The Corrie Years - The Scandals

Synopsis
This edition looked at some of the scandals the Weatherfield residents have endured. Mark Robinson was the Executive Producer of the programme and Kerry Allison the series producer and the producer was Becky Sawle.

The examples shown were:

Leanne’s ‘Other’ Job which covered the return to the programme of Leanne Battersby in 2007 when it was revealed that her supposed profession of being a property developer was actually a cover for her being a prostitute. Jane Danson spoke of her shock of the development, Vicky Entwistle her emotion and Kieran Roberts the irony of Janice Battersby suddenly becoming a role model to her step-daughter.

Bet’s Tragic Past in which Julie Goodyear spoke of the storyline of Bet Lynch revealing to Irma Barlow in 1970 that she had been an unmarried teenager mother whose son, Martin had been taken from her and adopted. The storyline resonated with Julie who herself had been a teenage mum in 1960 and who had been forced into a shotgun wedding by the social conventions of the time. The storyline shot forward to 1975 when Martin, now a soldier in the British Army, came looking for his mother but left the Rovers without telling her who he was. When he was killed in a car crash a few months later, the news of her loss almost drove Bet to suicide. She was saved by Eddie Yeats and Julie spoke of being lucky to act opposite Geoffrey Hughes in the scene.

Rosie & Mr Stape in which Graeme Hawley and Jennie McAlpine gave their views on the story of John Stape falling in love with sixteen-year old Rosie Webster. Graeme admitted he didn’t get too much of a negative reaction from the public as Rosie was the girl that they loved to hate.

Lewis The Con Man: Nigel Havers spoke of his wish to have another role like his 1980s series The Charmer and also to play a part in Coronation Street and Lewis Archer satisfied both ambitions. Ben Budworth, editor of The Lady magazine revealed how they ran a fictional advert for Lewis’s “services” in the real-life magazine based on one shown on the programme which generated a “small flurry” of enquiries.

The final section of the programme dealt with one of the most surprising plot developments of the 1970s when Gordon Clegg’s mother was revealed as not being Maggie, but her sister Betty Turpin. Bill Kenwright spoke of his surprise and the anger of Irene Sutcliffe who felt that her work since 1968 in creating a believable mother-son relationship was being undermined. He also revealed with some emotion of how he then established a close friendship with Betty Driver who he described as a “great, big phenomenal spirit” and a “celebration on legs” and summarised the storyline as an extraordinary moment in his life.

Contributors
In order of appearance
 * Jane Danson
 * Vicky Entwistle
 * Kieran Roberts
 * Daran Little
 * Julie Goodyear
 * Graeme Hawley
 * Jennie McAlpine
 * Nigel Havers
 * Phil Collinson
 * Sue Nicholls
 * Ben Budworth (Editor of "The Lady")
 * Chris Fewtrell
 * Kathy Jones
 * John Stevenson
 * Bill Kenwright