NEW UPDATE! Coronation Street legend reveals how soap can be saved as she slaps down boss’ claims
Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) is undisputed Coronation Street royalty.
Appearing first all the way back in 1986 as the foster daughter of Rita Tanner (Barbara Knox), with the introduction of her birth father, Alan Bradley (Mark Eden), leading to his infamous Blackpool tram death.
Mischievous, troublesome and flawed, Jenny continued to be a thorn in Rita’s side before the rebellious teenager fled Weatherfield in 1993, returning after 20 years.
Jenny was at the centre of seismic storylines involving the death of her infant son leading to a psychotic breakdown and the kidnap of Kevin Webster’s young son, a marriage to Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley) and his subsequent sinkhole death, claiming ownership of the iconic Rover’s Return before losing it all after a scheme with step-daughter Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan), went wrong, Sally Ann decided to step away, with Jenny heading abroad to Tenerife in a surprisingly low-key exit in October of last year.
Low-key, yet characterful, something that Sally Ann believes is missing from the cobbles currently.
Producers vision for the future
Iain McLeod, Executive Producer for Continuing Drama at ITV, recently opened up about changes he’ll be making to both Coronation Street and Emmerdale, with the aim of keeping up with what’s on offer at the multitude of streaming options available, such as Netflix.
‘What we don’t want is to be left behind. If your mum’s now watching Squid Game on Netflix, you don’t want those viewers to turn on Corrie or turn on Emmerdale and it looks like a completely different century – or genre, even.
‘We want to evolve our look so it retains some of the cinematic flavours that we saw in Corriedale recently.
He went on to discuss other options for creating content using the characters of the ITV soaps: ‘We’re talking about things like micro-dramas, vertical dramas. Is there any other parallel IP we can generate with a different set of characters, that feeds into and out of the main show?
‘That will, we hope, engage a slightly younger audience and maybe drive those younger viewers into the main soaps?’
Sally Ann thinks the show should return to its roots
Sally Ann totally disagrees with further altering Corrie, as she told The Mirror. She feels the show has lost it’s original DNA, and echoed numerous complaints from viewers that show has become too reliant on crime storylines and police procedures.
‘I was switching off from the show a bit, I was supposed to go into The Kabin and then they couldn’t get The Kabin set in because there were lots of hospital sets and police station sets…’
‘We, as a cast, have been having these conversations for three or four years, and the crew – their family and people in the street, saying they don’t watch it anymore. They said ‘Oh it’s all about the police, I don’t know who anybody is.’
‘But all the research was coming back saying audiences want spoilers, non-linear storytelling, they watch true crime dramas on Netflix, so they want a lot of crime. So, apparently all these stories are all being led by audience opinion but I’m yet to meet a single audience member that feels that way.
‘It’s not just about looking back with rose-tinted glasses. The thing about soaps was about knowing those characters, knowing how they would react in a certain situation. Now, stories aren’t character-led.
‘If I wanted to watch a police drama, I’d watch Line of Duty. If I wanted to watch a hospital drama, I’d watch ER! I really think the soap genre should stick to its USP!
‘Obviously for ITV, Corrie brings in a big audience, which helps them hugely with their overall figures and it would be a big risk for someone to take, but Corrie needs to stay in its lane and be what it is – which is a soap!’
Deciding to leave
Sally Ann went on to discuss her own decision to leave: ‘Every year, when your contract comes round there’s that question: ‘Am I enjoying it?’ If I am, I say ‘Yes I’d like to stay’ she began when asked byabout her decision to leave the ITV soap.
‘When you come to a point where you’re not enjoying it, you say no,’
‘I’m very fortunate that I’m in a position where I can say, ‘I don’t want to do that’. It doesn’t excite me. It doesn’t challenge me. It doesn’t spark joy!
‘I’m 55 now, I don’t wanna waste my time doing stuff that I’m not enjoying with people that I am not enjoying doing it with.’
Sally Ann’s new role
Sally Ann’s new role as Patricia, the bolshy and French-butchering manageress in Here & Now: The Steps Musical is sure to provide the joy she found lacking in her role on Coronation Street.
The musical is an exercise of pure, unadulterated fun, one this humble writer has seen twice and rates among the best things I’ve ever seen in a theatre, written by Shaun Kitchener, a personal friend who absolutely didn’t slip me a crisp £20 to talk his masterpiece up…
‘I took my niece to see Steps when they were at the NEC in 2000, she was about six. In 2017, she took me to the NEC to see them,’ Sally Ann explained.
‘Then we went in 2021. And now she’s bringing her son, my great nephew, he’s five, to come and see our show. So we’re getting him indoctrinated with Steps at an early age! I remember my son being in his car seat in the back of the car at about 18 months, dancing to Tragedy!’
‘I never in a million years thought I’d be doing this! I’m not musical theatre-trained,’ she continued.
‘So I didn’t think I would ever do a musical . It all came about via Claire Richards. She didn’t tell me, but she actually asked the producers to approach me. So I messaged her and told her I’ve just had a phone call about Patricia. She said ‘Will you do it, please?’ Because she knows I just love Steps! It’s going to be a lot of fun.’