Blighty’s Corrie Fan Newsletter; Issue #55 Merry Christmas Corrie Fans

Oops, Sorry!

I know, this issue of the newsletter is way overdue. Blame it on Christmas. Poor John runs his little shop all by himself. Working long hours he slaves away for little pay, then goes home at night to sleep in his lonely little hut in the woods. Eating only a bowl of cold gruel for his supper, his faithful dog by his side …

An Audience with William Roache

William (Bill) Roache aka “Ken Barlow” is touring Canada from coast to coast in March 2012 with stops in Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Vancouver and Victoria

• Thursday March 15th 7 pm OTTAWA @ Centrepointe theatre www.centrepointetheatre.com
• Saturday MARCH 17th ( ST. PATRICK’S DAY ) 2 pm TORONTO Winter Garden theatre. Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ca
• Sunday March 18th 1 pm HAMILTON Hamilton Place Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ca. More info: www.hecfi.ca
• Monday March 19th VICTORIA Royal Theatre www.rmts.bc.ca
• Wednesday March 21 Vancouver  TBA
• Friday March 23 & Saturday March 24th HALIFAX Schooner room Casino NS (two shows)

For the SUPER fans there is a VIP Meet & Greet in Hamilton which is best seats in the house + full show then a private salon ( post show) to meet and greet Bill, there are very few of these & ONLY sold via the box office (in Hamilton) call for VIP 905-546-4095 (Hamilton).

Who is this Legendary Actor William Roache?

This man is a legend. He is the oldest surviving actor from the original pilot episode broadcast on 9th December 1960. His character, Ken Barlow, has been a part of the Coronation Street storyline for over 50 years.

Most people don’t keep a job that long – any job – but William Roache has kept his all that time and his character is as powerful now as it ever was. That is the power of an acting legend and it is what keeps the link between Tony Warren’s original story idea and today’s show alive.

A Brief History of Ken Barlow

Ken Barlow is a bit of an enigma. Who is he really? Is Ken the doting father who can be relied upon to always be right? Is he a good husband who can be trusted through thick and thin?

Or is he the great deceiver – outwardly the good husband, but with a roving eye? You be the judge.

University Educated Cabbie

Ken Barlow was the first character on the Street to obtain a university education. He qualified and worked as a teacher for many years. But his ambition to seek out a better life steered him away from teaching into a series of jobs, including a spell as a taxi driver.

Marriage #1 to Valerie

Ken’s first wife was Valerie Tatlock, with whom he fathered son Peter and daughter Susan. Valerie was killed in an accident and the children were sent to live with their grandparents in Glasgow.

Marriages #2 & 3 to Janet and Deirdre

Ken had a brief second marriage to Janet Reid before falling for and marrying divorcee Deirdre Langton. Ken adopted Deirdre’s daughter Tracy. Deirdre’s affections drifted astray when she had an affair with Mike Baldwin. Ken forgave Deirdre but she did not return the favour when Ken had an affair with Wendy Crozier. The two divorced and Ken was thrown out of his home.

Marriage #4 Deirdre Again!

Following a series of relationships between Ken and several other women, the couple eventually reconciled and remarried and now live together at #1 Coronation Street, next door to where Ken was born at #3.

A Brief History of William Roache

Who is the man behind the character? Let’s meet the real Bill Roache. For a start, the man is seven years older than the character. Ken Barlow was born in 1939 at the start of the Second World War. William Roache was born on St George’s Day in 1932 at Ilkeston in Derbyshire, the son of a doctor.

Captain William Roache, Royal Welsh Fusiliers

William Roache had intended to follow his father’s footsteps by becoming a doctor but, following a short spell studying medicine, he joined the army, rising to the rank of captain.

But soon he moved into acting and was discovered at Granada making a film about the military. He was invited to audition for a new show to be called “Coronation Street” and … well you know the rest of the story.

The Best Female Character Ever

Who is the best female character ever to appear on the show? That question was put to the readers of a Manchester area newspaper recently. I found their choice puzzling, but who would you have chosen?

Betty (hotpot) Williams?

My choice might have been Betty Williams. She was a lovely lady who never hurt a soul and, when she had harsh words for somebody, she was fair and restrained.

Vera Duckworth?

Vera Duckworth could easily have qualified for the title. She was much-loved and is sadly missed. Her romance with Jack was heart-warming and very realistic in its ups-and-downs. Vera could have a sharp-tongue at times but always had a soft heart inside.

Lucille Hewitt (ah!)

But perhaps some men would have chosen one of the glamour girls. Carla Connor, Michelle Connor, Becky MacDonald or even (in a perverse way) Tracy Barlow. When I was young I had a crush on Lucille Hewitt (played by five times married Jennifer Moss who died in 2006 aged 61).

The Tart with a Heart?

Maybe maturity is the key. A matriarch of the Street perhaps? What about Elsie Tanner? The “tart with a heart” was a central and prominent character in the 1960s. Elsie had the charisma to be considered the greatest ever female character. She had a strong personality; that has to be a key factor – maybe it is THE key factor.

Ena Sharp-Tongue?

So who else had a strong character? Ena Sharples! Ena was the very essence of what Coronation Street was meant to be all about – a story of working class folk in the north of England. Ena was made of steel; she was predictable, stalwart and blunt. But did she have what it takes to be the greatest ever female Corrie character? A good candidate perhaps, but Ena was not the people’s choice.

Wanna Bet?

So then, we need to find a strong character. Someone who was memorable and had the star quality needed to impress fans enough to be named best ever female character. Annie Walker? Ummmm … no. Bet Lynch? Good candidate, but still no (although Bet Lynch was voted best ever barmaid at the Rovers). Who else?

Our Muriel?

Ah! There was once a lady who had a strong character without having strength of character. What do I mean? I mean her character was absolutely part of the backbone of the show even though she, herself, was … well, spineless. It was the lady with the “muriel” – the immortal Hilda Ogden.

I loved Hilda; not in the way that I loved Lucille Hewitt, but wasn’t she just a superb character? Many, many fans agree with me on that; not enough fans to vote Hilda the best ever female character – but she came a very close second.

Hunt for the Winner

Squeaking through in first place was the recently, dearly departed sharp-tongued battle-axe Blanche Hunt. I was surprised, even gobsmacked (as they say in the UK). Blanche was just plain mean and self-centered and maybe that is what it takes.

The Best Male Character Ever

Oh, no debate there – Tony Gordon. Hands down. Landslide. In a private poll I conducted myself while I was alone in the store recently, Tony Gordon won 100% of the vote cast. One vote for; none against. Done deal.

Strange then that voters in the Manchester newspaper poll failed to even include Tony Gordon in the contest. What’s the matter with these people?

It’s Nae Him, D’ya Ken?

I suppose – apart from Tony Gordon – Ken Barlow would be an obvious choice for best ever male character. The man has put in more hours on the show than anybody else of either gender. But …  while actor William Roache is a top guy, his character is somewhat well, shall we say … vanilla. We need somebody with a triple-chocolate-with-candy-sprinkles-on-top-and-flakey-bar-sticking-out-of-it type of personality.

Tricky Dickie?

Could it be a baddie? How about Richard Hillman? He was a serial killer with a dynamite personality. Way more exciting than John Stape who is a serial killer with a wet sponge personality.

Lock Up Your Daughters!

Ok then, what about Mike Baldwin? Now Mike was a ladies man, a rogue and about as slippery as a bald snow tire. He stuck around for a long time, broke a lot of hearts and made an indelible mark on Coronation Street. But did he get the votes? No, sorry Mike.

Jack of Hearts

Alright, that’s enough suspense for one issue of this newsletter. The number one man was dear Jack Duckworth. Jack was a good guy in his old age, a fair change from his youth when, in contrast, he was a “Jack-the-lad” – the scourge of the ladies.

Incidentally, Jack and Vera were easy winners of the vote for best couple – no surprises there.

Forever on the Street

Responding to a request from an aging disc jockey in the UK to be “stuffed and left in the Rovers Return” when he died, a spokesman for the show revealed that ”we once had a fan from Canada whose last wish was for their ashes to be scattered on the street, so we let their family do that.”

The DJ who made the wish to be stuffed and left in the Rovers was Tony Blackburn. The 68 year-old has been a fixture on British radio since the 1970s and has admitted to harbouring a desire to appear on Corrie for a long time.

He has been offered a tour of the set but so far his request for a cameo appearance has been met with a flat “get stuffed!” Maybe he took that a little too literally.

One Metric Tonne of Corrie Fan Gifts

I receive a large volume of emails every day but one particular message caught my attention a couple of weeks ago. It was from a company in the UK inquiring whether I was interested in buying a large quantity of official Corrie merchandise.

I picked up the phone and chatted with the nice folks in Manchester, England and, well, as a result, one thousand kilograms (that’s one metric tonne) of brand new official Coronation Street fan gifts are inside a container on board the MSC Alyssa currently being bounced around on the rough winter seas of the north Atlantic Ocean and due to dock in Montreal right after Christmas.

What a pity it couldn’t all have happened in time for Christmas, but never mind, we are going to have a giant new year’s sale when the merchandise gets here in the first week of January.

What’s on board? We are going to keep that a secret until it arrives, but all will be revealed in the next issue of Blighty’s Corrie Fan Newsletter.

Corona Street

What? What the heck is “Corona Street”? Where is Corona Street? Why? These were some of the questions racing through my mind as I was out walking my dogs on a new trail a couple of weeks ago.

Let’s flash back a few years to when my business “Blighty’s Tuck Store” was new. It was located in a small court at the nether end of a “ginnel”. Above the store hung a sign that had been professionally-made (at great expense, I might add). It was a tough plywood sign about 7 feet long that read “Coronation Street”.

I was very proud of that sign; it told everyone that here was a place where Corrie fans could get together, chat about the show and maybe even pick up the odd souvenir. The mayor of my town was a regular; he bought all his friends “Real Men Watch Coronation Street” t-shirts.

But the time came when the little shop at the nether end of the ginnel was too small and the business had to move to bigger premises. The sign came down and was put into storage and – somehow – over the course of the next few years, it disappeared.

Now, back in the present, about 2 weeks ago, John was walking Molly and Trunkles (my 2 lovely English Setters) along a trail that we hadn’t explored before. Just ahead of us I saw something that looked familiar. As we got closer I saw my long-lost sign.

But – horror – the sign had been desecrated! Somebody had broken it up and shortened it to read “Corona Street”. My guess is that local youths use the sign to designate the spot where they like to enjoy a surreptitious taste of their favourite adult beverage “Corona”.

Now I have an idea in my head, it may be just fantasy but it gives me great comfort when I imagine the ghost of Blanche Hunt haunting that trail, ready to inflict verbal torments on the evil perpetrators of this sacrilege as they nestle into their refuge to enjoy an illicit can of beer. Go get ‘em Blanche!

Trivia Question

In  Issue # 54 we asked:

This issue’s prize trivia question is in honour of the late, great Betty Driver who, as we reported in this issue of the newsletter, passed away recently. Betty Driver played the role of Betty Williams in the show, but that was not the first part for which she auditioned. Which other famous role could have been hers if things had worked out differently? The winner will be the 13th correct entry received and will win the reviewer’s copy of the Coronation Street spinoff DVD movie, “A Knight’s Tale”.

The answer was, of course, Hilda Ogden. The13th correct entry came from Linda Ernst. Congratulations Linda; please contact us to claim your DVD.

And now for this week’s prize trivia question:

As a judge on the show, she sentenced her real life husband’s on-screen daughter to life in jail. She passed away quite suddenly a couple of years ago. The daughter, by the way, was recently released from prison and is wreaking havoc on the Street. Who played the judge?

The winner will be the 13th correct entry and will receive one of a selection of gifts from the 1000Kg of Corrie gifts soon to arrive at Blighty’s Tuck Store.

As usual, entries must be made only by using the “Leave a Reply” box at the end of this newsletter. All entries are automatically time and date-stamped by the system and that is the only fair way we have to determine the winners. Also, you must be a registered subscriber of this newsletter to win. Subscription is easy and free. Good luck.