Corrie weekly awards: Oct. 17 - 21

Loyalty award: Gold Star: Sean and the rest of the staff standing behind Carla.
Silver Star: Jason is there for his mum.


Too good to be true award: Paul seemed too perfect. Of course he'd have a big wife shaped flaw!

Showdown in the Streetcars Corral: Gold Star: Becky and Eileen both wanted the switch job. Neither one got it.
Obvious Plot device award: Gold Star: Sally wasn't fired, she was laid off temporarily. But she took it very personally so that Frank could swoop in and scoop her up for his new factory.


Early to bed Early to Rise: Paul and Owen both slipped out of the house early.

Cutie Patootie award: Baby Hope! Someone was obviously off to the side making her smile! Loved her bunny ears top too!

Ill-advised plan award: Gold Star: Rosie figures she can trick Sally into thinking Jeff is unfaithful. Using herself!
Silver Star: Eileen telling Paul's wife about his affair.

Bank Balances will out: Gold Star: Out of work Becky and Eileen end up having to work for the Devils they know, both Frank *and* Sally.

Ethical Fail award: Gold Star: Amber spiking Sophie's drinks.

Fashion statement of the week (or Fashion Fail, depending on your point of view): Rosie in that tacky purple thing.  And Jeff wanted her *on the street* passing out flyers while wearing it! You can imagine what kind of offers she'd get.

Lines of the Week:
Eileen about Sally "She's one of them people that lights up the room... when she leaves"
Tommy to Becky "You fancy another drink? I'm feeling lucky tonight" Becky "You better be talking about the fruit machine" Stella "Oh leave him alone, he looks terrified" Becky "As well he might, Stella. As well he might" (She'd eat him alive!)
Becky "Shops weren't taking principles instead of money"
Izzy "What part of 'we don't want to work for a rapist ever' don't you understand"
Sophie "I get more funny looks about being a Christian than being a lesbian"
Marcus to Sean "Promise me you'll never train as a relationship councillor"
Sally "What on earth are you wearing? You look like your entering Miss World" Rosie, while pretend sobbing "Thanks Mum" (hahaha!)

Coverage of Betty Driver's funeral

Betty Driver's funeral took place in St. Ann's Church in Manchester this morning. There was a marching band through the streets and in St. Ann's Square, a large video screen was in place so the general public could hear the service. Cast and crew members past and present attended the funeral as did Coronation Street creator, Tony Warren.

Speakers at the service were long time friend and personal assistant, Charles Orr, and cast member Helen Worth and former cast member Bill Kenwright who played Betty's son, Gordon Clegg. Helen said "She was the ultimate professional and knew everything there was to showbusiness, including stealing your scene without any words, A perfect look timed to perfection which lit up the screen."  and she is right. Betty really did steal every scene! (edited to add: BBC has the video footage of Helen's full speech here and yes, it's viewable for watchers outside the U.K. It nearly had me in floods, I'll not lie but it was wonderful!)

Bill Kenwright said "She was never ever in the most volatile of story lines. She was the bedrock of it. A juggernaut of love." and spoke of his mother-son relationship with Betty. Even near the end, when she was semi-conscious, she knew he was by her side during one of his visits.

Charles Orr recalled a recent incident where Betty brought out the inner fan of a group of young lads they encountered in a car park. "All the black hooded crows had gone and we left with this glorious sight of young men, jumping about doing high-fives. You could hear them on the phone, 'I've just met Betty Driver! I've just met Betty!' What can you say about that magic?" And magic she was, indeed.

Betty herself had planned the service and music including Tchaikovsky, Verdi, and with Lord of the Dance and Jerusalem closing off the service. There is more detail about the service and a slide show at the Manchester Evening News site and more photos at the Daily Mail.

Farewell, Betty, you will be missed.

Photo copyright xposurephotos.com and the Daily Mail.

Kym Marsh has a lot to be thankful for

Some of you may groan but since, according to comments here, there are fans of Kym Marsh/Michelle Connor reading, here's a link to a nice, chatty interview with Kym where she talks about her home life and Coronation Street. She talks candidly about having a premature baby who is still having a few health problems but seems to be doing well. She misses baby Polly now she's back to work but is looking forward to the ups and downs of Michelle's life on screen.

She notes that Michelle is usually a loser at love. Michelle is looking forward to a wedding, initially planned for the Bahamas but she decides to get married in Weatherfield instead, probably due to the mess Carla's in because she wants to stay around and help her. I can't imagine Ciaran will be too happy with that and since we know Keith Duffy is leaving, this will probably lead in to his exit storyline.

Kym also talks about her temporary split with Jamie Lomas last year after the premature birth and the death of her baby, Archie. She's also spent time with teenage mums while doing a documentary and she also speaks out about plastic surgery, saying “There’s that term ‘growing old gracefully’ but why should you? There’s nothing wrong with a little tweak here and there if it’s right for you.”

Where to buy Rosie Webster's dress from Coronation Street

Emails coming in to the blog after Thursday night's Coronation Street are asking where Rosie Webster's dress came from. The ITV Corrie wardrobe department tell us it's from Top Shop. 

We've had a look at the Top Shop website and been unable to find it but you could try looking in your local store.