Tonight: Jane Danson on You Saw Them Here First

Jane Danson, who plays Leanne on Coronation Street, will star in ITV's You Saw Them Here First. The programme airs at 8pm after Corrie.

The programme offers a brand new collection of 'before they were famous' TV appearances and some very special visitors to the time travelling video booth. 

This time Coronation Street’s Jane Danson, Emmerdale’s Chris Chittell and Eastenders’ Jake Wood all get personal screenings of the TV shows they made before starring on the nation’s biggest soaps.

Comedy actresses Maureen Lipman and Jane Horrocks re-live their earliest appearances on stage, screen and TV adverts!

And if you want to see a young Rita Ora acting, a teenage Graham Norton chatting or Hollywood heartthrob Jamie Dornan modelling his way to the top, then tune in and you’ll soon discover just where you saw them first.



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In Praise of Eva Price

I have been loving Catherine Tyldesley's performances as Eva Price recently. She is such a breath of fresh air and having her back has made me realise how much I've missed both the character and the actress.

Eva is without a doubt the best thing to come out of the Price family. Do you remember the rest of them? Eva provides great comic relief and is the kind of character that fits in all over the street. She is great in the factory with the rest of the girls, she fits in well behind the bar of the Rovers bantering with the punters, she is a reliable if unlikely friend to Kylie and a terrific support to half sister Leanne.

Indeed Catherine's recent scenes with Jane Danson have been superb. Given how much Eva and Leanne disliked each other when they first met, it's lovely to see these characters bond over their difficult lives. I have found Leanne and Simon hard to watch during this recent storyline but Eva's return and direct involvement has added a very welcome extra dimension. Her support and care for Leanne has been fantastic to watch.

Of course Eva's love life is often at the centre of her storylines. I really liked her with Jason Grimshaw and it's a shame that won't happen now that actor Ryan Thomas is leaving. New factory boss Aidan Connor has been sniffing round and although if I was Eva I'd jump in feet first (as it were), I get the feeling he's a love 'em and leave 'em type of man so perhaps she's better off steering well clear of him. 

I love seeing Eva behind the bar of the Rovers. I know comparisons have been made with the classic Rovers barmaid Raquel. This is probably unfair to both Catherine Tyldesley and Sarah Lancashire. Raquel is an iconic character, one of Corrie's best ever and played by a fabulous actress who has gone on to great success since leaving Weatherfield behind. While there are similarities between Raquel and Eva I think Eva has enough strengths for her to stand out on her own as a great Corrie woman.

I'm glad the powers that be had faith in the character and kept Eva on after the rest of her family departed. Catherine Tyldesley has really come into her own over the past year and long may she continue to brighten up our trips to Weatherfield. 

You can follow me on Twitter @GraemeN82





Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.

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Jane Danson: "I'd love the Battersbys to call in for a visit"

Jane Danson, who plays Coronation Street's Leanne, was interviewed on ITV's Lorraine this morning.

She talked about her current storyline on Corrie where Simon is abusing Leanne. Then there are some great, very old, clips of Leanne on the Street shown.

Jane also talked about wanting the rest of the Battersby clan back on the Street too.  It's not the first time she's called for Leanne's sister Toyah to return to the Street, and this fan would love that to happen.

Leanne's mum Janice would be welcome back too I'd imagine in the form of Vicky Entwistle, although ITV recently confirmed there are no plans for the return of Les Battersby.

You can watch the interview here.

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Why I'm a big fan of Zeedan

I freely admit it, one member of the Nazir family has grown on me more than all the rest. I have developed a massive soft spot for Zeedan. Before I go on any further, I do admit that this is in part down to the fact he's a fine looking, strapping young man but it goes far beyond that.

At first I really disliked the character. He was sullen, difficult and annoying. Of course that was what the writers were going for and both they and Qasim Akhtar succeeded. He was the last member of the Nazirs to arrive on screen and Corrie has a history of family units arriving en masse and not fitting in. Although the Nazir family have a long way to go before they become part of the Corrie furniture, I hope they do stay around for the foreseeable.

Zeedan was obviously a troubled young man, mainly due to his father's choice of career in the army and the death of his mother. This caused most of the conflict with Kal's new girlfriend Leanne, who's shady past really didn't help matters. I admit I became a bit bored of all the hate flying around in this storyline as sadly we never had the time to drill down into the dynamics of the father son relationship. I did wonder about the longterm future of Zeedan if that was how he was going to be however things have fortunately changed for the better.

I know soap characters frequently have personality transplants and the whole thing is completely unbelievable but in Zeedan's case I think it has been a gradual, sympathetic process that has worked well. The death of his father has obviously affected him profoundly and this has made him a much more palatable character. I've started to really enjoy his appearances and hope we see a lot more of him. He has taken on his father's job at the gym out of respect and is obviously really loyal to his family.

What I really like though, is the thawing of the relationship with Leanne. He has promised to look out for her and the scenes with both Leanne and Simon have been very natural and well played. We knew Zeedan would be the first to discover Leanne's abuse at the hands of Simon and the scenes in Friday's episodes were terrific. I hope Zeedan and Leanne continue to bond, but please writers do not put them together romantically! Let's have a platonic friendship between a man and a woman for a change. It does happen!

Qasim Akhtar is proving himself to be a great addition to the Coronation Street cast. He is doing an excellent job as Zeedan and I hope we see him in many more storylines in the months and years ahead. 

You can follow me on Twitter @GraemeN82 


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