I’ve been waiting ages for a chance to use this fab photo of the glamourous Pat Phoenix as Elsie Tanner.  Finally, I’ve got one!  Did you know that James Callaghan when prime minister, described Pat as "the sexiest woman on television"? 
Pat Phoenix played the part of Elsie Tanner on Corrie for 24 years from December 1960 to January 1984. At the height of her career she earned pounds £700 a week - big money in the 1970s.

Suranne Jones, who played feisty Karen McDonald has joined forces with Shelter, the charity for the homeless.  Suranne helped create a huge installation of candles in London’s Trafalgar Square to make up the figure 127,992 - the number of youngsters who will spend the festive season in temporary accommodation.

An artist said he was surprised to spot two of his works in Roy Cropper's cafe. Retired businessman Chris Woods painted the pictures nearly 20 years ago. He ran a business producing prints of his railway pictures after being made redundant. Mr Woods believes Granada may have bought the pictures from the firm he sold his surplus stock to. The paintings are of the Bournemouth Belle and a Merchant Navy locomotive. Mr Woods said it was his wife who first spotted the Bournemouth Belle on television. "I am an avid Coronation Street fan but it was my wife who spotted it on television and said “Good God! It's our picture!”  Then the telephone started to ring with lots of friends calling to say they had seen my painting on television. It is quite interesting. After all these years, I'm on television. I get a little thrill each time when the scene comes on and I look at it."

Cab controller Eileen is full of gloom and doom as she looks at her bare Christmas tree. She’s got no fella, there’s trouble with son Jason and she’s missing son Todd so Xmas is not shaping up to be great for Mrs G. However, her mood is lifted when Phil gives her a lift with her shopping. The pair chat and Phil reveals his difficulties with David. After the hassle he receives at the Platts’, Phil enjoys the peace and quiet with Eileen.
Jack’s desperate to raise some cash to buy Vera a Christmas pressie. He unsuccessfully asks Fred and Kevin if they have any work he could do to raise the money. Not to be deterred, Jack spots an ad in the paper that catches his eye, will this revealing new profession help Jack succeed in his quest to find extra funds?

Media PR Group, Brand Republic say that ITV has breached the Broadcasting Code for use of the word 'b*stard' in three episodes of Corrie. All three incidences of the word went out at 7.30pm in October, and were used during the storyline when Frankie Baldwin found out that feckless husband Danny was having an affair with his son's girlfriend, strumpet Leanne. On that occasion, Frankie called Danny "a b*stard" and on two other occasions Danny's ex-wife, Carol, described Danny as being a "b*stard" as well as calling him a b*stard to his face. In total, 39 people complained about the use of the word. ITV defended the use, saying that it was an "intensely emotional storyline" and that the use of the word was entirely justified. 

Scots actor Sam Robertson who plays Adam Barlow has reached the dizzy heights of number eight in a poll of The Top 100 Hottest Scots.  Yes, Sam who plays Adam the Underworld underling has sent pulses racing since he started on the Corrie cobbles, according to the Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail. The paper names 26-year-old Sam as one of Scotland’s most eligible bachelors. Pipping Sam at the post for the top spot of hot Scot was the delicious David Tennant - the new Dr Who.  And so, for your viewing pleasure (and mine) here is a picture of Corrie actor Sam Robertson the delicious David Tennant.

A Corrie insider has told The Daily Star that Tyrone will think he’s about to become a dad. Girlfriend Maria tells him she’s pregnant but he’ll be heartbroken when he finds out she’s made a mistake.  When Maria (played by Samia Smith) finds out she’s pregnant she tells Tyrone (played by Alan Halsall) to keep quiet but he can’t help sharing the news on the street and even shops around for a family car.  But Tyrone’s joy turns to heartbreak when Maria finds out she isn’t pregnant after all. The Street insider told the paper: "Tyrone was so thrilled at the prospect of becoming a father. Then he goes from being completely over the moon to feeling completely wretched. Meanwhile, Maria has got the biggest smile on her face. She's so relived she's still got her single life ahead of her."

Kelly puts her lucky pants on and they turn up trumps when she wins big on a scratchcard in the Kabin. Once upon a time I had lucky pants too, but they’re known now as my ‘I should be so lucky’ thermal drawers.  Anyway, Kelly splashes the cash at the bar of the Rovers buying champagne for the girls and treats Lloyd to a meal at The Clock.  He’s feeling hard up after taking out a loan to repay Tina and when he tells Kelly not to spend, spend, spend on bling, bling, bling, the pair of them argue and he storms out of their meal. Kelly walks home alone and gets mugged by a hooded hoodlum in the precinct who takes her new phone, handbag and all her best bling. Lloyd picks her up from the police station later, gives her a cuddle in the cab, tells her he’ll run her home, run a bath and sit up all night to take care of her. Ah bless.

Due to tight filming and script schedules, pets on Corrie are only on screen when the script calls for them to have their minute of fame. But have you noticed that even the blue guinea pig cage on the Websters' sideboard has vanished?  Where’s Monica? And whatever happened to Maxine’s pussy?   A guinea pig (pictured) was unavailable for comment.

Listen carefully, here comes the science bit. The Times says that a Draft EU ruling (are you still awake?) could open the door for product placement on telly.  This could mean that advertisers can put brand name products into our favourite TV shows, including Corrie.  The paper says the change could mean that Boddington's beer appears on the taps at the Rovers Return. And one estimate suggests that becoming the beer of choice in the Rovers will be worth a whopping £1 million a year. Ooh,  I don’t think Newton and Ridley will be very happy about that.

Actor Eric Potts  who plays burly baker Diggory Compton is a well-seasoned Bristol Old Vic-trained actor. In an interview with The Sentinel (Stoke) Eric said: "I've found the cast a really nice bunch of people to work with. There have been some nice storylines in the last few weeks. Diggory's vanished for a little while, leaving the shop in Molly's capable hands, before returning in the new year. Occasionally, I still find myself traipsing down Coronation Street until I get to the shop at the far end, then I have to pinch myself to remind myself where I am. It is a place that means so much to so many people, and this is a programme that has been going for such a long time. Sometimes I have to stop taking it for granted."

If you haven’t been invited out for Christmas dinner yet, you’d better get an invite soon because all the best places are filling up quick. Charlie no-mates invites Tracy no-mates-either to play with his baubles on the day; Eric invites Carol out for a meal with bling trimmings and Phil’s moved himself into Gail’s after his flat gets flooded and he offers to do her stuffing.
David’s brought home in a cop car after he’s caught trying to break into Phil’s flat.  He says he’s protecting Gail and wanted to check that Phil was telling the truth about his flat being flooded (he was).  When Phil gets stroppy with Gail over the way she treats David she tells him he can’t understand as he hasn’t got kids and can’t know what it’s like (he can’t).
Amber tries to order posh coffee in Roy’s Rolls but her requests for a double frapuccino and an espresso are met with Vera’s reply of her extensive caffeine menu – milky or black.  Roy’s Rolls is no place for latte-dah coffees and that’s just the way most of the locals like it.

There could be trouble ahead for the Peacocks next year as Josh’s real dad returns to the street.  On Christmas Day, Claire will give Ashley some nappy news when she tells him she’s pregnant.  But dark clouds are gathering on the horizon for early 2006.  The Gloucester Citizen says that word reaches them that Josh’s real dad, the too-tall doctor Matt Ramsden, played by Stephen Beckett, heads back to Weatherfield in March. And Matt will fight for the son he believes is rightfully his, even though all he ever had was a fling with Maxine, and Ashley has brought up Josh as his own since Maxine died.

TWO EPISODES TONIGHT AT 7.30 AND 8.30
Phil the foot fella’s flat gets flooded so Gail says he can stay at her house.  Sarah and David aren’t happy with the arrangements and the stress of it all causes more Platt problems. David’s caught breaking into Phil’s flat and is brought home to the cobbles in a cop car.
Rosie sneaks out of the Harris’ house but bumps into Keith and Audrey who work out what’s gone on between Rosie and Craig.  Keith has a man-to-man chat with Craig who says he loves Rosie. Keith then tells Audrey and the two of them keep mum for now but when Sally calls into the salon for a trim, will Audrey keep quiet or is Sally set for an underage goth shocker involving her daughter?
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The Sunday Mirror's Celebs magazine had an interesting little snippet about a future storyline for Tracy Barlow. 
The article reckons that Corrie bosses have plans for a debt-ridden Tracy to earn money by er, walking the street. 
Yes, she's going to sink to yet another low - and this time Ms Barlow will turn to prostitution to pay her bills!

Craig wraps up a pashmina for mum Angela in prison, gets all emotional and calls Rosie on the moby.  She pops across the road to cheer him up after telling Sal and Kev she's off to posh Imogen's for tea. Craig and Rosie get cosy on the sofa then climb the stairs to Bedfordshire where their hormones go haywire and Rosie ends up staying the night in Craig's bed, after they've done, you know, it.
Kelly treats Lloyd to a meal at The Clock but he storms out after they argue so Kelly legs it home alone. She's mugged by a hoodlum in a hoodie who takes her new phone, handbag and all her new bling. Lloyd picks her up from the police station later and gives her a cuddle, tells her he'll run her a bath at home and sit up all night to take care of her. How lovely he is.

The News of the World reports that Johnny Briggs, who plays Mike Baldwin is leaving the show after 30 years. The paper says that Johnny, 70, will leave after some harrowing scenes on the soap as Mike loses his battle against Alzheimer's disease.
A Corrie spokesman told the paper: "His storyline has some way to run but he will be leaving in 2006 after completing 30 years in the show. It was his decision to retire." Johnny's current two-year contract ends next autumn and he has told Granada chiefs he doesn't want another £200,000-a-year deal. He had planned to go last year, saying he was fed up with Corrie's busy filming schedule. He said at the time: "When I started we were filming two episodes a week and now we're doing five."
Mike first showed up in Weatherfield in October 1976, to open Baldwin's Casuals where Ivy Tilsley worked.

Rosie's tears streaked her mascara all over the place after she and boyfriend Craig split up. Well, he'd only gone and eaten sausage rolls at the Oakhill School Ball in a moment of meat madness. "He says he loves me, but he loves meat more!" she wailed at the tea table to Sally. Love being fickle at that age, by the end of the episode they'd made up she'd re-done her make-up so all ended well.
The wonderful Amber reappeared on the street to do best what all teenagers do - she made a nuisance of herself in the corner shop and told dad Dev she, just like, SO hates him.
Kelly's lucky pants did the trick as she wins £2,500 on a scratchcard in the Kabin and treats the factory girls to champagne in the Rovers.

Corrie's Webster family have been voted role models for a healthy and happy family life – and the Battersby-Browns’ are at the bottom of the league. Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos is leading Bisto Gravy’s new ad campaign and studied soap families to see which were the best examples of domestic bliss. The Websters come out on top in the ‘Family Focussed’ group. Despite Kev and Sal's ups and downs, the Websters' regularly sit together at the table for a home-cooked tea at the end of the day (if you can call warming up a tin of beans ‘home-cooking’, that is).  Meanwhile, Corrie bad ‘uns, the Battersby-Browns’ are at the opposite end of the scale. Described as ‘Meal Shifters’ (well, that’s one way of describing them), the family is addicted to takeaways, members eat on the sofa and at different times from each other. 

Rosie and Craig get cosy on the sofa having a kiss and a cuddle and Craig tells Rosie he loves her.  And then the two under-age goths head upstairs to the bedroom to do, you know, it.
Kelly splashes the cash of her scratchcard win and treats Lloyd to a Christmas meal at The Clock.  But when he suggests she save some of the money, they argue and he storms out leaving her there all alone. As Kelly walks home alone she gets mugged by a hoodlum in a hoodie.
David’s mood swings get him into bother when he's rude to his mum.  Phil gives him a ticking off but David doesn’t care.  Gail’s quite pleased and thinks that Phil’s handled David’s moodiness well. Oh for heavens sake, lock David in his room, give him stale bread and let him out when his hormones have calmed down.

Three members of the Corrie cast teamed up with Santa for some festive fun in Lapland.   Manchester Online says that actor Ray Fearon (who plays Nathan from the garage), Wendi Peters (Cilla Battersby-Brown) and Sue Cleaver (Eileen Grimshaw) along with stars from Hollyoaks joined 235 children and parents on board a flight from Manchester to the home of Father Christmas (see, I knew he really existed). The trip for poorly youngsters was arranged by the When You Wish Upon a Star charity to give the children a day trip they would never forget. Maria Moseley, the charity's manager, said: "Everyone was really excited the whole day. Even on the flight out there the youngsters were telling jokes and entertaining the rest of us with the stars from Coronation Street and Hollyoaks. It means so much to the children and it is great the actors give up their time to help us."

Calling All Soap Fans!
ITV are in production with an exciting new show and need your help…..
Are you fond of your soaps?  Do you love watching and chatting about them?
Do you live in a real Coronation Street?
Does your ‘local’ share the same name as a Corrie pub?
Do you look like a Corrie star? Or does your pet remind you of a Corrie character?
If yes, we would love to hear from you!
Email: katy.pearcey@granadamedia.com

Cash-strapped cabbie Craig moans that he’ll have to dig deep this Christmas to keep Kelly happy. Over in the Kabin, Kelly has a big win on a scratchcard (it's either that or Keith has just goosed her, by the look on her face). She wastes no time in sharing her fortune with the factory girls but as the champagne flows Lloyd advises her to be careful with her windfall. Will Kelly listen or will she spend, spend, spend?
At the factory Adam continues to wind up Danny who seeks advice from Leanne. She tells him to keep his cool or risk letting Adam drive a wedge between him and his dad.
Rosie’s gutted at having split up with boyfriend Craig after she finds him eating a sausage roll in a moment of meat madness.

The Daily Star reckons that Corrie killer Richard Hillman will rise from the dead and return to haunt the Platts.  It says that Sarah will open a birthday card which reads: “"For my beautiful daughter. If your mother hadn't spoiled everything, we would still be together as a family. I look forward to the day we can be a family again. All my love, Richard."  According to the paper, the plot unfolds in February and in the following weeks the Platts are left nervous and shaken.  Now then, if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how on earth they can bring back Tricky Dicky Killman Hillman when we all saw him drive Gail and the kids into the canal. Do we need him back? Do we even want him?  Isn’t this a bit too much like the return of Dirty Den in Eastenders?  Well, The Star says that Corrie has come up with a way to resurrect Hillman, played by actor Brian Capron.

Actress Beverley Callard who plays Liz McDonald is used to wearing skimpy clothes on the cobbles. Bev has just sold off one of Liz’s legendary mini-skirts - in front of 300 bikers! – for charity.  Bev, 48, is an honorary member of the Mid Life Crisis Motorcycle Club who organised the annual run of 2,000 bikes. Other bikers included Corrie co-stars Alan Halsall (Tyrone Dobbs), and Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald). Manchester Online reports that Bev donated Liz’s skimpy leather skirt  at a party held at The Royal Arms club in Cadishead.  The skirt was sold for £1,000 to a Salford businessman ( I do hope it fits him). Biker Steve "Ratty" Ratcliffe said that it meant a lot to have Bev giving her support.  "She is the most kind- hearted person I've ever met. She does it for the kids, no-one likes to see them in hospital at Christmas."