Coronation Street

For almost fifty years Coronation Street has enthralled millions of avid fans with its tales of everyday life in a Northern town, but throughout that time many stories have emerged from the actors and producers claiming that the set is haunted.

Perhaps the most famous of those stories is Coronation Street producer Tony Warren’s claim that he saw the actress Pat Phoenix who played Elsie Tanner, after she died of lung cancer in 1986.

Warren said of the paranormal experience, “I would smell this great gale of perfume and one of my dogs, who would always go bananas when Pat came to the house, suddenly started to behave as if she was there again. It was really very odd, but I was not afraid. Pat is welcome at my place anytime, dead or alive.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly Pat Phoenix was seen again, at a party to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the show in 1990. This time it was Lynne Perry (Ivy Tilsley) who made the claim.

Like others on the Street cast Perry had an interest in Spiritualism and when her character in the soap made an attempt to contact her murdered son Brian, Perry had an overwhelming experience when Doris Speed appeared on stage.

“At that moment I felt very strongly that she was sitting there with me and the cast. Only Julie Goodyear and I knew that Pat was there in spirit, enjoying it too.”

Long serving Corrie star William Roache has had his share of bad luck both on and off the set and has a life long interest in all things psychic and paranormal.

The sudden tragic death of his baby daughter Edwina in 1985 made him reassess his life and he began a spiritual search. He now believes that there is an afterlife.

When interviewed in 1993 by Dr Anthony Clare on Radio 4’s ‘In the Psychiatrist’s Chair’ he said “The manner of death is frightening, but death itself is not- because I know it’s not the end”

Roache said how he awakened on the day 18 month old Edwina’s funeral to see her face “glowing and smiling” in front of him “I got a sense of peace, freedom and release- and I knew all was well.”

“I couldn’t have got through the funeral without that. I carried her coffin. It still hurts, but I know she came down and went back and that there’s an existence beyond. Knowing about reincarnation helped.”

It is no longer frowned upon to visit a medium or have a tarot reading in the UK, in fact Spiritualism in general is more widely accepted in our society than ever before.

There are so many questions that remain unanswered about the afterlife and all things paranormal, but if it brings comfort to those that seek it, then so be it.

jessie wallace

Jessie Wallace who played Kat Slater in Eastenders is to star in a BBC drama depicting the birth of Coronation Street, she will play the part of Pat Phoenix who starred in the early days of Corrie as feisty Elsie Tanner.

The documentary/drama will tell the story of how Tony Warren brought together the actors for the first episodes of Coronation Street, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year.

Filming is taking place in Manchester and the film will be shown on BBC4 later this year.

Among the star studded cast assembled for the project are Lynda Baron, playing Violet Carson (Ena Sharples), Celia Imrie as Doris Speed (Annie Walker), Jane Horrocks as casting director Margaret Morris and John Thompson.

The longest serving cast member on Coronation Street, William Roache (Ken Barlow) will be played by his son James Roache.

Coronation Street

Coronation Street was due to show the latest siege storyline last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but decided not to go ahead with the series following the awful shooting massacre that took place in Cumbria.

ITV deemed the the storyline as unsuitable after the horrendous event that shook the UK and they had the full backing of the cast of the soap opera.

The plot involves a crazed Tony Gorden played by Gray O’Brien taking hostages as he begins his revenge on those he considers to have wronged him.

The storyline began last night with a double bill starting at 7.30pm and then again at 8.30pm with further episodes to air on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Further episodes;

Wednesday, June 9
8pm – Coronation Street (30 mins) – originally to have aired on Friday, June 4 at 9pm
8.30pm – Coronation Street (30 mins) – originally to have aired on Monday, June 7 at 7.30pm
Will air together as an hour-long edition

Friday, June 11
7.30pm – Coronation Street (30 mins) – Airs as normal
8.30pm – Coronation Street (30 mins) – Airs as normal

Bill Roach as Ken Barlow

The real life sons of Coronation Street legend Bill Roach, who plays the part of Ken Barlow in the soap, are to make their own appearances on the show.

Linus and James Roach will be appearing on our screens in September as part of a surprising new plot for Ken’s character, when a dark family secret is unearthed after a letter from the 1960’s is discovered.

The announcement was made in the build-up to the soaps 50th anniversary celebrations with the pair expected to play their parts in the programme for about three weeks.

Linus appeared briefly on the Street back in 1970’s, when he briefly played the part of Ken’s son Peter but this time around the brothers, who have both held major acting parts will be in the show together with their father who is said to be very excited by the news.

Coronation Street

It has been announced that the ITV soap Coronation Street is to be shown daily from May 31 – June 4, to cover the dramatic episodes coinciding with the Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals.

The first edition of the special week will air at 7pm on May 31 followed by five further episodes to be shown in the next five days from 9-9.30pm.

These special episodes will be covering the dramatic siege plot surrounding the Street’s villain Tony Gorden, played by Gray O’Brien.  Tony will be seen escaping from prison before holding a number of the streets regulars as hostages at the knicker factory ‘Underworld’.

kate ford (tracy barlow) peta ad

Kate Ford, the actress behind the Coronation Street bitch Tracy Barlow, has revealed her softer side in a sexy new advert for PETA designed to bring awareness to the way that bears in Canada suffer for the sake of The Queens Guards bearskin caps.

Ford has just shot the sexy new PETA ad that reads “Bare Skin, Not Bearskin”. The ad is part of PETA’s campaign to persuade the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to stop killing bears for the Buckingham Palace Guards’ ceremonial headwear. The ad was shot by ace photographer Karl Grant, and it is being released to coincide with Ford’s return to Coronation Street.

Kate said;

“I would never have dreamed of posing nude, but when PETA showed me the footage of the bears being shot and skinned just for the sake of these ornamental Guards’ caps, I decided to be brave and show some of my skin in the hope that the MoD will let the bears keep theirs. The cowardly hunters even bait the bears with food before ambushing them. When mother bears are killed, their cubs are left to slowly starve to death. This breaks my heart. I think it is despicable of the MoD to use taxpayers’ money to fund this cruelty overseas when there are synthetic faux furs available.”

PETA US obtained video footage of Canadian bears as they were killed by a method called “bait and shoot”, a cruel practice in which bears are lured to barrels of food and shot at close range.

Many bears are shot several times, and some escape and die slowly from blood loss, gangrene, starvation or dehydration. When mother bears are killed, orphaned cubs are left behind to starve. Typically, 70 per cent of orphaned cubs die within one year. Hunters have been caught on film making racist and sexist jokes while reducing bears from living beings to roll-up skins.

Ford joins many other celebrities – including Pamela Anderson, Lucy Davis, Morrissey, Julian Clary, Sadie Frost, Mary McCartney, Sir Roger Moore, Twiggy, Jilly Cooper, Hayley Mills and Amanda Holden – who have condemned the slaughter of bears for The Queen’s Guards’ ceremonial caps.

For more information visit the PETA website.

Having married Tyrone, Molly has recently found herself in the central storyline of the soap, having enjoyed (or endured) a six month relationship with her husband’s boss Kevin Webster.

Having planned a new life together the affair was ended by the news that Kevin’s wife Sally had breast cancer and he has since shut Molly out of his life.

The twist is that Molly is now pregnant and does not know who the father of the child is. The actress said:

“It’s been a joy to be involved in such a fantastic storyline and it is only right that it has the explosive ending viewers are waiting for. I am very excited about playing out the rest of this plot and indeed about what the future holds.I’ve had an amazing time in the show and feel it’s right to leave on such a high.”

Vicky Binns previously starred in Emmerdale for four years, playing the part of teenager Ollie Reynolds, before being chosen for the Corrie role.

Bruce Jones

Bruce Jones who played the part of Les Battersby in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, today escaped a jail term for dangerous driving at Mold Crown Court.

The 57-year-old actor, last month admitted to yanking the steering wheel of the car his wife was driving on the A55 in North Wales last August, threatening to kill them both.

Jones pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and has vowed to beat his addiction to drink, and has since taken part in a 26-week rehabilitation course in a bid to save his marriage.

Jones received an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid community work, he must also complete a 12-month supervision order, was disqualified from driving for 18-months and ordered to pay a total of £1,000 towards prosecution cost along with his own costs.

Eileent Grimshaw

Another of the cast of Coronation Street, Sue Cleaver, who plays the part of Eileen Grimshaw on the ITV soap, has been in court today to answer a case of drink-driving.

The 46-year-old, was stopped less than a mile from her home on the 29th March when she hit a kerb in her vehicle.  After being breathalysed at the spot, she was found to be twice over the legal limit and taken to the police station where a further test was returned positive.

After pleading guilty to the charge, Cleaver was banned from driving for 17 months, which will be reduced to 13 on completion of a drink-driving awareness course and fined a total of £1,100.

Ryan Thomas

Ryan Thomas, who plays the part of Jason Grimshaw in the ITV soap Coronation Street, has been fined a total of £2,020 after being found guilty of leaving the scene of a car accident.

The incident took place in October 2009 when the 25-year-old actor lost control of his vehicle and hit crash barriers in Manchester.  Thomas got a lift home in a taxi while his two passengers called to report the accident.

The actor admitted failing to stop and not reporting the accident and was given the fine along with a further £50 fine for costs and five penalty points on his license.