This page is produced for the benefit of those living around the world who may be unable to receive this information by any other means. All copyrights and sources are acknowledged; all material remains the property of the copyright holder; no deliberate copyright violation is intended.
Newspaper webmasters: Although some of this information may be available on your website, it is often inaccessible to the casual reader - especially if you do not archive issues. It would also help if you respond to reprint requests !

Street daughter jail
30 June 2001

THE daughter of Coronation Street's Johnny Briggs has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after turning to crime with her lover. Karen Briggs, 35, was sentenced for two-and-a-half years for her part in a burglary with two unnamed men in which pub landlord Ronald Hintz was stabbed. Briggs, whose father plays Mike Baldwin in the hit ITV soap, was also sentenced at the Old Bailey to an additional 12 months for theft for a robbery with boyfriend Gregory Crabtree on a Staines railway station.

The court heard the mother-of-one turned to more serious crime after she met Crabtree. Steven Hadley, defending, said Briggs was attracted to the glamour of the crimes. "He (Crabtree) is a professional criminal and the pattern of her offending once in a relationship with him - she was locked in a world of armed robbers," Mr Hadley said.

Briggs, who was addicted to heroin, was convicted of burglary after hatching a plan with two male accomplices to steal from victim Ronald Hintz in June last year. Mr Hintz, 58, was landlord of a pub in West Ashford, Surrey, where Briggs was a regular. He was pistol-whipped and knifed in the chest by the men - an injury from which he later recovered - and handed over £2,200.

Briggs claimed she had gone to sell her Vauxhall Cavalier car to Mr Hintz but later admitted in evidence that on the day of the sale she was persuaded by an unnamed friend to go ahead with the burglary. In the station robbery Briggs acted as a decoy, telling the station office clerk this car lights were on. As the clerk left his office, he was attacked by Crabtree and robbed at knifepoint of more than £2,000. Crabtree, who was convicted of robbery, will be sentenced at a later date.

Copying Alma
28 June 2001

THE death of Corrie character Alma has led to a surge of interest in religion-free funerals. Her "humanist" send-off last week had no prayers or hymns, only poems and eulogies.

The British Humanist Association has since received more than 400 calls. The non-religious charity has 4000 members, including Stephen Fry and London mayor Ken Livingstone.

Roy to be confronted over Wayne in Coronation Street
27 June 2001

Roy is to be confronted by Wayne's mother in Coronation Street. Sheila Hayes tells the cafe owner she wants to give him his £5,000 back in return for her son. But Wayne makes it clear he doesn't want to go home while his step father Alex is still there and tries to persuade her to stay with Roy and Hayley as well.

David Neilson, who plays Roy, said: "I think Roy has been acting irrationally throughout the whole period. "He has been naive in thinking that Alex will leave it there - blackmailers rarely stop after receiving just one payment - and this situation could quite possibly end up tearing the couple apart."

He told Inside Soap that the couple would also struggle to keep their secret from the authorities.

Corrie's Roy and Hayley on the run
26 June 2001 by Simon Holden

Roy and Hayley Cropper are to go on the run with their foster son in new Coronation Street episodes. Young Wayne will be taken on holiday to a campsite, but the trip turns sour when he discovers they bought him from his abusive father for £5,000. A Corrie spokesman told TV Plus: "The secret deal organised by Roy and Hayley is about to become public and they decide to flee with Wayne. The trip will have repercussions for months to come."

The Croppers will be joined on their camping holiday by Martin Platt and Sally Webster. They are enjoying a forbidden holiday romance under canvas in Cheshire. Sally brings her daughters Rosie and Sophie along, too. The adults get drunk and end up in bed together.

But the action will also centre on a hotel nearby. The holiday scenes will be shown on July 23, 27 and 30.

Granada under threat from foreign buyers
25 June 2001 by David Teather

Granada, the largest of the ITV companies, has admitted to having been approached by a number of potential buyers from mainland Europe. The disclosure came in a leaked letter to the government from Granada chairman Charles Allen warning that ITV could face a disastrous future if there were any further delays to the enactment of the communications bill.

In a letter to Tony Blair, Mr Allen suggested that ITV could fall prey to an overseas bidder if the obstacles to a Granada merger with its ITV rival, Carlton Communications, were not removed in time. The result could be that investment in British programming and jobs were lost. He also made an implicit threat to pull the plug on ONdigital, the company's pay-TV platform, unless the government moved fast. The letter portrayed Granada, which makes Britain's favourite soap, Coronation Street, as a company under siege. It underlined how crucial a merger with Carlton was viewed by senior Granada executives.

Mr Allen disclosed that the business had already received approaches from overseas predators because of its depressed share price. Without the benefits of consolidation with Carlton, he warned, there was no guarantee that Granada would be able to keep its independence. No buyers were named but they could include the likes of TF1, Mediaset or RTL.

The letter was sent last Monday when Mr Allen learned that the communications bill would not be included in the Queen's speech setting out the government's legislative programme. The bill will remove two rules barring a merger between Granada and Carlton. Further delays to the bill would damage the Granada share price further still, he said. "The current share price incorporates a consolidation premium which is based on the perceived value of a consolidated ITV company. They will become cheaper still and more vulnerable if there is a block on that consolidation."

A foreign owner, he said, would almost certainly cut ITV's £1bn a year investment in programming which sustains 5,000 jobs. Many Granada jobs were in unemployment blackspots in the north of England, Mr Allen said. "If we lose our independence, the price could be high."

The axe is hanging most clearly over ONdigital. The letter said: "Even if we remain independent, a further depressed share price could exhaust our own shareholders' tolerance in our continuing investment in ONdigital. "The plans tabled by the European companies who have approached us do not feature ONdigital. These companies consider that a retreat from the platform would be well received by the market." Granada, and Carlton, its partner in ONdigital, have committed to invest £1.1bn in the platform to take it to break-even.

The comments will carry particular resonance for the government, which has made much of a digital Britain. At the time of the Queen's speech last week, the government maintained it would still meet its timetable for legislation to be enacted by 2003. The removal of two rules, one banning a single company from owning the weekday and weekend ITV franchises in London, the other setting a limit on audience share, would not guarantee the merger of Granada and Carlton.

The communications bill will place responsibility for the putative merger in the hands of the competition authorities which will still represent a significant challenge. Between them, Granada and Carlton account for 50-60% of the television advertising market in Britain, and further consolidation could face strong opposition from advertisers.

The letter, co-signed by chief executive Steve Morrison, asked that "full consideration should be given to whether there is any way that the artificial restrictions on ITV companies can be removed in this parliamentary session". Granada refused to comment last night.

ITV faces worst ever ad slump
25 June 2001

ITV will this year suffer its worst slump in advertising since the start of commercial television 50 years ago, the Financial Times newspaper has reported. Total UK advertising spending will drop 0.8% this year - the first annual downturn since the recession of the early 1990s - the newspaper said a survey by advertising forecaster Zenith Media would suggest. Less than three months ago, Zenith had forecast 3.6% growth in advertising spending for this year.

It said newspaper advertising had since weakened and the picture was even grimmer for commercial television. The FT said ITV would see revenue slip 8.9%. Earlier this month, Granada, one of ITV's main owners, said it had experienced a 10% slump in ad revenue in the nine months to June.

One of the reasons behind the slump is the cutback in global ad spending by US multinationals in the face of economic slowdown. In a leaked letter to Tony Blair, Granada chief executive Charles Allen recently warned that delays in legislation on cross-media ownership were making his company vulnerable to takeover approaches from foreign companies.

Mrs Ken's common assault
24 June 2001 by Carole Malone

ANYONE who saw ITV's Ken And Me with Corrie's Bill Roache couldn't fail to have been appalled by his unutterably snotty wife Sara, who is patently delusional and believes herself to be royalty. What else could account for that shrill and piercing voice which speaks with authority on absolutely everything and her belief that she is a doyenne of style and good taste, when in fact her house looks like a 19th Century brothel.

One imagines Mrs Roache thinks of the hoi polloi in the same way David Attenborough thinks about his apes - an interesting species but not one you'd want to get too close to. And of course she will be proud of the fact she treats everyone absolutely equally - with disdain and total contempt.

So what joy to see Cheshire's Queen Bee make an unholy show of herself this week outside Crewe County Court, where Billy Boy was appearing for not paying off his pounds 600,000 debts - incurred when he sued the newspaper that claimed he was boring.

Upset at having her picture taken outside court, Mrs Roache whacked a cameraman across the head with a heavy file and screamed "You little sh*t". One imagines such a lapse of decorum will not have gone down well at the Rotary Club. However it WILL have sent Mrs Roache hot-footing it to the nearest anger management consultant and left everyone she has ever lorded it over clapping and cheering.

My pal Lynne is real star
24 June 2001 by Carol Morris-Roe

IT made me smile to hear Amanda Barrie reminisce about old school Corrie stars like Pat Pheonix, who always turned up for work dressed like Hollywood icons. She told how Lynne Perrie, who played Ivy Brennan, once wore an evening gown to an afternoon rehearsal - just to greet fans camped outside the studios.

Lynne and I once spent a week in Southern Ireland together to work on her autobiography. It was cold, wet and windy and I advised her that wellies, plenty of jumpers and a pack-a-mac would be all she'd need. Lynne wasn't having that. She filled four suitcases with sequined full-length frocks - all with matching shoes, bags, gloves, hats, lipsticks and nail varnishes. "My fans expect it of me and if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here," she said. "I can't let them down." And she didn't. Every person who approached her was given a warm smile, a signed picture and a hilarious insight on life on Britain's most famous street.

A refreshing change to the new breed of stars who crave the fame then cry foul when the fans who have lined their pockets dare to ask for an autograph. It's sad to hear Lynne is in hospital at the moment with heart problems. Get well soon, chuck.

Alma's twin tragedy
24 June 2001 by Ian Hyland

DOUBLE tragedy for Amanda Barrie; two wakes in the same week and Ken Barlow was at both of them.

First she said goodbye to Alma in a top-quality episode of Coronation Street (ITV, Wednesday) before waving farewell to her career by appearing on Star Lives (ITV, Friday). The omens weren't great when the announcer introduced her as Amanda Berry - ah, how soon we forget. Then Carol Vorderman said "she is the long-suffering Alma," which was wrong on two counts. She WAS Alma, and as anyone who's been watching Corrie knows, her suffering wasn't actually that long. Oh, but she suffered on Star Lives, especially when racing pundit John McSideburns browbeat her into agreeing to appear on his show - still Amanda, a booking's a booking.

Then she had to put up with the likes of Bill Roache, Barbara Knox and Sue Nicholls saying how much they'll miss her on Corrie, each wearing an expression that screamed "I'm next". Her torture was complete when Carol asked her age and the audience cheered when she said she was 65. "It's a bit bloody much when you get a round of applause for your age," said Amanda. You should savour it, Amanda; it might be the last one for some time.

TV Star's Daughter in Sting Claim
23 June 2001

THE daughter of Coronation Street star Johnny Briggs told a court yesterday how she led a wealthy publican into a sting. Karen Briggs, 35, said she desperately needed £2000 to pay rent arrears. But her father, who plays Cockney businessman Mike Baldwin in the soap, was out of the country when she wanted to contact him.

An Old Bailey jury heard that she arranged to sell her car to a friend, publican Ronald Hintz. But a male friend hatched a plan to rob him of the £2200 if she went to his house and let them in. Briggs, who stayed with her mum in London after her parents split, said she "wasn't 100 per cent for it but wasn't 100 per cent against" the robbery plan.

She told the court that she got "cold feet" about the plan but two men went ahead and Mr Hintz was pistol-whipped and stabbed in the attack. She said she helped lead the man and an accomplice to Mr Hintz's home in New Denham, Buckinghamshire. But she refused to name the male friend she alleges came up with the robbery idea. She said: "It wouldn't be very wise for me to name him - he stabbed Ron on the night of the offence."

Mr Hintz told police that he saw mother-of-one Briggs leaving with his two attackers.

Coronation Street star keen to start rehearsing again
22 June 2001

Former Coronation Street star Amanda Barrie is looking forward to getting back to rehearsing. Her character Alma died of cancer last week. Now she has landed a panto role as the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Amanda told Ananova she was keen to do more live theatre now she had left Coronation Street. "I'm interested in anything at all, particularly anything you can rehearse," she said. She said the soap's schedule was so hectic that the cast were always busy learning lines and had no time to rehearse. "It's like being a taxi driver doing The Knowledge every night," said Amanda. "You really do go into a restaurant and learn the menu."

She will play opposite Billy Pearce in the panto at the Alhambra in Bradford from December 14 until February 3. She will be excited as well as nervous when she returns to the stage. "If you take a 14-year gap from anything, if you stop for 14 years you lose the trick of the stamina - and you're also 14 years older," she said. "I shall be terrified. I shall probably be wrapped around poor Billy's neck."

Amanda enjoyed her stint on Coronation Street but said she never quite got the hang of it. "I don't think I ever got the knack of television," she said. "I had to try to. I thought 'I really must stay until I've cracked it'."

Snap! The wife of Corrie's Ken Barlow stars in real life drama of her own
22 June 2001

CORONATION Street star Bill Roache watched helplessly yesterday as his wife Sara lashed out at a television crew. The couple had just left a county court hearing where creditors had called for the actor to pay off debts.

As the cameras started rolling, angry Sara, who is also Roache's business manager, ran at Carlton Central TV's Malcolm Powell, who was filming, and shouted "You little s**t". She hit him several times on his back and head with a red plastic file and also lashed out at a freelance reporter. Then Sara and her husband, who plays Corrie's mild-mannered Ken Barlow, drove away from the court in Crewe, Cheshire, in a silver Volvo estate.

Reporter Thirzah Wildman, 22, who dodged the swinging file, said: "All I asked was how it went but that seemed to upset them. I was quite surprised by her reaction - it seemed way over the top. The cameraman was more shocked than hurt. I don't think he could believe what was happening. "Bill Roache seemed very embarrassed by his wife's behaviour."

Creditors are demanding a slice of his wages to repay debts, following his bankruptcy in 1999. The firm acting for his creditors said yesterday: "Mr Roache owes about £600,000 and he is bankrupt. "We have made an application for an order to see whether Mr Roache can make further payments from his income." His creditors are understood to include the Inland Revenue.

Roache was declared bankrupt in 1999 with debts of around £300,000. Eight years earlier he had been forced to pay legal costs of £120,000, despite winning a £50,000 libel action against The Sun newspaper for calling him "boring". He ran up more debts when he unsuccessfully tried to sue the firm of lawyers who had advised him in that action. He invented a board game called Libel in a bid to raise money but it did not sell very well.

Roache, who is back with ex-wife Deirdre in the Street, earns more than £160,000. He is the only surviving member of the original Coronation Street cast of 40 years ago and is among stars fighting a move by Granada TV to cut wages by 25 per cent. Yesterday a spokeswoman for Coronation Street declined to comment on the court hearing.

Frumpy pumpy
21 June 2001

CORRIE'S dowdy Gail Platt is to be transformed into the soap's new maneater. Bosses are to spice up her sex life after she sees ex-hubby Martin embark on an affair with her best pal, Sally. And actress Helen Worth, who has played Gail for 26 years, can't wait to get stuck into the steamy storyline. But Gail's passionate romance with smoothie newcomer Richard Hillman - who was seen for the first time in last night's funeral episode - sparks a rift with her lusty mum Audrey, who also desperately tries to seduce him.

The plot is all part of a summer of sex on the Street. Richard, played by ex-Grange Hill star Brian Capron, reveals himself as Alma's cousin and makes friends with her old pals. He initially targets Audrey, who inherits most of Alma's cash, and offers to help her with investments. But it's Gail he really fancies. And the feeling is mutual - Gail begs him to take her to bed.

A Street source said: "Poor Gail has had a miserable time. We couldn't remember the last time she had a good time - now she's set for some sizzling excitement." "It's a bit of a shocker as it's so unlike Gail - but she's desperate for love." "The spin-off scenes involving her mum Audrey will be tremendous. She is devastated seeing Gail with Richard but Gail doesn't care that Audrey is raging with jealousy."

Ken in court
21 June 2001

CORRIE star Bill Roache yesterday faced demands from creditors over the huge legal bill he was ordered to pay over his "boring Ken" libel action. Roache, alias Ken Barlow, appeared at Crewe County Court to fight the move. The 65-year-old was accompanied by his wife Sara, who also acts as his business manager.

He looked embarrassed as he arrived for the start of the two-day hearing held behind closed doors, But a spokeswoman for the county's Official Receiver in Bankruptcy said it concerned an "application for an income payments order".

Street actress told to shut up during her death scene
20 June 2001

Coronation Street's actress Amanda Barrie missed her own on-screen death by gabbing on the phone to friends. Amanda, who played cancer stricken Alma in the soap, was told to shut up by pals during Sunday's tear-jerking episode.

As millions of Corrie fans watched Alma's farewell the actress was busy chatting on the phone. "I annoyed everyone by being on the phone," Amanda told Ananova from the launch of her latest role in panto. "Some friends came across to watch me die and they kept shushing me because the phone kept ringing. I sort of half watched it."

Amanda will play the wicked queen in Snow White and The Seven Dwarves at the Alhambra in Bradford.

Corrie's Sally and Martin to be lovers
20 June 2001 by Derek Robins

Corrie divorcees Sally Webster and Martin Platt are to become lovers in a shock storyline at the end of July. The couple get it together when they go on a camping holiday with their children. Sally gets drunk and they sleep together. A Corrie spokeswoman said: "Sally has been through a lot, with her divorce from Kevin and being jilted by Danny so she's more likely to go for a man she knows and can trust."

Street veterans Sally Whittaker and Sean Wilson burst out laughing when they discovered their characters Sally and Martin are to become lovers. "They had a laugh when they found out they'd have to do kissing scenes as they've known each other a long time. They both joined Corrie in the mid-80s. "But viewers can expect sparks to fly when Kevin and Gail find out about it, even though both couples are divorced," a Corrie insider revealed.

Becoming Sally Webster's lover will be something of a family affair for Corrie's Martin Platt as he bedded her younger sister Gina in the late '80s. Sally and Kevin actually caught them in bed together, thinking they were being burgled. As a result Martin had a fight with Gina's boyfriend. Later he wed Gail and they divorced after his fling with nurse Cathy Power. A Corrie spokeswoman said: "There are likely to be fireworks about the romance as Sally is Gail's best pal."

Bosses hope Martin and Sally's affair will bring some light relief to the soap after the trauma of Alma's death from cervical cancer. A Corrie spokeswoman added: "It's a very lighthearted story when they fall for each other on the camping trip. "They go with their kids David, Rosie and Sophie and Hayley, Roy, Wayne and Todd. There are some very funny moments, especially when Roy decides to take charge."

Soap stabbing trial begins
20 June 2001

The trial of a man accused of stabbing Coronation Street star John Savident is due to start Today. Michael James Smith, 28, of Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, is accused of wounding Mr Savident, 62, with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm on 1 December last year. He is also charged with robbing him of a wallet, credit cards, keys, a watch, a ring, a money clip, an invitation card and cash on the same date.

On Tuesday during the jury selection process, Judge Harold Singer asked 49 potential jurors how much they knew of the press coverage of the incident. The judge told the jury panel: "John Savident is, as you may know, in fact known more popularly as Fred Elliott in Coronation Street. "If you watch Coronation Street you will recollect that Fred Elliott is the burly butcher."

He went on to ask the potential jurors if any of them knew any of the actors or staff on Coronation Street - or anyone involved in Granada television, which makes the soap opera There was no response, but when the judge went on to ask whether any of them "had read any article about this incident involving these two men, the details of which you think you remember", eight of them raised their hands and were asked to stand down.

The defendant pleads not guilty to all charges.

Amanda's story bleat sickens me
20 June 2001 by Sue Carroll

WHEN a dying woman wrote to Coronation Street's Amanda Barrie begging her to stop producers turning Alma's cervical cancer into entertainment, the actress didn't reply. The distraught viewer, a cervical cancer sufferer herself, felt certain she hadn't much longer to live and was concerned that her children, who watched the Street, would be upset. "What could I say?" explains Amanda. "That I didn't have control of the storyline?"

Well, frankly, yes, that's precisely what she should have said, because it's the truth. Professional actors, whether they're performers in Britain's top soap or smalltown rep are paid to deliver lines, not pontificate about the role. It's a bit rich, now she's left the show, to hear Miss Barrie whinge about the demise of her character being a "cheap ratings ploy" and express anger at "irresponsible" scripts. "I didn't like it one bit," she moans. Really? If she felt so strongly about the issue it would not have been impossible to walk away from the hugely paid job and wave goodbye to her contract on principle. It's not uncommon in Hollywood for movie stars to quit a movie because the script offends their sensibilities. Are we to believe that the same isn't possible in Manchester?

What she did in the event was worse, to take the money, play the part then express her tortured regrets to a newspaper for yet another sackload of money. To me this is inexcusable and much more of a betrayal to a trusting audience. I wouldn't deny there were areas of the storyline which were implausible. It seems unlikely from talking to experts that Alma Halliwell's illness would have been diagnosed as terminal with such haste. Or that her death would have come so quickly. And for families who have mothers, wives and daughters suffering from cervical cancer it cannot have made comfortable viewing.

The reality, according to the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, is that two-thirds of sufferers make full recoveries. It's also worth mentioning that I was probably not the only woman who watched the final episode and made a mental note to call my doctor The fact that one Manchester hospital claims it is dealing with 1,000 smear tests a day as opposed to 2,000 a week indicates the plot had a more positive than negative response.

Not that this should be an excuse for pious programme makers to congratulate hemselves on their moral rectitude. They have only one aim. To put bums on seats. Increasingly soaps, in their battle for existence, have taken it upon themselves to deal with "issues". Between them they've been through the entire catalogue of human catastrophes and back again, some requiring more willing suspension of disbelief than others.

The days when funerals, weddings and births were enough to manipulate us into tuning in are over. We expect high-powered drama whether it's rampant infidelity, homicide, rape or euthanasia. "I believe the Street belongs to the nation," bleats Amanda. "The company which makes it, is just its caretaker." Yes, and it's their job to keep us glued to it. And they succeed. Fifteen million of us tuned in to watch Alma die.

As for Miss Barrie's regret. I'll believe it when she tells us that the vast sum she earned from her part in the storyline "she didn't like one bit" is on the way to a cancer charity of her choice.

Shut it Alma
19 June 2001

CORONATION Street bosses and cancer charities last night backed the storyline where Alma Halliwell died of the disease. They hit back after actress Amanda Barrie, who played Alma, slammed her death from cervical cancer in Sunday's episode as negative and "a cheap ratings ploy".

Coronation Street executive Andrea Wonfor, who gave the script her blessing, revealed her own battle with breast cancer. Her emotions were used as the foundation for Alma's rollercoaster to despair. And cancer organisations said calls from women booking smear tests or wanting information have doubled and in some areas trebled because of the show.

Andrea, 56, head of Granada Creative, was diagnosed in 1995 after discovering a lump under her arm. Like Alma, one doctor said there was nothing to worry about. Andrea said: "I knew instinctively something was wrong so I went for a second opinion. This time it was a woman doctor who sent me straight for a biopsy." Tests showed the cancer was spreading to her lymph glands. Andrea had surgery followed by six months of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and has since been given the all-clear.

She said of Amanda's fierce criticism: "She is a great actress and gave a terrific performance so I was saddened to read her negative comments. "Last week when she went to a MacMillan Cancer Relief event on our behalf she was being very positive about the storyline." She added: "It was all based on medical fact and double-checked with medical advisers. "We knew we could reach all the women in Britain with the message that early warning and vigilance was better than the consequences suffered by Alma. A storyline like this is in the best tradition of Coronation Street, which is not to shy away from campaigning issues. "Sometimes you have to be extreme to put something into the public conscience. "Based on medical evidence there were enough cases like Alma to justify making this storyline as radical as possible. "The Christie hospital in Manchester have told us they are dealing with 1,000 smears a day, compared with 2,000 a week before Alma's diagnosis. "Surely that is testament that it has had a positive effect on women. The fact that so many more than ever are now asking for smear tests proves the message has hit home."

Cancer charities praised the show for tackling the subject. Jane Maher, chief medical officer of MacMillan Cancer Relief and a consultant oncologist, said: "For a soap to take on such a delicate and at times taboo subject is a positive step because it has opened the whole issue up to debate. "My message to those behind the soaps is to carry on talking about cancer and explode the myths surrounding it."

Cancerlink, a national self-help organisation, noted "an unprecedented" rise in callers to its information line as a result of Alma's death. Spokeswoman Clare Benjamin said: "You could almost time the calls to the end of each episode. "We shouldn't look upon this as taboo. I think it was very brave to take this on. What Coronation Street has done is become a forum and it has started a huge debate on the whole subject, which means more people are asking for information and that is a great step forward."

Dr Anne Szarewski, cervical cancer expert at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, said: "The publicity from Coronation Street appears to have spurred women on to attend smear tests so the effect has been a positive one."

Even Amanda admitted that the plot had raised cancer awareness. She told GMTV: "The only thing that really worried me was that I thought it was such a horrible tale that it would put people off - but it hasn't."

Sally & Martin set sparks flying in Corrie affair
19 June 2001

CORONATION Street's losers in love Sally Webster and Martin Platt are to be thrown together in a shock summer romance. It happens when the couple, both nursing broken hearts in the top ITV series, take their kids camping. In the storyline, Sally takes her girls Rosie and Sophie for a weekend away with Martin, his son David and step daughter Sarah-Lou, and foster parents Roy and Hayley Cropper with their youngster Wayne.

Sally and Martin start chatting around the camp fire. Then the booze takes effect and the action hots up. When the kids are fast asleep, Sally - best pal of Martin's ex-wife Gail - and Martin start chatting around the camp fire. Sally has a glass of wine too many, the booze takes effect and the action hots up and she ends up sleeping with Martin, whose big friend of Sally's ex Kevin.

But when Sally Whittaker and Sean Wilson, who play the two characters, read the storyline, they fell about laughing. They have been best pals since joining the soap 16 years ago. Yesterday, they walked up the road to the studios arm-in-arm, laughing and joking and looking every bit a couple of lovers. One onlooker said : "They were really lovey- dovey - you could have been mistaken for them filming their new romance."

A Street spokeswoman said the steamy scenes would be screened at the end of July and added: "Sally has had her fingers burned with men in the past and feels she can't trust strangers any more - but she has known Martin for a long time". The romance is bound to ignite fireworks when Gail discovers Sally is dating Martin.

Alma goes - but how many more ?
19 June 2001

ALMA Halliwell might have passed on, but could it be last orders for others at the Rovers? The Street's stars, who've been getting angry over pay, shouldn't assume they have bosses over a barrel. Gossips at Corrie HQ claim the show's executive producer Jane Macnaught has confidential contingency plans - well, they were until now - to kill off more than seven characters by commissioning a series of cast-depleting plot lines

The scheme was hatched at a secret meeting at a Southport hotel, apparently, where senior figures discussed staging a fire at the Rovers (death count: three), a shoot-out at the Post Office (death count: four), and a "mad cow-like problem" (death count: indeterminate).

It's all being rubbished by Granada, however. "We've never had a forward- planning meeting in Southport and everyone has been offered new contracts," says press officer Alison Sinclair. "I've spoken to Jane Macnaught and she thinks it's laughable. It's the biggest laugh we've had all day."

Corrie star - "We don't do much"
18 June 2001 by Simon Holden

Actress Amanda Barrie has admitted that soap stars get paid for "doing nothing". Amanda quit Corrie last night after 20 years playing Alma Halliwell, who died after suffering cervical cancer. Last week it was disclosed that long- serving stars in the soap are paid more than Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Amanda told GMTV: "You get paid for waiting. It's like an airport. "You get paid for sitting around. I want to get fit and work on stage again." The actress says she and her highly paid colleagues spend most of their working time sitting in the Granada Studio Green Room waiting to do their scenes. The Green Room is a refreshments lounge near the sets.

Cast members are still in a pay row with Corrie makers Granada TV. The company wants to stop senior stars getting paid extra for going on holiday and to reduce the number of public appearances they make. A Coronation Street spokesman denied that the cast "sit around all day" while working. She told TV Plus: "An actor may be in four scenes in a day but there may be a gap in between where they will learn lines, be in costume or make-up."

About 14.4 million people saw Alma breathe her last on Sunday night. ITV cornered 62% of the TV audience. Wildlife On One was watched by a mere 2.9 million.

Corrie veteran Bill Roache is paid more than £166,000 a year for portraying Ken Barlow, while Barbara Knox, who plays Rita, gets about £180,000. Prime Minister Tony Blair receives £147,000 per annum.

Corrie under fire for cancer death
18 June 2001

Coronation Street's scriptwriters are under fire from one of their top actresses after her character was killed off as a result of cancer. Amanda Barrie accused them of mounting a "cheap ratings ploy" over the cancer death of Alma Halliwell. The 63-year-old actress, who has played Alma for more than two decades, said she was "horrified" when the news of her character's impending death was broken.

Barrie, who has had her own real-life cancer scare, argued that the scriptwriters had missed the chance to include anything "remotely uplifting" in the storyline. "As Alma's illness and deterioration proceeded with such amazing speed I really did feel I was being asked to take part in a cheap ratings ploy. I didn't like it one bit."

In the storyline, Alma is summoned to a third smear test appointment after missing her first and falling victim to a hospital blunder on her second. She is given a terminal diagnosis and told treatment is futile by a consultant as soon as the results of the repeat test are revealed.

The actress said the script got it all wrong, "I knew it was wrong. Cervical cancer takes years and years to develop." "No consultant would make a pronouncement as quickly and as bluntly as that. And no woman would have reached that stage without severe symptoms, which Alma didn't have." "I felt straight away that it gave completely the wrong message."

In an effort to make the story more realistic Barrie offered to have her hair shaved off in order to portray Alma as undergoing chemotherapy. But storyline editor Di Burrows told her "there would be no question of that". Barrie added, "It didn't occur to me then that I would go so quickly. It's the speed of it all which I think has been the worst aspect."

The character's death was an emotional episode, with friends and enemies from the Street uniting in their grief. An ITV spokesman said they were trying to make the long-running soap more hard-hitting, "We're hoping that the storyline will show there's so many more issues surrounding cancer, including the effects on others."

Alma's cancer death is the latest in a line of Coronation Street plots designed to boost the ratings. They included the harrowing rape of Toyah Battersby.

Corrie tear-jerker as Alma loses cancer battle
17 June 2001

Coronation Street's Alma has lost her battle against cervical cancer in a tear-jerking episode. In her final moments Alma, played by Amanda Barrie, lay ashen-faced in Audrey Roberts' house as her close friends said their goodbyes. It is hoped the show will prove a ratings winner for the ITV soap. Alma's funeral will be screened on Wednesday. Mike and Audrey will then travel to the Lake District to scatter her ashes.

A Coronation Street spokeswoman said the scenes had been difficult to film: "It was so moving and really devastating for them all to watch her go like that. "It has been an incredibly moving performance by Amanda and Sue Nicholls. We're hoping that the storyline will show there's so many more issues surrounding cancer including the effects on others."

In the emotion-filled episode former husband Mike Baldwin, played by Johnny Briggs, and his rival Ken Barlow (Bill Roache), were united in grief at her bedside. Alma's distraught best friend Audrey (Sue Nicholls) her daughter Gail Platt (Helen Worth) and Curly Watts, played by Kevin Kennedy, also broke down as she passed away.

Barrie made the decision to quit the soap after playing the character for 20 years, but was unhappy at the way the character was written out. She branded the cancer storyline a "cheap ratings ploy" and "medically inaccurate". She thought it would put women off having smear tests after a hospital blunder and missed appointment meant Alma's condition was untreatable.

Amanda Barrie on holiday in Spain
Issue No 667 19 June 2001

As Coronation Street viewers watch brave Alma Halliwell come to terms with terminal illness, it's a comfort to know that the woman who plays her ñ the equally feisty Amanda Barrie - is looking forward to a wonderful life that Weatherfield folk can only dream of. She will henceforth divide her time between her stylish flat in London's theatreland and her luxury penthouse on Spain's Costa Blanca.

Unlike many Street actors who have been shocked to find themselves written out of the show, it was very much Amanda's decision to leave. "I don't think soaps nowadays are written for older people" she says, "I'm not young enough to keep having romances, for a start! And there are all those challenges I've avoided, which I'd like to have the opportunity to take on now"

Amanda was particularly anxious about Alma's controversial cervical cancer exit storyline because, 15 years ago, she had her own cancer scare, followed by a hysterectomy. She has been well ever since - her problem was, it turned out, gynaecological - but she says: "I remember waiting for my results. I really was afraid that I had cancer and some tests came back borderline. I was in a cold sweat all the time. My strongest feeling about what has happened to Alma is that if one woman stayed away from her doctor because of anything she's seen in the show then that would be unforgivable"

For more on Amanda Barrie, her real-life health dramas and her plans for the future, see this week's HELLO! Magazine, on sale now.

Alma's mourners told not to wear black
17 June 2001

Mourners at Alma's funeral in Coronation Street will not be dressed in black at the character's own request. It will also be an upbeat occasion with lively music.

Soap fans will see Alma, played by Amanda Barrie, die from cervical cancer in Sunday's episode. Her funeral will be screened on ITV on Wednesday. Audrey is introduced to Alma's cousin Richard Hillman. And at the wake they play Alma's video in which she thanks them all for their friendship and tells Mike she will always love him.

Doctor's and fans angry at Alma's demise
17 June 2001 by Simon Holden

The death of one of Britain's best- loved soap characters has not gone down well with thousands of fans. Alma Halliwell has succumbed to cervical cancer because actress Amanda Barrie wants to leave the show after 20 years.

Two doctors have already complained to TV regulator the ITC about the storyline and TV Plus has received dozens of letters from viewers asking why she just can't leave Weatherfield gracefully. The medical professionals said that Corrie has presented the very "worst- case scenario" by showing her dying so fast after diagnosis. They are not happy that after just one test she has refused all other treatment options.

Many other fans believe the story is far too melodramatic and unnecessary. TV regulator the ITC has already raised the issue of Alma's death with Granada Television, which makes the soap. A spokesman told TV Plus: "We will let the the current story play itself out before raising the issue again." A viewer from West Bromwich, West Midlands, said: "Not only does Alma get a consultation in a week or so, she gets offered radiotherapy straight away. My father waited eight weeks."

Granada says the Alma cancer story has been carefully researched and scripted so as not to offend viewers. Barrie, 65, has been applauded for her performance. She intially opposed the story saying "How dare they use an issue as sensitive as this just to win more viewers?" But she changed her view and hopes the story will encourage more women to have smear tests.

Tears as Street says farewell to Alma
17 June 2001

Much-loved Coronation Street character Alma Halliwell will lose her battle against cervical cancer surrounded by friends. The show is expected to be a ratings winner as millions of fans tune in to watch her last moments. Alma will pass away at the home of close friend Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls). At her deathbed will be ex-husband Mike Baldwin, former lover Ken Barlow, Mike's scheming wife Linda Baldwin, and Curly Watts.

Viewers have followed closely as Alma, played by Amanda Barrie, discovered she had cervical cancer. They watched her trying to cope with the devastating news that a missed appointment and a hospital blunder meant it was untreatable. Barrie attacked the storyline as a "cheap ratings ploy" and "medically inaccurate".

It is the latest in a line of hard-hitting Coronation Street plots designed to pull in the ratings and followed the harrowing rape of Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor). A Street insider said it had been difficult to film, adding: "It was so moving and really devastating for them all to watch her go like that. "In the coming weeks people will see her friends struggling to cope."

Millions expected to say farewell to Corrie favourite
16 June 2001

Millions of viewers are expected to tune into Coronation Street on Sunday night to watch one of the show's favourite characters die. Viewers have seen Alma Halliwell refuse treatment since being diagnosed with cervical cancer after missing a smear test.

Amanda Barrie, who played Alma, had announced she wanted to leave the show after 11 years in the soap.

Alma's funeral will be shown on Wednesday night.

Alma storyline moves stars
15 June 2001 by TV Plus reporters

Corrie star Sue Nicholls has spoken of the personal impact of the heart-rending Alma storyline. Nicholls, 57, has been at the centre of the tragic cervical cancer plot as pal Audrey Roberts.

She said: "It does get sadder and sadder and I know it's been very emotive and there's been lots of controversy. "But it made me go for a smear test which I kept putting off and I now know the signs of this cancer."

Nicholls insists Corrie has got the Alma storyline just right. "The only feedback I have had has been very positive," she told This Morning. "I have two friends who have had cancer and they say it's mirrored their own situation. "We (Amanda Barrie and herself) both knew we had to get it right because we knew it was going to affect a lot of people. Amanda really did her homework. There is no self-pity in her performance. It's just spot on."

Alma turns to wicked queen after quitting the Street
15 June 2001

Amanda Barrie will turn to panto after the death of her Coronation Street character.

Alma will die in Sunday's episode after a battle against cancer. The first new role she has announced after leaving the soap is as the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She will play opposite Billy Pearce at the Alhambra in Bradford from December 14 until February 2.

On Sunday, viewers will see Mike put his fury at Linda's betrayal behind him to be at his ex-wife's side for her final hours. Ken and Mike's feud is also forgotten as they unite to make Alma as comfortable as possible. And Audrey arrives back from London unaware of how little time Alma has left. Curly manages to find her and they make it to the house with just moments to spare.

Chaos as Corrie star goes sick
14 June 2001

CORONATION Street suffered fresh turmoil yesterday after pregnant star Jacqueline Pirie went sick and threw crucial filming schedules into chaos. A team of scriptwriters was called to an emergency summit to rapidly re-write some sensational scenes involving her character, cheating factory boss Linda Baldwin.

This week Corrie fans saw bitchy Linda seduce textile boss Harvey Reubens in retaliation for TV husband Mike Baldwin visiting his ex-wife Alma on her sick bed. Who Linda finished up with was key to forthcoming episodes.

A Street production source said: "People had to move very quickly to halt the chaos. It called on some clever work by the scriptwriters." Other Corrie stars - already in dispute with the company over new contracts - found themselves having to fit in and work around the revamped storylines.

Jacqueline's illness was put down to complications with her pregnancy.

Granada turns job axe on management
14 June 2001 by George Trefgarne, Financial Correspondent

GRANADA announced that 100 managers would lose their jobs yesterday as a campaign to cut costs at ITV gathered pace. Charles Allen, chairman, said the job cuts were part of a programme to save £60m a year by 2004. He described it as a "delayering" of management, which will make ITV "more efficient, more focused and more effective". Further job losses at ITV Network Centre will be announced in two weeks. The news temporarily arrested the slump in Granada's shares, but they fell back in late trading to close unchanged at 167p. Carlton, the other big ITV company, fell 1 to 373p.

Three of a kind: Steve Morrison, Charles Allen and Henry Staunton at the head of Granada

The two companies are suffering from declining advertising sales coupled with the cost of their loss-making digital television enterprise, ITV Digital, running at £150m a year each. Investment in ITV Digital is being scaled back and a third backer being sought to help shoulder the burden. Steve Morrison, chief executive, said a partner could come from outside the media. "ITV Digital is an attractive operation for other industries," he said. "Especially as the new integrated TVs cut the cost of hooking up new customers to £40, compared with £200 for Sky and £600 for cable." In April, the companies said total spending on ITV Digital would be £1.1 billion, not £1.2 billion as planned and it will break even with 1.7m customers, not 2m. No profits will be seen until 2004, not next year, as first hoped.

The ITV cost-cutting has even extended to slashing the wages on Coronation Street, the flagship soap made by Granada. Some of the veterans, such as Barbara Knox, 67, who plays Rita Sullivan, and Bill Roache, 69, who plays Ken Barlow, are facing wage cuts of up to £50,000 a year as their contracts are updated and holiday pay cut. There is talk of strike action and Granada faces an emergency meeting with representatives of actors' union Equity today.

Granada reported its plunge into the red yesterday. Losses at continuing operations were £69m in the six months to March, compared to pre-tax profits of £289m in the same period last year. However, if exceptionals and goodwill are added back in, the company showed pre-tax profits of £17m. That compares to £58m on a pro-forma basis last year.

Granada is to reorganise around two divisions: platforms and content. The latter will be run by Simon Shaps, while a new executive is being sought for the platform division, which will include the new sports channel. The hope is that every 1pc recovery in advertising will lead to a 3pc increase in profits. Mr Allen had little comfort on advertising revenues yesterday. He said it was 5.4pc down in the first half and advanced bookings for July were down 17-18pc. "It is pretty clear that advertising is weak across all Western economies," he said.

One blow to ITV has been the failure of the Survivor programme to attract big audiences. Mr Morrison said: "It's not a flop. We are now down to 10 contestants and I hope audiences will pick up as we get towards the end. " "This Monday, we added 1.5m viewers, taking it to 6.5m, which is much more than Big Brother on Channel 4. In the Morrison household, my 14-year-old daughter is absolutely hooked."

Coronation Street actors 'will not strike,' say TV bosses
12 June 2001

Coronation Street bosses are confident the soap's stars will not strike in a dispute over pay. Members of the cast were reported to be upset over a proposed cut in their salaries. But a Granada TV spokesman said there is "no question of a strike."

Street veterans Barbara Knox and Bill Roache are said to earn £171,000 and £166,000 per year respectively. They reportedly face pay cuts of up to 30% under new contracts that limit their appearances in the series.

The Granada TV spokeswoman said the soap stars' salaries were "private and confidential" and she was unable to confirm their reported pay levels. But she added: "Granada is currently in discussion with the cast of Coronation Street, but there is no question of a strike at all."

Alma backs Corrie cancer death plot
12 June 2001 by Derek Robbins

Corrie actress Amanda Barrie, whose character Alma Halliwell will die from cervical cancer on Sunday, has backed the controversial soap storyline. Amanda, 61, who'd initially opposed the plot, said: "It's good to help boost cancer awareness by showing it in soaps." She gave her backing last night at a glittering event to raise funds for the Macmillan Cancer Relief charity - attended by Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Amanda revealed she had to think long and hard about the death of the character she's played for the last 12 years. "The only thing that really worried me was that I thought it was such a horrible tale it'd put people off, but it hasn't. There's been a huge increase in scans and smears."

Corrie story producer Di Burrows says the scenes when Alma dies are "harrowing". She told TV Times: "We've never done anything like this before - it's very harrowing viewing. "We see all of it really, because having embarked on the story we knew we had to see it through. "As an actress it's a huge challenge to live your own death, especially a character you've played for years. She gives a fantastic performance."

Di says she was shocked by the criticism aimed at the cervical cancer plot. "The backlash took us by surprise but it made us all the more determined to be accurate. Once people saw we were handling it sensitively the general feeling changed." Of the moving scenes with Alma and Audrey, she added: "It's struck a strong chord with viewers who've liked the female bonding."

Coronation Street cast could strike over pay
12 June 2001

Coronation Street stars are threatening to strike after facing huge wage cuts. Actors from the soap will meet representatives of their union Equity on Thursday. Veterans like Barbara Knox and Bill Roache have discovered their pay packets could be slashed by up to 30% under new contracts.

Equity's films, television and radio expert Andy Prodger told The Sun: "Cast members are very angry that Granada TV made proposals that mean a significant reduction in earnings. "Granada are looking at a situation where they don't like what they agreed in the past. But these were freely entered into. "There now has to be a negotiation and hopefully we'll resolve these issues. "We don't want to contemplate there being the need for industrial action. But you can never rule anything out."

Granada has refused to comment on the strike threat.

The Street still captivates viewers 41 years on
12 June 2001 by Clara Ferreira-Marques

The stiff upper lips of television executives quivered 41 years ago when they watched pilot episodes of "Coronation Street", the first TV soap to focus on working class characters. Since then many others have followed, but it was with the ups and downs of residents on a cobbled street of terraced houses, based on industrial Salford, that Granada Television defied British broadcasting tradition.

"[When it began] in 1960 Granada was still bringing all its leading actors up from London. Northern actors were considered to have unfashionable accents," the show's creator Tony Warren recalled. "We set out to change that."

Even after the streets of tightly packed red-brick houses have all but disappeared from Manchester's suburbs, millions of people still tune in four times a week to watch what Granada says is the world's longest-running television series. Four decades after the first episode was transmitted live, a cast of thousands has celebrated 25 births, 51 weddings and mourned 82 deaths. And the show, watched by more than 17 million viewers, is still going strong.

"It was meant to be going for 13 weeks, [and] it just carried on," Daran Little, one of the soap's 15 scriptwriters, said. "It is still top of the ratings." "If people continue to watch it, it will continue to carry on. It is a never-ending story," he said.

Only one character, Ken Barlow, has remained in the soap since it began, earning actor Bill Roache a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's longest serving soap star. "In some of the other British soap operas, the average life span of a character is much less than ours. You can be on "Coronation Street" for 10, 20, 30, 40 years," Little said.

The show is now broadcast to more than 20 countries, including China, with a Cantonese version whose title translates as "Joy Luck Street". "I think most people want to belong to a community. People appreciate the idea of these seven little houses ... (where) everyone knows everyone else's business," Little said. "They may not get the jokes, but they get the sense of community."

The show, known to fans and insiders simply as the Street, was almost called Florizel - after the young prince in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" - until one of the studio's helpers suggested it sounded like a detergent, and the creators set about finding a catchier name. Celebrities have lined up to pay their respects to Britain's longest serving television community. Prince Charles drank a pint of beer on the set of the Rovers' Return pub during a special anniversary episode. And Prime Minister Tony Blair - too busy to watch the show himself - asked the show's publicists to brief him on the campaign to free Deirdre Rashid, after the character was jailed for theft three years ago.

The smudged line between the "Coronation Street" set and reality becomes even less clear when the problems of the characters merge with those of viewers. Telephone numbers for viewers seeking advice were publicised when one character was raped, and when another found she was suffering from cancer. But Daran Little says the show is not about social education. "We're not a social realism programme in the sense that some soaps go out of their way to talk about issues," he said. "We don't do that. We're more domestic."

Nevertheless, a tour of the show's studios betrays a sharp eye for social detail. Actors' wardrobes are bought within the characters' actual budget, and all houses are carefully constructed and decorated. Walking around the set, publicist Alison Sinclair pointed to the mess of pots and pans piled up in the Duckworth family's kitchen, where family photographs and an embroidered Blackpool Tower fill the walls. "It's the kind of mess they would have," she said. "Household bills to pay, clothes in the laundry basket."

But the series remains fictional, scriptwriter Little says, despite the full page spreads dedicated to characters in Britain's mass-circulation newspapers. "It's a story. We don't pretend to be real," he said. "Baddies get caught on 'Coronation Street', and there is always someone who will make you a cup of tea."

Charles joins Street star in anti-cancer battle
11 June 2001

The Prince of Wales teamed up with actress Amanda Barrie in the battle against cancer at a charity extravaganza. Ms Barrie, who plays Alma Halliwell in Coronation Street, posed with Charles in the grounds of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. She was among other celebrities, including Elton John and Kylie Minogue, at the biggest ever gathering of fashion designers in the UK in aid of the Macmillan Cancer Relief charity. The Prince, a fan of Coronation Street in which Alma is about to die of cervical cancer, asked Barrie: "Have you gone yet?"

Barrie told Charles, who was at the event with Camilla Parker Bowles, that her character was due to die next week. She said later: "I told him I was 'going' soon. It's very good for soaps if it can help boost cancer awareness. It's all to the good." Mrs Parker Bowles later confided to Ms Barrie that she was a fan of the TV soap, the actress said.

The Prince later posed in the Versace pavilion with Naomi Campbell, Sophie Dahl, Patsy Kensit and Donatella Versace. As the group chatted, Donatella fingered the Prince's lapel and told him she hoped it was a Versace design. The Prince, whose dinner suit was made by Anderson & Shepherd of Savile Row, laughed. Dahl said she had asked Charles about Prince William's gap year. She said: "He said William was having a wonderful time. He was charming."

About 500 guests, paying at least £550 a ticket, were expected at the champagne reception. The centrepiece of the event was seven pavilions, each representing a showcase of different international fashion designers such as Giorgio Armani, Sir Paul Smith and Asprey & Garrard.

Corrie Changed My Sarah...
10 June 2001

THE vision of Miss Bettabuys posing in a skimpy blue swimsuit with a sash draped across her chest is one of the most enduring images in Coronation Street's long history. Actress Sarah Lancashire appeared to ooze confidence as she faced the TV cameras. But she was shaking with nerves inside. "God! It seemed to go on for ever and ever and ever," she confided in her husband Gary Hargreaves when she returned to their home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, that night in 1991. "She loathed standing around in front of those people, half-naked in a supermarket," says Gary. "She hated being seen as a clothes-horse, and for a while all Coronation Street seemed to do was send her on model shoots. She wanted to be an actor, not a model."

It was the first sign of the deep insecurity which was to plague Sarah during the Street career which made her a national star as barmaid Raquel Wolstenhulme. Now Gary, 46 - who met her when she was a shy 17-year-old - has spoken for the first time about the breakdown of his 10-year marriage to Britain's highest-paid TV actress. He decided to speak out after Sarah declared in an interview that she had got married only because she was pregnant and that leaving her husband had been "lovely". He called her remarks "rubbish" yesterday. But Sarah, 36 - busy unpacking boxes at the luxurious £1million house where she moved in with her fiance, BBC executive Peter Salmon, last month - refused to expand on her version of why their marriage broke up.

Gary believes the pressure of TV stardom was the real reason why it fell apart. Sarah had been spotted in a local play. Gary, a musician and education consultant, says: "She went for a casting at Granada and came home to tell me she had a part in Coronation Street. We thought she would be in it for five weeks, not five years. "It's hard to believe, but Sarah was terrified of failure, and from day one on the Street she felt insecure. Her fame was a big shock for us all - and especially for her. I was happy to support and comfort her, but it was always hard to convince her how talented she really was."

Today, Gary thinks their relationship might have been saved if the demands of the Street had not been so heavy. He says: "I don't think Coronation Street does any of the cast's relationships any favours. The workload is unbearable, particularly for the bigger characters. Raquel was given so many cracking storylines that Sarah just crumbled under the pressure. "Our kitchen cupboards were full of chocolate, Complan and Weetabix. She used to say she needed the Complan to keep her blood sugar level up and she would get through several boxes a week. She just craved sugar. "She started getting too thin when she was working very hard and burning weight off. She would ask: 'Am I too thin?', but I would reassure her because I knew she would bounce back."

HE reveals: "Sarah did a great job in creating Raquel - she based her on a dippy blonde with a heart of gold she worked with in a bar years before. "But it was just so hard to combine the character with a normal family life."

At first, they enjoyed the fame. Gary, who had worked for years on the showbiz circuit, helped her to cope with life in the public eye. "In the early years, Sarah needed me at Coronation Street parties," he says. "She was more daunted by them than I was. I had worked with Sean Wilson (Martin Platt) and Mark Le Vel (Kevin Webster) when they were kids at a workshop in Manchester. Bill Tarmey (Jack Duckworth) had been in a band with me."

But as Sarah became established, she began to grow apart from her husband. The effervescent blonde on the screen bore no resemblance to the frazzled woman who came home to Gary and sons Thomas, now 13, and Matthew, 11. "Sarah was ratty and irritable," says Gary. "She would come in knackered, have a row with me and then go to bed. The next day, the cycle would start all over again. There was no such thing as normal family life." To make matters worse, the unspoilt girl he had fallen in love with changed.

Gary says: "Sarah became ashamed of me, I think, particularly of what I did for living and how I looked. I have a slight weight problem and she was constantly calling me fat. "If we were on holiday in Ibiza or Majorca and I was in swimming trunks, she would say: 'Breathe in.' I like beer, but she tried to make me drink shorts to look more sophisticated. I know one thing: her adoring public would not recognise the real Sarah Lancashire.

She even tried to make me tone down my broad Oldham accent because it sounded too common. "After she left the Street, we were in the car and she shrieked: 'Hi!' down the mobile phone in such an affected voice, it made me feel sick. She had always said her worst nightmare was becoming a luvvie type. At that moment I realised she has become one. "She was hugely popular with the executives at Granada. At Christmas dinners, the bosses would demand she sat next to them. Her personality drew them like magnets. Some of these people are frightful bores. And they certainly had no interest in me. I started to grow sick of being called Mr Sarah Lancashire. The food was always terrible. There would be a tiny piece of meat swimming in a green juice with an olive plonked on top."

By 1994 Gary had given up a lecturing job to concentrate on composing. He wrote TV jingles and music for panto. But Sarah was not happy. "She had no interest in what I was doing," he says. "As a self-employed man starting out, I wasn't bringing in loads of money. She would call me a sponging layabout. She made me feel I had ceased to exist." Gary recalls a Granada event at which Victoria Wood was performing. He says: "Sarah went over to talk to her, and because I was a great fan I went to join them. But Sarah suddenly put her arm out and said: 'Not now, Gary, please.' I no longer fitted in."

Sarah became desperate for some respite from her exhausting schedule. Gary remembers her screaming: "I just can't stand it any more. All they care about is their bloody show. I'm bloody sick of it!" As she dissolved into tears, Gary put his arm around his wife and begged her to walk away from the soap which had made her a star. "Things were terrible," he says. "Sarah used to have to leave at the crack of dawn to have her Raquel hairstyle done. In the end, her hair was like a big lump of straw. They bought her a £3,000 wig."

Sarah refused to employ help in the house and spent the little spare time she had manically digging up the back garden. "She was physically and emotionally shattered," says Gary. "She had always suffered from emotional and anxiety problems and had been on and off tablets a lot of her life. The minute she found she was pregnant with our youngest, she decided to come off Diazepam pills. She didn't realise how difficult it would be. She came off a quarter of a tablet at a time, and there was anxiety, tearfulness and nervousness."

Everywhere they went, Sarah was recognised. "Her fame was a huge problem," says Gary. "We couldn't go out like a normal couple without people coming up asking for autographs. "She would be lovely to the fans, but would then take her frustrations out on me. In the end, we couldn't even go for a quiet drink together. She had to make sure she looked all right, had decent clothes on." She took on too many outside jobs. Gary says: "Sarah is terrible at making the most basic decisions and piled too much pressure on herself. Whatever people asked her to do, she said Yes, even though she was exhausted.

WE still had the occasional funny time. She was asked to judge a sausage-tasting competition and she really hates sausages. I had to do it for her in secret. "We laughed when a job lot of sausages was delivered to our home."

They got on well with Kevin Kennedy - Sarah's screen husband Curly Watts - Charlie Lawson (Jim Macdonald) and Phil Middlemiss (Des Barnes), and took their sons to watch Corrie cricket matches. Gary says: "Sarah and Phil were quite close and they had had a screen relationship. They would be quite flirty."

But there were too few good times. "We were rowing constantly," says Gary. "It was terrible. She made all the decisions and I was left out in the cold. "My overdraft was going up towards £2,000 and there would be cheques on the mantelpiece for £3,000 she had earned for personal appearances. She made it clear the money was hers. I began to irritate her just by breathing. "She wouldn't tell me what she earned. It just felt wrong that, earlier in the relationship, I did not earn much but was happy to give her every penny I had."

Matters reached breaking-point as Sarah filmed Raquel's honeymoon with Curly on the QE2 at Christmas 1995. "We rowed so ferociously beforehand that I nearly didn't go," says Gary. "She was filming most of the day. The boys and I spent loads of time together, but we saw hardly any of Sarah. "She and Kevin have huge respect for each other and he was terribly nervous about being in bed with her. To put him at his ease, she donned a huge pair of white Y- fronts and woolly socks under the covers." Her attitude changed abruptly when Kevin turned up drunk the next day. Gary says: "Sarah tore him off a strip. She can be really sweet or destroy a person, depending on how she is feeling at the time."

When they returned, Sarah demanded that Gary leave the family home. "I walked out without packing a bag and took myself to Wales for four days," he says. "I didn't even ring home. I couldn't handle it any more. "I came back. When we weren't rowing, there were times when we would sit at home crying, asking each other what on earth we were doing to each other. Hours later, she would be shrieking at me to get out of her life and leave. It was madness."

Raquel's last Corrie scene, early in 1996, had her setting off for a new life abroad as a beauty therapist. At about the same time, Gary moved out. "Our relationship just hadn't had a chance," he says. "Towards the end of Corrie, she was working so hard she became terribly stressed and down. She would often burst into tears and suffer incredible mood swings. I tried to be helpful, but she just shut me out."

He found a cottage, and they decided that she should have the children. Once Sarah had left the Street and they had divorced in April 1997, they tried to rebuild their friendship. Gary says: "Until the moment she said she had only married me because she was pregnant, I thought - and hoped - that was the way we would stay." But that is unlikely to happen now.

Brookie favourite is Corrie stalker
9 June 2001

FORMER Brookie hairdresser Sam Kane has been revealed as the Internet stalker who will terrorise Corrie's gymslip mum Sarah Platt. The Liverpool actor plays Gary, who poses as a teenager and kidnaps the single mum. It's a far cry from his role in Brookside as camp Peter Phelan, whose loud shirts and bouffant hair was a hit with fans.

As a father of two, 32-year-old Sam, married to former glamour girl Linda Lusardi, 41, is delighted to help carry such a strong message. He said: "It terrifies me to think that in a few years my daughter or son could be exposed to who knows what kind of unsuitable people and subjects on the Internet. "Young people generally will take more notice of a character they know on television than an authoritative figure like a teacher, politician or even a parent. "Personally, it's great to have the chance to play a controversial character."

The dramatic storyline will unfold next month as Sarah, played by Tina O'Brien, struggles with lonely life as a teenage mum. She turns to chatrooms and is quickly befriended by "teenager" Gary. But Gary is a grown man who preys on young girls and Sarah agrees to meet him with terrifying consequences. Viewers will have to wait until July 15 to see if she escapes unscathed.

Granada chiefs claim to be working closely with experts to highlight the growing menace of adults who prey on youngsters in chatrooms. Sam added: "It seems totally ludicrous that there is no form of regulation on it."

Ken may quit soap over pay cut threat
7 June 2001

CORONATION Street veteran Bill Roache is battling soap bosses over a 25 per cent pay cut. They want to cut costs by slashing the £160,000-a-year wage packet of the actor who plays Ken Barlow in the top soap. And Roache's wife Sara said her husband could walk out on the Street after more than 40 years if the talks break down. She said: "It's now under discussion. Obviously they're not going to sit back without putting up a fight."

Other high earners like Barbara Knox, who plays Rita Sullivan, favourite Liz Dawn who plays Vera Duckworth and Johnnie Briggs, Mike Baldwin in the series, also face pay cuts. They could appear in fewer episodes with cheaper actors used in an increasing number of shows.

News of the feud comes after it emerged that many of the soap's experienced stars had become disillusioned by recent storylines. One insider said: "Leading members of the cast aren't happy with the writing. There's a feeling they're not having as much fun. "They miss the comedy. They used to look forward to the light-hearted lines but many feel the current writers aren't on the same wavelength."

The Street's writing team has seen a big shake-up in the last couple of years, with the loss of key figures. One former writer said: "Now a lot comes from the producer - the writers are more or less told what to do. "You can drop a bomb on the place, have incest or rape, but it's not what the Street's about. People loved it because it wasn't like that."

A Street spokeswoman refused to discuss the pay claims yesterday.

Rings joy for Janice
6 June 2001

THERE was joy for Coronation Street star Vicky Entwistle yesterday when she was reunited with her missing rings. Her platinum and diamond engagement ring and a gold prayer ring went missing after a sunbed session at a beauty centre.

Vicky, 34, who plays Janice Battersby, offered a £300 reward for their return. A woman who handed in the rings at a shop in Accrington, Lancashire, would not take the reward.

Soap bosses shut up shop at Freshco
5 June 2001

THE CASH crisis at Coronation Street is forcing the best-known shop in the country out of business. Producers have been told to slash costs - and the fictional Freshco supermarket is top of their hit-list.

Scenes at the store are filmed at a real supermarket near the Granada studios in Manchester. But the TV money men say it costs too much to hire the store and have ordered it be axed. Now scriptwriters are busy severing most of Freshco's links with the Street.

Supermarket supervisor Alma Halliwell is being killed off, while store boss Curly Watts will soon leave his job. Newly-elected Weatherfield councillor Curly, played by Kevin Kennedy, will become a full-time house husband to care for the baby he and police officer wife Emma are expecting and concentrate on his political career. His departure will leave shopping trolley collector Ken Barlow as the only major character left at Freshco.

An insider said: "There will be no point hiring the supermarket just to watch Ken pushing a few trolleys around. "Freshco will still exist and be spoken about but the viewers will not see it any more." The shop has been the location of some gripping storylines, including last year's armed siege and the chilling death of stalker Anne Malone in a freezer.

Freshco's demise comes only weeks after many top Corrie stars were told their pay is being cut as part of a bid to save £500,000. Some have been offered contracts that would slash the number of episodes they are in and cut their wages by up to a third.

Bride Tracy heads for sun
5 June 2001

BEAMING newly-wed Tracy Shaw jetted off on honeymoon with husband Robert Ashworth yesterday. The Coronation Street star left her home in Manchester, saying only she was off "somewhere very hot and a long way away".

Tracy, 27, who plays Maxine Peacock, tenderly kissed TV producer Robert as they loaded their suitcases into the car. The couple have sold their wedding and honeymoon pictures in a reported £250,000 magazine deal.

Alma: my amazing secret life
3 June 2001

CORONATION Street star Amanda Barrie has opened her heart to millions of fans as they prepare to mourn her much-loved character. On the eve of Alma Baldwin's death after 20 years in the soap, the Sunday People can reveal her true-life amazing secrets. They include:

• She is BLIND in one of her beautiful eyes.
• She has been ordered not to WEEP over Alma's death because it could make her totally blind.
• She was hounded by a stalker who MURDERED a lookalike neighbour believing it was Amanda.
• She was propositioned by a Royal go-between to SEDUCE Prince Charles when he was a teenager.
• She was looked after by PROSTITUTES when she started her showbusiness career as a chorus line dancer.

Many Corrie fans will weep two weeks today when Alma dies from cancer - but Amanda dare not because those big luminous eyes are failing. The actress - who is determined to renew her stage career - is blind in her left and the other takes the awful strain. Amanda, 65, says nervously: "So far the right eye is holding but I must not cry. Crying upsets it. I am so frightened that it will go. I just can't bear the thought of going totally blind."

Her first symptom, in 1995, was when she began to see claw-like shapes at the edge of her vision in her left eye. A specialist diagnosed central retinal occlusion, which leaves her with only the edge of her vision. Six months later as she dressed to go out in her flat in London's Covent Garden, she glanced at the lamp stand in her bedroom and was horrified because she couldn't see the centre of it. She stumbled downstairs to an optician in the flat below. He saw her eye was filling with blood and took her to hospital.

Amanda says: "Suddenly I could no longer see the world clearly. It was like peering through the windscreen when you're in a car wash. "I used to worry about the bags under my eyes. Now I couldn't care less as long as I can see. "Mostly I hate the idea of never being able to stand on a stage and look out at the audience. That's what I've loved, it has been the biggest part of me. "I try not to think about what might happen. I have always been a fighter and I will fight as hard for my sight as I have for everything in my life. I won't give up."

Looking at her background you can understand why she refuses to give in. Amanda learned how to look after herself at a very early age. At just 13, as rebellious Shirley Ann Broadbent, she left home in Ashton- Under-Lyne, near Manchester, to work for a theatre company in London. Her parents, in the throes of divorce, saw how much she craved a stage career and were happy for her to go. So she made her home in seedy 1950s Soho and rubbed shoulders with other young starlets like Barbara Windsor.

Shirley Ann picked the stage name Amanda Barrie and her guardian angels were the hookers on the streets. She says: "The prostitutes, who all seemed really ancient to me at the time, used to look after me. They would see me home. "There was no question of getting drawn into their way of life. In those days, the prostitutes would have sent a young girl packing. "But they made sure I was all right and I felt safer in Soho in those days than I have anywhere in my life."

All that changed a few years later when Amanda moved to Glasgow and began to get love letters after a picture of her wearing a skimpy bikini was published. The letters became threatening, followed by menacing phone calls. Amanda recalls: "Eventually we told the police and they used to escort me to and from the theatre. "Then one day I came home to find the girl whose room was directly below mine had been murdered. "They never caught the killer, but after she died I never got another letter or call again. "She looked just like me. She was my height, my size and hair colour. "I'm convinced it was a case of mistaken identity. The stalker killed this girl thinking she was me.

"Years later I was stalked again when I was in Coronation Street. This man used to follow me home and stayed outside my flat screaming all night. "I was absolutely terrified. I couldn't help thinking about what happened in Glasgow but the police told me they couldn't do anything unless he attacked. So I was forced to put up with him until one day when he just disappeared."

Many soap stars come into contact with the Royal family. But few can top Amanda's incredible story which has never fully been revealed before. She was just 23 and on the verge of Carry On film fame when upper-crust actor James Robertson-Justice, a close friend of Prince Philip for 20 years, made an astonishing proposition over a drink in a bar. She recalls: "He was obviously very embarrassed and went round and round in circles before it came out. "Finally, he admitted he was one of eight people who had been selected to help `launch the Royal males into their future lives' as he put it. "Between them, they had to choose anyone they thought would be suitable to teach 15-year-old Prince Charles about sex and James had decided I would be suitable. "He actually said: `We don't really want people who are experienced, but on the other hand, they obviously have to know the ropes. "Frankly, the main thing one needs is a sense of humour and I know you have got that'." Amanda declined politely. She says: "I had this terrible image of having to face the Queen over breakfast. What would she say? `So, Amanda, how was it?' "

Amanda's funny image stems from roles like Cleopatra in Carry On Cleo, when she became famous for fluttering her huge eyelashes at Sid James. But for all her different gifts - not least the ability to make viewers laugh or cry - she keeps her dainty size fours on the ground and has never made it a secret that she felt it was time to quit the Street.

She announced her decision before the show's 40th anniversary in November last year. Amanda says: "I thought it was time I bowed out in the hope that there's another show in me. It's time to hand over to the youngsters. "I've had a happy time and I feel proud to have been in the Street but everything has it's time."

Clearly it is her fear of total blindness that has led her to try for stardom on the stage again - she is going on tour in Alan Bennett's play Lady In The Van. But with a wink she says: "I never think of Amanda Barrie as a star - when I bother to think at all. It always comes out as that girl from Ashton-Under-Lyne."

TRIBUTES TO ACTRESS WHO BRIGHTENED UP OUR DAY

• Former Corrie star Denise Welch says: "Her character Alma always brightened up my day. She was always my favourite even before I joined the Street."
• TV presenter Lorraine Kelly says: "Alma's death is really sad. The quality of Amanda's acting has been terrific - it has been so difficult to watch."
• Oasis star and lifelong Corrie fan, Noel Gallagher says: "Amanda is one of the best actresses on the Street and it's so sad she's leaving."
• Bill star Samantha Robson says: "It is a travesty Amanda's going. She's portrayed Alma with a conviction that is a tribute to all cancer sufferers."
• TV presenter Vanessa Feltz says: "Amanda is a fantastic actress. She has played Alma with sensitivity, vulnerability and with guts. We will miss her."

Tracy says 'I Choo' at £100,000 wedding
3 June 2001

SHE has had more than her fair share of heartbreaks but actress Tracy Shaw finally married the man of her dreams yesterday. The Coronation Street star wed TV producer Robert Ashworth in a spectacular celebration a million miles away from the terrace houses of Weatherfield.

Stars of Corrie, past and present, turned out to share her big day at 17th Century Knowsley Hall on Merseyside. Tracy's dress, made by London designer Kyri, was a 1940s style off-the- shoulder full-length dress made from raw silk imported from India. Her £1,600 shoes were by Jimmy Choo. The wedding cost £100,000, with the bill for flowers alone coming to £10,000. One guest said: "She looked lovely - really stunning. She giggled nervously before the start but she wiped a tear away as Robert made his vows."

More than 50 minders were hired for the event after Tracy sold coverage of the day to a celebrity magazine. The 100 guests included Street favourites Liz Dawn (Vera Duckworth), Steven Arnold (Ashley Peacock), Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley Cropper), Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts), Sue Cleever (Eileen Grimshaw), Vicky Entwhistle (Janice Battersby), John Savident (Fred Elliott) and Shobna Gulati (Sunita Parekhr).

The Royle Family's Ricky Tomlinson was master of ceremonies and his screen wife Sue Johnston was matron of honour. Other guests included former Street star Angela Griffin, who is now in the hospital drama Holby City, and Emmerdale's Gary Turner.

Tracy, 27, whose weight once plummeted to five-and-a-half stone as she battled anorexia, has left a string of broken romances behind her. Previous boyfriends include footballer Dwight Yorke and Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall. She had a roller-coaster affair with entertainer Darren Day, to whom she was once engaged.

Tracy - the Street's hairdresser Maxine - met Robert, 29, through a mutual friend and the couple became engaged after a whirlwind six-month romance. Fifty chefs and caterers from a hotel prepared the wedding breakfast of Scottish smoked salmon, Aberdeen sirloin and game. The couple were toasted with Bollinger champagne.

Tracy's parents Karl and Ann, both 46, whose 25-year marriage broke down last year amid bitter recriminations, called a truce to be at the wedding.

Street bride and grope !
3 June 2001

THIS is the amazing picture of stunning Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw being naughtily groped by a half-naked DJ - just hours before her fairytale wedding to handsome TV producer Robert Ashwood. Drunken Joel Ross was only wearing a pair of Calvin Klein underpants as he cheekily slid his left hand all over micro-skirted Tracy's bottom while they danced closely together during her boozy hen party at a trendy Manchester bar.

And last night 24-year-old radio DJ Joel, who also dropped his pants in front of her to moon at people outside in the street, said: "Tracy has a great bum - pert and in great condition. "It felt lovely. I don't know any man who wouldn't have done what I did, given half the chance. "Tracy got on her hands and knees and started crawling around the room. All you could see was her bum waggling across the floor in a tight black skirt. She looked great."

But it was a completely different Tracy who turned up yesterday at stately Knowsley Hall, Merseyside, for her £100,000 marriage. This time the 27-year-old actress, who plays hairdresser Maxine Peacock, wore an elegant off-white, full-length off-the-shoulder 1940s-style dress made from the finest raw silk imported from India. And after saying her wedding vows, emotional Tracy cried as top-hatted Robert, 29, repeated his own in the 17th-Century chapel.

Corrie cast members including Stephen Arnold (Ashley), Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley), Kevin Kennedy (Curly), Vicky Entwistle (Janice), Sue Cleaver (Eileen Grimshaw), John Savident (Fred Elliott), Liz Dawn (Vera Duckworth) and Shobna Gulati with Emmerdale star boyfirend Gary Turner arrived in a fleet of limos and black cabs.

Later the 100 guests toasted them in Bollinger champagne - all except for Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson who wished them well with a swig of his favourite mild beer - before they jetted off to honeymoon on a secret desert island paradise.

Meanwhile DJ Joel, who presents the breakfast show on Manchester FM station Key 103, was still recovering from his bawdy 24th birthday party at Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall's Barca cafe bar. He'd already "had a skinful" when Tracy and Corrie Street friends gatecrashed from her hen party in the next room.

Joel said: "I was delighted to see her. but she was completely tanked up. She had been drinking these bright pink drinks, I think they were Sea-breezes." Joel had been stripped down to his underpants by the time he invited Tracy to dance. But he said: "She didn't mind. I don't know why I put my hand on her bum, but I'm glad I did. After all it is a nice a***, isn't it? "At one point I even dropped my undies and started pulling moonies at the window to people outside and Tracy thought it was a good laugh. "Mind you she wasn't much better. Kevin Kennedy, who plays Curly Watts, began playing with the band we had booked, and Tracy was on hands and knees in front of him kissing his feet. "I thought she would be a bit stuck up but she was really down to earth and natural. She told me how much in love she is and described her wedding dress. "Her hubby Robert is a lucky guy, that's for sure. I wish Tracy and him all the best."

Why our little Louis is God's gift to us
2 June 2001 by Angela Hagan

On a hazy day last summer, Tim Healy was sprawled on the sofa in his Cheshire home watching the Wimbledon tennis championships when his wife Denise Welch calmly announced, "I'm pregnant". Neither spoke another word for two hours. Instead, they watched top seed Martina Hingis lose her battle to take the women's trophy. After the match, Denise's announcement suddenly sunk in and hit Tim like a ton of bricks. In his broad Geordie accent, he tentatively asked her, "Well, what do you feel about it, like?" She simply replied, "I feel great".

Recalling that moment almost one year later, Tim, who is now the proud father of 13-week-old Louis as well as Matthew, 12, hoots with laughter. "To be honest, I just didn't believe it and thought it might be a false alarm at first. It took a couple of months for it all to sink in," he says. "In fact, it took a lot longer than that. "In all honesty, I hadn't wanted another child. I'd always been happy with just Matthew. I'd thought, `We've got a fantastic little boy and he doesn't need anyone else. He's got us and we've got him'. "Besides, we hadn't even been trying for a baby. I'm 49 and Denise is 42, so we weren't exactly expecting this to happen, although I think Denise had always hoped we'd have another."

As Denise busied herself, making arrangements for the new addition to their household, Tim - who's back on our screens in this week`s episode of Murder In Mind - spent those first few weeks in a state of denial. "But then, as Denise got bigger and bigger I knew it was for real," he says with a laugh and a shake of his head.

He couldn't be blamed for worrying about his wife being pregnant again. After she gave birth to Matthew, Denise suffered severe post-natal depression which lasted for a year. But any concerns he had about that paled in comparison to the problems the couple faced once Louis was born at Manchester's Hope Hospital in March.

It was obvious that something was wrong when Louis was not feeding properly. For a fraught week, Tim and Denise could only stand by and watch as he underwent tests in a special care unit. He was later diagnosed as having Hirschsprung's disease, in which part of the bowel has no nerve endings, and has since had an operation to rectify this. "We are just taking things day by day," says Tim quietly. "We have to keep taking Louis back for check-ups. He was a gift from God, otherwise why didn't we have him in the last 12 years? I mean, we weren't even trying. But it's wonderful to have this little baby. And he's so laid-back. He sleeps right through, just like Matthew did as a baby. He's like his dad - he likes his sleep."

As for Denise, Tim says not only is there no hint of post-natal depression this time around, but she has never been happier. Denise, who left Coronation Street after four years as landlady Natalie to have Louis, is now taking a well-earned break. "Having the baby was something she needed, she's complete now," he says. "She found what she needed to have. I have never seen her looking so good either - she looks five years younger. She doesn't want to go back to work at the moment... or ever again the way she feels. "Matthew, his big brother, is besotted with the baby too. We worried at one stage that he might get a bit jealous, but once he realised that our feelings haven't changed towards him he was OK. He only ever wants to be with Louis now. He adores him and he's been a great help."

The age gap between his two sons, and indeed between himself and Louis, doesn't worry Tim too much either. "I'm going to have a two-year-old and a son in puberty, at 14, all at the same time. It will be tough," he says with a grin. "It just means that I will be taking Louis for his first pint when I'm 67. I'm not worried about it. I was in my late thirties when I had Matthew, so I'm used to being an older dad. Anyway, it's not just me, look at Clint Eastwood and David Jason. The great thing about being an older father is you are more settled and more financially sorted, so you know you can support your children. I suppose there are pros and cons about the whole thing."

The only setback that Tim can see is that he has had to shelve any plans for early retirement. "I've got to work for the next 20 years at least now, but that's OK because I love my job," he says. "I feel the same about it now as I did when I was 20, so I'm very lucky. Last year I only did about two or three parts, but this year I'm working all the way through from January to Christmas." His latest role is in Vigilante, this week's instalment of the gripping Sunday night crime drama series Murder In Mind, which concerns the death of a suspected local paedophile. Tim plays Detective Chief Inspector Duggan who unwittingly assigns the killer - a member of his own police squad - to investigate the case. "Usually I'm cast as the villain, so to get the chance to play a senior policeman was a very nice promotion," he says with a smile.

Forthcoming roles include playing a reformed alcoholic in an ITV drama, The Jury, and teaming up with Bob Hoskins for a Christmas film called The Lost World. Plus, Auf Wiedersehen Pet fans are in for a treat when Tim returns to the role of moody foreman Dennis, which made him famous, for a remake of the hit 1970s series, to be shown later this year. Despite this hectic schedule, Tim makes sure he's not missing out on his baby son's first few precious months.

Even though he clearly adores his children, he practically has a choking fit when asked if he'd ever have another. "No way, man!" he splutters. "I'm too old. No more children for me. The only thing I'll be doing is getting the snip. Yes, I'm going to have to sort that out next..."

Lee's clean bill of health
2 June 2001

Former soap star Lee Boardman on why his father's heart scare is forcing him to shape up for the future. Last month saw the real soap wedding of the year when former Corrie villain Lee Boardman married Street star Jennifer James. Now, with a wife and a new career away from Weatherfield, Lee has everything to live for - and he is determined to make sure that he does.

After making his wedding vows, Lee caught the eye of his proud dad Hal among the congregation at Manchester Town Hall, and made another, silent promise to himself to change his lifestyle. He fears that if he doesn't start taking better care of his health he may suffer from the same heart trouble that nearly killed his father nine years ago. "Dad had to have a five-way heart bypass," explains Lee, 29, who makes his first TV appearance since leaving the Street in Friday's episode of The Bill. "He was a very fit man and for a few years was a sergeant in the army, but his diet left a lot to be desired. He's from Salford and was brought up with not very much money. They used to eat the wrong things and those habits stayed with him. That's how his arteries furred up. "I'd see him clutching his chest and ask if he was all right and he'd just say, `Yeah, I'm fine', but he'd be having mild heart attacks. There were two or three months when we thought he wasn't going to make it and that he'd die. The specialist said that he should have had a fatal heart attack about eight years earlier, but my dad's built like an ox."

Now, as Lee starts married life with Jennifer, who plays bubbly Rovers barmaid Geena, he's determined not to experience the same health problems. "I want to live a long life and see my children and grandchildren grow up, because my dad very nearly didn't," he says. "I'm 13 stone and I want to shave about two stone off. I piled on the pounds in Corrie. At weekends I'd go away with Simon Gregson, who plays Steve McDonald, and we'd stay in good hotels, eat the nicest food and drink the best wine. I'll still do that now and again, but I'm also in the gym every day and am cooking things that are low in fat."

As head chef at their home in Mere, Cheshire, which he and Jennifer have been renovating, Lee can watch what he eats. "I do all the cooking. My mum taught me how when I was ten. She said, 'Women love men who cook', and she was right! It's pathetic for blokes to pretend they can't cook or iron a shirt. I can do all that... and I'm fantastic in bed as well," he adds with a grin.

Lee and Jennifer met on the set of Coronation Street, but only got together when a group of Corrie stars went to the Lake District. Two hours after their first kiss, he proposed. And he kept on doing so until she finally said yes. They married on May 12 - FA Cup Final Day.

Salford-born Lee left the Street last September when his character, the murderous, drug-pushing thug Jez Quigley, was killed off. "Since then, every part I've been offered has been for a baddie," he says. "The Bill was the first role that wasn't straight rent-a-psycho." In the cop drama, Lee plays Dave Carter, a loser who is caught shoplifting. When it emerges that Dave used to work for a drug dealer called Terry Barlow, DI Cullen offers to cut Dave a deal, if he helps him nail Barlow. It's not the first time Lee's starred in The Bill. "Four years ago I played a restaurant owner called Mike, who was a Cockney Greek. But the Greek community in North  London put in an official complaint saying I wasn't Greek. But I'm not from London either..."

Despite enjoying himself, Lee wouldn't want to be a regular on the show. "I didn't leave one long-running series to join another," he says. "I want variety. I'd do a couple of series of something, but I couldn't go in week-in, week-out, year after year. Although when I heard Corrie were doing a live episode I temporarily regretted leaving. I would have given my eye-teeth to do that. It must have been the biggest buzz going."

We will next see Lee, who also runs a film company called 15 And A Half Productions, in a new comedy drama series, Caribbean Diaries. Set in 1986, it's about a group of cricket fans who go to the West Indies to see a Test match. It will be filmed partly in Manchester, but will also involve Lee spending several months in St Lucia. "It's a fantastic part and the scripts are unbelievable - a dream job... But no matter what happens in the future, if one of my company's films wins a Bafta or I win an Oscar, it won't come close to my wedding day. Jenny looked so beautiful. I'm the luckiest man alive, and I know it."

I thought he'd die
2 June 2001

THE wife of Coronation Street's Kevin Kennedy has told of her fear after he threatened to commit suicide at the height of his alcoholism. His threat came after Clare Kennedy, 31, abandoned him in a last, desperate gamble as she tried to sort their lives out. She fled to her parents after finding Kevin, who plays Curly Watts in the soap, unconscious beside empty vodka bottles.

She said: "I couldn't stand by and watch someone I love kill himself. "I didn't do it out of anger. It was a very carefully thought out decision. "I had no idea whether he would choose to give up drinking. All I could do was what was right for me. "I felt terrible leaving him but I knew it was the only way."

Kevin bombarded her with phone calls and even threatened suicide but Clare refused to speak to him. Only when he was admitted to The Priory rehabilitation clinic did she return to him. While there, she decided to visit a therapist herself as she, too, had been drinking heavily.

She said: "I was trying so hard to fix things for Kev, I was being pulled under with it." Clare no longer drinks and Kevin has been on the wagon for two-and-a-half years. She said: "Our relationship has changed. Now I am his wife and lover, not mother and minder."

Clare is also training to be a family therapist, specialising in addiction, and has a new job as a presenter on a health show on cable TV. The couple, who live in south Manchester, have been together for 10 years. Kevin has a son, Ryan, 15, from a previous relationship and Clare would also like to be a mum one day - but is in no rush.

She said: "It's not something I'm yearning for just yet. I'm just enjoying the way my life has changed."

Shaw thing for lucky stripper
2 June 2001

CORONATION Street star Tracy Shaw celebrated her last night of freedom with a clinch from an amateur stripper. Joel Ross, who was at a party for his 24th birthday, stripped down to his boxer shorts and snogged Tracy at her wild hen night in Manchester's bar Barca.

The DJ was there with 70 mates for his bash, which ended up becoming a joint party with Tracy's 40 pals. He said: "I was set on and stripped by three girls, including Tracy, who looked really sexy. "In the end, we became one big party. It was all a good laugh and Tracy gave me a hug and a kiss."

Soap pals at the bash included Naomi Russell, who plays Bobbi Lewis, Suranne Jones, who plays Corrie bad boy Steve Macdonald's wife Karen Phillips, and Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts), who amazed guests with his "spirited" vocal performance. Kevin belted out hits like Mustang Sally for more than an hour, backed by the Hill Street Blues Band. As he sang badly, Tracy stumbled onstage and tripped over the drum kit. But the party girl, who will marry TV producer Robert Ashworth today, was still one of the last to leave at 3am.

Coronation Street baby is played by identical twins
1 June 2001

Identical twins who feature in Coronation Street are so alike even their parents do not know which one is on screen. Amy and Emily Walton both appear in the series as teenage mum Sarah Louise Platt's daughter Bethany. Coronation Street bosses admit they do not know which twin featured in scenes showing Bethany's first birthday party.

The twins' mother, Shirley Walton, 35, of Greater Manchester, told the Daily Express: "I have to confess we find it difficult to remember who is figuring in any particular episode because shooting takes place well in advance of transmission and we often cannot decide who is on the screen when we watch the show."

A Coronation Street spokeswoman said: "We can honestly say we have no idea which child appears in the birthday sequence."

Soap's storyline increases hospital's smear test workload
1 June 2001

A hospital in Manchester has been inundated with cervical smear t