Stephanie Cole back on TV at Christmas

Stephanie Cole, who played Roy Cropper's mum Sylvia Goodwin, will be back on TV this Christmas, but sadly, not in Coronation Street. 

Stephanie will be starring as The Black Widow in a re-make of Open All Hours for a one-off Christmas special, called Still Open All Hours.  You can find out more about that here.

Stephanie's departure from Coronation Street earlier this year was blamed on bad health but then it was reported that she had suffered a family bereavement. 

We wish Stephanie all the best and hope that her return to TV in Still Open All Hours will herald her return back to Coronation Street in the New Year - fingers crossed.  Roy's going to need her, that's for sure and she's much missed by fans.

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Stephanie Cole to star in BBC Christmas drama

Stephanie Cole, who plays Roy Cropper's mum Sylvia in Coronation Street, will be starring in a BBC Christmas drama.  It's a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, a 90-minute drama set to be screened at Christmas and being filmed in Budapest.

Hopefully this means that Stephanie is now over the illness she has been suffering from, which Corrie Producer Phil Collinson revealed earlier this month.

The Lady Vanishes centres around a woman who falls asleep on a train from the Balkans in 1931 to find that a fellow passenger seems to have disappeared. The woman, played by Tuppence Middleton, is convinced she has been kidnapped unlike her fellow passengers.

BBC Drama's controller of series and serials Kate Harwood said "I am delighted with the incredible cast and crew we have assembled for the project. The Lady Vanishes will be a thrilling treat for BBC One audiences this Christmas."

Anyway speaking of Hitchock, he once appeared in Coronation Street too you know - well, in a photoshoot if not on the cobbles themselves.

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Video: Stephanie Cole at Chelsea Flower Show

Coronation Street actress Stephanie Cole, who plays Sylvia Cropper, took a starring role in this week's Chelsea Flower Show. 

She was interviewed in her own back garden and took viewers on a tour of it, explaining what she liked about it most and the areas she wanted to change.

She talked about how hard it can be at tmes leaving the garden for so long while she's away filming up north for Corrie and then she went up to London to the Flower Show itself for a chat with Alan Titchmarsh.

Stephanie's clearly a knowledgable gardener but talk turned of course to Coronation Street and that's when her eyes sparkled and she told Alan how much she loved, absolutely loved, working on the show.

You can watch Stephanie's star turn at the Chelsea Flower Show on the BBC iPlayer here.  Stephanie's bit comes on around 19:29.

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A Sad Day on the Cobbles

Friday’s episodes of Corrie gave us some of the most emotion scenes we’ve had in a long while. And they were a shining example of just how well Corrie can do drama when the writers put their minds to it.

I am of course talking about the scenes involving Leanne and Peter and Sylvia and Roy (although Sean’s strife at not being able to take Dylan to the Frescos audition almost made the cut).

Firstly, Leanne, who has been a bit of a mardy madam lately, had to go through the heartbreaking experience of losing her unborn child. The scenes involving her and Peter in the hospital were beautifully done and reflected what a strong unit the two of them are.

However, it was the scene at the end of the episode in which Stella came to Leanne and offered a shoulder to cry on that really gave the episode a real emotional punch. Jane Danson was wonderful as ever, sobbing her heart out over a culmination of emotions. She really is one of the strongest actresses on the show and I hope she stays at the focus of things for a while yet, because quite frankly I think we all deserve a break from Jennie McAlpine’s drawling little voice crying about John and Hope.

Then we had the Roy and Sylvia storyline, which marked a turning point in their relationship. We got to see a more human side to Sylvia, especially when she told Hayley that she struggled to love Roy as a baby because he resisted her. It was a very emotional and raw scene, which I haven’t seen on Corrie in a long, long time.

Again, solid performances from all involved made the scenes feel genuine and again it’s nice to see Corrie doing real drama like this because for too long now we have been subjected to Steve and Becky screaming the odds and weekly stunts ranging from rooftop falls to hostage situations.

People can argue all they want about Corrie going off the rails, but as Friday showed, there is still a lot that is right on the nation’s favourite street. I hope they keep this up, because I had forgotten that Corrie could actually do real human drama.

Roy Cropper's mum to run the caff

There's a Coronation Street spoiler in today's Daily Star that says Roy and Hayley leave the cafe in Sylvia's hands when they go on holiday again, and she starts to run the place with an iron rod. 

The paper says: "In hilarious episodes next month viewers will see Sylvia (Stephanie Cole, 69) alienate regulars by cutting back on portions of food and charging for salt, ketchup and milk in cuppas. She even introduces a fee for use of the toilets.  Soap fans will see dopey Kirk Sutherland (Andrew Whyment, 30) emerge from the loo to tell Sylvia: “Can I have my money back'".

Yay for more Sylvia, that's all this fan can say!

The Truth Is Out

Amidst the nonsense with Becky wreaking more havoc and Antony Cotton's "acting" like a concerned father during last night's visit to the street was Roy and Haley and their attempts to conceal the truth about Hayley from Sylvia.

The truth about Hayley's past coming out to Sylvia was something I was both looking forward to and apprehensive about because Roy and Haley are one of my favourite couples on the cobbles.

When Sylvia eventually started to attack poor Hayley, Roy stepped up in one of those rare moments where Roy well and truly stands up not only for himself but his wife as well. I don't think we've seen this side of Roy since all that business with Tony Gordon last year. But as a man who rarely divulges his feelings with others it is always a treat when we see a more vulnerable side to Roy, reminding us that he does actually have feelings and his often unspoken love for Hayley is something that he will not allow to come under attack by anyone, not even his mother.

That said Sylvia's insults were horrific but as we know she's not the nicest of old ladies, something which I hope will be explored in the future. I don't see Sylvia coming around any time soon but a reconciliation is bound to happen although when it does I hope that it is done so in a way where we come to know more about Sylvia and perhaps get an insight into why she is the way she is.

They may be one of the more unconventional couples in soapland but Roy and Hayley are also one of the strongest and I applaud the writers for going where they did because the Croppers really stole the show last night.

I love Sylvia Cropper

I am SO Loving Sylvia running the cafe with her no nonsense regimen. She orders the customers about. She insists on manners.

And she called Tina a "Strumpet"! Marvellous!!

Video: Stephanie Cole on playing Roy Cropper's mum

Stephanie Cole, who plays Sylvia Cropper on Coronation Street, was interviewed on ITV's This Morning, this morning. You can watch Stephanie's interview here. 

However, if you're outside the UK and you can't see it, here's a little synopses of what she says.

Sylvia's background will soon be revealed which will help explain the way Roy's the way he is (and why we love him!). Corrie have had to build a larger flat above Roy's Rolls to accommodate Sylvia moving in with Roy and Hayley.

Stephanie used to work at Granada and once played bridge with Doris Speed, who played Annie Walker. She talked about comparisons between Sylvia and Blanche and said she'd once worked with Maggie Jones, who played Blanche!