How Rita knows Dennis

Last night we saw Rita catch a glimpse of a rumpled and bearded homeless man who was looking at the brickwork on Number 11 where the name of Dennis Tanner was carved and dated 1951. There must have been something in his eyes, because she thought she recognized him. This photo was from Barbara Knox's first episode in 1964 when she appeared as an old mate of Dennis's. He used to be an agent for some musical acts in much the way Alex Gilroy was in later years so knocked around the clubs a fair bit.

I don't think he was Rita's agent but he knew her and considering what a gorgeous red-headed babe she was, Dennis no doubt always had a few cheeky words for her. In this scene it was clear that they were friends though maybe hadn't seen each other in a while. She wasn't in the show more than a few episodes and then dropped off the radar until 1972 when she returned full time but there's no reason to assume she didn't see Dennis again off screen around Weatherfield until he married in 1968 and moved away.

Philip Lowrie on Dennis Tanner's Coronation Street return

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog May 2011, reposted to this blog with permission.)

The return of Dennis Tanner to Coronation Street looks set to spice things up with a rumoured love interest for him with both Rita and Emily. I like the sound of this, it just could work. And of course, Norris won't be best pleased that there's another man on the scene taking the attention away from him.

Actor Philip Lowrie has been interviewed by most of the soaps mags in the run up to Dennis' return to the Street and says he's very excited to be returning to Corrie more than 40 years after his last appearance. Dennis  told TV Choice magazine: "I've only filmed a few episodes so far, but it feels good to be back! Dennis is a really wonderful character to play because he's a loveable rogue, but there's a depth to him too."

See our exclusive blog photo of Dennis Tanner's mark on Coronation Street!

Corrie's cross dresser reveals all

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog May 2011, reposted to this blog with permission.)

In last week's Coronation Street, we saw Marc the tranvestite turn up in the bar where he bumped into Audrey.

And in that scene, ex-farmer Kenneth Prestidge was cast as Marc's transvestite friend.   Kenneth, who is also known as Justine, said: 'I'm thrilled to get a part in the show but it will be like home from home to me. When I'm working I'm a gruff, scruffy farmer in green wellies, but when I go out I get proper glammed up with my Christian Louboutins - I have 15 or 16 pairs."

Kenneth got the part after taking acting classes when food-and-mouth disease forced him to sell off his previous stock cows.  He told the Daily Mail: 'I've got 50 own-bred Dairy Shorthorns that I milk myself. I love living a double life - it's two sides to my character. But I'm keen to make Corrie a regular thing and became a well-known Corrie star.'

Kenneth was full of praise for the cast and crew of Corrie, and said: 'Corrie is just like a little family. They're lovely. I've never been on such a nice set. He said: "'Sue Nichols is a real lady, the most wonderful person I've ever met. She treated me like a son. She was wonderful. She treated me like a member of her family. What I love about the Corrie stars is that they're not big-headed at all.'

Check out Justine's website here and view the clip of Justine n Corrie below.

Corrie Originals

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in May, 2011.)


I was looking up the character name of the recurring character of the detective who's been on Corrie recently in conjunction with the Stapewich mess that Fiz is in.  That's D.C. Redfern, if you're interested. Anyway, I was scrolling down the cast list on Imdb.com and the name of Dennis Tanner slid past my view. Tonight's Canadian episode sees the return of Dennis Tanner to Coronation Street.

Philip Lowrie plays Dennis and he is also the same actor that played Dennis when Corrie first started in 1960. In fact, he was in the very first episode along with current long standing record-breaking William Roache. Now, I know Mr. Lowrie isn't going to break any records as far as that goes, (Edited, actually he is now in the Guinness Book for longest gap between appearances as the same character, 43 years.) but isn't it cool that there are now two actors who originated their roles over 50 years ago on the very first episode who are on the current cast list playing the same characters?

There's a third actor, Eileen Derbyshire who has been playing her role for over 50 years as well. She first appeared as Miss Nugent on our screens in January, 1961. That's quite an achievement! In fact, if you watch episode 4 of Coronation Street, you will also spot a woman with Leonard Swindley (see photo right) and he distinctly refers to her as Miss Nugent though it's not the same actor, just a non-speaking extra. So you could argue the case of Miss Nugent being a character in the show even before Eileen Derbyshire played her as a speaking part.

I think that it's wonderful that the original actors have been available to revive old characters such as Dennis Tanner and, a year or so ago, Jed Stone. There aren't too many of them left alive from those early years or who are able to revive the part.

Proper Corrie Cat fights

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2011, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Recently we saw  Becky McDonald trying to throttle half-sister Kylie in another Corrie cat-fight.  But the problem with Corrie cat-fights, aka two women scrapping in a soap, is that they’re always hyped to be something much more than they turn out to be.

Other soaps sites have spoilers! pictures! videos! of the cat fight and then when it turns up on screen it’s over before it’s begun. It starts with a bit of name-calling. A head turns. A frown appears. Frown turns into scream. Arms, hands, manicured nails reach out and a there’s a bit of hair-pulling before a bloke (and it’s usually a bloke) steps in to pull one woman away from the other. And then it’s over.

Of course, as any true Corrie fan knows, for a proper Coronation Street she-scrap, what you want is two middle-aged women, in their dressing gowns, knocking ten bells out of each other on the cobbles.

Now that’s a Corrie cat-fight.

Corrie Canada weekly awards: Nov. 28 - Dec. 2

Fairy Godmother award: Sean really made a great Joseph coat! Too bad Smug Cheryl and her spawn were jealous and tried to spoil it.

Betrayal award: Gold Star: Norris slipped and now Mary knows Graeme and Xin's secret too and she grassed them up to Immigration. This is not going to end well.

All for nothing award: Gold Star: Eddie has left Anna because of Faye and now she may lose Faye anyway.

Make my day award: Cheeky Star: They should put Tommy and Julie together. She drools over anything in trousers and he flirts with anything in a skirt.

Dweeb award: Steve is such a terrible liar. How could Becky not see through that fake phone call?

Hollywood award: Oscar winning star: Ghost! The Pottery adventures was wonderful! Ken's "jug" looked like a melted ice cream stick. or something. He also gets the "Sour Grapes" award.

Lines of the week:
Neighbour to John "Who shall i say is callin' " (That's right. i.e. callin' = Colin)
Kylie about Graeme and Xin "If that's an act, I'm a flippin virgin"
Tina "You can sing God Save the Queen in Union Jack underpants. It won't make any difference if Xin's not here"
Mary "When you've traveled alone in foreign lands, you get used to servicing yourself" (How can they get away with this stuff! Brilliant!)
Deirdre to Ken "Are you going to sit there in that chair all day, reading about old crocks? Mind you, it takes one to know one."
Ken about the pottery guy "What a dilettante, what a phony!" (takes one to know one)
Cranky Government guy "I'll not raise a glass to a Constitutional Immaturity"
Peter "Your Fairy Godmother wants to come up.. oops sorry!" Sean "No worries, I've been called worse!"
Fiz "Even a walk in the park is no walk in the park"
Ken "He wouldn't know an Etruscan vase if Tracy hit him over the head with one!"
Becky to Steve "Innocent.. Nah you don't know the meaning of that word"
Deidre "Ken! Don't just stand there smirking, Do something!"

Sunday Canadian Corrie Comments, December 4

It boggles my mind how Fiz could still love John after all he's put her through. So where is John? Why he's taken the inheritance out of the bank and tried to shove it all in the letter box for Charlotte's parents. It's the only retribution he can think of but he's obviously not thinking clearly. Fiz to the rescue. He keeps saying he's going to tell her everything but he never does. He avoided her, went for a nap and that gave him time to think of new lies about why he feels so guilty. He at least was able to inject a bit of truth, about Charlotte's obsession with him. So now, do they keep the money or not? Fiz thinks they should give it to a charity. Not a bad idea.

Tracy is such a cow, I just can't get over how mean she is to her kid, let alone Steve. Not letting Steve give her an Easter Egg and then after the fact, wouldn't allow it then either. Can i just say right now how much i really hate this character? I think Frank is rapidly tiring of Tracy using him to score points off Steve. I do agree she's justified in being ticked at Steve for trying to take Amy but her method is to do whatever she can for revenge. She even blackmailed Steve into taking her and Amy to Blackpool when she knew he was supposed to go to Alton Towers with Becky and Max. Steve made the fakest pretend phone call ever. I can't believe Becky didn't see right through that.

Then in Blackpool Tracy made sure to be on her best behaviour. Amy also went missing and I thought we'd be in for a repeat of Simon running off but she didn't get far. I would almost have bet Tracy was behind Steve's car being clamped and stolen just so she could get them all in a hotel room overnight and considering the thousands of hotels and guest houses in Blackpool, how likely was it that they couldn't find two empty rooms and had to share, even on bank holiday weekend? (Did you see Steve's finger gesture towards Tracy when he was adjusting his sunglasses? I'm sure he flipped her the bird!) Naturally Tracy made sure Becky found out about the little trip, especially since it ended up being an overnighter and I am more and more convinced that she arranged the car clamping. Becky really is going off the rails though, over Tracy. More than usual.

David is starting to get ideas about Kylie getting Max to come back with them. Kylie isn't going to want all that business coming out. Sure, Becky and Steve paid her for the lad but she *sold* him to them. Blame is equally shared on that one.

Wine tasting for snobs? Why one earth *would* Gail even think about hanging around in the restaurant dressed in her cleaner outfit during a party? Maria's back in the fold at at the salon and Kylie and David have picked up where they left off, treating her like dirt.

Eddie feels pushed out and he feels over his head with all this. Anna chose Faye because Faye needs her and Eddie doesn't really. And if he can't be supportive, she probably feels he wouldn't be much use if he stayed anyway. And so we lose Eddie Windass. He really grew on me over the time he was on the show and the actor, Steve Huison, really put a wonderful spin on Eddie, turning him into a classic feckless fella. He started off more Les Battersbyish but he changed somewhere along the way and was far more subtle and was less blustery and rude. The minute we found out Eddie was a master baker, the character had tons of potential and they milked it.

Anyway now Eddie's gone, Anna may lose Faye and it will all have been for nothing.

Graham and Xin seem to be rubbing along quite well. Even Kylie seems to have noticed that there's a little spark there between them. And the more Tina throws strops, the more she's going to end up pushing Graeme right to Xin. They have an inspection and because Xin went running, they were delayed and the inspector ended up in the pub. Laughed at him getting all stroppy about the monarchy

Uh oh, now Mary knows about the sham and no awards for guessing how immigration was tipped off. You'd think that she'd have kept her mouth shut to stay on Norris' good side but then, Norris wanted badly to turn them in but couldn't bring himself to. Mary has no qualms. She was hypocritical too, banging on about the Royal Wedding being a sham because the Prince is marrying a "commoner" for love and saying marraige should not be for love after braying that it should only be for the same when being critical of our young intrepid spouses. She apologized but it's a bit late. Graeme really told her some awful things but it was none of her business to interfere. Mind you, I think Xin should be turned in to the authorities for that ugly cat ornament with the squeegy. (Yet another cat for that horridly excessively cat-decorated flat!)

Now that they have got through the inspection, Xin is looking awfully cozy and comfy with Graeme and Tina and Graeme are both getting more and more jealous of each other. I also really believe that you wouldn't have an interview one week and a few days later, the letter about the successful visa would arrive. It still takes a lot longer than that for these things to happen. Oh well, it's not real life, is it? The end is in sight apparently. So they think. But she took a tumble off the ladder and he won't make her leave until she's well. hmmmm...Did it look to you that she seemed awfully smug when she knew she'd have to stay for awhile longer?

Oddly enough, Mary's motorhome has disappeared and reappeared. Do you think you know what might be happening here? I find it odd that Mary had to be prompted as to how to speak to the police, though. You'd think she would be well versed. I also think it's weird that they came out of the pub and didn't notice the motorhome right beside them before they turned towards the Kabin where they thought it was parked. Turns out it was Tommy playing tricks, probably in revenge for what Mary did to Graeme and Xin (called Immigration)

I thought Eileen was hired for the packing department. She's now behind a machine? What's with Lloyd's hair?? Not only is Tommy a habitual flirt, he seems to be a habitual freeloader too until Tina gave him a right gobful. Have you noticed that Chris seems to be a habitual shirtless strutter? It's almost in his character job description. Every other scene he's down to skin!

Not only is Cheryl a dull and boring character, she's now officially a cow as well. Here she was so horny to have her kid be in the school play and moped that he wasn't picked to be the lead when Simon was, and then when Sean made a great coat of many colours for Simon, she b!tched about how it wasn't fair to have it professionally made. Jealous petty cow who has no other friends besides Leanne who she's rapidly pushing away. And the Jealous petty cow is now the bar manager at the Bistro. Amazing how job experience of taxi cab dispatcher and pole dancing can give you management background.

Ken and Deirdre decide that Pottery is the way to spend time together. It was hilarious! She was coming over all "Ghost" and it turned out her results weren't too bad though Ken's were far worse and he's the one that dug out all the old archaeology books for research on what type of vase to attempt, never having thrown a pot in his life. I loved Ken getting all stroppy about the "dilettante" instructor. Was it me or was Ken's jug rather sadly phallic looking? Now Deirdre's all excited and er... fired up for pottery!

Meanwhile, Ken's grandson James has landed on the doorstep, moved in to town to help run a homeless shelter. Tracy doesn't like James, on sight.

Marc/Marcia has come back out to play and Claudia nearly saw him. I do think that his friends erred in assuming Audrey was a "he". If they really thought it was another cross dresser, they'd have referred as a "she" wouldn't they? I've got to say that Marc has the worst taste in clothes and that wig looks like a mop!

Fab Classic Video footage of Corrie filming

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog May, 2011, reposted to this blog with permission.)

With thanks to Corrie fan John Tomlinson, who emailed us about this smashing bit of old Corrie filming from 1963.  It's film of bygone Salford and starting at 5.10 is colour 8mm cine camera footage of the location filming in Ordsall for Jerry Booth's wedding to Myra Dickinson in 1963 (the actual episode is on the Network 1963 DVD). Glimpsed are Violet Carson (Ena Sharples), Margot Bryant (Minnie Caldwell), William Roache (Ken Barlow), Graham Haberfield and Susan Jameson. Also seen are the large crowds that caused such problems for Granada that they stopped soon filming in Ordsall and eventually built their own street set.

Is Corrie too raunchy?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog May 2011, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Is Coronation Street too raunchy or is this New Zealand MP too much of a prude who should go and get a life?  NZ Labour MP Lianne Dalziel reckons that the watershed there should be moved to 7.30pm as 8.30pm to protect the nation's kids from raunchy scenes in Coronation Street, and has put her request to the Broadcasting Standards Authority in New Zealand.

The Telegraph have run with this story and drawn up a list and pictures of some of what they consider to be Corrie's most raunchiest scenes. Most of them involve Rosie Webster or the soap's same-sex relationships. 

What do you reckon? Is the Street too sexy?  I say it's not sexy enough and isn't it about time we saw Norris in the nuddy?!

Fat Brenda's Cream Horn

(This post was originally posted by Fat Brenda on The State of the Street in May 2011, reposted with permission.)

Sorry I've not been on here for a while loveys but there's nobody at this flamin' cab office nowadays so I've been working every shift going! That Cheryl has gone to work at the bistro so she can bore everyone to death in another location, me beloved Eddie has suddenly discovered a work ethic and disappeared to Germany and Steve is running The Rovers and ruining Streetcars. There's just the three of us now: me, Lloyd and Lloyd's new hair-do!


I'll tell you what confuses me loveys, are we supposed to like that Chris now? I mean, apart from the fact his flamin' clothes seem to fall off every ten minutes, I'm sure he used to be the same fella that hit Cheryl! He told me he understands how Maria feels being the victim of someone who can't control his urges (how?) and then threatens Frank for not being able to control his urges when he should understand Frank more for not being to control his urges rather than Maria who is the victim of urges (like Cheryl). Has he moved in with Maria an' all? He wanders in and out of that flat without a by yer leave... and then his clothes fall off again. Then he's mister sensitive and upset that Dev sniggers at him for looking at a wine tasting poster and then his clothes fall off and before all that he arranges for Janice to be burgled and then his clothes fall off and then he's sensitive again and then he's not... I'm in a right pickle over it all loveys! I was one of them ignoring him cos of what he did to Cheryl but now everyone reckons he's alright. How can he be when he used to hit her all the time whenever his clothes fell off?

Gail must be right peeved that her dad, Ted, hasn't been around for a while cos it seems to have turned her all homophobic! That lass needs therapy to get over the rejection and maybe it'll stop her hanging round her poor son and trying to work with him! Poor Nick, what a choice for bar manager - the most boring lass on the planet or his own mother!

Sean said he had a belting time in London although I did see on the news that the teddy bear he left on a bench was designated as a potential terrorist threat and blown up in a controlled explosion by the army! That poor flamin' bear, guilty of nowt more than turning up in London when Violet was suffering from PMT!

Becky came in the cab office last night wearing what appeared to be Liz McDonald's cast-offs! She was all, "I'm gonna get leathered cos of summat that's happened an' that!" Within ten seconds of the conversation starting I'd fallen asleep face down on me Bella. I've heard it all before loveys, "Wake up Bren" she kept shouting, "Brendaaaaa! I'm gonna get so drunk cos of summat that Steve's done, just watch Bren, proper drunk I'm gonna get. Watch! Bren! Bren! Wake up Bren! BRENDA!!!" I finally mustered up the strength and courage to listen to her, "I'm gonna get well drunk and it's gonna be some fella's lucky night!"

"Lucky? Flamin' lucky?" I said, "There's no fella on the planet who'd consider 'emselves lucky to be saddled with you!"

She didn't answer loveys, she just started drinking from a vodka bottle in front of me. I was so shocked! Vodka? I prefer gin! I can drink twice the amount she can and I can do it without making big song and dance about it! I tried to give her some sleeping tablets an' all, just to finish the job off properly, but she wouldn't take 'em. Typical! Still, them biscuits she made were alright though.

I think in this world of failing public services and public sector job cuts it's heartwarming to see the immigration inspector who interviewed Xin and Graeme working on a bank holiday, completing his assessment out of office hours and managing to post it over the weekend to get delivered on another bank holiday! That is what I call a belting employee!

Ken's grandson's moved in this week. It must be bursting at the seams in that house! It's a good job Ken and Deirdre have an en-suite cos I've heard Tracy spends hours in that bathroom practicing her evil glares and sinister smirks in the mirror. Amy likes it in there an' all cos it's the only place not contaminated by Deirdre's ciggie smoke and her mother's evil vibes!

He seems like a nice enough fella though, does James. I said hello to him this morning. "I'm James and I'm gay" he said, "That's right! You heard me, gay! Yer just gonna have to deal with it!"

"Lovey," I told him "what you get up to in the privacy of yer own leather underpants is nowt to do with me... why don't I introduce you to Gail, she flamin' loves the gays!"

Right, I'm off. Tweeter here, complain below and for the love of Cliff be flamin' nice to each other cos it's a short life we've been given on this planet... unless yer trapped with Cheryl or Eileen, ten minutes with them feels like a flamin' eternity!

The evil that is Amy Barlow

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog May 2011, reposted to this blog with permission.)

The Blackpool Bank Holiday episode of Coronation Street didn't do much for me, I thought it was dull and repetitive - and from fan comments left on the blog here it's clear that some of us liked it and some of us didn't. Fair enough.  But, I've got an idea that would put some much needed oomph into Corrie and lively up the Steve / Tracy storyline, especially if they are going to get back together as is rumoured.

What they should do, I reckon, is turn little Amy Barlow into a Tracy Mini Me and make her the most evil child that Corrie's ever had.

The devil's already in Amy Barlow's genes, it's all there, latent, waiting for Amy's head to spin and green bile to spout forth.  Both of Amy's parents have been in prison - Tracy for being a pyscho murdering bitch and Steve for being in possession of stolen booze and perjury. Her maternal grandma Deirdre has done time for being thick as a brick over John the fake airline pilot and her other grandma Liz has various crimes against fashion to be taken into consideration while grandad Jim's been in and out of the Big House so many times he's got a loyalty card for the prison canteen.

Corrie could be onto a winner with an evil Amy on their hands. A devil child with an angelic smile, she could act out Tracy's psycho schemes and no one would ever suspect her of doing anything wrong.  Insert your own evil snarl here....

Sneak Preview of next week's Canadian Corrie, Dec. 5 - 9

Amy is ill and it means Steve must spend more time with Tracy. But is Amy enjoying the attention a bit too much? Meanwhile, Becky, though worried about Ames, is suspcious of Tracy. Gail takes David's side in his quest to get Max back for Kylie, but Kylie's uncomfortable. Will the truth come out?

Marc finally comes clean to Claudia when she suspects he and Audrey are having a fling. What will her reaction be to Marcia? Tina's jealousy of Xin grows as do Graeme's feelings for Xin.

Chesney has questions for John and finds some answers from Charlotte's parents, the Hoyles. John takes drastic action. Katy is distracted and confides in Anna. Faye overhears and spills the beans.

Tommy continues to persue Sian for a bet but when the truth comes out, Rosie's revenge may split up her and Jason. Marcus returns to Weatherfield but Sean has doubts. Kevin spends his winnings on a hydraulic lift for the garage but after a petty argument, Tyrone takes his anger out on the machine. Kevin has an accident as a result. Will he find out about Tyrone's actions?

Sophie and Sian start volunteering at the homeless shelter and soup kitchen where a face familiar to long time Corrie watchers turns out. He turns out to be a familiar face to Rita as well, it's Dennis Tanner! Meanwhile, Sophie and Sian meet the owners of the shelter who are hoping to expand. How deeply will the girls get involved?

Spoiler Links

As always, we sometimes post links to spoilers on t'other blog in case those of you reading do want to know what's coming up for your favourite characters and what storylines we can look forward to (or not!)

Spoilers are behind the links referring to the character they mention.

Interview with Katherine Kelly and Kate Ford
Steve/Tracy
Carla Connor
Gary/Izzy
Upcoming storyline spoilers
More storyline spoilers from the producer. 

Corrie in unexpected places

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in May, 2011.)

I've been on holiday to the U.K. and came across two different references to Coronation Street. One was in Manchester and yes, you might expect to encounter Corrie items and glimpses in the home city for the show but it's still fun to find them. It's like a treasure hunt! Find out what it is and where I found it here.

The other, seen in this photo was seen at the Doctor Who Experience in London. Even if the ducks weren't meant to refer to Coronation Street, who doesn't think of Hilda Ogden when they see them?

Fab Photo Blackpool

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog May, 2011, reposted to this blog with permission.)

With thanks to the Blackpool Gazette for this wonderful picture and article from when Coronation Street filmed in the seaside town in May 1961. 

14 members of the Corrie cast of what The Gazette described as “the Granada television serial” came to Blackpool to film shots for the street’s Whit Monday day trip storyline. In the first of many visits over the decades Corrie was really breaking new ground almost exactly 50 years ago, as a coachload of actors, producers and cameramen left Manchester at 7.15am ready to begin filming in the Tower building at 9am.

First stop was the Tower Circus Zoo, where Lucille Hewitt, played by Jennifer Moss, aimed nuts at a co-operative monkey.
Then the three regulars of the Rovers Return, Ena Sharples (Violet Carson), Martha Longhurst (Lynne Carol) and Minnie Caldwell (Margot Bryant) made the trip to the top of the Tower.

Ironically, although Violet Carson lived in Fleetwood Road, Bispham, and Lynne Carol in Clinton Avenue, Blackpool, Margot Bryant was the only one of the trio who had made the ascent before. That was in real life, of course.

As trippers from Coronation Street, these ladies, along with the others in the cast did, according to the report, “exactly what every other visitors does, even to eating candy floss and wearing comic hats”. They also had their famous paddle in the sea, with the Tower in the background, an image which has become synonymous with having a fun time in Blackpool.