'An Evening with' Corrie Writer Jonathan Harvey at Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre

Whenever I read the words 'An Evening with'.. my TV brain immediately conjures up images of 1980's television and those iconic 'An Audience with...' celebration of Britain's finest talents. From Kenneth Williams to Victoria Wood, they were always a jam-packed affair and with a TV star audience (often 1980s Corrie stars) and were the staple of Saturday night telly. I start this article with that memory as I feel tonight's interview with corrie writer Jonathan Harvey is set in a similar (albeit Covid19) kind of way. This evening's fundraiser in aid of Manchester's Hope Mill theatre (and a writing competition mentored by the man himself) is a ‘This Is Your Life’ special, perhaps, and dives deep into the life and work of this longtime Coronation Street writer. 

Filmed in Covid19 conditions at the theatre, the show was presented by another Corrie legend, actress Denise Welch, aka one time Rovers Return landlady Natalie Horrocks, who is the perfect host for this celebration on the writer's life and most recent works. If you’re unfamiliar with his pre-Corrie catalogue, Liverpool born Jonathan Harvey is probably best known for creating the outrageously camp and downright hilarious 1990’s comedy classic ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme’ starring national treasure Kathy Burke. This often celebrated work could be considered a pinnacle in any other writer's career but Jonathan Harvey is an accomplished playwright, novelist, and screenwriter who has also written 276 episodes of Coronation Street (including some absolute classics)

the classic 'AA scene' was written by Jonathan Harvey

About 18 months ago I had the pleasure of a one-on-one phone interview with the writer, for this very blog, so covering this ‘Evening With’ special (accessed via Vimeo) seemed like a no brainer, and a great way to raise money for the creative arts industry. Jonathan is (no hyperbole) an absolute writing idol of mine so I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday night! 

Jonathan Harvey (R) with Coronation Street creator Tony Warren (M) and fellow writer Damon Rochefort (L)

Q How did Jonathan Harvey become part of the corrie writing team? 

“I started writing for the show in 2004 after initially being approached by executive producer Carolyn Reynolds and turned it down twice before reluctantly accepting. As a religious corrie watcher, I was nervous and was reluctant to ‘peek behind the curtain’ to work backstage on the show and as a huge fan, to maybe lose some of the magic. As a writer, the camaraderie of Corrie is nice, and being part of 18 writers, feels like a huge team”

Of course, we had to have a few Corrie stars pose a few questions via video link.  First up was actor Antony Cotton (aka Sean Tully) who asked the following question; 

Q - Starting on Corrie you wrote Todd’s coming out story, How important do you think it is to write for the LGBT characters and do you think the representation on Coronation Street is strong? 

“As a writer, I felt, you know, what took you so long? Show creator Tony Warren was gay, the show has LGBT in its blueprint, and there is a natural fluctuation of characters within LGBT on Coronation Street and it must continue”

Q- Do you gravitate towards writing those characters?

“No not now, but to start with yes I thought I was ‘head of gay’ but as you go through life you realise that as a writer you can give any character a voice” he added “I recently helped create the Geoff and Yasmeen coercive storyline- it a writing job that just keeps on going”

Second up was ex-Corrie actress and one of the writers best friends in real life, Catherine Tyldesley (Eva Price) who asked;

Q-I first met you when I was working on the BBC drama ‘Lillies’ and my question is if you could go back to your 18-year-old self when you won your first writing award, what advice would you give you? 

“To be kind and to keep writing. When younger I had acne which blighted my youth and it was awful really but I laugh about it now and life gets better, I’d say that’s important” 

For more details about the playwriting competition, £5K prize, with mentoring from Jonathan Harvey himself, check out the details on the hope mill website

Thanks as always to @CoroStreetBlog editor Glenda 

I am @rybazoxo your (self-appointed) cobbles connoisseur & lifelong Corrie fan 

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When Ken Barlow heckled Bob Dylan

I enjoyed the recent inference (Friday 26 July 2019, episode one) that Ken Barlow was the man responsible for the legendary “Judas!” heckle during Bob Dylan’s gig at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on 17 May 1966.

Maria told Kirk – Weatherfield’s answer to Bob Dylan – that Audrey was always going on about it:

And this was not the first time we have heard of Ken’s claim. In 2015 (Monday 11 May, episode one), Liz McDonald told the same story:

The Judas heckle is probably the most famous in musical history. It is not known for sure who shouted it, though many have claimed the honour. There are some good articles about it, for example here and here.

It is brilliant scriptwriting to throw Ken Barlow in the mix. He was an Angry Young Man back then and I reckon he would have been narked that Dylan had betrayed his folk roots by going electric.

I also love the fact this has been mentioned more than once. Both eps were written by Simon Crowther (episode guides here and here). Maybe he’s a big Bob Dylan fan.

The heckler did sound a bit like Ken, to be fair:

Still, like Steve, I just can’t see Ken heckling. Could it be that Ken is simply another in a long line who claim to have heckled Bob Dylan in Manchester in 1966? 

To paraphrase Dylan’s response, I don’t believe you Ken. You’re a liar. You were probably down the library or something.

By Martin Leay

Twitter @mpleay

Corrie Blogs @ bit.ly/corriemartin

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This Is Weatherfield ’90

Image photoshopped by Gary Wadsworth, a fantastic artist who draws beautifully at instagram.com/garyleeillustration 

Yesterday, ITV3 showed the last Coronation Street episode of 1990 - quite a year for Weatherfield and England as a whole.

Margaret Thatcher has just left Downing Street, John Major is Prime Minister and the country will soon be deep in recession.

Things are certainly bleak in Weatherfield. As noted by Alf Roberts, “nobody’s got any money” and Ken ends the year with a suicide attempt. This is Weatherfield ’90 and it makes a Shane Meadows miniseries look like Jackanory.

Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. The new houses have been completed on Coronation Street and Steph and Des Barnes are the new yuppies on the block, all young and flash. Oh, and Kev has lost his ’tache.

Manchester is a pretty cool place to be in 1990. Rave culture is in full swing and the local music scene has gone global. Manchester Vibes are In The Area.

It has been a joy to re-watch the Corrie of 1990. I turned eight that summer and I remember it fondly, mainly for the World Cup. I can remember certain storylines now and I have loved all the pop culture references and the Manchester zeitgeist.

Take the hallway of 7 Coronation Street, for example. At this point, Rita owns the house but Jenny Bradley has turned it into student digs. In 1990, a poster of one of my favourite Manchester bands, The Stone Roses, hangs next to the coat hooks.

The Roses were so hot in 1990 that a teenage Steve McDonald used them to woo Joanne Khan downtown: “there’s a brilliant record shop in town that sells records… you know”. Great chat, Steve: you’ve always had a way with the ladies!

The spirit of Madchester is captured magnificently in this scene in Jim’s Cafe, as a trio of ravers gather around the jukebox to listen to ‘Step On’ by Happy Mondays:

They’d probably just stumbled out of the Haçienda and they’re putting Percy Sugden off his cup of tea and toasted teacake. They’re twisting his melon, man!

To round it all off, this is wonderful. The McDonald lads are playing the fruity in the cafe and Steve’s wearing Joe Bloggs... a now defunct Manchester fashion label that was synonymous with the Madchester and acid house scenes. Playing in the background is ‘World in Motion’ by New Order, the official England song for Italia ’90:

It’s just a shame that this episode was broadcast on 6 July 1990; two days after England were beaten in the semi-final on penalties by West Germany.

Oh well, that was England in 1990 and that was Weatherfield in 1990. There were euphoric highs followed by crashing lows. To quote the current female Prime Minister in the middle of a leadership crisis, NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

By Martin Leay

Twitter @mpleay

Corrie Blogs @ bit.ly/corriemartin

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Our interview with Antony Cotton as Sean's homeless storyline begins

‘it’s a monstrous beast, being homeless’ -Antony Cotton

CORRIE PRESS DAY (PART 2) 13th of June 2018 – Coronation Street Studios – Salford

Welcome to interview No. 2 of my visit to the Coronation Street set, and my day caught in a flurry of exclusive summer storyline interviews.

Now situated inside the ‘Coronation Street’ hub after quaffing ITVs deli lunch and copious cups of coffee, I was sat in the midst of Fleet Street's finest, ready for another interview with a Corrie cast member.  Settling down with the rest of the press, a jovial, chatty, confident and charismatic Antony Cotton (Sean Tully),  sat poised and ready to answer our questions.

A serious storyline is afoot as Sean descends into the harrowing modern-day nightmare, of homelessness.

Going to great lengths to research the story, Antony Cotton has actually already had personal experience of homelessness.

''During my stint on Dancing On Ice, I went on Facebook (not that I’m ever on it), going through thousands of messages, by fluke, I opened one from an acquaintance I'd met a few times socially, who asked for help as he was homeless. I rang him and questioned what was wrong and once I knew it was real, I knew I had to help''

Finding himself navigating the often un-linked social services and minefield of social security issues, Antony contacted Manchester homeless charity – Barnabus and whilst simultaneously filming ‘Dancing On Ice’ training for the show, and filming Coronation Street, the actor set about helping his friend, in anyway possible, subsequently finding him a home, giving Antony a unique insight into homelessness.

‘’The moment you have no address you have nothing, that’s why there are so many homeless people’’-  continued Antony, on Sean’s homeless storyline

Rather than sofa surfing or lodging which is something Sean has always done (whether at Eileen’s or with Fiz & Ty), Coronation Street felt obliged to engage Sean in a literal and very real homeless storyline, which shocked Antony the actor.

‘I thought that Sean would not be in that position but it is true, and very spookily, so much so, that I had to go back to the charity Barnabus to research the storyline’ he admitted 'I had already done the research without knowing’

At this point in the interview, I must tell you a fun story. So, about 18 months ago, before joining the Coronation Street Blog, I won a competition with this blog and received a brilliant Sean Tully notepad in the post (see pic above). I thought ‘Ooh I can take that with me to the press day’. Only in the middle of the interview, I realise I’m scribbling away in it, which caught the eye of Antony Cotton, who definitely saw my notepad. Surreal doesn’t quite cut it!

Anyway, back to Sean’s storyline and Antony’s thoughts on it

"My first scene in the tent is where Sean is getting the tent from a bush and I thought well would you put it there really? but I knew it was true as my friend had done it."

As an ambassador for various Army charities, Antony is incredibly passionate about the homeless and the plight of the socially ignored and is rather humbling with it.

The interview ended with a final thought from Antony;

"There is the translucent element of homelessness. They are treated like the walking dead; it's been a real eye-opener."

Coronation Street has produced Sean’s storyline in conjunction with UK homeless charity 'Shelter' whom who can find out more about here.

I am @rybazoxo and I write Wednesday night episode reviews for @CoroStreetBlog Follow me for more content on Corrie’s summer storylines, coming soon.

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The Smiths in 1980s Corrie

Family and friends aside, I have two loves in life - 1) The Smiths and 2) Coronation Street. As is well documented (for example, in previous blogs here and here), I particularly enjoy it when there is synchronicity between the two.

I noticed in a Classic Coronation Street episode shown on ITV3 last week that the wall of 'Baldwin’s Curtains' (as the business had recently been renamed) was adorned with a Smiths poster:

The poster is in the right hand corner of the above image. In this scene, Shop Steward Ivy Tisley is busy with a clipboard while Shirley Armitage and Vera Duckworth are gossiping about Mike Baldwin’s arrest for drink driving. The episode was originally broadcast in April 1988, six months or so after The Smiths spilt up. The poster can be seen in closer detail below:

This poster advertised the band's eponymously titled debut album and featured the image from the front cover of the record, which is of American actor Joe Dallesandro in a still from Andy Warhol's 1968 film 'Flesh'.

The first Smiths album was released in 1984. Does this mean the poster was on the factory wall for at least four years? I have no idea but the fact that this prop was incorporated into the Corrie set at all fills me with joy.

I bet Morrissey got a kick out of it too - his favourite TV programme, which he used to send scripts to as a boy, now paying homage to his band.

I wonder who The Smiths fan in the factory was - possibly Shirley. I can’t imagine Ivy, Vera or Ida Clough being into them.

This album happens to be my favourite in The Smiths’ back catalogue. It is essentially Morrissey’s teenage diary set to Johnny Marr’s wonderful guitar playing. One of the standout tracks is ‘Miserable Lie’, which is also a fave of Mary Taylor’s:

Whalley Range must be a more desirable area of Manchester now than when Morrissey were a lad!

By Martin Leay, on Twitter @mpleay

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