Coronation Street Corrie

[Barbara Fan]

 

[Barbara Fan]

Helen Worth to Bid Farewell After 50 Years on the Cobbles​

Wednesday 5 June at 1:00pm

Coronation Street legend Helen Worth celebrates her golden anniversary on the show next month, and it will be a momentous occasion for her in more ways than one.

Not only will she be celebrating 50 years on the nation’s best loved soap, Helen will also be looking forward to a very different future, as she has made the difficult decision to step down from her role as Gail Rodwell at the end of the year.

Half a century after she first walked onto the cobbles, viewers will see Helen and Gail bid farewell to Weatherfield in a major storyline for the Platt family.

Helen will start filming her exit story next month and the emotional scenes will be on screen at the end of the year.

Helen said: “This year felt like the perfect time to leave the show after celebrating 50 years in the most wonderful job on the most wonderful street in the world. I made the decision at the start of the year and spoke to the producers who were very kind and understanding.

“I have been truly blessed to have been given the most incredible scripts week in week out, and to have worked with fantastic actors, directors and a brilliant crew.

“The past 50 years have flown by and I don't think the fact that I am leaving has quite sunk in yet.”

Executive Producer Iain Macleod said: “The words ‘legend’ and ‘icon’ get used a lot these days but they genuinely do apply to Gail and to Helen Worth. However, given her humility, I know Helen won’t thank me for saying so! In Helen’s hands, Gail has been a huge part of Coronation Street for five decades and at the centre of some of the most memorable storylines - often deriving from her catastrophically bad luck in choosing husbands!

“Her ill-fated marriage to Richard Hillman was one of the most ground-breaking stories in soap history and cemented Gail’s already established status as one of the Corrie greats. As the matriarch of the Platt clan, her affectionately prickly relationships with her kids and flighty mum Audrey epitomise what makes the show great: complicated family dynamics brought to life impeccably by Helen’s dramatic and comedic chops, alongside those of her fictional clan.

“Gail has given us countless hours of entertainment but it should also be said that Helen herself is a consummate professional and a thoroughly good egg. Everyone connected to the show will miss having her around the place just as much as the viewers will miss having her on their screens and we wish her all the very best for the future.”
https://www.itv.com/coronationstreet/tags/news
https://www.itv.com/coronationstreet/articles/the-women-of-weatherfield

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

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As I’ve probably mentioned on here before, I haven’t watched Coronation Street with any regularity for years but Gail was always a favourite of mine. Her battles with meddling mother in law Ivy were great to watch as well as the various dramas surrounding her many marriages. Like many of the older cast, she’s been turned into more of a comic relief in recent years from the bits I’ve seen but she even pulls that off well although she’s best at the dramatic stuff. She’s a classic Corrie character so her departure will be a big loss to a show.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Agree there @Carrie Fairchild

I gvve up on Corrie a long time ago but Gail was great back in the day - meddling Ivy, R Bryan as Ivy called him, Richard Hillman, spats with Sally and Eileen

she was great , i would tune in to see what happens to her and how they will write her out - but poor Audrey!!

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

she was great , i would tune in to see what happens to her and how they will write her out - but poor Audrey!!

I’ll also tune in and yes, poor Audrey was one of the first things I thought too. They were such a good double act. I’m sure Sue Nicholls will miss having Helen on the show as a lot of their storylines were so intertwined over the years. Also, for longer term fans, it’s a big loss, as Gail’s departure will leave only a handful of characters (Ken, Rita, Audrey, Kevin, Sally) that existed during the show’s golden age of Ena, Elsie, Annie and Hilda etc.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Also, for longer term fans, it’s a big loss, as Gail’s departure will leave only a handful of characters (Ken, Rita, Audrey, Kevin, Sally) that existed during the show’s golden age of Ena, Elsie, Annie and Hilda etc.

There are very few class players left in Corrie, Roy cropper and carla were always good, and Ken, Audrey and Rita - but im afraid Corrie lots its way, lost its northern wit, drama and pathos and when Billy bounced 200 feet + from a cliff then was up walking a few weeks later and the annoying Gemma ?? is that her name, gave birth to Quads in a cable car - its was bye bye from me!

 

[Walford Boy]

I hope Gail has a happy ending in a similar vein to Elsie and Hilda.

 

[Barbara Fan]

I hope Gail has a happy ending in a similar vein to Elsie and Hilda.

Does Corrie know how to do happy these days!!?? Surely her exit will have a health/mental health warning!!

 

[Whovian]

So Martin Platt's return for Gail's exit storyline has been scrapped despite them already filmed 3 weeks (edit: might only have been 1 week apparently) worth of scenes for the storyline.

Apparently he was called into the office and dismissed. Don't think that's something done regularly. Speculation it could be due to his recent comments panning the shows writing and acting. Hopefully it is that rather anything worrying about Helen Worth who hasn't been seen since March.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

So Martin Platt's return for Gail's exit storyline has been scrapped despite them already filmed 3 weeks (edit: might only have been 1 week apparently) worth of scenes for the storyline.

Apparently he was called into the office and dismissed. Don't think that's something done regularly. Speculation it could be due to his recent comments panning the shows writing and acting. Hopefully it is that rather anything worrying about Helen Worth who hasn't been seen since March.

The official line from ITV is that he “has stepped down from filming for personal reasons”. You’d wonder what’s gone on, considering it’s quite late in the day to have to rejig Gail’s exit storyline.

 

[Whovian]

I think for Gail's exit, it would be best to copy Elsie's exit and just have her leave in the back of a taxi with archive audio and video clips playing for a few minutes. It would be a nod to the close relationship between the two. That's assuming Helen is able to film any new scenes, as her current absence suggests she's not filming. Would be sad to see a character as long-running as Gail just disappear from the programme.

 

[Whovian]

For some bizarre reason known only to the powers that be at ITV/Corrie they're going to bring back John Thompson as Jesse Chadwick as part of Gail's exit storyline. Answers on postcards?

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

For some bizarre reason known only to the powers that be at ITV/Corrie they're going to bring back John Thompson as Jesse Chadwick as part of Gail's exit storyline. Answers on postcards?

Very random, if true, as based on his character bio (I didn’t watch it when he was in it first time around) he didn’t appear to share any storylines with Gail. If it is true, it looks like it may be too late for complete rewrites and they’re just slotting Jesse in as the love interest who’ll whisk Gail away, instead of Martin.

 

[Walford Boy]

Although the Gail exit storyline is too silly for words, I hope Gail has a happy ending.

 

[Englishboy]

Although the Gail exit storyline is too silly for words, I hope Gail has a happy ending.

I agree with the above.

Also, here’s hoping that the writers will be able to devise a way of keeping the brilliant Dee Dee on the cobbles now that she has been revealed as Joel’s killer.

 

[Englishboy]

Also, here’s hoping that the writers will be able to devise a way of keeping the brilliant Dee Dee on the cobbles now that she has been revealed as Joel’s killer.

And so it was actually Lauren who was responsible for killing Joel and not Dee Dee as I had originally thought.

I wonder if this will ultimately spell an end to Lauren’s time on the cobbles given that these things tend to have a habit of coming out in the wash in soap land.

Also, I’m not too sure what to make of the writers’ decision to kill off the character of Joel. I think that he’s a decent soap villain who could potentially have been resurrected at a later date.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

So Martin Platt's return for Gail's exit storyline has been scrapped despite them already filmed 3 weeks (edit: might only have been 1 week apparently) worth of scenes for the storyline.

Apparently he was called into the office and dismissed. Don't think that's something done regularly. Speculation it could be due to his recent comments panning the shows writing and acting. Hopefully it is that rather anything worrying about Helen Worth who hasn't been seen since March.

The official line from ITV is that he “has stepped down from filming for personal reasons”. You’d wonder what’s gone on, considering it’s quite late in the day to have to rejig Gail’s exit storyline.

The reason behind Sean Wilson’s mystery axing has been revealed (by himself) via the UK tabloids today.

Coronation Street's Sean Wilson explains reason for exit as Martin Platt

"I've been low all the way through."

www.digitalspy.com

As an aside, what is actually happening with Gail’s exit now? The talk was she’d leave at Christmas, so she’s only a few weeks left to go now.

 

[soapfan]

Whilst the loss of Gail is a huge blow to Coronation Street, it's therefore also even more vital that original characters from day 1 from 1960 with Dennis Tanner (Philip Lowrie), Linda Cheveski (Anne Cunningham) and Susan Cunningham (Patricia Shakesby) are brought back. Those characters mentioned along with Ken Barlow ARE sadly missed more than Rita, Audrey, Kevin and Sally should ever Rita, Audrey, Kevin and Sally decide to leave along with Gail also eventually.

When The Kabin/Corner Shop was overtaken by another owner, like when the Underworld factory got overtaken by Carla or whoever, the garage MVB Motors would and should be handed over to Tyrone if Kevin ever leaves or even someone new.

If the above doesn't happen, then eventually Coronation Street may get sadly usurped by it's London rival EastEnders eventually where EastEnders have at least 3 characters from day 1 in 1985 (Kathy, Sharon, Ian). Personally, I hope Coronation Street hangs on in there and not giving in and giving up easily to EastEnders. I absolutely hate EastEnders, it's been truly awful in the last decade especially out of all the British soaps together, EastEnders is by far the worst, even Hollyoaks has become a better soap ever since, where Hollyoaks was launched within the decade from 1995 onwards.

Coronation Street is THE best British soap and far superior and greater than EastEnders ever will be.

 

[Englishboy]

Also, it’s been announced that the character of Richard Hillman is being resurrected as a ghost as part of Gail’s Xmas departure storyline.

 

[soapfan]

I honestly don't think the character of Gail was ever the same and consistent after the Richard Hillman storyline over 20 years ago, and the thing that made that storyline easier was that David and Sarah's biological father Martin Platt was still around the show/street at the time of the storyline happening, so it helped stopping Richard Hillman from getting out of hand.

Finally, given the above i'm surprised the actress Helen Worth has stuck the acting role of Gail out as long as she has and would've been better off and could have left over 20 years ago after the above. Even the character of Martin got ruined and was never the same again and how he had his fling with Sally and fell out with Kevin Webster and Tommy Harris therefore too.