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Torn off a stripper
29 June 2000 by Robert Aust

NEW Coronation Street hunk Scott Wright has revealed how he was scarred for life when a prank went wrong. Scott, 25, who plays male stripper Sam, had his arm shredded by a glass in a club.

He recalls: "I was with friends and one of them was playing around, throwing water at me. "I put up my hand to stop him and the glass smashed into my lower arm. "My skin was ripped back and it cut straight through every tendon in my wrist and hand, apart from my thumb. Blood was gushing out and I was in agony. It was so badly cut it was impossible for doctors so sew it back together." He was unable to work for six months, and six years on still bears an eight inch scar on his arm and has no flexion in his hand.

Despite this small flaw in his dishy appearance, Scott is single and says he actually feels "slimy" chatting up women. A string of disasters have left him very wary. He explains: "I had a habit of seeing a girl I liked in a club and just ploughing in to talk to her. But I'd always get it totally wrong. I gave one girl £2 to buy some flowers and not surprisingly she told me to keep my money and walked off with another guy."

Scott has decided to remain single while he concentrates on his work, and adds with a laugh: "I let women approach me now, but that isn't working too well either." The Lancashire-born hunk, who landed the role of Sam after 10 years trying to break into the big time, isn't fazed by stripping. "I'm getting used to getting my kit off for the cameras," he laughs.

Alma bites back
28 June 2000 by Emily Rose

WHAT goes around is about to come around for Corrie's maneating minx, Linda Sykes. The woman she replaced in Mike Baldwin's life is about to get the whip hand over her. Baldwin's ex-missus Alma - played by Amanda Barrie - will earwig a steamy conversation between Mike's fiancee Linda and her illicit lover, his son Mark.

Last night a Street insider revealed: "It's the latest sensational twist in a storyline that will run and run. Although Mark will soon be leaving Weatherfield for a new life, Linda's sexual secret is far from safe. "Alma will be in a position to wreak revenge upon her much younger rival. But things are never as simple as they seem."

The ex-wife, who lost her man, marriage and home to her micro-skirted rival, must decide whether to spill the beans and risk Mike having another heart attack - or leave him to have his heart broken.

Denise paints picture of mental illness
28 June 2000 by Peter Simmonds

Coronation Street star Denise Welch has had her portrait painted to highlight mental illness. Denise, 42, who plays Rovers Return landlady Natalie Barnes, suffered post-natal depression and has campaigned for more awareness about the problem that afflicts thousands of women. She is one of six stars who posed for acclaimed artist Jolie Goodman, whose exhibition, Madly Famous, is touring the UK.

The six celebrities who have taken part have all sought psychiatric help in the past. "I took part to show celebrities can have problems too. Other stars may have refused to participate because they fear it may hurt their career," said Corrie star Denise Welch. Award-winning Goodman contacted 30 celebrities for her portrait work Madly Famous.

Chatshow host and former victim of depression Trisha Goddard also had her portrait painted by the artist Jolie Goodman. Trisha took an overdose in 1994 after her husband had an affair with a researcher on her TV programe. The mother of two has since found a new partner and is very happy. "I was surprised by how few celebs came forward. But I was delighted that Trisha and Denise were so committed," said Goodman.

Street star's anguish as best mate is killed in triad gang revenge
25 June 2000

THE hottest new star of Coronation Street has revealed his terrible secret - his school pal was murdered by Chinese gangsters. Hunky Scott Wright, 25, who is about to send the women of Weatherfield wild when he strips off at a hen night, is haunted by the brutal killing of Eddie Hui. Chinese takeaway worker Eddie was blasted in the back of the head with a sawn-off shotgun just yards from Scott's home.

The handsome young actor, speaking exclusively to the Sunday People after making his debut in the Street last week, said: "If I'm a success, then I want to dedicate my role to the memory of Eddie. "We had been at school together and his death really shook me up."He was only 20 and he was a great friend. "It was terrible, absolutely terrible to hear about the way he was murdered. "Eddie was working in his uncle's chip shop near my home in Derbyshire and a guy just walked in, pulled out a gun and shot him in the head. "We had met by chance in the street a few weeks before he was killed and now I'm so glad we did. I would have hated to have just read about it in the papers without having seen him one last time."

Eddie's death was a revenge attack ordered by a Triad gangleader after he beat up one of the kung fu-fighting mobsters outside a snooker club in Manchester. Scott, who lives with his parents in New Mills in the beautiful Peak District, walked past the chip shop on the night of the murder and saw police cars - but thought nothing of it. Next morning he went to see Eddie - and was told by a policeman that his friend was dead. Scott says: "Finding out what had happened made me go cold."

He was relieved when the killers were arrested in London a few weeks later. Kung Fu master Keith Li, 28, who ordered the killing, a 20-year-old gang member and two others aged 18 and 17 were caged for life after being found guilty of murder at Manchester Crown Court. But now, five years later, Scott is still haunted by his friend's savage death. He says: "I still think of Eddie all the time. It's terrible what happened to him. I look at my life and then I look at what happened to Eddie. "That was a really awful time in my life for me but I tried to take something positive from it. "And the one thing I could do was use the tragedy to make sure I achieved my dreams. His death made me realise how short life is. "The only thing positive I could take from it was to take stock of my life. It gave me the kick that I needed. "Now I want to work as hard as I can and do whatever it takes to achieve everything." And Scott, who made his debut last Monday as lovable but dim building worker Sam Kingston, IS working incredibly hard to make that role a success.

Corrie casting chiefs spotted his potential to impress female viewers when they saw him on stage in a theatre in Derbyshire. But after offering him the role they gave the 14-stone hunk just three weeks to lose half a stone and get in good enough shape for a raunchy strip routine in the Rovers this Friday.

Scott says: "I did it but it hurt. Every morning I was up at 6am for a five-mile run. "That was before breakfast - a bit of muesli. Then each afternoon I'd go to the gym in New Mills. "I was in there for two hours every day working desperately trying to lift weights. After a couple of days every bone ached but I didn't dare stop. "I was going to be naked in front of millions of people and I desperately wanted a six-pack stomach and some pecs."

But Scott's dedication doesn't stop there - he has turned his back on love until his TV career takes off. He split with a girlfriend last December after three years together and has no plans at present to find another. He says: "I don't want to name her and I'm reluctant to talk about it. The relationship was a serious one but just didn't work out. "I haven't seen or spoken to her since. "I really think I wouldn't be in Coronation Street now if that relationship hadn't ended. "You have to be so single-minded in this business."

Scott's body will have female viewers lusting when he peels down to a G-string as "Python the stripper" at a ladies' night in the Rovers. He had last-minute nerves about filming the scene in front of nearly all the Street's actresses. But his famous co-stars reassured him. He says: "I could feel 30 sets of women's eyes on me - not easy. But they were all really good to me. At the end Denise Welch who plays Natalie Barnes came up and told me, 'Well done love' and Naomi Russell who plays Bobbi Lewis gave me a hug. Betty Driver was laughing away behind the bar because I danced with her behind the bar for one scene. "She was loving it - there's a lot of life in Betty I can tell you."

If Scott's character is a hit with viewers the reward will be a regular role in the Street. But his thoughts will still be with murder-victim Eddie. Scott says: "Appearing in Coronation Street is the biggest chance of my career. If I make it I'll be thinking of Eddie - I'd like to think that I've done this for him."

FAST FACT: UP to three million illegal guns are feared to be in circulation in Britain.

FAST FACT: EIGHT people have been murdered in Manchester since last summer.

A Corrie insider said: "Ever since Linda started her steamy fling with Mark, viewers have been wondering whether Mike will find out about them. "It was obvious Mark was falling for her in a big way but everyone thought Linda was just using him for a bit of fun. "But when he finally lays his cards on the table, she realises just how much he means to her and tells him she loves him."The insider added: "This love triangle has been a thrilling storyline - and there's still more to come. "Let's face it, even if Linda and Mike do wed, there will always be the possibility that her cheating will come back to haunt her."

The Betty Driver Story: Betty
25 June 2000

From the age of 7 her cruel, ambitious mother forced her to work twice a night, six days a week as she squandered the fortune her daughter earned on drink, clothes and cars...

FOR more than 30 years, Betty Driver has dispensed pints, hotpot and maternal wisdom at the Rovers Return. Long before she joined Coronation Street as barmaid Betty Turpin, Betty was a major film and stage star. But fame came at a price. Her young life was made miserable by a spiteful and domineering mother. Here, in the first part of her painfully frank autobiography, Betty reveals her rise to stardom, how she was abused and exploited as a child, how her mother drove away the love of her life, and how salvation came in the form of her loyal sister Freda...

MOTHER and I were standing at the side of the stage and the compere had just announced: "Betty Driver, the dynamic singing star!" The orchestra had started my introduction. The conversation went like this: "Mam, do I have to go on?" "Give over Betty!" "Mam, I mean it. I'm so nervous..." SLAP! "Get on that stage! And don't forget to smile!"

And I went on, a great red five-fingered hand-mark across my cheek, and started to sing my first number with tears rolling down my face. I glanced to the side and my mother was there in the wings, where she always stood, watching me, her mouth moving as she sang along with me, her hands mirroring my gestures, her legs moving to my steps.

I ought to introduce my mother properly. Her name was Nellie Driver, and she was a small woman with a strident voice. She was shrewd, ambitious, outgoing and gregarious, and overshadowed my father Frederick. I made my first appearance on May 20, 1920, weighing 12lb, at the Prebend Nursing Home in Leicester. I was born after a 16-hour labour. My mother lay back in bed and vowed: "Never again, I don't want one like her." I wish my father had stood up to my mother. If he had I'm certain she would not have been as domineering as she became, but he never did.

From the moment I was born, until 19 years later - when my younger sister Freda dared to stand up to her - my mother was the driving force in my life. My father was a quiet soul. He fought in the trenches in the First World War and later became a policeman in West Didsbury, south of Manchester, where we lived in a semi alongside other police families. It was my mother's first proper home of her own, and before she moved in the police warned her a kennel wouldn't be allowed and our collie dog Bess would have to live in the house. She wasn't having that and sold her. I was heartbroken as my dog was dragged away while mother held me back to stop me running after her.

Mother was stage-struck and the only way I can explain her behaviour is that she wanted to live out her ambitions through me. School was at Wilbraham Road. I loved it. I was a dreadful tomboy and used to fight the lads. After a while my sister Freda joined me there and ended up in the same class as Patricia Pilkington, who changed her name one day to Phoenix and became Elsie Tanner. My parents didn't believe in celebrating birthdays or Christmas. When I was growing up I could never work out how old I was because May 20 was just like any other day - it had no special meaning for me. When I was six, my father's parents gave Freda and me a pair of skates to share. They were our only bought toys. Toys were like signs of affection: absent from our lives. We were never hugged or kissed, and while dad never laid a finger on us, mother often lashed out. The house had three bedrooms but I insisted on sharing mine with Freda. It was the start of an intense relationship that has grown stronger every day.

Mother never wanted children and neglected us until she found I could sing. Then everything changed for me. I was 71/2 when we set off to see a touring company called the Quaintesques, a group of men dressed as women. The show was going on when the star Billy Manders asked the audience to join in with a chorus. I got carried away, booming away in the back row, and at the end of the song Billy asked me to come forward and sing with him. We brought the house down and I was presented with a jar of toffees - my first fee!

My mother started to take me to all the talent contests around Manchester and the North West. And I won them all. I imitated hits by Gracie Fields such as Sing As We Go, and The Biggest Aspidistra In the World, corny little numbers that I detested but mother adored. At 12 I was touring all over the country with my first revue. Freda came too, and every week we went to a different school. I remember one school I went to while playing the Sunderland Empire. Mother left us at the gates and all the children were staring at us. THE headmaster got hold of me, put me on his knee and started to fondle me, saying: "You're a nice little girl. How much money do you make at the theatre?" I said: "I'm not telling you because I don't know how much money I make." My mother never told me. He was annoyed and made me stand on a chair in the middle of the hall then told all the children to march around me and stare at me. Dreadful man. I told my mother he had been touching me, but it didn't bother her. I had an awful lot of that: men seemed to think that if you were on stage you were used to it - and I was still only 12.

I was performing in London when I was spotted by the agent Bert Aza, who was in partnership with his brother Archie Pitt, Gracie Fields's husband. He told me he wanted to book me for a revival of Mr Tower Of London, which Gracie had made famous 19 years before. Archie and Bert said they wanted me for the lead. Mother pointed out that I was only 14 but they said it didn't matter. They were confident I could carry it off.

Before I started in Mr Tower Of London, I appeared in Manchester and George Formby came to see me with his wife Beryl. George's wife said they had enjoyed my performance and asked if I'd appear in a film George was making called Boots! Boots! I was to play a cabaret singer but when Beryl, who was also in the film, saw me rehearsing she decided she wouldn't have me outshining her and mother and I were bundled out of town on the next train. The producers felt bad about how I'd been treated and refused to take my name off the credits. Every now and again the film is on TV and my name rolls up even though I didn't appear in it at all. I only ever spoke to Gracie Fields once, but she left me in no doubt as to what she thought of me.

My agent, Lillian, asked me to call at the Azas' house in Maida Vale. It was huge and I was shown into the drawing room. A woman was in there, wearing a plastic raincoat and a headscarf with a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses on her nose. Lillian came in and asked if I'd met Gracie. I said: "No, I've never had the pleasure." She looked me up and down and said, cuttingly: "Likewise." Then she turned her back.

At 16 I was in a West End show called Home and Beauty. For years mother had stood guard over my virtue in theatres, seeing off the attentions of amorous comics and theatre managers. Now I was receiving even more attention. In Home and Beauty there was a huge musician called the Bull, who took a fancy to me. After one performance when I went to my dressing room to get my bag I heard somebody shuffle in behind. I froze. Suddenly this huge man grabbed me, and started to maul me, trying to kiss me. I thought he was going to rape me but I kept my head. Dad had taught me how to take care of myself. The Bull turned me round to face him. I brought my knee up hard and he hit the floor like a stone. I thought I'd killed him. I flew out of the room screaming "I've killed the balalaika player because he was being rude!" Everyone thought it was so funny. The poor chap never spoke to me again.

In 1938 I was starring at ATP studios in Ealing in a film called Penny Paradise. When I turned 18 the studio's publicity department made a tremendous fuss. My dressing room was filled with flowers and even mother got in on the act, giving me a little white Hillman car with red leather inside. A chauffeur was hired to drive me round in it. Penny Paradise premiered in London and Manchester. AFTER a few months of variety and radio work, I returned to the studio to make my second film, Let's Be Famous. We'd finished filming when war was declared and the studios closed down. I was 19 and forced back to doing what I knew best...variety, touring the country with a couple of suitcases.

There weren't many ventriloquists on the circuits but the best was a young man called Arthur Worsley - and I fellmadly in love with him. He was a handsome boy, and we went out together for a while. I would have liked to marry him but our mothers were at each other all the time. They were two of a kind, both desperate to hang on to their meal tickets and terrified we'd fall in love, marry, and they'd lose control of us. They made our lives a misery. If we went for lunch our mothers came. If we walked in the park they walked with us. The idea of traipsing around with mother filled Freda, who was now 16, and myself with dread. Mother, though, was happy. Penny Paradise had been released and I could be billed as a film star. This meant she could demand a higher fee for my act.

At night, tucked up in our shared bed in a rented room near whichever theatre I was playing, Freda and I would plan our future. Freda would hold me tight and, as I cried into the pillow, she'd swear that one day we'd get rid of the songs - and mother. That moment came after I had started to do some work for the BBC in the fashionable new medium called television. As soon as we arrived at our digs in London, mother opened her case and out tumbled all the old band parts I loathed. Freda didn't say anything, then, quick as a flash, she leapt forward, grabbed the music and threw it on the fire. Mother screamed and tried to rescue the music, but it was too late. Mother flew at Freda, lashing out at her with her hands and fingernails. In her anger Freda hit back at mother. But Freda still hadn't finished. Mother always dressed me in these little girlie frocks with nipped waists, high straps and collars. Freda demanded I have something smart and modern. I fully expected mother to kill her and was amazed when she threw her hands in the air and said: "On your head be it." I couldn't believe she'd backed down.

The next morning Freda and I walked all over London looking in shop windows. It was as if a weight had been lifted from myshoulders as I looked at all the dresses in these grand stores. I bought a beautiful dinner gown and wore it on TV, starting a trend. After that everyone wore dinner gowns. Overnight my act had changed. Gone were the immature songs, imitations of Gracie Fields and frilly dresses. Now I was a ballad singer, and the songs Freda chose for me to sing were brand new.

It was during a six-month run in a revue called Twice In A Blue Moon that Freda and I finally parted company with mother. She had cardiac asthma and could hardly walk. At first she refused to leave us alone and return to Manchester. Eventually Freda sent for Dad. He took her home and she was admitted to hospital, where she stayed for six weeks. I finally started to have fun, all thanks to Freda.

When Twice In A Blue Moon came to an end I returned to variety. We opened in Coventry Hippodrome and sharing the bill with us that week were the Andrews family - father Bob, mother Barbara and little Julie. I continued to make regular trips to Bristol to sing on a radio show called Ack Ack Beer Beer. While I was there I met Jack Watson. He was five years older than me and as soon as I saw him I fell head over heels in love. He would drive me out to the Mendip Hills and we'd sit there playing records on a wind-up gramophone on the back seat.

IN May 1941 I turned 21 and for the first time took responsibility for my own money. Up to then my wages had been paid to my mother, and she gave me pocket money. Originally five shillings (25p) a week, then 10, and then, when I was 19, a pound. Mother paid Freda half a crown for being my companion. During all that time my average weekly pay was £50 a week, sometimes £150. I gave the books my parents had been keeping to an accountant. I didn't have a penny - my parents had spent all the money on drink, cars and clothes. That summer I made my third and last film, Facing the Music, and was paid the handsome sum of £1,000.

While making it things came to a head with Jack. I was hoping he would propose. However, mother, during a visit, put a stop to the romance once and for all. Jack came to see me at the studios but mother wouldn't let him in, so Freda slipped out and booked him into the Elstree country club where we were staying. After filming we went back to the club and there he was, with a spray of roses and his gorgeous smile. Mother was furious. So long as I remained single, I continued to be her meal ticket. She shouted at Jack, then grabbed the roses out of his hand and threw them in his face. Jack and I had to admit it was no good. I was under mother's thumb and didn't have the guts tostand up for myself or Jack. So we broke up. Shortly afterwards Jack met and later married a BBC engineer called Betty Edwards.

A year after joining Coronation Street I was reunited with Jack. He came into the show to play chief petty officer Bill Gregory, who proposed to Elsie Tanner. He looked sensational, and I felt like a giggling schoolgirl. But having him there upset me deeply. I couldn't stop thinking of what might have been instead of what had been. He'd have made a wonderful husband.

Adapted by David Rowe from Betty: The Autobiography by Betty Driver with Daran Little, published by Granada Media, £14.99. To order a copy (p+p inc) phone 0870 900 2050 quoting reference AD07.

I'm showing my python down the Rovers
25 June 2000 by Alan Hart

THEY haven't seen anything bulge like this in the Rovers since Bet Gilroy's top shrank in the wash. Coronation Street labourer Sam Kingston whips off his overalls to reveal his secret sideline as a stripper called The Python in this Fridayís episode. He is the first male stripper in the Street's 40-year history.

Sam, played by Scott Wright, made his Weatherfield debut as the nephew of builder Pat Hegarty last Monday. Sam lands in trouble when he promises his workmates heíll put on their racing bets, then takes Jack Duckworthís advice and pockets the money. Of course, the horses romp home and Sam has to find £240 winnings. But this week barmaid Geena Gregory recognises a golden eagle tattoo on Sam's bicep and realises he's a masked male stripper. Quicker than you can say "Careful, that's a python", landlady Natalie Barnes hires Sam for a night of fantasy at the Rovers.

Days before his Street strip, Scott had an undress rehearsal at London's Pineapple dance studios where he started off with an outfit like Richard Gere's in the movie An Officer And A Gentleman. Scott was trained by Neil Buschman, one of the UK Fantasy Boys strip troupe, as he posed for photos for Now magazine. Scott, 25, said: "I just hope that everybody who watches Coronation Street will be laughing along with me rather than at me."

Corrie Tina's crusade for gymslip mums
24 June 2000 by Tania Branigan

IT was the day fact and fiction merged as Coronation Street's Sarah Louise Platt met real-life gymslip mums. Actress Tina O'Brien visited a Manchester school for under-age mothers to thank them for being her inspiration in the TV soap. The girls had invited Tina to open new facilities at the school and told her how they were hooked on her dramatic storyline as a 13-year-old mum.

Tina, who is 16, chatted with the mums - and was told that her fictional role mirrored the truth. The young actress was guest of honour at the Leo Kelly Centre part of the Hospital School - which provides education for young mums and helps them learn how to look after their new babies. Street scriptwriters joined Tina at the school and spoke to the girls to ensure Sarah-Lou's experiences rang true. Tina said she was honoured that the girls had invited her to open the refurbished centre, near Manchester University.

She told the M.E.N.: ''I'm pleased that people can identify with Sarah-Lou's experiences and if it stops any underage pregnancies that's brilliant.  I've heard that the storyline has made the subject easier to talk about in homes instead of being pushed under the carpet. It isn't just a storyline about Sarah-Lou on Corrie - it really does happen.'' She added: ''It's good to let people know that the centre exists and that there's somewhere for them to go. Instead of being isolated, girls can come here and have friends in the same situation that they can talk to. It would be awful if they were on their own worrying about things.''

She also gave out records of achievement to the many youngsters who have just finished their schooling at the centre. The centre's new facilities include a new library, IT and information centre, home education room and performance area. There is also a new nursery with changing area and kitchen area.

Hung over Gary fined
24 June 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

CORRIE star Ian Mercer has paid to have some of his scenes reshot - after admitting they were rubbish because he had a hangover. Actor Ian, 37, who plays widowed window cleaner Gary Mallett, coughed up £3,200 after he was hauled before producer Jane Macnaught. She made him watch the embarrassing footage. Jane bluntly told him it was "garbage". And Ian, who'd been celebrating the birth of his third daughter Ruby Mae the night before, had to agree.

Hatchet woman Jane asked him if he was aware how expensive it was to film Britain's best-loved show. So Ian instantly offered to fork out for cameramen to be brought back in to re-shoot the unusable action. Ian, who leaves Corrie in August after claiming he is bored with his role, said the hefty fee should be deducted from next month's pay. But the £85,000-a-year star told senior Granada TV staff it was only the joy of wetting his baby's head that led to his disastrous performance.

Last night a close friend of Ian's said: "What more could he do? He knew the scenes weren't that good but Jane Macnaught hit the roof and made him really uncomfortable. "Ian, to be fair, was profusely apologetic. He is a decent bloke and agreed to pay for the scenes to be re-shot. That was accepted. "Ian is an extremely professional actor who would not want to be remembered for such scenes anyway. "He was simply overcome by the elation of fathering a lovely little girl."

In April, Ian shocked his TV bosses by vowing to quit because he was fed up that he'd had no juicy story lines since the death of his screen wife Judy. Last week he filmed his final scenes in Blackpool, where he falls in love with a mum after rescuing her toddler from drowning. Last night Granada said: "It would be inappropriate to discuss confidential matters relating to our artists."

Street's Gary pays high price for hangover
24 June 2000
Coronation Street star Ian Mercer is paying the price for a below par performance after offering to foot the bill for his scenes to be refilmed. The actor, better known as widowed window cleaner Gary Mallet, is understood to have been summoned before the soap's producer and told his scenes were unacceptable. When Jane Macnaught insisted on a reshoot, the 37-year-old actor offered to pay the £3,000 cost himself, according to a Street insider.

The £85,000-a-year star reportedly blamed his poor performance on a hangover - the result of celebrating the birth of his third child Ruby Mae. The source described Ian as "mortified" and added: "He was profusely apologetic to the production people and offered to pay up."

A spokeswoman for the hit show has declined to comment on the claims. "It would be inappropriate to discuss matters relating to our confidential contractual relationships with artists," she added. Mercer is due to quit the soap this summer following reports that he had become bored with his character's mundane storylines.

Corrie stripper has his eye on big parts
23 June 2000 by Jonathan Donald

Unknown actor Scott Wright hopes playing a stripper in Coronation Street will be his ticket to the big time. Scott, 25, sheds his clothes on Monday in a girls' night episode. He plays Python, who sends Weatherfield's women wild in the Rovers.

His revealing TV break comes after seven years working as a draughtsman in his dad's engineering company. He said: "Let's hope it's the start of something big. I'm still going round my supermarket hoping to be noticed."

Scott, from Derbyshire, said: "I must say I enjoyed being screamed at by 30 women. But I've done it before. "I was naked in the show City Central and took my top off at the audition for this, so I was ready for it." But his appearance in the soap is short-lived - he has only a three-week contract.

Street's Chris escapes to the country
22 June 2000

Fun-loving Coronation Street star Chris Bisson has bought a rustic converted barn in the Cheshire countryside. The 26-year-old actor, who plays Street mini-cab boss Vikram Desai, said: "It's a two-bedroom job, nothing too flashy. I am a townie at heart but I want to escape to the fields. "Maybe I am getting old before my days but I want to read my newspaper and sit there with my feet up. Slippers? Pipe? Er, no. I think that's going too far."

Though he's earning £80,000 a year in his role he realises he could be 'terminated' at any time. But he's philosophical over his future and career. He said: "Look, if it all goes wrong tomorrow...I'll just hand the house and the car back. It's no big deal. I had nothing before."

Bisson also struck gold in the movie comedy East is East. "It was a fantastic experience and we will have to wait and see what effect it has on my career. It can only be good," he says.

Before the job came up in the Street he was just another unemployed young actor filling in time by working in Moss Bros men's outfitters in the West End. He said: "It was only a couple of years back. I was very good. I could look at somebody and pick their size. I won an award one week. The manager told me Michael Caine used to work for them....so there had to be hope for me!"

Street stars set "to marry"
22 June 2000

Coronation Street stars Jennifer James and Lee Boardman are understood to be planning to marry. The couple, who play Rovers Return barmaid Geena Gregory and tough guy Jez Quigley in the long-running ITV soap, met earlier this year on the set. A spokesman for the programme said: "It is a private matter but we would all like to wish them well."

Corrie foray
21 June 2000 'Peterborough' column

The happy chime of wedding bells will be ringing out over the dull chimney pots of Coronation Street. Lee Boardman, who plays the murderous Jez Quigley, has becone secretly engaged to his co-star, Jennifer James. Jennifer plays Geena, the comely, pint-pulling barmaid of the Rovers Return. "I proposed to het three weeks ago, and we are getting married in May 2001", he confided to Peterborough, at Monday's opening night of BBC Film's A Busy Day. "I have met the person I want to spend my life with. It's as simple as that."

A Corrie spokesman said yesterday: "We're all very suprised. Lee only called us this morning to tell us. Unfortunately they'll never be able to have an on-screen romance as Lee is a drug-dealing villain and she is the lovable local barmaid."

Corrie star's Manchester troubles
20 June 2000 Exclusive by John Earls

Coronation Street actor Lee Boardman is afraid to go out in Manchester because soap fans won't leave him in peace. Lee, 27, who plays drug dealer Jez Quigley, told TV Plus: "I have no life in Manchester, I don't go out any more up there. Every time I did I was stopped in the street by everyone from children to OAPs. It was just relentless. "I had some idea what it would be like but it has been more intense than I expected."

Lee, whose character Jez goes on trial for murder soon, talked to TV Plus at a BBC film launch with Ewan McGregor. He said: "Even Ewan wouldn't get as much aggro in Manchester as I do but I suppose it shows the power of the character and the programme." Lee will be in the soap until late summer, having first appeared three years ago.

Mike's family fury
20 June 2000

CORRIE factory boss Mike Baldwin is left raging when fiancee Linda Sykes weds his SON instead of him. Although Street fans have seen the scheming sexpot lure Mark Redwood into bed under his dad's nose, Mike is devastated when their lusty secret is finally rumbled. But the family feud that erupts when the young couple tie the knot also leads to Mark's exit from Weatherfield.

Paul Fox, who plays Baldwin's lovethief lad, wants out of the soap and has told producer Jane Macnaught he will quit when his contract expires in three months. But viewers with their claws out for Linda - who's got Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) so wrapped round her little finger that he hasn't suspected her illicit liaisons - won't be seeing the back of her. Sultry Jacqui Pirie is so highly rated among Street top brass she's just been signed up for another year to keep the temperature, and the ratings, soaring in Britain's top telly show.

Mike's marriage bombshell was leaked yesterday by none other than producer Macnaught. Eager to promote the show's official website, she let slip one of the blockbuster plots being drawn up between now and Christmas. Also lined up are two murder trials. Fans are already awaiting the case of The Crown versus drug dealer Jez Quigley, who is accused of murdering Rovers land-lady Natalie's son Tony. She's keeping the second trial a close secret. Viewers, though, are already wondering if fiery Jim McDonald (played by soon-to-be-axed Charlie Lawson) might find himself in the dock as well for doing away with spendthrift girlfriend Gwen.

Macnaught, who is dubbed the Tyrant Queen at Corrie after ditching a string of stars during her first year in charge, also revealed that there is an upcoming late-night episode, after the 9pm watershed, in which the lives of several favourites come under threat. And, in the show's 40th year, there's another wedding in the wings which will out-sparkle even that of Posh and Becks. "There's going to be something very big coming at you every month from now until Christmas," said Macnaught. "The first trial - the one that everyone knows about - will take place when Jez is tried for the murder of Tony Horrocks. "But there is going to be a twist to that court case. "Then there will be a surprise death, which will be truly shocking for many of the Street's characters, and will ultimately lead to another murder trial."

The full website interview can be found at www.coronationstreet.com from tomorrow.

My anorexia torment
20 June 2000 by John Mahoney

CORRIE beauty Tracy Shaw yesterday told of her hell in the grip of the killer eating disorder anorexia. And she revealed it was a throw-away quip from a friend's mum who said "Haven't you got a big bum" which sent her on a horrifying downward spiral. She ended up skeletal and gaunt weighing just five and a half stone.

Tracy, 26, thought food was the enemy. After eating one orange segment she felt so bloated and ashamed that she wanted to run 10 miles to burn it off. As her weight plummeted, she found herself alone in a psychiatric unit refusing to take painkillers and having nightmares about bingeing out on junk food. She battled through the torment and emerged healthy once more - but those harrowing years are still vivid in the mind of the soap stunner who plays Street hairdresser Maxine Peacock.

Blonde Tracy, whose illness was fuelled by low self-esteem, a disastrous private life and a fear of getting fat, has now launched the Tracy Shaw Foundation to warn youngsters about the horrors of anorexia and bulimia. She recalled being bed-bound in a psychiatric ward and said: "It was like a prison sentence. I hadn't got a life because the anorexia takes over the whole of your life. "I was petrified and lonely. I didn't put any weight on at first so I was bed-bound and made to wear thermal socks, gloves and a hat. "I wasn't allowed to walk anywhere and had to eat every meal in bed. "My bed was by the window and I remember just looking out crying, thinking this is like jail. I was the only person not on medication as I refused to go on anti-depressants."

Tracy admitted it broke her parents' hearts when they were told she needed psychiatric treatment. Her fight with anorexia began when she left home at 19 for drama school. She said: "I was fine until then - it was quite hard and I was going back home at weekends and still doing dance competitions on top of my degree. "Then someone's mum made a flippant comment, saying 'Gosh, haven't you put on weight? Haven't you got a big bum now?' "I moved in with a couple of girls and watched what they ate, thinking maybe I should be dieting too."

Tracy began missing meals and boycotting chocolate. She admitted: "I was completely obsessed - I worried every minute of the day about food. I used to have bad dreams about eating fish and chips. "The thought of eating was petrifying . . . it'd be like jumping off a cliff."

Tracy was at her lowest ebb, hospital treatment hadn't worked, her love life was a mess and soon after joining Coronation Street, she had a relapse. "There was all this media attention about how skinny I looked. There was one photocall on a warm day, but I put several layers on and wore baggy trousers. I just wanted to hide beneath all the clothes. "I knew I looked awful but just didn't know how I could help myself. It became a nightmare."

Tracy's depression was not helped by doomed affairs with drugs-shame footballer Shane Nicholson, who was kicked out of West Brom, and TV presenter Glenn Williams. She is now bursting with good health and happy with TV producer Robert Ashworth, 28.

Medical research shows there are up to a million eating disorder sufferers in Britain - with as many as 10 in 100 dying. Tomorrow the minister for women Tessa Jowell, who has sent a message of support to Tracy, holds a summit for fashion industry bosses to warn of the dangers of using "unrealistic images" of women and young people.

Corrie storylines hot up
19 June 2000 by TV Plus reporters

Corrie lovers Linda Sykes and Mike Baldwin are to wed in one of several sensational storylines to mark the ITV soap's 40th anniversary. Linda (Jaqueline Pirie) is currently cheating on Mike with his son Mark Redman. But producer Jane Macnaught said they'll tie the knot later this year despite her infidelity. She added: "There's going to be something big coming at viewers every month until Christmas."

The "truly shocking" death of a Corrie favourite has been promised by Macnaught to mark the anniversary in December.

Speaking on Corrie's Web site, she said: "There'll be two murder trials, one after a surprise death which'll be truly shocking for many Corrie characters and for lots of fans. "The first which is already known will be Jez's trial for the murder of Tony Horrocks. There'll be a twist in that court case."

Macnaught is planning a special late-night episode of the soap to be screened after the watershed for the first time. A Corrie spoksewoman said: "Corrie has been on after the watershed because of soccer before but this is an unprecedented move. It'll be shown in two or three months and will be a night of high drama."

The soap is returning to its lighter side next month with two weeks of episodes filmed on location in Blackpool. It follows criticism of recent doom and gloom storylines, notably when Alison and her baby died in the same week. A Corrie spokeswoman said: "We're going back to Corrie's comedy roots. The episodes follow Jack and Vera and Tyrone and Maria on holiday in Blackpool. They are very funny."

I'll meet t'Queen
17 June 2000
CORRIE loudmouth Vera Duckworth is off to meet the Queen . . . along with dowdy East End mum Pauline Fowler. The soap pair - alias Liz Dawn and Wendy Richard - both get MBEs in today's Queen's birthday honours. And yesterday thrilled Liz, 60, filming a lighthearted Coronation Street story set in Blackpool, declared: "I'm over the moon".

The actress, who only last month became Mayoress of Leeds, has been honoured for her charity and fundraising work, including the formation of the Liz Dawn Breast Cancer Appeal. She added: "It's such an honour. I've been involved in charity work for 30 years, but it never crossed my mind that I'd get an MBE. "I have four wonderful children and four gorgeous grandchildren, all of whom are healthy, so I am blessed." Liz, whose charity has so far raised £500,000, has received royal recognition before. Prince Charles sent her flowers for her 60th birthday, the Queen sent a message of congratulations and Tony Blair sent a good luck telegram.

Liz has been in the Street for 26 years, while EastEnders star Wendy, 53, has played Pauline since the very first episode 15 years ago. Her off-screen life has been as turbulent as her character's. She endured three failed marriages, including one to a man who beat her up. Her father committed suicide and her mum died of cancer. Then four years ago, Wendy was told she had breast cancer. She had an operation to remove the tumour, followed by a course of radiotherapy, but within two weeks she was back at work. Now Wendy tours the country giving talks on cancer-awareness.

As predicted, there is a CBE for veteran chat host Michael Parkinson and a knighthood for Michael Caine. Other awards went to singer Lulu, Countdown star Carol Vorderman, and veteran actress Sian Phillips. Brainbox Carol, 39, the highest paid woman on British TV, is involved with the Government's Maths 2000 initiative. She said: "I know it says this is for services to broadcasting, but I think it's really because I've always tried to popularise maths "It's fantastic. These are two consonants and a vowel I'm very proud of." Paddy Ashdown, the former Lib-Dem leader, becomes a KBE. Bank of England Governor Eddie George becomes a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. And bestselling Harry Potter author Joanne Rowling collects an OBE.

But the list is not without controversy. Michael Ashcroft, treasurer of the Conservative Party, gets a KCMG for "public service to the community and country" in the Commonwealth Honours List. The honour is given "on the advice of Her Majesty's Belize Ministers" - meaning the Government had no say in the matter. Even so, the award will inflame many Labour MPs who opposed the peerage recently given to him.

Awards also went to people who made their names some time ago. They include one-time King of Skiffle Lonnie Donegan, MBE, and one of Britain's greatest milers Sydney Wooderson, MBE. he is now 86 and was winning honours as long ago as 1934. Former footballer Jimmy Armfield, capped 43 times for England between 1952 and 1971, gets an OBE. There's also a CBE for Oscar-winning American Beauty film director, Sam Mendes.

A CBE goes to Dick Francis, the former champion jockey, who has been writing bestselling racing thrillers since he quit the saddle. There's also a knighthood for British clothes designer Paul Smith, who boasts Tony Blair and actor Hugh Grant among his clients. An OBE goes to Colin Dexter, creator of telly character Inspector Morse, who has now been killed off by his author. In sport, there were MBEs for former England rugby star Jeremy Guscott and golfer Paul Lawrie, who came from nowhere to win the Open at Carnoustie last year.

There is also a Damehood for Northern Ireland's Olympic gold medallist Mary Peters and an OBE for Jim Fox, another pentathlete and Olympic gold winner.

Bill's dope shocker
16 June 2000 by John Mahoney

CORRIE Mr Sensible Bill Roache has told how he once became a giggling wreck after smoking dope. Bill, who plays Ken Barlow, was tricked into taking a joint which he thought was a rollup ciggie during his Army days. But he felt so light-headed and wasted after getting high that he's not touched any sort of drug since.

Bill's confession came after he was chosen to front a campaign by Prince Charles to make children aware of the danger of drugs. Yesterday his wife, Sarah, said: "At first he felt light-headed and couldn't stop laughing. But soon afterwards he started being ill. "He's never touched a thing since that day. He always says: 'That was enough for me.'"

Weatherfield yesterday: The Cartwright Murders
15 June 2000

Ken Barlow is the longest running character on Coronation Street. Resident on the street for nearly 40 years he has had a variety of careers, from journalist to Freshco's trollyman, with some teaching and shop-keeping along the way! Fans of the show will know that, more recently, Ken has turned author and his first book Weatherfield Yesterday will be published on-screen in July. Weatherfield Yesterday: The Cartwright Murders is a paperback extract, and the first of a potential series from a new literary talent on the Street

Viewers will have seen recently that, whilst researching the general history of the area for his new book, Ken stumbled upon the tragic story of the Cartwright murders which had taken place in Weatherfield over a hundred years ago. A chill was sent to the spine of many of the current day residents as Ken revealed the notoriety of the double murder, how the bodies were never found and the secret lives of the 'dark satanic mills'. Delving further into the mystery, Ken found himself in a sticky web of scandal and deceit after appeals for information about the historic case revealed that the bloodline of Bernard Cartwright, Victorian arch-villain and alleged double murderer, still survives and was flowing through the veins of one Fred Elliot!

Weatherfield Yesterday: The Cartwright Murders is the book that both Fred Elliot and Curly Watts didn't want published. It is the full, unseen story of Ken's controversial investigations. Using contemporary records, newspaper reports and diaries to illuminate his murky tale, Ken sets out to solve the famous Cartwright mystery and finally reveal whether Bernard Cartwright was really guilty of such a horrific crime.

About the Author
Stephen Bennett was born in Oldham and now lives in Cambridge. He has written for a number of successful TV soaps and dramas including Coronation Street (20 episodes), Where The Heart Is and Holby City.

Ken Barlow's associate, Bill Roache, will publicise.

Weatherfield Yesterday: The Cartwright Murders by Ken Barlow and Stephen Bennett is published by Granada Media in association with Andre Deutsch priced £7.99 paperback and is available from all good bookshops from 17 July 2000.

Sam the Stripper set to wow Weatherfield women
15 June 2000

Meet Corrie new boy, sexy Sam Kingston - the builder who will set female pulses racing on Britain's top soap. For Sam is hiding a ssssizzling secret from the women folk of Weatherfield - by day he might be a burly builder, but by night he's Python the stripper!

Sam, played by newcomer Scott Wright, makes his debut in Coronation Street on Monday 19 June. He's been given a job on the health centre building project by his uncle, site foreman Pat Hegarty (played by Tony Barton) He's immediately a hit with the ladies, even with his clothes on, but it soon becomes clear that he is hiding something from everyone - and it isn't just his rippling biceps and gorgeous pecs.

Barmaid Geena Gregory cottons on to the fact that she recognises him from somewhere and it isn't long before the penny drops. For Sam's alter ego is Python the masked Stripper - a six foot hunk who wows the ladies with his raunchy routines. And it isn't long before he's entertaining the local ladies and Corrie fans with a special show in the Rovers Return.

Scott, 25, from Derbyshire, is thrilled to get the part of Sam. He said: 'He is a fun character to play. 'He is an amiable bloke who is a bit embarrassed about what he does so he wears a mask for his act. He can't believe Geena recognises him and he does his best to put her off the scent but she's determined to book him for ladies' night at the Rovers. 'We've filmed the ladies night and it was hilarious. I was a bit unsure about stripping off in front of 18 million viewers but it is all done in the best possible taste!'

A Coronation Street spokesperson said: 'This is a real fun storyline - Corrie comedy at it's best. Sam is with us for three weeks initially, but who knows - if the female fans like what they see we may be seeing more of him!'

It's Les Batter-sea
15 June 2000
CORONATION Street star Bruce Jones has helped win a prize in one of the world's top sea races. Twelve thousand competitors on 1,587 yachts took part in the Hoya Round The Island Race at the Isle of Wight. But the soap actor - who plays layabout Les Battersby - and his buddies aboard The Hoya Fling, took the trophy for the first monohull to cross the finishing line in the 50 mile challenge.

Bruce, who crewed for leading yachtsman Eddie Owen, said: "Les would have been well out of his depth. If he ever got on a yacht there would be a scam involved. And if he got his hands on the trophy he'd probably run off with it." The 47-year-old actor, who bought his own boat a year ago, added: "Racing against the world's best yachtsman was a dream come true. It was exhilarating."

Heartwarming role for ex-Corrie star
14 June 2000 by Derek Robins

Corrie legend Jean Alexander is joining the hit ITV drama Where the Heart is. Jean, 74, who played Hilda Ogden in the soap for 23 years, stars as a widow with a sentimental secret in the series later this summer. An ITV spokeswoman said: "Jean plays Joan Cotter who's reluctant to sell a piece of land which villagers want to turn into a playground. The reason is she conceived her daughter in the field back in 1944, so it's got happy memories for her."

Co-star Phil Middlemiss says Jean was treated like a VIP while filming the episode. Phil, 37, who was Corrie's Des Barnes, said: "She was great, she's a lovely, very funny woman. A lot of people on the set were in awe of her. They treated her like visiting royalty. "Sadly I didn't do any scenes with her as she's only in one episode. That was a shame as I joined Corrie after she left."

While Jean was fawned over on the set another famous recruit to the Sunday night drama, Frank Finlay, went around virtually unrecognised. Frank, 73, an acclaimed actor for 50 years, plays a widower ostracised for helping his wife to die. Phil Middlemisss said: "Frank was mistaken for an extra in the canteen and told to go to the back of the queue! Then I pointed out he'd played the definitive Iago from Othello!" Other newcomers to the show are Keith Barron and Kate Robbins.

Phil yer boots
14 June 2000

ACTOR Phil Middlemiss is on the prowl for women again - but this time it's not as Dirty Des Barnes the Corrie bookie. Phil, 36, has been told by his mum to put it about Casanova-style just like his killed-off Street character. The star, who has split with actress girlfriend Alison King after four years, said: "My mum is always telling me 'Just play the field, son'. She says to have a good time . . . and I wouldn't dare disobey my mother."

Phil is returning to our screens as a mild-mannered family man alongside gorgeous Men Behaving Badly star Leslie Ash in ITV's Yorkshire-based drama Where The Heart Is. And he says he's delighted to be foot-loose and fancy-free again - although he also hinted he may already have found a new woman, winking: "If only you knew!" "It's tremendous being single again, absolutely tremendous," he said. "Alison and I were together for a while but she was down in London and I was in Manchester and it became a telephone relationship. "The grass is always greener when you are in a relationship. I'm enjoying myself now.

Ironically, viewers will see Phil playing the supportive husband of glamorous nurse Karen Buckley in Where The Heart Is. Unlike dirty Des - and Phil - he can cook gourmet food, do DIY and support his teenage daughter. Phil, who accepted the role because his mum's WI pals loved the show, said: "It was a shock playing a dad. I had to think about six times before taking the part. "I'd like to settle down one day because I love kids and get on well with them. "But I'm very happy just being myself and doing what I want to do. "I've never been married or engaged and I'm in no rush whatsoever."

Phil has just bought a bachelor pad after sharing a flat with best pal Gary Webster, the former Minder star who recently wed TV presenter Wendy Turner. A friend said: "Phil was gutted over the split with Alison. He's been through a bad time but is now loving his single life. He is a real bachelor boy."

Phil says Corrie has lost the plot
13 June 2000 by Derek Robins

Ex-Corrie star Phil Middlemiss has branded the soap "death alley" after the recent run of tragic storylines. Phil, 37, whose character Des Barnes was killed off two years ago, hit out following the deaths of Alison and her baby last week.

He told TV Plus: "It is like death alley, there are people dying all over the place. It was too soon to let Alison die, after what happened to Judy Mallett last year and then Natalie Barnes's son." "There is no comedy in the street now. The humour that Bet and Alec Gilroy did so well isn't there. "They are not getting the best out of Liz Dawn as Vera and Bill Tarmey as Jack. They've been sidelined by tragic plots."

Phil said Corrie has become as gloomy as EastEnders, adding: "Albert Square is a place I'd have hated to live in a few years ago as it had muggers and Aids victims running around. Now the Street is getting that way too." Phil, who spent eight years with Corrie, is now happier to be part of ITV's feelgood drama Where the Heart is. He joins the cast as Leslie Ash's screen husband David Buckley from July 23.

Quiet for bad boy Si
13 June 2000 by Tony Brookes

CORONATION STREET bad boy Simon Gregson looks like settling down at last after taking a fancy to a country cottage. The £100,000-a-year star - who plays tearaway Steve McDonald - has led an equally wild life off screen.

Now he's set his heart on a £135,000 semi-detached,two-bedroom, 17th century pad. It has exposed beams, neat gardens, conservatory, patio - and septic tank. Currently in a bachelor flat in Manchester, Gregson, 25, hopes to move to Styal, Cheshire, by the end of the summer. 'Simon is really excited,' said a pal last night. 'This place hardly fits in with his hairy lifestyle and flash cars so it looks like he is growing up at last.'

Gregson has had brushes with the law over driving offences and has admitted he once had a £300-a-week cocaine habit.

Male stripper to spice up the Street
12 June 2000

Coronation Street officials are hoping to stay ahead in the ratings war with a sexy new storyline featuring a male stripper. Sam Kingston, played by newcomer Scott Wright, will show a lighter side to the soap after it attracted more than 16 million viewers with a tragic baby snatch plot.

The comic tale features Wright, from Glossop, Derbyshire, as a builder who is recognised by barmaid Geena Gregory as Python the masked stripper. The six-footer is an instant hit with Weatherfield women and it is not long before he is entertaining regulars in the Rovers. Wright, who was spotted by the casting director in a local play, said: "We've filmed the ladies night and it was hilarious. I was a bit unsure about stripping off in front of 18 million viewers - but it is all done in the best possible taste."

A Granada TV spokesman said Wright's character, who was given a job on the health centre building site by his uncle, Pat Hegarty, played by Tony Barton, will be in the show for three weeks from next Monday. But he added that if the female fans like what they see we could be seeing more of him.

Corrie girls get crush on Python
12 June 2000 by Caroline Barrett

Temperatures look set to rise among the Weatherfield women with the arrival of a sexy male stripper on the Street. Sam Kingston, played by newcomer Scott Wright, 25, will make his debut in the soap next Monday.

The comic tale features Scott, from Derbyshire, as a builder who is recognised by barmaid Geena Gregory as Python the masked stripper. He becomes an instant hit and it's not long before he's revealing all in the Rovers. Six-foot actor Scott admits he was nervous about peeling off for the soap's 15 million viewers when he filmed the ladies' night episode. "It was hilarious," he says. "I was a bit unsure about stripping off, but it was all done in the best possible taste." His character will be in the soap for three weeks.

Coronation Street bosses are out to prove they're still top for comedy with the new fun storyline. After attracting 16 million viewers with the recent tragic baby-snatch plot, the soap wants to appeal to the lighter side. Corrie spokeswoman Zoe Cartell tells TV Plus: "This is a really funny storyline, which is bound to appeal to all our viewers. And if fans like him, he could be sticking around."

Sorrow nation street
12 June 2000 by Dave Newman

CORRIE star Naomi Radcliffe broke down in tears over Alison Webster's harrowing TV death. Anguished Naomi said she wept as she filmed the scenes where Alison saw her newborn baby Jake die, snatched Sarah-Louise Platt's daughter and finally threw herself under the wheels of a juggernaut. Naomi, 28, said even she wasn't prepared for the full horror of her character's dramatic exit from the Street which was watched by a massive 17m soap fans. Naomi said: "Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays Hayley, got on the phone to me and she was in tears. She'd just watched Alison's final moments. "Then I watched my last episode and I was crying too."

Naomi revealed her decision to quit the Street was one of the hardest of her life but she didn't expect her departure would be so dramatic. "I told the bosses I was going to leave and I was hoping they'd write me out with a bang, instead of just leaving quietly in a taxi . . . and then I got the script. "The first time I read it, I was in tears. "It was strange because I'm really bad at crying. I'm always fascinated by these actors who can produce tears at a moment's notice. "But this was completely different - filming the scenes, I was in a mess. We all were, it was really intense."

Naomi revealed how TV bosses decided that the harrowing scenes should be shot away from the Corrie studio. She said: "We filmed all the scenes with Alison having the baby and the baby dying at a disused hospital. "Usually on Coronation Street, you have a laugh with the other actors between takes. "But there was none of that, because they were all back at the studios and we were out on our own - just the people actually involved in the scenes. "It didn't feel like working on Coronation Street at all. "When you're doing take after take of these really tragic, intense scenes you need to find a way to keep up your energy. "So in between takes, we deliberately tried to talk about things in quite a light way. I know that if I hadn't done that, I would have just collapsed."

Naomi said shooting troubled Alison's baby-death heartbreak and the dramatic scenes where she snatched Sarah-Lou's tot left her totally drained. "Between the hospital scenes and the last scenes where Alison went off with Sarah-Lou's baby, there were two full weeks of filming all the intense stuff. "We did eight episodes in a week, which included the final one. I was exhausted afterwards."

EastEnglanders
9 June 2000

THE BBC will screen a special episode of EastEnders just before England's Euro 2000 clash with Germany. The cast of the soap will be seen glued to the TV in the Queen Vic waiting for the big match to come on. But Italian brothers Gianni and Beppe look set to become the nation's most hated men as they root for Germany in the June 17 game. The 45-minute special will go out immediately before the match at 7.45pm.

BBC bosses hope viewers will then stay with the channel for the soccer instead of switching to ITV. An EastEnders spokeswoman said last night: "Euro 2000 is going to affect the whole country so it is very fitting that Walford is getting involved in it. "Most of Queen Vic regulars think that Gianni and Beppe's decision to back the Germans is outrageous. This should really get everyone in the football mood. "The Queen Vic has never heard so much screaming - there were crisps, nuts and beer flying all over the place!" During the episode Robbie (Dean Gaffney) fumes when Frank bars him from the pub - because he has no money to buy a drink.

Dot, played by June Brown, is less than pleased when she finally agrees to go on a date to the cinema with Jim and he blows her out to watch the football.

MORE than 16million viewers saw Alison Webster (Naomi Radcliffe) die under a lorry in Coronation Street on Wednesday. One in seven of all UK TV viewers watched the dramatic episode.

Alison's tragedy
9 June 2000

A WHOPPING 16.2m soap addicts tuned in to Coronation Street to witness Alison Webster's death under the wheels of a juggernaut. Three million more viewers than the previous week were gripped by the tragic end of the character, played by Naomi Radcliffe.

The latest ratings boost follows big audience increases generated by dramatic story lines. On Sunday, Corrie drew 13.9m - two million up on the week before. Then on Monday, when Alison's baby died, it had 14.8m, an increase on the week of 4.3m. Wednesday night's episode saw distraught Alison abducting SarahLouise Platt's newborn child, handing the baby over to husband Kevin, then meeting her doom.

A Coronation Street spokeswoman said: "We're absolutely thrilled. We were inundated with calls praising the show. "Normally if people are happy with a show they don't bother to call, but we had grown men in tears. "Callers were praising the performances, saying how sensitively it was handled and how enjoyable it was as a piece of television."

Corrie's latest viewing figures put it well ahead in the battle with EastEnders which drew 11.6m viewers on Tuesday night.

Battle of the babies
8 June 2000 Exclusive by Nigel Pauley

EASTENDERS plans to hit back in the ratings war with a teenage mum mystery of its own. Coronation Street grabbed a 68 per cent audience share - 16m viewers - on Monday with its saga about 13-year-old Sarah Louise Platt's baby. Now its BBC rival plans to follow suit with a pregnancy storyline involving 15-year-old Sonia Jackson - and the show's bosses are keeping mum about who's the dad.

Sonia, played by 17-year-old Natalie Cassidy, has already endured one scare after losing her virginity to Martin Fowler. After taking a pregnancy test, her fears that she was in the family way proved unfounded. But EastEnders chiefs have decided not to let her off the hook so easily. Sources say they are developing several ideas involving Sonia for later this year.

In the show the unlucky-in-love teenager seems to have met her dream fella - Jamie Mitchell, played by heart-throb Jack Ryder. Insiders reveal that the pair will become an item during a sizzling summer of love. But their bliss will be shattered later in the year when Sonia discovers she's pregnant. And poor old Sonia doesn't know whether the father is new lover Jamie or Martin.

The source said: "It's going to be a real tear-jerker, it could be that she's messed-up the pregnancy test and months later finds she is having a baby. "She will be plunged into turmoil because she is happy with Jamie but may be carrying Martin's baby. "The poor girl just won't know what to do."

Insiders denied that they were cashing in on Sarah Louise's baby drama, saying the plot has been in development for a long time. A spokeswoman said: "We don't discuss future storylines but it's true that Sonia will be featuring in a major plot over the next few months."

Meanwhile, Corrie star Denise Welch, 42, has rejected a storyline in which pub landlady Natalie Barnes has a miscarriage. Denise turned the idea down because she reckons the Rovers boss already has too many dead relatives.

Sad Gail forgives
7 June 2000 by Nigel Pauley

FORGIVING Gail Platt looks set to give cheating husband Martin a second chance when he admits everything. Gail is sent reeling when Martin confesses that colleague Rebecca Hopkins is the love of his life. In some sizzling episodes over the next few weeks Rebecca (Jill Halfpenny) finally dumps him to start a new life in Dubai. Then heartbroken Martin, played by Sean Wilson, admits the sixmonth fling.

Many wives would tell him to sling his hook, but Gail (Helen Worth), is still in shock from 13-year-old daughter Sarah Louise's pregnancy. Gail seems ready to patch things up - even though Martin also had a one-night stand five years ago.

Helen, who has played mum-of-three Gail for 26 years, admits that she perfectly understands why. She tells Inside Soap magazine: "Even though Gail is in total, total shock, she can see that Martin is devastated Rebecca has left him. "He's suffering and is taking out his pain on the person he is closest to - Gail."

Gail has been through some tough times. First husband Brian Tilsley was murdered and she also became a granny at the age of 42. Helen adds: "She obviously thinks there's room to make the marriage work. But the main factor behind her action is that she loves him."

While Gail makes ends meet by working in a cafe, gourmet Helen jets round the world for a meal. She said: "I've been known to go to Paris for lunch and New York for dinner. I think I did seven restaurants in three days, which is pretty good going."

Street baby death highlights disease
6 June 2000
The death of a baby in Coronation Street has drawn attention to a little-known disease which affects hundreds of newborns every year. In a tragic episode, the Street's Alison Webster, played by Naomi Radcliffe, lost her baby Jake to Group B Streptococcus.

The bacterial infection is as common as other medical conditions such as spina bifida and muscular dystrophy, which pregnant women are routinely told about, yet few people have ever heard of it. It can cause septicaemia, pneumonia and meningitis in new-born babies, sometimes leaving survivors with permanent mental or physical handicaps, and proves fatal in 15% of babies infected.

Sadly, most of the deaths could be prevented. Dr Robert Feldman, a leading researcher in GBS prevention, said: "Each year 700 babies develop serious GBS infections, most of which could be avoided if women in high risk categories were identified and treated appropriately. "Effective prevention is simply doses of antibiotics which could prevent three out of four babies dying."

About a third of the population carry GBS in their intestines without symptoms and, like many other bacteria, it is a normal part of our systems but cannot be eradicated. It is most prevalent in new-born babies as their immune system is not developed sufficiently to fight the bacteria - becoming uncommon after the baby is one month old and extremely rare after three months. The infection is also an acknowledged cause of preterm delivery, stillbirth and late miscarriage and a rare cause of infection in adults - particularly pregnant women - the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions.

Street actress rejects tragic storyline
5 June 2000
Coronation Street star Denise Welch says the soap's writers wanted her character to become pregnant and lose the child. But Welch, who plays Natalie Barnes, rejected the idea, coming so soon after the deaths of her on-screen husband Des and son Tony. She also hit out at the number of deaths in the show on an interview with Monday night's That's Esther.

In Monday's episode of the Street Alison Webster (played by Naomi Radcliffe) loses her child Jake. And there is more tragedy to come as the programme serves up some of its most shocking storylines in the next few days.

But Welch said of the reliance on death: "How many more dead relatives can a person have? "I've made a request that there are no more dead relatives at all. I mean, yeah, it's great from an actor's point of view to play those sort of scenes, but it was only two years since the husband died and then the son died. "Then one of the writers suggested that I got pregnant and lost the baby and I screamed 'no'." The actress would rather concentrate on a few more light-hearted stories. "I just want to have a bit of fun. I think it's about time Natalie and her sister painted the town red," she added.

Nipples
4 June 2000 by Carole Malone

CORONATION Street's Sally Webster has upset viewers who've complained that her nipples have been too much on display. I'd imagine it's a deliberate ploy by Corrie bosses to steer attention away from her hair, which looks like it's been cut by a blind man wielding a pick axe.

Corrie's Annie ges a belly button ring
4 June 2000

DON'T tell Ken Barlow but his former missus Deirdre has gained a bit of extra Street cred...by sporting a belly button ring. Anne Kirkbride, known to millions as Coronation Street's sexy-specs Deirdre Rashid, stunned co-stars by having her navel pierced and a silver ring put in. Anne, 45, took the plunge after Corrie colleague Jacqueline Pirie, 24, who plays maneater Linda Sykes, boasted about her own tummy job.

Jacqui told the Sunday People: "Before I had mine done Annie said to me 'I'd love to get my belly button done but don't you think I'm a bit too old?' and I told her not to be so daft. "Then I phoned her on the way back from the salon and said: 'Guess what I've just had done?" "And as soon as she saw it she said: 'Right, I've got to have mine pierced too'. "So I went and held her hand, because she was a bit worried that it might hurt but she wasn't upset at all when it was done. "Now wherever she goes she shows everybody. She's got a silver one with a small ball at the top and a big silver ball at the bottom." Jacqui showed off her own piercing at last month's BAFTA awards under an elegant white suit.

So far Anne, who spent £50 on the pierce, hasn't given hers an airing for the cameras. But a Coronation Street spokesman said: "She is very proud of it."

Jacqui admitted that at first she wasn't sure she wanted to go through with her pierce. She said: "I was getting my nails done in a salon where they did navel piercing. "One minute I was saying, 'It's disgusting, you'd never catch me having it done'. Then five minutes later I'd agreed to it."

That now makes four Corrie girls who have had the piercing - the other two are Tracy Shaw (Maxine) and Denise Welch (licensee Natalie).

Twins set for Sarah-Lou
4 June 2000

THE pregnancy that caused a national outcry ends tonight when Coronation Street's schoolgirl mum Sarah-Louise Platt gives birth to a girl...and becomes a mother-of-two. For identical month-old twins Emily and Amy Walton - pictured with real mother Shirley Walton and their soap mum, actress Tina O'Brien - will be sharing the part of baby Bethany Platt.

Last night Shirley, 34, of Swinton, Manchester, said she was thrilled, but added: "I'm really a Brookside fan."

Street baby war boosts ratings
3 June 2000

CORRIE'S teenage mum Sarah Louise Platt gave the soap a ratings boost. An estimated 20m tuned in to see the 13-year-old, played by Tina O'Brien, go into labour. But Street bosses, pushing to overtake EastEnders in the ratings battle, are confident that even more will tune in tomorrow Sunday to see her give birth to a girl. They hoped the nation will be gripped as the saga unfolds and Sarah Louise's joy is cut short next Wednesday.

Alison Webster (Naomi Radcliffe) has her baby on Sunday but loses the new-born child and, in a fit of desperation, kidnaps Sarah Louise's. And the teenager's mum, Gail Platt (Helen Worth), has yet another nightmare to confront as husband Martin reveals his affair with Rebecca Hopkins (Jill Halfpenny) a week on Monday.

Jim McDonald (Charles Lawson) is set for a shock when he learns live-in lover Gwen Loveday (Annie Hulley) has taken £1,000 from their account to pay off their debts.

Nappy event for ex-Street star
3 June 2000

Actor Ian Mercer, who plays Coronation Street's Gary Mallett, is celebrating the birth of a baby girl. Gary Mallett has been left bringing up twins on his own on the Street after wife Judy tragically died following a road accident. But in real life, Mercer's partner Susan gave birth to their third child, Ruby Mae, at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Greater Manchester. The couple also have a son Dylan and a daughter, Scarlett Mae.

Mercer, 37, who joined the Street five years ago, said he was delighted at the birth of 8lbs 1oz Ruby. He said: "Susan and Ruby are doing brilliantly. "Dylan and Scarlett and are absolutely delighted with the new addition to the family."

Mercer quit the show in April saying he felt he had spent long enough in the role. He will be written out in August although a Coronation Street spokeswoman said they had not yet decided how he would exit the show.

Kevin Kennedy launches 'Bulldog Nation'
1 June 2000 BMG Press Release

Kevin Kennedy aka Curly Watts from the nation's favourite soap, Coronation Street is about to surprise our ears with a new single that will amaze even his soap fans....

Kevin Kennedy is set to be this summer's surprise pop sensation with his new single 'Bulldog Nation'. Kevin displays his Bryan Adams-esque vocals and his catchy guitar riffs along with an anthemic chorus which will truly take over your senses throughout the summer months...

It may also surprise you to learn that acting was not Kevin's first love. His musical career stretches way back to when he was growing up in Manchester. Together with his childhood friends, guitar ace Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke he formed a local band called The Paris Valentinos who eventually became the legendary group The Smiths.

At the time, though, Kevin's acting career was beginning to blossom and so he made the momentous decision to focus on that. Not long after that- he became famous nationally in our fav soap 'Coronation Street'. But he never gave up on the music and has toured extensively with his band Kevin Kennedy and The Bunch of Thieves. They even played major venues and gigs such as the Reading festival and the NEC. He also famously guested with the Saw Doctors.

Watch out for a special documentary of Kevin's return to music called "Kevin Kennedy's Bulldog Nation' which will go out on the ITV Network in the UK immediately before the single release. Look out for him on TV and Press (see calender for dates)And we will have a special preview for you guys... Please take a look at the website for more on Kevin....

BMG BackStage www.click2music.co.uk

Mark in three soaps
31 May 2000 by Nigel Pauley

CORRIE Street love-rat Paul Fox plans to make TV history...by becoming the first actor to appear in Britain's three favourite soaps! The dark-haired hunk is quitting his role as romeo Mark Redmond, who is bedding dad Mike Baldwin's girlfriend Linda Sykes. Now he wants to go one better than his screen lover, played by Jacqueline Pirie, who previously starred in Emmerdale.

Prior to landing his Weatherfield part, the 21-year-old was also in Emmerdale, as schoolboy Will Cairns. Now he's heading to do theatre work in London and has set his sights on EastEnders. He revealed: "I'm a soap actor, and I'll be in London, so I wouldn't say no to EastEnders."

Paul is scheduled to film his last Street scenes in August - and it all looks set to end in tears. Insiders say his character Mark will confess to his dad, played by Johnny Briggs, that he's been romping with his bride-to-be.

Corrie bosses, who didn't want to lose one of their brightest young stars, offered him a big-money contract to stay. But Paul added: "In a way I'm going to be sad to leave but I felt it was time to move on. I'm having a brilliant time."

Doris Hare dies
31 May 2000

The actress who played the long-suffering mother to Reg Varney's character in On the Buses, Doris Hare, has died at the age of 95. Her leading role in the popular 1970s sitcom helped make her a household name. She also counted numerous West End and Broadway appearances among her credits, in an acting career which spanned 84 years.

The actress died on Wednesday at Denville Hall, the actors' retirement home in Northwood, Middlesex. She was much loved by audiences for her part in the popular TV show On the Buses, which ran from 1970 to 1975 and spawned three feature film spin-offs.

Ms Hare's co-star in the series, Anna Karen, paid tribute to the actress, who she said had remarkable energy and panache. "She was an absolutely amazing lady. I've never met a woman who was so full of life," said Miss Karen, who played Miss Hare's daughter Olive in the bus garage sitcom.

Ms Hare was born in Bargoed, South Wales, in March 1905, and made her stage debut at the age of three at the Alexander Portable Theatre, Bargoed. Her first West End hit came at the Adelphi Theatre in 1932, when she was 27, with John Mills in Noel Coward's revue Words and Music. After her Broadway debut in 1936, she kept London audiences laughing during the war with her comedy role in the revue Lights Up! at the Savoy Theatre.

She was a familiar voice throughout the war on the radio series Shipmates Ashore, eventually receiving an MBE for her work as a wartime entertainer. The actress was a leading player with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1963, but it was her role in On the Buses which brought her widest fame. "She was always tremendously popular because she was just so down-to-earth, not one of those grand leading ladies with airs and graces," said the author and critic Michael Thornton.

Her other TV roles included appearances in She'll Have To Go and Why Didn't They Ask Evans? in 1980. Her final West End appearance was at the grand age of 87 at the London Palladium when she received a standing ovation alongside Sir John Mills at a tribute to Evelyn Lane.

Ms Hare, who was a widow, leaves two daughters.

EastEnders tops Corrie at soap awards
28 May 2000 by Simon Holden

EastEnders thrashed Coronation Street at the second British Soap Awards last night, scooping seven of the 14 titles. The stars from Weatherfield claimed a mere three prizes, just one more than Brookside. One winner, Tamzin Outhwaite (Mel Healy from Enders), told TV Plus: "Corrie won best soap last year and if we hadn't have got it this year we would have been robbed." Tamzin, who had her hair in curls, won Sexiest Actress for the second year running.

Cheeky Cockney Patsy Palmer gave a serious warning to the young stars of EastEnders not to let fame go to their heads. Collecting the Best Actress title, she said: "I've had my ups and downs, as everyone knows. "I'd just say to all the youngsters: Be careful, because it does change your life." Patsy, who played Bianca, was married for just five months to first husband Nick Love.

One of the few Corrie successes at the Awards was Sue Nicholls (Audrey Roberts), with Best Comedy Performance of the year. Sue, 57, joked: "I'm thrilled to be getting this. The only thing is that for the last year I've been giving my best dramatic acting!"

• Best Comedy Performance: Sue Nicholls as Audrey Roberts, Coronation Street.
• Best Dramatic Performance: Lindsey Coulson as Carol Jackson, EastEnders.
• Spectacular Scene of the Year: Claire Sweeney as Lindsey Corkhill, for the Brookside Millennium Club explosion.
• Best Storyline: Helen Worth, Tina O'Brien and Sean Wilson from Coronation Street for Sarah Louise's schoolgirl pregnancy.
• Best On-screen Partnership: Dean Sullivan and Sue Jenkins, as Jimmy Corkhill and Jackie Corkhill from Brookside.
• Sexiest Female and Sexiest Male: Tamzin Outhwaite (Melanie Healy) and Michael Greco (Beppe Di Marco) from EastEnders.
• Villain of the Year: Martin Kemp for Steve Owen from EastEnders.
• Best Newcomer: Gary Lucy from Hollyoaks.
• Best Screen Exit: Paul Loughran (Butch Dingle) Emmerdale
• Best Foreign soap: Home & Away.
• Special Achievement Award: Tony Warren, who created Coronation Street 40 years ago.
• Best Actor: Joe Absolom, Matthew Rose from EastEnders.
• Best Actress: Patsy Palmer, Bianca Butcher from EastEnders.
• Best British Soap: EastEnders.

Street warfare
27 May 2000

CORONATION Street bosses will screen a "fantastic fortnight" of shocking storylines next month, which they predict will "blast EastEnders out of the water" in the soap ratings war. Eight gripping episodes will include births, broken marriages - and deaths. In the most chilling moment, a baby is delivered safely - only to be struck by tragedy. Viewers will be reaching for the tissues from Sunday June 4 as two tots are born and instantly plagued with problems. Terrified 13-year-old Sarah Louise Platt, played by Tina O'Brien, has her baby girl first, but cannot bond with the screaming infant.

In a one-hour soap special on June 7, Alison - Naomi Radcliffe - gives birth after suffering from high blood pressure. Initially her baby boy Jake seems fine, but then breathing difficulties set in. Despite frantic attempts by doctors to save him, the child dies. Mad with grief, Alison turns her attention to helping gymslip mum Sarah Louise with her child. Then she snatches the baby, dresses her in Jake's clothes and rushes from the hospital.

A manhunt follows but it is husband Kevin, played by Michael Le Vell, who finally catches up with Alison. As soon as he finds his wife he loses her again. Corrie fans will be gripped by the scenes which lead to actress Naomi's exit.

And other long-running storylines will climax during the two-week spectacular. For months, fans have wondered how long it will be before Gail Platt rumbles hubby Martin's affair with nurse Rebecca. Already Sally Webster has found out about their illicit love. In a sensational twist Martin finally decides to confess all to Gail - but only after his mistress has left him to go and work in Dubai. Last night an insider said: "Gail is stunned and has to work out whether she should try and rebuild her marriage or send Martin packing."

At the same time Mike Baldwin's son Mark, played by Paul Fox, is discovered in yet another steamy clinch with his dad's fiancee Linda. Theirs is not the only relationship heading for the rocks. Gwen is given short shrift by Jim McDonald after he foils her plan to rob him and run away to London.

A Street source said: "We really want to give viewers a treat and these eight episodes are going to go bang, bang, bang. "Each instalment brings a roller coaster of emotion - packed with drama, tension, tragedy and joy."

For the past month, Britain's two top soaps have both been pulling in around 14 million viewers. Now ITV chiefs are hoping that June will see Coronation Street steam ahead. Their source said: "EastEnders storylines about Steve taking drugs and the never-ending car scam have really dragged on. This should really blow them out of the water."

That's my Dad !
26 May 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

THE two-year-old son of Corrie Street Star Sean Wilson has been banned from watching the soap... in case he catches dad cheating on his screen wife. Sean plays Martin Platt, who's up to no good at the moment. The naughty male nurse is gripping viewers with a steamy fling behind missus Gail's back.

Until the torrid romance hit screens, little Callum Wilson was Sean's biggest fan and wouldn't miss a single episode of Britain's favourite soap. Every time the famous opening bars of the Corrie theme tune came on, the toddler would dash into the living room hoping to clock his 33-year-old father on the telly. But that's all changed since love rat Martin started spending extra hospital shifts with saucy nurse Rebecca - actress Jill Halfpenny. Sean's wife Gaynor won't let Callum anywhere near the show in case he thinks his dad really is playing away from home.

"The minute Callum hears the theme music from the Street, he knows that Daddy's on," said hairdresser Gaynor. "But since he saw one episode where Martin kisses Rebecca, I haven't let him watch it again."

MegaStar can reveal that gormless Gail - actress Helen Worth - finally rumbles her husband's illicit affair in two weeks' time. When she does, all hell breaks loose. A Corrie insider said: "It's really funny about Sean's lad not watching the show but I suppose kids at that age can so easily get the wrong impression. "Sally Whittaker, who plays Sally Webster, does the same with her children because over the past few years she's had her fair share of on-screen kisses too. "Martin Platt has got a real problem, though, when Gail discovers what he's been up to. It's payback time and he might live to regret ever crossing the woman."

Take Platt, Becky
25 May 2000 by Tony Leonard

CORRIE wildcat Sally Webster is heading for a furious bust-up with naughty nurse Rebecca Hopkins. Sally, whose marriage to mechanic Kevin was wrecked by affairs, flies into a rage when she discovers Martin Platt is cheating on her best friend Gail.

The one-time bed-hopper, who had sex romps with Chris Collins and evil smoothie Greg Kelly while she was wed, confronts temptress Rebecca in a hospital ward.

A Street insider revealed: "Sally knows how painful it is to find out that your husband has been cheating on you and she sees Rebecca as a young, carefree girl who has no idea that she's breaking up a family. "Sally is very angry and tries to tell Martin that he doesn't know what he's doing. She wants her friends to stay together."

Sally - played by Sally Whittaker - discovers Martin's secret after her live-in boyfriend Danny, alias actor Richard Standing, is forced to admit he's covering up for his cheating pal. The insider added: "It starts to get very nasty. Martin is furious that Sally has attacked Rebecca."

Last night, actress Sally admitted: "Confrontational scenes are great to do. I always look forward to shooting the scenes that have a bit of substance. "It's certainly better than just going into the Rovers and asking for an orange juice."

But time is running out for Street romeo Martin, played by Sean Wilson. Insiders claim his missus Gail will soon uncover the truth about his cheating secret. The insider added: "He has strayed before and heartbroken Gail will not be willing to forgive him a second time."

Corrie actress to be Mayoress of Leeds
22 May 2000 by Derek Robbins

Corrie star Liz Dawn is to become mayoress of her home city Leeds this evening. Liz, 60, who plays Vera Duckworth in the ITV soap will join new Lord Mayor Bernard Altha at an inaugural ceremony at the city's Civic Hall. She said: "I'm thrilled and honoured to be asked to become Lady Mayoress. I'll have to get some tips from Audrey Roberts about the job. Audrey has been the Lady Mayoress of Weatherfield and knows the job."

Liz Dawn has been chosen as the new mayoress because of her charity work. She raised more than £500,000 for a breast cancer appeal. Liz said her new civic role won't affect her long running part in the ITV soap which she'll combine with attending official functions wearing her chain of office.

TV's Nita never looked sweeta
21 May 2000

The sultry beauty draped on a Caribbean beach is a far cry from Corrie's frosty store boss. Nita - actress Rebecca Sarker - dumped her dowdy business suit for a skimpy bikini to reveal her sexy 32-23-32 figure. Rebecca, who quit Coronation Street on Friday after 18 months as Fresco's no-nonsense Nita, is soaking up the sun in Antigua with hunky boyfriend Rico Calleja. Speaking of their romance for the first time, Rebecca told the Sunday People: "He's my soulmate and we love each other very much. " In an exclusive interview, Rebecca, 25, spoke of her JOY at meeting Rico, 39, her TEARS at leaving Corrie pals and her HOPES for more acting success.

Lawyer Rico chatted up Rebecca when she was a struggling graduate working in the lighting department at top London store Liberty's. She had yet to soar to soap fame giving Curly Watts the cold shoulder. Rebecca said: "Rico bought a light and I wrapped it. He was witty, charming and looked great." Rico visited the store for five months, buying countless lamps before daring to ask Rebecca out.

She said: "I'm glad he did. I left a few weeks later because I got the Coronation Street role. I might never have seen him again. We were lucky to meet when I was still unknown. I know Rico wanted me for me, not because I was a soap star. "We are so happy. It's the most important relationship in my life. The 14-year age gap means he has a maturity that's appealing to me." Cuddling Rico at Antigua's swish Jolly Beach Resort, Rebecca added: "He knows how to have fun but I know he's taking me seriously."

Rebecca has now moved in with Rico, who is half English and half Maltese, at his home in Surrey. The actress, a hit as a member of Corrie's first Asian family, laughed as she recalled taking Rico home to her real-life family for the first time. She said: "He was left speechless by mum's ultra-hot curry. Now she makes him a special mild one."

Rebecca cried when she said goodbye to the Corrie cast and crew, particularly Curly - her pal Kevin Kennedy. She said: "He is a real prankster and often had me in stitches.Now I want to use everything I've learned from the show to do more work in theatre, TV and musicals."

And Rebecca, who owes her figure to dance lessons and workouts, is certain of Rico's support. He said: "On TV her figure was hidden in her Fresco's outfit but I was struck with her the moment I laid eyes on her. "She's intelligent, funny, talented and the sexiest woman I've met. I want to share my life with her."

Bev: I never got £26,000 tax bill
21 May 2000

ACTRESS Bev Callard told yesterday how a house move left her being pursued by the taxman for more than £26,000. The ex-Coronation Street star, who now lives in Spain, said that post was re-directed from her former home in Bolton, Lancs, but a tax demand never reached her Costa Del Sol villa.

Bev's lawyer, John Hewison, said: "The Revenue took action because the letters were being returned or left unanswered. "As soon as the mail problem was sorted out, Bev became aware of what was going on and contacted her accountants."

The Revenue obtained county court orders against Bev and her husband Steve after they failed to respond to demands. Her accountants are now in talks with tax officials and she will pay up as soon as a figure is agreed. Bev, 41, who played Rovers Return barmaid Liz McDonald and made keep-fit videos, settled a £100,000 tax bill last year.

Mr Hewison also revealed that her move to Spain - to avoid the pressures of fame and spend more time with her family - may not be permanent. "She couldn't walk down the road without being recognised and it got too much," he said. "Both she and Steve needed a break from it all but they have not ruled out a return."

Steet Bev fled to Spain owing taxman £26,000
13 May 2000

CORONATION Street star Bev Callard fled Britain for a new life in Spain owing the taxman more than £26,000. And as long as she stays there investigators are powerless to get their money back. But Revenue bosses warned yesterday that they could start bankruptcy proceedings if she returns from the Costa del Sol.

They have won four county court orders against her and her husband Steve for £26,483 in unpaid bills. Tax officers checked 41-year-old Liz's income back to 1996, when she was still playing Corrie's sexy Liz McDonald. Concern grew when she failed to reply to their letters. Then they discovered late last year that she had sold her luxury home in Bolton and slipped away for a new life in the sun.

Bev and Steve, 34, decided on the switch after she became tired of the pressure of being in the public eye. Only their closest friends were in on the secret. The first neighbours knew was the day the couple packed their goods into a lorry and a van and waved goodbye. Flame-haired Bev, who earned around £100,000 a year before she left the soap in 1998, later told pals in England: "I'm happier now than I have ever been. "Some people might think it is crazy to uproot from a comfortable home and come out to Spain.  "But for several reasons, we all knew it was right for us."

Taxmen in Bolton went to court in January and successfully applied for the judgement orders. It means that Bev and Steve cannot obtain credit in Britain.

A Street source said: "We always had the impression Bev had pots of money. It seems a bit strange not to have paid all this tax. There must be some explanation." Apart from wanting to quit the limelight, Bev also thought Spain would be good for her son Josh, 10, who suffers from dyslexia. She felt she wasn't spending enough time with him and saw the new laid-back lifestyle as the perfect way to become a proper mum.

Bev and Steve found a remote villa with five en-suite bedrooms and a pool. The home had been empty for years and Steve got it for a snip. Josh has settled into an English-speaking school and Bev has told friends that they are "very happy" with the set-up. One said: "Before they decided to leave, Bev and Steve were trying to juggle all kinds of balls up in the air - careers, parenthood and business ventures. "When it all got too hard they were blaming one another. Now they've made a fresh start and have put all their difficulties behind them ... apart from the little matter of the taxman, it appears."

Race is on for Bobbi's affections
12 May 2000

Corrie beauty Bobbi Lewis may be set for a love tangle with Vikram Desai and Steve McDonald - but actress Naomi Russell says she'd never want such a complicated love life. Reports claim Steve and Vikram are set to have an on-screen bet over who will be first to bed Bobbi. But Naomi, 22, told TV Plus: "I'm dead boring in real life. I've never been one for clubbing and partying, not even when I was at college. Bobbi is much, much wilder than I am."

Former model Naomi Russell, who plays factory girl Bobbi Lewis in Corrie, refuses to reveal if she's dating anyone. "You can say Jude Law is my dream man," Naomi told TV Plus. Despite saying she's nothing like her screen character, ex-hairdresser Naomi insists she admires Bobbi. "Bobbi has a wicked sense of humour," says Naomi, from Preston. "I love playing her. It's Corrie's 40th anniversary at the end of the year. I hope Bobbi's around to celebrate it."

Tyrone's pet helps him find a mate
12 May 2000 by TV Plus reporters

Coronation Street tearaway Tyrone Dobbs is to find new love while trying to play matchmaker to his dog. Tyrone, played by Alan Halsall, has been suffering from a broken heart since being rejected by cruel Toyah Battersby. But he will finally find love with newcomer Samia Ghadie, who debuts this Friday as kennel maid Maria. They meet when he takes his adopted greyhound Monica to the kennels to find a mate.

Tyrone has been in a series of scrapes, including marooning Les Battersby on an island. Samia, 17, said: "I've known Alan for years. We first met on Children's Ward five years ago. "It's great to work with Jack and Vera Duckworth because they're the king and queen of the Street."

Corrie 'old guard' safe from chop
11 May 2000 by Simon Holden

Stars of Coronation Street in the soap for more than 20 years have been told their jobs are safe, according to one of the show's longest-serving actors. Speculation has been rife that many cast members face the chop, after the recent axing of Charlie Lawson, who played Jim MacDonald for 11 years.

But Bill Roache, 68, who's been Ken Barlow for 40 years, told TV Plus he belongs to an old guard beyond sacking by the new, feared producer Jane Macnaught. Bill said: "Yes, there are people leaving. But as far as I understand the good old regulars are staying. "That's anyone who's been in the show for over 20 years. "You are made to feel as long as you are doing a good job and your character is useful, you have some security."

He claims spirits are high among the Coronation Street cast despite the recent spate of departures. He said: "It has not affected the atmosphere. These are things we have known about for a long time." Bill is looking forward to the Street's 40th anniversary on Dec 9. He said: "It's an incredible achievement. I've been with the show since the first episode. It makes me feel very old."

Spider as film villain
10 May 2000 Mark Evans

CORRIE star Martin Hancock has already won his first major film role - two months before leaving the Street. Martin - Weatherfield's ecowarrior Spider - will star alongside real-life ex-villain Dave Courtney in Rumour-Fuelled Society. He plays a knife-wielding carjacker with a Mohican haircut who is chased for most of the film by a vicious gangster, played by Courtney. The film is being made by the same team who cast Eric Cantona and Kate Blanchett together in Elizabeth.

Martin, 27, was desperate for the part after hearing the book had been written with him in mind. He said: "I couldn't put the book down when I read it. I've been playing the good guy for so long now that I'm really looking forward to being a nasty piece of work." Courtney - the original of Vinnie Jones's character in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - said: "It won't be difficult to outdress that scruffy scarecrow Spider."

Jim's killer fury
9 May 2000 Exclusive by David Paul

CORRIE star Charlie Lawson is furious at plans for Jim McDonald to exit as the murderer of lover Gwen Loveday. He fears a backlash from fans in the places he meets most of them - racecourses.

Charlie, a keen racing fan, was hounded when his screen character Jim was in a wheelchair and he turned up at courses walking normally. The celebrity punter also found himself distracted from his oncourse pleasures by female fans quizzing him about the relationship with micro-skirted ex-wife Liz and whether Jim would ever regain the use of his legs.

A Street insider revealed: "Charlie's perturbed about Jim ending up as a murderer, especially after what happened when he was in a wheelchair. "He'd be peacefully picking his horses in a racecourse champagne bar when he'd be barracked by drunken fans, most of them women. "Places would come to a halt. Silly bimbos would start screaming, 'We'll tell Liz you've been faking,' or 'It's a miracle - Jim's walking again.' "As a result, he's dreading Jim being turned into a murderer. Imagine how much worse that would be."

But it's just one of a number of endings. He's equally likely to leave with a huge lottery win.

Long-lost secret brother of Street star Helen
7 May 2000

THIS is the secret brother Coronation Street star Helen Worth has kept hidden from the world for 35 years. Helen - the soap's Gail Platt - has never spoken about Ghanaian-born Wilson Kpikpitse who was fostered by her parents. But close friends say they formed an extraordinary bond and were inseparable for eight years as children, enjoying picnics and donkey rides together on the beaches at Morecambe, Lancs, where Helen was brought up. She came to rely on Wilson as a big brother who looked after and protected her.

"I was very, very happy with Helen and her family," said 52-year-old Wilson last night as he spoke for the first time of their relationship, from when he was aged 11 to 19. "They were very nice people. They took me into their home as a son. I would not want to upset Helen. "But we do still keep in touch and send each other Christmas and birthday cards. We had some very happy times together." The pair did not see each other for 18 years after drifting apart following the death of Helen's mother in a hit-and-run road accident while she was on a visit to Brighton. Then they had a chance reunion in a supermarket.

Wilson, who now lives with his doctor wife Johan in Maidenhead, Berks, was sent to Britain at the age of 11 as an overseas student and went to school in Lancaster, just a few miles from where Helen's parents ran a small seafront hotel in Morecambe. The 49-year-old actress - real name Cathryn Wigglesworth - was just eight when her mum and dad, Alfred and Gladys, fostered Wilson. Family friend Virginia Rucastle recalled: "Wilson was very much part of the family and everyone treated him as such. "It was extraordinary how close the two youngsters were. Looking back it was such an unusual thing to have happened all those years ago. It was as if Helen's family had adopted Wilson. "Whenever you went round to their hotel he was always there. And he and Helen were always together."

Virginia, 50, of Blackburn, Lancs, remembers Helen's mother as "a wonderful, wonderful woman who had no time for any nonsense about race, colour or anything. "She was very down to earth, a fantastic person. What you saw was what you got - rather like Helen is." After Gladys died Wilson left the family home and went to find his own way in the world.

Yesterday he declined to discuss the missing years but said: "Like Helen I am a very private person. I do not really want to go into what I have been doing. "Suffice to say that I have done well, thank you. I am happy with the way things have turned out."

Wilson, who has a 20-year-old son, William, was reunited with Helen 12 years ago when she performed the opening ceremony at a supermarket in Slough. An onlooker said: "There was a big crowd gathered round Helen. She looked around and suddenly her face lit up. Then this guy came forward and they both burst out laughing. "There was a big beaming smile on the guy's face and I'm sure there was a tear in Helen's eye. Then they just hugged each other. It was very nice to see. "People were a bit taken aback. Helen obviously knew the guy well."

Helen's reaction did not surprise her friend Virginia said: "She is very loyal to her friends. Every year she takes six of us out to a hotel in Manchester where we sit down, drink tea and talk about old times."

The difference in Helen and Wilson's lifestyle now could not be more marked. She was brought up in a well-to-do solidly middle class family, while his parents came from the Ewe Tribe in the poor Volta region of Ghana. She went to a private school while he had little education before coming to England. Wilson lives in an ordinary 1960s detached house on a slightly down-at-heel estate, while Helen has a £350,000 mansion in Cheshire. Helen dines in exclusive restaurants like The Ivy in London's West End. Wilson enjoys pub food and likes nothing better than a takeaway in front of the TV. He drives a black K registration Granada, while Helen has a £30,000 silver Mercedes.

Wilson recalled: "It was very nice to see Helen after all those years. I am glad we are now back in touch. We are still very fond of each other." He added:"Helen has been to my home. But I don't think she'd want me to talk about it. We're both very private. "I've been to Manchester as well and my wife Johan also knows Helen very well. We like each other very much and that's all there is to say really."

Corrie girl Tracie makes TV boob
5 May 2000 by Jonathan Donald

Millions of viewers will see ex-Corrie girl Tracie Bennett accidentally bare her breast tomorrow night. Tracie, 38, who played the soap's Sharon Gaskell, busts out as she performs a Guys and Dolls number on a BBC1 tribute to Barbara Windsor. TV Plus tipped off her agent Deborah Charlton and she was horrified. She said: "She is the sort of person to laugh this off. After all, she has a good body. But it really should have been cut. It could mean problems."

Deborah wants to save her client's blushes and have the scene cut from tomorrow night's BBC Hall Of Fame: Barbara Windsor. "I shall certainly be calling the BBC to see what can be done, but I suppose it's too late now," said Deborah. "I'll also be warning Tracie about it. She might be bothered, I just don't know."

Tracie gives a gutsy rendition of song Take Back Your Mink as part of the show marking Babs's induction into the BBC Hall Of Fame. She strips from a grand gown to a skimpy basque during the number, and as she struts her stuff all is revealed. Tracie is accompanied in the routine by celebrities including former Page 3 model Linda Lusardi.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We have decided to keep it in. If it was cut there would clearly be something missing from the routine and we can't cut the whole thing. It's so fleeting, audiences won't notice it anyway."

Street sex wars
5 May 2000

CORONATION STREET is out to snatch EastEnder Tamzin Outhwaite's title of top soap sex goddess. Corrie producers want to depose Tam's bombshell barmaid character Mel Healy in the hearts of the Britain's male soap fans. And they aim to hit their BBC rival with a double whammy - in the shape of their TWO most glamorous newcomers.

Stunning factory girl Bobbi Lewis, alias actress Naomi Russell, 22, and glamourgirl barmaid Geena Gregory, played by Jennifer James, also 22, will link up in a double-pronged "assault" on Tamzin's sexiest soap girl title. And they'll do it from the flat above Audrey Roberts's hairdressing salon after they move in together this month.

Last night a Street insider said: "Everyone has heard of the Likely Lads but these girls are going to become the Likely Ladettes! "Viewers already have an inkling that Bobbi and Geena are no shrinking violets. "They're both young, free, and single and they want to enjoy life. Believe me, they are going to do it." The insider added: "Bobbi and Geena will not be portrayed as slappers. "But they will both have a very healthy interest in the physical side of life, and plenty of boyfriends. "There will be men after what they can get, and married blokes wanting to instal them as bits on the side. "They will become the sexiest girls in British telly soaps."

Corrie is right to sack me says Jim
5 May 2000

CORONATION Street star Charlie Lawson admitted last night the show's bosses were RIGHT to sack him. Charlie, 40, who plays firebrand Irishman Jim McDonald in the top soap, confessed: "After 10 years I would have to agree that Jim was beginning to disappoint both the show and myself as an actor. "So this was neither a shock nor a surprise."

The Mirror revealed exclusively yesterday how Charlie was summoned to producer Jane Macnaught's office on Wednesday to be told he was being axed. His exit from the show had been secretly plotted since November. As he left the Coronation Street studios in Manchester yesterday, he added: "It's been a hell of a ride - sometimes bumpy, sometimes smooth, but never boring. "I would like to thank all the people who have telephoned me with their good wishes - and I am now going for several beers."

Charlie will leave the show in October when his £100,000-a-year contract ends. Street chiefs have promised his character will depart in the climax to a spectacular storyline. But Jim will not be killed off, leaving open the possibility of a return.

An insider said: "There was quite a bit of sympathy about the way he was told. Some felt it unfair he was summoned to the producer's office at the end of a day's work. "But Charlie says he was perfectly fine about what happened to him. "He took it on the chin like a true professional and will start looking for other things right away."

A fiery life on the Street
4 May 2000

BRASH Jim wasn't an immediate hit with viewers when the McDonald family was introduced to the Street back in 1989. But his ex-squaddie character slowly began to win them over.

As the family settled into Weatherfield he and his wife Liz were seen dealing with problems with tearaway twin son Steve. First signs of Jim's fiery temper came when the boy ran off to the Lake District with visitor Joanne Khan. The scenes of Jim losing his rag over the jaunt were just a mild taster of what was to come.

Heavy-drinking Jim quickly turned into Weatherfield's worst ever wife-beater after his sexy wife drove him mad with jealousy. Bev Callard, who played Liz, found herself acting out harrowing scenes - her face and body black and blue.

In 1993 Liz left him to become landlady of the Queens pub, he belted her and divorce proceedings began. Later Jim completely lost it when Liz admitted being tempted to have an affair with bookie Des Barnes and also to having had a fling with his Army pal. She was left bleeding.

In 1997 Jim had a steamy fling with hairdresser Fiona Middleton (Angela Griffin). She cheated on her fiance, detective Alan McKenna, after a blazing row but later fell back into his arms. Jim wrecked their wedding day by revealing their fling.

Bad boy Steve had a furious bust-up with his dad and in a struggle pushed him off some scaffolding, confining him to a wheelchair. Jim began to recover, helped by his physiotherapist. But in a cruel twist, Liz headed into the sunset - with the physio. Since then writers have struggled to find juicy storylines for Jim. And a cosy set-up with debt-ridden Gwen Loveday has been the best they have come up with.

It's over Jim, so it is
4 May 2000

CORONATION Street star Charlie Lawson - firebrand Irishman Jim McDonald - was yesterday axed from the soap. Charlie, 40, was summoned to producer Jane Macnaught's office and told he was being dumped after 11 years. Production sources say the actor was stunned by the news and unaware he had been living on borrowed time for six months.

The Mirror can reveal how his exit was being secretly plotted as long ago as November, but it was decided not to sack him from his £100,000-a-year role until routine contract negotiations were due to start. A highly-placed Street source said: "The truth is the writing had been on the wall for some time for poor old Charlie, but only a selected handful of people have known about it. "It was always going to be a huge decision to get rid of Jim McDonald because his character has been one of the most influential and controversial over the years. "Without doubt he's enjoyed some of the greatest storylines and scenes - and definitely helped the ratings to soar on occasions. "But there were all kinds of reasons behind the decision, not all of them to do entirely with the screen character. "It was felt Jim McDonald was reaching the end of his shelf-life. Only a sensational turnaround for him would have saved him. "And after a series of long, hard meetings behind closed doors, it was decided by the scriptwriters and production team that could not be achieved."

Charlie's call to the production office came at 6pm yesterday after he spent the day working at the Manchester studios where the soap is recorded. He later drove away in his Land Rover Discovery looking unhappy. A spokeswoman said: "We can confirm Charlie Lawson will be leaving Coronation Street at the end of his current contract in October. "Jim McDonald will not be killed off and the door will be left open for him to return. "His departure will however be the powerful climax to one of the year's most dramatic storylines."

Ms Macnaught added: "Charlie is a hugely talented actor who has been involved in a number of high-profile storylines during his 11 years in the show. We wish Charlie well and we are actively seeking other roles for him within Granada's drama department."

His is the latest in a string of departures from the ITV show. But he is by far the longest-serving actor to be shown the door, which will give other Street veterans the jitters. An insider said: "It always sends a shiver down people's backs when that call comes. "We have seen it happen time and time again over the years. "Word spread like wildfire that Charlie was off to see the boss. "The rumour machine went into overdrive. Some people couldn't believe he might be getting the chop because he is such an established character."

The finishing touches are already being made to his final storylines, which are a closely-guarded secret. A source said: "The fact an established character has been seen to be going nowhere and as a consequence the actor doesn't have his contract renewed will serve as a reminder for people not to sit on their laurels."

Last week it was revealed that Jim's screen girlfriend, debt-ridden Gwen Loveday (Annie Hulley) was on her way out - giving Street chiefs the perfect reason to get rid of him. A well-placed insider said the production team take action when they feel a character is becoming stale and drying up. They added: "That's been the case with Jim McDonald, but it was a hard decision to come to. "We didn't know how Charlie was going to take it. Everyone knows he can go off like a bullet when he wants to. "Over the years it's no secret he has had run-ins with various members of the cast who became too frightened to even talk to him. "And he has a few enemies with the lads in the crew who take exception to the way he talks to them on occasions. There is no love lost there and some people will be delighted he's going."

Charlie has had his fair share of controversy off screen. He has battled personal problems, including cocaine addiction and mammoth boozing sessions. He freely admitted he was so off his head on binges he could not remember his first FOUR YEARS on the soap. He was downing at least a bottle and a half of spirits a day - starting as soon as the cameras stopped rolling - and would carry on until morning. He confessed: "To stay awake, I'd snort cocaine in the toilets of nightclubs. Then I'd roll out at 8am and go straight to the studios to start filming. "I performed some of my most famous scenes while I was blind drunk or coming down from drugs. I got away with murder".

Charlie became a household name playing Irish former soldier Jim with his catchphrase "so it is". At first viewers found it hard to take to the brash McDonalds - Jim, wife Liz (Bev Callard) and twin sons Steve and Andy (Nick Cochrane and Simon Gregson). But they gradually became more and more popular. Bev was a hit as sexy flame-haired Liz. The twins, as different as chalk and cheese, also established themselves. But as the years went by, it was decide to write out dull Andy McDonald. Soon afterwards Bev announced she wanted to quit after becoming tired of playing Liz. With Charlie's departure, only wide-boy Steve McDonald is left out of the family.

Off screen, the actor's infamous boozing led to the break up of his marriage to wife Susan, 40. Then, after years of hell-raising, Charlie was floored by a £150,000 tax bill. At one stage, three years ago, he told pals he could see a life beyond the Street - but there was no way he could afford to quit at that time. He said: "If I didn't owe the Inland Revenue so much I would to at least look at other options, but I'm completely strapped".

Life took a turn for the better when he met and fell in love with make-up artist Ellie Bond. They now live happily in a large Victorian house near Alderley Edge, in Cheshire's stockbroker belt. Charlie says his drinking is under control and he limits himself to a couple of hours in his local before going home to cook dinner most nights.

The Street insider added: "Charlie makes no secret about his past acting achievements. "He is especially proud of the fact that he has done a lot of Shakespeare. "It'll be interesting to see exactly what he does with himself in the future"

CHARLIE'S departure is the latest in a series to hit the top soap but the fact he is by far the longest serving star to go under these circumstances, will give other veterans the jitters. A Street insider said : "No one is bigger than The Street, as has always been the case but the fact that an established character has been seen to be going nowhere, and subsequently the actor doesn't have their contract renewed, will serve as a reminder for people not to think it is easy to sit on their laurels".

Recent departures from Corrie include Jane Danson, 21, who plays Leanne Tilsley and co-star Rebecca Sarker, (Nita Desai). Both announced they wanted to leave to soap to pursue other roles, as did Ian Mercer, who stars as Gary Mallett and Paul Fox, Mike Baldwin's son Mark. Martin Hancock (Spider Nugent), Naomi Radcliffe (Alison Webster) have also been told their contracts were were not being renewed. And only last week it was revealed that Jim's debt-ridden girlfriend, Gwen Loveday (Annie Hulley) was going.

Producer Jane Macnaught, 42, has pledged to keep The Street fresh but admitted last Christmas that she hated giving actors the sack. She said at the time : "It's the worst bit of the job. It's not me personally who's doing it. "When a character goes, it's a collective vote when all of us in production think the character has dried up.

Bet wants to return
1 May 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney and Nigel Pauley

FADED soap legend Julie Goodyear has been knocking on the door of Coronation Street bosses in a bid to make a sensational rovers return. The blonde star who quit five years ago as Weatherfield sex siren Bet Gilroy not only misses the fame of being in TV's best loved show but also her £100,000 pay packet. And now 57-year old Julie is pinning her hopes on a remarkable comeback as a Corrie resident which will see her rule the roost again in the soap she dominated for 25 years.

She has already been "sounding out" senior Street executives about the chances of a shock return to thebig time in a move which would certainly be welcomed by millions of loyal armchair fans. Coronation Street sources say busty Julie "got her taste back" for the gruelling four-times a week saga after the highly successful After Hours spin-off she appeared in last November. She has now set out her stall on an amazing return, although she accepts current Rovers landlady Natalie Barnes is in no hurry to create any room at the inn to make way for her.

But three-times wed Julie - whose career since packing her bags from Weatherfield has never taken off in the movie and chat-show way she hoped - faces a long uphill task, we can reveal. There are still senior staff members who recall the moods and tantrums of Queen Bet who insist that the regal off-screen behaviour which made her some enemies is the reason she will NEVER come back.According to insiders, there were even flashbacks to her old luvvie self at stages during the filming of After Hours in Brighton. And last night one source declared she was simply "too long in the tooth" to book a passage back to the show.

And there's some worse news in store for Julie...bosses haven't ruled out the possibility of Ken Morley, who played wacky supermarket boss Reg Holdsworth and also appearaed in After Hours, being allowed back into the fold. But that would never happen while barmy butcher Fred Elliott - actor John Savident - was in the Street providing the comedy element.

A senior Granada source said: "Bet was very pleased with the way things went in After Hours and has been in regular touch with executives here sounding them out about making a return. "She boasts of having had sackfuls of fan mail from viewers all telling her how nice it was to see her on screen and begging her to return. "Obviously Bet's return was a consideration, which is how the Brighton-based specials came about, but their success wasn't just down to Bet. "In fact, the feeling of producers is that Bet's a little long in the tooth now and the show has moved on. Viewers are interested in younger characters and it is them which helped boost ratings.

"Obviously it isn't wise to say 'never' in television but the viewpoint amongst executives is that they don't want Bet Gilroy back. "There is a great atmosphere on the show right now and no-one considers themselves bigger than the show. We'd be very reluctant to unsettle that. "Although Ken Morley was another character who made a few enemies before his departure but he behaved himself in Brighton and impressed exeucitves with his attitude. The general feeling is that there would be a place for him in the Street.

"However, his role as the resident comedian is currently taken by John Savident as Fred Elliott, and it it is felt that Corrie isn't big enough for both of them, so Ken won't be returning in the immediate future. "Although Julie no longer stars in the Street she still uses the show's publicist as her own spokeswoman.

Julie became Corrie's best-known actress during her 25-years playing blousey Bet- and lived in true star-like style off-screen, using a cigarette holder and dressing in designer clothes. She threatened to quit several times, but each time was rewarded with a bigger pay packet to encourage her to stay.

But eventually, in 1995, she decided to leave the cobbled streets after being offered a movie role of a Lancashire widow who heads to the gambling mecca of Las vegas on holiday and falls for a wealthy high-roller. The big picture never materialised. Nor did her hopes of a TV chat show future. After just a couple of less-than-favourable pilot episodes, makers cancelled the project and decided not to make the prime-time networked series at all.  Since leaving Corrie, Julie's biggest earner has been a £10,000-a-week panto role playing Widow Twanky in Aladdin in Liverpool. She went on to earn the wrath of Scousers by courting the title of Ambassador for Merseyside...a bizarre choice for a Manchester lass who lives in a £250,000 converted farmhouse in Heywood, Lancs.

Flamboyant Julie - who claims she has quit drinking her trademark tipple of pink champagne - has moved 3o-year old toyboy lover Scott Brand into her home. And they were bathing together starkers in her bathroom jacuzzi one evening last month when raiders who broke into her home floed with £50,000-worth of her most cherished and valuable gems. After hearing the burglars rummaging around in the next-door bedroom, Scott evenleaped out of the whirlpool and grabbed a baseball bat before trying to confront the thieves, who had fled seconds earlier.

Last week the Daily Star told how Julie is getting the chance of another crack at movies with an appearance in a low-budget Manchester-made film called The Only Game In Town. Julie turns heads playing a dowdily-dressed frumpy matron called Sister Mary Jacobs in the saex comedy, which stars actor Martin Hancock, who plays Corrie eco-warrior Spider Nugent. But Julie won't be getting rich on the back of this big-screen role...insiders say she would have picked up "hundreds rather than thousands for this one...certainly not one to retire on."

Last night Julie was unavailable to discuss her hopes of a Rovers Return to Coronation Street...but a close friend told how she would gladly don those famous gaudy dangly ear-rings and breeze back into Weatherfield if she ever got the call. "Julie's made no secret that she misses the show and she misses the people who work there. She had 25 very happy years on Corrie. "Julie knows that whenever she walks down the street people will point and say 'look, there's Bet from the Rovers'! She made such a huge impact on people's lives and became so popular she can't just suddenly wash her hands and pretend it never happened.

"Other actors say roles they have played in the past are just part and parcel of the industry and should be moved on from. But not Julie. "She doesn't regret a second of playing Bet, and would have been crucified if the scriptwriters had killed the character off."As it happens, the door was deliberately left for her to make a sensational comeback one day. And that day might just be sooner rather than later..."

Now Street stalker targets Sarah-Lou
30 April 2000

CORONATION Street teenager Sarah-Lou is the latest victim of a serial stalker plaguing stars of the top TV soap. Tina O'Brien, who plays Gail Platt's 13-year-old daughter, was pestered with creepy mail from oddball Kevin Sedgwick. She was targeted after posing for an innocent snap with the fan outside Granada's studios. The obsessed letters mirror those which brought terror to four other girls in the ITV soap - Tracy Shaw, Jacqueline Pirie, newcomer Jennifer James and Georgia Taylor. Tina, who has just turned 16 in real life, handed them over to Granada colleagues.

Security chiefs are especially worried about sick Sedgwick's interest in Tina because they believe her tender years make her more vulnerable to his unwanted advances. Last night a Street insider said: "Sedgwick had only just started writing to Tina when he was picked up and questioned by police over his behaviour towards the other Coronation Street actresses. He was warned off just in time. His letters weren't sexual in nature, but they illustrated his unhealthy interest in Coronation Street and its stars, particularly the younger ones. "He wrote similar things to all the girls about his undying devotion. "When Tina started to get letters from him in the same tone, people on the Street became very concerned. "She's a young girl barely out of school and she doesn't have the life experience of the others."

Sedgwick, 42, from Wigan, has spent years hanging about outside the back entrance to Granada TV in Manchester in the hope of catching a fleeting glimpse of his favourite Weatherfield women. Stars were reluctant to call in police at first because he clearly has learning difficulties. But in recent months his behaviour has become more bizarre, demanding and aggressive. Cops acted after official complaints that he was following the actresses around Manchester city centre in their lunch breaks and tracking them to their home addresses. They had all expressed worry and fear about the potential dangers of Sedgwick and a bunch of his cronies gathering regularly outside the studios.

A Corrie insider said: "It was a very difficult decision to make to take this action against Sedgwick. "The actresses were very aware that doing something like this could attract even more unwanted attention. "It became necessary because the actors' and actresses' safety and security is paramount and they were worried." Sedgwick has now been officially warned by cops to stay away from Granada Studios and to stop all contact with the Corrie stars, either in person or by letter. If he breaches the ban he could face a prison sentence under the Government's new anti-stalking laws.

Why I turned off my mother's life support
29 April 2000 by Michael Hellicar

Taken from Daily Mail Weekend Magazine

Corrie's most offbeat character, eco warrior Spider returned this week. For Martin Hancock who plays him, it's a temporary comeback as a big-screen career beckons. But he won't let fame go to his head - that's a promise he made to his dying mother

Martin Hancock was sitting on the top deck of a bus, heading home to his bedsit in the shadow of Wormwood Scrubs, when his life changed dramatically. A bit-part actor, sometime model and barman, Hancock had already suffered three major blows to his career that week - and it was still only Wednesday. A film in Yugoslavia had been cancelled because of problems getting insurance; he'd lost another movie role because he couldn't drive; and a potentially lucrative foreign TV commercial had come to nothing.

Just an hour earlier he had auditioned for a part in Coronation Street, but while the producer spent most of the time talking on two telephones, Martin had amused himself by idly strumming an elastic-band guitar and generally behaving with less respect than a struggling young actor ought. They had parted company with the producer's words: 'We'll let you know' - all too familiar to Martin's ears. 'But I wasn't despondent - just philosophical,' he recalls. 'At times like that, you have to count your blessings, and I was thinking how I'd make myself a nice cup of tea, phone my mum and maybe watch a bit of telly.' But on the packed bus, Martin's mobile telephone had trilled into life. 'Congratulations,' said his agent. 'Who's a clever boy, then?'

Thus it was that Martin Hancock learned he would be a soap star. He instantly became a cult figure as Spider Nugent, the Street's resident vegan eco-warrior and social conscience, a role inspired by the notorious Newbury bypass blocker Daniel Hooper, aka Swampy. After a two-month absence, he has returned to the street, smartened up - he's forsworn his baggy jumpers and now wears a suit, clean shirt and tie for his job at the Benefits Agency, where he's grassed up Les Battersby for drawing the dole while employed.

His success in the Street has brought Martin offers of parts in two new films. They will mean that he will be leaving the soap as a regular after his contract finishes in June, although he will be returning from time to time for specific story lines. The new movie projects are still under wraps, but his agent Jeanette Scott says, 'Martin's got the right look for the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels type of films that are popular now.' Last year his developing on-screen romance with the Battersby's 17-year-old daughter, Toyah, ten years his junior, earned him many plaudits for his sensitivity and comic timing. He and Toyah have set up home together in the soap, in spite of opposition from her dad Les, who regards his daughter as 'old enough to know better than to get under the blanket with that scruffy git.'

Martin Hancock's delight at his success is tinged with sadness, however. For his mother Violet, who struggled to bring him up while a single parent, did not live to see her beloved son fully establish himself as a star. 'She died at the age of 70, two years ago. I'm only now coming to terms with the loss,' says 30-year-old Martin. His voice chokes as he recalls the last piece of advice she gave him. 'She told me: "Be an actor by all means, but don't turn into one. Don't become a luvvie. Be your own man." Three weeks later, she died. I'd just flown to Borneo to work on a conservation project, and when they told me she was in a coma, I turned right round and came back. But they couldn't save her. 'It was my decision to switch off her life support system. It was the most heart-breaking thing anyone should ever have to do, but I had promised her I would. We had talked everything through four years earlier after she'd had a thrombosis, how sometimes surviving is like a living death. So she'd made a living will, expressing her wish to have the plug pulled if the doctors said there was no hope. I was devastated and it's only now I am able to talk about it, and feel that I'm getting a grip on myself again.'

A native New Zealander, Violet had arrived here in the early Sixties. Martin was born in Fulham, west London, and he had no contact with his father until three years ago, although they are now no longer in touch. And he is reluctant to talk about him. 'Mum worked as an occupational therapist, and although she put the hours in, I was never neglected. I left home when I was 17 after a silly row, but a few weeks later I came creeping back and we were back to normal. What guts me is that right at the end me and mum were so solid. I'd been in the Street for a few months, earning regular money, and it was time to pay her back for all those years of love and struggle.' 'I'd planned to pay for her and her friend to go to a health farm for her birthday in October and then at Christmas I was going to send her away again so I could fit a new kitchen and bathroom in her flat as a surprise. I don't know who would have got the biggest kick out of it, her or me.' 'In our family it was either a holiday or a nice Christmas present - we couldn't afford both. At last I was in a position to give her both.'

Martin wipes a tear away and says he's now looking forward to the future. 'Every challenge I've had, I've faced it knowing that she's behind me. Even my leanest times were bearable with her around. I apparently have three half brothers on my father's side, but as far as I'm concerned, there was always just me and my mother.'

Hancock's Street role has not only brought him recognition as an actor. 'It's made me into the People's Man. The other day a guy on a building site complained to me that his wife was now making him eat veggie burgers. "They're a lot better for you than meat," she told him. "Spider says so." Of course, I also get called a scruffy git a lot, but I can live with that. And I daren't drop litter, because everyone assumes I'm a lot more eco-minded than I really am. I respect green issues but they are not the be-all and end-all of my life.

Indeed, they are not. Today in a plush Manchester restaurant, Martin Hancock is tucking into a plate of venison, washing it down with a fine bottle of Pouilly Fuisse. Spider's trademark tatty jumper and baggy combat trousers have been changed for smart designer casuals and the tufty hair is neatly combed and beadless. His ear-ring and wispy beard are the only giveaways - along with the nose, broken in three places in football matches when he was a boy. 'I've been offered a nose job,' says Martin, 'but I figure I've come so far with a wonky hooter I may as well go all the way. It may even be lucky for me.'

As a boy, Martin was a bit of a tearaway at Drayton Manor School, west London, from where he went to The Drama Centre in Chalk Farm. However, he was asked to leave - 'they taught me to have a flexible mind, yet they expelled me for having one.' His powers of concentration at drama school, however, may have been distracted by a disastrous business enterprise. He'd invested one term's grant - about £800 - into a clothes stall, selling jeans and T-shirts in London's Camden Market. For the first term, all went well. 'Unfortunately my partner and I were so encouraged that we started designing our own T-shirts and had 8000 of them made. They were so tight nobody could wear them. We went bust. It was a very stressful time.'

After leaving drama school Martin ended up in Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre before drifting in and out of small-time acting and modelling jobs. He also worked as a cellarman and then as a barman at London's Groucho Club, a favourite haunt of the media and the arts crowd. 'I'd see the place filled with big acting names, hear their stories and wonder if I'd ever achieve anything. I wasn't jealous - I was having fun but everything in my life had been a slog.' His ego was badly bruised by an agent, who told him: 'To be honest, Martin, you look like a junkie. You're too ugly to play the boy next door and too pretty to be the hard man.'

Martin also spent a year as a magazine advertising salesman which 'I hated, although I made good money. I also deplored the fact that I was starting to hate it a bit less and was even beginning to enjoy it.' He then went to New Zealand for four months, staying with his mother's family in Auckland. 'It was a good move. Suddenly, for the first time I was surrounded by family with a very strong identity of their own. I realised then that my life as the child of a single parent with no relatives had given me almost no self-belief. In Auckland, I had a huge back-up of about 120 family members. I was able to look at myself and say: "Maybe I can make something of my life." Until then, I'd felt it was my lot to fail, not to succeed.' 'When I came back, I was a different person. I was my own man, not afraid to be myself at auditions rather than be just an actor. I'd discuss the way a part should be played, rather than let anyone tell me.'

In London, his new attitude began to work for him. He took a barman's job at another high-profile watering hole, 192, and squeezed in acting jobs between shifts. He was an extra in The Bill and Casualty, wrote scripts and produced short films. He played Mr Sloppy in a BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend with Anna Friel, played a hippie in a Surf TV commercial, modelled for Arena magazine and was cast in an Ikea ad.
'So I was really busy and doing a lot better than some of the people I was serving as a barman. By my terms, I was absolutely loaded - I had £8,000 in the bank, but I wasn't quite ready to throw myself into acting full time because I was having a good time at 192.' He adds teasingly: 'When I tell you that some of the wildest sights I saw at that place were when I looked in the mirror, you'll know why I was reluctant to leave.'

But then came the call from Coronation Street and the rest, as they say, is show business. Now he has a luxury home in Warrington, Cheshire, where he lives alone since his nine-month romance with 24-year-old glamour model, Gaynor Britt Royle broke up, and his life in a bedsit is a million miles away. His face breaks into Spider's crooked grin as he remembers a story Violet would have enjoyed. 'I went back to the Groucho Club for someone's 40th birthday last year, this time as a guest and not as a barman. There were all these actor types sitting around, looking down their noses at me because I'm in a soap. I thought: "'Ang on a minute, I blooming painted this room".

Corrie 'pest' just a fan says star
28 April 2000 by Sarah Lester

CORONATION Street star Bill Roache has described a man accused of stalking fellow cast members as a ''likeable, devoted fan''. Kevin Sedgwick, 42, was warned by police after complaints from three of the soap's actresses, Tracey Shaw, who plays Maxine Peacock, Jacqueline Pirie, who plays Linda Sykes, and Jennifer James, new barmaid Geena.

Bill, who plays Ken Barlow, says he has known Kevin for a number of years and regularly speaks to him as he leaves Granada Studios. But he added that he had not spoken to the actresses about what happened and so could not comment on their allegations. Bill receives birthday and Christmas cards from Kevin who describes the actor as a ''father figure''. The star said: ''Kevin has been a devoted fan for years. My personal view is that he has been fine and is a likeable man. ''I have never heard him say anything offensive or seen him do anything although I do not know the details of these allegations.''

Speaking at his Wigan home, surrounded by signed pictures of soap stars taped to the walls, Kevin, who has learning difficulties, insisted that he would never harm anyone and was just a fanatical fan of the Street. Now he says his hobby has been ruined and has vowed never to watch the soap opera again. He has a whole album of signed pictures of Tracey Shaw and a framed photograph of her takes pride of place on his television.

Despite admitting that he used to write to Tracey every day and sent her teddy bears, he said: ''I'm not weird, I'm not a stalker, I'm just a fan. I'm not obsessed by her I just like her in the Street. I never go to any of the actors' homes, I don't know where they live. ''If Tracey was bothered by me, I'm very sorry, I would never hurt her or anyone else.''

I'd never hurt stars says "No1 fan"
28 April 2000

THE man accused of stalking Street stars broke down yesterday and said: "It's all lies." Kevin Sedgwick, 41, wept as he added: " I'm their number one devoted fan and I wouldn't hurt any of them. "I can't believe people are saying all these nasty things about me. "I've been going there for 21 years and everybody calls me Kevin. They all know me so well. "But all that's being said about me is making me ill. "They've had it in for me for a while. They've always wanted to get shut of me. Well now they have. I'm finished.  I'm never going to go back there again. "I'm going to try to get another hobby but I know they're going to miss me."

Sedgwick hit back after Tracy Shaw, Jacqueline Pirie, Jennifer James and Georgia Taylor said he had been stalking them. Sedgwick, who has learning difficulties, said: "All I wanted was to show them my appreciation for all the kindness they have shown me. "People have said 'you're sad' but I enjoy doing it. I wasn't doing any harm to anyone."

He said Tracy was his favourite and he has sent her letters and 30 teddies. Her pictures line the walls of his council flat in Wigan. Sedgwick said: "I just love the girl but only as if she was my mam or my sister. There's no way I've been stalking her or anyone else. "They are making me out to be some sort of pervert."

The loner was shocked when police warned him to stay away from the Street's Manchester studios. He added: "I couldn't understand it. I'm not a stalker. "I am not an oddball, I'm not scruffy and I'm not obsessed." And he denied sending former Street star Bev Callard (Liz McDonald) a pair of scissors asking for a lock of her hair. He said he now plans to move to London to get away. He added: "At the moment I just feel like topping myself and I am so sorry for mum and dad."

Stalker No2
28 April 2000

CORONATION Street stars are living in fear of a second stalker - a skinhead loner. Young actresses scared of obsessed fan Kevin Sedgwick - exposed in yesterday's Mirror - are even more frightened of the sinister newcomer. Like Sedgwick, he positions himself at the entrance to the Granada studios in Manchester, and just stands and stares at the cast as they drive into work. But he has already tracked Tracy Shaw when she strolled to a health club one lunchtime. The nervous actress, who plays hairdresser Maxine Peacock, knew she was being followed for the half-mile walk and thought she was safe once inside. She learned later that the man had tried to bluff his way past reception, saying: "It's OK, I'm Tracy Shaw's bodyguard." He was turned away.

Tracy, 26, revealed her fears about the man in a stalker questionnaire for Street bosses. That was largely in response to Sedgwick, 42, who also preys on Jacqueline Pirie (Mike Baldwin's lover Linda Sykes) and Jennifer James (new barmaid Geena). Tracy said Sedgwick, who was warned off by police on Tuesday, was "disturbing". But it was the skinhead that freaked her out.

Jacqueline Pirie also felt he could be a bigger problem than Sedgwick. Georgia Taylor (Toyah Battersby) has also been a target for Sedgwick. She feels he is obsessed with her and writes letters in which he says he would die for her. He once tried to lift her coat up when she walked past him.

Naomi Radcliffe (mum-to-be Alison Webster) said in the questionnaire that Sedgwick was very intimidating. But, like the other women, she felt the skinhead was a bigger problem. Vicky Entwistle (Janice Battersby) said Sedgwick was slimy. If people ignored him, he would become abusive. Even veteran Betty Driver, who plays barmaid Betty Williams, also has a stalker. She fears "an older man with grey hair" who seems to have thousands of pictures of her.

Granada Studio Tours stays shut
27 April 2000 by staff reporter

ONE of Manchester's leading tourist attractions is to stay shut for the rest of year, leading to about 20 redundancies. The Granada Studios Tour, where visitors can walk down Coronation Street, was once one of the top 10 visitor attractions in Britain. But last December it closed temporarily for redevelopment, making up to 200 people redundant.

Managers said it would reopen this spring or summer. But today the remaining staff at the Studios Tour, based in Quay Street, Manchester, were told its future was undecided and more jobs will be lost. A spokeswoman for Granada said a range of ideas was still being explored. One of the plans is thought to be to build a dedicated Coronation Street theme park and get rid of other attractions, like the Baker Street set.

While the future of the TV and film industry theme park, which opened in 1988, is decided it will still continue to operate its corporate hospitality business. John Lee, former Pendle Tory MP and a former tourism minister, today said he has had reservations about the future of the Studios Tour, because everybody who wanted to visit it has already been. "It is a small part now of the overall Granada empire,'' said Mr Lee, who is also chairman of the Association of Local Visitor Attractions. "It was very successful and people got a lot of pleasure out of it. But the problem with visitor attractions on all scales is you have to keep providing something new,'' he said. "One has to be investing and doing something new all the time. And locally it will get worse with the Lowry and the Imperial War Museum coming soon.''

Patrick Green, director of the Museum of Science and Industry, a neighbour of the Studios Tour, agreed with Mr Leem, saying he believed the competition in Manchester for people's leisure time is particularly intense. "We have got all the visitor attractions... but we have also got things like the Trafford Centre and the big commercial leisure developments opening in Manchester, like the Printworks and Great Northern. "A lot of people have recognised this is a big population centre in the middle of Britain and they want to have a piece of the action. But there is no doubt with that sort of competition there will be casualties.''

Street of fear
27 April 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

THREE Coronation Street beauties have called in cops to stop a serial stalker who trails their every move from making their lives hell. Frightened TV babes Tracy Shaw, Jacqueline Pirie and newcomer Jennifer James have been menacingly followed as far as their home doorsteps by obsessed fanatic Kevin Sedgwick.

The scruffy oddball - who explodes into a foul-mouthed rage if stars refuse to sign his grubby autograph book - struck fear into the young Corrie actresses by following and hounding them all around the shops in Manchester city centre during their lunch breaks. On one occasion the weirdo - who now faces jail unless his menacing campaign stops - even hurled abuse and swore at petrified Tracy, who plays hairdresser Maxine Peacock, as she tried to dodge him in the city's busy main shopping strip.

Loner Sedgwick has spent the past two months bombarding the girls with love letters sent to them at the Granada TV studios...and several times he has written DOZENS of letters a DAY to 25-year-old Tracy and her two Weatherfield pals. Street bosses heard how 27-year old Jacqui, who plays scheming Linda Sykes, and 22-year old Jennifer - barmaid Geena Gregory - also shared the same feelings of fear whenever they set eyes on Sedgwick. But now the 42-year-old stalker has been officially warned off by police under new anti-stalking powers of the Protection From Harassment Act after a number of Street stars complained he had discovered where they lived and tracked them all the way home once they finished filming.

A Greater Manchester Police officer confronted him at 3pm as he lurked in his tatty jeans, mustard fleece and trainers near the barrier where Corrie stars walk and drive through to get to the studios. And he was told that he faces PRISON if he continues to wage his campaign of fear against girl members in the cast of Britain's favourite telly show. The two other actresses who have suffered verbal abuse from him have not been identified.

Sedgwick, who spends six hours most days of the week hanging outside the Granada TV gates, has even been scaring senior male stars on the soap who feel he is restricting their comings and goings. Last night a Street insider revealed:"It really is very scary, and the company felt it was about time tough action was taken that this bloke would actually understand. "Tracy, Jacqui and Jennifer were put in a situation where they were in genuine and perpetual fear because of the actions of this one man who has gone too far. They considered him a real menace and a real danger to them. "Letters were arriving here at the rate of dozens a day - it was getting too far out of control. He was following people away from Granada and trailing them all the way home. "Tracy suffered several bad experiences with him, one in particular when she genuinely feared for her safety after he turned aggressive and abusive while she was out shopping. "It got to the point where it really was very frightening for the young female members of the cast who were being followed all round town and whose home addresses he had somehow found out. "He was following other cast members including some of the chaps and making it very difficult for them to come and go as they pleased. In fact he was making life very unnerving and difficult for everyone. "He's a danger and a menace of the first order, and the sooner he's taught a short sharp lesson the better for us all.":

Sedgwick, who lives alone in Wigan, Lancs, has told what few friends he has that Coronation Street is his life and "nothing else matters in the whole world." And it is not the first time the nutter has brought terror to the show's big-name stars. He once sent a pair of silver scissors in the post to 39-year old Bev Callard, who played mini-skirted sex siren Liz McDonald, asking her to snip off a lock of hair and return it to him. Then another time he raged "Bitch" and "Cow" at Street legend Julie Goodyear - landlady Bet Gilroy from the Rovers - just because she refused him an autograph.

Actress Sally Whittaker, who plays Sally Webster has complained of being harassed by Sedgwick, who once ranted 'Well f**k you, bitch" at Thelma Barlow - dithery Mavis Wilton - in the street when she tried to steer past him. And he's even turned his sights to former Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell, lunging at her outside a Manchester hotel as she and the other Spice Girls made their way to a theatre to perform in front of Prince Charles. Luckily he was hustled out of the way by minders before he could get within touching distance of her.

And only last year he sneaked his way into the Salford Cathedral memorial service for the late Bryan Mosley, who played Alf Roberts, and sat leering at the Corrie celebrities his whole world evolves around. Burly Sedgwick once boasted to the Daily Star:"The stars love me really. They love all the attention. "I'm just an autograph hunter - I've been doing it for 21 years and can't see what all the bother is about. I don't intend stopping what I do either."

Last night a Street spokesman confirmed:"A number of female members of the Coronation Street cast have made complaints to the police of harassment by a male member of the public. This matter is now in the hands of Greater Manchester Police. "Granada takes the safety of staff extremely seriously, and supports this course of action." And a GMP spokesman also confirmed:"We have received allegations of the harassment of three women. Inquiries have been made and a 42-year old man from Wigan has received a warning under the Protection from Harassment Act."

Yesterday Sedgwick was lying low away from the studios and not answering the door at home. If he carries on his terror tactics, he will next be charged with harassment which carries a maximum five-year jail sentence and unlimited fines at the Crown Court.

Pills killed Corrie girl
26 April 2000
FORMER Coronation Street star Louise Duprey died after taking pills for mystery stomach pains, an inquest heard yesterday. The 42-year-old actress had suffered liver damage. She had probably taken too much paracetamol over months to cure pains which had been diagnosed as psychological, the coroner heard. She was found dead in her Liverpool flat.

Louise appeared briefly in Corrie in 1993 as Andy McDonald's fiance Amy. But Louise, who had suffered depression, was unable to cope with the pressure and had to quit. Verdict: Accidental Death.

Corrie actor wants Terry back for good
25 April 2000 by Simon Holden

The bad boy of Coronation Street wants to return - this time for good. Actor Nigel Pivaro, 40, wants thief Terry Duckworth to have a full-time place in Weatherfield.

Nigel has spent nearly 20 years as a jobbing player. He said: "I'm getting to the point in my life where I'd like to put roots down. I've done the parts in theatre that I wanted to do. "My career happened the wrong way round for me. I was offered a long contract at the beginning of my career and I left after signing five yearly ones. "I'd like to go back but life does not always work out like that."

Cheating Terry Duckworth has been in and out of Corrie since he first arrived in 1983. He last appeared at Christmas and sold Vera the dodgy car in which Judy Mallett had her fatal accident. Terry later claimed he didn't know it had been welded together before, even though he sold it at a bargain price.

A Corrie spokesman told TV Plus: "The door is always open for Terry to return."

Heartbroken Street star dumped by lover
23 April 2000

CORONATION Street star Steven Arnold is nursing a broken heart after finally being told by his fiancee: It's all over. Steven, who plays soft-natured butcher Ashley Peacock in the hit soap, was devastated after Vicky Gibson, 22, called off their relationship.

The couple, who got engaged two years ago, had planned a lavish summer wedding with their family and friends. But six weeks ago Vicky walked out of the £70,000 terraced home she bought with Steven, 25, at Howley, near Warrington. She told friends the relationship was not working and that she had seen a spiritualist to get over her heartbreak. Vicky is now living with her father, Geoffrey, in a £30,000 terraced home just a mile away from the house she shared with Steven.

He first fell for pretty shop assistant Vicky when they met at nearby Chevvies Bar during a karaoke evening. The actor - happily married to hairdresser Maxine in the soap - is said to be heartbroken by the break-up.

Yesterday Vicky refused to comment on the split and the cancelled wedding. At her father's home, she would only say: "We are still good friends and speak regularly." But her father confirmed that she had moved out of the home she shared with Steven. Mr Gibson added: "They speak on the phone almost every night."

Yesterday a friend of Vicky's told the Sunday Mirror: "They are still close friends and I am sure they will remain so. Steve is devastated. He doesn't know what to do without Vicky. "They tried to rekindle the romance recently after bumping into each other at a nightclub, but in the morning Vicky told him it was a mistake. "He goes to his mum Christine's for his tea every night. He's like a lost soul. He's begged her to give it another go, but she is adamant that it's all over. "When they first got together they lived at her mum's, then they bought a house together. "They seemed really happy for a while, but now it looks like it's over for good."

The split has come at a bad time for Steven. His on-screen friend Alan Halsall, who plays loveable Street rogue Tyrone Dobbs, announced his engagement to his real-life girlfriend, Sheryl McCay, just two weeks ago. It was Steven and Vicky who first introduced the pair. Sheryl has been a long-time friend of Steven and his brother Kevin. The split has also put a big strain on the friendship of the two Street stars and their girlfriends. A close friend described the situation as "impossible". He added: "Each of the couples find it very difficult to mention that they've spoken to each other. "They can see each other's faces sink. It's just become a bit of a mess and they are trying not to take sides."

Corrie star Kev lands a five-album deal
20 April 2000 by Simon Holden

Coronation Street actor Kevin Kennedy has signed a five-album deal with Arista records. And Kevin, 39, says his spell in the Priory Clinic as he fought his alcoholism helped him rediscover his love of music.

Kevin, who plays eternal loser Curly Watts, sent an anonymous tape to the company and they contacted him soon after. His debut single Bulldog Nation will be released on June 5 with the first album to follow.

Kevin's deal has turned a hobby into a potentially lucrative second career. "Music is something I've always enjoyed. I was in a band called the Paris Valentinos in the 1980s. That was with Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke from The Smiths," he said. "I often play my guitar and write songs. It's a great way to take your mind off work. Life is a lot easier for me now. It's hard work being an alcoholic."

Nasty choc for Jane
19 April 2000

CORRIE chick Jane Danson is in for a hard time time this Easter because she's given up chocolate for Lent...and fans keep sending her choccie eggs! Jane, who plays former cokeaddict Leanne Battersby, decided to stay off her favourite sweets in a bid to stay slim. She said: "I've really missed eating chocolate but I do have to watch my weight, and TV cameras make you appear to pile on the pounds. It's not been easy because I just love anything chocolate-flavoured."

Rover's barmaid Leanne has had her ups and downs since arriving in Weatherfield three years ago, including a failed teenage marriage, abortion, heavy boozing, gambling and drugs. Now Jane is quitting the Street because she's ready to move on. She added: "It would be nice to see Leanne leaving on a happy note - but as an actor it would be great to go out with a bang."

Hey Jack... I'm real posh now !
16 April 2000

CORONATION Street's Vera Duckworth has beaten Audrey Roberts to the mayoral chamber - in real life. Actress Liz Dawn, who plays the gossipy wife of Jack in the hit TV soap, has been made Lady Mayoress in her home city of Leeds. She will carry on starring in the Street but will attend civic functions in Yorkshire, where she lives with her husband, Don Ibbotson.

The 60-year-old, a Coronation Street regular since 1975, is being honoured for her fundraising for cancer sufferers in the region. Leeds councillor Bernard Atha, who is to become mayor, has asked her to share the role with a handful of unsung heroines, including a hospital care worker and a council cleaner.

Liz last night said: "I'm thrilled and honoured. It's my home city and this means so much to me. "I'll have to get some tips from Audrey. She's been the Mayoress of Weatherfield and knows plenty about it!" A Coronation Street spokeswoman said: "Everyone is very proud and excited on her behalf."

Two years ago Liz received a PhD from Leeds University for her services to television and charity work. She is a past winner of Yorkshire Woman of the Year and has raised more than £700,000 for a breast cancer appeal which bears her name.

Corrie dog real life winner
13 April 2000 by TV Plus reporters

Tyrone's greyhound Queenie in Corrie is a champion canine in real life. Queenie, whose pedigree name is Champion Windspiel Northern Sea Dove, picked up second prize in the Best Bitch category at Crufts recently.

Owner Elaine Newsham said: "It's her fourth prize in four years and she's very popular with fans. She gets recognised a lot when we're out and children adore her. But I don't let her watch Corrie as she lives in a kennel outside!"

Boozy Vik's rocket
13 April 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

PARTY-loving Coronation Street star Chris Bisson has been hauled over the coals . . . after an all-night bash made him forget to turn up for work. Chris, who plays Weatherfield's corner shop wideboy Vikram Desai, should have been filming in telly's top soap at 11am sharp. But he thought he wasn't on set till the afternoon, and was shocked when he rang Granada studios from a trendy a London club at 9am - to be told he'd got just two hours to get the 200 miles back to Manchester. The 24-year-old actor had to tell his bosses: "There's no way I can do that, I'm still in a club. You'll have to juggle things about."

Bleary-eyed Chris, who joined Corrie 15 months ago, eventually turned up at 2.30pm, only to be told his scenes would have to be re-shot because other members of the cast had gone home. He missed his cue because he was knocking back bottles of designer lager in Soho's members-only Groucho Club. He went there straight after attending the BAFTA awards with his co-stars from the movie East Is East, which picked up the Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film.

One partygoer revealed: "Chris honestly thought he was due to be called later in the afternoon. "He got a hell of a shock when he was told he was needed for 11 o' clock that morning. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. "But it was made perfectly clear to him that being late causes nightmare problems and was not tolerated at Granada TV. He got the message." Chris escaped a serious rap because he is normally among the most reliable in the cast when it comes to being prompt. He enjoys hitting the town and loves late-night sessions at Manchester's Press Club, but always knows he needs to be careful with the booze if he's got an early shoot the following morning.

Corrie costs a staggering £200,000 per episode to record, and crew and technicians working on the tight, four-times-a-week schedule are among the highest paid in the business. An insider said: "That's why you can't mess the script running order about. "Being late can literally cost tens of thousands of pounds an hour. You've got to be there when they want you."

Corrie's Paul says I quit too
13 April 2000

CORRIE heart-throb Paul Fox has become the latest star of the hit soap to announce he is leaving. Handsome Paul, 21, who plays Mike Baldwin's son Mark, will quit in summer after a year on the show. He has been involved in some of the Street's most gripping plotlines - like bedding his dad's fiancee. But even his high profile and the offer of a new big-money contract could not persuade him to stay.

Friends say Paul, who began his career on Emmerdale, is simply fed-up with soaps. One pal said: "Paul loves the Street but has decided it's time to move on and broaden his career. "He plans to leave Liverpool and move to London. He's really excited - but understandably a bit nervous too."

Last night a Street spokeswoman said: "We are sorry Paul is going but his final storyline will build to a huge climax." Four other Street stars are quitting: Martin Hancock (Spider); Naomi Radcliffe (Alison Webster); Ian Mercer (Gary Mallet); and Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby). Jane, like Paul, is moving to London, but the door is being left open for her to return.

Mallett knocks Corrie on the head
11 April 2000 by Simon Holden

Coronation Street actor Ian Mercer, who plays Gary Mallett, is quitting. Ian, 37, wants to "spread his wings" and is tired of not always being at the centre of big storylines. He said: "The nature of being in a soap means there can be periods when you are not working that much when other characters' stories are more prominent. "That suits a lot of people but it doesn't suit me."

Ian, who will leave the show this summer, added: "I'm very grateful for having five years on the programme. But what are wings if you don't spread them?" His screen wife Judy died last year after a car accident.

Other prominent departures include Martin Hancock who plays Spider Nugent and Naomi Radcliffe, who is Alison Webster. Street maker Granada explained the recent raft of high profile departures. A spokesman said: "With around 40 other people in the cast not everyone can be prominent all the time. "The producers have introduced some great characters and by the time the likes of Spider depart we will be familiar with them. "We will be sorry to see Ian and Martin go."

Street's Gary hangs up his bucket
11 April 2000 by Nick Webster

A third Coronation Street star is to quit the soap it was revealed today. Ian Mercer, who plays window cleaner and widowed father of twins Gary Mallet, is leaving when his current contract ends, following Martin Hancock, better known as eco-warrior Spider Nugent, and Naomi Radcliffe, alias Alison Webster. He has been involved in a number of high profile storylines including the dramatic death of screen wife Judy last year.

A Granada spokeswoman said: "It is totally Ian's own decision. He thought it was time to move on. He has got plans but he is not letting on as to what he is going to do yet. "Ian has indicated that he wants to leave the show later this year and we are currently working on a departure storyline for Gary Mallet for late summer. "We wish him well for the future."

The actor said he is sorry to be leaving all the friends he has made on the street, but he believes it is time for a move. "I am very grateful to Coronation Street for the past five years and everything the show has done for me," he said. "The very nature of being on a soap means that you can have periods of time where you are not working as other characters storylines take precedence - this suits some people but I have come to realise it is not for me."

It is thought that Oldham actress Naomi will be leaving the soap for good but the door will be left open for Martin to return as the much-loved Spider.

Soap viewers are fed up of football, survey says
11 April 2000
Only 29% of people think soaps should be moved from their regular slots to make way for football, according to a poll. The NOP poll, commissioned by GMTV, also found that 43% of men and 66% of women think there is too much football on our screens.

The telephone survey of 1,000 people showed 14% of respondents admitted to rowing with their partner about what to watch when football is televised. When asked about the role of football in their life, 1% of those questioned said they rated it as more important than their career and 2% said it was more important than their friends.

Bored Corrie star set to quit soap
11 April 2000

Coronation Street star Ian Mercer (alias Gary Mallett) is quitting his role because he is bored with his storylines. The actor has been in the soap for five years. He is thought to be unhappy with his character's development since the dramatic death of his on-screen wife, Judy, last year. Mercer, 36, said: "Being in a soap means periods when you are not working because other characters take precedence. This suits some people, but I have come to realise its not for me."

CORONATION Street star Ian Mercer has quit because he is fed up with his storylines. Ian, who has played amiable Gary Mallett for the last five years, said: "The very nature of being in a soap means that you can have periods of time where you are not working as other characters' stor "This suits some people, but I have come to realise it is not for me."

Ian, 37, has privately been blasting his treatment for weeks. He has become more and more disillusioned at what he called "rubbish" stories given to downtrodden window cleaner Gary. Recently he told a Street colleague "I can't take any more of walking down the street with my ladders over my shoulders and saying ineffective one-liners like 'Mornin luv' or 'Nice day, innit?'."

Ever since the dramatic death of Gary's screen wife Judy last year, Ian felt his character was "going nowhere". But his decision to walk out on a £90,000 salary shocked producers. One insider revealed yesterday: "Scriptwriters had in fact intended for Gary to become a taxi driver with a new firm, which opens up in Weatherfield run by corner shop lad Vikram. "That will happen, but we shall have to work out a way for it to end and for Gary to leave."

Last night a Street spokesman said: "We are currently working on a departure storyline for Gary Mallett for late summer. "Ian is a valued member of cast and we will be sorry to see him go."

Doc is Street tonic
11 April 2000 by John Mahoney

CORONATION Street bosses are looking for a dishy doctor with an eye for the girls. Insiders say he will be a young man dedicated to his job, and a campaigner. And as well as his liking for female talent, he'll enjoy the good life. Granada want to introduce the hunky medic in time for the autumn schedules - along with a number of other characters - as Duggie Ferguson's Victoria Street development fills up.

A source revealed: "It was felt that a doc would give the scriptwriters better story opportunities. "It's a great chance for someone to develop the role. The Street has never had a regular doctor before." Casting chiefs haven't yet decided whether to go for a familiar face, or opt for a complete unknown.

The production team insider added: "The surgery will need regular staff. So would a chemist's shop, which is also very much on the agenda." It is also strongly suspected that more characters may mean more episodes, with the show going out five nights a week.

Going back to the Crossroads
10 April 2000 by Jonathan Donald

Legendary soap opera Crossroads is set to be resurrected with a new version for the 21st century. Carlton TV plans to revive the show about life in a motel, perhaps best remembered for the slow-witted odd job man Benny, played by Paul Henry. Crossroads started life in 1966 and won a loyal fan base, but was axed in 1988 after viewing figures slumped. Carlton hopes the soap will succeed Home And Away when it ends on ITV.

Carlton TV's new director of production Lord Waheed Alli is the driving force behind the plans. He believes the station needs a successful soap under its belt, and the new series would be made at its studios in Nottingham. "I do think it is one of those company ambitions, it's a kind of goal within Carlton," he said. Lord Alli, 35, co-created The Big Breakfast before joining Carlton.

Home And Away is to end on ITV after Channel 5 bought the rights to future episodes. Lord Alli said Crossroads would be the natural successor. He added: "I very, very badly want to get that slot vacated by Home And Away."

Crossroads was first broadcast at 4.35pm on November 2, 1964. The soap centred on the life of widow Meg Mortimer, played by Noele Gordon, as she battled to run the Midlands motel and raise a family. Highlights included her imprisonment for dangerous driving, suffering amnesia and the kidnapping of her new husband by international terrorists. An inferno consumed the motel in 1981, and Meg sailed off on the QE2.

Foreign nation Street girl
10 April 2000 by John Mahoney

DEPARTING Coronation Street babe Rebecca Sarker has kissed and made up with soap bosses. They fell out after she blasted their treatment of racial issues. But now the 24-year-old actress - who will still leave the Street at the end of the month - has agreed to help them out on how best to tackle multi-cultural story lines. And Corrie chiefs have told her they WON'T kill off her character, supermarket girl Nita Desai, who arrived in Weatherfield as part of the show's first Asian family 15 months ago. Instead viewers will see her pack her bags to run a Freshco store in Scotland.

A Street source said: "They have patched up their differences to the extent that Rebecca has been asked if she'll be something of a sounding board for future plot lines with a race theme. I suppose it's something like being a consultant. "She's more than happy for this to happen because - although she's got other projects in mind when she leaves - she recognises how powerful a window Coronation Street is with its 17 million viewers." Executives had insisted they would not stereotype the Desai clan, but they were criticised for basing them in a corner shop. And when Rebecca announced she did not want her contract renew-ed she let rip. "It's a missed opportunity not even to try to tackle some of the big issues such as racism, the arranged marriage thing or not getting on at work because of your colour," she said. "There are aspects of Asian cultural identity which you can't overlook. If you have a forum you should use it - not ignore it and miss the boat."

It's B B Sea as Navy tunes into the soaps
9 April 2000

GIANT satellite dishes are being fitted to Royal Navy ships so sailors can keep up with TV soaps when they are away from home. Often Navy personnel are away for five months at a time - and complain that they are all at sea about what is happening in Coronation Street and EastEnders by the time they get shore leave. HMS Invincible and Illustrious have already got the special satellite TV dishes so the 2,000 crew on each aircraft carrier can watch the latest soap episodes, and keep up with their favourite characters like EastEnders Martin Kemp and Coronation Street's Tracy Shaw. HMS Ark Royal is also getting the service during her current refit.

And the Ministry of Defence is planning to extend it to to many more of the Navy's 129 ships so crews can also keep up-to-date on the soaps and the latest sport and news. Labour MP Jim Murphy has been leading the campaign to give the Navy more home comforts after meeting Service personnel as part of a get-to-know-you Armed Forces scheme. "What is important to the Servicemen and women is their quality of life," said Mr Murphy. "A big, big issue was that, after five months away, they came home to find the world was a different place. "As well as missing out on the news and sport, they did not know what had happened on shows like Coronation Street."

Most ships have ordinary satellite dishes that can only pick up local TV when they are in port - and newspapers often arrive when they are weeks old. "We have some of the best Service people in the world and our job is to maintain their spirit and morale," said Mr Murphy. "Providing them with entertainment, sport and news would be very good news indeed."

Armed Forces Minister John Spellar added: "This system will allow ships' crews to see broadcasts within 12 hours of transmission at home." A Navy spokesman said the aim as far as possible was to give personnel "the same conditions they would get onshore."

Toyah took me from hell to the sunny side of the Street
9 April 2000

CORONATION Street's Spider was saved from a nervous breakdown by the love of his co-star Toyah, the Sunday People can reveal. Martin Hancock - who is quitting his role as scruffy eco-warrior Spider Nugent to become a movie star - was devastated by the premature death of his mum Vi a year ago. The wafer-thin actor stopped eating and lost even more weight. But Georgia Taylor, 19, who plays Spider's screen lover Toyah Battersby, pulled him out of his misery.

Martin, 27, told the Sunday People: "If it hadn't been for Georgia's love and friendship I don't know how I'd have got through the last year. She's been my guardian angel. "I love her to death. Working with Georgia has made me realise just how lucky I am."

Vi died earlier this year after a series of strokes. Martin said: "I don't really want to talk about the weight thing, but after she died I did lose a bit. "Mum and me were really close and losing her really hit me. If there's one person in this world I know I can turn to it's Georgia. I look at her and think `What a bonus' when we are at work. "When I was at my lowest point she cared for me. She is simply the best. "She had this incredible knack of knowing how to get me through the day when I was struggling with things. "At one of my lowest points we were talking and I was really down. She walked away and a few minutes later came back with a hot cup of tea. "That was just the best thing she could have done."

Spider told of his abiding love for co-star Toyah as he spoke for the first time about his shock decision to walk out of The Street. Spider will be seen leaving Weatherfield in August after an emotion-charged break- up with Toyah. But despite the recent split with his real-life girlfriend, 24-year-old lapdancer Gaynor Britt Royle, Martin insists his relationship with Georgia is platonic.

He said: "She probably thinks of me like some big brother type of character and I look at her like a big sister. "But it was strange having to kiss someone you regard as your sister in a romantic way for the TV cameras."

Martin had been agonising over his Street role and after a two-month break he had a heart-to-heart with producer Jane MacNaught. He said: "Spider is a traveller and it was inevitable he would have to start travelling again. "We agreed it was time for me to go. But like Terry Duckworth, Spider will be back from time to time." Martin is confident there is life after the Street. He will soon be shooting a film in Corfu called On The Run. But Martin admits: "It will be the hardest thing professionally I have ever done to walk out on the Street."

The Mail on Sunday reports that Alison goes into labour
at the same time as Sarah Louise Platt, but loses her baby. She snatches Sarah Louise' s baby and goes on the run. Then tragedy strikes again....

Sexy Janice on a PC
7 April 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

CORONATION STREET addicts are rolling up for computer wallpaper of their favourite soap. Instead of bland backgrounds on home PCs and work terminals, a new Weatherfield website means Corrie fans can base their see scenes from their favourite soap all day long. And loudmouth Janice Battersby - actress Vicky Entwistle - is stealing the show after being made up to look like Zena Warrior Princess.

For longtime viewers, there's a picture of the first-ever Rovers sex bomb - Pat Phoenix, who played temptress Elsie Tanner. There's a scene featuring the warring Stan and Hilda Ogden - played by Bernard Youens and Jean Alexander - after another of their ding-dong rows in front of her "muriel" with its three flying ducks. And right up to date there's a romantic shot of Roy and Hayley - David Neilsen and Julie Hesmondhalgh - with a love heart to keep romantic fans happy.

The scenes can be snapped up off the internet and used as wallpaper - the computer term for screen background. The website, called CSVU.net, links a host of other Corrie sites and has already become a massive success. "The wallpaper images have really caught on well because people are getting fed up with boring blue or black backgrounds," said a computer expert yesterday. "This concept isn't anything to do with screen-saving - it's going about your work or fun with a permanent Coronation Street theme in the background."

Street Adam to conquer Hollywood
7 April 2000 by Nick Webster

ACTOR-turned pop-singer Adam Rickitt is set to conquer the world as Alexander the Great in a blockbuster Hollywood series. The Manchester hunk has already passed a screen test for the Los Angeles-based production company behind the project and is now waiting for the financial details to be finalised.

Adam, 21, found fame as Coronation Street's Nicky Tilsley but quit Weatherfield to make a bid for chart stardom. His manager Nigel Martin-Smith, the man behind the success of Manchester chart-toppers Take That, said the return to acting as the heroic Greek king does not mean an end to Adam's pop career, despite rumours it was not going well. "He has presented eight episodes of the Channel 5 programme Exclusive but he's not going to make a career of it," he said. He also revealed it was he who persuaded Adam's record company Polydor to allow the star to move out of London and back north. "He's living in Cuddington just down the road from Gary Barlow," said Nigel. "Polydor wanted him to live in London to save money, but I persuaded them it was a false economy. One of the reasons things often go wrong for young pop stars is if they are based in London they are going to opening nights, premieres and that sort of thing. It can spoil them and you can be seen too much ó it takes the magic away from their image. Throughout the success of Take That they all lived in Manchester."

Linda to Corrie on
6 April 2000

CORRIE star Jacqueline Pirie is househunting in Manchester - raising hopes that Street spitfire Linda Sykes will be around for a while yet. Jacqueline, who plays Mike Baldwin's sex kitten fiancee, wants a place big enough for her parents, who look after her three-year-old daughter Alex, as she works six days a week.

A Street insider said: "Big storylines are ahead for her. She is now a major character."

Kev's shark brush
5 April 2000 by Nigel Pauley

CORRIE star Kevin Kennedy came face to face with a shark while scubadiving. Kevin, who plays short-sighted supermarket boss Curly Watts, took up the sport after winning his battle with the booze. His Street character is currently being hassled by a mystery stalker, but he faced a greater real-life peril in the sea.

Kev, 38, who had a spell at a drying out clinic last year, nearly came unstuck on an exotic holiday in the Far East. "I was looking at this rock formation, which moved, and turned out to be a turtle," he told TV Times. "I was fascinated, and a bit further to my right I saw another shape. I turned around and there was a six-foot leopard shark. "I thought the adrenaline would be pumping, but I was amazingly calm. "I just looked at it and it swam on its way. The encounter lasted something like 20 seconds, quite a long time."

Runs like clockwork
5 April 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

CORONATION Street's barmy butcher Fred Elliott has a bloodcurdling secret . . . he's one of the stars of re-released movie chiller A Clockwork Orange. Actor John Savident plays a weird politician called Conspirator in the Stanley Kubrick flick, which was banned from cinemas for 27 years after it was attacked as one of the most disturbing films ever made. It's easy to imagine Fred telling regulars in the Rovers who don't know about his amazing screen past: "Not a Chocolate Orange. A Clockwork Orange!"

But in real life, comical Street favourite John has celebrated the release of the movie he thought nobody would ever see again by splashing out on a replica of the classic motor he used to drive at the time of the movie's original 1971 release! Former Shakespeare actor John, 61, has snapped up a black open-top Morgan sports car, which he loves taking for spins around Manchester when he's finished shooting stints as Weatherfield's cleaver-wielding clown. It's sleeker and has got a lot more mod cons than the wire-wheeled traditional version which was every young man's favourite motor back when the haunting Kubrick masterpiece was made.

But if youngsters don't notice John passing by in his car, at least a new generation of cinemagoers can at last see him in the movie. A Clockwork Orange is set in a nightmare, pre-punk future world. . . and proved so controversial that director Kubrick withdrew it from being shown just two years after its first run. Centred on a drug-fuelled teenage gang leader called Alex, played by Malcolm McDowell, the film features horrific violence, gang rape to classical music and a savage, put-the-boot-in mugging as Singing In The Rain plays out. Kubrick banned his own film because of two similar attacks in real life, including one on a 17-year-old Dutch girl who was raped in Lancashire by a gang chanting Singing In The Rain.

John, then aged 32, plays an opposition politician fiercely against the Government's efforts to treat Alex on an endless programme of watching violence and feeding him drugs to control and monitor his cravings. At one point Conspirator argues: "It's disgusting . . . he can't enjoy Beethoven any more." Now the film is back in cinemas with an 18 certificate following Kubrick's death a year ago.

And John can expect a nice royalties cheque from Warner Brothers if, as expected, it becomes a monster hit again the second time around. "Whether John approves or not of the moral stance of A Clockwork Orange, he's not letting on," said a Street pal. "But he considers the film an important piece of work and had no qualms about taking on the role."

The friend added: "John never expected it to be released again, so didn't bother telling many people that he's actually in it. "He's just hoping that people respect that he is an all-round good actor and not just Fred the butcher. "He hopes his current TV character doesn't typecast him when people look at his other work."

BBC & Granada discuss possible link
5 April2000

The BBC and media and leisure company Granada Group are exploring a possible programme-making link-up in Manchester as part of the state broadcaster's cost-cutting efforts, the Guardian has reported. BBC managers had identified co-operation between the two broadcasters as a way of saving money in its division in the city, the newspaper said. It was possible their resource departments could work more closely or even merge to form one company. The newspaper quoted a BBC spokeswoman as saying the corporation had been talking for some time "about how we can develop flexible production facilities in Manchester".

BBC Resources in Manchester employs about 150 technicians, camera crews and other support staff, while Granada employs about 350 in its equivalent division. Co-operation could lead to BBC staff working on Granada programmes such as its successful soap opera "Coronation Street" or Granada employees becoming involved with programmes such as "A Question of Sport", made by BBC Manchester.

The BBC's new director-general, Greg Dyke, on Monday announced sweeping changes at the corporation, promising to cut bureaucracy in the state broadcaster and use the saved money on making programmes.

Kennedy wins his booze battle
4 April 2000 by TV Plus reporters

Alcoholic Corrie star Kevin Kennedy has opened his heart about how he's winning his battle with the booze. Kennedy, 38, who plays Curly Watts in the ITV soap, was downing up to two bottles of vodka a day at the height of his addiction but he said his life had now changed for the better. He said: "Life's a lot easier for me now - it's hard work being an alcoholic. Now I can more or less face anything. I'm free and life's an adventure again."

Nearly two years after he admitted that he was an alcoholic, the Corrie star still attends counselling. He told TV Times: "I've got to go, as all that horribleness is waiting for you, all that disaster, personally and professionally. "All it takes is: 'Can I have a pint of lager, please?' As you get better, you forget the pain, the shame and fear. I go to self-help groups, as seeing others' pain and fear is a reminder if you think you're cured. "I had very low self-esteem and I used to connect with losers as I thought I was one of them. I just didn't like myself. "I'm still in the middle of change and don't think I'll ever get to the end. Sobriety isn't a place, it's a journey, and that's what it's like for me. I surprise myself every day."

Since quitting the drink, he said he'd never been happier. He said: "Everything's not perfect but it's nice to go to bed thinking: 'What a good day that was, I didn't upset anyone and I didn't upset myself'." Blissfully happy with second wife Clare, Kennedy has found a new lease of life. In June he releases his first single and, with his healthier lifestyle, he took up scuba diving two months ago.

Enders declare war
3 April 2000 by Simon Wheeler

EASTENDERS is to be shown four times a week in a desperate bid to woo audiences back to the BBC. Viewers are set to benefit when the top soap goes head to head with Coronation Street in the fierce ratings war later this year.

New Beeb boss Greg Dyke has ordered scriptwriters to come up with more sensational storylines to warrant the extended air time. He has also announced plans to reduce the number of expensive costume dramas - such as the flop Gormenghast which attracted just 2.5 million viewers.

The news comes just weeks after the 15year-old soap knocked ITV quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? off the number one spot, despite the show having its first £500,000 winner in January. Coronation Street was watched by more than 15 million viewers when it was aired four times a week in 1996.

An EastEnders spokesman said: "Any show or top soap will always talk about the possibility of increasing the number of episodes."

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