'Misery' for Norris

[Perdita]

Coronation Street busybody Norris Cole is to be held captive by admirer Mary Taylor in a dramatic new storyline, it has been revealed.

The plot begins when the newsagent, played by actor Malcolm Hebden, agrees to go on holiday with Mary to a remote cottage near Haworth where the Brontë sisters wrote their novels.

It is believed that crazed Mary (Patti Clare) subsequently sabotages the car and the cottage's phone before turning violent to Norris's horror.

Weatherfield producers are thought to have drawn inspiration from Stephen King's 1988 novel Misery when devising the storyline. The book tells the story of a novelist who is kidnapped by unstable fan Annie Wilkes and subsequently held in a remote location.

Speaking of the plot, a Corrie source told The Mirror: "Mary convinces herself they are reincarnations of Heathcliffe and Cathy and keeps trying to share his bed.

"Norris escapes to a phone box. When Mary arrives he tries to run and hide but falls and sprains his ankle. Mary refuses to take him to hospital and returns him to the cottage telling him, 'The more helpless you are the stronger I get'."

The newspaper reports that Norris later decides to barricade himself in the cottage when he spots Mary in the yard with an axe.

The insider added: "At first viewers will be amused by Norris's plight. But they'll soon realise that Mary is seriously demented."



DS


This will be hilarous

[Chloe O'brien]

Poor Norris. We shouldn't laugh Mary clearly has a screw loose but you can just imagine him being held captive.

[alan45]

Sounds like a waste of two good characters to me. I think there is more mileage in Norris and Mary than this ridiculous storyline

[Dazzle]

It sounds like an amusing plot and I'll be looking forward to it. Mary makes a good psycho. I think alan45 is right though, it'll be a waste of Mary's character because that'll obviously be the end of her in Corrie, which I think is a shame.

[alan45]

Filming of this storyline has been delayed due to heavy snow. The location chosen suffered a heavy snowfall and it was likely that the crew and cast would have really been trapped in the cottage.

This is the 6th time recently that Corrie filming has been disrupted by snow.

[alan45]

A WEEKEND break turns into Misery for Coronation Street veteran Norris Cole when he is held hostage by his obsessed friend Mary.
The Kabin owner agrees to a trip to a remote village with love-struck Mary, but events take a sinister turn when she kidnaps him and keeps him prisoner.



Mary (Patti Clare) sabotages his car and turns violent.

Poor old Norris, played by Malcolm Hebden, has to make a bid for freedom to escape his stalker's clutches.

As our pictures show, he makes it as far as a phone box where he tries to call friend Rita to raise the alarm.

But Mary soon catches up and drives straight for him.

The plucky pensioner dives over a stile to try to get away, but ends up face down in a muddy field - with Mary standing over him.

The episode will be shown on ITV1 next month.

[alan45]

Every woman knows that coming on too strong is the quickest way to scare off a man – every woman except Corrie’s Mary Taylor, that is. So it’s really no wonder poor Norris Cole is absolutely petrified as his amorous admirer makes it clear she’s got serious designs on him this week, and their mini-break on the Yorkshire Moors turns into the holiday from hell. Street legend Malcolm Hebden, who plays the newsagent, can testify that there’s nothing worse than feeling trapped in a cottage with no escape…

“I once went on holiday to Devon with three of my dearest friends, and it was absolute torture!” the star tells Inside Soap. “These were people I’d known all my life who just turned into monsters – and I couldn’t get away. I know I could have killed them all! I had to go to see each of them afterwards to put our relationship back to where it was.”

Mind you, Malcolm’s holiday sounds like a dream compared to the nightmare befalling Norris. Having failed to get out of the trip Mary won for them, he’s now holed up in a confined space with her. And he suspects she’ll do anything to keep him there…

“Norris is absolutely terrified of Mary,” grins the actor. “She tried to pull him
into that Winnebago on the Street, so she’s clearly not the full shilling! There’s an enormous age gap between them, too – she’s only 40 and Norris is in his 70s. He’s starting to worry that she’s got a screw loose, and is desperate to get away.”

Norris’ fears are backed up by the fact that Mary’s already told him the phone line is down, and that the motor home won’t start either. But it’s when she suggests that they should get married, and then turns very angry after Norris backs away, that he begins to fear for his life.

“Well, he doesn’t want any of that funny business!” says Malcolm. “Physically and mentally, he isn’t up to it. I think Mary wants a father figure, but Norris can be very immature, so she’s backed the wrong horse there. He doesn’t want to push her over the edge, though.”

What transpires is a race for freedom that will have all Corrie fans gripping the armrest in fear. We won’t spoil the twists and turns along the way, but what we can tell you is that Norris emerges from the experience completely traumatised. However, Malcolm reckons there’s room to suggest he might have misinterpreted some of Mary’s actions.

“It’s true, some of what happens could have been Norris just reading the situation wrong – but, having said that, he’s got every reason to be frightened,” he shares. “The trouble is that he loves to romanticise and exaggerate things, so when he gets back to the Street, hardly anyone believes him.”

It looks as if Norris and Mary’s story has a long way to go yet – which delights us, as the demented brunette is fast becoming one of our very favourite Corrie characters. Malcolm also reckons the soap’s bosses would be absolutely mad to get rid of Mary.

“Patti Clare, who plays her, is a real find,” he enthuses. “I want her to hang around as long as possible, because what she brings to the show is really special. She’s such an inventive actress. There’s a scene she does in a bath with a sponge, where she’s using it like a ventriloquist’s dummy, that’s quite memorable. I won’t spoil it for you, though!”

[Dazzle]

I'm delighted that Mary is staying in the Street after the "Misery" storyline as I was afraid that it was going to be her exit. I agree with Malcolm Hebden that Patti Clare is a real find, and I hope that she stays in the Street for a long time.

[alan45]

Coronation Street actor Malcolm Hebden has revealed that he wants co-star Patti Clare to remain in the soap for "as long as possible".

The duo's characters Norris Cole and Mary Taylor are currently taking centre stage in the ITV1 show with a Misery-style storyline taking place in a remote cottage.

Although the plot leaves Norris never wanting to see Mary again, Hebden is adamant that the character should stay in Weatherfield for a long time to come.

Speaking to Inside Soap, he explained: "Patti Clare, who plays her, is a real find. I want her to hang around as long as possible, because what she brings to the show is really special. She's such an inventive actress."

On what it was like to film their latest story, he added: "It was strangely enjoyable, despite the hell of being cold and exhausted! I don't see any other soap doing a story as strange as this - it's a real one-off. I've no idea how the public will respond to it."

Clare's first Coronation Street episodes aired in late 2008 and she has appeared on and off since then.

[alan45]

There isn't a woman alive who hasn't done something a bit crazy in the name of love. There's a fine line between ‘crazy' and ‘scary', though… and in her relentless pursuit of Norris Cole, Corrie's Mary Taylor has pole-vaulted right over it. But even the most hardened bunny boiler would have to think twice if the object of their affections called the police in. So, just why is Mary – who was recently released after questioning – back on the cobbles, all smiles and hoping that Norris will soon come to his senses?

"Mary's a determined lady, and she's set her sights on Norris," laughs star Patti Clare, who delights Inside Soap by sitting down for a good gossip about her crackers character. "Obviously Norris is deeply fearful of her – she frightened him with her antics in that cottage. But I don't believe she'd hurt a fly. I just think the intensity of her world can sometimes seem very scary."

That'll explain why Norris is a complete paranoid wreck this week, as Mary – who has already discredited his version of their holiday-hell story in front of all his friends – turns up at Blanche Hunt's funeral service. But is she actually a stalker?

"All she's really done is allow her fantasy about their relationship to run riot," insists Patti. "I don't think that Mary's had any luck in love at all, so she probably expected Norris to reject her. Now she realises that she has to build bridges with him – but she only goes to Blanche's funeral because she wants to pay her respects."

While their alter egos may be at war in Weatherfield, Patti is happy to report that she and co-star Malcolm Hebden (Norris) are still as close as ever – with even a challenging location shoot in Yorkshire unable to dent their friendship.

"We were up against the elements, but we did have a really good time filming," she grins. "It was lambing season while we were up there, and three little lambs had been born by the time we left – so we named two of them Mary and Norris! The greatest pleasure of Coronation Street has been getting to work closely with Malcolm. We just clicked straight away, and that's quite rare in this business."

We're hoping that a truce can be called between Patti and Malcolm's estranged characters because, here at Inside Soap, mad Mary is fast becoming a soap legend. And it seems that viewers of the show are in complete agreement with us.

"I keep getting loads of fan mail from people of all ages, especially youngsters," shares the star. "They find Mary really funny, and like her quirkiness. A lot of them want her to marry Norris – I don't know if that will change now, though!"

We're all aware that lucky Mary is a champion competition winner, with the recent trip to Brontë country being the latest in her long line of triumphs. But is Patti so fortunate in real life?

"I don't know if I've ever won anything," muses the actress. "Actually, when I was very little, I drew a picture of a fish and scooped a competition in the local paper. They came round and took a picture of me, and I was very proud of myself.

Perhaps Mary's luck will begin to rub off on Patti, starting with her winning a new contract at Corrie. Could she see herself moving onto the cobbles full time?

"To be honest with you, I'm not even allowing myself to think about it until it happens," confides the star. "It would be such a big deal for me and so exciting that I daren't even dream it's a possibility. If it works out, it would be utterly fantastic. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed!"

Should Mary stay, Patti knows what she wants as her character's next storyline…

"I'd like for Mary to find love," she says. "It'd be nice for her to have some good fortune in that department. When she was on her travels, she met a Spanish guitar player, Cézaro, and I'd like him to turn up and be the Spanish equivalent of Norris. It would be so funny! Malcolm's first role in Corrie was in the 1970s playing a character called Carlos, who was Spanish. Perhaps he could play Cézaro, too."

There are few things we'd love to see more than that, so here's hoping that Patti's Street dreams come true. But in the meantime, will Mary ever stop trying to convince Norris that he's her Mr Right?

"Mary's like the Terminator – she never gives up," warns the actress. "Her feelings for Norris are bigger than anything else, and she was even willing to lie about her mum dying to keep him close. She knows exactly what she wants, and that's Norris. All's fair in love and war, and Mary was just playing her top card. She's sincerely sorry to have frightened him, so I just hope that Norris can forgive her…"