Gail & Me - Forty Years on Coronation Street

Gail & Me - Forty Years on Coronation Street was a half hour programme made to mark the fortieth anniversary of Helen Worth making her debut in Coronation Street and was transmitted on Monday 9th June 2014 at 8.00pm, some seven weeks before the actual anniversary of her first appearance in the show.

Helen Worth was naturally the main interviewee on the programme but there were also contributions by Sue Nicholls, Jack P. Shepherd, Paula Lane and Sue Cleaver as well as Tina O'Brien, Cheryl Murray and senior storyliner Martin Sterling. Making a return to the set were reminisce with her were Amanda Barrie and Brian Capron. Miss Barrie spoke of the hours spent washing down the tops on the Jim's Cafe set of the grease that had accumulated from the real cooking which took place during scenes and their enjoyment of working with the late Jill Summers who Helen Worth remembered as dying with the words "I don't want to go yet. I'm having too good a time."

Brian Capron toured the Media City Studios set with Helen and looked over the scenes of Richard Hillman's previous crimes, with the two laughing over him telling jokes they'd heard many times before when filming scenes in the garage of No. 8 for Episode 5459 (12th March 2003).

Helen's career previous to Coronation Street was covered from her career as a child actress with a clip from her television debut in Z Cars on 1st May 1963 and later appearances in The Strauss Family and Doctor Who in 1971, which she claimed she still receives more fan mail for than for Coronation Street itself.

Helen's closeness to her cast members was documented with Jack P. Shepherd telling of the "Team Platt" ritual they all go through when filming scenes in which the family are in confrontation with another Weatherfield clan and an emotional Sue Nicholls revealed that she receives a Mother's Day card from her screen daughter every year.

The programme was narrated by former regular cast member Thelma Barlow, the Executive Producer was Mark Robinson and it was both produced and directed by Patrick Talbot.