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BAFTA TV Nominations

SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA

CASUALTY Deborah Sathe, Loretta Preece, Debbie Biggins, Jenny Thompson, Sarah Beeson – BBC Studios/BBC One

CORONATION STREET Production Team – ITV Studios/ITV

EMMERDALE Production Team – ITV Studios/ITV HOLBY CITY Production Team – BBC Studios/BBC One

'Coronation Street' on Airbnb: world's longest-running TV soap opera is open for a sleepover

The world's longest-running soap opera is set to host its first overnight visitors.

Fans of UK soap opera Coronation Street can spend the night on the cobbles in the fictional town of Weatherfield.

Staying in a pop-up house called The Rovers' Annexe, two guests will get the chance to immerse themselves in the long-running soap's history.

Clad in the street's quintessential red-brick, the house is right next door to The Rovers Return – the working-class pub where many of the soap's storylines unfold.

The one-bedroom house sleeps two guests and has a classic Coronation Street design, including wood panelling and patterned wallpaper. Available to book for a one-night stay on Saturday, October 2 only, superfans who reserve the Airbnb will also get a private tour of the set, followed by a hotpot dinner while watching classic Corrie reruns.

Inside, the tiny house doesn't look out of place on the street, with a living room with wood panelling and patterned wallpaper, and a small adjoining dining area. The bedroom has prime Weatherfield views. Guests will also get the chance to pop over to The Rovers Return for a drink, and breakfast will be served courtesy of Roy's Rolls, the street's cafe owned by Roy Cropper.

Located in England's Greater Manchester, The Rovers’ Annexe costs £60 ($84) for the night, and the fee is being donated to charity. Bookings will open at 1pm (UK time) on Wednesday, May 26.

The Airbnb listing coincides with Covid-19 restrictions easing in the UK.

“What fan of Coronation Street hasn’t had a dream where you find yourself transported into the show itself, wandering around the houses of your best loved characters," said John Whiston, head of continuing drama at ITV.

Breakfast will be served from Roy's Rolls. Courtesy Airbnb / Fabio De Paola / PA Wire "This unique stay gives you the chance to do just that, stay the night and wake up right next to The Rovers Return. What better way to celebrate Britain opening up again than your very own staycation on the nation’s favourite Street.”

The lucky pair who book the stay will be in good company – The Rovers' Annexe looks out towards Audrey's house and is just along the street from Preston's Petals flower shop. Further along the cobbles is Fiz and Tyrone's house, and local grocery store The Kabin.

Although the set interiors will be closed, visitors will be able to wander around Coronation Street as much as they like, and can also take in the nearby Victoria Street and the ginnel, a small back alleyway where lots of Corrie drama has unfolded over the years.

Guests can wander the Coronation Street cobbles as much as they like during the stay. Courtesy Airbnb / Fabio De Paola / PA Wire Coronation Street has been ongoing for more than 60 years, making it the world's longest longest-running TV soap opera.

The series centres around a corner shop and a pub in Weatherfield, a fictional town in northern England. It was first aired on December 7, 1960 and was originally only expected to run for a couple of months.

Ken Barlow depicter tests positive for coronavirus

The 88-year-old, who has played Ken Barlow in the show since its 1960 debut, tested positive for the coronavirus and was written out of the soap as he took time to recover.

However, a spokesperson for the ITV show has confirmed Bill is on the mend and is set to return to the famous cobbles "as soon as possible."

"Following recent reports about his health, William Roache has asked us to clarify that he took time off work after testing positive for Covid," they told the Daily Mirror. "He has recovered well and is looking forward to returning to the cobbles as soon as possible."

A source added that storylines involving Ken were "currently being written," explaining bosses are "limiting the time we are filming with the more elderly cast during the pandemic."

"He is doing really well and is looking forward to returning," they shared. "Bill is such a well-loved member of the team and everyone is delighted he has recovered so well."

"We can't wait to have him back."

Like most projects, "Coronation Street" halted filming when the lockdown was first announced in March 2020. The cast and crew resumed filming in a restricted manner several months later. Due to social distancing guideline, they used real-life couples as body doubles for kissing scenes.

"Coronation Street" wasn't the only show employing the clever trick. Another U.K. soap opera "EastEnders" and U.S. daytime series "The Bold and The Beautiful" also recruited real-life partners for intimate scenes.

‘Coronation Street’ actor Johnny Briggs dies at age 85

A family statement said Briggs died peacefully Sunday morning after a long illness.

Briggs was a fixture on “Coronation Street,” playing his role for 30 years. Baldwin, a Cockney clothing factory boss, became one of the most memorable characters in the show’s fictional town of Weatherfield. John Whiston, managing director of the drama, said Briggs brought a charisma to his role which made it “very hard to look at anyone else” when he was on screen.

“He truly was one of the most iconic characters the Street has ever known. We wish Johnny’s family all our condolences,” Whiston said in a statement.

Briggs made his debut on the show as Baldwin in 1976, and remained until 2006. In the early 1980s, his character’s affair with married Deidre Barlow, played by Anne Kirkbride, gripped the nation and was one of the show’s most popular storylines. Around 12 million viewers tuned in when his character died of a heart attack.

Briggs was appointed an MBE, or a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year Honors in 2006.

Ronald Pickup Dies: Actor In ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ Films, ‘The Crown’ & Dozens Of Other Shows Was 80

Pickup played Norman Cousins in John Madden’s 2011 romantic dramedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, sharing a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel and others. He returned for 2015’s The Second Best Exotic Hotel.

The actor also recurred as the Archbishop of Canterbury in the first season of Netflix’s hit drama The Crown. He also played Neville Chamberlain in 2017’s Darkest Hour, a Best Picture Oscar nominee that also earned Gary Oldman a Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Winston Churchill.

Born on June 7, 1940, in Chester, England, Pickup had a few credits in his 20s including playing Don Pedro in the 1967 British telefilm Much Ado About Nothing. He worked sporadically until 1973, when he appeared in The Day of the Jackal and multiple British TV shows. Thus began a long career of mostly supporting roles that including such films as The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), Nijinski (1980), Never Say Never Again (1983) — Sean Connery’s final James Bond film — Lolita (1997). He also co-starred in The Mission (1986) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010).

His numerous TV credits ranged from a 1964 Doctor Who episode to multiple British miniseries and series including Jackanory, Moving and the historical dramas Verdi, Wagner and the title role in 1984’s Einstein. Pickup earned a BAFTA TV nomination for his lead role in 1983’s Waters of the Moon.

More recently, he appeared in the UK series Feather Boy, The Worst Week of My Life, Holby City and Young Dracula, along with guest roles on such popular dramas as Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, Midsomer Murders and Coronation Street.

Funeral arrangements and survivors were not disclosed.

‘Coronation Street’ Filming Suspended By ITV As Coronavirus Continues To Rampage Across Britain

ITV confirmed the filming hiatus on Friday afternoon, with cast and crew in Manchester set to down tools on Monday. The broadcaster said it is pausing to provide the team time to rewrite scripts and it will not impact Corrie’s broadcast schedule of six episodes a week.

A spokeswoman said: “Coronation Street will pause filming from next Monday, 25 January for two weeks to undertake some rewriting of stories and scripts as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We will also be taking the opportunity to review all health and safety requirements to ensure we continue to provide a safe working environment for the cast, crew and production team. This pause in filming won’t affect our ability to deliver six episodes of Coronation Street each week.”

Separately, The Sun reported that another ITV soap, Emmerdale, had to halt production last week following a coronavirus outbreak on-set. Filming will resume next week, just as Coronation Street goes on hiatus. Again, ITV does not expect Emmerdale’s schedule to be disrupted.

The spokeswoman added: “We paused filming on Emmerdale last week due to some members of the team testing positive for Covid 19. We’ve carried out proper track and trace measures on those cases and undertook intensive cleaning of the production building, whilst reinforcing the health and safety protocols we have in place. We’re returning to filming from this Monday, January 25.”

ITV slamming the breaks on two of its biggest brands shows the challenges facing producers right now, as new strains of coronavirus pushed the number of daily positive tests up to nearly 70,000 earlier this month. There are some signs, however, that the national lockdown is having an effect and cases are falling.

Even so, it’s proving tricky to keep production bubbles protected. Furthermore, film and TV production has been taken off the UK government’s coronavirus travel exemption list, meaning those arriving in Britain to participate in shoots of all shapes and sizes will need to self-isolate for 10 days.

'Coronation Street' star Mark Eden dies at 92

The screen star – most famous for playing Alan Bradley on the British soap – passed away in the early hours of Friday morning.

“We are very sad to announce the death of actor Mark Eden,” his agent said in a statement. “He died peacefully, in hospital, earlier today. Mark had been living with Alzheimer’s disease for some time, and was hospitalized in November.

“Mark had a long career spanning more than 50 years, including eight years in Coronation Street as character Alan Bradley.”

As well as appearing in Coronation Street, Eden also starred in Doctor Who show Marco Polo. His other screen credits include Poirot and in 1965 film Doctor Zhivago.

He’s survived by wife Sue, daughter Polly, stepson Paul and granddaughter Emma.

ITV Fires ‘Coronation Street’ Director After He Branded TV Industry Diversity Champions “Victim-Making Frauds”

Steve Finn’s Facebook missives were spotted by HuffPost UK and were posted during the week of the Edinburgh TV Festival in August, when diversity was at the forefront of most virtual sessions at the industry talking shop.

Headlining the festival was historian David Olusoga, who delivered an excoriating assessment of race and racism in the UK television industry in a deeply personal MacTaggart Lecture. “I’ve been so crushed by my experiences, so isolated and disempowered by the culture that exists within our industry, that I have had to seek medical treatment for clinical depression,” the presenter said.

Finn took issue with Olusoga’s words, writing in a public Facebook post: “Oh poor dear, so crushed by his success on the unenlightened British media. Could I get just a tenth of his salary for making programmes which people actually watch, as he is so crushed?”

Olusoga also recalled an anecdote about seeing Black colleagues being served food after their white counterparts while filming on a reconstructed slave plantation in Jamaica. “Without informing me it had been decided that the actors and the crew were to eat first, the extras would get their lunch afterwards. Standard procedure perhaps, but the unintentional effect was that white people ate first and black people only after they had finished,” he said.

Finn commented: “Could someone please tell this idiot that the cast and crew were there earlier, worked harder and had to be back on set earlier than the extras, and would probably work longer and harder after lunch? But oh no he would rather see victims than any realistic practice.”

The director added: “People like Olusaga are victim-making frauds and need to be called out.”

Finn also took issue with remarks made by writer and actor Noel Clarke, who wanted diversity improved on a shoot he was working on. “I’m on a job now which I can’t mention and I came in on day one and I’m the lead actor I was like, ‘The crew’s not diverse enough, fix it, fix it,’” he said during the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Clarke later doubled down on the comments in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live — an interview that Finn posted a link to with the comment: “The sheer arrogance of this fucktard: “nobody was fired”, oh no they were just “let go”, as freelancers are, because budgets aren’t unlimited, and you can’t just hire extra crew, so yes you got some white people “let go” to assuage your own agenda.”

It’s not clear where Finn’s “let go” quote comes from. Clarke did not use this phrase during the clip, and in fact makes clear: “Nobody’s losing any jobs, nobody’s getting replaced or anything like that.”

An ITV spokeswoman said Finn, who directed Monday’s episode of Coronation Street, will no longer work on the flagship soap. “We have been made aware of comments on social media by a freelance director, Steve Finn, which are inconsistent with the values of both Coronation Street and ITV. The director will not therefore be returning to Coronation Street,” she said.

According to a Coronation Street fansite, Finn has directed more than 20 episodes over the past two years.

Princess Switch 2: Vanessa Hudgens Stars Opposite Herselves in Netflix Holiday Sequel — Watch Trailer

Yes, you read that correctly. The highly anticipated sequel to 2018’s The Princess Switch finds Hudgens dividing her screen time between a trio of personas: Chicago-based pastry chef Stacy DeNovo, the aforementioned Belgravian royal, and a new blonde troublemaker named Fiona.

Switched Again finds Stacy (Hudgens) returning to Belgravia to help Margaret (also Hudgens!) patch things up with Kevin after inheriting the throne to Montenaro. Further complications ensue when Fiona (Hudgens again for the win!), an apparent party girl, threatens to foil her doppelgangers’ plan.

The film also stars Sam Palladio (Nashville) as Prince Edward, Nick Sagar (Shadowhunters) as Kevin Richards, Mark Fleischmann (Coronation Street) as Frank De Luca, Suanne Braun (Silk Stalkings) as Mrs. Donatelli and Lachlan Nieboer (Downton Abbey) as Antonio Rossi.

The Princess Switch 2: Switched Again premieres on Thursday, Nov. 19.

COVID-19 comes to Coronation Street: How the world's longest-running soap is dealing with a global pandemic

COVID-19 has been a difficult reality for months now, yet it's rarely reflected on television, aside from news programs. But now the virus has finally hit Coronation Street, the world's longest-running soap opera.

"It's an unprecedented time that we're living in, and I think it's absolutely right that Coronation Street reflects it," said Patti Clare, who describes the character she plays, Mary Taylor, as a bossy-boots.

"She has drawn up daily routines for them all to do. She's got them learning Italian online — she's got them singing out the window, " Clare said.

Production on the British soap in Manchester was shut down on March 23 for nearly three months because of the virus. The show had a stockpile of unaired episodes and scaled back from airing six a week to three to ensure fans could keep getting a dose of "Corrie" during lockdown.

"Coronation Street is as part of the furniture as the Queen, or the weather report," said Clare.

The show played an especially important role during the pandemic, she said.

"When people have had the most terrible day, they put on Corrie, and they feel immediately comforted because they know exactly the lay of the land."

Virus appears out of nowhere

On the first episode with COVID-19, which aired in the U.K. on Friday, the virus seemed to appear out of nowhere. Shop counters have hand sanitizer, posters promoting social distancing are plastered in Roy's Rolls café, and the virus enters plotlines.

It's as if the characters had been dealing with it for months but previous episodes never even mentioned it.

The first COVID-19 episode will air in Canada on Aug. 17.

Some actors not yet allowed on set

Intimate and passionate scenes are a big part of soaps around the world, and they're coming up with creative solutions to keep the romance. In the U.S., The Bold and the Beautiful are using actor's real-life partners as body doubles to get around social distancing rules.

Corrie isn't going that route. Its writers are bringing passion to the show with words rather than kisses.

Production resumed on the show in early June with physical distancing rules on set. Cast and crew are required to stay two metres apart, and there's a person on staff with a stick to make sure they do. The number of people on set is limited to only essential cast and crew.

"Safety first," said show producer Iain MacLeod.

There are health checks for anyone entering the set and actors who are considered vulnerable — such as 88-year-old William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow — are not back to work yet.

Ryan Russell, who plays Michael Bailey, the eldest son of the first Black family to move onto the street, said he is constantly second-guessing himself.

Russell said acting is normally very physical but in this new world of physical distancing, he has to ignore his instincts at times.

"Should I move or should I not move? You do feel quite stationary at the moment, because you can't really roam around on set, like you do as an actor," he said.

"The staple of a good soap episode is a punch-up or a fight," MacLeod said. But right now, that's tricky to do because the cast can't touch each other.

To get around it, the crew are using creative editing, dummies or write the script so the fight scenes happen off screen.

"You might end one scene with an aggressor turning up and holding a pipe," MacLeod explained. "Then the camera drifts into the alleyway and we find the victim badly beaten."

'Humour will help resolve this conundrum'

The Bailey family will be directly impacted by the disease in the new episodes. Michael's mother works as a nurse. The show will explore the challenges and concerns the family has for her safety during the pandemic.

Other popular soaps in the U.K. and around the world, such as Emmerdale, have chosen not address the pandemic in its storylines.

"That will be very difficult, to be honest, to completely ignore the virus," said Carole O'Reilly, a senior lecturer in media and cultural studies at the University of Salford in Manchester.

O'Reilly said Coronation Street needs to strike the right balance when it comes to dealing with the virus. It has to take COVID-19 seriously but stick to its comedic sensibility.

"Humour will help resolve this conundrum about how much of the virus and how sick of the virus we all are," she said.

A lifelong Coronation Street fan, she rarely misses an episode. She said soaps are personal and emotional for viewers, but they are also important for neworks' bottom lines — which is why the show needs to get it right.

"They are big business," O'Reilly said. "They're really key money-makers. For advertisers they are very important."

Clare said her character will help people reflect on the humour that can be found in light moments of this pandemic.

"I hope they find some of it funny and I hope they laugh at Mary's homemade mask, which is pink with white ribbons — don't ask why."

How to watch

Watch Coronation Street on CBC Television or stream it live on CBC Gem. Download the CBC Gem app from iTunes or Google Play, or watch it in your web browser.

Sign up for a free membership on CBC Gem to watch the stream live in your region.

Coronavirus Finally Comes to ‘Coronation Street’

They can do so until July 24: the day when, four months after the rest of the country went into lockdown, the coronavirus pandemic will finally hit “Coronation Street.”

Off screen, the world’s longest-running soap opera — and a staple of British weeknight television — has been dealing with the impact of the coronavirus since March. Production was officially halted on March 23, the day Britain went into lockdown, and episodes have since been rationed to keep the show on the air: instead of watching six nights a week, viewers have had to make do with three.

Filming resumed this month, but with strict social-distancing measures in place. Any characters played by actors in high-risk groups have disappeared completely, crews have been stripped back to the bare essentials and all scenes have been shot with actors no less than two meters apart.

The number of crew members on set has been reduced. Actors are at least two meters apart at all times.

But onscreen, the show has remained blissfully unaware of this new reality. Even sequences shot since the resumption of filming have not yet acknowledged the reason for the lack of physical contact: Iain Macleod, the series producer, felt it would have been “incredibly strange” for episodes to be a mix of the old world and the new.

Instead, the pandemic will arrive in Weatherfield — the fictional part of Greater Manchester where the show is set — effectively overnight on July 24, when the first episode entirely written and designed after lockdown is set to air. “It will be a day/night thing,” Macleod said. He joked that it might look like a “continuity error: now there is a pandemic.”

Macleod and his writers have, he said, “agonized long and hard” over how to introduce the coronavirus into the show, a challenge that in some way struck at the heart of what “Coronation Street” — and Britain’s other long-running soaps, “Emmerdale” and “EastEnders” — are meant to be.

Unlike their American peers, British soap operas are not designed to be fantastical. They are neither set in a specific period nor entirely contained within their own universe. Instead, they occupy a delicate, liminal territory between fiction and reality.

“The way British soaps organize time is important,” said Christine Geraghty, a professor of film and television studies at the University of Glasgow. “They take place on a day-to-day basis. Characters wake up in the morning and go to bed at night. British soaps keep going: you don’t always start a new episode at the exact place the last one finished.” Cliffhanger endings, she said, tend to be deployed only for major plotlines.

“Mostly, the postman comes in the morning, and the day ends with a drink in the pub,” she said. “The rhythms in a soap make it a recognizable world. You might know, as a viewer, that things like that don’t quite happen in real life, but you can place it all within the scope of your own experience.”

The stories can, of course, be outlandish — planes crash on the Yorkshire village where “Emmerdale” is set with alarming frequency — but the landscape, too, is constructed to feel familiar.

“It is our world, but it is not our world,” said Carole O’Reilly, a senior lecturer in media and television studies at the University of Salford. “It looks and feels recognizable: a heightened version of the world we see.”

She picks out the backdrop of “Coronation Street” — based on Salford itself — as authentically northern: the architecture of back-to-back terraced housing and cobbled streets, the social life revolving around the pub. But so, too, is the tone of the characters’ interactions. “Direct and to the point,” according to Geraghty, or gregarious and outgoing, to O’Reilly: all of it distinctly (if not uniquely) Mancunian.

But while British soaps set out to reflect the world, they are selective about which elements of the real world are allowed to seep in. “‘Coronation Street’ has taken on a lot of social issues,” Geraghty said. “It has dealt with racism, domestic abuse, violence, trans rights. But it doesn’t do current events; soaps are filmed too far in advance to deal with real events in real time, and besides, they’re too political.”

The pandemic will arrive on “Coronation Street” months after it hit Britain.

Mot news events are ignored completely — though there is a bench on the “Coronation Street” set dedicated to the victims of the 2017 Manchester bombing, incorporated onto the set in 2018 — but the pandemic is far more complex.

“It is a health event, a political event, an economic event,” Geraghty said. “It is changing lives.” To her mind, British soaps, which set themselves the task of showing “everyday life and how it is lived, cannot ignore it as they normally would.”

Macleod and his team knew that, but were conscious of the other side of a soap’s appeal: the need to provide some form of escapism. “We want to let viewers see the world we live in,” he said. “But we have talked about the pandemic and basically nothing else for months, and I don’t think they need to see more people banging on about the pandemic.”

Their approach, then, will be to acknowledge the change in the world, but with what he described as a “light touch.” “It will mainly be the visual element,” he said. “There will be a lot of evidence of social distancing: people won’t touch, they’ll conspicuously stand apart, older relatives will be sequestered and shielding.”

There will, he admitted, be some discrepancies. Not only will the pandemic suddenly appear — four months late — but, by the time episodes air, the world may have shifted once more. “Coronation Street,” might, once again, be experiencing a different reality than its viewers.

ITV — the network that has aired the show since it appeared in 1960 — is confident that audiences will not object to the inconsistencies. “They are quite forgiving,” said John Whiston, the broadcaster’s managing director of continuing drama.

Over the past few months, the show has conducted research that has shown that viewers have, in a way, started to appreciate that what they are seeing onscreen does not quite mirror what is happening in the world.

“We have had a lot of people say to us that it has been an antidote to what is happening, and that’s been appreciated,” Whiston said. He is not worried that people might object to the “Coronation Street” pandemic not quite matching the experience of the rest of the country. “Besides,” Whiston said, “if we were true to lockdown, it would all be quite dull: just people going to the shop once a day.”

2020 BAFTA TV Nominations

SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA

CASUALTY – BBC Studios/BBC One

CORONATION STREET – ITV Studios/ITV

EMMERDALE – ITV Studios/ITV

HOLBY CITY – BBC Studios/BBC One

ITV Soap ‘Coronation Street’ To Resume Filming Next Week After 10-Week Coronavirus Hiatus

The return to production will mean that the show, affectionately known as Corrie, will remain on-air throughout July and beyond, with three episodes being filmed every week at the drama’s studios in Trafford, Manchester.

Coronation Street and sister soap Emmerdale are among a number of programs returning to work following the UK government greenlighting production, and broadcasters and producers drawing up COVID-19 safety protocols.

Safety measures on Corrie include a fixed cohort system, with crew members designated to a specific studio or exterior lot. Social distancing will be observed, while cast and crew will have daily temperature checks. Older and more vulnerable members of the team won’t be on set during the initial period of filming.

John Whiston, ITV’s managing director of continuing drama, said: “Getting to this point has taken a huge amount of work and goodwill from a huge number of people, not least our cast and crew. With the peak past, all indications are that the time is right for a return to filming.

“And with the extensive protocols we have put in place, we have made our workplace as safe as possible. I’m sure our audience will appreciate having the show they love continue on air. For many who have written in it is a vital escape from all the fears and stresses this virus brings in its wake.”

'Coronation Street' star Andy Whyment warns soap could go off air

The ITV show – Britain’s oldest soap opera, launched in 1960 – has stopped production due to the government lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus, and has already been cut from airing six episodes a week to just three.

Whyment, who plays Kirk Sutherland, told The Sun newspaper: “We worked up until the Friday when Boris [Johnson] closed all the pubs and clubs.

“We had a schedule to work until the following Thursday then on the Sunday we got an email saying they were standing everyone down.

“It was the right thing to do.

“We’ve got until July in the can, so we need to get back mid-June otherwise it’s going to go off air.”

The government has yet to give any official statement on when or how lockdown sanctions might end.

Until then people are being asked to stay at home and only leave their homes to work if they cannot work from home. Production on all soap operas and many TV shows and films has been halted in compliance with the guidelines.

People over the age of 70, which includes some of the cast of Corrie, have been told they are classed as vulnerable and warned to self-isolate at home for a minimum of 12 weeks to avoid catching coronavirus.

Social distancing rules also mean people are asked to stand at least 2 metres apart, which could cause complications with filming.

Whyment, 39, has been in the soap since May 2000. Last year he took part in I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, camping in the Australian jungle on a rationed diet.

He said his stint in the jungle reality show had helped him deal with the lockdown: “It’s definitely helped in the last few weeks. On the plus side I get to eat more than just rice and beans.

“But at least on I’m A Celeb I could get out the camp.

“Now the furthest I go is Morrisons at the top of the estate!”

Equity Negotiates Pay For ‘Coronation Street’ & ‘EastEnders’ Actors During Coronavirus Shutdown

Actors on BBC continuing dramas EastEnders, Holby City, Casualty, Doctors, River City and Pobol y Cwm; ITV’s Coronation Street and Emmerdale; and Channel 4’s Hollyoaks will receive monthly payments during the filming hiatus.

The payments will “either meet or come very close to the benchmark” set by government support schemes, which for employed workers pays 80% of wages up to a maximum of £2,500 a month. “We pushed very hard for more, but felt these were the best that could be achieved in light of the difficult economic climate,” Equity said.

The union pointed out that talent pay on British soaps is a broad spectrum, with some people not earning significant sums. It added that many self-employed actors do not qualify for government support.

John Barclay, head of recorded media at Equity, said: “By securing financial protection for artists now, we go some way towards safeguarding a vibrant future for the industry when this crisis is behind us and production can resume.”

Separately, British trade Broadcast reported on Wednesday that crews on Coronation Street and Emmerdale have been furloughed by producer ITV Studios, while Hollyoaks producer Lime Pictures has done the same with some of its production team.

Honor Blackman Dies: ‘Goldfinger’s Pussy Galore Was 94

Her death was announced by her family to UK’s The Guardian.

“It’s with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Honor Blackman aged 94,” her family said in the statement. “She died peacefully of natural causes at her home in Lewes, Sussex, surrounded by her family. She was much loved and will be greatly missed by her two children Barnaby and Lottie, and grandchildren Daisy, Oscar, Olive and Toby.”

After her 1962 breakthrough in Britain as Cathy Gale on The Avengers, Blackman became an international star with the release of the third James Bond film that same year. As the villain Goldfinger’s wickedly named partner-in-crime aviatrix, Blackman was able to show off the judo skills she’d learned for her Avengers role – and provide the Bond franchise with one of its most indelible character introductions.

As Bond, played by Sean Connery, wakes up from a drug-induced blackout, he asks, “Who are you?”

Says she, “My name is Pussy Galore.”

Deadpans Connery, “I must be dreaming.”

The memorable exchange was spoofed by Mike Meyers and Fabiana Udenio in 1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Notable Hollywood & Entertainment Industry Deaths In 2020: Photo Gallery

Blackman’s other credits include playing the goddess Hera in Jason and the Argonauts, and British TV roles in Doctor Who, The Upper Hand and Coronation Street, and stage productions of The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Cabaret.

“As well as being a much-adored mother and grandmother,” the family told The Guardian, “Honor was an actor of hugely prolific creative talent; with an extraordinary combination of beauty, brains and physical prowess, along with her unique voice and a dedicated work ethic, she achieved an unparalleled iconic status in the world of film and entertainment and with absolute commitment to her craft and total professionalism in all her endeavours she contributed to some of the great films and theatre productions of our times.”

During her stint on The Avengers as the black-leather-clad secret agent, Blackman recorded the 1964 single “Kinky Boots” with co-star Patrick Macnee, a flop upon release that became an unlikely hit on the British charts in 1990.

Coronavirus: ITV Suspends Production Of Soaps ‘Coronation Street’ & ‘Emmerdale’

ITV has suspended production of both shows from Monday March 23. The two shows, which film in Manchester, England, are the latest titles to have been affected by the global pandemic.

Both shows run relatively day-and-date with the UK on U.S. streamer BritBox.

This comes days after ITV changed its schedule to spread out the number of episodes that both shows air per week. BBC soaps including EastEnders, Holby City and Casualty ceased production last week.

“ITV has sadly taken the decision to suspend production of the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale with effect from Monday 23 March,” an ITV spokeswoman said. “We’ve been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the Government’s latest health guidelines, to ensure we’ve episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer.”

“However, the health and well-being of the production teams, actors, crew and their families is of paramount importance to us and we now feel that the time has come to stop filming. We’d like to thank our viewers for their support and hope they continue to enjoy both soaps in the coming months,” the spokeswoman added.

‘Coronation Street,’ Long-Running British Soap, Introduces Its First Black Family

“Say hello to the Bailey family,” the show’s producers said in an announcement on Saturday. “A brand-new family moving to Weatherfield in June this year!” they added, referring to the fictional town based on Salford, an industrial city about two miles west of the center of Manchester.

The announcement did not address the family’s race or ethnicity, but the show’s network, ITV, said the black family would be the show’s first.

To many observers, the addition, while welcome, came astonishingly late for a show, known as “Corrie,” that debuted in December 1960 and that has been watched by up to a third of the British public — including, reports say, Queen Elizabeth II.

“How have the producers managed to get away with this for almost 60 years?” Matthew Xia, a theater director, told The Guardian, saying he was stunned it had taken so long for the show to reflect Manchester’s multicultural character.

“It’s about time, a street right in the heart of Manchester and they’ve never had a black family live there,” one Twitter user, Carly Purland-Goodey, wrote on Saturday.

For decades, the set where the show was filmed was in central Manchester. In the 1970s and ’80s, the show was broadcast in the United States, first on public television to a lukewarm reception, and then on cable.

The show’s producer, Ian MacLeod, told ITV News that he did not know why the soap took so long to introduce a black family.

“Manchester has a large proportion of black residents, so it did feel sort of overdue we did this and represented modern Manchester a bit more accurately,” Mr. MacLeod said.

“Coronation Street” has had individual characters who are black or members of other racial and ethnic groups before. In 2013, a character of Pakistani origin appeared, followed shortly by members of his family, the Nazirs. (In 2016, Marc Anwar, who portrayed the father, Sharif Nazir, was fired over anti-India posts on Twitter.)

The series, based on the residents of fictional Coronation Street, has been a British favorite for years alongside “EastEnders,” set in East London, and “Emmerdale,” set in Yorkshire. The story lines revolve around lives that viewers can easily identify with and have produced quotations and characters that are firmly engraved in British culture.

The shows have given rise to some of the most popular television celebrities in the country, including Pat Phoenix, who played the glamorous Elsie Tanner on “Coronation Street,” and Barbara Windsor, who appeared as Peggy Mitchell, the protective pub owner in “EastEnders.”

Both shows are so iconic that they appear in guides to British culture that applicants for citizenship have to study to take the test.

“Coronation” was anointed the world’s longest-running TV soap when “As the World Turns” aired its last episode in 2010 on CBS, according to the Guinness World Records.

In recent years, soap operas have seen a decline in viewership, according to a report published in 2018 by the Office of Communications, or Ofcom, Britain’s telecom regulator. In 2007, “EastEnders,” “Coronation Street” and “Emmerdale” averaged 8.7 million viewers among them. By 2017, that figure had dropped to 6.9 million, the report said.

In contrast with the aspirational settings and improbable plots of American soaps, the British shows have lured viewers by portraying daily life with all its difficulties, such as joblessness, poverty and raising children as single parents. Still, their plot lines have been criticized for being nostalgic for a bygone era and tone-deaf to the changes in modern Britain.

The addition of the new family to “Coronation Street” appeared to be an attempt to address those issues, especially with the character of James Bailey, the 19-year-old younger son played by Nathan Graham. A talented footballer, the character will face the challenges of coming out as gay to his family and teammates.

The rest of the family includes the father, Edison, a builder, played by Trevor Michael Georges; the mother, Aggie, a pharmacy assistant, played by Lorna Laidlaw; and the older son, Michael, played by Ryan Russell.

The new family will make its debut on the show in June.

Shane Rimmer Dies: Longtime Screen & Voice Actor In Bond Films, ‘Thunderbirds’ & Much More Was 89

IMDb list more than 160 credits for Rimmer spanning six decades — from early TV through current series The Amazing World of Gumball. Along the way he appeared in such high-profile films as Batman Begins, the first three Superman films with Christopher Reeve and Best Picture Oscar winners Gandhi and Out of Africa. Four of his other films — Reds, Star Wars, Julia and Dr. Strangelove — were nominated for the Academy’s Big Prize. He also turned up in the 007 films The Spy Who Loved Me, Diamonds Are Forever and You Only Live Twice.

Born on May 28, 1929, in Toronto, Rimmer moved to the UK in the 1950s. He would go on to appear on dozens of TV shows there, including the long-running soap opera Coronation Street — playing different characters in the late 1960s and again in 1988 — mid-’60s Doctor Who, Orlando and numerous miniseries.

He also carved out quite a career as a voice actor in series including Space: 1999, Joe 9, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Dick Spanner, P.I. But he might be best known as the voice of Scott Tracy, a member of the International Rescue team in Gerry Anderson’s popular marionette series Thunderbirds (1965-66) and subsequent film and TV remake.

Elsewhere, Rimmer had writing credits on such TV series as The Protectors, Joe 90 and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.

Absolutely Fabulous' June Whitfield Dead at 93

Whitfield’s career in British entertainment spanned six decades. In 1992, she was cast in Absolutely Fabulous as the mother of Jennifer Saunders’ Edina Monsoon. The sitcom ran for a total of five seasons, then returned for a series of three 20th anniversary specials in 2011 and 2012. Whitfield last reprised her role in 2016’s feature-length film Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.

Prior to AbFab, Whitfield co-starred as Rose Garvey in the British comedy Beggar My Neighbour, which ran from 1966-1968. She then starred opposite Terry Scott in both Happy Ever After (1974–1978) and Terry and June (1979–1987). Her most recent TV credits include episodes of Doctor Who, EastEnders and You, Me and the Apocalypse. Her work also extended to radio, where she voiced Miss Marple in a series of Agatha Christie adaptations for BBC Radio 4.

Whitfield was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1985. In 2017, at the age of 92, she was granted damehood for her services to drama and entertainment.

Norris Cole star speaks out on soap return after heart attack

Now, the star of ITV soap Coronation Street has revealed whether he’ll be returning to the cobbles any time soon.

Malcolm, 78, has been off screens for quite some time as a “silent heart attack” brought him to the brink of death.

He told the Blackpool Gazette: “Most of December I was in an induced coma, in the care of these brilliant, wonderful people at the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

“Fortunately I didn't realise how bad it was; I was dying. The cardiac team, headed by Mr [Joseph] Zacharias, simply saved my life."

Unbeknownst to Malcolm, he had originally visited his GP for a chest infection before he was informed of what had really happened.

He explained: ”I was informed by my doctor I had had at least one heart attack. I was sent to hospital, by emergency ambulance to Blackburn hospital and was there one night.

“While there I collapsed and was brought here to Blackpool Victoria - where I was operated on, in a procedure which was described by my surgeon Mr Zacharias as 'groundbreaking’.

"The heart attack tore a hole in my heart, they operated and took a chance.

“From getting into that ambulance at home, I don’t really remember much at all.

“It was almost like I thought it was happening to Norris Cole, like a soap opera about the NHS.”

But when it came down to returning to Coronation Street, Malcolm said it isn’t clear if he will.

“People are asking if I’m returning to the Street, but that’s just not known yet,” the actor said.

“I may do, I may not, it depends on my recovery.”

Fans of the long-running programme will no doubt be keen to see Malcolm back on the box as Norris has become a firm favourite on the soap.

Viewers have taken to Twitter to wish Malcolm well in light of his health problems.

One wrote: “Best wishes to Malcolm Hebden. What a shock to hear about his heart problems. Hope Malcom continues to make a good recovery. Corrie not the same without Norris #Corrie.”

Another said: “Sending love and good wishes for a strong recovery to #MalcolmHebden. 'Weatherfield' is duller without Norris and his gossip!”

“Get well soon Malcolm, I really miss your character Norris #corrie,” a third added.

Malcolm joined the soap as Norris back in 1997 for reoccurring role before being reintroduced in 1999.

But that wasn’t his only part as he also portrayed Mavis Riley’s (played by Thelma Barlow) Spanish lover Carlos.

'Coronation Street' star Helen Flanagan welcomes baby number 2

The former Coronation Street star, 27, welcomed daughter Delilah Ruby with her soccer player fiance, Scott Sinclair, in Glasgow, Scotland, on Friday and she debuted her baby girl on Instagram on Saturday as she shared details about the tot’s natural birth.

“I had a very quick labour, a water birth with just gas and air, absolutely besotted so in love,” she captioned a black-and-white photo of herself cradling the newborn as Scott kisses her forehead.

“Feel so blessed to have our healthy baby girl and I feel good after my labour.”

Flanagan also expressed her thanks to the “amazing midwives” who had taken care of mother and baby.

She went on to share a snap of the couple’s two-year-old daughter Matilda holding her little sister.

“So lucky Matilda was very quiet at the hospital,” she wrote.

Flanagan and Sinclair announced the news of her pregnancy in a special reveal for OK! magazine in December, when they also revealed their plans to wed.

“We both would love to get married and for us all to have (the) same name,” the actress said.

It is not yet known when the pair plans to exchange vows.

Tony Warren's script for Coronation Street forerunner found

Before Warren changed the TV landscape with Coronation Street in 1960, he started writing Seven, Bessie Street.

His friend David Tucker said it centres on a terraced street but is otherwise very different from Coronation Street.

The script was found in his possessions after he died in 2016 and is now part of an exhibition dedicated to Warren at Salford Museum and Art Gallery.

Warren left his estate to Mr Tucker, a friend of 22 years, with an instruction to destroy all creative works that weren't already in the public domain.

But Mr Tucker decided to keep the Seven, Bessie Street - with the proviso that no one else could read it.

The script is in a frame in the Salford exhibition with just the cover page, billing it as "a new soap opera in half-hourly episodes", on show.

Mr Tucker has read it, however, and says it was "quite obviously planned as a soap opera".

"The only thing really that relates to Coronation Street is the setting of a terraced street and the fact that it jumps a little bit between peoples' lives," he told BBC News.

"But there are no characters that relate to Coronation Street at all, and no scenarios. It's very different."

Seven, Bessie Street revolves around a family - perhaps inspired by Warren's own - who all have theatrical connections.

"That's what Tony did know about in his youth," Mr Tucker said. "That's probably why it would never have worked as it was, because there was so much in the stories about theatre.

"He was writing from what he knew in that Bessie Street script, but it probably wasn't going to relate that well to everybody else.

"So he then shifted the focus to the more mundane aspects of terraced street life."

Although Warren cast the script aside, Bessie Street did make its way into Coronation Street. Weatherfield's local primary school is called Bessie Street School.

The exhibition also includes the typewriter Warren used in his early years.

After jettisoning Seven, Bessie Street, Warren pitched a drama titled Our Street to the BBC. But he didn't hear back, so he reworked it as Florizel Street for Granada.

Florizel Street was changed to Coronation Street because - as legend has it - a tea lady named Agnes remarked that Florizel sounded like the name of a disinfectant.

Coronation Street launched in December 1960 and soon became one of the most popular programmes on television.

The exhibition also traces Warren's early life and career, which included acting in the BBC's Northern Children's Hour and writing for police series Shadow Squad.

According to a 1958 receipt, he was paid £150 for the latter.

The exhibition also shows his past as a male model, appearing on the cover of a 1957 edition of Knitters Digest and on the packet for a pullover knitting pattern.

There are many mementos from the Corrie years too, including his MBE, various awards, his red This Is Your Life book and letters from former poet laureate John Betjeman describing it as his "favourite programme".

Betjeman and Laurence Olivier were such fans that they were chairman and president respectively of the British League for Hilda Ogden, established in 1979.

Tony Warren's Coronation Street runs at Salford Museum & Art Gallery until 3 July.

Notable Deaths: Liz Dawn (1939 – 2017), starred on British soap opera “Coronation Street”

Dawn's family said in a statement that the actress died "peacefully in her sleep" Monday night.

"Coronation Street" has charted the goings-on in the fictional northern England community of Weatherfield since 1960 with a blend of dramatic story-lines and down-to-earth humor.

Born Sylvia Butterfield, Dawn was a nightclub singer before beginning an acting career with television commercials and guest appearances.

She appeared on the show from 1974 to 2008, as Vera, wife and verbal sparring partner to work-shy, pigeon-fancying Jack Duckworth. Their rocky but enduring relationship was at the show's emotional heart.

Dawn was diagnosed with emphysema in the early 2000s, and Vera was written out of the show in 2008, dying in her sleep. Bill Tarmey, who played Jack, died in 2012.

"Coronation Street" executive producer Kieran Roberts said "Dawn was a true 'Coronation Street' legend, a brilliant actor and a wonderful person."

"Coronation Street" has fans around the globe — including rapper Snoop Dogg, who recorded a message to mark its 50th anniversary in 2010.

Dawn is survived by her husband Don Ibbetson, four children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Coronation Street's Vera Duckworth actor Liz Dawn 'rushed to hospital' with serious lung condition

The 77-year-old, who is known for playing Vera Duckworth on the soap opera, reportedly felt ill suddenly on Thursday.

She was admitted to a hospital in Manchester with emphysema and chest pains.

The actor, who played her character for 34 years, was forced to quit the soap in 2008 due her health, and said she was "devastated" not to be able to attend the soap opera's 50th anniversary in 2010.

She was reportedly housebound for weeks before being admitted to hospital.

A source close to the family told The Sun: "She’s been in and out of hospital quite a few times in the last few years and normally the family are quite upbeat, but this time they seem more concerned.

"She’s not in a good way and her loved ones are obviously very worried."

Dawn was also unable to attend the wedding of her grandson, Thomas, who married the 27-year-old niece of Coronation Street’s Debbie Rush, in Italy in June as she recovered from surgery linked to a heart condition.

Bill Tarmey, who played Dawn’s on-screen husband Jack Duckworth, died in 2012 in Tenerife.

A year later, Dawn had a pacemaker fitted after a heart attack whilst on holiday in Spain.

She first appeared on the soap opera in 1974.

Tim Roth, Christina Hendricks Clash in Tin Star — Get Trailer, Premiere Date

Created by BAFTA award-winner Rowan Joffé (28 Weeks Later) and set in the Canadian Rockies, Tin Star tells the story of Jim Worth (Lie to Me’s Roth), a former British detective who brings his family to the tiny, tranquil town of Little Big Bear, where he is police chief, for a better life. When a vast oil refinery, fronted by corporate liaison Elizabeth Bradshaw (Mad Men‘s Hendricks), opens nearby and inundates their home with workers looking for drugs, gambling and prostitution, Jim must work hard to protect his family and town from organized crime.

The cast for Tin Star also includes Genevieve O’Reilly (The Honourable Woman), Abigail Lawrie (The Casual Vacancy), Oliver Coopersmith (Dickensian), Christopher Heyerdahl (Hell on Wheels), Stephen Walters (Outlander), Ian Puleston-Davies (Coronation Street), Roark Critchlow (Pretty Little Liars), Sarah Podemski (Cashing In), Ryan Kennedy (Hellcats) and Kevin Hanchard (Orphan Black).

New photos reveal shocking state of abandoned Coronation Street

Located in the backlot of Granada Studios, between Manchester's Liverpool Road and Quay Street, the set was opened by the Queen in 1982. It was used for filming until 2014, when the ITV show moved to a new production studio in Salford's MediaCity.

Now the Rovers Return pub stands vacant, a hollowed-out husk with missing windows, while the show's corner-shop The Kabin is completely overrun with weeds.

A series of photographs, taken by 23-year-old urban explorer Mark Andrew, reveal how the set has fallen into decline in just three years.

"It looks really old and there’s been a dramatic change," Andrews told the Manchester Evening News. "It looked a right state – dirty and run down. There are no cobbles there and I am not sure what is being done with it.”

There may be no future for the TV landmark, but MEN reports the former Granada House building adjacent to the set is due to become a 210-room hotel.

Coronation Street creator Tony Warren celebrated with Salford exhibition

Warren, who died last year aged 79, devised the soap opera – based in fictional inner-city Salford town Weatherfield – at the age of just 24.

His early life and career will be remembered at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery, near to where he grew up and where he came up with the idea for the world’s longest-running serial drama.

Visitors will be able to learn about Warren’s younger days, from his formative years in Pendlebury, Salford, to his work as a script writer and how he came to develop Coronation Street.

Original scripts from the show, which debuted in 1960, and other pieces of Warren’s written work are set to go on display.

“He brought the lives of ordinary Salford people to the television screen, which hit a note with the nation and continues today.”

Kieran Roberts, ITV’s executive producer of Coronation Street, said: “Coronation Street is the story of the everyday lives of ordinary folk living on a cobbled back-street somewhere in Manchester.

“The unique blend of heart-warming comedy and powerful drama has been at its heart since the very first episodes in 1960.

“Tony Warren was a wonderful and brilliant man who created not just the programme but an entire genre of British television. Tony left a huge legacy which is still growing and evolving.

“Coronation Street is the nation’s street and I hope that many people will enjoy this new exhibition that gives fascinating insights into the genesis of the programme and the genius of its creator.”

The exhibition, titled Four Miles From Manchester; Tony Warren’s Coronation Street, will run from Saturday October 21 2017 until Tuesday July 3 2018 at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery.

'Coronation Street' Episodes Now Available on BritBox a Day After U.K. Debut

The ITV soap's latest episode is now available on the service, which costs $6.99 per month after an introductory free-trial period, under its "Now" category.

Coronation Street, which has followed the everyday lives of a tightly knit community for 57 years, is the U.K.'s highest-rated soap.

Soumya Sriraman, president of BritBox, said: "Coronation Street has been the most requested show for our service, and we know that subscribers and fans will jump for joy now that BritBox not only has the series, but will be running them stateside hours after viewers get to see them in the U.K."

BritBox, also backed by AMC Networks, which has a joint venture with BBC Worldwide for cable channel BBC America, wants to offer "the most comprehensive collection of British television, across all genres, available anywhere in the U.S."

It also features U.S. premieres of new dramas and a library of iconic series. Among the shows offered are New Blood from writer Anthony Horowitz, Tutankhamun from Guy Burt, the original version of The Office, Absolutely Fabulous, Blackadder with Rowan Atkinson, Gavin & Stacey with James Corden, Miss Marple starring Joan Hickson, Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett, as well as soap operas EastEnders and Emmerdale.

Mrs Brown’s Boys actor Simon Delaney will join the cast of Coronation Street

The comedian will appear on the ITV staple next month, making a guest appearance for what Metro.co.uk understands will be several episodes.

The actor teased fans on Twitter when he tweeted that he was on his way to Manchester: ‘Yes indeed, the rumours are true, I am heading to Manchester. This Thursday. For the United match. #amongstotherthings.’

This is a big deal because Manchester is where Corrie is filmed, so the ‘other things’ was Delaney’s way of confirming the exciting news.

Hospital hopes that tragic Coronation Street miscarriage storyline will boost £150,000 appeal

On the show actress Kym Marsh's character Michelle will have a miscarriage and have to give birth to the baby in hospital.

The Health Tree Foundation (HTF), the charity for Scunthorpe General Hospital, has launched an appeal to raise £150,000 to create a brand new bereavement suite on the central delivery suite.

Nationally every day women like Michelle give birth to babies that they have miscarried, that are stillborn or pass away within a few hours.

Operational matron for maternity Karen Cross said: "We were really pleased when we heard about the story on Coronation Street. So many women suffer the loss of a baby every year and it's just heartbreaking for them.

"We provide women and their families with the best care we can while they are with us but we are desperate for a space for them to spend time with their baby away from the rest of the ward.

Karen added: "We have a space at the end of the ward we want to turn into a quiet haven for grieving parents and their families so they can spend time with their baby away from the hustle and bustle of the delivery suite."

The appeal has already raised more than £10,000 thanks to local people who have made donations.

Health Tree Foundation community champion Hayley Thompson said: "When we heard what the maternity team needed we knew we had to get involved.

"We have already been overwhelmed with people wanting to support the campaign but we need all the help we can get and this soap storyline will help us to highlight it further.

"If you can donate or would like to fundraise, we would love to hear from you. We are really keen to raise as much money as we can so our mum's have a special environment to spend time in with their babies."

Donate to support the appeal here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/nlagcharitablefunds/maternitybereavementcampaign

If you would like to find out more or learn about fundraising for the appeal please contact Charity Champion Hayley Thompson on Hayley.thompson3@nhs.net

Andrew Sachs, Manuel on the UK's Fawlty Towers, Dead at 86

Sachs died Nov. 23 after a four-year battle with dementia, according to his wife Melody, and was buried on Thursday. The Daily Mail first reported the news.

Sachs starred alongside John Cleese on Towers, playing the bumbling Spanish waiter Manuel at a quaint English hotel owned by Cleese’s Basil Fawlty. Towers only ran for a dozen episodes in 1975 and 1979, but still stands as one of the most beloved comedies in British TV history.

Cleese remembered Sachs in a series of tweets on Thursday: “A very sweet gentle and kind man and a truly great farceur. I first saw him on stage in Habeus Corpus in 1973. I could not have found a better Manuel.”

Sachs also appeared on the long-running British soap Coronation Street and played Albert Einstein in a 1996 installment of PBS’s Nova. Plus, he’s a part of the Doctor Who universe: Sachs voiced the Dronoid criminal Skagra in Shada, an unaired season of Who that was eventually produced as an audio play.

Coronation Street icon Jean Alexander, who played Hilda Ogden, died peacefully three days after her 90th birthday

The star, who played Hilda Ogden, passed away peacefully today in hospital.

She had been taken to hospital on Tuesday after becoming unwell.

Her niece Sonia Hearld, 64, told the Mirror how she received a phone call from the hospital breaking the bad news.

"It is such a shock", she said.

Jean had been taken to hospital after feeling poorly a few days earlier as family and friends planned to gather to celebrate her 90th last weekend.

After a couple of days in hospital she was allowed back the care home, where she had been looked after since suffering a slight stroke in 2014.

She passed away early today in the Southport and Ormskirk hospital near her home.

Sonia said: "She had been feeling a little poorly and had gone in for some tests.

"But on Tuesday she was still not too good and it was decided she might be better going back into hospital."

Today Sonia and her sister Valerie Thewlis, 60, had to break the tragic news of Jean's death to her 91-year-old brother Kenneth Hodgkinson.

They are the only relatives of Jean, who never married and instead dedicated her life to her career.

Jean suffered a stroke in June 2014 and returned to her home the following September.

She said at the time: "I've spent my career playing old ladies - now I am one.

“Don’t write me off yet, there's still so much I plan to see and do.”

Sonia said on Friday: “She recovered well and was back in her own home.

"But it got to the point she was having problems with her mobility and getting down to the shops.

“So it was decided she would be better off where she would have someone to care for her.

“But she was still fully independent and always said she was going to go back to her own home.

“She was well but she sometimes needed a little help walking, she would lean on people for support.”

Sonia said her earliest memories of Jean were of an “amazingly glamorous” woman who she and her sister adored and who adored them.

“To us she was an actress and she was glamorous.

“But she was great fun. She had a wicked sense of humour.”

The hugely popular actress played the part of feisty Hilda - famed for her catchphrase 'Ta ra catchphrase' for 23 years, having started her career in Macclesfield, Oldham and Stockport.

She received a 1987 BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Actress and retired from acting in 2012.

In 1984 hundreds of fans sent her condolence cards after the death of her on-screen husband Stan Ogden, played by Bernard Youens, who had died shortly before his character was killed off.

In 1985 she received the Royal Television Society Award for her performance on Coronation Street.

When she decided to leave the programme in 1987, fans started “Save Hilda!” campaigns.

Her final touching scene in the Rovers Return where she was filmed singing around a Christmas tree attracted more than 27 million viewers.

In 1988 Jean made a guest appearance in the long-running BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine as Auntie Wainwright, the money-grabbing local junk shop owner but then became a regular in the show until it ended in 2010.

In 2005 the UK TV Times poll voted her as the “Greatest Soap Opera Star of All Time”.

In 2005, she was voted the nation’s favourite soap character, while in her 1980s heyday, Hilda was behind only the Queen, Queen Mother and Princess Diana in a poll of the most recognisable women in Britain.

Pakistan-born actor sacked from Britain soap for offensive India tweets

Marc Anwar, 45, joined Coronation Street, the world’s longest-running TV soap opera, in 2014 as a member of the show’s first Muslim family.

The Sunday Mirror newspaper published screenshots of the messages posted on his personal Twitter account.

The posts hit out at India over the Kashmir dispute and suggested Pakistani actors should refuse to work in the country.

“Indians killing our Kashmir brothers and sisters,” he wrote.

He called Indians “b*****ds” and used other insulting terms.

An ITV spokeswoman said: “We are deeply shocked by the entirely unacceptable, racially offensive comments made on Twitter by Marc Anwar.

“We have talked to Marc and, as a consequence of his comments, he will not be returning to ‘Coronation Street’ with immediate effect.”

His character, love cheat gym boss Sharif Nazir, will still appear in scenes that have already been filmed for upcoming episodes.

The actor has appeared in Hollywood films including Captain Phillips and 51st State.

Famed for its cobbled streets and wistful big-band theme tune, Coronation Street, which began in 1960, became the longest-running soap opera in the world in 2010.

Set in a fictional suburb of Manchester in northwest England, it remains one of Britain’s most-watched programmes with around eight million viewers.

It has also been syndicated in dozens of countries around the world.

Guest stars have included Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne.

She's in the money: Michelle Keegan made just under £1million last year as she earns 16 times her Coronation Street salary

However, it looks like it has paid off as Michelle Keegan is now believed to be earning 16 times her salary on the ITV soap opera.

The Manchester-native, 29, has been free to endorse fashion and beauty products since she left her role as Tina McIntyre.

Figures for the actress's firm Rosia Promotions show she earned just under £1million last year, mostly thanks to her endorsements rather thank acting roles, according to The Sun.

The six-figures she took home last year is a significant increase from her £60,000 a year salary on Coronation Street.

During her time at Corrie, she was banned from appearing in beauty and clothing campaigns due to ITV rules.

The star, who is married to presenter Mark Wright, is believed to earn £250,000 a year as the face of high street label Lipsy.

She also earned around £150,000 to promote Garner’s Ambre Solaire self-tan range.

A source close to Michelle told The Sun: 'Corrie was a dream come true but she had to leave for the sake of her bank balance. It looks like a shrewd move.'

MailOnline has contacted Michelle's rep for comment.

Michelle's career has been going well since leaving the soap, with the leading role in the eagerly-anticipated second series of BBC war drama Our Girl coming up later this year.

She was recently cast as Tina Moore in the upcoming ITV drama Tina And Bobby about footballer Bobby Moore and his wife.

Earlier this year, she has already enjoyed smaller roles in Drunk History and Plebs - where she had her first on-screen sex scene.

Coronation Street to go six episodes a week from next year

In announcing the move, the broadcaster’s new director of television, Kevin Lygo, said a sixth weekly episode of the Weatherfield soap had been one of the first things he wanted to explore.

As recently as the late 1980s Coronation Street was on ITV just two nights a week, but it has been steadily expanded since then, moving to its current five episodes a week in 2009.

The world’s longest running soap opera, the extra episode will boost ITV’s advertising revenues and share of the audience, but is also likely to raise concerns whether the producers can maintain its quality over six weekly instalments.

It will begin in the autumn of next year.

Lygo said: “I am a life-long fan of Coronation Street and one of the first things I wanted to explore when I became director of television was taking the production to six episodes a week.

“The soaps are the cornerstone of the ITV schedule, and Coronation Street continues to produce some of the finest drama and comedy on television. It is a hugely important part of what has defined ITV throughout its history, and I want it to continue to be right at the heart of what ITV defines in years to come.

“As a viewer I have watched the soap as it has continued to evolve, entertain, and grip the nation with fantastic storylines and this move will be the next exciting chapter in Corrie’s story.”

The soap currently airs two episodes each Monday and Friday and one on a Wednesday. ITV has not yet announced what day of the week the extra episode will air.

In an email to staff, producers said they would be holding a series of face to face meetings with staff to discuss the changes and the extra workload it would entail.

Programme makers said teams would be expanded “right across the board” and said the extra episode would enable a wider variety of storylines encompassing more families and give “space for the comedy of the show to really breathe”.

“The talent and commitment of the Corrie team, writers, cast, and crew will be central to making a sixth episode into reality,” said the email.

“We’ll also have substantial investment in our physical infrastructure, extending the current lot and creating additional studio space. And we’ll be able to strengthen and increase our teams right across the board to support making the additional episodes.

“It will also enable us to enhance all the positive things we currently do and are rightly proud of, such as training, apprenticeships, social inclusion, and sustainability.

“Editorially, moving to six episodes will give room for a larger variety of A stories spread more equally across our character groups and families. It will also help us ensure that our lighter stories don’t get squeezed out, giving space for the comedy of the show to really breathe.

“We’ll be going on air with six episodes in the autumn of 2017. That’s over a year away so it gives us the opportunity to define a bespoke Coronation Street solution for how we’ll achieve six, while carefully maintaining and enhancing the quality of what we do.

“To this end we’re setting up a project team of subject matter experts from across Corrie and the business. The team will pull together detailed plans covering all the editorial and operational elements.

“All of this will, of course, be done in collaboration with colleagues. In the coming days and weeks, we’ll arrange a schedule of face to face meetings so that we can properly discuss the changes and answer your questions.”

The plan was unveiled to the soap’s writers, cast and crew on Wednesday. The current eight acre set in Trafford, Manchester, will be expanded to accommodate the extra filming.

John Whiston, managing director of continuing drama and head of ITV in the north, said: “From a creative perspective this is an extremely exciting development for the production team, writers, cast and crew who work on our globally renowned soap drama.

“Coronation Street’s new producer Kate Oates, modern filming and editing facilities at the programme’s Production Centre and our fantastic, peerless drama teams will help turn this great idea into reality.”

Tony Warren, Creator Of Longest-Running Soap ‘Coronation Street’, Dies At 79

Warren first conceived the show, set in the UK’s north-west and centered on a little street with a pub at one end and a shop at the other, while falling asleep on a train. Since then, it has become an institution in the UK, regularly going head to head in recent years with the BBC’s own long-running soap opera Eastenders. Coronation Street has tended to veer towards the more genteel, family-oriented side of the street in contrast to Eastenders’ grittier take on everyday urban life.

Warren was born Anthony McVay Simpson near Manchester in 1936. He worked as a child actor before segueing into his most famous creation at the ripe old age of 24. He had a handful of other credits, including The War of Darkie Pilbeam and Biggles.

Corrie’s Ryan Thomas Gets Dropped From Bear Grylls’ Survival Show

Weatherfield’s fittest finest has now been dumped from Bear Grylls’ ‘Mission Survive’ show, for apparently not being 'up to task’.

Not exactly the most festive of news, is it?

Ryan, who announced his departure from Coronation Street earlier this year, was due to take part in the survival expert’s latest ITV show, but producers made a last minute decision to ditch him.

According to those lads and lasses at The Sun, show bosses didn’t think he’d be able to cope with the demands of the tasks, and said he wasn’t in 'the right state of mind’.

Well if we had to drink our own urine on ITV1 we’d not be feeling great about it either.

Ryan, who’s had to cope with a whole wodge of bad publicity this year, was said to be looking at the show as a chance to help redeem his character.

A source told the paper: “Ryan saw Mission Survive as great exposure. Producers wanted him as he’s a character and popular with the ladies. But then everything started to unravel.”

The shock sacking comes after Ryan, who played Jason Grimshaw in the Manchester-based soap, was arrested and fined last weekend for being drunk and disorderly.

The actor was charged by police and made to hand over £90 after things got a little too 'festive’ at a night club in the Lake District.

Fingers crossed that Ryan can put all of this malarkey behind him next year, eh?

Coronation Street character Roy Cropper is leaving the soap

Soap star David, who has played café owner Roy since 1995 after initially only being signed for six episodes, is reportedly leaving the drama behind for a short hiatus.

The Sun reported that David wants to 'recharge', as well as take some time to try a potential career move to theatre acting by joining a stage show.

David, along with Roy's infamous old shopping bag no doubt, is currently filming his final scenes, which are set to appear in the show in January 2016.

Producers on the ITV program have stated they are 'happy to accommodate' his plans to leave Weatherfield; 'Our writers have been able to explain his absence in the show for viewers.'

A spokesperson for the channel said; 'We try to accommodate requests from the cast as best we can and we wish David well.'

The previously unknown actor rose to fame in the ITV favourite and has starred in classic story lines such as marrying the first transsexual character to feature in a British soap opera, Hayley, his wife's subsequent diagnosis with pancreatic cancer and her eventual suicide.

The 66 year old and his fictional wife also played the role of foster parents to character Fiz Brown, played by Jennie McAlpine.

David won 'Best Actor' at both the 2013 and 2014 Inside Soap Awards for his portrayal of Roy.

The Victoria Street resident won't be the first to have traded the cobbles for elsewhere, following in the wake of his colleague Liz Dawn, who played Vera Duckworth from 1974 to 2008.

Liz has switched from the streets of Salford to the rolling hills of Yorkshire and is set to make her debut in Emmerdale on Christmas Day.

We are definitely going to need some tissues nearby for this exit, but at least there is still time for one last round at The Rovers.

Former Coronation Street actor Peter Baldwin dies aged 82

A Coronation Street spokesman was quoted on the ITV News website saying: “It is with great sadness we’ve learned respected former Coronation Street actor Peter Baldwin has died. Peter passed away at his home in Hampstead, north London last night after a short illness.

“We send our sincere condolences to his family and friends at this sad time.”

Tributes have started to pour in from friends and colleagues.

Sally Ann Matthews, who plays Jenny Bradley in the long-running soap opera, said on Twitter:

@SallyAnMatthews: Lovely Peter Baldwin. Such a gentle, kind, funny man and a wonderful actor and toy shop purveyor x

Baldwin first appeared as Derek Wilton in 1976. His character began dating dithering Mavis Riley shortly after, but their protracted relationship did not lead to marriage until 1988.

Derek was involved in a number of largely comedic storylines, most memorably the Christmas 1989 episode that saw him trapped on a warehouse roof while dressed as Santa Claus and the kidnapping in 1995 of his precious garden gnome by business rival Norris Cole, played by Malcolm Hebden.

Derek was written out of the soap in 1997 when the character had a heart attack after arguing with a driver in a road rage incident.

Baldwin was married to former Play School presenter Sarah Long from 1965 until her death in 1987. The pair first met while appearing on stage in Romeo and Juliet at the Bristol Old Vic in 1961 and had two children together.

Coronation Street Steve McDonald star Simon Gregson to take 'extended' break from soap due to illness

Gregson has played the character of Rovers Return landlord Steve McDonald in the primetime soap since 1989. He is not expected to appear in the live show that is set to air this Wednesday, 23 September. The actor was said to have been last on set a fortnight ago before the rehearsals for the live episode commenced.

Coronation Street has been hit by a ratings slump in recent months, pulling in as few as six million viewers to a programme that used to command audiences of 10 million upwards. The show will also be subject to a revamp after it was announced that producer Stuart Blackburn would be stepping aside to be replaced by the boss of rival soap Emmerdale, Kevin Oates.

Gregson was a pupil at Kingsway School in Gatley Manchester when he entered a search to become one of the new cast members in Coronation Street. He was selected, along with fellow Kingsway classmate Nicholas Cochrane to become one of the McDonald "twins".

In the 1990s he was in the press for various traffic offences and problems with drink and drugs, he has also admitted to a history of depression that he said that doctors put down to "stress". Recently, the actor has been involved in a storyline featuring McDonald battling depression.

Gregson married his long-term partner Emma Gleave in 2010 and recently revealed that he was expecting his third child with his wife. Originally he was credited under his real name Simon Gregory, but changed to Gregson due to rules set out by actor's union Equity.

British soap Coronation Street casts its first ever Down syndrome actor!

The British show’s official Twitter announced the happy news during their recent press day, revealing that actor Liam Bairstow will join the soap as Cathy Matthew’s nephew, Alex.

"Cathy's nephew Alex to be played by Liam Bairstow who was cast during ITV's #breakingthroughtalent #CorriePressDay," read the Twitter account.

Liam, who has already begun filming, was discovered through his theatre workshop group, Breaking Through, and was asked to join shortly after impressing the casting executives.

"We ran a workshop called Breaking Through a while ago, which was for actors with disabilities," said Coronation Street producer, Stuart Blackburn, "It was recognising that they get so few auditions, and actually we found a young guy there called Liam Bairstow, an actor with Down syndrome.”

"He's going to be coming in as Cathy's nephew.”

"It's not some politically correct thing,” Stuart added, “We actually found there a really great actor with a wonderful sense of timing. The cast have really enjoyed working with him."

Liam’s own Bradford-based Mind the Gap theatre group has also Tweeted out their support for their actor, writing, "MTG Resident Artist Liam Bairstow has landed himself a part on Coronation Street! He'll be on your screen in Sept!"

They followed it with another proud tweet, "Congratulations on a really exciting new approach to casting! We're delighted for our Liam, can't wait to see him on the street!”

In an interview last year, Liam spoke out acting on the big screen.

"I could never imagine leaving Mind the Gap, but if I did I would love to be on TV," said Liam, "I remember when ITV's Katherine Kelly visited Mind the Gap to congratulate our director Tim on the success of the company so I would love to be on ITV, maybe playing a Dingle in Emmerdale!"

Liam’s character Alex is set to make his appearance later this year.

Best of luck, Liam!

Jimi Mistry shocked by dramatic exit from the popular soap opera

Stunned viewers last night saw Kal killed in a massive explosion at the soap’s Victoria Court flats.

But Jimi, 42, confessed he wasn’t aware he was being killed off until close to filming.

He said: “It wasn’t something we discussed. I thought the idea was fantastic, dramatic and part of Coronation Street history.

“It was like being in an action movie and quite a way to die. I did share a tear watching it back.”

The fire, one of the biggest stunts in the show’s 55-year history, was filmed inside a warehouse using 30 large gas bottles and a huge amount of explosives.

The crew wore fireproof clothing and face masks and Jimi admitted that it was a tough scene to shoot.

He added: “It was hot and it wasn’t pleasant. You look at it and think it might be camera angles and all that, but believe me it was real. It was safe, but it was real. We had a lot of protective clothing – fireproof underwear.

“It was a new experience for me, I’ve never done anything like that.

“I was very close to the fire. It was safe but fire is fire, it’s as real as it could be. There was a lot of smoke so it was claustrophobic, but that added to how it all felt on set.”

The unexpected death of Kal was a closely-guarded secret by soap bosses. It followed Jimi’s announcement earlier this year that he was quitting the cobbles.

Viewers saw Kal rescue youngster Amy Barlow from a blaze inside Carla Connor’s flat, which started when Tracy Barlow accidentally knocked over a candle.

Is the UAE ready for its own Coronation Street?

Coronation Street could serve as a model for a home-grown serial drama. With five half-hour episodes screened over three nights each week, year-round, the show has a highly disciplined production schedule. Unlike movies, which wrap within months, soaps provide full-time work and valuable expertise for writers, film crew and actors, many of whom go on to bigger things. And this could entrench and sustain a film industry in all its myriad forms.

Life in the UAE certainly lends itself to complex plots about families and friends. And Delma Street does have a nice ring to it.

Coronation Street stars mingle with fans at Dubai Mall

Sam Aston and Katie McGlynn, who play Chesney Brown and Sinead Tinker, were hosted by OSN, which broadcasts the show in the Middle East on its ITV Choice channel.

The actors appeared at the mall in replicas of two locations from the show — Audrey’s Beauty Salon and Roy’s Rolls Cafe.

As well as being able to take pictures with the stars, fans were also able to gain some spoilers about what’s in store for the characters on the street.

OSN said that from May 18 the show will be broadcast even closer to its original airing time in the UK.

Coronation Street, known as Corrie to its fans, is the world’s longest running television soap opera, making its debut on screens in 1960.

It is set in a working-class neighbourhood in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on Salford in Greater Manchester.