Liz faces her long-lost daughter
As Liz discovers her long-lost daughter is still alive, Beverley Callard admits her alter ego is knocked for six…
Liz just wants to hit this girl – she thinks it’s ridiculous!” says Beverley Callard, as she shares her character’s reaction to meeting the daughter she thought had died nearly 30 years ago. “She’s really angry at the whole situation, and very confused. And emotionally, she’s left right down in the gutter…”
The intensity of Liz’s response comes as no surprise, considering the girl she believed had passed away after being born prematurely is now standing before her eyes. And the major curveball has taken actress Bev back to one of the most challenging storylines she’s filmed since arriving on the cobbles in 1989.
“Liz losing Katie in 1992 was certainly challenging,” admits the 61-year-old.
“If you’re a woman in soap, then losing a baby is something you know might happen to your character at some point. Being a woman can make those scenes easier to play in some ways, though – because of course, you know how you’re going to react. But it was tough.”
Liz is also having to deal with the fact that she’s faced with her formerly incarcerated ex-husband Jim again. Liz and Jim have famously been to hell and back over the years – with the pair parting on bad terms most recently, when Jim blackmailed Liz and their son Steve into visiting him in jail. Yet Bev insists that Liz is pleasantly surprised by how his sudden return makes her feel.
“There’s bad blood between Liz and Jim – but she’s most concerned about him hurting Steve,” shares Bev. “Steve won’t entertain Jim at all after he turns up in the middle of his stag party at the pub, but Liz takes him into the back room and sees how relaxed he is. He’s almost his old self, and she softens a little bit towards him.
“He invites her for lunch and she’s like a moth to a flame – she gets dressed to the nines with her war paint and her armour on, and meets him in the Bistro. But that’s when he breaks the news about their daughter…”
Jim goes on to explain that Katie is now called Hannah, and has been brought up in Australia after a mix-up at the hospital – before showing Liz DNA test results to prove that Hannah is their child. Pointing to a young woman on a nearby table, he finally introduces Liz to her long-lost daughter – prompting her understandably powerful reaction.
“Liz initially reckons Jim is deluded – that maybe she’s being conned into believing something that is not true,” sighs Bev. “She goes back to her base instincts – she’s like a lioness protecting her family and herself. But then she meets Hannah – she sees her big brown eyes, and something takes over her.
Then she wants it to be true.”
As mother and daughter begin to establish their bond, this emotional moment marks the start of another major plot for Liz – and Bev. However, the much-loved actress has never been happier to be hard at work on a show she adores.
“I’ve never fallen out of love with Corrie,” grins the star, who is mum to actress daughter Rebecca, and son Joshua. “I’m not ruthlessly ambitious, but your ambition changes – and after a while, it becomes contentment. I’m lucky because everyone likes Liz – though that’s because of the way the writers write for her. She’s funny, the men think she’s quite sexy, and sometimes you feel sorry for her. I just love playing her, and as long as Liz gives me a buzz,
I’ll carry on playing her!”