Michelle Collins signed up for Coronation Street so she could pay for her daughter to go to university.

The former EastEnders actress, who is due to hit screens as feisty new Rovers Return landlady Stella next month, explained she agreed to take up the role so she is financially secure enough to send her 14-year-old daughter Maia Rose to further education.

She said: "It is quite nice to have a bit of security in my life because my daughter is 14 and will be off to uni - so she will be able to go now."

Michelle, who will cause shockwaves across the cobbles when she reveals she is Leanne Battersby's (Jane Danson) long-lost mum, admitted she is already enjoying her time on the ITV1 show, as it is the "only other soap" other than EastEnders she would want to be in.

She added to The Sun newspaper: "I am just very happy to be in Coronation Street...I've only been there three weeks - but hopefully I'll like them and they will like me."

With Taggart star John Michie portraying Stella's husband Karl, Corrie bosses have promised the explosive new family will keep viewers glued to screens throughout 2011.

Executive producer Kieran Roberts explained: "Karl and Stella's fiery marriage is sure to keep viewers hooked through 2011 and beyond.

"Michelle's acting credentials are first class with more than a decade leading some brilliant and memorable drama series. I am certain she is going to be fantastic as the warm, funny, steely, flawed and larger-than-life northern matriarch Stella."

It seems everyone is making a comeback. First Peter Barlow, Then Leanne Battersby. Now as reported elsewhere Keith Duffy is set to make a return in the New Year as womanising barman Ciaran McCarthy.

After the tragic death of former Boyzone bandmate Stephen Gately, the 35 year old Irish actor is due to start filming in Manchester in December with his first episodes going out in February. But who are the stars of the street you would like to see make a comeback.

Here we pick our Top 10 favourite Corrie Comeback Candidates. And no Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) who made a disastrous comeback in 2002 after she first left the street in the 1990s - definitely doesn't make the cut.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO START THE GALLERY

Another extract from the 1960s Corrie cookbook found in Darren's mum's cupboard. This one is something that Ken Barlow apparently used to enjoy in his early married life with Valerie and features that often neglected ingredient, the ox tail. If you can face it, click the continue reading link for the recipe.

Thank you to everyone who replied to my question about the painting that hangs inside the Barlows' hallway. Tainted Love, Sue B and Abby Krim all thought it must have something to do with the scouting movement and its affiliation with the church. Edward Godding said that he'd had a friend in Bolton who had the same picture in his house, and now that he's been living in Canada since 1958, seeing the painting always reminds him of his friend Frank. Mike remembered that the painting was in the house when it belonged to Uncle Albert.

Another Canadian Corrieblogger, Pauline Hunt, came up with the full story. The picture is called The Pathfinder and was painted by Ernest Carlos, who founded the 107th London Scout Troop. His paintings portrayed the meaning of scouting, and his work was very popular, with many reproductions of The Pathfinder being displayed in scout headquarters worldwide. It has also been reproduced as cards and as a stained glass window in several churches. It has featured in Coronation Street since the very beginnings of the show in 1960. If you'd like to know more about this fascinating picture, have a look here. Thanks to Pauline for uncovering the information.

Bet Lynch gave birth to a son when she was 16 and had him adopted. She never knew what became of him but many years later, in 1975, two young soldiers came in to the Rovers Return. One was a young man called Martin Downs. He knew that the brassy blonde behind the bar was his birth mother, Bet but he never idenitified himself to her because he was embarassed at her behaviour. Some time later, one of the two men returned with the sad news that Martin had been killed in a car crash and he came to tell Bet. She realized that her son was ashamed of her and had not wanted to meet her and she was gutted. So much so that she contemplated suicide and only good friend Eddie Yeats was able to talk to her and give her the support she needed.

See all our Fab Photos here.

20 years ago this month the nation was gripped by the story of Alan Bradley and Rita Fairclough. Corrieblogger Chris Leonard takes up the tale...

Whilst many Street viewers (and indeed Corrieblog readers), have been surprised by just what on earth Rita sees in 'creepy' Colin Grimshaw, he is by no means the worst mistake that the Kabin Queen has made when it comes to men. For that honour goes to a certain Mr Alan Bradley, a man who two decades ago almost terrorised poor Rita to the brink of death. Of course, their union did not start of like that, and to get to the bottom of the story we need to rewind the Corrie clock back even earlier, to early 1986.

In January of that year, a lonely Rita made the decision to take up fostering again, after discovering that paper girl Jenny Bradley's mum had recently been killed in a road accident. Initally, this proved to be far from plain saling, and so Rita decided to seek extra support for Jenny in the form of her estranged father Alan. The teen was not too impressed to see her long-lost dad again, or by Rita interfering for that matter, but soon came round, and it did not take long for Rita and Alan to notice that they were attracted to each other too...

I apologise for Kirky having his big head stuck in the way, but here's a nice close-up view of the photos they have on the wall at the Rovers' Return. There's a couple of Stan and Hilda (in fact it looks almost like the same one twice), and I can see Annie Walker there, a younger Gail and Audrey, Jack Duckworth with Alec Gilroy... Who else can you spot? And where else do you know of a pub that has photos of customers from years gone by proudly displayed (some of them a tad too close to the dartboard). Let us know!

Perusing YouTube, I came across this snippet from 1983. Deirdre has just told Ken about her affair with Mike Baldwin. What's striking is the parallels with what's happening currently. When Deirdre says of Mike, "He talks to me, and he listens, too," you can imagine Ken using those words now to justify his relationship with Martha. In the 26 years since this episode, Ken and Deirdre have stayed together (on and off), but it's debatable whether they are any closer now than they were then.

Former Coronation Street actors Nikki Sanderson (Candice) and Danny Young (Warren Baldwin) have split up after a four year relationship, according to reports. They met while they were both working on Corrie, and their split is being blamed on them spending so much time apart while working.

Bruce Jones (Les Battersby) is calling for more research into asbestos-related illness. He used to work as a boiler engineer, and a former colleague has the disease mesothelioma, after working with asbestos. Tomorrow is Action Mesothelioma Day. Bruce says, "Asbestos is still in buildings, schools, workplaces and people need to know the danger."

Michelle Keegan (Tina) is to be the face of Liverpool Fashion Week next month, and she's spoken about being an "ugly duckling" when she was younger. She says, "I didn't really care about my appearance and was probably a bit of a geek in the first year of high school." Even now that she's often in magazines and is widely considered to be a very beautiful woman, she still has days when she doesn't feel confident: "Sometimes I think I'm having a good day, and other days I think I look rough. Don't we all have those days?" she says.

Photo: Erik Field / WENN

Some enterprising soul has compiled all of the opening credit sequences from Coronation Street since it began. I was amazed how each one brought back different memories for me, but my favourite has got to be the dog shooting down the Street at high speed in the sequence used from 1993-99 - every time I saw it I expected him to up-end the old woman he's running past.

Sir Ben Kingsley, whom we profiled here, had a brief appearance in Coronation Street in 1966. Since then, of course, he's gone on to become a world famous actor and was knighted in 2001.

But he's never forgotten the thrill of working on Coronation Street. He says it was "almost like live TV or theatre. We had huge cameras with great thick tapes, and we ran from one part of the studio to the other to keep the tapes rolling. Quite marvellous. Very exciting."

He says he wouldn't mind dropping into the Rovers for a pint one day. "I have very fond memories. I think a long-running soap is a very interesting way of looking at the social history of a time and a place. It was a marvellous show."

Enjoy little glimpses of Bet, Mavis, Rita, Deirdre, Elsie and others in this clip that was used to advertise classic Corrie episodes running on Granada+ in 1996.

This Saturday, January 24, is Ashley's birthday so in honour of him, we present this character study.

Ashley Peacock is an all around nice guy. He's unassuming and quiet, not really very volatile but loyal to those he loves (mostly) and always tends to try to do the right thing. He first appeared on our screens in 1996 as an assistant to Fred Elliott, the local butcher. Fred, Ashley's uncle, was a tall, large and brash man, the complete opposite of Ashley. Back then, Ashley was more naive and he didn't have a lot of gumption to stand up for himself. He often seemed to find himself in conflicting situations but over the years, he grew to believe more in himself and with that confidence, a man who knows who he is and what he wants out of life and who is mostly true to what he believes in. He's slipped off the pedestal now and then but after all, he's only human. Ashley has always generally been a voice of reason, sometimes baffled at the insanity and confusion he seems to find himself caught up in.

This Sunday, it will have been a year since the death of Vera Duckworth on Coronation Street.

In the months since that sad day when Jack held the world at bay for a while so he could say goodbye to his Vee in his own, quiet way, Vera hasn't been forgotten on Coronation Street. Jack talks of her quite often, sometimes with sadness but most often with affection and humour. Bill Tarmey's portrays Jack realistically as a person who is getting on with his life, but for whom there will always be something missing. There's always a little tinge of regret about him, a real feeling that he sometimes has to put a brave face on for others. I'm glad they didn't move Jack on quickly to any new relationships, as was rumoured, but have shown him coping with his new life with great dignity.

It was a lovely idea to have Molly and Tyrone's wedding taking place this week, because it gave the characters who were closest to Vera a reason to mark the occasion - she was toasted on Tyrone's stag night, mentioned affectionately in the speeches, and of course in that tender scene between Molly and Jack before the ceremony. "It's been a bit of a day, and she isn't here, is she?" and the look on Jack's face said everything you needed to know.

Read more: Vera's last episode reviewed by Sue and Tvor
See Jack and Vera together again
The cast pay tribute to Liz Dawn

This past week marked the anniversary of the death of the daughter of Ena Sharples, Vera Lomax. Several years ago, in the back of the Kabin, Norris held a seance, including Rita, Blanche and Betty and though the women were highly skeptical, there was a bit of a draft and something jolted the nerves of the participants. Emily mentioned that Vera Lomax had died in the vestry of the Good Tidings Mission which used to be on that very spot. Hmmmm..... You don't suppose....?

See all of our Fab Photos here.

Yesterday, 4 January, marked the 25th anniversary of the departure of Elsie Tanner (played by Pat Phoenix) from Corrie. To mark the occasion, Corrieblogger Chris Leonard has written this piece about Elsie's memorable leaving of the Street.

"What will you be doing at 4:30 tomorrow morning"?

These were the infamous words spoken by the equally infamous Elsie Tanner on Wednesday 4th January 1984. She had decided that after over 40 years (on and off) living in the gloomy Weatherfield backstreets, enough was enough and she was determined to grab what was possibly her last chance of escape and true love with gusto.

Elsie had sadly endured not a particularly pleasant life, and was one of those people in which life seemed to bring more knock-backs than moments of joy. Try as she might, she could never find her knight in shining armour to whisk her off her feet, and when she thought she had at last found him, usually it did not take long for her to be proved otherwise. As well as an endless list of brief flings, came three failed marriages...

Just a little "guess who" to tide you over this morning. Who is this former Coronation Street character? He still makes very occasional appearances and his presence is generally not appreciated very much. His mother reckoned he might be the by product of an affair she had but his father reckons his son is too much like he was as a young man to be anyone else's. He's been responsible for a few bad things by being irresponsible but he wasn't so bad in his younger years. Click through below to see if you guessed right.

In keeping with the Christmas season, here's a classic Coronation Street episode from wayyyy back in 1966. The Boxing Day fancy dress party is about to take place but someone doesn't feel very much in a party mood. And without further ado....

Monday, December 26, 1966

Boxing Day opens with a hungover Dot Greenhalgh recovering her wits in Elsie's house. Dennis is bouncing in and out trying on various costumes for the fancy dress do later on in the Mission Hall. The current outfit looks like an old fashioned pilot with leather skullcap and big goggles. Biggles, apparently. Dot and Elsie are unimpressed. He's been doing this all morning. Elsie reckons he nicked the wardrobe from his days in the entertainment business.

After all the hullabaloo and excitement of yesterday's wedding between Carla and Tony, here's a clip from a 1992 episode of Coronation Street. Rita Fairclough marries Ted Sullivan, although they both know that he has a brain tumour and doesn't have long to live. Hankies ready for this one.

Who was born, who was married and who died in the week of 24-30 November through the Corrie years. Click on the links for more details.

Births 1940 (or '37) Don Brennan
1942 Valerie Barlow

Weddings 28 November 1979 Gail Potter & Brian Tilsley
1994 Deirdre Barlow & Samir Rachid
2000 Liz McDonald & Jim McDonald remarried in prison

Deaths None

In this week in 1969: the first colour episode of Coronation Street was transmitted on 24 November.

Additional information The Coronation Street Story by Daran Little

In addition to the good stuff I talked about earlier this week, there's always little niggling things that they do on Coronation Street that annoy me, mainly to do with continuity. It's not isolated to Corrie by any means, most shows do the same thing. In particular, there's the "out of sight, out of mind" thing. I realize that when a major character leaves the show by other means than by death, that the actor is not usually available to return on special occasions like weddings and funerals for character-friends that their character would otherwise have never missed so we have to overlook that. Sometimes, characters that have died are mentioned, which is nice but some are never mentioned again, or barely. In recent years, there are two examples in particular of characters or storylines that were introduced and were big deals at the time.

Today brings more great things about Coronation Street. I realize that it's only my humble opinion and others aren't always going to agree with me but that's the whole point of these essays, to bring discussion to the table.

So first off the mark today is another favourite character of mine, Becky Grainger. I love Becky Grainger. When they put her and Roy together in the cafe, that was pure genius. Becky is a street philosopher and a diamond in the rough. She's common as muck and probably brought herself up rather than being raised. They haven't given her too much back story but what we've heard makes it clear that she's had a hard life. She's finally finding some stability and some self esteem but it's a long bumpy row to hoe for our Becky. She has slip ups and they're usually big ones but overall, she's in a better place than she's ever been, thanks to the faith Roy and Hayley have shown in her. Her narrow eyed observations see right through to the core of what's happening, her advice can be blunt and she doesn't always get herself out of trouble by the easiest route.

Many fans bemoan the state of Coronation Street of late but let's face it, you can't please everyone. Oh sure, the show sometimes has more that seems to need fixing than not but then when it's good, it really soars. In amidst the sludge there are still moments of gold, such as young Graeme offering a cup of tea just after the revelation about Joe and Gail's relationship and the reaction of their two offspring. Sublime! There's a saying something to the effect that even bad Coronation Street is still better than anything else on telly. I know there will be many that argue that point but if you're a fan of this site, you're a fan of the show most likely. Today's essay is the first of two parts that will explore what's great about the show these days.

New EP Kim Crowther seems to be turning things around, in my mind. But it doesn't happen overnight and there's always missteps along the way. There's always going to be characters that don't work and storylines that fall with a thud. Then there are characters that are only meant to be in a few episodes but they catch on like wild fire. Roy Cropper is probably one of the most famous of these. He was meant to be a creepy lodger who was bothering Deirdre but he was so eccentric and so off the wall that people wanted more and more they got. Roy Cropper is today one of the most beloved Coronation Street characters on the show!

Births, deaths and marriages through the Corrie years for the week of 17-23 November. Follow the links to find out more.

Births 23 November 1943 Happy birthday, Sue Nicholls!
20 November 1968 Darren Barlow
18 November 1970 Lisa Duckworth
18 November 1973 Damien Ogden

Weddings 17 November 2003 Roy Cropper & Tracy Barlow

Deaths 21 November 1984 Stan Ogden
18 November 1998 Des Barnes

All the important anniversaries for the week of 10-16 November through the Corrie years. Follow the links to find out more.

Births 14 November 1899 Ena Sharples
14 November 1955 Jim McDonald
10 November 1957 Andrew Dunn (Roger the plumber)
10 November 1975 Maxine Peacock

Weddings 13 November 1996 Tracy Barlow & Robert Preston

Deaths 10 November 1975 Jerry Booth
16 November 1994 Doris Speed (Annie Walker)

Additional details: The Coronation Street Story by Daran Little