No Corrie return for James Roache

If you're wondering whether James Roache will return to Coronation Street as the charity con-man James Cunningham, then wonder no more. There's no plans for him to return to Corrie, says my Inside Soap magazine this week. 

But as his character hasn't been killed off, well, you never know when there might be a knock on Barlow front door some time in the future. 

Mind you, I wouldn't mind Linus Roache making a Corrie return. Phwoar, oo-er, etc.

There’s something (not quite right) about James

Okay, I’ll admit it – I actually like James Cunningham (and it's not just because his hair can rival that of Rita, Audrey and Claudia combined in the 'who's got the biggest hair' contest). I think it has something to do with how posh he is, it just makes me smile how out of place his accent is on the Street. And he works for a charity so he can't be that bad. Or can he?

It is becoming particularly obvious now poor Sophie and Sian are involved with him and the soup kitchen that there’s definitely something up with him.

It is a bit suspicious that he’d leave two teenage girls on their own to look after the kitchen (when they have only been there a couple of weeks as it is) on the day that they just happen to get robbed. I don’t buy it and I will be incredibly surprised if this isn’t revealed as some big plot to fund the halfway house that James keeps going on about.

In many ways I am happy that they are showing his darker side, but at the same time I am disappointed that they are taking the character down this route. When James first returned to the Street I was looking forward to lots of scenes between him and Ken discussing politics and the world beyond the cobbles of the street and I think they could have made a fun (if not a bit pretentious) double act. But if what has been previously reported turns out to be true, then I doubt Ken will ever be as welcoming to James as he was this time around.

Just think, Ken and his mini-me discussing the important issues of the world while Deirdre witters on about her stuffed marrows in the background.

James Roache runs riot on Corrie set

There's an excellent interview in the Sun TV Biz magazine with James Roache, the real life son of William Roache (Ken Barlow) who's currently playing Ken's grandson James Cunningham on Coronation Street. 

James talks about following his dad's footsteps onto the cobbles, how much he admires his dad's work and tells a couple of funny anecdotes about running around the Corrie set as a kid. Young James and his friends enjoyed visits to the Corrie set at weekends when no one else was around. James recalled: "It was like the most luxurious playground and we just ran riot for a couple of hours.We were terrible. I can't believe my father let us do it. We'd go into the corner shop and stuff our faces with sweets and chocolate, then we'd go into the Rovers and pull each other pints. There was a character at the time with an electric wheelchair and we'd sit on that and zoom in and out of the sets and drain the battery." 

Read the full interview here.

James Cunningham returns

James Roache is set to make a return to the cobbles as James Cunningham, according to ITV.com. James was last seen visiting his grandad Ken this autumn, and even sent Ken a card on his birthday. His father seemingly no longer keeps in contact with Ken though. James will return in March 2011. I'm interested to see how he'll fit in on the street.

The Family Affair

I can't have been the only one who thought introducing William Roache's real-life sons to Corrie was a brilliant 50th anniversary idea.  Linus as his long-lost son?  James as his grandson? Brilliant.

In reality, I've been very disappointed.  The whole storyline's been executed really badly.

Firstly, let's deal with the revelation that Ken had another son. This is mind-blowing stuff, for parent and child. Lawrence has never met his father, never known who he was even. There should have been fireworks, recriminations, anger, tears.  Instead, Ken said, "I've worked out I'm your father." Lawrence's response?  "Oh, really?"

And that was it.  No resentment or yearning.  Barely any emotions at all.  In fact, the best responses came from Peter Barlow, who treated it all with amused disdain.

Then came the second part of the plot: Lawrence's estrangement from his own son due to his sexuality.  Again, a potentially good idea, in that it meant born-liberal Ken would be torn between his desire to know his new son and his support for his grandson's rights.  And again, it's been fudged.  Are we really meant to accept that an educated university lecturer like Lawrence, a man brought up by a left-wing firebrand and single mother, would be homophobic?  It seems completely out of character.

It's also too big a plot to be over and done with in a couple of weeks.  Linus will never commit to more than a handful of episodes - the episodes should be concentrating on Lawrence and Ken's relationship, without this distraction of James in the mix.  That could have been powerful, dramatic, and heartbreaking, and given Bill Roache a real storyline to get his teeth into.

I've been very let down by the whole thing.  Especially as by the looks of it, Lawrence is simply going to vanish to the same Barlow purgatory that Daniel lives in, never to be mentioned again...

James Roache says Corrie's been confusing

James Roache admits it's been confusing playing both the young William Roache in the BBC4 drama The Road to Coronation Street and Ken Barlow's grandson on Coronation Street.

In his blog post at the BBC TV blog site, he says he was playing one role on a morning and another on the afternoon. Poor bloke!

Where have you seen Ken Barlow's grandson before?

If you're wondering where you've seen James, who turned up as Ken's grandson tonight on Coronation Street, then wonder no more. Actor James Roache, who plays James, is the real-life son of William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow.  Also in real-life, James is the half-brother of Linus Roache, who is currently playing Lawrence, Ken's son.

And we'll also see James in the BBC documentary Road to Coronation Street later this month where he plays his own dad, William Roache who plays Ken Barlow.

Confusing? A bit!  His IMDB profile is here.

See also: Where have you seen...?
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

Bill Roache's dream come true

The Roache "Family Affair" will be on our screens soon. Yes, Ken Barlow is about to discover that he has a long lost son, one of the stalward Soap Opera Plots. This time, it works, considering how many women Ken has had in the past! There was bound to be a love child in the woodpile, wasn't there? Anyway, in the Mirror today there's an interview with the Roache men about working together on Coronation Street.

Bill looks at it as a "dream come true", proudly working with his two sons. In the storyline, Ken gets back in touch with old girlfriend Susan Cunningham, the girl he was dating when Corrie first started in 1960. He figures out that her son is also his, and if he looked in the mirror or at an old photo, the resemblence is obvious! Linus is a dead ringer for a young Bill Roache, after all. His newly discovered son, Lawrence, is a professor but Ken finds out that his son Lawrence has disowned his son because he is gay. Ken, of course, is very liberal and doesn't care about these things and tries to play peacemaker.

Linus says it's "a dream" to be working with his dad and his brother and James, the new actor-kid on the block, considers it an honour. James is also playing his father in the BBC drama Florizel Street, the story of how Coronation Street made it to the airwaves.

Pics: William Roache's son as young Ken Barlow

There's some wonderful pictures from the filming of the Coronation Street documentary for BBC4. Here's William Roache's son James playing the young Ken Barlow in the show.

There's more great pictures at Daily Mail online.

James Roache will be turning up in Coronation Street later this year as Ken Barlow's gay grandson.

It's a family affair

It could be a family affair in more ways than one, if I'm reading between the lines correctly. ITV today says that both of William Roache's sons, Linus and James, will be featured in an upcoming storyline on Coronation Street. In the fall, a "dark family secret" will be discovered. A letter is found during some building work (perhaps Ken is renovating that loft after all?) and it sends Ken on a quest to find out what it all means. Deirdre and Peter don't want the past dragged out of the loft, naturally. Now, my guess is this...We all know how many women Ken has had in the past. Is this going to be a long lost child plot? And if the letter was found in Number 1, why would Albert Tatlock have been the recipient (he owned the house then). I guess we'll find out!