'Curly & Raquel' by the band Martha

Yesterday, ITV3 showed a significant episode of classic Corrie. Originally broadcast on 23 January 1991, it was the first appearance of Raquel Wolstenhulme played by national-treasure-in-waiting Sarah Lancashire. Introduced as “Mardy Raquel from the meat counter”, she had the dubious honour of being Miss Bettabuy 1991. 

They were very different times and Reg Holdsworth instructed his Assistant Manager, Norman Watts to talk Raquel into wearing a swimsuit to read out the winning ticket in Bettabuy's “grand trolley dash”. Her first line was shown today in an episode from 25 January 1991 when she announced it was number 986.

I can’t think of a better symbol for the juxtaposition between the glamorous and the mundane that Raquel would go on to embody with such melancholic beauty.

In celebration of Raquel's arrival on ITV3, I’d like to share an amazing song that I’ve only recently discovered. A mate of mine pointed it out to me after my recent blog on the young Curly Watts (which is still available folks, right here).

The track is  ‘Curly & Raquel’ and it’s by Martha. Not Ken Barlow’s fancy woman on the barge, but a socialist pop-punk band from County Durham.

Not that Martha but this Martha

They’ve released a couple of albums and the second, ‘Blisters in the Pit of My Heart’ - from 2016 - features the aforementioned song. Simply put, it’s marvellous.

The lyrics contain the following nostalgic Corrie references:

“All the stories that we tell,

Roy and Hayley, Curly and Raquel,

Romantic reference,

Come on, tell me what’s your preference?”

And:

“Weatherfield Mademoiselle,

Thinking back to Curly and Raquel,

On your arrival,

I can stick on the subtitles.”

It’s sort of part-homage and part-metaphor. The band gave a nice quote to DIY Mag when they explained:

“It is in essence a song that’s about love, but also being a weirdo – and we kind of looked at Coronation Street and pop culture in general because as we grow up that’s how we develop our conceptions of love… Coronation Street can be the most mundane, everyday s**t, and that’s sometimes really easy to relate to” ... “especially with Curly and Raquel because Curly was always a bit of a nerd and we really relate to that”.

The band even had a comic strip poster designed for sale on their 2015 tour. It was by Jack Fallows and was fantastic:

Without further ado, I implore you all to take four minutes to think back to Curly and Raquel with this gloriously vibrant slice of pop-punk (stream available below):

Another reason why I love this song is that the chorus nods to Billy Bragg - a major influence on the band - by lifting and adapting a couplet from ‘Greetings to the New Brunette’. He’s apparently a fan of the band. Nice!

The rest of Martha’s stuff is also worth checking out, but ‘Curly & Raquel’ will always be my favourite. It is every bit as enthralling as a trolley dash up and down the aisles of Weatherfield's finest supermarket.

By Martin Leay
Twitter @mpleay
Corrie Blogs @ bit.ly/corriemartin

---

---

All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Top 25 Favourite Corrie Females - No. 17

17. RAQUEL WATTS (173 VOTES)

Duration: 1991-1996, 2000

Played by: Sarah Lancashire

2012 character poll position (women): 23

Introduced as an assistant at Bettabuys supermarket, working alongside the likes of Curly Watts, Reg Holdsworth, Vera Duckworth and Ivy Brennan.

She was later hired as a barmaid at the Rovers and formed a close friendship with landlady Bet Gilroy and fellow barmaid Betty Turpin. She also dabbled in modelling.

Soon enough, Raquel was in a relationship with Des Barnes. She was heartbroken when ex-wife Steph turned up as he hoped for a reconciliation. Time and time again Des and Raquel would rekindle their relationship, only for Des for dump her when he got a better offer. 

After failed relationships with Gordon Blinkhorn and Wayne Farrell, she married friend and confidante Curly in 1995. But the aching truth was that she didn’t love him. She still loved Des, for all his faults. 

She confessed to Curly her real feelings, but he forgave her. They had a happy marriage until she left him – not for Des, but for a job in Malaysia. She made a brief return in 2000 to let Curly know that they had a daughter called Alice. Raquel was by then living in Paris.

Ditzy Raquel’s notable scenes during her tenure include having French lessons with Ken Barlow in the Rovers backroom and having a conversation about football with Alma Baldwin and Denise Osbourne in the Rovers bar. She is undoubtedly a classic Corrie character.

A fan of Raquel?

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Download our free App | Visit Corrie.net

Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog

All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Empathetic Street

David Neilson is a marvellous actor. Yet again last night he stole the show with his moving, touching and incredibly human performance as Roy Cropper. The scenes leading up to Roy scattering Hayley's ashes were beautifully played.

Everything about our Roy is pitched perfectly, David never ever puts in a below par performance, and that's after nearly twenty years in the role. His recent storyline with Gary Windass was on the controversial side, splitting opinion both on and off screen but the character of Roy was true and accurately portrayed throughout. Roy is also now one of the few Corrie characters who can move me to tears, often when I least expect it. I empathise with Roy in a way I do with few other Corrie regulars.

I was thinking about what an emotional programme Coronation Street can be for its loyal viewers. I guess continuing drama is in general as the viewing public often see the same faces in their living rooms for decades and you can't help but form attachments to many of the characters. However I always think the longevity of both Corrie and many of its characters make it extra special. 

Thinking of the classic Corrie scenes that always bring a tear to my eye is not difficult, however most involve longstanding characters. Hilda, clutching Stan's spectacle case, sitting alone in number 13 after his funeral. Rita and Mavis parting company after working together for 25 years in the Kabin. Audrey saying a tearful farewell to Alf and then Alma. Elsie Tanner walking out of Weatherfield for one last time in 1984. And of course Hayley's exit in early 2014.

All these examples have something in common - strong women showing their vulnerability. The question is, do today's strong Corrie women elicit the same response? Jane Danson has terrific acting talent but Leanne is quite often particularly unlikeable. Alison King is a joy as Carla but surely this character's emotional roller coaster of a life has now stretched credibility to snapping point? Helen Worth brings Gail to life with such ease, even after all these years but Gail is a character that, despite her long history, I really do struggle to empathise with, mainly because she's prone to simpering daftness. Michelle and Eileen are both typical strong Corrie women but I find it difficult to form emotional attachments to either these days.

And what of the younger generation? Fiz, Sinead, Katy, Maria, Izzy, Sophie and the rest. Unfortunately the only reaction most of these younger characters elicit from me is irritation. Sinead's speech to Roy the other night was one of the few exceptions, mainly down to the fact it was beautifully written. Eva, Steph and Julie are all superb modern Corrie women but sadly they are just not being given the chance to sink their acting chops into great material. I just don't buy into their stories as I did with the likes of Rita, Audrey, Alma or Elsie. 

Times change and viewers look for different things. For me though, nothing can beat the likes of Phyllis Pearce, quietly facing up to old age with dignity or the vulnerable, idealistic Raquel chasing her dreams. 


Follow me on Twitter @GraemeN82


Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Classic Corrie Christmas Moments Countdown - Day 22

Today we're going back to 1994.

It's full of the merry joys at the Duckworths and Platts; Alf and Betty visit the hospital; Phyllis returns wanting a kiss under the mistletoe from Percy; and Curly names a star after Raquel. Romantic eh?

Enjoy!

For information and a synopsis of this episode (Episode 3795) on Corriepedia, click here.

Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Does prejudice towards soap actors still exist?

There are comments over on Digital Spy from former Coronation Street actress Sarah Lancashire on what she describes as a "ludicrous prejudice" towards soap actors.

Lancashire, who played the wonderful Raquel in Corrie for six years in the 1990s, has of course gone on to appear in a long line of successful television dramas since her departure. While the actress does not rule out a return to Corrie in the future, she does state that she sees soap operas as a good training ground before moving on to other things.

So do you agree with Sarah Lancashire that soap actors are not treated with the respect they deserve?

Does this prejudice still exist even though recent times have seen the likes of Katherine Kelly go on to great things? Also, would you like to see Sarah back in Weatherfield one day?

Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

The faces of Corrie in 1995

If you remember, last year I had a series of posts looking at the top 12 faces of each Corrie decade - the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s. For the next few weeks or so, I’ll be looking at the top 12 faces of each year between 1960 and 2013.

With thanks to Corriepedia for the information.

In 1995, 156 episodes were broadcast.

1. Fiona Middleton (110 episodes)

2. Vera Duckworth (108 episodes)

3. Jim McDonald (106 episodes)

4. Des Barnes (105 episodes)

5. Gail Platt (104 episodes)

6. Raquel Wolstenhulme/Watts (103 episodes)

7. Steve McDonald (102 episodes)

8. Liz McDonald (100 episodes)

9. Jack Duckworth (98 episodes)

10. Betty Turpin/Williams (97 episodes)

11. Ken Barlow (93 episodes)

12. Alma Baldwin (92 episodes)

Average age: 43

Note: This is the last time Betty appears in the top 12, after 17 years. This is also the last time Raquel (to date), Alma and Des appear

Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

The faces of Corrie in 1994

If you remember, last year I had a series of posts looking at the top 12 faces of each Corrie decade - the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s. For the next few weeks or so, I’ll be looking at the top 12 faces of each year between 1960 and 2013.

With thanks to Corriepedia for the information.

In 1994, 157 episodes were broadcast.

1. Gail Platt (117 episodes)

2. Raquel Wolstenhulme (113 episodes)

3. Curly Watts (110 episodes)

4. Rita Sullivan (107 episodes)

5. Mavis Wilton (104 episodes)

6. Alma Baldwin (102 episodes)

7. Maureen Naylor/Holdsworth (99 episodes)

8. Liz McDonald (94 episodes)

9. Des Barnes (93 episodes)

10. Bet Gilroy (93 episodes)

11. Ken Barlow (91 episodes)

12. Reg Holdsworth (91 episodes)

Due to lack of space, Tanya Pooley fails to make the top 12, but also appeared in 91 episodes.

Average age: 45

Note: To date, this is the last time Bet appears in the top 12, after 21 years. Also, this is the last time, to date, that Curly, Maureen and Reg appear.

Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

The faces of Corrie in 1993

If you remember, last year I had a series of posts looking at the top 12 faces of each Corrie decade - the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s. For the next few weeks or so, I’ll be looking at the top 12 faces of each year between 1960 and 2013.

With thanks to Corriepedia for the information.

In 1993, 157 episodes were broadcast.

1. Jack Duckworth (102 episodes)

2. Curly Watts (102 episodes)

3. Deirdre Barlow (99 episodes)

4. Raquel Wolstenhulme (99 episodes)

5. Liz McDonald (98 episodes)

6. Mavis Wilton (93 episodes)

7. Gail Platt (92 episodes)

8. Jim McDonald (91 episodes)

9. Alma Baldwin (90 episodes)

10. Alf Roberts (90 episodes)

11. Audrey Roberts (90 episodes)

12. Kevin Webster (89 episodes)

Average age: 43

Note: This is the last time Alf appears in the top 12. This is the second time that a Rovers licensee doesn’t appear in the top 12

Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

The faces of Corrie in 1992

If you remember, last year I had a series of posts looking at the top 12 faces of each Corrie decade - the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s. For the next few weeks or so, I’ll be looking at the top 12 faces of each year between 1960 and 2013.

With thanks to Corriepedia for the information.

In 1992, 157 episodes were broadcast.

1. Gail Platt (129 episodes)

2. Raquel Wolstenhulme (125 episodes)

3. Mavis Wilton (121 episodes)

4. Jack Duckworth (120 episodes)

5. Vera Duckworth (112 episodes)

6. Rita Fairclough/Sullivan (109 episodes)

7. Curly Watts (106 episodes)

8. Derek Wilton (106 episodes)

9. Alma Sedgewick/Baldwin (98 episodes)

10. Bet Gilroy (96 episodes)

11. Martin Platt (95 episodes)

12. Liz McDonald (94 episodes)

Average age: 44

Note: This is the only time Derek appears in the top 12

Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

What a drunk Bet and Raquel can teach today's Corrie writers

I came across one of my most favourite Coronation Street scenes the other night and I felt it was worth a blog post all of its own. I'm sure many of you will have seen it before, however it definitely stands up to repeat viewings. You can view the scene here.

Bet and Raquel are two of Corrie's best loved characters and their onscreen partnership in the Rovers during the 1990s was a joy. There was always humour mixed with touches of vulnerability. Julie Goodyear and Sarah Lancashire sum up what's best about Corrie in this scene. The performances are spot on, the acting is terrific. You can tell both Julie and Sarah are having fun with their characters. It is also written beautifully. Time is taken to set the scene up and it meanders along with nothing much happening. It's not the wham bam of today. It's funny and a little bit sad and is probably something a lot of viewers could and can relate to, and that for me is Corrie at its finest.

Betty Driver once said that while she would always love Coronation Street, she did miss the times in the Rovers where the regulars would chat together in long scenes where nothing much happened. It strengthened the sense of community and made it feel real. We do see a bit of that now and again, but for me the action nowadays is far too plot driven. 

So Corrie writers, let's take a page out of Bet and Raquel's book. Let's have more Streetcars scenes with Steve, Lloyd and Eileen discussing nothing much of anything and having a laugh. Let's see Liz and Deirdre chewing the fat in the Rovers, Rita and Audrey musing over their rich histories. There's so much material to be explored and it doesn't all have to revolve around Tina flamin' McIntyre and pathetic Peter Barlow!


Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Fab Photo Friday - November 23rd 2012

It's Friday again so it's time for this week's fab Coronation Street photo. I miss this pair, so mismatched and yet so right together.

Follow the Coronation Street Blog on Twitter and Facebook

Top 60 Corrie Characters - Nos. 36 and 35

36. Raquel Watts (known as Wolstenhulme) 1991-1996, 2000 (47 votes)

The ditzy Rovers barmaid who was initially introduced as an assistant at Bettabuys. When she was hired at the Rovers, she formed a close friendship with both Bet Gilroy and Betty Turpin. Soon enough, she was in a relationship with Des Barnes, but it ended when his ex-wife Steph returned. After failed relationships with Gordon Blinkhorn and Wayne Farrell, Raquel married Curly Watts in 1995 – but the aching truth was she never loved him. She longed for Des. She eventually left Curly – not for Des but for a new job in Malaysia. Blonde and beautiful, Raquel was a vital comic character in the 1990s and her random conversations were always favourites. Notable scenes include having French lessons with Ken Barlow in the Rovers backroom and having a conversation about football with Alma Baldwin and Denise Osbourne in the Rovers bar. She returned to the cobbles on Millennium Eve to tell Curly he had a daughter: Alice. She also asked for a divorce and Curly agreed. She left Weatherfield again – to France this time.

Should Raquel be at 36? Were you a fan of her dopiness? Leave a comment!

35. Phyllis Pearce 1982-1996 (50 votes)

Originally the grandmother of Craig Whitely and a thorn in his paternal grandfather Chalkie’s side, Phyllis was seen as interfering and worried for the welfare of her grandson. But after Craig and Chalkie’s departure, blue rinsed and croaky voiced set her sights on community centre caretaker and local busybody Percy Sugden. Not interested, Percy even became engaged to Maud Grimes to prove his disinterest, but Phyllis was still ignorant. To make Percy jealous, she courted Sam Tindall but to no avail. Although in her 60s, she found regular employment at Jim’s Café alongside Alma, Gail and Martin although she was then forced to retire but then became Des Barnes’ housekeeper. She left the street in 1996 to live in retirement home Mayfield Court.

Should Phyllis be at 35? Were you a fan of her blue rinsed hair and deep voice? Leave a comment!

Check out who's at 38 and 37.

 

Follow the Coronation Street Blog on Twitter and Facebook

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 2000

Day 40 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

In 1999 Granada closed their visitor attraction, The Granada Studio Tours, which included the outdoor set for Coronation Street. This gave the producers the opportunity to expand the set and include the exteriors of some places that we’d only ever seen the inside of and to include some new locations as well. A medical centre and chip shop (sadly not Jackson’s Chippy) were placed on Rosamund Street on the site of the old Graffiti Club and on Victoria Street shops for Elliott & Son’s Butchers, Roy’s Rolls and D & S Hardware were built. Strangely a new viaduct which had never been seen or mentioned before also appeared crossing Rosamund Street behind the Rovers. Photographs of the new additions can be found here.

The year started with the Street’s first ever two-handed full episode, featuring Raquel and Curly Watts. At 2 in the morning, just as Curly is in the kitchen mixing up something to try and help him avoid too bad a hangover, there is a knock on his back door. He thinks it's just the lads and shouts at them to go away, but the knocking persists and he opens it to see Raquel, his estranged wife. Curly hopes that she has returned for him, but although she says she still cares for him, she says she doesn't love him the way he wants and she can't some back. Her first bombshell is that she and Curly have a daughter called Alice, although she didn't know she was pregnant when she left and she didn't tell him about it because she didn't want him chasing after her to Kuala Lumpur. Curly is over the moon that he's a father, but very annoyed that she hadn't told him about her, especially as she returned to England to have the baby and stayed with her sister. In his anger, he makes cruel insinuations, asking if she's really his, but Raquel assures him there was nobody else and that she's told Alice all about her father and she's looking forward to meeting him. On a visit to the bathroom, she takes a look round her old home and sees that very little has changed, her old dressing gown is even still hanging on the back of the bedroom door.

As they look at the star that Curly bought for her, he says he's prepared to forgive and forget and that they can start again, but she drops her second bombshell when she tells him there's someone else. When she was in hospital having Alice, she befriended a French couple, the wife of which was dying of cancer. She's been working as a nanny looking after their 2 children as well as Alice and now lives in a chateau, 'a real one, detached and everything', in the Loire valley (she even speaks fluent French and knows a bit about wine). The wife died 2 years ago and since then she's helped put Armand, the husband, back together again, got him loving his children again and the pity she felt for him when his wife first died has blossomed into love. Curly realises that the next thing she'll be asking for is a divorce, which she duly does and she knows he'll give her one, because he's a nice bloke who still loves her and wants her to be happy. She finally drops her third bombshell, announcing that she's pregnant and needs to be married in case the child is a boy, for inheritance purposes. Curly opines 'Why can't it be me, why can't it ever be me', but as Raquel predicted, Curly agrees to the divorce and seems to be finally accepting that it's over. She says she wants Alice to get to know her real father and that he can come over to France any time and that when she's older, she can come over and stay with him during the holidays and they set the first visit for Easter. As dawn is starting to break, she says goodbye and leaves by the back door with tears in her eyes.

Another landmark this year came in the form of the 40th Anniversary of the programme. Rather than celebrate another decade with a special TV Times supplement and a couple of TV specials it was decide to broadcast an hour long episode featuring the culmination of a campaign to save the Street’s cobbles which the council was threatening to tarmac over. But more than that, the real headline grabber was that this episode would be broadcast live for the first time since February 3rd 1961. The only members of the cast remaining who had ever known what it was like not to be able to redo a fluffed line were Bill Roach and Eileen Derbyshire. There were significant logistical problems with the shoot as well. All the action was taking place on a single day so most outdoor scene had to be crammed in to the first part of the programme before it started to get too dark. The final scene was a major problem too as it took place outside the Rovers after everyone had emptied out of the pub, so the final interior scenes for the Rovers had to be filmed in the shell on the outdoor set. Despite all the problems the programme was a great success and the cobbles were saved when Stan Potter (played by Noddy Holder), turned up with a fake preservation order for them.

Also in 2000: Steve McDonald borrows money off Jez Quigley to start Streetcars; Bethany Platt born; Mike Baldwin marries Linda Sykes; Kevin Webster marries Alison Wakefield; Alison Wakefield commits suicide; Peter Barlow returns; Terry Duckworth sells a kidney for £25k and does a runner; Vera Duckworth donates a kidney to Paul Clayton; Eileen Grimshaw makes her first appearance; Jim McDonald kills Jez; Jim McDonald and Liz remarry; Curly Watts and Emma Taylor get married.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1996

Day 36 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

With its ratings share declining, ITV decided that they needed to spread their most successful programmes further and insisted on a fourth episode of Coronation Street being produced, to be shown on Sunday evenings. With only so many hours in a day and with weekend shooting already having become commonplace since the switch to three episodes per week a way had to be found of accommodating the extra episode into production schedules. The result was that it was decided to do away with the producer/technical rehearsal that had been a feature of the Street from day one. This technique of rehearsing immediately before shooting a scene was already a feature of location shooting but now it would be brought to the studio.

Most of the cast had no real problem with the new process as despite the extra scenes required for the fourth episode, the rejigging of the schedule would actually mean they had more free time. The writers were more concerned however. By holding a technical rehearsal some days prior to the actual filming they were able to watch the rehearsal and make adjustments to the script if a line could be improved or if an actor had taken something the wrong way. Also there was a loss of continuity as the scenes were no longer filmed in transmission order, so actors would sometimes lose their knowledge of where a scene was going and how it all sat within the overall story. This was especially true if an actor had a heavy workload and only bothered to read their own scenes and so didn’t really understand how they fitted with everybody else’s.

Furthermore, the amount of story material had to increase and consequently, as we have seen over the years, the stories move further from the viewers’ own reality, which initially drove the programme, to a point where suspension of disbelief is stretched to breaking point. Finally, the extra episode didn’t sit well with the audience. Viewing figures for the new Sunday episode were always lower than the Monday, Wednesday and Friday programmes. Despite Friday regularly ending with a major cliff-hanger to try to draw the audience in on Sunday, people never really got used to the weekend scheduling.

One cast member who was uncomfortable with the switch was Sarah Lancashire who played Raquel Watts. As a popular character she was much in demand on screen and had been carrying long running storylines for months without a break. She announced her decision to move on and left a week before the first Sunday episode was transmitted in November. Raquel took up aromatherapy and hired the back room at the salon to work with clients. Then she decided to enrol on a course in Maidenhead and shocked Curly when she returned much more confident that when she left. She had an interview with an international firm and was offered a job in Kuala Lumpur. Curly put on a brave face when she broke the news in floods of tears but inside he was heartbroken. Before leaving she left Curly a pile of ironed shirts with her wedding ring sitting on top and after giving the Street one last sentimental look, turned to Judy Mallett and said: ‘Look after him.’

Also in 1996: Jim McDonald hits Liz; Steve McDonald gets sent to the big house for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice; Liz catches the eye of Frazer Henderson; Alec Gilroy returns and opens Sunliners travel agency; Fiona Middleton buys the salon; Terry Duckworth sells Tommy again; Terry gets Tricia Armstrong pregnant; Audrey Robert’s estranged son, Stephen Reid, turns up; Norris Cole buries Angela’s golf clubs in the Wilton’s allotment; Don Brennan attempts suicide.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1994

Day 34 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

It had been planned for Ken and Deirdre to reunite but when Anne Kirkbride fell ill and had to be written out of the show for six months, storlines had to be rejigged and Ken was paired up with Denise Osbourne instead and got her pregnant. On her return from nursing her sick mother, Deirdre was furious and reminded Ken of the times she’d begged him to let them start a family when they were together. Deirdre flew off on holiday to Morocco where she had a holiday romance with a 21 year old waiter. On her return she borrowed money from Emily and amazed the Street by paying for him to come to the UK. Samir Rachid arrived frightened by the western world but hopelessly in love with Deirdre.

He took a job in a local restaurant and moved into no. 1 with Deirdre, despite the misgivings of her daughter Tracy. When immigration officers started to show an interest, Deirdre proposed to him to keep him in the country and they were married at the register office. Immigration officials refused to believe it was a genuine marriage and they were both faced a fierce interrogation by the authorities. Samir felt like a prisoner and Deirdre felt isolated when her friends refused to believe he loved her. She sold no. 1 to Mike Baldwin and the pair of them used the proceeds to fly back to Morocco to start a new life.

Another unlikely romance blossomed in 1994. Curly Watts had always been interested in barmaid Raquel Wolstenhulme but she’d rejected his advances in the past and he’d come to think of her as unobtainable. He was sacked from Bettabuy after his area manager, Elaine Fenwick, submitted a sexual harassment complaint against him after he kept declaring his love for her. He worked for a week at the bookies but it was a disaster and so he took a job as manager of discount shop, SoopaScoopa. In an attempt to impress his new bosses he pretended to be engaged and managed to talk Raquel into pretending to be his fiancée.

Raquel had been having a hard time of thing, continually being messed around by Des Barnes. She’d moved into no. 6 with him but he was still attracted to the evil Tanya Pooley who was having an affair with Des’s boss, Alex Christie. Things came to a violent conclusion when Des confronted Alex & Tanya in bed. Raquel arrived on the scene in time to hear Des ordering Alex out of ‘my girl’s bed’ and left in floods of tears, searching out Bet Gilroy for comfort.

After such a torrid time, it is no surprise that when Curly decided that he really did love Raquel and proposed to her, she accepted even though she didn’t love him in return. Much to her delight, for Christmas that year Curly named a star after her. She broke off the engagement the following year after Des Barnes begged her to marry him at their engagement party but she eventually realised that she didn’t love him. So, on December 18th 1995, in the programme’s first ever hour-long special to celebrate the programme’s 35th anniversary, Raquel and Curly were married in secret in a register office with strangers as witnesses.

Also in 1994: Ivy Tilsley moves to religious retreat; Reg Holdsworth marries Maureen Naylor; Fred Elliott makes his first appearance, I say, Fred Elliott makes his first appearance; Sophie Webster born; Tony Warren gets an MBE; Reg buys the corner shop; Bet Gilroy teams up with Charlie Whelan but he runs off to Hamburg with the evil Tanya Pooley; Fred Elliott tries to bribe an official in a black pudding contest; Steve McDonald and Fiona Middleton move in together.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1991

Day 31 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

Curly Watts’ engagement to fellow Bettabuy employee Kimberley Taylor was short-lived. She cited Curly’s dislike of her mother and the fact that although she wanted to save herself until she was married, he was always trying to get her into bed. Overhearing this, checkout girl Raquel Wolstenhulme thought that it might be worth giving herself to Curly as it could improve her career prospects. At first Curly wasn’t in the least bit interested as he was still obsessed with Kimberley who had taken up with her cousin, Adrian Gosthorpe. After he told Curly that he and Kimberley had had sex, Curly attacked him and ended up in a police cell. Kimberley was moved to Bolton and Curly then directed his attentions towards Raquel who he supported in her attempts to win the Miss Bettabuy North West title.

Though thwarted in the beauty contest, Raquel did achieve her ambition to do some modelling when Angie Freeman asked her to help out with her end of degree show. She was spotted by a photographer who lured her away from Bettabuy for a career in ‘artistic’ poses. Upset, Curly got drunk with Angie and they spent the night together. Angie immediately regretted it, regarding Curly as more of a brother than a lover. Five months later, Raquel was back, crying on Curly’s shoulder, jobless and homeless. With Curly’s help she got a job at the Rovers and moved in as Des Barnes’s lodger, though in reality she spent only one night in the spare room.

Des Barnes bought himself an old boat and set about renovating it in the back garden. Steph got annoyed at the amount of time he spent working on it, neglecting both him and the house. She went off on a skiing holiday and when she returned, Des was convinced that she’d had an affair whilst away. She denied it but Des remained convinced and so spent more and more time on his boat. Feeling neglected , Steph was flattered when she received some attention from architect Simon Beatty and started an affair with him. Des eventually finished work on the boat and on its maiden voyage, Steph confessed all to him and told him she was leaving. Des panicked her into thinking he had killed himself by blowing up the boat but she found him sitting on the river bank watching the flames: ‘There goes our marriage Steph … didn’t it go with a bang!’

Also in 1991: Ken attempts suicide but is saved by Bet; Mike Baldwin and Jackie Ingram marry but split up in a week; Gail Tilsley and Martin Platt get married; Mike opens a garage and employs Kevin Webster to run it; Ken starts seeing Alma and Mike steals her off him; Vicky Arden is orphaned; Percy Sugden is Bettabuy santa; Andy and Steve McDonald start a pirate radio station.

Tina and Graeme - Corrie's unlikeliest couple?

Digital Spy have some paparazzi pictures of Tina and Graeme being filmed for Coronation Street in Manchester's Heaton Park. Is this unlikely coupling reminiscent of Curly and Raquel, the beauty and the berk?

Fab Photo Friday - February 19 2010

Here's a flashback Friday photo if ever there was one. But can you name the year?

Check out more Corrie Fab Photos from the archive here.

Same again, is it? Picture this face behind the bar at the Rovers

Can you guess which former Coronation Street actress this is? Look closely. You won't have seen her character on Corrie without make-up like this but that dimple in the chin should look familiar. Yes, it's Sarah Lancashire who used to play barmaid Raquel Wolstenhulme.

Sarah has gone on to a good many projects since leaving Corrie and this is her latest one to hit the screens. She plays the housekeeper and narrator in ITV's new remake of Wuthering Heights, the torrid tale of Cathy and Heathcliff which airs Monday August 31 and Tuesday September 1.

Character Study: Norman "Curly" Watts

This is the first in an occasional series of character studies where we'll examine the life and times of some of my favourite Corrie characters, and why they are/were the way they are/were.

Today's study is one of my all time faves, Curly Watts, loser in love. Curly always wanted to love and be loved but it took him a long time to find his soul mate. He also had strong principles that sometimes stood him well and other times landed him in hot water.

You can read the full character study over here.