This
page is produced for the benefit of those living around the world
who may be unable to receive this information by any other means.
All copyrights and sources are acknowledged; all material remains
the property of the copyright holder; no deliberate copyright
violation is intended. Newspaper webmasters: Although some of this information
may be available on your website, it is often inaccessible to
the casual reader - especially if you do not archive issues. It
would also help if you respond to reprint requests !
Jack's
new glasses 12 October 1996 Tina Baker's Soap Diary
Exciting news for those who wonder why Jack Duckworth still
wears a sticking plaster round his glasses - our Jack may have
a new pair in the near future! Corrie writer John Stevenson says
Jack's avoided buying new specs for so long because he's stubborn.
"He had an altercation with the optician," explains
John, who's written many of Jack's scenes. "But things may
change soon."
Curly and Raquel's final farewell 8 November 1996
THE heartbreaking Coronation Street exit of Raquel will be
spread across three episodes next week including a one-hour special
on Wednesday. And today the Mirror can give an exclusive moment-by-moment
preview of the Raquel-Curly parting that will bring tears to living-rooms
across the land. Actress Sarah Lancashire's performance as Raquel
Watts formerly Wolstenhulme was so moving that cast and crew sobbed
themselves as the final moments were shot.
Curly, played by Kevin Kennedy, says in the depths of his despair
that if he had a gun, he would shoot them both rather than see
her go. "I love her more than life itself," says Curly
as his rejection unfolds in one of the most poignant stories in
the Street's 36 years of happiness and heartbreak.
The glamour-girl barmaid makes her last exit next Friday, but
Weatherfield's tear-filled week begins like this:
When Raquel is interviewed for a job as an aromatherapist,
she takes off her wedding ring because applicants must be single.
She's cock-a-hoop when she gets the job but she is stunned when
her interviewers reveal the post is in the Malaysian capital Kuala
Lumpur. Curly consoles her: "Never mind. It's not that bad.
They loved you. There'll be other jobs, I'm sure."
Already, however, Raquel sees it is her last chance to find
true happiness, but is racked with doubt. A letter confirming
the job arrives at the couple's home. Curly takes it to her in
bed and she tries to bluff him that it's nothing important. But
Curly married to Raquel for just a year smells a rat. "You
didn't actually say No, did you?" he demands. "Seriously,
can't they come up with something closer to home?"
When he asks if she actually said she was married, she stays
silent. Curly, the full implications beginning to dawn on him,
says: "I'm stupid, me. I've only just cottoned on. Come on
admit it, they didn't know you are married did they?" Raquel
maintains her silence. Curly storms out and sits brooding in his
car.
He then confronts Raquel. "Don't tell me they didn't ask
you if you are prepared to work abroad, in a flashy job, in a
flashy hotel in Kuala Lumpur?" he storms.
Raquel sobs: "You are crucifying me, Curly."
C: "You want to go, don't you?"
R: "Anybody would want to go."
C: "Admit it, you want to go, don't you?"
Raquel falls silent again and Curly shouts: "Now you will
say 'I can't go, it's a dream, I will stop here and get on with
my life.' You would say that and I know it."
He drowns his sorrows in the Rovers Return. Barmaid Judy Mallett
says: "You look like you've lost something." Curly says
darkly: "The reason for living, that's all."
He goes home to find Raquel on the bed crying:
R: "Maybe you could come n'all?"
C: "I thought that maybe I could shoot the both of us if
I can't have you. Only I haven't got a gun, I'm glad to say. At
least It's Kuala Lumpur. At least it's not a bloke...am I right?"
R: "I'd never do that to you."
C: "There would have to be a bloke in the long run. You can't
go through your life without fancying anybody and you don't fancy
me. It's all right. I know the truth. But then again, I always
did, didn't I?"
The couple move downstairs. Curly then bursts into tears, pouring
his heart out, saying how much he loves her. He says: "The
way I look at you when you're taking your make-up off, the way
I look at you when you're brushing your hair and you don't even
know I'm looking at you even when you're doing the washing-up.
And...then I want you so much...it's overwhelming."
"Don't" cries Raquel.
C: "You cried your eyes out the day we got married. You sobbed
your heart out. Were you crying for Des (Barnes) or for me n'all,
because you were marrying me and you didn't love me?"
R: "We promised we wouldn't talk about it...you are being
horrible. There's all kinds of ways of loving somebody."
Curly then bursts into tears, saying how much he loves her.
"Don't" cries Raquel. Curly answers: "The only
overwhelming feeling you have ever had for me is either guilt
or pity...it's only chocolate money...well I'm grown up and I
need the other kind. Call them and tell them you are going...if
you haven't already."
Firmans freezer store manager Curly packs his bags, saying
he's going to a sales conference in Wigan. "There's no need
to drag it out for days. I will be in Wigan for a few days and
when I come back, you will be gone. It's best."
Their final scene together is at the bottom of the stairs.
Raquel, looking back on life, says: "I felt I didn't fit
in. All we've got in common is wanting be ordinary and not knowing
why we're not...I never got picked...rounders or anything. I used
to think I WILL get picked...one day...for something really good...I
got picked."
Curly replies: "I would probably end up hating you, so it's
best, isn't it? Philosophical, aren't I? That's me."
R: "You are a lovely, lovely man and I'm sorry. You did me
a lot of good and you made me believe in myself."
C: "I don't think I can take your gratitude, not unless you
really want to kill me. Leave the keys, or throw them in the canal,
I don't mind, but don't keep them, because I couldn't go through
this again."
Raquel tells Judy Mallett that she's leaving for a train to
London for a month's training before heading for Kuala Lumpur.
Judy urges her to ring Curly...it's worth one more try.
R: "I'm not leaving him. I'm just taking a fantastic opportunity
to work abroad for a year."
Judy: "Only you won't be coming back."
R: "Probably not."
Raquel irons Curly's shirts and phones him at his conference.
He is paged in the hotel, answers, but she hangs up. "What's
the point in raising his hopes?" Raquel tells Judy. "I
know what they'll say...that she has grown too big for her boots.
But it isn't that. It's about feeling complete you know...a real
person. "It's like, before I was trying to be a copy of somebody
else, because whoever I was didn't add up to 'owt. "Now even
if I don't add up to much, I know I'm worth something. How does
it go...to thine own self be true? "If I had been true to
myself, I would never have married him. This whole disaster is
my fault."
Curly is then seen knocking back scotches at the conference
with his boss Eric Firman. He says: "We were never lovers...at
least she wasn't. I knew on the day we married she never loved
me. Once she goes, that's it. Even if she comes back it wouldn't
be to me. "I wanted us to stay together, to have children,
to grow old together. I love her more than I love life itself."
Eric says: "Go home and tell her that."
C: "She has made the choice...at least this way she won't
hate me."
Raquel is piling ironed shirts on the living-room table. She
takes her wedding ring off and tearfully places it on one of her
husband's shirts before leaving. She calls at the Malletts' with
a bag of clothes she won't be needing. She says: "Help yourself
to anything you want and give the rest to Emily Bishop for the
charity shop." As she gets ready to leave, she tells Judy
: "Keep an eye on him for me..." Judy replies: ""Good
luck, kid. Send us a postcard from Kuala Lumpur."
Raquel tries to smile, opens the front door, and walks away
from Weatherfield...
Street's Dopey Don to Die in Ratings War 1 December 1996 Downtrodden Don
Brennan is being killed off as Coronation Street steps up its
ratings war with Eastenders.
At Christmas, viewers will see Don, played by Geogg Hinsliff,
rescued at the last minute as he attempts to end it all. But the
soap's scriptwriters are determined there will be no escape in
the New Year. The luckless cabbie will go out in a blaze of glory
after torching arch-enemy Mike Baldwin's factory. "Don's
death is being seen as just one of a series of powerful storylines,
planned for next year," a Street insider revealed last night.
"The people in charge are angry at the way CS is being labelled
a poor second to EE. They can be ruthless. No artiste is ever
bigger than the show." "With then Street going out now
four nights a week everyone is pulling out the stops."
Other storylines being developed include Liz McDonald falling
for gangland boss Fraser Henderson. "There is also going
to be a bereavement in the Mallett household," added the
Soap insider. "The word is that Judy mallett's mother Joyce
Smedley - Anita Carey - will be the victim this time."
But the major focus of attention will be on Don, who has lurched
from disaster to disaster since he first joined the Street. He
had the lower half of his right leg amputated after a car crash,
and became the most hated man in Weatherfield when he started
stalking Denise Osbourne. He fared no better at work, with the
garage business he was tricked into buying by Baldwin collapsing.
And even though Kevin Webster and Martin Platt stop Don killing
himself bt dragging him from his fume-filled car, his life hits
another low when he's banned from drink-driving. "Everything
for Don just goes from bad to worse then, but we're going to make
sure the ratings don't go the same way," said a Street insider.
Granada staff moves From Broadcast (UK Trade weekly) 29 November 1996
Granada Productions have commissioned for 26 more episodes
of Springhill for Sky and Channel 4.
Coronation Street producer Sue Pritchard moves to a new development
position. She oversaw the move to 4 episodes per week.
The new Coronation Street producer is Brian Park, whose credits
include Prime Suspect
Also story editor Paul Marquess leaves for Springhill
Chloe Newsome 13 December 1996
As Vicky McDonald she was the spoilt little rich bitch who
married a gold-digging good-for-nothing. So it's no wonder that
former Coronation Street star Chloe Newsome is playing things
cool with her new boyfriend.
The angel-faced beauty says that while French hunk Fabrice
Limon is keen to marry her, she is not so sure about tying the
knot. Chloe, who has had her trademark golden locks dramatically
cropped, admits: "He's mentioned it a few times now. The
first time I was really shocked, but I tried to stay level-headed".
The 19-year-old star, who appears in panto as Peter Pan this Christmas,
adds: "What terrifies me is that it feels so right. But I
think it's best not to rush things. We've been together for a
year now, and I never thought it would last this long. Besides,
I'm very, very cynical about marriage - and why tempt fate?"
Chloe says 20-year-old Fabrice - who she met at a wine bar where
he worked in her Sheffield home town - is now her touchstone in
life.
"He keeps my feet firmly on the ground" she says,
"although he's typically French passionate, moody and pensive.
Sometimes he's a pain in the a***, but I secretly like it when
he's moody. Friends are surprised at how we can be screaming at
each other one minute, and all over one another the next,"
she laughs. Chloe, who's back on the box in April starring opposite
Sean Bean in a new Sharpe drama, recently met Fabrice's family.
"It was at his sister's wedding," she says. "I
was very nervous, but by the end of the night I was chatting away
in French.. And next year we're going over to France for his granny's
birthday. I want him to teach me some more French but he just
laughs when I try. The couple plan to live together eventually
and have even talked about moving to London. "Most of my
friends have moved there and it seems the best place career-wise,"
says Chloe who is getting used to change. When she left the Street
in May after a five-year stint she decided to remove every last
trace of Vicky from her life "I hated my hair," she
says. "Everyone always said how angelic I was but it wasn't
me at all. The first thing I did when I left was to go to the
hairdresser and tell them to crop the lot! I was nervous but when
I walked out, I was ecstatic. Fabrice couldn't believe it at first,.
but he came round in the end." In fact, Fabrice is a bit
of a fashion lover and helps coax Chloe's hair into a trendy spiky
style. "He's the only bloke I've been out with who actually
outdresses me," says Chloe.
"And I love clothes - especially daring outfits by Vivienne
Westwood. Not too daring, though. Chloe cringes at the memory
of meeting the clothes guru at a fashion show. "I was in
one of Vivienne's corsets," she explains. "One of my
boobs had popped out and I hadn't noticed. I was chatting away
and a photographer was lining up for a shot when a woman whispered
to me: 'Your nipple's sticking out! I tucked it in very quickly
and apologised to Vivienne. She just smiled and said: 'That's
alright - I quite liked it".
Chloe says her revamped image has given her a new lease of
life and she can't wait to take on some meaty TV roles. "I'd
like to play someone in strong contrast to Vicky" she says.
"I'm feeling daring and would like to play someone foul in
something gritty something that would upset and shock people".
Her role in the forthcoming Sharpe, will certainly do that. "I
play a really mouthy English prostitute," she laughs. "We
filmed it in Turkey, although it's set in France. It was great
fun.
Chloe says even though her role has been left open in the Street
she plans to stay away from the soap for at least a year. "It's
not up to me when I go back anyway," she says. "At the
moment Steve McDonald is in prison and the couple are still married.
"There has to be a divorce in the future - but who knows
when that will be"
So to keep herself busy, Chloe is getting fit for her role
as Peter Pan alongside Russ Abbott. "I'm going to be flying
around the stage on pulleys for most of the time" she says.
"I've been told to expect lots of bruising" That will
be nothing to the battering she took last year after being found
taking an ecstasy tablet in a Sheffield night- club. That's all
behind me now," she says. "It was a minor thing that
happened in my past - and I can't bear the way people keep raking
it up. "I don't want to keep talking about it because it
sounds like I'm preaching and I'm not. But my life really has
changed so much. "I'm full of confidence about the future.
I'll admit I lost a little bit after leaving Coronation Street
I couldn't stop crying for the first few days. But now I get off
on that uncertainty. It's quite exciting.. Who knows what I'll
be doing in ten years time? I'm just going to make damn well sure
I enjoy getting there".
Curly's
Christmas Hatrick 17 December 1996
Curly completes his Christmas hatrick by having fling's with
three women. Actor Kevin Kennedy says he is so tired from filming
that he has forgotten what sex with his wife is like.
First there is Maureen, (presumably Bill is away). No great
surprise here. Apparently on their first one night stand actress
Sherrie Hewson, who is very clumsy kneed Curly in the .... the
can I say 'nuts' ? This is why he looks so timid and apprehensive
during this scene adding to the charm.
Next he has fling with Maxine. Maxine is more Madonna than
virgin Mary so no big surprise here. But but But finally, as Meg
Ryan would have said, 'Yes! Yes! Yes!' the real conquest the lovely
Miss Anne Malone, but she makes the running! She finally lets
loose all that shop floor pent up emotion and seduces Curly. According
to the Daily R, the action takes place when Curly in preparation
for his departure erects (yes their word) a tent in his living
room by way of practice. Anne appears and declares that she has
always loved him, as if we didn't know.They take it from there.
