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Street's bad boy forgets his lines
Thursday 30 July 1998 By THOMAS QUINN

FORMER Coronation Street star Nigel Pivaro had to read from a script after forgetting his lines during a play. The actor - bad boy Terry Duckworth in the ITV soap - suffered a memory lapse 10 minutes into the premiere of the thriller Dead of Night.

Watched by an 80-strong audience paying £7 a seat, he pulled a script out of his pocket and used it for the rest of the play. Last night Nigel, 38, apologised to his fans and blamed an illness for not having time to properly learn his part.

He said: "I feel terrible about what happened and I'm sorry if some people felt let down. We've had a very busy rehearsal schedule doing four plays back-to-back, including matinees, and I caught a virus. "My doctor advised me not to work at all, but I didn't want to let everyone down. I thought it better to go on stage rather than to cry off. If I had done that the play would have had to have been cancelled."

He completed his starring role at the Princess Theatre in Hunstanton, Norfolk, the following night without problems.

Council entertainment chief Howard Barnes said: "We received one written complaint and a couple of verbal comments. They're performing at night and rehearsing the following week's play during the day, so it's very tough."

Street's dig at EastEnders
3 August 1998

CORONATION Street moved onto EastEnders' territory yesterday as stars of the ITV series filmed an hour-long special in London. The programme, to be screened next month, features the notorious Battersby family. It's a cheeky dig at the rival soap, marking the departure of producer Brian Park who said: "I promised I was going to go out on a high note so we decided we were going to invade EastEnders' territory."

Street's Rita has the Gasman hopping
9 August 1998

Gas engineers are being run off their feet - thanks to Coronation Street.

Millions of viewers saw the Street's Rita Sullivan, played by Barbara Knox, rushed to hospital overcome by carbon monoxide fumes - and that had them dashing to the phone to call their local gas company. Fans have seen Rita's health deteriorate over several episodes but when she collapsed inquiries rocketed from people wanting their central heating systems checked, according to British Gas.

A spokeswoman said: "Calls have been running 30 per cent higher than normal since the episode was shown. "We have taken steps to have the right service in place, with engineers available, and that is still going on. "Coronation Street has done people a favour because it has alerted them to the question of whether or not their gas appliances are safe."

Carbon monoxide is a silent killer. It has no smell, no taste and on average more than 30 people die each year from the fumes produced by faulty appliances.

Desperate Des in new soap hope
9 August 1998

Coronation Street star Phil Middlemiss could end up with a starring role in EastEnders, the Sunday People can reveal. The amazing transfer may come about after a top-level meeting with the BBC's Head of Drama Series, Mal Young. Phil, who has played dirty Des Barnes in Corrie for eight years, is leaving next month to "pursue other projects". Young, responsible for top shows including EastEnders and Casualty, met him last week to discuss his future.

Phil hopes that Young, one of the most influential men in popular TV, will give him a major role in one of the BBC's flagship shows. A friend said of the move: "He is desperate to land a top role at the BBC. "Mal Young is a powerful man in television and Phil was extremely keen to win him over. "Phil knows that the BBC has a string of projects and ideas for the months ahead and he would dearly love to be involved. He hopes he can carve a future in BBC drama as a serious actor and wants to gradually lay Des Barnes to rest. "But you never know - he could end up in EastEnders and that would be a sensation."

Four months ago the Coronation Street cast was rocked by the news that producer Brian Park was leaving. Phil was a favourite of Park's and the door had been left open for him to return as Des Barnes if things did not work out. The friend added: "Now Brian Park has left, Phil has no idea what his options will be with the new producer at Corrie. "He always considered Coronation Street a bit of a bolt-hole to return to if he found life outside tougher than expected. "He really wants to move on to new things and was very encouraged by his meeting at the BBC. "Mal Young rates him and Phil is very excited about what might come from this."

Phil will leave the Street in September and has already finished filming his final scenes in the show. He was one of the stars rated by Park, 43, who is quitting to set up his own production company after 15 months on the Street. He shook up the 37-year old show by axing some of its favourite characters, including Derek and Mavis Wilton.

Nightmare on Coronation Street
10 August 1998

He was nicknamed Freddy Krueger for his merciless chopping of some of the nation's best loved soap stars, but now producer Brian Park is leaving to set up his own company. Janine Gibson asks, is he mad?

It's a tale as old as Coronation Street. A star quits the nation's favourite programme to "pursue other projects". Much ballyhoo about typecasting, how the Street will survive without Hilda or Bet. Things'll never be the same again, we wail. And they never are - for the star. But the soap continues much as normal.

This week's big departure is the removal of an off-screen star who has generated as many column inches as any character during his time on the soap. Garry Bushell in the Sun has already questioned how the Street will manage without him. EastEnders - or rather, its new producer Matthew Robinson - has already tried to imitate his profile. This week Brian - The Axeman - Park leaves Coronation Street.

The question is straightforward: 'Is there life beyond this?' The 43-year-old Park is to form an independent production company with Coronation Street story and script editor, Ann McManus. Granada Broadcasting deputy managing director, Eileen Gallagher, will join them.

For them to leave to form an independent might seem akin to Ken Barlow leaving for rep, but Park is confident he won't be banging on Granada's door next year, begging. He has no regrets. But why not, like so many successful producers, climb the corporate ladder? "I found out that I've got no real desire, and arguably no real talent, for doing that - I'm happier on the coalface." Last week he signed the contract on his first commission for ITV as an independent producer. Set in a north London women's prison, Jailbirds will be next year's big 10 x 60-minute primetime drama series, the genre identified by both Peter Salmon, controller of BBC1, and David Liddiment, director of programmes at ITV, as key to their schedules and in short supply.

"It'll be gritty," Park says. "We want to make television that's got some sort of message but is also character-driven - not about 'the system' as such. There will be a surreal element to it." One way to ease your way out of soaps is not to leave them completely. Park's first job post-Street is to do a Phil Redmond on Channel 5's soap, Family Affairs. When Redmond was brought into Emmerdale in a similar role, he killed off half the cast. Park, with an even bloodier reputation, is keeping quiet on what his year of overseeing the soap will produce. "It's obviously a very different programme from Coronation Street, because it's barely a year old, and runs five days a week." Like Emmerdale, Family Affairs has had trouble finding its feet, but Park believes he and McManus can make it a must-see programme. "I think it's a compliment that he's taking it on," says Mal Young, creator of Family Affairs, now running BBC drama series. "I'll be interested to see what he does. I'll kill him if he has a lesbian flying the plane which crashes and they bury her under the patio." Park explains why his new company is called Shed Productions: "Because we're shedding the corporate shackles, we'll probably be making the thing in a shed, and if the worst happens, we'll be living in a shed." It's a big gamble. In many ways, his life pre-Coronation Street does not bode well for a life outside; he may have been at the helm of the Street for less than two years, but he's been a Granada Babe (his words) all his working life.

Joining Granada as a promotions scriptwriter straight from university, he became a general researcher on everything from local programmes in the newsroom to entertainment. He pays tribute to the breadth of experience there. He once spent two years in the Middle East producing a two-hour investigation of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism: "A place as far removed from Weatherfield as could be," he says. As recently as 1994, he was an entertainment producer and then Granada's head of entertainment; he's even produced a Prime Suspect - number 4, which earned Helen Mirren an International Emmy for best actress.

If leaving Granada behind might be hard, leaving behind his celebrated profile might be harder. Park has clearly relished the persona of the power behind the soap, which he found thrust upon him early in the job. He has displayed a gift for working with the press. From the moment that Piers Morgan devoted a large chunk of the Mirror to likening the producer to Freddy Krueger, Park became a tabloid player.

The relationship between soaps and tabloids is not new - the Sun embraced the first years of EastEnders - but making the producer a star is a first which looks like staying. Park's first realisation that, like a cast member, he would need "a thick skin and broad shoulders" came, though, from the Sunday Times. "You find out very quickly that your head is going to be above the parapet. I came on board when there was rabid speculation as to the longevity of the soap and its prospects."

Two years ago, Coronation Street was struggling to maintain third and fourth place in the television top 10, nearly 3 million viewers behind EastEnders and having launched a fourth Sunday episode which was struggling behind the others. "I was travelling home on the Tube one Saturday night with the early Sunday papers, reading a bleak, but very balanced, picture of the Street by Bryan Appleyard," Park says. He read that it was the challenge facing "new producer, Brian Park," and it brought him up with a start. "It was the first time I'd ever seen my name in print like that. It seemed a very long journey home that night. I missed my stop." He was never scared: "I felt I knew the show. There was an assumption that the Street would go on forever as the linchpin of ITV before I arrived, but you can't have special pleading for a soap. It lives and breathes by the viewers it brings in. If it's perceived to be in terminal decline, and some of the southern ITV companies were questioning its efficacy in the ratings, it would all start to unpick very quickly."

A contemporary in the Granada press office remembers: "He knew he had to take the show younger. He also knew he had to find a signal to people that things were changing." As Park puts it: "The worst possible scenario was that its audience would die out with its cast." The doors were opened. The first to go was "Dozy Derek" as revealed, in the first of many splashes, by the Sun. "I had to kill off Derek Wilton on almost my first day," Park remembers. "So I called in the actor, Peter Baldwin. He assumed I was seeing the cast in alphabetical order. This is when I found out that if you're going to sack someone, you have to make sure your secretary has given them a cup of tea before they come into your room. Because otherwise, you have to wait for Dawn to come in and give them the tea before you do it; going through endless niceties about Christmas..." Three months later, four of the cast were told they were going on the same day, and the Mirror ran "Nightmare on Coronation Street" and "Where will the bloodshed end?" Brian became Freddy. "I remember talking to Piers Morgan, who said: 'Take it as a compliment'." He giggles. "I'd hate to see a hate campaign." His colleagues say he was never frightened to be vilified in the press, recognising it was part of the game - he had fun with it. When the Sun ran the Free Deirdre campaign, flogging T-shirts and calling the Home Office, one insider says: "It was a true meeting of minds between Brian and (the then Sun editor) Stuart Higgins."

"Stuart loved that stuff and Brian knew exactly what made a good tabloid story." Then Park had to prove he knew where to take the next generation of Street viewers. "Much has been made of the Dickensian qualities of Coronation Street, most of which is a load of rubbish, but there is a serial element - how to lead into the ad break, how to build in a hook - which had started to get a bit sloppy. So I made the storylines the core of the machine. It manifested itself in that we started to do better and bigger stories. And we did bigger stories for longer."

"There were four peaks to the Kevin-Sally-Natalie love triangle and that story ran for four months. And with Deirdre's trial, we plotted that all out. When we finally got to the trial, the viewers were sitting there, rooting for her, but thinking 'Oh no, she did do that. I knew she shouldn't have done that, I told her at the time.' It's just the knack of storytelling." And because the Street is 'character-led not issue-led', he introduced some unmissable new characters. The Battersby family - everyone hated them. The Battersbys were loud, they shouted, one of them headbutted Curly Watts - the viewers were outraged on behalf of their favourite characters, and on behalf of Ken and Emily who had to live next door to them.

"I am very proud of bringing the Battersbys in. That probably got the biggest reaction from the public. We wanted them to come in and be in everybody's face. Yes, they did shout. Then we broke them up, and showed another dimension to them, because you can't just shout forever." He began to integrate generations within the soap - putting wild Battersby child Leanne in the corner shop with Street grande dame Rita.

Then Park introduced the character he's most proud of - Hayley the transsexual. "It's amazing, the number of blue-rinsed viewers who write in saying that Roy and Hayley are the most wonderful couple, and aren't they sweet. It's a subversion that's very brave of the Street to have tried." His only worry is that, by introducing the concept of transsexuality to the Street, he may have destroyed some of the cachet of the experience. "It'd be no fun announcing it to your grannie, if she turns round and says, 'Oh yes, like Hayley'."

Gritty jail show set to sauce stir
11 August 1998 By CHRISTINE SMITH

CORONATION Street supremo Brian Park - who quits the soap this week - is set to cause more controversy with a new series set in a women's prison. He ruthlessly axed a string of characters during his 20 months as Street producer. And he is likely to cause another stir with Jailbirds, billed as ITV's answer to Casualty.

Park, the brains behind the 10-part drama, said last night: "It is going to be gritty and controversial. Jailbirds is going to be a long-running series. It will look at everything from issues about pregnancy to drugs and sex. We are going to build on the lessons we have learnt from Coronation Street and, like the soap, we are going to bring in new faces and make them big."

Park, 47 - who was recruited to Coronation Street last year - turned its ratings slump around, reviving it from an all-time low of 10 million to 17 million. He dumped old favourites such as Derek and Mavis Wilton, Don Brennan, Bill Webster, Maureen Holdsworth and Andy McDonald and gave younger cast members, such as Tracy Shaw, bigger storylines. Warren Jackson, 17, who had played Nicky Platt since he was 10 days old, was replaced by Adam Rickitt because he was not considered sexy enough.

Actor Back In Hospital
15 August 1998

Actor Kevin Kennedy, who plays Curly Watts in Coronation Street, is in a private hospital being treated for alcoholism again, two weeks after speaking of his determination to beat his drink problem following treatment at a rehabilitation clinic.

Kennedy, aged 36, has been admitted to the Priory Hospital in Hale, south Manchester, where he was likely to spend 'a number of weeks', according to a spokesman for Granada TV.

The actor had 11 days away from the set after becoming too unwell to continue filming his scenes last month. Before returning to work he told the media that the death of his friend Kevin Lloyd - 'Tosh' Lines in the police series 'The Bill' - had made him realise he needed to confront his own problems. He was earlier treated at the Smithfield Project in Manchester, a clinic run by the charity Turning Point.

Drunken Curly halts filming
15 August 1998
EXCLUSIVE by PAUL BYRNE and JAN DISLEY

A new drinking binge by actor Kevin Kennedy halted filming of Coronation Street, it was revealed last night. The ITV soap was thrown into chaos as Kennedy, who stars as Curly Watts, was taken to a drying-out clinic.

The actor had been spotted swigging lager in a Manchester pub yesterday - 17 days after confessing: "I'm an alcoholic.'' But a source said: "He was clearly very drunk. His face was bright red and he was really out of it."

The 36-year-old star was taken to Granada's own medical centre and seen by the company doctor. He was then urged by his wife Clare and by producer Brian Park to check into the Altrincham Priory clinic in Cheshire. Clare and the doctor drove Kevin to the psychiatric unit where he was admitted as a voluntary patient.

Filming at Granada was cancelled for the rest of the day and the cast sent home. An insider said: "It has caused a lot of disruption to the schedules, but there was nothing else that could be done. "The writers have now got their work cut out to change the scripts as quickly as possible. Kevin is a prominent member of the cast and was due to figure in a number of up and coming storylines. Now no one knows how long he will be away from the set and he will have to be written out for the forseeable future." Clare said last night: "Kevin wants to get well and regain control of his life. He recognises that at this stage of his life he cannot do it on his own and needs medical help."

Park had previously warned Kennedy that his career was in danger unless he quit drinking. A Granada spokeswoman said: "Kevin, his wife Clare, and Granada Television are all of the opinion that Kevin needs hospitalisation for a number of weeks in order to begin his recovery from alcoholism." A family friend said: "Kevin thought he had things under control and believed he would be fine if he just had the odd pint. "But before he knew it he was knocking back pint after pint and was quickly back to his bad old ways. Kevin thought he could control his drinking but it is clear he can't. "He has got a huge struggle on his hands. Everyone is willing him to suceed but he must help himself.''

Coronation Feet
19 August 1998 by JOHN MAHONEY

LEGGY Coronation Street star Bev Callard has a secret hoard of 300 pairs of shoes. Telly's flirty Liz McDonald keeps the shoes in three giant bedroom wardrobes and has a filing system to keep them in a colour-and style order.

Bev admits she has worn many of them just once and some still in their boxes have not been tried yet. She keeps them stacked up in their boxes with each pair wrapped in tissue. And the 40-year old sexpot, who is quitting as mini-skirted, stiletto-wearing Liz after 10 years in the Street, admits she is a compulsive who cannot stop buying pairs of shoes. Bev, of Bolton, Lancs, said: "They call me the Imelda Marcos of Coronation Street. I'm an obsessive buyer."

She leaves Weatherfield in October to concentrate on her keep-fit videos. She added: "It goes back to when I was a kid and had to wear sensible shoes. My ideal Saturday is going shoe shopping." A Street source revealed: "Everyone has a little dig at her because she's got far more shoes than she will ever wear. She had us creased up once when she told us she had bought a fabulous pair on the Saturday, put them away and decided on the Sunday she didn't think they were her."

I wake up in the morning wanting to end it all...
This sinister stalker has made my life hell
23 August 1998

IN Coronation Street he's Les Battersby, the loud-mouthed tough guy no one can touch. But in real-life actor Bruce Jones has been driven to the brink of suicide.by a sinister stalker who has plagued him for seven years. Les would die rather than cry. But Bruce weeps freely as he says: "I wake up wanting to end it all. I am at the end of my tether. I keep asking myself, Why? Why? Why am I being put through this nightmare?"

Revealing his torment in public for the first time he adds: "Because I play Les Battersby, everyone thinks I'm tough like him. But nothing could be further from the truth." His hands shaking with emotion, Bruce, 45, says: "It started seven years ago with a series of late-night phone calls. When I picked up the receiver there was just silence. "It was very, very frightening. I would stay awake all night in a cold sweat wondering when the next call would come."

But his shadowy tormentor didn't stop there. It wasn't long before he started prowling round Bruce's home late at night. "There would be a noise in the garden and I would dash to the window. I would see a figure, but by the time I got downstairs it was gone. "On one occasion he trashed my garden, kicked things around and left broken bottles. On another, my car was scratched and dented in the driveway."

Bruce is also convinced the prowler was responsible for setting him up for a recent drink-driving conviction. He says: "I received a call from my local pub that there was a charity letter there for me. I do a lot of charity work and didn't want to miss the letter in case it was important. "I had had a heavy session the night before at a Coronation Street party, but I didn't think of that when I drove to the pub. I had about a pint and a half, picked up the letter and started to drive home. "Suddenly a police car appeared behind me, then another pulled up in front. It was obvious they had been waiting for me. "The next thing I knew I had been breathalysed and hauled off to the police station. Apparently, the alcohol I had consumed the previous day was enough to send me over the limit. "The police admitted they'd had a tip-off, but I don't blame them. They were just doing their duty and they treated me very kindly. "What worries me most is that somebody obviously knew all about my movements and that I had been drinking heavily the previous day. "That leads me to the conclusion that this stalker knows me well, as he is watching me all the time. That makes me even more frightened. "Everywhere I go now, I look around and wonder which face in the crowd is out to get me. And why? It's driving me crazy." But not crazy enough to kill himself. "I'd never take my life because I love my wife and children too much."

Bruce's last stalking nightmare happened just 10 days ago while he was at a party. He received a frantic phone call from his wife Sandra, who told him there was an intruder in the garden of their £175,000 home in Marple, near Stockport, Manchester. Bruce says: "I dashed straight home. Sandra was in tears and shaking like a leaf. A man had entered our gardens and taken pictures of the front and back of the house. "Sandra called the police, but there was no real evidence of a crime. Nothing had been touched, but that didn't make us feel any easier. "We feel like we are under siege. At night, we make sure all the doors and windows are securely locked, but even that doesn't help very much. Many a night we hear strange noises in the gardens - taps on the windows, heavy footfalls, things like that. "I believe this stalker is capable of anything and I have real fears for my own and my family's safety."

The stalker started his activities when Bruce began to get famous about seven years ago. He says: "I was part of a successful comedy double act called Clarke And Jones. We won awards and other accolades throughout clubland and I did some interviews. "The phone calls and prowling started as soon as my name began to appear in the papers. It was as though someone was jealous of me. "When the act broke up, and my name wasn't in the papers any more, the stalking stopped."

But the nightmare cycle started again five years ago when Bruce was given a starring role in Ken Roach's movie Raining Stones and won an award at the Cannes Film festival. He was then snapped up to play a cameo role in the much-acclaimed film The Full Monty which won him a Screen Guild Of Actors award.

And things have got even worse since he joined Coronation Street a year ago. He says: "Whenever Les appears, there is a spate of calls and other incidents. I am in an hour-long Street special soon and dread to think what will happen. I have six grandchildren and I am really worried for their safety. "The only time I escape from the torment is when I am acting. As soon as I become Les, I lose myself in the part. "It's been the break of my career. Bruce Park invited me down and told me of this idea to bring in a 'family from Hell'. "I knew I was made for the part, and I told him so. Thankfully, he agreed. I think the Battersbys have become some of the nation's favourite soap characters, but I still can't believe I am actually in it. "The irony is that I always dreamed of being an actor in Coronation Street. It's when I leave work that I feel the pressure, and more miserable than ever."

The stalking is just the latest in a series of traumas Bruce has had to contend with in his roller- coaster life. He had a 25-year struggle for stardom against the gritty backdrop of his hard-as-nails childhood in Collyhurst, Manchester. He says: "I was brought up with three brothers and two sisters in a terraced house, just like the one Les Battersby lives in. "It was a pressure-cooker atmosphere. My parents were both hard workers, but they fought all the time. In the end, I went to live with my auntie, who lived round the corner, for a while. "It was a pretty miserable time and I used to escape by going to the cinema. I would lose myself watching the stars. I had a dream of joining them even then. I knew it would be tough to make it to the big time, but I always kept my dream alive."

But fame didn't come easily. He says: "When I left school I had a succession of jobs while I tried to break into acting. I was a boilermaker, pipe-fitter, part-time fireman, milkman." Ten years ago his left hand was nearly severed in an horrific accident. He says: "I was working as a pipe fitter and a piece of sheet metal fell across my wrist. My hand was literally hanging by a thread. The surgeons did a fantastic job in sewing it back on. "But the accident plunged me into a deep depression. I couldn't work and I wasn't even able to take part in my comedy act. "I should have gone for counselling at that time, but being macho I didn't. I used to just lie about the house all day which was a hell of a strain. "Not surprisingly, it began to affect our marriage. We started rowing. How Sandra put up with me I'll never know. "Then one day I was in such a state that she hauled me to the doctors. I spent a week in hospital, and it probably saved my life. You see, for a long time I believed I would lose my hand completely. But when I went into hospital the doctors assured me that it would be perfectly all right. "Then they started talking about my depression and I suddenly realised that my problems came from inside me and started to get better. "I thank God for Sandra. If she hadn't stood by me, I don't know where I would have ended up. She has been a complete rock."

Bruce adds: "I am really glad I have spoken about the stalking for the first time. I haven't really been able to explain the full story to other people before. "Now that it's off my chest, I feel one hundred per cent better. And if it helps to flush this sicko out, so much the better."

Curly To Leave Street In Search Of Raquel
Wednesday 26 August 1998

Coronation Street producers have temporarily written Curly Watts out of the soap while actor Kevin Kennedy continues his battle against alcohol. Kennedy, 36, is in a private hospital in Manchester after admitting himself 12 days ago. And it could be weeks before he is ready to return to work.

Programme chiefs are understood to have come up with a storyline that sees Curly, played by Kennedy for 16 years, quitting Weatherfield to search for estranged wife Raquel, who has written to him from Malaysia saying she wants a divorce.

Fiona says goodbye
30 August l998
Coronation Street star, Angela Griffin said a tearful goodbye after filming the scenes for her stormy exit from the soap.

Angela- hairdresser Fiona Middleton is leaving after almost six years to start her own pop show. The 21 year old said "I have loved every minute - it has taught me so much. The door is always open for me to return but for now I want to explore other roles and luckily the future looks bright."

Fiona has a huge bust-up after she discovers best friend Maxine Heavey - Tracy Shaw and long time boyfriend Steve McDonald had a one night fling. She finds out and yells at the shame-faced pair that they are probably suited for one another before storming out. The insider added "we didn't want to kill Fiona off because she has been a favourite character for a long time and can come back whever she wants". Fiona also had bitter rows with her one night stand lover, Jim McDonald, when he finds out Fiona knew that son Steve pushed him off scaffolding.

The source added "in between all of this she gets an offer for the shop from butcher Fred Elliott, who wants to install Audrey as manager. So Fiona thinks "why not" and goes ahead with the sale. Her new Granada TV show "Angies Place" will be recorded in November.

Roy of the Rovers to quit Corrie
1 September 1998

Coronation Street favourite Roy Barraclough has stunned his bosses by announcing he is to quit.

The 63 year old bachelor, who plays Rover's landlord, Alec Gilroy, said last night "It's true I've told them I want to go at the end of my six month contract. It's hard work these days and I've just completed a 19 week stint at the studios." Roy, joins a host of big names to leave the ITV soap in recent months. He had told pals "I'm cheesed off, the place isn't what it used to be."

Roy first left the street 5 years ago after medical advice but was lured back by a six figure salary and the promise of juice storylines. His screen character is currently wooing old friend Rita Sullivan and the couple are set to marry. That now seems unlikely.

A Street source said "Roy has not been keen on the way things are going with the series and feels the show and atmosphere isn't what it used to be. "The place has changed since the new hierarchy came in." Roy says he feels the time is right to go again even though he has nothing in mind workwise afterwards."

Producer Brian Park was dubbed the "axeman" when he joined 18 months ago and firing a string of stars. He has now left casualties including Peter Baldwin (Derek Wilton) Warren Jackson(Nicky Platt). Others to resign include Sarah Lancashire (Raquel Wolstenholme) and Bev Callard (Liz McDonald)

A Street source added "people will now be questioning whether we can sustain losing so many top characters."

Soap stars find a role in the Beeb's latest soap
Sunday 13 September

To millions of soap fans they are household names: Angela Griffin from Coronation Street, Michael French from EastEnders and Nicola Stephenson from Brookside - who shared a lesbian kiss with Anna Friel.

Now for the first time viewers will be able to see all three together in the same soap. "Holby", a spin off from the BBC's hit hospital drama "Casualty", is due to be screened in the next year.

The twice weekly show is based on the fictional Holby General, made famous in Casualty. But it will feature all of the department not just emergency and accident departments. And the BBC has taken the unprecedented step of casting celebrities who have already made their name in soap operas.

Angela Griffin (Fiona Middleton in the Street) and Nicola will both play nurses and Michael French (East Enders' David Wicks) will play a doctor. None of the existing stars will be joining the Holby cast, although they may pop up occasionally in cameo roles

One BBC source said TV producers usually avoid actors from rival soaps because they feel viewers will always see them as the character that made them famous and in the past almost all of the actors who were cast in soaps were unknowns with the exception of actors such as Wendy Richards and Barbara Windsor. The push for established soap stars has come from the new head of drama Mal Young, an ex-Brookside producer.

Signs that his policy is already being put into action is being seen with the launch next year of the new drama "Harbour Lights" starring Nick Berry (EastEnders and Heartbeat) and Tina Hobley (ex-Coronation St.) He has also encouraged Thelma Barlow (formerly Coronation Street's Mavis Wilton) to appear in the Victoria Wood sitcom "Dinner Ladies" due to be shown in November.

The source said he not only rates soap actors highly - unlike many other drama heads,who consider them second-rate - but he is also determined to line them up for other popular dramas. There is also a move to keep stars currently starring in soaps by allowing them to appear in other shows either as presenters or in cameo roles - while they continue on screen in their regular roles.

Sweethearts
Issue 110 - Fortnight Ending 2nd October 1998
Interview - Steven Murphy
Photos - Nicky Johnston 

	A year ago, it would have seemed laughable that an eccentric cafe owner and a shy transsexual could be one of the most popular couples on television. However, Roy and Hayley are now as much a part of the Street as Jack and Vera or Alf and Audrey. The storyline was a brave move. However, David Neilson, who plays Roy, knew it was going to be a hit the moment he met his co-star Julie Hesmondhalgh.  "Everything just clicked and the two characters just seem to sparkle together," says David. "Julie and I get on so brilliantly and the scripts have been fantastic. "I don't know what the original plan was with the Hayley character, but once Julie started I just knew they'd ask her back. After all, you know when you've struck gold, don't you? You can't afford to throw away something like that."
	As David sings the praises of his co-star, it's easy to forget how different his feelings were when he first heard about Roy's love interest.  "I was horrified," he confesses. "All I could think was, 'You must be joking!'. I was in such trepidation about the whole idea.Roy was weird enough on his own, but now it was going to be weird on weird! Now I think the whole thing is just fantastic."
	So what is it about the unusual pairing that's turned them into such a success?  "Everyone can identify with them," says David. "They're two very, very human people. Most of us don't have model looks, drive fancy cars and have fantastic lifestyles, we identify with things that go wrong in people's lives and want the losers to win.  Although the nature of the relationship does challenge attitudes, In the end people can see that Roy and Hayley are happy when they're together and lonely when they're apart. So why shouldn't they be together?"
	This fortnight it seems the pair want to be together more than ever. After much prevaricating, Roy asks Hayley if she will move in with him.  "Roy's scared to ask at first," says David. "He's worried what people will think. He's quite old fashioned about things like that. Hayley's got her eye on moving in, but Roy's not too good at picking up hints - he's not used to the subtleties of women."  With the couple at the centre of Street dramas, David has found himself more widely recognised than ever.
	"It's getting more and more impossible to simply be David," he says. "People are always shouting, 'Where's Hayley?' to me in the street. I also get people stopping me to ask me where my bag is."  That famous shopping bag has become an essential part of Roy, and it has a lot of sentimental meaning for David.  "It was my mum's bag," he explains. "She used to live on her own in Loughborough and was always locking herself out of the house. She'd have to call the police to get them to break a window and let her in. Eventually I got a bit bored of having to drive up there and sort out a glazier and fix things, so we decided to put her key on a string inside her shopping bag. She never lost her bag, so we knew she wouldn't lose her key anymore. Mum died not long before I got the part on Coronation Street, so I had to clear out her house, which was obviously a difficult task. I came across the bag and realised I could use it for Roy rather than let it become another piece of junk sent to the tip. It's funny, though... that key you see on television will actually get you into a house in King George Road, Loughborough!"

Street actor goes home
Friday 19 September 1998

Kevin Kennedy, the Coronation Street actor has returned home after four weeks of treatment in a psychiatric hospital for a drinking problem.

The 36-year-old, who plays Curly Watts, was admitted to a private hospital in Hale, Cheshire, after confessing that he was an alcoholic.

Hairnet we go again Hilda !
21 September 1998

Coronation Street legend Hilda Ogden is to make a sensational return to the series after more than a decade away.

The nation's best-loved soap character will delight her millions of fans when she turns up in Weatherfield again after once vowing: "I've had enough." And although her comeback is supposed to be a one-off, actress Jean Alexander who plays the hairnet and rollers Hilda, has hinted her role may become permanent.

Talking of her return to the Street yesterday Jean, 71, said: "It was great to be back. It was always going to be an emotional time. "I said I would never go back but there I was filming with my good friend Betty Driver. It was wonderful to see all my old friends again and I really enjoyed the day. All the memories came flooding back."

So why did she go back? "I agreed to help make a video special which comes out in October," explained Jean. "I am spending most of my time now filming for a new series of Last Of The Summer Wine. But I felt the same excitement going back to the set of Coronation Street." And despite that vow never to return to the Street, Jean hinted: "Who knows what the future will bring?"

The nation last saw Hilda in 1987 when she was driven away from the Rovers Return to become a doctor's housekeeper. A record 26.6 million viewers tuned in to see her tearful farewell on the Christmas Day special. Until now, she has always refused to return to the part that won the country's heart. But after agreeing to shoot scenes for the video special, programme makers are hopeful she will agree to return full-time.

When she was driven to the Granada studios in Manchester last week, Jean had an emotional reunion with fellow veterans of the top soap. After chatting about precious memories together, Jean spent the rest of the day shooting scenes with Betty Driver, who plays Rovers barmaid Betty Williams. In the video, called The Women Of Coronation Street, Hilda catches up on all the gossip since she left. The plot is centred on all the women who have appeared in the Street and Hilda talks about all her old sparring partners.

A Coronation Street spokesman said: "This is not the Hilda of the Eighties with her rollers and scarf, this is the Hilda of 1998. It was fantastic to see Jean again and the filming really was remarkable." He said the video will be released as part of a package with a book, compiled by Coronation Street archivist Daran Little next month.

Jean's portrayal of the country's best-loved Mrs Mop continued for nearly 25 years after first appearing in 1964. With her window cleaning husband Stan Ogden, Street snoop Hilda became one of the greatest characters in television history. And earlier this year, fans voted her the soap's all-time favourite. But despite her mantle as a national treasure, actress Jean has never been tempted back - until now. An insider who watched her filming on the Weatherfield set said Hilda's come-back was filled with hysterical laughter and tears. And yet Jean always resisted calls for a return, and once said: "I would have to be out of work and destitute before I'd be tempted back."

But after arriving at the studios and meeting up with her old pals again, Jean confessed: "Yes, it's really great to be back." She added: "I really never thought I'd be here again but here I am." After recently playing dotty shopkeeper Aunty Wainwright in Last Of The Summer Wine, Jean revealed: "I never really realised just how popular Hilda was until I left. "People still call out 'Hilda' when they see me. But I'll never appear as her again."

Programme makers have been desperate to keep Jean's return to the Street under wraps. But older fans will have to rub their eyes when Hilda appears without her trademark headscarf for the Christmas Special. In a recent interview at her seaside home, Jean said: "I've managed to end up where I always wanted to be - self- sufficient and getting good work. When you get to 71, your priority is to keep well and live as long as possible. I intend to do just that." Jean always insisted that the draw of even bigger money is meaningless in her current life. She chooses to stay quietly at home and sift through the piles and piles of television script offers. "The whole time I was in Coronation Street I was preparing for my future," she said. "Now I have enough money to be able to accept the scripts that I like and to reject the scripts that I don't like. Scripts with bad language and violence and horror I throw straight into the bin. was putting away as much money as I could afford to. It was like a bit of an obsession, really. But at least I knew that in the years to come, if I couldn't work, I'd have some funds to draw on.

"Thanks to Coronation Street I was able to achieve all my financial goals. I could never get out of my mind the early years in London and trying to break into TV when no-one wanted to know me. I used to walk everywhere because I had no money. I used to smooch around the streets praying for a job. "Some days I couldn't even afford to eat. Now if it's a relly bad day and I don't want to go out, I can just sit there and read a book all day. Then, suddenly, I look at the time and think, 'Goodness, it's five o'clock - there's another day gone and I haven't done anything'. But I can be like that now."

Jean lives on her own at the plush Southport home in Merseyside she has lived in for 25 years. "I've never married," she said. "People find it hard to believe that I never wanted to settle down with a man but basically I wanted to act more than I wanted to get married. "I realised very early on that there was only ever going to be me to look after me. I've got just about everything that I want here and everything is paid for - including the house."

Street's Liz to run off with physio
21 September 1998

SEXY Liz McDonald is to leave Coronation Street - after bedding her crippled ex-husband Jim's hunky physio Michael. The couple will elope together, leaving wheelchair-bound Jim heartbroken at home. Programme chiefs hope the shocking plot will keep the ratings above BBC rival EastEnders. One insider said: "It is a fabulous, gritty storyline that will keep millions glued to their seats."

Actress Beverley Callard has spent nine years in the top soap playing Liz, famed for her short temper and even shorter skirts. But she announced she was quitting earlier this year to present her own satellite TV fitness show. Bev, 40, said: "I would like to take on different roles - perhaps playing a character who wears longer skirts than Liz!"

Now Curly's on the Coke
25 September 1998

Street star Kevin Kennedy proves he's off the booze - by enjoying a Coca Cola.

The star, who last month confessed to being an alcoholic and vowed to fight it, raised his paper cup to my snapper on the opening night of the UCI cinema complex at Manchester's Trafford Centre. Kevin, 36, who plays dopey Curly Watts in the ITV soap, has been written out of the show until he is fully recovered. The actor returned to work after two weeks in a rehabilitation clinic but suffered a relapse and spent four more weeks drying out. "He looked loads better than I seen him for a long time," a pal of Kevin tells me. "He's making a real effort to enjoy himself while staying off the alcohol. He could be back at work soon."

Johnny Briggs in Hurricane watch
28 September 1998

CORONATION Street actor Johnny Briggs is terrified that the devastating Hurricane Georges will wreck his holiday home in Florida. But the soap's Mike Baldwin was assured yesterday that the house near Clearwater was just out of the path of the killer storm and should escape. Johnny, 65, was monitoring weather reports as the hurricane, which has claimed more than 300 lives, headed out towards the Gulf of Mexico.

Speaking from his home in Stourbridge, West Midlands, he said: "Fingers crossed but it seems all right. I've been told we are out of the way of it unless it suddenly changes its mind. There have been a few worried moments this week. "That's the risk you take having a place out there. A hurricane can come along and batter it to bits and there's nothing you can do about it."

Yesterday Georges skirted Florida's east coast and was rocketing towards New Orleans. It battered the Florida Keys earlier with torrential rains, high winds and surging seas. Hundreds of British holidaymakers were evacuated and flights cancelled to Miami and Orlando airports. As it sped North West last night with winds near 104mph, New Orleans was bracing itself for the worst. But Britain is safe - the Met Office said there was no chance that Hurricane Georges would affect weather in the UK.

Darren woos Tracy with sex and roses
28 September 1998

DESPERATE TV star Darren Day launched a late-night sex and roses battle to win back girlfriend Tracy Shaw. He raced at 140mph down a motorway to deliver the charm offensive after the Coronation Street star dumped him. Shocked Darren turned up for a night of loving hoping that sexual chemistry would change Tracy's mind. Then, looking nervous and anxious, he frantically snatched a bunch of flowers from his luxury Mercedes before dashing inside her £125,000 Manchester apartment to woo her.

But just two hours after his arrival, Darren, host of ITV's You Bet, emerged bare-chested, looking relaxed and confident. Wearing jeans and a baseball cap, he collected some items from his car before dashing back inside. Twenty four hours later TV's golden couple were still locked inside as they battled to salvage their lost love. The curtains were kept tightly drawn and the telephones were unplugged so nobody could disturb them.

Tearful Tracy, who plays Street hairdresser Maxine Heavey, dumped Darren following claims he was partying too much while appearing in his Summer Holiday Show at Blackpool. She was also reported to be jealous of the time he spent with gorgeous showgirl Mia Michaels, who is dating Emmerdale actor Ian Kelsey. But one friend said last night: "Darren was devastated when Tracy said it was all over. "It brought him to his senses big time. It looked like he was losing the girl of his dreams and that shocked him to the core. "They are now working hard to get back together. Neither really wants it to end. "They have a fantastic sex life and can't really resist each other. "Great sex is often the way back when you can't find the words."

The final straw for 25-year-old Tracy had come on Friday when instead of spending the day with her in Manchester, Darren took Mia, 22, shopping in Blackpool. Then the two of them returned to Darren's luxury pad in her white Vauxhall Cavalier. But when Tracy heard what had been going on, she blew her top and ordered her fiance to join her in Manchester. A friend said: "She couldn't believe he could be so thoughtless. Tracy has been concerned about their friendship for some time. "Whatever Darren was up to, it was a very foolish thing to do. He knows exactly how Tracy feels about this girl. "Darren desperately tried to deny there was anything going on between them. "But Tracy wasn't having any more of his excuses and demanded a face-to-face showdown."

This is the dramatic timetable of what happened:

5.15pm: Darren and Mia arrive back at his home in Blackpool.
5.45: Tracy telephones and goes "through the roof", demanding an explanation.
5.50: Mia leaves the flat and speeds off in her car.
6.15: Darren spends half an hour on the phone pleading for "forgiveness and understanding".
6.20: He sets out in his R-registered Mercedes to meet Tracy in Manchester.
6.45: Darren composes his thoughts by cruising up and down the promenade for 20 minutes, gazing at Blackpool's famous illuminations.
6.50: Then he phones a local photographer and snarls: "You don't know what you've done! You've upset a lot of people". Darren insists he only went shopping with Mia to buy flowers for Tracy.
7.10: After powering his way on to the motorway, Darren is stopped and cautioned by police for veering across lanes while frantically talking on his mobile phone.
9.30: He pulls into the car park of Tracy's apartment complex for the showdown.
9.35: Darren spends five minutes unpacking his Mercedes and takes the flowers to her first-floor flat to begin the weekend of heart-searching.
11.30: He emerges stripped to the waist to collect a further item from the car.

As the pair battled for their future together, Tracy's parents Karl and Ann Shaw waited anxiously by their phone for news. Ann said: "We are really worried about what is going on, it's terrible. "Tracy is distraught, but whatever truth there is in these stories, she is old enough to make the right decision."

Darren and Tracy had planned a lavish wedding next year and he splashed out £30,000 on a diamond engagement ring. But things started going wrong last Saturday when Tracy flew back from a TV appearance in Belfast. Instead of going to meet her at Blackpool Airport, Darren stayed in bed. And when Tracy phoned him, he told her to go to the resort's Winter Gardens Theatre rather than his home. Then he kept her waiting almost half an hour before turning up with his minder. Later the couple rowed in a taxi and Tracy told Darren she was not prepared to be treated so badly. Then she added it was time he started acting like a man who wanted to get married. Tracy was also outraged at reports that Darren had visited a lap-dancing club. And there were more stories about him spending time with former Home And Away star Isla Fisher. Finally she tearfully phoned her family's pub in Belper, Derbyshire, and asked her mum to come and collect her.

Friends say Tracy is determined not to end up like the former Brookside beauty Anna Friel, who Darren ditched over the phone. One pal said: "Tracy is distraught. She has put up with so much, but finally decided enough is enough. "It is such a shame because she was genuinely and deeply in love with Darren. "Of course she will listen to everything he says and we all hope that they can work it out. "But Tracy is not going to be mucked around."

Computer thief walks out with Street secrets
27 September 1998

CORONATION Street stars were last night bracing themselves for a flood of embarrassing revelations about their private lives after a laptop computer was stolen from the Granada studios. The computer holds 80 highly confidential memos about their lifestyles, their acting ability...and their future prospects. It also holds details of their addresses, phone numbers and salaries.

The £3,000 computer went missing from the office of Wayne Henry, personal assistant to the Street's "hatchet man" producer Brian Parks. A Street source revealed: "All hell broke loose when the computer went missing. "The bosses couldn't believe it was the work of a sneak thief. So the offices were turned upside down and everyone was questioned. It was like a witch hunt. Everyone was scared. "But as the days passed the awful realisation sank in that the computer may have been stolen. "The idea that all those secrets were out there caused panic. One boss described it as a ticking timebomb."

Granada bosses in Manchester were so afraid of the computer's contents becoming public that they offered a no-questions-asked reward for its return. The source said: "A memo was posted on the notice board offering a reward. No actual amount was specified, but it was generally known that at least £2,000 was on offer. "It just shows how panicked the bosses were. They were terrified of the stars finding out what had happened."

Last week details of the stars' salaries were published after a computer floppy disk containing the information was sold to a national newspaper. But Granada has denied the information came from the stolen laptop. A spokeswoman said: "A laptop has gone missing, but the information that appeared in the newspapers was not from that computer. She added: "We are making every effort to get the laptop back, but we cannot discuss what information it contained."

Some Street stars were said to be furious after details of their salaries were leaked this week. But the insider said: "That's nothing compared with what's on the laptop. "The fear now is that it will all be downloaded on to the Internet. That would really put the cat among the pigeons."

It's Coronation STREAK for Nicky
27 September 1998

CORONATION Street teen idol Adam Rickett is to become the first male nude in the history of Britain's top soap. Adam, 20, who plays Nicky Tilsley, will strip off to pose for an art class - but then he'll be in trouble with on-screen wife Leanne (Jane Danson) when the class tutor falls for him. The storyline is Adam's most sensational since he joined The Street in October - replacing Warren Jackson, who had played the part since he was 10 days old.

Producer Brian Park brought in Adam because he considered Warren was not sexy enough. And Adam has turned into a real pin-up, with a huge army of female fans. He even had to leave his parents' Cheshire home because it was besieged by young girls.

But he has told Street pals he doesn't like stripping off. One said: "He's a talented lad and doesn't want to rely on the fact that he's got a great physique." Adam has admitted he is worried he may be axed if his looks start to fade. "It petrifies me that when I reach 22 my career could be over," he says.

The Bitch is back
Fortnight ending 16th October 1998

Former Emmerdale star Jacqueline Pirie has landed a new role in Coronation Street.

Scots-born Jacqueline, who quit the role of Emmerdale tearaway Tina Dingle in 1996, and has since been busy raising her 18-month-old daughter, Alexandra, makes her debut on the 14th of October as Linda, a seamstress at Mike Baldwin's factory.

The 23-year-old actress, who recently made her television comeback in an episode of Casualty, has signed up for only five episodes initially, but it is possible that she will be asked to stay on for longer if she is a hit with viewers.

"She's a bit of a tough cookie", reveals an insider. "She's going to be making life hell for one of the factory workers".

ITV has change of heart over logo to woo advertisers
Wednesday 30 September By Alison Boshoff Media Correspondent

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