The landladies of the Rovers Return are usually formidable types. They have to be strong enough to cope with everything from managing feckless bar staff to stopping fights in the bar and sympathetic enough to know when to offer tea and a shoulder to cry on in the back room.  That is, when they’re not in there crying themselves. In 2002, Fred brought in temporary landlady Lillian ("never, ever Lily") Spencer to help out behind the bar and I reckon she was the best stand-in landlady that the Rovers ever had even though she was only on the Street for a couple of weeks. Before taking on the Rovers, the high point of Lillian's career had been running the Xanadu Cocktail Bar of the Majestic Hotel in Cleethorpes.  "Since then, the tide has gone out rather a long way". It only took a couple of weeks for Lillian to wreak havoc in the Rovers with the staff and the customers before she abruptly took up a better offer in Marple at Roger Fairbanks' "coaching inn".  The actress who played Lillian Spencer, Maureen Lipman, has just won a Woman Of Distinction award from a national charity.

Coronation Street's Clive Russell, better known as Gail’s new boyfriend, Phil the foot fella, can be seen in a new DVD release, Festival.  Former Corrie star Amelia Bullmore, best remembered as long-suffering Steph Barnes, also appears in the new movie.
He joins other familiar faces for the movie which takes a fictional look behind-the-scenes at the lives, loves and scandals of characters at the Edinburgh Festival.  The plot centres on Sean Sullivan, a famous TV comedian who’s in the city with his long-suffering personal assistant Petra and is set to judge the comedy award. However, when his tantrums push Petra over the edge, she quits and he's left to cope on his own.

It could be the end of the line for Danny and Frankie tonight after she does a lot of soul searching and tells Danny she wants to stop all the hurt between them.

Ashley’s bandages come off and we’ll have to wait and see, ahem, if his vision has returned.  I do hope so. I wouldn’t want a one-eyed butcher chopping up my prime rump, would you?
Penny’s worried about Mike’s failing faculties and memory loss.

The Daily Mail reckons that FOUR Corrie stars will soon be given the chop.
FIRST off is Janice Battersby (actress Vicki Entwistle) who’s going to be given the big heave-ho.   And just in case you’ve wondered why actress Vicki had her hair shaved off – she did it in real life for charity but in the soap it was because Janice had nits.
SECOND to go will be actress Shobna Gulati who plays Sunita Alahan will be leaving in January. 
THIRD to leave will be factory girl and seller of Suede-ique shoes, Jessie (played by Nailah Cumberbatch). 
And FOURTH....

Actor Sean Wilson who played Martin Platt looks set to get his skates on for a new reality TV show called Dancing on Ice. The Sun reprts that he'll be tutored by former Olympic champs Torvill and Dean. The paper says that Sean signed up to the ice show after turning down I’m A Celebrity at the last minute.  Along with Sean, the other stars on ice will include former Royal butler Paul Burrell, Olympic ace Dame Kelly Holmes, singer Bonnie Langford and IT girl Tamara Beckwith.The show skates into a prime time slot in the New Year.

The Daily Mirror reports that Antony Cotton who plays gay factory worker Sean Tully, had to be rescued by minders after he was harrassed by homophobic thugs. Antony, 30, was surrounded by a gang of eight teenagers outside Granada TV in Manchester where he was swore at and had obscene names yelled at him. The paper says that Antony had to phone Corrie security on his mobile for help and two minders raced to his rescue. They took Antony back to the safety of the Manchester studios. An eye-witness told the paper: "There's always genuine autograph hunters hanging about the studio gates but these lads looked like trouble. They homed in on poor Antony for whatever reason. They were like a pack of animals.

This just in from Lawyer.Com! 
Before he made his name in Coronation Street as Alf Roberts, Bryan Mosley played a bit of a villain in Michael Caine's seminal British gangster film Get Carter. Not a lot of people know that. Having survived being lobbed off the roof of a Gateshead car park, Mosley made his way to Weatherfield. As Alf Roberts, OBE, he rose to the dizzy establishment heights of mayor over his 38-year Corrie career.
Now then, over at company ABN Amro there’s a fella called John Collins who’s their global head of legal.  The great man is on the hunt for derivatives lawyers - not something known to be in major supply behind the bar at the Rovers Return. Have a look at their website – is he a young version of Alf Roberts or what?

I've spotted this on a Canadian corrie blog (where they're some months behind the UK as far as Corrie's concerned). It's Sunita's wedding sari, the genuine article, for sale on ebay.  It's authenticated by Granada TV with a certificate signed by actress Shobna Gulati herself.  So, if you're planning a wedding to a tall, dark fella who's hiding the fact that he's fathered half the kids in the town where you live, then this frock could be right up your street.

Any excuse to use this fab picture!  She’s camped it up in Carry on Cleo (pictured) and starred in Carry on Cabby but it’s as Alma Sedgewick on Coronation Street that Corrie fans best know Amanda Barrie.  When the character of Alma died from cervical cancer, it was one of the most moving Corrie stories in recent years.   Amanda's now playing The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz at New Theatre, Oxford.
Also in panto this Christmas is Lucy-Jo Hudson who played killer Katy Harris.  Lucy-Jo is in Cinderella with comedienne Faith Brown (who I once bumped into at Sadler's Wells and almost curtsied in front of).  Cinderella's on at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester's Salford Quays from December 9.

Danny tries to wheedle his way back into Frankie's life with a bouquet of flowers and a floating blimp.  Just when it looked like Frankie might forgive her feckless fella, in walks Jamie and Carol.  Jamie throws his dad out out on the street and thwaps him one round the head.There must've been something in the water this week because everyone's been going round hitting everyone else. Tonight we had Jamie punching Danny, last week it was Sunita's brother punching Dev, Molly hitting Fiz and even timid Claire has been chucking pints around.
Anyway, Fiz apologies to Molly for the fight last week.  Kirk hides and overhears Fiz say she's sorry and decides to get back together with feisty Fiz.   She assumes he'll sack Molly at the kennels so isn't best pleased to hear he's given her a pay rise instead.

If you’ve ever wondered how Frankie Baldwin can bear to go bare and wear skimpy tops on the cobbles in this icy cold weather, I can let you into a little secret.  The actress who plays Frankie, Debra Stephenson, wears thermal undies.  The Yorkshire Evening Post says that thermal clothes makers Damart have sold more of their thermal undies in the last week than in any previous week of its 50 year history.  Debra Stephenson joins a list of celebrity Damart wearers that includes glamour model Nell McAndrew and newsreader Natasha Kaplinski.  Maybe Debra could advise Sally on where to get a thermal vest from as she seems to have problems in the chest department once it gets cold.  Oh, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed!

This is music to warm the cockles of your heart.  It’s a reggae / ska version of the Coronation Street theme tune and it had me rocking in my chair when I heard it just  now.  It’s an instrumental by Izzy Royal from 1983 and you can listen to it online here.   If you’re not tapping your foot and nodding your head by the end of this absolutely cracking little tune, then you’d better check your pulse because you surely must be dead. 

Remember – two episodes tonight at 7.30 and 8.30pm
Ashley lies in the hospital bed and tells Nathan he doesn’t hold a grudge against him. But when Fred finds out the truth about Ashley’s injury, he blusters about in his usual hot-headed way, I say, he's all mithered. And Clare can’t believe Ashley’s being so laid back about it all either, especially when he risks losing his sight in one eye.
It’s Danny and Frankie’s wedding anniversary and Danny’s still determined to win back Frankie’s lurve.  He devises a gesture to put over his message and – wait for it – floats a blimp over the factory . Will Frankie like the surprise or will Danny be deflated?
.

Corrie bosses have got Jason Grimshaw by the short and curlies.  The News of the World say that actor Ryan Thomas who plays beefy builder Jason has been told that glimpses of his hairy chest on the cobbles is a real turn off for viewers. Ryan’s been ordered to either cut off his chest hair or have it all waxed!  What do you reckon - should he shave it off and go smooth or have it all hairy? The bare facts are that personally, I prefer a grizzly-Adams type Grimshaw but perhaps you’d be more of a fan if the builder was baldy. What do you think he should do? Post to the blog and let us all know.

Nathan and Ashley go training together in the boxing ring but Nathan punches Ashley out cold after the two of them argue about each other’s women.  Ashley calls Tracy the evil Street slut and Nathan punches his lights out, literally.  Ashley’s rushed to hospital where it doesn’t look good when the nurse tells Claire he could lose the sight in one eye.
There’s a window of opportunity at the registry office after a late cancellation. Les puts on his plastic snakeskin pulling jacket and grabs Cilla from the chippy as the two of them rush over there to tie the knot and this time it’s legal. When the Battersby-Brown’s are back on the street, Cilla goes back to work where she’s tapped up by some bloke wanting to take her for a pint. (Perhaps he’d also lost the sight in one, or both, eyes).  Yana wasn’t best pleased as she fancied him herself but Cilla turns down the offer of a date with a resigned married sigh.

Actress Jennie McAlpine who plays Fiz Brown has told The Sunday People that she spends her spare time helping deprived children in Egypt.  Jennie says working for the children’s charity Thebes is a labour of love, and she’s been helping out the charity for over four years. She said: "When I walked in it was a bit overwhelming and I couldn't help but cry. Some children are disabled while others suffer from learning difficulties. If I can give a little bit of my time, energy and money, I feel I should. And then hopefully I can be of some practical help. That's what's good about being in Coronation Street- I'm able to do more and highlight the problem." 
Jennie, who's now 21, joined Corrie in 2001 when she was 17. It was only for four episodes at first but feisty Fiz proved a hit and she was invited back after a few months

Cilla's not best pleased that she didn't pull a fella when she was away on honeymoon with Yana. She reckons she's got 'married woman' written all over her and that's what's scaring them off.  When Fiz tells her mum that Les could be her last chance of getting marital connubials (can't you buy them in Tesco?) Cilla agrees to marry Les. And this time it'll be legal.
Jason tells Violet he wants her back even though he's still lusting after Sarah Platt.  Violet tells him he's a hypocrite and Jason will have had to find a dictionary to discover what she meant.

ITV has signed a deal with UK phone company 3 that will let you watch Corrie on your mobile phone handset. Highlights from Coronation Street and Emmerdale are both promised for next year as are one-off specials. 3G handset owners can already watch I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here highlights on their mobile before they are shown on terrestrial TV.

Yesterday's Sun newspaper revealed Christmas storylines for all the soaps, including of course our very own Corrie. Apparently there are fireworks in the Barlow household when it turns out that Ken has invited Steve and Ronnie over for Chrimbo lunch - can't imagine Tracy taking it particularly well, can you? Liz also turns up with her new man Vernon (EastEnders' Tricky Dicky) while Tracy brings her new bad boy lover - yes, you guessed, one Charlie Stubbs (they seem made for each other don't you think). Add Blache to the mix and you've got the perfect recipe for a truly disastrous Christmas meal. But if you think the Barlow household is going to be explosive this Christmas, that's nothing compared to the Mr Wong's takeaway.

On one of my occasional trawls through the online car-boot sale that's better known as ebay, I’ve found a bizarre little Coronation Street goodie.  It’s Coronation Street money issued by the Bank of Weatherfield. Whether it’s legal tender in the Rovers, the Kabin or Dev’s corner shop is anyone’s guess but odd and quirky it certainly is. There’s a fiver with the fabulous Elsie Tanner on the front and a tenner displaying the formidable Ena Sharples. If Tanner had been on the tenner, I would have bid for it myself.  With current bids standing at US dollars $3.99 with free shipping from overseas it might just be the thing you’re looking for to fill the stocking of the Corrie fan at your house. Or maybe not. But

Nathan knocks Ashley out cold at the punch up after they argue about how terrible Tracy’s been so evil to cuddly Clare.  When Nathan realises that Ashley’s seriously hurt he calls him an ambulance: “You’re an ambulance”.
Les finds out there’s been a cancellation at the registry office and in his haste and excitement he rushes into the chip shop to grab Cilla by the hand. Dragging her out of there in her overall s, he whisks her off with a couple of witnesses for a lunch-time wedding.  They are now legally Mr and Mrs Battersby-Brown.
Sarah tells Jason she wants to go on a proper date. With chips and everything.

In December 2005, Coronation Street celebrates its 45th anniversary.  Since it was first broadcast by Granada Television in December 1960, life on the cobbles has become part of the British way of life. Corrie is now embedded into our national culture, beamed into our living rooms four nights a week.  To celebrate Corrie’s 45th anniversary, there’s a new book just out called Coronation Street Treasures. The list price of the book is £30 but I’ve found it on Amazon for £18. If you find it any cheaper than this in the shops or online, please post to the blog and let us all know. Coronation Street Treasures contains previously unpublished memorabilia, intricately reproduced in facsimile form.  The album provides an amazing record of 45 years of life on Britain's most famous street. House by house, we discover all sorts of fascinating lost treasures, from birth certificates, invitations, love letters and court summonses to divorce papers, old pub menus, newspaper cuttings, clocking-in cards from the factory, ads from the shop window and much more.

Molly continues to wind up Kirk and tries to convince him that Fiz is no good for him and of course, that she is.
Ashley and Nathan prepare for a punch up and the pair meet up in the pub. Things are frosty when the women turn up and Tracy lashes out at cabbie 'care-bear' Claire.
Violet seeks solace and shelter with Sunita and Shlley in the back room at the Rovers – they all have good reason for having a low opinion of men at the moment. Violet collects her stuff from Eileen’s and tells Sean she’s hurt he didn’t tell her the truth.

Corrie is putting on its own panto and is pulling out all the stops for some festive fun. Stars of the soap will swap their roles on the street to star in Corrie’s own version of Cinderella.  Debra Stephenson who plays Frankie Baldwin will pay the lead role of Cinders.  Poor Cinders will be in for a hard time and not a happy ending if her Prince Charming is anything like the character he plays on the street. Yup, it’s none other than Bradley Walsh who plays Frankie’s cheating hubbie Danny Baldwin. Tina O’Brien who plays Sarah Platt will take the role of sexy Lady Lou Hardup, while Malcolm Hebden (Norris Cole) and David Neilson (Roy Cropper) will camp it up as the Ugly Sisters. Other familiar faces putting in an appearance at the panto include Nikki Sanderson (Candice Stowe) as Princess Pop Tart, Danny Young (Warren Baldwin) as Prince Twinkletoes and Roy Hudd (Archie Shuttleworth) as Dandini.

Sam Aston’s been out and about in Lancashire again. The young actor who plays Chesney recently opened the RSPCA shop at Aston and just last week cut the ribbon at another new RSPCA shop in Radcliffe.  Sam was at the shop in  Blackburn Street to officially open it and helped out with some fundraising. Mandy Tierney from the RSPCA said: "We had a wonderful day at the new shop and it was great to see Sam at the opening. He also helped with the collection for an hour. We were very grateful for his help."