Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Kym Marsh and Samia Ghadie sign new Corrie contracts

(originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog May 2012, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Kym Marsh has signed a three year contract to stay on at Coronation Street, says the Daily Star Sunday.  They also report the contract is worth half a million quid.

Our old friend, the ITV "source" told the Daily Star Sunday: “Kym is a very talented actress and singer. The scriptwriters have come up with some pretty explosive stuff for her and wanted her signed up for three years so it could all play out. The majority of the cast are either on six-month or one-year contracts. They only ever give these types of deals out when they really want to keep someone. There are some major storylines coming up for her and people are going to see a completely different side to Michelle in the months to come.”

So, what do you think about three more years of Kym Marsh as Michelle on Corrie?  I took a long time to warm to her on the cobbles, I'll readily admit. But I've grown to admire her character, she's got a bit of oomph about her in the way that, say, Maria can only ever dream about. And as Michelle is no longer my least favourite character any more as that award goes firmly to St. Ella, I don't mind her staying on the Street at all.  Kym's performance as a young Elsie Tanner in the Street of Dreams musical also gets a thumbs up in all the reviews I've read of the show.  But never mind me, what do you think?



Samia Ghadie, who plays Coronation Street crimper Maria Connor, has signed a new contract that ties her to the soap until September 2013.

In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, Samia said today: "I've just signed until September next year, so I'll definitely be here until then. After that, who knows? But I've got no plans to leave at the moment."

Samis has been in Corrie as Maria since 2000, when she was initially signed up on a three-month guest contract. Remeber when she played the kennel maid who had been bullied by Fiz at school?

Reflecting on her early days at the programme, Samia told Digital Spy: "I thought I'd do my three months and then I'd be off. I was a jobbing actress when I joined and was really pleased to have a job for three months. I never imagined I'd still be here now."

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New Corrie collectables to be produced

There's something to look forward to for Corrie (and Emmerdale) fans in the near future. According to this, Enesco has won a licensing contract to produce Corrie and Emmerdale collectible and gift items, to be available some time from this summer onwards.

There will be mugs, coasters, money banks, glassware, shopping bags, magnets and keyrings created. There's no word yet on where they will be sold but it's good news because it's been difficult to get official merchandise over the past few years other than off the ITV website and a few other places. You do see older items on eBay as well.

What really excites me is that miniatures of "a selection of key buildings" from Coronation Street are going to be produced by Lilliput Lane, owned by Enesco, with similar from Emmerdale available early 2013! Lilliput Lane ornaments are the highest quality and usually are available in jewellry and high end gift stores including F. Hinds in the UK.

The new collection is going to be debuted at the Harrogate Home and Gift Show in July.

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Monday, 18 June 2012

Corrie Canada weekly awards: June 11 - 15

More Holes than Swiss Cheese award: That story Peter told the cops was so clearly made up on the spot, I'm surprised DC Nash didn't laugh in his face.


Hypocrite award: Mushy pea star: Brian. Score one for Kylie. And by the way, Kylie wasn't on school premises, she was outside the gate.
Oily Star: Audrey pretending to continue to hate Lewis and carrying on with him in secret.

Entrepreneur Award: Kylie taking lunch orders and charging the kids a little profit for her overheads!

Funeral subterfuge award: Don't think the DI came to the funeral out of respect, he came to judge the mourners and see if anyone acts suspiciously. Carla, Maria and Michelle attending the funeral should tick that box. And where was Jenny, Frank's recent lover?

Pants on Fire award: Karl nicking money and pretending he needed it for the car. Audrey sneaking around seeing Lewis on the sly but gets the Busted Award, getting caught out. Brian pretended Max's place at school was already gone (Plonker).

You weren't supposed to find that award: Tommy found Tina's Pro and Con list about him.

Medical amnesia award: Audrey and Gail are drinking alcohol in the pub. So much for high blood pressure.

Self loathing award: Kevin's blaming himself for what happened to Sally. If he hadn't had the affair, they'd still be a family. Never mind what happened to Molly. Oh and, Rosie who? has anyone told Rosie about what happened to her mother? Nobody's even mentioned her let alone anything else.

Startlingly Obvious award: Tina admitted she fancied the pants off Tommy. Kylie finds out teaching is hard work.


Moral high ground award: Sunita and Amber both want apologies. They should both get them. Amber shouldn't have had the party and Sunita was too harsh with pent up resentments.

Fashion fun award: I like Sophie's tshirt. And shirts like that with glittery words seem popular now! Anna wears some as well.

Living Large award: Tracy is living rent free because Steve pays the mortgage. Steve is also paying maintenance for his daughter...to his WIFE (not ex-wife, mind you). Tracy is probably getting benefits as a single mother (except she's now married) and she's still scamming money off Steve. He's right. She should get a job.

Lines of the Week:
Julie "Do you have to work on being so offensive or does it come naturally." Beth "It's not me that's shacked up in one of them menageries" (*snort*)
Sally to Carla about attending the funeral "It's a bit insensitive, isn't it?" Maria "Like you when you went to John Stape's funeral?" (Score one for Maria)
Anne "It was an accident. We had a row, a terrible row." (see? I said that all along, didn't I?)
Kylie to Brian "You're trying to blind me with science!"
Sunita to Dev "Have your own way as usual"
Audrey "I have spent my life denying myself pleasures" (not the Audrey I know)
Kylie "I'm not stopping til he's waving a white hankie on a stick!"
Leanne "Go home, Peter, see if Cruella's cooked your tea"
Sunita "Let's just call it a day, shall we?" (And you've now got your old flat available to move back into!)

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Is Karl the new Corrie hunk?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2012, reposted to this blog with permission.)

The charm of John Michie as Coronation Street's Karl Munro has not gone unnoticed. And now that we're seeing more of Karl on Corrie as he spirals into debt and into Sunita's arms, it seems that Karl is building up a fan club all of his own.

Mind you, us ladies (and men) who ogle at Karl in Corrie haven't got a great deal of hunks to choose from, have we?  I suppose Dev could be classed as a hunk if you like that sort of thing, Jason Grimshaw's a bit young for me but I see his appeal, Kevin's too mucky, Kirk's too daft, Norris and Dennis too old, Steve too ordinary and this fan welcomes the return of Craig Charles as Lloyd Mullaney because that Lloydy-boy, he does have a certain charm.

And as there's no news on the horizon of the return of my favourite Corrie man, then I'm a bit stumped for a hunk.

So that leaves ladies of a certain age with little pickings for their choice of Coronation Street Hunk. And therefore, Karl Munro, we salute you!

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Sunday, 17 June 2012

Sunday Canadian Corrie Comments, June 17


Peter's confession even sounded fake to me. He made it all up and surely even the police could tell! He's determined to do it to save Carla but in doing so he'd effectively abandon Simon. Leave it to Mary to romanticize it all. Peter thought Carla did it and if she didn't and he can't remember, then he could have done it anyway, and now Carla thinks Peter did it for her. If it wasn't for Simon, Leanne would have left him to rot in there. But she knew he had an alibi with one of his AA friends. Peter should have been fined for wasting police time! It's back to questioning. If Peter didn't do it, who did? Carla? No, too obvious. Wow what a scene between Carla screaming at Anne in the factory and Anne in bits because of Simon being lost without a father.

Leanne did the right thing after all, for Simon's sake really. Peter is released and the police now decide to go back to Carla as the murderer. Nash went to the church for the funeral. I wondered why. I doubt very much a police officer is sent to every funeral of a murder victim. He had no idea that Carla would show up though maybe he hoped she would. Probably went to spy on people, see what he could see. I don't blame Leanne for ripping Peter a new one. He did put Carla before Simon, he was willing to abandon Simon to keep Carla out of jail. He *is* an idiot. Doubly so, what's the first thing he did? Pour he and Carla a drink. Isn't that what got him in all this trouble in the first place?
But alas, neither of them did it, it was Anne, Frank's mother. All along I was going for the "expendable crew member". I had Anne pegged but I had a moment of doubt over Jenny but no, turns out it was Anne all along as Sally found out the hard way. She lashed out, horrified that he really had raped Carla and worried his father into an early grave. Excellent stuff. (Read more blogging about it here)

That must have been some hard floor Sally hit or the bannister. Does her life hang in the balance? Well what do you think? Of course she'll recover. But how come there was no mention of Rosie what soever? No phone calls, no mention that she'd called or texted...even Sally didn't mention her. Kevin is gutted and feeling like it's all his fault. Yeah. It is. But we won't get into all that again. At least Sophie made peace with Kevin.

Audrey and Lewis are back together. They've tried to keep it secret and Audrey lied and pretended she was sick so as to spend the day with Lewis. Well, lies will catch you out and David and Gail sussed it out. It went over like a lead balloon with the family, as you would expect. Tommy and Tina are lurching towards one another until she made a pro/con list and he found it and took great offence.

So, Sunita is feeling taken for granted. Fair enough. Dev always has treated her like that. I guess she's just sick of it. Even when he tried to take her out, she didn't go for it. He did make the effort but maybe it's too little too late. She went anyway, though, and Amber had to babysit. Not to be foiled, she brought the party to her house and to be fair, she shouldn't have done that when she was responsible for two children.

Dev was angry and Sunita had every right to go off on her but there's already a bagload of resentment there and this just sparked it off. Amber needed to grow up and Sunita did go a bit too far but it was all contrived to see Amber leave. Dev backed down straight away, fearing to lose his daughter but Sunita pushed and pushed. They both deserved an apology but Amber didn't think she had to give one so Sunita wouldn't either. Bye Bye Amber and it's all contrived to increase the resentment between Dev and Sunita. I think they only brought Amber back to put her in the Sophie and Sian story and then completely wasted her.


Brian makes me laugh, stuffing his face with bacon sandwiches and trying to lead a healthy eating campaign and Kylie is fighting him every step of the way. Fair enough, she shouldn't be sending Max to school with crisps and junk food but there has to be a happy medium, like a sandwich. Brian's confiscating the illegal lunches and probably eating them himself! Laughed at Kylie taking lunch orders from the kids, for a price of course! Brian objected and ended up with mushy peas all over him! Truly a classic Derek-Wilton style moment!
Now Kylie's going to home school Max and both David and Gail know that's not going to work very well but I guess Kylie just has to figure it out herself. It was harder than she thought, too. It didn't last 5 minutes and even though they tried to get Brian to agree, he decided to make them squirm a bit over it. Prat.

I think I'll start a slap line for Mary. This week she's giving Julie a lecture on having a baby in an over-crowded world. Sheer jealousy, you know. Julie really came over all previous when Brian was being (in her view) masterly and determined about Kylie.

This flirting that Sunita's doing is new for her. It must have come free with that new pushup bra she's been wearing since she has been working behind the bar. (And did you hear "I want to break free" on the jukebox during one of their flirting sessions?) I enjoyed watching the new spread through the pub about Frank's mother! No... NO!!!! Really???? The grapevines were humming!

Oh we're back with Steve and Tracy. Tracy cadges for money yet again. If Amy needs a coat or shoes, Steve should volunteer to take Amy and buy it himself. Tracy should be using the maintenance he pays for things like that anyway. And the chances of her actually using the money for a coat are minimal, She got the cheapest one she could and spent the rest on herself. And it was a split second later in the very next scene he was commiserating with Ken and Tracy had already done the full shopping trip. Makes my head spin sometimes the way they edit these things. I think in the UK this probably happened after the mid way advert break so it wouldn't have been so jarring.

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Amber off to the wasteland?

(This post was originally posted by David on the Coronation Street Blog March 2012, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Friday’s double-bill saw the Alahan clan coming to the fore and the (second) departure of Amber Kalirai.

Now, I know Amber wasn’t the most popular character on the Street but I liked her and I’m going to miss her. Sure, her return was only ever going to be a plot device to split up Sophie and Sian (something that could have been done minus poor Amber getting involved) but I’ve enjoyed her return (along with her added attitude) and I’m sad to see her axed for the second time.

I think one of the reasons why she has gone is because she was never given a chance to do anything bar argue with Sunita and kiss Sophie a couple of times. Amber was cool and savvy and I think that they could have axed several characters before her (Sean and Kirk anyone?) and more importantly they could have at least given her a decent exit. It all seemed very rushed and sloppy (as did the sudden martial problems between Dev and Sunita but that's another story) and not at all realistic at least not as a permanent exit.

So what should have been done differently? Well, I would have liked for her to have integrated more with some of the other younger characters, David and Tina for example. I never really liked the pairing of Amber and deadwood Tommy Duckworth last year but at least it was something. Since then all Amber ever seemed to do was have to endure Sunita being a total cow to her or moan about Sophie and Sian. I never understood was why they paired Amber with Sophie in the first place since they were never shown to be great friends during Amber’s original stint. It felt very forced and I think Amber could have benefited from having her own storylines instead of just facilitating others.

I know she wasn’t the strongest character on the show but Amber deserved better and hopefully if she does return in the future she does so as her own character because even now she’s gone she is being used as a plot device (can't say what it is, it's a spoiler!).

I hate to do posts like this where I moan about something, but I felt the need to have a little grumble over Amber’s departure and how she has been wasted over the last twelve months.

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Exposed: The mystery of the Coronation Street chef

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2012, reposted to this blog with permission.)

If, like me, you've been wondering who the chef is in Nick's Bistro, then wonder no more. The best kept secret in Coronation Street has been outed on twitter. Well, sort of. 

In a spoof tweet, Corrie photographer Rob Evans said: "Great new character enters #corrie in role of the bistro chef..." and the man he refers to is Skip Newton.  Skip appeared very briefly in Corrie in the picture below just the other day as we caught a glimpse of Nick's Bistro chef through a gap in the kitchen door.


And here he is with the actors who play Nick and Lewis.  Let's hope we see more of him, and soon!

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Saturday, 16 June 2012

Lisa George's Beth signs up for another 6 months on Corrie

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2012.)

Lisa George's contract to play Beth Tinker has been extended a further six months. She will continue to stitch knickers, torture Tracy Barlow and have her oh-so-blunt say until at least October. This is great news as she's quickly turned into one of my favourites!

She's appeared in Coronation Street before in short parts, as a family liason officer after Tommy Harris was killed and in 1997, a non-speaking extra as a colleague of Martin Platt. She's thrilled to bits to be part of the iconic Corrie. Recent gigs have seen her touring nursing homes around the UK as part of an entertainment act.

In this interview, Lisa says she loves playing Beth who's quite different from her. She's much braver and Lisa loves that Beth says what she thinks, even if she doesn't actually think before she speaks sometimes!

"Beth is cross, brash and bold. She is a soft touch, though, and unfortunately she doesn't think before she speaks!"


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Second take on the Corrie murder reveal

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2012.)

Yes, it's another blog post about the murder of Frank Foster and outcome, a mother so distraught, anguished and angry that she lashed out and ended up killing her own child. Will Anne go to jail or to a psychiatric facility because she's very close to the edge.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole Frank Foster storyline from the beginnings when he was overly aggressive with Maria, to his take-control wooing of Carla who loved another but couldn't have him so took what was on offer, to the rape and trial and the aftermath, conniving to cheat Carla out of the factory.

I think the casting of Andrew Lancel was great and adding Gwen Taylor in the mix to play his mother was inspired. I think they even looked like mother and son. When the climax of a story leaves me a bit breathless, like it did tonight, I know the Powers That Be have done their job.

As usual, I've had a longer look at it over here.


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Friday, 15 June 2012

Did you guess Frank Foster's killer?

Well, we now know who killed Frank on Coronation Street!  It was his mum Anne after all!

Did you guess the murderer?  And what do you think the fall-out of the story will be in the weeks to come?

Well done to ITV and Coronation Street for one of the best kept telly secrets, ever.


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Sneak Preview of next week's Canadian Corrie, June 18 - 22

Time for a sneak peek for what's coming up on Coronation Street next week on Canadian Screens:




Sunita finds comfort somewhere else. Karl's gambling causes fallout at the pub. Marcus spends more time with Maria and Liam. Paul's new schedule takes it toll. Amy makes a new friend and goes missing. Jason gives Paul a piece of his mind. Will Paul finally realize Lesley needs more help than he can give?

Gail and David bust Audrey and Lewis and both are convinced Lewis is out to fleece Audrey. Audrey tries to take back the salon from David sparking a war. Leanne's going for custody. Ken pushes Tracy to get a job but it comes between he and Deirdre so someone gets a new room mate.

tommy gets bad news and Ty's there for him but Kirsty's temper flares up. Sally's home from hospital and she's got an offer for Carla.

For more detail and photos, see the Moosejaw Mercury at Corrie.net


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Fab Photo Friday, June 15

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2012.)

It's Friday again so it's time for this week's fab Coronation Street photo. Here are a couple of pictures of filming in progress from the 1960s.


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Gwen Taylor relieved to be outed as Frank Foster killer

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2012, reposted to this blog with permission.)

If you missed Coronation Street last night, the big news is that Anne Foster was revealed as the Frank Foster killer. Corrie's all about strong women and feckless men, and they took this one step further with a mother killing her own son.  I was actually very surprised indeed with the outcome of the story and was really happy that Corrie had kept this particular fan on the edge of her sofa seat until the final reveal.

Actress Gwen Taylor, who played Anne, gives an interview at the official Coronation Street website at itv.com where she admits she's relieved the murder secret is now out in the public domain.

She says: "It has been wonderful to be part of such a fantastic storyline but so difficult trying to keep the secret for so long. It is weeks since we filmed the scenes where Anne confessed to Sally and I haven’t told a soul.

"The morning after Frank was murdered I arrived back at the airport from a trip to Ireland and suddenly everyone was asking me who killed him. It is such a relief that it is all finally out in the open now and I am not worried that I will give the game away. It will be interesting to see how people will react now they know it was me!"

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Thursday, 14 June 2012

Character Study: Gordon Clegg (Slight spoiler at the end)

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2012.)

Les, Maggie and son Gordon Clegg came to Coronation Street in April, 1968 and moved into the Corner Shop, which was still owned by Irma Barlow at the time. Les was a violent alcoholic and after being hospitalised when teenage son Gordon knocked him flat, he never returned and the marriage was over.

It wasn't long before Gordon, a nice looking 17 year old, fell for young Lucille Hewitt, who was Annie Walker's ward. Lucille only had eyes for Ray Langton who had a girlfriend already. Lucille did get to date Ray but reckoned he was not the gentleman that Gordon was and went to him instead. Ray and Gordon were at odds more than once over the lovely Lucille who dropped Gordon for a soldier but Gordon won out in the end and proposed to her.

Neither Annie nor Maggie approved of the relationship but the young couple were determined to be together and attempted to elope to Gretna Green. While waiting for a delayed train en route, they both had second thoughts and returned to Weatherfield but continued on as a couple, planning a proper wedding.

It was not meant to be, however, when Gordon got cold feet a week before the wedding, and ran off to London to be an accountant. After he moved out, Maggie's sister Betty moved in!

Gordon made a success in his chosen career and in little more than a year was able to lend his mother enough money to buy the partnership from Irma. He didn't return to Weatherfield until summer, 1974 when his mother married and emigrated to Zaire. He lived with his Auntie Betty until he could sort out the shop and rented it out to a Welsh family, the Hopkins. Lucille was not happy to see him back and left for Ireland where her step-mother, Concepta still lived but Gordon didn't seem to be bothered and had time to get out and date a few willing women.

His world was soon turned upside down when interfering Granny Hopkins discovered Gordon's birth certificate in the flat. It showed that his biological mother was his Aunt, Betty. Gordon knew nothing about this but Maggie told him rather than him hearing it from anyone else. Gordon was pleased that the man he hated was not his father.

After Maggie left, and an argument with Betty over the shop, Mrs. Hopkins let the cat out of the bag, writing Gordon a letter containing the information, thinking blackmailing him would give her family a chance to buy the shop cheaply. No such luck. Gordon chucked them out instead and installed Blanche Hunt in as manager for a while before selling up to Renee Bradshaw.

Betty admitted the truth and told Gordon that his father was a married sailor, Ted Farrell, that she'd met just after the war (Gordon was born in 1950). Maggie and Les agreed to adopt and raise the baby for her.

Gordon and Betty became close but Gordon wasn't planning on making Weatherfield his home. He left again and moved to London. He returned in 1982 to introduce his intended, Caroline to his mother. Caroline was a snob and thoroughly disapproved of Betty, a mere barmaid. Gordon married her anyway and lives in London with her and his son, Peter.

Betty visits regularly and Gordon has made occasional visits home. He was at her wedding to Billy Williams (though played by a different actor) and he came to see Betty on the occasion of her 84th birthday in 2004. He will return in April 2012 for his mother's funeral.

The following paragraph does contain a SPOILER but most fans already know that Betty Driver has passed away in real life.

Gordon has mostly been played by Bill Kenwright though that one time was substituted by Geoffrey Leesley. Bill became very close to Betty Driver who played his real mother and sent her cards every year for Mother's Day.

Thanks to Itv.com, corrie.net, and several of Darren Little's Corrie anniversary books for the bio information.

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Who Killed Frank Foster? Are you read to find out tonight?

THERE ARE SOME MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

We've had months of build-up on this storyline and weeks of speculation over who killed Frank Foster. And tonight in Coronation Street, all will be revealed when we find out the answer to the question Who Killed Frank Foster?

Polls voted by fans both here on the Coronation Street Blog and over on Digital Spy have leaned heavily to fans thinking it is Frank's mum Anne Foster who's killed Frank. But would a mother kill her own son? Or is she as mad as Frank undoubtedly is?  Other fans think it could have been his girlfriend Jenny who's killed Frank.

ITV posited five suspects for fans to ponder on - Kevin Webster, Sally Webster, Michelle Connor, Carla Connor and Peter Barlow. 

As we now know, it can't have been Peter as he was with his counsellor from the Alcoholics Anonymous group. And we know it can't be Sally because we've all seen the pictures of Sally lying unconcious after the killer tries to attack her, we'll see that happen tonight.  That also rules out Kevin Webster as the killer because Kev wouldn't attack Sally, especially if they're going to get married again.

And so tonight, Monday 19 March, all will be revealed. I'm still torn as to who is the killer. I had long thought it was Anne but am veering towards Jenny now. I know I could be wrong.

Well done to ITV and Coronation Street for making Who Killed Frank Foster one of Corrie's best kept secrets - and out of the tabloids - in a very long time.

See also: Actor Andrew Lancel interviews Frank's killer on radio on Thursday night this week.

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