INTERVIEW: Mikey North- Gary saves Sarah's life in world's first socially distanced stunt

Gary Windass has been strutting around like Coronation Street's alpha male for far too long now, but it's not going to stay that way for much longer. Sitting down with Mikey North via the magic of Zoom, he revealed how the net is quickly closing in on a worried Gary.

It all starts when Brian finds Rick Neelan's watch in the woods when metal detecting. "He finds out from Brian of all people that they've been to the woods with their metal detectors", says Mikey.  "Bernie's found a watch, Bernie sells it to Sarah, [Gary] finds out and he has a bit of a meltdown in the street and smashes up Brian's metal detector in one of his true Windass episodes."

Gary is horrified when Rick's watch is discovered... and then sold to Sarah.

With their highly fractious relationship, Sarah is probably the worst person to be in possession of Rick's watch, and this sparks worry within Gary. Mikey said: "Sarah kind of starts to put things together. Adam's obviously been after him for a while as well; the net's closing in. Sarah will approach Gary and sort of ask him straight, "did you do it?""

We've seen Gary become over-confident, but that is set to the change. "I think Gary's been really confident, Mikey less so", Mikey laughed. "I think he's felt invincible at times and his split personality comes out and he thinks that nothing can get to him, really. But that's now going to catch up with him and his luck might be running out.

Sarah finds Gary's murdering tools

After finding Gary's murder kit in the back of his van, Sarah begins to add all of the evidence together and after a heated confrontation with Gary on the cobbles, she runs into the road and is about to be hit by an oncoming car when Gary pushes her out of the way, resulting in him being hit instead. The question is, why did Gary save Sarah when she could have taken his secret to the grave? The answer is simple.

"He still loves her, doesn't he?" said Mikey. "I think he probably always will. Everything he did with Rick, you know and Rana of course with all the roof stuff, was all to sort of help them out and save her and protect her. I guess he feels hard done by that he's had to do all this and she's off with someone else and doesn't like that.

Gary saves Sarah's life- but at what cost?

"Don't get me wrong, he does love Maria, you know, she's been so nice to him and kind, and he does love her, he really does, but the stuff with Sarah will always be bubbling under and this obviously brings it all to a head."

Coronation Street is dubbing this crash the world's first socially distanced stunt, and Mikey talked about filming his own stunt involving a car going at full speed.

"I always ask to try and do my own stunts if I can, it's just I enjoy it; it's one of the best parts of the job for me so luckily they let me do it on the bonnet of the car. It's good fun and I really enjoy it, getting bashed about.

"This stunt guy showed me what to do and it was quite wet on the bonnet actually and I thought, 'I'm going to lose my grip and probably get hit by car', but luckily I got away with it somehow, but yeah, it was pretty nerve-wracking, the first take."

Mikey North filmed his own stunt

Due to social distancing precautions, the process of filming had to be altered slightly. In order for Gary to be able to push Sarah out of the way of the vehicle, a dummy wearing Sarah's clothes had to take Tina O'Brien's place at times.

Mikey said: "We're having to shoot things quite differently. There's more camera trickery to make us look closer than we are. In the stunt, it was just me acting with a dummy Sarah at times. Its not easy but we've done as best we can."

A dummy version of Sarah had to be used due to social distancing precautions

With every soap villain, their time on our screens is almost always put on a timer as soon as they commit that first murder. However, Mikey hopes that Gary's redeemable qualities will mean he can stick around. "I hope that the bad things that he has done at the start were all with good intentions at heart, you know, he was trying to help his family out through his desperation.

"I know there's been times over the last year probably where he has gone a little bit too far and that is in his nature as well, that nasty streak within him. But I do hope there is that good guy somewhere. Hopefully we can get past this, maybe bring good guy Gary back at some point.

"I hope there is a way out of this for him."

Obviously, Coronation Street has had an extensive break from filming due to lockdown, and Mikey found he was quite nervous to return to work. "It was quite nerve-wracking getting back to work actually because obviously none of us have picked up a script for three months which is quite rare as an actor that you go that long so it was like learning to do it all over again.

"I've loved it, being back. It's so nice to get back and see everyone and just be working again. We're so fortunate being in a soap at the minute that we're working because nowhere else is and you've got so many actors that would love to be working right now."

Filming a socially distanced stunt can't be easy, and Mikey explained what is was like: "It's not how you want to do it. I mean, when you're trying to act with a dummy version of Tina O'Brien, it's not as good as the real thing. But we're getting used to it now, trying to keep the distance is not easy... but we're doing our best and as I say, it's just nice to be back and getting the opportunity to work again and hopefully we'll be back to normal soon."

With Gary's net quickly closing in on him, how much does he reveal to Sarah and will she keep his dark secrets? Don't miss this action-packed episode on Wednesday 29th July!

Sophie Williams

Read some more of my general natterings on Twitter soph_journo.

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Sarah finds out the truth about Gary after Adam proposes? - Tina O’Brien Interview

With a Christmas shoot-out set to rock the Corrie cobbles, we spoke to Tina O’Brien to find out what twists and turns are in store for Sarah Platt.

“Christmas Day’s also David’s birthday so there’s a decision to go and, like, hide and seek presents so Sarah, Bethany, and Shona go out hiding the presents and it’s at that point that everything kind of goes off.”

Whilst Derek is running amok the Winter Wonderland, Sarah takes cover with Adam by her side, desperately trying to stay out of harm’s way.

“At the end of the Winter Wonderland there’s like a large tree and they kind of huddle behind it and I have a small child with me which you can imagine was fun filming in the middle of the night!”

With all the surrounding chaos going on, Adam suddenly decides to pop the question to a stunned Sarah.

“It was a really sweet moment actually. I’m not sure why, but because we’re sort of there and there is that fear.

This is the craziest time to ask so I think she’s pleased but she’s also a little bit overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to handle the situation.

“Of course she wants to marry him but she’s a little bit like, ‘This is not the time or place’ basically.”

Despite a marriage proposal, this is hardly the family Christmas that Sarah envisioned, and she still has the matter of Gary Windass to deal with. If you cast your mind back not too far, you’ll remember that Gary is technically responsible for the deaths of two people, as well as currently running his loan shark business. However, Tina mused that Sarah has pretty much got him sussed.

“I think [Sarah] knows [Gary] maybe better than most people and I think there’s things that he’s done where she’s gone, ‘I know you’ve got a darkness to you’ and that scares her.”

Tina also explained how when the factory collapsed all those months ago, Sarah already had her reasons to believe that Gary was somehow involved, but Tina still believes that Sarah will be shocked to find out what Gary’s really done.

“Although she’ll be surprised, I think she knows he’s got it in him.

“When choosing between the right thing to do and the thing that benefits him, Gary chooses the thing that benefits him and what makes him look like a good guy... that’s why sometimes I think with Maria she’s a bit like, ‘Oh Maria, I’m trying to be nice!’ And she’s like ‘You’re jealous!’

“Maybe she is a bit jealous? I don’t know, it’s hard to know if she’s a bit resentful as well because now Gary’s there with all this money, and he’s offering Maria a life that he couldn’t offer Sarah.”

At least Sarah’s life is improving romantically with Adam shaping up to be her happily ever after.

“I think Adam’s right for her, actually. I think she really, really loved Gary and I think she was very loyal to him, but I think there was a lot of issues within the relationship of him saying, ‘Look, I’m not going to lie to you anymore’, and then she’d find out he was lying and then he would do the same thing over and over again.

I think she needs to let [Maria and Gary] go a bit and move on forward with her life with Adam because I think he makes her happy.”

With a potentially deadly Christmas Day looming for the residents of Coronation Street, make sure you tune in to find out Sarah’s fate!

Sophie Williams

Read some more of my general natterings on Twitter @soph_journo.

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Coronation Street Episode Review; Weds 16th Oct 8.30 pm

Luckily, its only concussion for little Harry, but Sarah's sobered up and realised it may not be a good idea to booze whilst you've got kids? I doubt she was seeking legal advice from Adam but I reckon the nurse would have smelt the ale on her? Reeling from Shona's booze-addled rage (I am joking...slightly) Max runs off and it isn't long before Shona has a visit from Callum's Mum Marion (soap head swap klaxon) who's heard all about the skirmish, from her grandson.  Reaching for the coffee, Shona's slurring speech doesn't go unnoticed and accusations are wildly thrown. 
Has Shona reached breaking point?

Gemma's also getting a lesson in motherhood at the football ground, by getting her pregnancy bump stuck in the turnstile. Hilarious? Over a check-up, everything seems fine, but Chesney will not let the blue cheese burger issue go, will he? Working in a kebab shop, you think he'd be used to big bellies and burgers!

Getting grim over a pint, Geoff cajoles Yasmeen further, and pushes her to agree in his investment idea for speed daal - the man is a narcissist! Yasmeen makes a call to Zeedan.

Meanwhile, Marion visits Adam Barlow to seek legal advice in terms of her having permanent access to Max. Shona admits to Sarah that she physically shook Max and that David should have probably have adopted him years ago. As Marion tells Shona she is seeing legal access, its no consolation when Lilly admits it was she who hurt Harry.

Feeling embarrassed by her sudden illness, Sinead is struggling to keep her usual optimistic persona (its no surprise is it) and hides away in the bedroom. Later, Beth plays the doting Aunt and tells her not to push the family away, in her final days. Spending family time with Daniel and Bertie, Sinead seems to have perked up, but they both acknowledge that they are on 'the home stretch'.

Phew! - a bit heavy for our first episodes after a week off but superb stuff, all the same.

What did you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!

You can follow me @rybazoxo over on twitter, your self-styled 'Cobbles Connoisseur'.

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Coronation Street Episode Review; Weds 17 July 8.30pm

In tonight's second episode, Gary faces questioning from the police and plays a pretty mean poker face. Finding out about Nick's alibi though, it looks like he may have to play a different card...

At The Rovers, Maria's date is interrupted by the fella's mother!. Making her (fake) excuses, she swiftly leaves. Moira hopes to pick up Maria's sloppy seconds but doesn't have any luck either.

Beth is still grumpy about the majority shares decision, retreats from the factory, and tells Kirk that she'd like to sell her certificate for a holiday instead. Later, and working her way back into the factory fold, Beth doesn't tell Sarah that she's planning on selling. She then decides to play Sean against Paul in seeing who will buy it first.

Meanwhile, Seb queries Alina's sudden disinterest, and Jan tells him to forget about her. As Paula bumps into Eileen, Jan gives the solicitor a knowing gaze. Is there a history between the two?. Later, at the nail salon, Jan visits Alina and tells her to stay away from Seb as it's too risky.  Just what is going on here?.

At the corner shop, Evelyn tells Tyrone and Michelle that she thinks Roy fancies her and that's why she wants him to leave. Protesting that Roy is a sexual predator, Tyrone tells his Nan to curb her behaviour or she will be the one leaving the house.

Over a coffee, Maria confides in Michelle about her dating disasters, telling her that Ali has been a great confidante.

The police interrogate Gary further telling him they have intelligence of his dealings with Rick. As he isn't arrested, Gary is free to go but unfortunately, he doesn't see Rick's daughter Kelly heading into the cop shop reception. Back at The Rovers,  Gary threatens Imran, believing it was the solicitor who shopped him to the police. At that moment, Sarah walks in and admits that she called the cops on him. In the beer garden, Sarah explains her decision to Gary, who in turn fiercely protests his (faux) innocence.

Later on, Gary bumps into Sharon who tells him that Kelly has been to see the police about Rick's disappearance.

I don't know about a poker face, I think Gary may need a new set of cards!!.

I shall be back same time next week.

You can follow me @rybazoxo over on twitter, your self-styled 'Cobbles Connoisseur'.
TA-RA!

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