Coronation Street Blog Interview with Les Dennis

(This post was originally posted by Jordan Lloyd Beck on the Coronation Street Blog in June 2017, reposted to this blog with permission.)

“I’ve gone from playing the dead to the undead”

Les Dennis on his role as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family.



Hiya! It’s just Jordan – this time with a rather special post. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to the press launch of The Addams Family Musical at The Lowry in Salford. The musical stars Corrie’s Les Dennis (also known as Gail’s fifth victim Michael Rodwell) as Uncle Fester in the UK premiere of this fantastically quirky musical adaptation of the creepy and kooky franchise. Being a huge fan of musical theatre, this invitation was such a privilege.  Corrie and musical theatre. There hadn't been such a perfect combination for me since Meerkats Movies first aired their Corrie/Wizard of Oz sponsor ad!

After arriving at the gorgeous theatrical complex that is The Lowry, having made it through a very wet Manchester, I was ushered into a room full of press, where there was a general Q&A and a couple of performances of songs from the show. In case you're unfamiliar with the show, the musical is a new take on the infamous comic strip, in which the family must deal with daughter Wednesday's infatuation with a boy who is "normal". Needless to say, hilarity ensues and the overall kooky essence of The Addams Family is captured in the show, right down to Uncle Fester's famous lightbulb, which Les uses gleefully backstage!

"Everything is driven forward by the songs. There's never a song for the sake of it. It's about questioning what is normal.  The comedy appeals to all ages and is great for a night out"

I sat down with Les – who has adopted the bald look especially for the show – to discuss his new venture.

Was The Addams Family something you specifically wanted to do after Corrie?Yes. I wanted my next project to be totally different to Corrie. When I got the call, I said yes straight away. I grew up watching the original Addams Family and Uncle Fester is just so different to Michael.You’ve already done a lot of musical theatre, having had roles in Legally Blonde and Hairspray. How do they compare to your role in The Addams Family?

Uncle Fester is a trickier sing than other roles I’ve done. I have a lovely song in Act II called The Moon and Me. It’s a challenge but it appealed to me straight away.

Having already been in soap operas such as Crossroads and Brookside, what was it about Coronation Street that made you stay for three years?

Coronation Street is so special. I watched the first episode and grew up on it. I love it. When I was offered the role of Michael, I immediately said “Yes please!”  It’s an institution and I am very proud of have been one of Gail’s husbands.

Were you happy with the way you were written out of Coronation Street?

I was very happy with the way I was written out. I asked for that sort of ending. I could have gone out in a black cab but by killing Michael off, it meant I could say “I’ve done that”. I am proud to have been a part of it.

Do you want Phelan to get his comeuppance?

Being killed by a soap villain such as Phelan means Michael can really be part of Corrie history. I think the storyline with Phelan could go on for a while yet. He’s a clever villain and knows how to get away with things – as people do in real life. But that’s what keeps you hooked as a viewer, when you’re yelling at Eileen wondering when she’s going to see him for what he is.

Which do you prefer? TV or theatre?

I like both but I do love the thrill of live theatre.

Are you still in touch with any of the Corrie cast?

Yes, I’m good friends with everyone over at Corrie. They're all coming to see me when The Addams Family opens in Salford.

The Addams Family Musical, which also stars Samantha Womack (EastEnders) and Carrie Hope Fletcher (Les Miserables, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) is currently touring the UK until November. 

To find out more about this creepy, kooky and mysteriously spooky musical and book tickets, click here!

As always, Thanks for reading!  

Jordan Twitter: @JordanLloyd39  

The Addams Family Twitter: @AddamsFamilyUK  

---

Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter

Les Dennis - from the Platt family to the Addams family

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog November 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Les Dennis will be starring in the Addams Family musical comedy as Uncle Fester when the show goes on tour next year.

Samantha Womack, who is leaving EastEnders after almost a decade playing Ronnie Mitchell, has been cast as matriarch Morticia in the show.

Les,  whose final Coronation Street scenes as Michael Rodwell aired recently, has been cast as Uncle Fester in the musical comedy.



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Top 5 ways to make an exit from Coronation Street

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Michael Rodwell rode out of Coronation Street last week in his ice-cream van.  Let's have a look at some of the other ways you could make a memorable exit from the cobbles.

1. All guns blazing - and live!

Lloyd and Andrea left in style in the back of a classic car during the Coronation Street live episode 2015.  The live episode was to celebrate ITV's 60th birthday.

Watch the scene here:



2. With an air of mystery

When Elsie Tanner left the Street in January 1984, she ordered a taxi. Ghost voices and memories from the past echo around the cobbles as she waits for the taxi. The taxi driver then asks Elsie how long she was intending to be away from the Street.  Her reply? "Ah, now there's a question!"

Watch the scene here:



3.  Legging it

Kelly Crabtree's exit is one I remain very fond of.  "Where will you go? What will you do?" asks Janice as Kelly strides away up the cobbles. Kelly ignores her and just shouts to the rooftops instead: "I'm Kelly Crabtree! With the legs!"  And leg it she does, as the camera follows her up the Street and she disappears around the corner. 

You can watch the scene in the Youtube below, start around 8.20 and watch it until the end.



4. With a scarlet woman

Gloria Price left in a sports car at night so I'm not sure the sunglasses were necessary, but she did look good. The red head scarf signifying a scarlet woman as she drove away from the Street with somebody else's husband in the passenger seat.  Not content with nicking her husband, Dennis asked Gloria to slow the car down as they left the cobbles so that they could really rub salt into Rita's wounds. "Bye, Rita!" yelled Dennis. "Tek care of yourself."   Mind you, it wasn't long before he came snivelling back.

Watch the scene here:



 5.  In a cab, like a legend

There's only one way for a Street legend to leave the show. It has to be in the back of a cab. One of the best exits was Bet Lynch. She wanders the Rovers, it's empty, she's alone. She leaves the keys to her kingdom on the bar after Rita refused to loan her the money to buy the place and keep it going.

Watch the scene here.




Are there any more classic Corrie exits you would have included in your top five?




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Les Dennis signs to Coronation Street for another year

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Les Dennis has signed to Coronation Street for another year, the actor said today on live TV.

Les, who plays Michael Rodwell, was interviewed on This Morning along with Oliver Farnworth, who plays Andy. Les confirmed that he's signed up to Corrie for another 12 months.

Les and Oliver are currently on a Corrie break to star in a stage show in Liverpool.  You can read more on that here.

On leaving Corrie for his break, he says this about his on-screen character: "Michael kind of disappears in the next few weeks because he's going to Brighton while Les is going to do a play!"




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Les Dennis takes seven week break from Coronation Street

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

I would have loved Michael Rodwell to have left Coronation Street last night driving the ice-cream van, with an off-key chime of Greensleeves as it trundled off the Street.  But I'm pleased to read that the actor who plays him, Les Dennis, is only going to be away from Corrie for seven weeks.

Les is starring in Alan Bleasdale's Down The Dock Road is at the Royal Court Liverpool until 9 April.

The comment comes in a very good interview with the Daily Mail today with Les. He is very honest in the interview, talking about his marriage to Amanda Holden and to his current wife, Claire. He talks about being an older dad and of course about his first few days on the Corrie set as burglar Michael Rodwell.

He says that Coronation Street’s producers have given him a seven-week sabbatical to appear in the play and he’s extremely grateful. He wouldn’t do anything to upset the apple cart in Weatherfield. ‘I love playing Michael Rodwell,’ he says. ‘I’d be happy to still be doing it ten years from now.’ His very first scene involved him slipping out of Gail McIntyre’s house, running up the street and jumping into his getaway van.

‘But I couldn’t understand why there were no keys in the ignition. Then the director said, “It would probably have been better if you’d jumped into your van rather than the crew’s big shiny Mercedes.” But I’d been running up the very cobbles I’d been watching on telly since I was a kid, so no wonder I was nervous.

‘On my first day I was walking down the corridor and there were names like Anne Kirkbride, God rest her soul, and Eileen Derbyshire and Bill Roache on the dressing room doors. I still pinch myself when I go to work. The studios are a 25-minute drive from home. I can do the school runs if I don’t have an early call. My weekends are free. I can plan holidays. It’s a joy.’

You can read the full interview here.

Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Les Dennis on his Corrie break and splitting up with Eileen

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Les Dennis, who plays Michael Rodwell, will be taking a seven week sabattical from Coronation Street this spring.  He's starring in Alan Bleasdale’s Down the Dock Road at Liverpool’s Royal Court Theatre in March.  You can find out more about that here.

Les will return to Corrie having already signed a 12-month contract that will keep him in the soap throughout 2016.

And speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Les reveals that Michael's relationship with girlfriend Eileen Grimshaw will become rocky - and it isn't because of his ex Gail.

Les says:  “It’s just a seven week sabbatical. I have a big storyline now which I start filming in January, which builds up to Michael leaving. His relationship with Eileen will become rocky because of someone else arriving in the street.”





Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Who is the Better Partner for Eileen - Michael or Phelan?

(This post was originally posted by Ruth Owen on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2016.)

Michael or Phelan? Who is the more suited to Eileen? What a question I seem to have set myself, but I will do my best to answer it.

It seemed to me that, at least initially, Michael and Eileen were not well suited at all. It is possible that she decided to begin a relationship with him to spite Gail, her long term nemesis. Michael was at a very vulnerable stage in his life, and he needed someone to turn to and someone to comfort him, after the revelation that Gail was in the know concerning the Gandy episode.

While Gail and Michael did seem to fit together as a couple, it never, at least for this viewer, felt that Eileen and Michael were very well suited. There seemed to be no chemistry and no real enjoyment of each other's company, and when they were together if felt forced at times. Letting Michael go seemed relatively easy for her too. No tears, no shouting - all a bit of a damp squib, with Phelan not so much waiting in the wings but rather entering centre stage.

Gail's adoration of her former house burglar was genuine and so maybe now Michael will learn to forgive her for deceiving him and harmony will be restored and Michael will shuffle into the annexe with Gail. He's in no hurry though as he gave Gail a bit of a knockback last week. As ever, time will tell.

Eileen is very attracted to Phelan, though it is unclear whether he is attracted to her, despite what he says and how he acts. In The Rovers Eileen told Liz that she 'fancied the pants off Phelan.' She never said that about  Michael.  After Val cleared him out, he needs a home and someone to attend to his domestic needs. Whatever else he is, my bet would be that Phelan is not a new man.

It is a commonplace to point out that some women are attracted to bad boys. Well, neither Phelan nor Tony could be classed as boys, but they certainly have some bad in them. Somehow, despite his dirty tricks, Tony is more likeable that Phelan. Phelan has a menacing sinister side which is missing in Tony, in my view, though Tony certainly did do unforgiveable  things to Liz, the woman he claimed to love. I would be interested to hear what other viewers think about the relative evils of Tony and Phelan.

Michael is a pretty harmless character really, despite his stupidities and he has, it seems, not had a very happy life. He appeals to the maternal side of women perhaps, as he seems so hopeless and hapless. He was right about Phelan though. Instinctively, he did not trust Phelan one iota.

But is the mask slipping? In the bistro are Phelan and Eileen, when who should walk in but Kevin and Anna. As a rather odd gesture, Kevin and Anna send Eileen and Phelan a bottle of wine. He feels humiliated by the gesture, maybe, or feels patronised. Either way, the gesture hits a raw nerve. Immediately, the mask slips and Phelan is on his feet. He couldn't have got his face nearer to Kevin's if he tried. 'Better be careful what you say about me in public.' he threatens.  On returning to his table Phelan receives short shrift from Eileen. 'That was embarrassing,' Eileen says. 'Maybe they were right about you.'

Does this spell the end for Phelan and Eileen?  Or will he pull the wool back over her eyes? It certainly makes for compelling viewing.




Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.


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Yay or Nay: Should Michael get back together with Gail?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog July 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

News from Inside Soap magazine this week and Coronation Street spoilers for next week reveal that Michael and Eileen will sleep together. I think I've just sicked up in my mouth.

But, after they spend the night together, Michael starts to see Eileen in a different light, and he's not sure he likes what he sees.  After Micheal and Eileen's night of passion, Eileen can't wait to tell Gail all about it, and of course, Michael thinks Eileen's being a right nasty piece for doing so. I agree, she is.  I thought the scene in the Rovers these week where Eileen battered the Battenberg was quite cruel.

Later in the cab office, Eileen finds a bracelet that a customer has left behind. But instead of tracing the customer and letting her know about the lost bracelet, she pockets it herself.  Michael's perturbed by Eileen's lack of honesty - and him a reformed burglar too! 

So as Michael starts to cool towards Eileen, should he go back to Gail?

I vote a big fat YAY.  What do you say - Yay or Nay?



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Les Dennis has his Corrie contract renewed

The Sun is reporting today that Les Dennis, who plays Michael Rodwell, has had his Coronation Street contract extended.

Mr Curry Sauce tells The Sun:  "It’s always a good sign when people are offered a new contract — it shows the bosses like the way they are performing and want to tie them down to build up the character"

This week Les Dennis tweeted in reply to fan who said how much he was enjoying having les on Corrie. Les replied saying: "Loving it too. No talk of Michael going yet."

I'm glad he's staying on. Are you?

Glenda Young
Flaming Nora Blog / Twitter 



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The Waltons of Weatherfield

(This post was originally posted by Graeme N on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2015.)

Just how big are the extended Platt-McIntyre-Rodwell-Tilsley family going to get? I'm starting to think ITV should invest in a spinoff show just for the residents of 8 Coronation Street and their entourage. It's Plattination Street. 

I know each character in Corrie needs his or her time in the storylining limelight but it feels like Gail's brood have been dominating screen time for months on end now. What with the ongoing complex Andy/Gavin saga, David's custody battle with Camp Callum for Max and now the return of Sarah-LOU and Bethany, it's all getting a bit much. At the same time all Audrey gets to do is tut "Oh Gail/Bethany/David/Sarah-LOU" and lug Ken's massive tome about (say nothing) while Nick occasionally turns up and grimaces.

Oh the Waltons of Weatherfield just keep on expanding like some mad experiment conducted by Kenneth Williams and Fenella Fielding in Carry On Screaming. If only they'd vitrify Bethany and Gail and turn them into non-speaking extras for a while. It would allow the viewers time to recover. I'm all for making Corrie about family relationships even if it does smack a bit of EastEnders.

A lot of people love Gail and Michael together. While I think he is a superb match for our Gail it does mean we have to endure lots of beige-jumpered eye fluttering and mutual simpering. The writers have cleverly given Michael a life-threatening heart condition so at least there's a way out for us if it all gets a bit too Last of the Summer Wine.

My main regret about the Andy/Gavin storyline is that it has drawn the lovely Steph into the stinking mire. Would she really have gone along with all the lies, deception and comedy coverups for the sake of snivelling, shifty-eyed Andy? She entered stage left as a street-smart, bright, intelligent young woman. I hope she doesn't exit stage right as the complete opposite. It's happened oh so many times before. My other sadness is that the evil Gavin didn't stay on for longer. He was properly horrid and very convincing. He could have shown Callum how it is really done.

I know Gail has kept the dodgy secret for the sake of Michael's equally dodgy ticker but surely even she must know it will all come out in the wash. And when Michael does inevitably find out the truth he won't have the benefit of ITV player or the pause button so he can take a comfort break or make a cup of hot sweet tea to revive himself. Will the massive revelations finish him off before he's got the chance to fully engage with the delightful grown up Bethany? 

Ah yes, Bethany Platt. Do you think she swallowed the Hovis theme on her way back from over seven years in Milan because the odd mention of Nonna or pepperoni or Sarah's Roberto just ain't going to cut it. Gino D'acampo could dub all her lines and I still wouldn't buy it. I wonder if Sarah enrolled her in a module of "How to speak Weatherfield" just in case she ever had to pop back for a spot of underage drinking with shifty-eyed Andy in t'Rovers. Apart from the accent, or lack thereof, there is also the incredibly irritating requirement for her to swivel her eyes in the standard wild child-dabbling in shoplifting-giving cheek to anyone who's been in the show long enough to remember Annie Walker kind of way. We've seen it all before. 

To make the whole thing more believable apparently the older, wiser, more mature "I've lived in Milan and worked for Uncle Stephen" Sarah-Lou will apparently start bedding Camp Callum the drug dealer and fill in the rest of her time behind the pumps in the Rovers bar. There's career progression for you.

Meanwhile we must endure the ongoing Max/Callum/David round robin of angst-ridden nasty camp posturing. I'm waiting for Callum and David to just get down to it on Gail's impossibly tiny couch. That would make a good re-entry for Kylie, as it were. The way David moans on about Kylie is very strange considering he actually threw her out and told her not to come back. Not so weird then that she's actually done what it says on the tin. Callum had still not grown on me the last time I saw him snarl up the cobbles in his pimped up spiv-mobile. He'll be excellent if the Rovers ever do another festive panto. Oh yes he will!

I know I mentioned that poor Nick hasn't had much to do of late but he's soon to muscle into the Platt-o-sphere with an apparent dalliance with Carla Connor, or Dame Fenella Fielding Of The North as I like to call her. I can't see this being a love match. Nick must still be recovering from being Kim Tate's adventure playground. Heaven knows what she used as a climbing frame but I bet it didn't light up and buzz. Carla is a vision and I adore her. Would she really ask Nick for help with, well, anything and then pop open the Angie Freeman vintage red wine with him? After Paul/Frank/Tony/Peter I think not. 

Out of all of this I'm most interested in Audrey's verdict on Anna Karenina. I've never read it but I understand it goes on for a thousand pages. A bit like one of the scripts for the Platt dynasty. 


Follow me on Twitter @GraemeN82 



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Les Dennis: "I still pinch myself when I walk into Corrie"

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Les Dennis was interviewed on BBC Radio 2's Paper Cuts show last night with Kate Thornton.  He talked about his life and touched on Coronation Street, of course.

It's definitely worth a listen.  Les said that if his late comedy partner, Dustin Gee, was still alive today, he would have been enormously proud of him for joining the show.

When Les first joined Corrie, he says: "I was in awe. My first scene was running up the cobbles having burgled Gail's house. I remember thinking: 'I am actually on Coronation Street, not doing a sketch as Mavis!

"Here I am playing a character that might have a shelf life in the show and every scene that I did, my first scene with Roy - oh! - my first scene with Bill Roache, who plays Ken Barlow - at the end of the scene he touched my forehead and said 'you're blooded'.

"I still pinch myself when I walk through the gates, it's a fantastic show to do. It seems that people like the character and like the relationship between Gail and Michael. Maybe for the first time she's got the man she deserves!

Listen to the interview here.




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Yay or Nay: Should Gail accept Michael's wedding proposal?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

In next week's Coronation Street, Michael Rodwell gets down on one knee and begs Gail for her chips. Or her hand in marriage. I'm guessing it's the latter.

Previews suggest that Gail doesn't give Michael an answer straight away, which is unlike her. She's normally the first to zip herself up in something unsuitably frilly and frothy to drag a bloke up the aisle and say "I do, yet again"

But never mind Gail's answer, what do we think she should do? Should she accept Michael's proposal - Yay or Nay?

Here's a reminder of Gail's previous mistakes marriages:

Wedding number 1. From Gail Potter to Gail Tilsley. Gail married Brian Tilsley for the first time on 28 November 1979. Brian divorced Gail after her affair with Ian Latimer as he wasn't sure whether he was really Sarah-Lou's real dad.

Wedding number 2: Gail Tilsley to Gail Tilsley. She married Brian for the second time on 24 February 1988 for the sake of the kids. Brian died after being stabbed in an alley after a night out in a club.

Wedding number 3. From Gail Tilsley to Gail Platt when she married toy-boy Martin much to her mother-in-law Ivy's chagrin. Gail and Martin's wedding took place on 27 September 1991.

Wedding number 4: From Gail Platt to Gail Hillman. Richard drove Gail round the bend and her family into the canal. It was probably never a good choice to marry the man they called 'Norman Bates with a briefcase'.

Wedding number 5 From Gail Platt to Gail McIntyre. Another watery end to Gail's marriage when Joe died in a lake after trying to do an insurance scam.

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Funny Guy

(This post was originally posted by Scott Willison on the Coronation Street Blog in November 2014.)

There was a point during Monday's Corrie when I genuinely hoped that my house would fall into a hellmouth and I'd be damned to an eternity toiling in the sulphur mines of Beelzebub; at least it would have meant I wouldn't have to watch Maria and Luke trying to buy a car any more.  They were painful, unfunny scenes that should really have had a laugh track layered over the top so that we knew these were COMEDY.  I like Luke, but his sudden grumpiness seemed out of character; Maria continues to be a hairstyle in search of a personality; and the guest actor ramped his "funny acting" up to levels Norman Wisdom would have found over the top.  Why was he carrying a pipe?  Why did a diabetic coma involve him shouting non-sequiters?  Why would a barely conscious man pick up his car keys?  As for Luke carrying Maria because her heels hurt... I'm sure we were meant to be rolling around on the floor with mirth, but frankly, no.

And then Les Dennis turned up drunk.  In just a few blissful moments, Michael was funny, charming and in character.  It was a reminder that Les Dennis is a very talented, very experienced comedian, and that Corrie really hasn't been using him to his full powers.  Over the past few months Michael's been full of angst, guilt and anger.  He's moped around because he thinks he's dying.  He's tried to break up with Gail for her own good.

Anyone could do that.  There are thousands of jobbing actors out there who could play a serious, down beat man.  Coronation Street cast Les Dennis though.  Use him!  Give him more comedy!  I understand Les probably wants to prove that he's a proper actor and not just a game show host trying a change of tack - much like when Matthew Kelly gave up presenting for acting, and immediately played Lenny in Of Mice and Men and a serial killer - but it just leaves me frustrated.  I'm not saying that Michael should suddenly break into long missed characters from the Les Dennis Laughter Show, but a bit of jolliness wouldn't go amiss.  Craig Charles manages to be funny and heart-warming whenever he's on screen - he's so naturally charming, it's almost enough to make us like the pestilent Andrea.

Of course, in an ideal world, Michael would get a job in the Kabin alongside Rita and would say "I don't really know" every other episode.  I expect La Knox would put quite a firm stamp on that idea (she still hasn't shared the screen with Les; the Kabin is only ever staffed by Norris when he pops in) but we can dream.  In the real world, I'd just like Les to be allowed to make us laugh again.



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Where have you seen Michael Rodwell's aunt Barbara before?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog September 2014, reposted to this blog with permission.)

If you thought the actress who played Michael Rodwell's aunt Barbara Deakin on Coronation Street last night looekd familiar, then you're not alone.  I sat and scratched my head too. The actress is Beatrice Kelly and she's one of those actresses who have been on our TV screens for decades in many different roles.

Beatrice Kelly has appeared on Coronation Street before. In 1996 she played Carol Palmer who was the mother in law of the red-haired Claire Palmer, who played Des Barnes' girlfriend.

Her IMDB profile is here.



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Taking the Michael

(This post was originally posted by Clinkers (David) on the Coronation Street Blog in August 2014.)

Well, he's certainly inveigled (thanks for that one Ken) his way into the life of simpering Gail but how is Michael Rodwell shaping up with the viewers?

For UK fans, there was the age-old problem of casting a familiar face in a leading role. Many will remember Les Dennis from his 1980s comedy partnership with the late Dustin Gee, where Les often impersonated Mavis Riley to Dustin's Vera Duckworth. For fifteen years he was the host of the ITV quiz show Family Fortunes. Taking a role in the UK's leading soap could have been problematic and yet he already feels like a fixture.

Gail's life, as usual, is a whirling mess of nonsense. Both of her sons are emotionally stunted and one of them appears to be even older than she is. Add to this her increasingly ineffectual mother, firebrand daughter-in-law and 'naughty' step grandson and it suddenly becomes apparent why a failed burglar has become her rock.

Will Michael last and will he come husband number five? As we know, confetti is like catnip to our Gail so we can probably expect her to be hauling herself in front of another unsuspecting registrar within the year. Cue disapproving chorus of tight-lipped Audrey, sneering David and elderly camp villain Nick. Given that Gail managed not to have happy endings with a mummy's boy, the dull nurse, a serial killer or the serial klutz, she may just be on to something with Mr Whippy, the thieving ice-cream van man.

As we know, Michael has a family of his own so let's hope they enter stage left before too long. Can we expect a son or daughter unhappy at the prospect of their father hitching up with Gail and her less-than-stable entourage? Will Michael get worried when Gail's Oedipus Syndrome kicks in yet again? Or will it be a case of  roses around the door and happy ever after? With this being Weatherfield, we shouldn't bank on it.

Michael Rodwell. Yay or nay?



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Will Gail marry Michael - Yay or Nay?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog June 2014, reposted to this blog with permission.)

She's got form, has Gail.  Always chooses the wrong fella, over and over again. 

And as much as I'm liking the character of Michael Rodwell, played by Les Dennis on Coronation Street, I'm also thinking that he could turn out to be Gail's future husband too. 

What do you think? Will Gail marry Michael, and indeed should she - yay or nay?



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