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View Full Version : Deirdre and Me: 40 Years on Coronation Street



alan45
29-10-2012, 19:59
Tuesday, 13 November 2012,*8:00PM*-*9:00PM

As Anne Kirkbride celebrates 40 years in Coronation Street this documentary special looks at the woman behind those famous glasses.

In this hour-long documentary Anne takes the cameras backstage at Coronation Street and talks about everything from her battle with depression to being diagnosed with cancer, her close relationships with her fellow cast members to meeting her future husband on set.
And she explains how she coped playing one of the most loved characters on our screens as she faced such personal issues behind-the-scenes.

Anne takes viewers back to the start of her career when she was a theatre stage manager in Oldham, before talking about the first time she stepped onto Coronation Street.

She reveals her fears that, after just six years on the Street, she might have to leave the show when her colleague, Neville Buswell, who played her husband, decided to quit.

And Deirdre and Me: 40 Years on Coronation Street reunites Anne and William Roache, who plays her screen husband Ken, with Johnny Briggs, who played Mike Baldwin. The trio discuss the affair which rocked the Street almost 30 years ago when Ken discovered Deirdre had been sleeping with Mike.

Plus, Anne talks about her private live, including her cancer diagnosis, and her battle with depression which she faced as Deirdre was locked up for fraud in the famous Weatherfield One storyline.

As she takes cameras into her dressing room on the Coronation Street set, Anne also talks about her close off-screen relationships with her on-screen family. And other cast members past and present, including William Roache, Michelle Keegan and Chris Gascoyne share their thoughts about working with Anne over the last 40 years.

alan45
03-11-2012, 15:26
Anne Kirkbride has vowed never to quit Coronation Street after 40 years on the cobbles.

The actress, who plays Deidre Barlow, told The Mirror that she cannot imagine a life without the soap and her long-standing screen family of Bill Roache, who plays husband Ken Barlow, and Kate Ford, who appears as Deidre's daughter Tracy.

However, Kirkbride admitted that there are negatives to working in such a demanding environment for four decades.

She said: "For me working on Coronation Street can be soul destroying - it's punishing. It can be long hours doing the same thing over and over again.

"There are rare moments when you are doing really good stuff. You are on a roll and in loads of scenes, the *writing's brilliant and you feel great.

"But a lot of the time you are just hanging around for hours. I think, 'If I stand here for long enough, eventually, it will be over and they'll let me go home'.

"At times, it is worse than being delayed at Alicante airport for five hours, because there are no shops."




Despite her misgivings, the 58-year-old dismissed the idea of leaving Deidre behind, saying: "I can't imagine walking out, thinking this is my last scene ever.

"I've seen plenty of people do it, mind you. But I need to work, I've got two mortgages.

"I'd miss the people too. Bill and I are such good friends. We have a rapport. We understand each other and are on the same wavelength. We trust each other totally.

"I adore Kate. I spend most of my time looking after her. And I love Ryan Thomas, he is such a sweetie.

"To be honest, everyone is lovely. The whole cast. At times I may not like the job but I love the people and it's them that get you through it."

Kirkbride is due to become the centre of another dramatic storyline when Deidre discovers husband Ken is meeting with former lover Wendy Crozier.

alan45
03-11-2012, 15:26
Anne Kirkbride has vowed never to quit Coronation Street after 40 years on the cobbles.

The actress, who plays Deidre Barlow, told The Mirror that she cannot imagine a life without the soap and her long-standing screen family of Bill Roache, who plays husband Ken Barlow, and Kate Ford, who appears as Deidre's daughter Tracy.

However, Kirkbride admitted that there are negatives to working in such a demanding environment for four decades.

She said: "For me working on Coronation Street can be soul destroying - it's punishing. It can be long hours doing the same thing over and over again.

"There are rare moments when you are doing really good stuff. You are on a roll and in loads of scenes, the *writing's brilliant and you feel great.

"But a lot of the time you are just hanging around for hours. I think, 'If I stand here for long enough, eventually, it will be over and they'll let me go home'.

"At times, it is worse than being delayed at Alicante airport for five hours, because there are no shops."




Despite her misgivings, the 58-year-old dismissed the idea of leaving Deidre behind, saying: "I can't imagine walking out, thinking this is my last scene ever.

"I've seen plenty of people do it, mind you. But I need to work, I've got two mortgages.

"I'd miss the people too. Bill and I are such good friends. We have a rapport. We understand each other and are on the same wavelength. We trust each other totally.

"I adore Kate. I spend most of my time looking after her. And I love Ryan Thomas, he is such a sweetie.

"To be honest, everyone is lovely. The whole cast. At times I may not like the job but I love the people and it's them that get you through it."

Kirkbride is due to become the centre of another dramatic storyline when Deidre discovers husband Ken is meeting with former lover Wendy Crozier.