Coronation St star Anne: 'Don't call me Deirdre!'

Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride has revealed she doesn't answer to fans who call her by her character name of Deirdre Barlow. The 58-year-old actress has played Deirdre for almost 40 years, but she told the Daily Star she only has time for fans who have bothered to find out her real name. Anne said: "Everyone is always really lovely when I'm out and about. But I only answer to people if they call me Anne. If they've gone to the trouble of knowing my real name, then I appreciate that. "If people just yell 'Deirdre!' I don't turn around. "Generally, whenever I go out around Manchester, people either leave me entirely alone or just tell me that they like the character. I've also had some nice comments from people now that I'm on Twitter." And the Corrie star revealed she doesn't bat an eyelid seeing her picture on the front of magazines, as she doesn't associate pictures of Deirdre with herself. She said: "To be honest, I differentiate between me and Deirdre. If it's a Deirdre front cover, it just wouldn't be something I'd worry about."

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.