Set visit special – some lucky readers explore the cobbles
SARAH FROM BEDFORDSHIRE IS OUR VIP GUEST ON THOSE FAMOUS COBBLES…
Back in the summer, Inside Soap ran a competition in honour of our 25th birthday, in which we offered two readers and their guests an opportunity to go behind the scenes on all their favourite soaps! One of the lucky prize winners was Sarah Munton, 45, from Biggleswade, who brought along her mother-in-law Pauline – and we asked Sarah to tell us about her first stop in Weatherfield…
“Coronation Street is special to me
because it was my mum’s absolute favourite soap. She loved it, and had everything from Corrie mugs to Corrie tea towels! It was nice for me to be here today, and I thought a lot about her while we walked the cobbles.
“It was totally surreal to be on the Street while nobody else was there.
The second you get there, you get a warm feeling when you realise, ‘Oh my God, I’m on Coronation Street,’ and you hear the theme tune playing in your head!
“I was surprised by just how many sets and studios there were,
and we got to see the new studios after filming finished. It’s amazing that what you see through the doors on the actual street is exactly what you see in the studio as well. I opened the door to the Rovers, and saw the same pictures on the wall of the studio inside! It’s so clever.
“The Rovers was the place I was most looking forward to seeing,
because that’s where all the characters congregate. I didn’t expect to be so excited when I saw Roy’s
Rolls, but that turned out to be my favourite bit of the tour. And we noticed the spelling mistake on the wall of the Bistro…
“It was fun trying to work out who lived where on the street.
I was looking at the gardens and trying to match them up, so I worked out the Platts’, the Nazirs’ and Sally and Tim’s. I knew Ken’s place, too, because he’s next to the Rovers.
“Seeing certain parts of the set reminds you of stories,
and I thought about the night Tina Mcintyre was killed when we walked past the yard. I got in Pat Phelan’s van – it really did smell like a builder’s van!
“The cast we met were lovely,
and I told Colson [Smith] that Craig is one of my favourite characters. He said, ‘You’re lucky you came in today – it’s ginger day!’. Alan [Halsall, aka Tyrone] is taller than I expected – but I suppose because the sets are so tiny in real life, people look bigger!”
“You hear the theme tune playing in your head!” Sarah