Julie Walters fell in love with Coronation Street from the very first episode. Here she tells us all about her life-long devotion to Weatherfield’s finest... “I clearly remember watching the first episode of Corrie with my mum when I was 10. We never sat down and watched anything together, so this was kind of special. There was something so different about it. The characters drew you in and it had a kind of reality that other TV shows didn’t. It was unusual to see northerners on TV at that time too. The promise of it continuing was just heaven as there wasn’t anything else like it. "I watch all the soaps, but Corrie is the queen of soaps as far as I’m concerned, it has a special style of its own and nobody can touch it with that wonderful humour. If I miss a couple of weeks I can’t wait to tune in again and see what’s happening. At one point, I got so addicted to it, I decided to give soaps up for lent. It was hard and I got straight back into Corrie afterwards. "There have been periods when I haven’t watched it. I didn’t follow it much in the 70s because I had left home, was a student and didn’t have a TV. But I took it up again in the late 70s and early 80s. "I’ve loved so many of the characters in Corrie, I’m afraid to mention them in case I leave somebody out. Right at the beginning I loved Annie Walker in the pub, she was fabulous because she managed to play that Hyacinth Bouquet kind of woman, the ‘Duchess of the Street’ sort of thing, but it was very subtle. "I loved Elsie Tanner and her son Dennis. Oh and Mr Swindley who was played by Arthur Lowe who was such a wonderful actor. "In the present day, I love Dev, Michelle, Becky and David Platt. Graeme I absolutely adore, too, and I was really worried he was going to die when he got run over. However, he’s not as funny now he’s with Tina! He used to be so off the wall. Tyrone always makes me laugh because he’s so thick and gorgeous and some of the stuff that Blanche came out with was magic. "Certain writers like Jonathan Harvey are brilliant for comedy, as soon as I see his name come up, I think ‘This is going to be wonderful’. He does Sean Tully particularly well. "All the villains have been fabulous. The Richard Hillman story was fantastic, but Tony Gordon was the best baddie in my mind. He was so gorgeous! I’d love it if he came back from the dead. "One of my favorite storylines was Deirdre’s affair with Mike Baldwin and at the moment, I’m really enjoying Molly, Kevin and that baby. I like the Webster’s as a family, too. Rosie is such a hoot! I’ve enjoyed Kevin and Sally’s various dalliances – like everybody else, I relish the infidelities. "I would love to be in Corrie one day, although not at the moment because I am enjoying a staying-at-home period. But one day, it would be lovely to do a short spell on it. I already know Helen Worth who plays Gail and I’ve met a few other cast members at the BAFTAs – although whenever I meet Corrie stars I get terribly excited and act like an idiot! "I certainly won’t be giving up soaps before Christmas. I’m really looking forward to the 50th anniversary episodes and can’t wait to see who they take out in that tram crash!"
