Gail’s back on the Corrie cobbles
CORRIE veteran Helen Worth is back on the Street after older stars were finally allowed to return to the set.
Actress Helen, 69 – who has played Gail Platt since 1974 – was one of the first back filming.
Funny
Also returning is colleague David Neilson, 71, known to fans as Roy Cropper.
The older cast have been away from Coronation Street while they followed coronavirus guidelines. But it is not yet known when 88- year- old Bill Roache will be back as Ken Barlow.
Co- star Julia Goulding, 35, who plays Shona Ramsey, said: “It’s funny, Helen Worth was in the other day and she kept calling herself the new girl, because it was her first day back.
“I think everyone’s just getting used to it, as and when they’re back in.”
Julia is finding her feet back in the role she has played since 2016. Her character was shot in a Christmas Day siege, leaving her with severe memory loss.
It allowed scriptwriters to write her out of the soap while she cared for her baby son Franklin, who was born in November.
Family
She is now back on the show playing the new incarnation of Shona, who does not remember her family, including fiance David Platt.
She said: “It’s been really fun.
Obviously it’s very rare for an actor to be able to play a completely different character in a long- running soap, and it’s been fabulous.
“At first, it was really difficult. Obviously we did lots of research about the specifics of Shona’s brain injury.
“The essence of who she is still there and so we are starting to see more of the old Shona come through, obviously with no filter.
“We are able to have some fun with it as well. She’s a bit more scrappy and she’s a bit more fun.”