Behind the scenes of Corrie's CGI Weatherfield

I've just stumbled on a great little website, it's a few behind-the-scenes photos of the wider Weatherfield shots that were used for the tram crash back in 2010.

It's also easier to make out the surroundings of the Street in the pictures too. And it reveals that some of the shots actually included Manchester in the background too.

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Coronation Street on TV Tropes

With the lack of anything Corrie until Monday, take a look at the TV Tropes page for the show. See which characters fit into which classic character archetypes and which storylines have been done many times before.

Though I must say, the TV Tropes website is famous for being a time sink that will leave your browser full of open tabs and will leave your with an encyclopedic knowledge of everything in telly land.

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Granada Studios appearance in last night's Corrie

Eagle eyed viewers may have noticed that last night on Coronation Street, Granada Studios, where Corrie is filmed made an appearance while Rick was on the phone to Tommy. You can even spot the Bonded Warehouse, which appears in the show as Victoria Court, behind the Medical Centre.


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Quiz of the day - answers revealed!

Thank you to all of you that participated in the quiz of the day last Monday. The numbers were lower than expected, but maybe in time there'll be more contenders. There were three questions to answer in all and here are the answers for you!

Q1. How many times has Rita been proposed to?

A: The answer is an atonishing 14 times! Is she the most sought out woman in Weatherfield?! Here's a list of the men with the ones she declined in red.

1. Benny Lewis (1972) - they later made an amicable break-up

2. Len Fairclough (1974) - she called off the engagement due to Len's lack of commitment

3. Len Fairclough (1977) - they were married that year until Len's death in a car crash in 1983

4. Alf Roberts (1985) - declined because she only saw him as a good friend

5. Alan Bradley (1987) - declined because she was happy with the way things were

6. Alan Bradley (1987) - Alan planned a surprise wedding but a furious Rita again declined

7. Ted Sullivan (1992) - they were married that year until Ted died a few months later of a brain tumour

8. Fred Elliott (1996) - didn't give him an answer but to save face he said he was a womaniser

9. Alec Gilroy (1998) - she thought he'd changed but ended their engagement when she saw his ill treatment towards Jack and Vera

10. Anthony Stephens (2001) - failed to give him an answer before he left for New Zealand

11. Norris Cole (2005) - he tricked both Rita and Emily by proposing. Rita declined but Emily accepted. A flustere Norris admitted he played them and the short engagement ended

12. Norris Cole (2007) - this was a genuine proposal. Norris admitted he loved Rita and that he would provide companionship for her but she declined

13. Colin Grimshaw (2009) - ended the engagement when she found out about his dark past

14. Dennis Tanner (2012) - they're currently engaged

Q2. Put these in the order of eldest to youngest: David Barlow, Valerie Barlow, Janet Barlow.

A: They were all born in 1942. Janet was the eldest, she was born on the 6th of May - she was Ken's second wife; then David on the 4th of July - he was Ken's brother; and then Valerie on the 26th of November - she was Ken's first wife. It's funny to think that they'd all be celebrating their 70th birthdays now. Isn't it weird that Ken never mentions his brother?

Q3. Which of these couples have the biggest age gap? Ken and Deirdre; Peter and Leanne; Alf and Renee; or Dev and Sunita?

A: The answer is Alf and Renee who had 16 years and 4 months between them, even though the actors who played them (Bryan Mosley and Madge Hindle) only had 6 years and 7 months between them. In close second place is Peter and Leanne who have 16 years and 3 months between them. Chris Gascoyne and Jane Danson have 10 years and 10 months between them. In third place is Ken and Deirdre who have 15 years and 9 months between them while William Roache and Anne Kirkbride have 22 years and 2 months between them. Lastly, Dev and Sunita have 14 years and 5 months between them while Jimmi Harkishin and Shobna Gulati have 5 years and 5 months between them.

 

Hope you enjoyed this week's trivia quiz!

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What did the Rovers look like in 1964?

KornerKabin of the Digital Spy soap forums brought up an interesting video of a 1964 episode in which there is an exterior shot of the Rovers Return, the only problem being, it looks nothing like the Rovers we know today!

Although in the 1960's end credits the Rovers looked different from this version too, and not only that, the Mission Hall was right next door to it, and even the street looked different back then, as each house had it's own bay window, instead of the joined ones that started to appear as the 1960's went on.

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Anniversary Trivia

MY FIFTY CORONATION STREET TOP TRIVIA FACTS

1. The first set used as the interior of the bookies had been built for the Granada sit-com ‘Mother’s Ruin’ which starred Roy Barraclough (Alec Gilroy) and was written by John Stevenson.

2. The first actress cast as Ena Sharples was called Nita Valerie.  She had run her own theatre company in Huddersfield.  They cast Vi Carson as her replacement between the pilot and the first screened episode.

3. Martin Platt’s dad and Curly’s girlfriend Kimberley’s dad were played by the same actor – John Jardine.

4. Kenneth Alan Taylor who played brewery boss Cecil Newton is married to actress Judith Barker who played Ken’s wife Janet.

5. Roy and Hayley’s wedding was filmed in two locations – the inside and outside of the wedding venue were actually different places.

6. The venue used as the location for Ken and Deirdre’s second wedding is actually a museum.

7. The filming for Blanche’s funeral took place at a different church to the one used as St Christopher’s.  The usual church was having major restoration work done at the time and wasn’t available.

8. In the QE2 video Rita and Alec look off the back deck at fireworks going off.  They were actually filmed in a field in Cheshire and added into the footage shot on the ship.

9. Mavis’ budgie and Scamper, the dog owned by the Mallets, retired to a guest house in Wales after they left the show.

10. Annie Walker’s maiden name was Beaumont.  It’s rumoured that a real lady named Annie Beaumont who ran the box office at the Oldham Coliseum Theatre inspired the name.

11. Jean Alexander (Hilda Ogden) worked in the wardrobe department at the Oldham Coliseum and was frightened by seeing a rat in amongst some costumes.  She says that’s why she decided to become an actress!

12. William Roache played Ken in one pilot and Philip Lowrie played him in a second pilot.  Philip went on to play Dennis Tanner.

13. There is a real pub in Salford called the Rover’s Return.

14. The real streets in the Salford Quays area are named after Canadian and American places.  That’s why Mike Baldwin’s address was Montreal House.

15. Granada blundered by announcing the death of actress Lynne Carroll (Martha Longhurst) some months before her actual death.

16. The new ‘Knight’s Tale’ DVD was filmed at Peckforton Castle, the same location as the Patrick Bergin ‘Robin Hood’ film.

17. In the scenes where Vicky Arden (Chloe Newsome) went riding on her horse Saracen, one of the riding extras in the background was William Roache’s wife Sara.

18. Although a real narrow boat was used for filming the scenes with Ken and Martha, an interior set was built in the studios.

19. Dev and Sunita’s wedding was filmed in the car park at Granada Studios.  The street Dev rode along was a fake and the ceremony took place inside a disused studio building.

20. Chesney’s market stall scenes were filmed on the old Granada Studios Tours lot.  Where his stall stands used to be a copy of Checkpoint Charlie!

21. Barbara Knox, Eileen Derbyshire, Betty Driver, Tony Warren, William Roache, Roy Barraclough, Julie Goodyear and Liz Dawn all have the MBE.

22. The usual church where weddings and funerals are filmed has had another use.  Next door is the rectory, which doubled as the old folk’s home which Cilla worked at.

23. Bill Waddington (Percy Sugden) first embarked on a career as a butcher.

24. Jill Summers (Phyllis Pearce) was really called Honor.  She chose her stage name as Jill was her favourite measurement of drink and Summer was her favourite time of the year.

25. Jack Howarth (Uncle Albert) used to take the best cakes off the trolley at afternoon tea and put them in his pocket to take back to his hotel.

26. The picture hanging in the Barlow’s hall has a scouting theme.

27. Inside the medical centre is the hospital set.

28. The site of the original outdoor set is still in use.  The viaduct arches were most recently used as the front of Davenport’s car showroom when Sally had her affair with the car dealer.

29. Tony Warren also wrote the TV series ‘The War of Darkie Pilbeam’ in which Roy Barraclough appeared dressed as a nun.

30. Bill Owen, best known as Compo in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ appeared in Corrie in the early years.  Very soon actress Jean Fergusson (Marina) will make an appearance as Charlotte’s mum.

31. Doris Speed lived in the same street as footballer George Best.

32. Liz Dawn’s real first name is Sylvia.

33. Gail’s recent trial was filmed at Bradford – the same location was used for Tracy’s trail.

34. The Lowry Theatre recently hosted the ‘Corrie!’ stage play.  It also doubled as the hotel Leanne was tracked down by Janice in when she was on the game.

35. The first vegetarian character was played by Frazer Hines who went on to be Joe Sugden in ‘Emmerdale’.

36. Betty married second husband Billy in the same church where Joe’s funeral was held last year.

37. Betty’s first husband Cyril was played by actress Mollie Sugden’s real husband William Moore.

38. When the 50^th anniversary cast photo was taken Nick T and Lloyd weren’t there so on some versions they’ve been added in and on others, such as the back of the 50^th book, they’re missing.

The 50th anniversary picture             Thanks to:ITV

39. Alf Roberts was Mayor twice – in the 70s and 90s.  The Mayoral chain changed completely in between.

40. When one of the production team retired she declared a desire to ride down the street set on an elephant.  Her request was refused.

41. The cobbles changed direction when the outdoor set was re-built.  It’s said that there are 11,101 cobbles on the set.

42. The famous 1983 story when Mrs Walker’s jag went into the lake was filmed at Tatton Park in Cheshire.

43. The Rovers’ staircase used to run in the opposite direction.

44. The first ‘flying ducks’ to appear in Corrie weren’t in Hilda’s house but in Elsie Tanner’s at number 11.

45. When Elsie was married off the producers decided viewers wouldn’t like it if her name changed so they invented Steve Tanner as her future husband.

46. Vi Carson (Ena) was plagued with coaches of people driving past her home such that she had to change its layout and put her lounge at the rear.

47. Ena, Alec and Bet have all switched on Blackpool’s famous illuminations.

48. The tram which killed Alan Bradley is still operating in Blackpool.

49.  Some years ago, along Water Street, outside the studios, were hung lights depicting classic Corrie characters.  Before that they’d been used in the Blackpool illuminations.

50. Long before Hyacinth Bucket was invented, actress Patricia Routledge played the owner of a café on Rosamund Street.

Compiled by Mark Llewellin, locations guide

Visit my blog http://markllewellin.blogspot.com for my favourite stories from taking Corrie fans to look at the locations used for filming.

Location, Location, Location

 

While watching Corrie last night, I noticed something, the location Sophie was calling home from. It'd been used before, and quite recently too, as Cheryl's lap dancing club (the second one, where she only worked for a few days, not La Belle). Knowing the Corrie set quite well, I also know that it is very close by to where the old Davenports Garage used to be, which of course was under a viaduct - Which was the viaduct used for the original outdoor Corrie set!