Still Fizzing about Coro
The actors who play Coronation Street’s Fiz and Tyrone say they love their job just as much now as when they started. They both feel privileged to be part of the soap, which this week celebrates 60 years on screen, and are honoured to be compared to Coro stalwarts Jack and Vera Duckworth. James Rampton reports.
Jennie McAlpine joined the cast of Coronation Street 19 years ago, but she remembers the day she was offered the role of Fiz Brown like it was yesterday.
The 36-year-old British actress recalls that, “I was standing outside Pizza Hut on Deansgate in Manchester when the call came through. I was 17 years old, working in Boots and doing drama workshops at college.
“I was only supposed to be in it for four episodes. I told my dad, ‘I don’t think I’ll be back’, but then they asked me to stay on, and Fiz became one of Mike Baldwin’s knicker stitchers in the Underworld factory.”
Fiz is now a key cast member. McAlpine jokes, “I’ve now been Fiz for longer than I wasn’t Fiz. I wasn’t Fiz for 17 years of my life and now I’ve been her for nearly 20, so I’m about 93 per cent Fiz and seven per cent Jennie.”
As Coronation Street reaches its 60th anniversary, Fiz and her partner Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) are arguably the most popular couple on the cobbles.
They have even been likened to those two Weatherfield legends, Jack and Vera Duckworth, played by Bill Tarmey, who died in 2012, and Liz Dawn, who died in 2017.
When Tyrone arrived on the Street in 1998, he lived with Jack and Vera, having been abandoned by his mother. Halsall, 38, says he couldn’t imagine a
greater
compliment than being compared to the Duckworths.
“The first thing I think about when I think of Coronation Street is Jack and Vera. I shy away from the comparisons because for me they’re on a pedestal up above us all, but it’s nice to be compared.
“I was so lucky just to be put with those two, but I learned so much from them on-screen and off. Bill drilled into me all my work ethic I have continued in his memory. I think about them all the time.
“I still have Bill’s watch and a painting Liz gave me. I miss them.”
McAlpine also really misses the actors who played the Duckworths.
“Working with Liz Dawn and Bill Tarmey was incredible.”
She also regrets the passing of other Coronation Street icons.
“I miss Tony Warren, our creator. It was magical listening to his stories of the old days.
“And, of course, losing Anne Kirkbride (who played Deirdre Barlow until her death five years ago) was really tough. But we had to come back in and keep working, like with any job.”
Over the years, Fiz and Tyrone have been involved in some major stories. Fiz was married to a serial killer and her daughter Hope was diagnosed with cancer, while Tyrone fell victim to domestic abuse.
But the actors say they are never fazed by these often-harrowing stories – in fact they relish them.
“This is what you long for as an actor, to get these kinds of stories,” Halsall says. “So I’d never say it’s difficult. I really, really enjoy being part of big storylines. We’ve got an amazing team of scriptwriters and whatever they write, I’m happy to do.”
Despite being in the spotlight for two decades, the actors have remained admirably down to earth. McAlpine, who has two young children with her husband Chris Farr, says she doesn’t see herself as a celebrity.
“I’ve always been more of a homebird, so it just doesn’t come naturally to me. I borrowed some diamonds once for an awards do and I felt like such a fraud. I would never have worn them usually.”
All the same, the actors are pleased to still be so heavily involved in Coronation Street.
Halsall, whose partner is his former Coro co-star Tisha Merry (Steph Britton), beams that, “I’m Manchester born and bred and I’ve grown up on Coronation Street. That’s why it’s the best soap for me.
“They say time flies when you’re having fun and that saying certainly applies here. Twenty years on, I still love my job just as much as I did on day one. I’m so proud to be a small part of this show.”
Likewise, McAlpine is delighted that, as the soap celebrates its 60th birthday, she and Halsall still have a huge role to play in it.
“It’s a brilliant job to have when you’ve got a family because of the stability, but for all I know I might be for the chop at any time.”
She wraps up by declaring that, “I love Corrie, so I have no intention of leaving right now. I wouldn’t swap Corrie for the world.”