John did it? That seems more likely if Stape is going to be a long time character as it seems currently. If he kills her on purpose, there is a shelf life to his character because it's against the Soap Laws for a murderer to get away with it.

And there's still the body under the factory floor to contend with. Even though it was not John's fault, that body can't remain there forever. Maybe damage from the tram crash will crack the factory floor and it will be discovered during repairs? this is all speculation but the truth has to come out sometime. All of John's lies and schemes have to blow up spectacularly and maybe that's going to happen on the night of the crash. Some people have suggested that John ends up being a hero for helping to rescue people trapped or injured in the aftermath and I can see that happening but he could also use the mayhem to disguise another dead body.

What we've seen so far is high farce and highly enjoyable, for me. It reminds me of a scene in the movie Sliding Doors where the best friend of the man who's got two women on the go is nearly in tears of joy after his mate explains the latest ludicrous twist in his life. Joy, because his life is highly improved by his friend causing him such amusement. He tells him "I must say, being friends with you certainly makes the wait for the next episode of "Seinfeld" much easier to bear." Seinfeld isn't coming back, but Charlotte is and John will soon be hoist with his own petard before long. I look forward to it!

Last of the Summer Wine's Marina joins Corrie

The official Corrie website reports that the actress who plays Marina in Last of the Summer Wine, actress Jean Fergusson, is joining Coronation Street to play Charlotte's mum. 

Jean will play Dorothy Hoyle, who is under the impression that Charlotte and John are to be married. Jean has been signed for six episodes and she began filming earlier this week.

Sunday news roundup

There are a few short bits and pieces to report on today. First off, Ben Price, who plays Nick Tilsley, has signed another contract for another year in the Street. Ben is delighted and thinks another 20 years would be good news, too!

There's a sneak preview of the upcoming steamy scenes between Rosie Webster and Jason Grimshaw in the Sun. Seems she gets Jason to substitute during a photo shoot and they find each other's skimpily clad bodies irresistable. While the article says the scenes of seduction are going to be controversial, it's hardly that, since they actually just drop out of the camera sight to the ground and all you'll hear is Rosie squealing and sighing. Nothing new there, then.

There's an interview with Tina O'Brien reported at Digital Spy. Tina talks about the aftermath of her breakup with Ryan Thomas and says it was all for the best. They're still friends and share parenting of baby Scarlett.

And lastly, a little more detail into the end of loopy Charlotte is over here. We linked to that the other day but didn't mention that Charlotte is going to pretend to be stalked by John who again has to scramble to make sure Fiz doesn't find out he's still in contact with the mad schoolmarm. We all predict Charlotte will be one of the tram victims. Pity, that.

Charlotte to be killed off

After reading in The Sun today that Charlotte's being killed off I'm really annoyed that so many good, funny, quirky Coronation Street females turn bad. Why get rid of her? She's brilliant!  And there's another one, Mary, who's wonderful but she too turned bunny boiler. Come on, Corrie, there's a few on the current cast given too much air time already who could do with being culled. Leave Charlotte alone!

John and Charlotte - what do you think?

I'm no fan of John Stape, as regular readers may know, because he's taken the shine off our Fiz. But I have to admit I'm really enjoying his stolen identity, Colin Fishwick dead body and fruity Charlotte story. It's turning into a farce, with a dark humour edge, a storyline that I'm enjoying very much. But if John Stape does die in the tram crash, as rumours suggest, I'll not miss him and hope Fiz gets her sparkle back, whatever happens.

But I will always remember this storyline with a smile, it's been an unusual one to say the least, and I hope Charlotte makes her way into becoming a permanent character on Coronation Street too. But never mind me, what do you think?

Where have you seen saucy Charlotte before?

Anyone else loving the dotty, saucy Charlotte Hoyle on Coronation Street? I hope Corrie does the decent thing and keep her on the show long after the storyline with Stape plays itself out. She's wonderful, is Charlotte. But where have you seen the actress who plays her, before?

Well, the actress is Becky Hindley and from her IMDB profile it appears that she's not done a huge amount of TV work before but she has appeared in Doctors, Casualty and The Bill. She has, however, done a great deal of theatre work and has even appeared on stage with Hutch himself, David Soul.

See also: Where have you seen...?
Izzy's dad Owen Armstrong, The Corrie coppers, Colin Fishwick, Trevor the binman, Connie Rathbone, Uncle Umed, Julie Carp's mum, Luke Strong, Sophie Webster's boyfriend, Eileen Grimshaw's dad, Norris' girlfriend, Graeme Proctor, Molly's Aunty Pam, Maria's mum and dad, Gail's dad, Scary Brian, Tina's dad, Tony Gordon's henchman, Little Simon Barlow

Charlotte, the Madness Continues

She's only been in Coronation Street a short time, but already I'm loving Charlotte "Church" Hoyle.

She's man-mad (or at least, mad for Stape), she's totally off the wall, she's dressed like she walked through a market stall explosion and I have a very odd feeling about her....something related to the upcoming storyline to do with the return of Colin Fishwick.

Read all about it over here.