It doesn't take the number of the beast curled on her forehead for everyone to know that Cilla's pure evil in a frock, even if it is a wedding dress.  Well, may be she's not so much evil perhaps as just plain daft. Bless her, she wanted a posh wedding and that's exactly what she got but she and Les still aren't wed, not in the eyes of the law anyway. The wedding was a fiasco. When the real vicar turned up the bride, groom and guests had to leg it, quick, out of the church - and take the dog and the defrocked vicar with them.  But who cares? Les loved every minute, especially singing on stage with the Quo and realising his dream.  Candice will be packing her tongs and styling brushes when she goes off with the band on tour as chief hair stylist even if she'd never heard of any of their songs. 

Eileen’s used to comings and goings under her roof and when she finds two wine glasses downstairs she’s happy as larry, assuming that Violet’s upstairs with Jason and the two of them have patched up their differences. But she’s horrified when she finds out it’s young trollop Sarah who’s upstairs with Jason.

Cilla heads off on her honeymoon while Les stays at home with Chesney and the dog!  Yes, it’s Yana that Cilla’s taken away to the beach for two weeks after she’s furious with Les over the wedding disaster.

Martin suggests moving to Liverpool with Robyn.  Go Martin, go.

And hairdresser in waiting to the stars, Candice mopes by the phone waiting for the call from the Quo.

Antony Cotton who plays Sean Tully’s been in Corrie just over a year now and he’s a huge hit in our house.  But did you know his mum Enid appeared on the Street before her son did?  The Sunday Mirror reports that Sean’s mum Enid took up acting five years ago and has appeared in The League Of Gentlemen, Phoenix Nights and Doctors.  She even turned up as the bible-thumping aunt at the funeral of Corrie's Denis Skinner (that's him who went out with Eileen then Janice before he died in a motor cycle accident, remember?).

The bookies shop on the street has stood empty long enough, don’t you think? Well, it’s time for a new bookie to make an appearance and this time it’s in the form of telly funny man Tony Slattery (that’s the dark haired fella, him from “Whose Line Is It Anyway”).  Tony’s joining the cast as Eric the bookie and he takes on Danny’s alcoholic ex-wife Carol Baldwin to work there with him, and it's not long before the two of them become a little closer....

Teenagers, eh?  They leave their clothes all over the house, they never ring when they say they will, they bring some very odd mates home at all hours and now, now, they’re turning up their noses at a career in manufacturing and blaming it all on Coronation Street. Or so says a recent report released by the North East Wales who say teenagers especially single out knicker factory Underworld, where workers are shown in conditions that wouldn't be allowed in industry today.   And now for the science bit. "Coronation Street has a huge impact especially with younger people. I believe, the way Underworld is portrayed is affecting our ability to attract students into manufacturing and engineering," said Professor Mike Scott, Principal and Chief Executive of the North East Wales Institute.  So there. 

As well as being a Coronation Street producer, Tony Wood is also a Spurs fan. Now, this piece of gossip may have passed you by but Tony’s been sending out subliminal messages from the cobbles!  Yes, The Independent reported that Tony revealed in the Spurs club programme that he takes every opportunity to promote Spurs and their players, past and present, in The Street. They've had solicitors called Robinson, Jones, Greaves and Allen; Blanchflower's the butchers; and a council leader named Ted Ditchburn. He said: 'I've named characters after the entire Double team and two thirds of the current squad.' There's even THFC graffiti on the railway arch, and though young Chesney's dog is named Schmeichel, his headmaster is a Mr Defoe!

He might have the worst mum on the street but in real life, young Chesney (played by Sam Aston) comes from one big happy family where he’s one of nine kids and two of his siblings have also appeared in Coronation Street. One of those nine kids is Sam’s big sister Emily who is in the middle of rehearsals at the minute for a production of The Lovers by Bridget O’Connor at the Live Theatre in Newcastle. But did you know that Emily was also on the cast of  Coronation Street for a year when she played the character of Rebecca Palmer (pictured), the daughter of Des Barnes’ girlfriend. Emily’s now 23 and starred as the young Jess in the BBC’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit in 1989 – when she was only seven years old, that’s even younger than Sam is now playing Chesney.  She was nominated for a BAFTA for her outstanding performance.   And it seems as though the Aston household is no stranger to the acting profession.  Sam and Emily’s brother Joseph has also appeared on the Corrie cobbles when he played the character of Jack and Vera’s grandson, Tommy Duckworth, for a couple of months back in 2000.

Do you remember Racquel, the barmaid who worked in the Rovers Return? She was ditzy, blonde and busty and she married Curly Watts before breaking his heart by having an affair with Des Barnes and running off to live in France with their daughter Alice?   Poor Curly, that fair broke his heart it did. Well, the actress who played her, Sarah Lancashire, is joining the cast of Guys and Dolls in London’s West End as Miss Adelaide.  Sarah will play opposite Nigel Harman from rival soap Eastenders  who’ll take over from Ewan McGregor on 5 December. Nigel’s described Sarah as ‘a consummate performer’. I can only agree. The show is currently running at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.

While he’s been stroking Gail’s bunions and caressing her corns, have you had a sense of deja-vu about Phil the foot fella?  Well, if you have, that’s because he’s been in Corrie before! Oh yes! The Scots actor played a character called Scotch Tommy who was a builder that worked for Corrie conman Phil Jennings, in a number of episodes in 1991. He’s quite a familiar face on British TV and has appeared in a number of dramas and comedies including Rockface, Hope and Glory, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Spaced and According To Bex.  So now you know where you’ve seen him before

The Sunday Mirror reckons that Corrie producers are planning a Miss Weatherfield 2006 contest where some of the Stree’s lovely ladies will battle for the beauty queen title.
A Corrie mole confirmed to the Sunday paper: "A Miss Weatherfield is definitely in the pipeline."  My money’s on Cilla to win with Yana as runner up but who do you reckon would take the beauty queen title - Hayley, Blanche, Norris?

Bev’s on the Yellow Brick Road

Corrie barmaid Bev Unwin is starring in panto this Christmas. Oh yes she is!  The actress Suzie Blake is starring as the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz at the Wales Millennium Centre.  I’m sure Charlie would say she’s playing to type!

Meanwhile, further up north...  Martin Platt may be about to swap the street for Liverpool but do you remember Rebecca, his NHS nurse lover who dumped him, said goodbye and flew off to Dubai?  Rebecca, played by actress Jill Halfpenny is set to star in the Newcastle Theatre Royal pantomime. Oh yes she is!  She’s going to play in the panto as Cinderella once her lead role in the West End mucical Chicago comes to a close. Jill said she can’t wait to get back on stage in her home town. Haway the lass.

Do you know of any Corrie stars, past or present, who are appearing in panto at a theatre near you this Christmas?  Post the details to the blog and let us all know.

Young David Platt’s had a lot to put up with after his mum’s boyfriend tried to drown the whole family by driving them into the canal in his car. And then his dad only went off to live in Liverpool with a fox after having an affair with a schoolgirl. So it’s hardly any wonder the lad’s got problems but sadly for David, he tries to drown them in drink and he starts turning up drunk for classes in school.   

The late John Peel’s vast record collection will come under inspection on telly in a documentary to be screened later this month.  Included in John’s record collection in a box that’s been battered from years of use are 142 seven-inch singles. While the names on the records will not mean much to most, the box includes a reggae version of the Coronation Street theme!  If you’ve got this obscure little record sitting in your collection, email a snippet to me and let’s hear it!

I wasn’t too distressed to hear that hairdresser Candice Stowe is leaving the Street although she has provided some wonderful dippy moments with her aspirations to become a D list celebrity. Now her future’s set to be away from the cobbles, the Post Office have signed up the actress who plays her, Nikki Sanderson, to be their face of the future.  Sorry, that should read - the face of the voucher, I read my notes wrong. Yes, the good old Post Office is branching out and offering gift vouchers for most high street shops along with the stamps, postal orders and parcel tape when you go in there to buy your lotto ticket. So think on.  I don’t know about you, but a Post Office gift voucher is just what I’m hoping for in my Christmas stocking, although Mr Flaming is hoping for Candice in his.

There’s some ghostly goings on in the Rovers Return and it’s not the spirit of Martha Longhurst who passed away in the snug, oh no, not this time.   In the new series of Living TV's hugely successful Most Haunted programme, presenter Yvette Fielding takes the team to Weatherfield to investigate scary sightings in the Rovers Return and they even have a seance in the snug.  The programme will include Corrie cast members Simon Gregson and Sue Cleaver who play Steve McDonald and Eileen Grimshaw. Samia Ghandi who plays Maria has also told the Sunday Mirror that she saw an apparition in the ladies loo at the Coronation Street studios.  “It was very creepy” she said.  “It felt like there was a strange presence, as if someone was following me. When I told people about it I found I wasn’t the first to experience it.”  Spooky Loos! What next? Whose spirit do you reckon is floating around the Rovers?  Is it Ena Sharples looking for a milk stout or something even more sinister?

I love that little lad  Chesney, I do.  He deserves better than having grizzly Cilla for his mum but I reckon Les will do well as his dad, don’t you?  In the twilight zone of soaps known as real life, the actor who plays Chesney, 12 year old Sam Aston, proved just what a little pet he really is when he opened Bury’s first RSPCA shop today. Ah bless, he’s only 12  you know, what a star. He signed autographs and posed with fans for photos after opening the new shop and explained the reason why we haven’t seen his on-screen pet, the Great Dane Schmeichel for a while.  Schmeicel’s recovering from a major operation to his spinal cord but Sam said he was improving, had started walking again and that he was looking forward to having him back on the set soon.  The dog we're currently seeing on screen isn't actually Schmeichel but is one of its cousins.

Ooh, it’s all going on with the old ‘uns on Corrie.  Close your eyes now if you think you’ll be offended because I have heard some terrible tales of pensioner passion, sub-duvet shenanigans, high jinks and bed-hopping between none other than grandma Audrey, granddad Keith, butcher Fred and barmaid Bev (although I have to say, I hope they’re not all in the same bed at the same time!).   Yes, according to The Daily Star things look set to get steamy when Audrey kisses Keith and Fred beds Bev.  It must be something they put in the beer at the Rovers.  I think I’ll have a pint – at our age, me and him indoors, the chunky Mr Flaming, could do well to watch and learn!

Crikey, the Daily Mirror’s TV Land reckons the next Rovers Return landlady is going to be Footballers’ Wives actress Zoe Lucker.   Mr Flaming and I have never seen Ms Lucker’s show as it clashed with the shipping forecast on the wireless so I can’t say for sure if she’s got what it takes to be the next Bet Lynch or Annie Walker (though she seems on the right track with them ear-rings).  So what do you think?  Will Zoe Lucker do justice to one of the best known roles on British telly? Can Zoe beat Bet, Betty & Annie Walker into a cocked hat or perhaps you aren't that convinced?