Coronation Street General News Thread

[Perdita]

A Coronation Street extra has died aged 84, after appearing on the show for more than 50 years.



The Mirror reports that Chris Canavan passed away following a heart attack.

He was the soap's longest-serving extra and played a variety of background roles, including a builder called Dusty, a rat catcher at the Ogdens' house and a window cleaner.

The granddad from Preston also appeared in scenes in Roy's Rolls and The Kabin, and had other bit parts in shows including Prime Suspect, The Liver Birds and Brideshead Revisited.

Speaking about his career in 2012, Canavan said that acting for him "is a way of life".

A Coronation Street spokesman said: "We are saddened to hear of Chris's death, he was a lovely man who was a pleasure to be around."

[Perdita]

Corrie star Jack P Shepherd has revealed that two of his character's T-shirts have been banned by show bosses.

The actor spoke out on Twitter after being told that David Platt can no longer wear a slogan shirt displaying the word 'Sha-ting', in reference to the sound effect Keith Lemon uses when revealing the scores on ITV2's Celebrity Juice.

Corrie chiefs made the decision after a handful of viewers complained that the shirt was offensive.

Shepherd tweeted: "Oh by the way, some 'no lives' have complained about the 'Shat-ting' T-shirt on Corrie so it has been taken off air.

"But I'm going to auction it off for charity so I will get the T-shirt next week and give you the details if ya want it. X"

Asked why people had complained, he replied: "They thought it said Shat-ing, get it?"

Shepherd added that another T-shirt with the slogan 'Turn Me On' won't be seen again either, confirming: "That's been banned too."

The 25-year-old has previously been caught up in another wardrobe row as scenes had to be re-shot in 2008 when the show's compliance team spotted that David was wearing a shirt containing the words 'Schwetty Nuts'.

[Perdita]

Corrie child actor Hayden Whitbread's mother has revealed that he is winning his cancer battle.

The 6-year-old was diagnosed with cancer last year, and has undergone surgery and chemotherapy in recent months.

Doctors have now told his family that he is in remission following treatment, reports The Sun.

His mother Joanne said: "He had his last chemo on March 4 and they think the cancer's gone. We can't believe it.

"The change in him is amazing – he's back playing football and playing with his brothers."

The Whitbread family have been raising money for Manchester Children's Hospital to thank medical staff for their work.

Hayden Whitbread played the son of Ashley and Claire Peacock, Freddie, in the ITV soap. He alternated with twin brother Dylan for the role which lasted from 2008 to 2011.


Poor kid, hope he has beaten his illness

[alan45]

Tina O'Brien has set up an acting class for children in Manchester.

The former Coronation Street actress has teamed up with friend and primary school teacher Esther Morgan to create The Drama Mob, a class for children aged between 4-11 years old.

The classes are held at the parsonage gardens in Didsbury, and usually last for one hour every day, costing £7.50.

"My students are all so talented I've been amazed – many are way ahead of me when I was their age!" O'Brien is quoted as saying in The Sun.

Speaking about the venture, O'Brien told Didsbury Life: "I felt that my daughter would benefit from attending a drama class to encourage confidence building and self esteem.

"But most classes advertised in the local area seemed to be quite big companies that followed a very intense structure, whereas I was looking for something much more child-friendly where the emphasis was on smaller tailor-made classes in a safe and nurturing environment to help a young child's imagination flourish.

"I started talking to my very close friend Esther Morgan, and we quickly realised it was something that we would love to offer the local children of Didsbury and the surrounding areas and decided to set up our own drama classes.

"We have been childhood friends for 18 years - Esther is a primary school teacher specialising in early years and has been working in schools in Manchester for the past eight years.

"We really feel that together we can offer a drama class that will be fun and exciting but that also encourages the development of the children's acting abilities through drama games improvisation and for the older children script work and camera acting/stage work."

Tina O'Brien was tipped for a return to Coronation Street as Sarah Platt back in December.

However, the actress later denied that she had entered talks with ITV producers to make a return

[Katy]

Oh dear!!

[Perdita]

Corrie tar Bill Roache has appeared to claim that sex abuse victims are paying the price for their actions in "previous lives".

The actor, who plays Weatherfield's Ken Barlow, made the controversial remarks in an interview on New Zealand television.

Roache told TV NZ: "If you accept that you are pure love, and if you know that you are pure love and therefore live that pure love, these things won't happen to you."

Interviewer Garth Bray then asked: "To some people that sounds perhaps like you're saying victims bring things on themselves - is that what you're saying?"

Roache replied: "Not quite, but then yes I am, because everything that happens to us has been a result of what we have been in previous lives."

The 80-year-old's comments follow a number of recent interviews he has given regarding his involvement in a spiritual group called the Pure Love Movement.

His appearance on TV NZ also saw him give his views on paedophilia in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Roache said: "Paedophilia is absolutely horrendous. Paedophiles should be sought out, rooted out and dealt with. But there's a fringe here, a fringe of people who, particularly pop singers, they have these groupies, these girls, who come, they're sexually active, sexually mature, they don't ask for their birth certificate, they don't know what age they may be.

"But they're certainly not grooming them and exploiting them, but they can be caught in this trap. These people are instantly stigmatised, some will be innocent, some will not, but until such time as it's proven there should be anonymity for both."

He added: "If someone has done something wrong, the law will take its course. But all of us, whether they're proven guilty or not, we should never be judgemental about anybody, ever.

"We shouldn't go round condemning, unforgiving. We should always be totally forgiving about everything."

Dr Jon Bird, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, branded Roache's remarks "completely disgusting".

Bird told The Mirror: "Mr Roache has belittled the hurt and pain of others without any understanding of the circumstances himself. He should be ashamed of himself."

[Perdita]

Coronation Street has won in the 'Soap and Continuing Drama' category at the 2013 RTS Awards.

The long-running serial was honoured at tonight's (March 19) ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, which annually celebrates the British television industry and its output.

It heads up a successful year for the soap, which has seen similar wins at this year's National Television, Broadcast and TRIC Awards.

Other awards during the evening included Sherlock for 'Best Drama Series' and the London 2012 Olympics for 'Live Event', with Sean Bean and Olivia Coleman also picking up acting honours for their respective roles in the second series of Accused.

Coronation Street is currently broadcasting the dramatic aftermath of the fire at the Rovers Return, in which viewers have seen Karl Munro (John Michie) deliberately commit arson, with Karl's former partners Stella Price (Michelle Collins) and Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) trapped in the blaze.

The ongoing abuse storyline featuring Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) and Kirsty Soames (Natalie Gumede) is also set to come to a head next week, as Tyrone's fate is decided in court.

[Perdita]

Corrie's Rovers Return fire has been recreated in Lego at the Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester.

Corrie has its own spot at the centre's 'Miniland' attraction, but an update was needed to The Rovers after a dramatic week on the cobbles.

Model builder Alex Bidolak worked on creating the scene which saw Stella Price being carried out of the burning building by fireman Paul Kershaw while local residents looked on in fear.


© Legoland
The Rovers on fire at Legoland



© Legoland
Paul is seen rescuing Stella


Legoland's general manager Neil Crittenden revealed that the Centre is "waiting with baited breath" to see if there are any major changes to the pub when it is re-opened, with their model builders at hand ready to redesign the set if needed.

The Rovers fire storyline began on Monday (March 18) as Karl Munro committed arson at the pub in a desperate attempt to break up Stella Price and Jason Grimshaw.

Last night's episode (March 20) saw the first casualty confirmed, as fire fighter Toni didn't make it out of the building alive.

[Katy]

That's so cool!! I never really got the attraction of Lego myself,

[Perdita]

Corrie star Bill Roache has appeared to claim that sex abuse victims are paying the price for their actions in "previous lives".

The actor, who plays Weatherfield's Ken Barlow, made the controversial remarks in an interview on New Zealand television.

Roache told TV NZ: "If you accept that you are pure love, and if you know that you are pure love and therefore live that pure love, these things won't happen to you."

Interviewer Garth Bray then asked: "To some people that sounds perhaps like you're saying victims bring things on themselves - is that what you're saying?"

Roache replied: "Not quite, but then yes I am, because everything that happens to us has been a result of what we have been in previous lives."

The 80-year-old's comments follow a number of recent interviews he has given regarding his involvement in a spiritual group called the Pure Love Movement.

His appearance on TV NZ also saw him give his views on paedophilia in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Roache said: "Paedophilia is absolutely horrendous. Paedophiles should be sought out, rooted out and dealt with. But there's a fringe here, a fringe of people who, particularly pop singers, they have these groupies, these girls, who come, they're sexually active, sexually mature, they don't ask for their birth certificate, they don't know what age they may be.

"But they're certainly not grooming them and exploiting them, but they can be caught in this trap. These people are instantly stigmatised, some will be innocent, some will not, but until such time as it's proven there should be anonymity for both."

He added: "If someone has done something wrong, the law will take its course. But all of us, whether they're proven guilty or not, we should never be judgemental about anybody, ever.

"We shouldn't go round condemning, unforgiving. We should always be totally forgiving about everything."

Dr Jon Bird, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, branded Roache's remarks "completely disgusting".

Bird told The Mirror: "Mr Roache has belittled the hurt and pain of others without any understanding of the circumstances himself. He should be ashamed of himself."

Coronation Street star Bill Roache has said that he wants to put his contentious comments about sex abuse victims behind him.

The actor, who plays Ken Barlow in the soap, is currently in New Zealand after controversy over his reported suggestion that victims of paedophiles were being punished for past actions.

Appearing on TV ONE's Breakfast, he insisted he doesn't want to justify the comments made to the network's Sunday programme last week.

"If somebody doesn't understand what you're saying and puts it in their own words, it's a distortion. And that is what has happened," he said.

"I'm not blaming anyone, I don't try to justify, but I would never say that. There is no punishment, there is none.

"If you try and justify the other side will come back. It was upsetting but it's over and done with, so we can put it behind us."

Roache added: "And all I was saying was that if you are accused, you're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. But if you're a celebrity you get pilloried."

Roache apologised for his comments in an official statement last week.