Farewell Feddie - Derek Griffiths leaves Corrie tonight

Many weeks ago, we were the first to break the news that Derek Griffiths was leaving Coronation Street in his role as garage mechanic Freddie Smith. 

I'd spotted in the local theatre brochure that the actor was appearing on stage in this play.  And after we'd broken that news and blogged it, the tabloids, in their cut-and-paste ways, nicked our work and posted it as their own without any credit or link to our blog.

But I still wish he wasn't going.  I like Freddie and I'm going to miss him.

He first turned up in Weatherfield in March of last year, the widowed husband of Sadie Smith, an old and valued customer of Audrey's salon. When Sadie died unexpectedly, Freddie asked for Kylie Platt to do her nails for the funeral. 

He tried to woo both Audrey and Rita, to no avail and ended up working in Webster's Autos for Kevin where Norris tried to teach him how to dance!

And it is to Freddie that we give thanks for alerting Rita to the fact that the a favourite nightclub of his, the Zambezi was closing down.

I just wish he'd been given a fight in the Rovers where he could've threatened to put someone through the square window.

Farewell Freddie, you'll be missed.

See who else is leaving, joining or returning to Coronation Street

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Should Freddie have shared his winnings with Rita - Yay or Nay?

Should Freddie have shared his fruit machine winnings with Rita, last night in Coronation Street?  I think he should have split the winnings 50-50, but my husband on the other end of the sofa, thinks not.   He thinks that Freddie should have given Rita a tenner at the most, as all she did was lend him a quid.

I also think it was somewhat out of order for Rita, who isn't short of a bob or two herself, to snap at Freddie like that over what would have been, at most, £50.

Could the jackpot storyline mean a fall out between Freddie and Rita, I wonder? And might it even signal the end of Freddie on the street as his exit storyline?

The actor who plays Freddie, Derek Griffiths, is leaving the show - to do this.

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Derek Giffiths to star in Driving Miss Daisy

Derek Griffiths, who plays Freddie Smith in Coronation Street, is joining the stage version of Driving Miss Daisy.

Derek will be starring in the show when it plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal in October.  He'll be starring alongside Dame Siân Phillips (I, Claudius, Dune, Marlene, Cabaret) in the heart-touching production made famous by the 1989 Academy Award-winning film.

Set in Atlanta, Georgia, the story begins one day in 1948 when a prickly, 72-year-old Jewish widow, Daisy Werthan, crashes her car.  Deemed too old to drive, her son hires her a chauffeur, an African-American named Hoke Colburn. Daisy and Hoke’s relationship gets off to a rocky start, but as times change across the course of a 25 year backdrop of prejudice, inequality and civil unrest, a profound and life-altering friendship blossoms.

Now then, does this mean Derek is leaving the show or simply taking a break, as some of the cast members like to do?  I do hope it's just the latter.

You can buy tickets to see Derek in the play here.

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