Sylvia Goodwin Character Profile

0:00Hello everyone, welcome to our bonus episode and today we are talking about Silvia, good win. Silvia, Silvia, Silvia. Silvia, good win. Played by the dearly departed Stephanie Cole who sadly left us a couple of weeks ago and I was in it. So we decided to, as we never did one at the time, put together an episode dedicated to this. Somewhat, right, she was a regular character but she was in the show for a few years. We didn't do a character profiler at the time because we, you know, we did not know she was coming back. She died on the show. She died on the show, that was quite a good. I think it was all, you know, back in the day our character profiles were very, very short. Even in characters who'd been on the show decades and I think we thought we can't possibly make a character profile based on some of the other programs for two years.

1:01We can. But we can. Just what just doing it. Just before we get going with this, I just want to remind everybody who's listening to this as it comes out that we are doing an early episode, main episode of the podcast this week. It's James birthday on Friday. So we are going to be recorded this week's Main Street Talk podcast on Thursday. So look out for that Thursday evening. You'll have a tiny window of time to listen to it before Friday's episodes of Coronation Street debuts. But anyway, back to Sylvia. Gemma, thoughts on Sylvia. She was also born in October, but we don't know what day. 1930. That's not a thoughts that's facts. Did you like Sylvia? Ah, no. Not his eye. And there we go. There's our character profile. Hi. This is your next video. I don't want to be disrespectful to Stephanie Colour and her thing. All right. She does not care. No, she doesn't. She has had a spectacular career on stage and screen. This is no slight to her acting before when's whatsoever. She has an absolutely amazing actress. I'm not seeing her in a whole load of things, but she carries herself kind of in a way

2:04that is like, yeah, I'm a great actress. Deal with it. She's been in lots of stuff as we get to in a bit. My favourite Coronation Street related appearance of hers was in the inside number nine episode. Yes. It was the live episode of Inside Number Nine. There wasn't actually live, wasn't it? And it was filmed in the old Granada Studios set. Yes. And Stephanie Cole played herself in some scenes on that. She has a slitter-hide throat or something. She's actually sorry spoilers for anyone that's seen it. But I do really have a great deal of respect for Stephanie Cole. But I never really got into the character of Sylvia Goodwin. But hey, maybe revisiting some of her best scenes this evening. Well, how reimbigurate something. I don't know. There's funny moments, right? But there was always this element of nastiness about her. I think that's it. She was to me, brought in as like, oh, Blanche is dead. We need another battle ax on the cobbles. And it was only about a year or so after Blanche died that she was brought in.

3:09And it's really difficult. I mean, that kind of role on the programme like Corey is really big boots to fill, isn't it? Even when Evelyn started, when Maureen Lippman took over or took the role in 2019. What's it? I think people said, oh, it's just another blanche. It's another one of these. But even then, we had a bit of a bit more of a breather in between battle axes. But she was coming hot off the heels of Blanche. And yeah, Blanche was a bit of a straight talking, no nonsense, kind of girl, wasn't she? But people had a huge amount of fondness for her. She was very funny. And I think a lot of people appreciated the warmth between Blanche and Endergerate that had been built up over many, many years. And I never really felt that we got that same level between Sylvia and Roy and my kind of long, my lasting memory of her is that she just wasn't really very nice. She did have funny scenes, but I just didn't quite click with her. She was a terrible mother.

4:10She was. But we terrible mothers can be great characters. Look at Amy Robbins. But she's not a terrible mother. And the Christina as a terrible mother. I didn't say that she was not a good character. I said I didn't like her, really. It's funny because you can say you don't like her and then people say, well, what do you mean you don't like her? She was a great character. Or other people say, well, what do you mean? You're not supposed to like her. I think honestly, this is a character that for me didn't hit where Corey wanted her to hit. Even the unlikable characters, often you're supposed to kind of root for or like, oh yeah, go on, go on the bad guy sort of thing or just find them utterly despicable. And I think that because she was brought in as a bit of a comedy battleax type character, we were supposed to like her more than I did. But yeah, a lot about her was really quite unpleasant.

5:11Yeah. Which was, you know, Stephanie Cole played very, very well. I don't know. I assume that Stephanie Cole was an utter delight. But yeah, I didn't go on with her. I just want to kind of, I think I wanted to get that out of the way. And that would be a good way to get that out of the way. Still be a character. Not a good way. Not a good way to get that out of the way. Stephanie Cole. Stephanie Cole, and you never had it as far as I am aware, any bannies. We didn't. We didn't. No, neither did we get all my- Oh, I got that quick. Well, still be a came into the show about a year before the podcast started, didn't she? She first appeared on the 11th of April 2011. And we were about 15 months after that, I think, that the podcast started. And then she last appeared on the 2nd of August 2013. So we'd been going just under a year then. So we were really quite newbies to the Corey podcasting space at the time. I mean, hey, go and listen to the first 50 episodes of Conversation Strikes. If you want to know what we thought about her at the time. Yeah, looking back on her now.

6:11No, I mean, not a great character, but you know, she still had some great moments. She definitely had, if there are some key scenes that stick in my head when I think of Sylvia Goodwin. And I've, you know, still got some relatively happy memories of her. So, this is such a down to start with, I'm really sorry. I want to lay out our table before we really got going with this. People like this character and we're going to talk about all the reasons that you probably do like her. Yes. And I think, you know, I really go on and on about it as a character who was only in the show for a short amount of time and even during that two year period, she had a few absences for health reasons. I know that a lot of people did have a great fondness for her when the news broke of her death a couple of weeks ago. That was kind of an outpouring of, oh, I love Sylvia. She was great in this. Do you remember the time that she blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and we will be filling in those blas with actual words and memories over the course of

7:14the next hour or so, I guess. Do you want to do it? I've already done part of this already. Do you want to run down some of her missing vital statistics? Well, as we always do. Born October 1933, died on the 23rd of January, 2019. So quite a long time after her last appearance. Yeah, yeah. She's married to Syngin Cropper and Roger Goodwin. Not at the same time. We had, well, you know, it was the 26th. She had two kids, Roy Cropper, who was born in 1954 and Richard Lucas, Nina's dad, who was born in 1959. She first appeared on, like said, 11th of April, 2011, and she loves to be on the 2nd of August, 2013. She was in 161 episodes and she was played by Stephanie Cole. There we go. And the casting was announced in December 2010, because they wanted to have a relative run. They hadn't even thought of Nina yet. No, so this was December, 2012, 2010. I mean, that month may ring a bell for some of you listeners, but that was Corey's 50th anniversary month, wasn't it?

8:16So we're right in the midst of all the cram, tram crash carnage. It was revealed that Stephanie Cole, illustrious actors, would be joining in the part of Sylvia. She was called some of the early reports about her casting, named her as Sylvia Cropper, because I don't think that the, the, the whole backstory had been established at that point. But yes, she was built as being quite an outspoken character. Stephanie herself said, I'm absolutely delighted to be joining in any great drama, be it on television or on the stage, the writing comes first. And Coronation Street is brilliantly written. There you go. There we go. There we go. I love this little story I found out about her. She remembers playing bridge with Doris Speed, who played Annie Walker back in the other days of Coronation Street. When she herself Stephanie worked at Grenadier in the 1980s. So that's a really cool link to two kind of battle axi. Well, they're not a million miles away. Those two characters are there.

9:17I guess a little bit imperious kind of. I mean, one of the things I think that worked for Blanche and maybe, Annie Walker doesn't, doesn't work for Sylvia. Sylvia is that Stephanie Cole is a very tall lady, really. For an old lady, she's, she's, she's, if you compare her to Blanche, Blanche was very petite. Yeah, but look how tall Maureen Litman is. What's that got to do with anything? I'm just, I don't know. You carry on. I just thought you were comparing Blanche. People aren't, weren't scared of Blanche. But she was vulnerable as well. You saw the vulnerable side of Blanche. Like she's cried before. You've seen her fear as she worried about Deirdre and her family. I don't think that she was slight and frail and Annie Walker in many ways was similar to that, I suppose, compared to her Sylvia. Sylvia was like, you know, you bounce off her if you tried to, you know. She wasn't quite in the Sharples, but she was, she was along those lines. Yeah, she was in post, physically imposing.

10:20I'm choosing my words and you can say what you want. Yes. But it doesn't make a big difference. No, I think you're right. Because a little odd lady, and she's like the size of Blanche, and it looks like you could blow her down by breathing out too heavy. And she's having to go at you. You're not as scared as if it's Stephanie Cole up there somewhere. Very true. I don't know how tall she was, but I know exactly what you mean. Stephanie also said at the time that she'd been a big family of Roy and Hayley, who wasn't. She says to be joining their family on screen is a privilege for me. And Phil Collinson, who was the producer at the time, called Stephanie one of the countries, finest actors, and promised that, and I'm sure this quote took him many an hour to come up with, life-foot-roised roles is never going to be the same again. Wow. Well, there we go. There we go. At birth, no passing it to me. No, what? I don't know. Apparently she was five eight. Oh, I see. Oh, taller than me then. That's why she could take me on. Yeah, I told you. Yeah. So Stephanie, she was a great, great actress and loads of people

11:20knew her from this huge career and stage on screen beforehand. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and had been acting professionally since the young age of 17. She was in Tenco, I think a lot of people knew her from. She was in Open All Hours, where she played Mrs. Featherstone, waiting for God. Thanks, that's famous. That was a sitcom in BBC. Yeah, yeah, that she played Diana Trent in that. And I think, I don't know, there was before or after, but she played Aunt Joan in Doc Martin as well. Doc Martin just seemed to go one on and on and on. I know it's ITP Adverts that we saw for it. Oh, I don't know. You may have known her from that. Any shows named after shoes? Stupid. Bare enough. I'm telling her who was kicking all the time. I'm just trying to think of another example, but I don't know any shoe brands. So I can't, I can't fight you on that one. No, they're on any. They're on any other television shows named after shoes. OK, I'm going to keep it. If you know any listeners, right? It ticked. Approved Gemarong, and she's watched them.

12:21So Stephanie Cole was 69 when Sylvia first appeared, where Sylvia herself was 77. So it was yet another example of casting someone quite a bit older than the role to play it, although usually when this happens with teenagers, it's because they want to give them the teenager some kind of risque, character teenage story like that. I want you to age her up so that she could get off with somebody. She actually was playing these big, you know, over over 70s type storylines that those people in their sixies just couldn't manage, I guess. Hey, is it not something to do with the age that she would have had to have been? Yes, exactly. When she had to bear Roy. Exactly. I don't remember anything about what I thought about when Stephanie was cast, but I imagine I was probably quite intrigued by the idea of expanding Roy's family, because everybody loves Roy. Roy and Hayley partnership was smashing, and it was probably one of these family members

13:22that we've never really given much thought to. Sometimes, you know, you think, oh, what's this character's mumlike? Or what their dad like? Why do we never hear about their parents? When's Lisa Swain's birthday? You know, those kind of questions. But when it was like, oh, so we're gonna find, we're gonna delve into the back history of Roy. You only came into Korean, what is 40s? Probably, I'm gonna say 40s, maybe only 50s. I don't really remember. So this was a great, great opportunity to fill in some of those gaps that us Roy fans had created in their mind. So would you reckon you'd be on the same sort of page for the? Yeah. Yes, as Gemma, yes indeed. Red shoe diaries, that's why I would never watch. There we go. I knew you would do tapioca. No, I just thought of that. It's not even on her look, see? Okay, Gemma was just doing little Google search for TV shows named after... Das Boot. Das Boot. There we go. I've never seen that. Isn't she doing with a submarine? I only know it from people today. I think it's more likely to do with a submarine than the footwear is a German word, of course.

14:25Gemma, what is? What's German for submarine? Onto Zeebult. What is Sylvia's pre-curry history? Do you wanna fill us in? She was married to Syngen Kropper in the early 1950s. This is what, you know, I think that the thing that Sylvia's story taught me the most... It's how to pronounce that name. It's Saint John. Saint John when it's a nice Syngen. Why? We probably had these exact same questions 13, 14 years ago and this was brought up. Well, it's funny because Syngad isn't Syngad, is it? No, I don't think they tend to make bad people say. Syngad. Syngen? St Syngad. You see, it's odd, I think, to name somebody after a saint anyway. Like, there's no Saint Michael or Saint Mark or Saint Peter. What would you be, though? Why is Syngad so good about St John that he became somebody's first name, I don't know, but, yeah, sorry. I interrupted as I was.

15:25I love it. I think we should have a child and call him Syngen. Just a really mess with everybody. No, it's ridiculous. We can adopt. We can adopt a 18-year-old and just rename him. There are enough, fuck it. Maybe our next cat. Go to the adoption agency and go, if you've got any Syngens. I'm only after Syngens. That's part of our idea, shall we? Maybe do it the weekend. Can I just write this down? No, you're writing it down to remember. It's my birthday this weekend. If I don't adopt somebody, just because I like the name. Syngen. Right, okay. Have we got any Syngens in house? Oh, yeah. If you're a Syngen listener, right here. We've got lots of backers. We've got quite a few Johns, I believe. Don't ever heard of Syngen. Don't want to hear from you if you say it's St. John, though. Come on, come on, come on. Don't tap me. And had Roy in September 1954. Nice finishing off the sentence that we started about three minutes ago. We're going to get through this by the end of the night, aren't we? Yes. She was very horrible. She was strict.

16:25She was cold. No patience for Roy. Yes, she can imagine she wasn't very accepting of his personality. No, he's a bit eccentric now and he was all the way back as a child. He would, I believe, the teachers might have been wondering whether he was on the spectrum where that's a thing back in the 50s and 60s. But yeah, she didn't. She didn't. She wasn't a normal child, didn't she? And I don't think Roy fit into that mold for her of what Roy normal is. I'm saying normal. So you can back if you're talking about that then. 1959, the dirty birdie had an affair with Raymond Parrot and became pregnant. Gave birth to Richard Lucas secretly at a woman's shelter in Southport. Do we have any Parrots listening today? If you're a syndrome parrot, you win a bonus prize. We'll send you a mug. I wonder if we've got any Frisbee's left over. Is anyone wants Frisbee's? When the guy he was the marketing, remember, he was Mr. Frisbee and he died.

17:26Oh, yes. And we were like, this is brilliant. And then a load of Frisbee's listened and they liked. Yes, I do remember that. Oh, I'm tribute to him. Parrot is a fantastic surname. It's got two T's. Do you know Parrot? No, Parrot. Parrots don't count. She has picked people by their names, isn't she? Yeah. What's she called in Richard Lucas, though? That's boring. I don't remember. I think he was, yeah, she gave her work for adoption. She didn't name him Richard Lucas. She named him Richard. And then take him to the adoption and say, any, any Lucas is looking to attract? I want to give this kid to somebody called Lucas. Yeah, this was, this was a bit of retcon back story for her, wasn't it? That only appeared in the Curry Cannon in 2019 when Sylvie was killed offscreen. But, I found it difficult to buy. That's a really talented tool. I mean, you know, we all change over the course of the years. But Sylvia being somebody who would have an illicit affair and give birth to somebody and give it up. Give birth to somebody, imagine that. I didn't pick my view of her.

18:27I do think that quite often it's really tempting when somebody has an objectionable personality to kind of like paint them as closeted whatever it is there against, right? So she is very judgmental. And so to have her have a secret affair child is kind of ironic. But genuinely don't think that she would have done. And I think there are loads of people who do not actually do the things that they judge people on doing. No, I agree. It's fun to pretend that that's true, but it isn't really. She just came across as very straight-listed and stricler and she couldn't possibly. But hey, it's always the quiet ones, isn't it? That's what they say. So, Syngen walks out because he fell out with this. 1965 he leaves and so she eventually married Roger Goodwin. He Roy did not really like because he left home at 16 and didn't really talk to her after that. Didn't mention her at all from 1995 to 2011, really.

19:28Well maybe he did. She was no married. You certainly know Mary's mum, was she? No, no, absolutely. Yeah, I thought that right. If you could cast any of her to be Mary's mum, who would you? We've said many times that they're doing... A little bit cold. A little bit cold, a little bit cold, a little bit drenched. Dooly drenched. Or she won't do it now. We're just about to get... No, we need a classic coronation street at the moment. Mary's mum has died, but I think that was a bit of a record as well. I guess I think since then she has definitely been mentioned as a bit of a mum. Are you still performing? Madonna. Yes, Madonna could play Mary's mum. So, 2011 was when Sylvia made her grand entrance, two wait-tros, and this was after... Wait-tros? Did I say wait-tros? Yeah, I did, and I've got no idea what I was thinking. Maybe you're thinking of Madonna's favourite supermarket. That's the one. Weatherfield. I always get those mixed up. So she... Well done, Mike. I think the viral market inser. Yeah, this is today's episode is sponsored by Wait-tros.

20:31Get your home deliveries from Macardo. Do they still do it? No. Sylvia comes to Weatherfield in... Not 2011. This is after Roger, his popters, clogs, and Roy gets this letter informing him of his stepfather's death, but he was like, I'm not going to the funeral. Didn't like him. He just had such an awful, awful childhood. His mum was already cold and distant and unaccepting of his weirdness. Sorry. Joy, but... What's the phrase? Ex-entridity. Divergence. And... I'm trying to come up with a... If you're saying that's what she would have called him, that's fine, but you've got to be clear about it. Roy is somewhat neurodivergence. Sylvia didn't like this. Neither did Roger. So this is where you go to the funeral to make sure he's dead. Really? Yeah, and glow and stuff. Can you see... Or maybe evil Roy would have done that. Yeah, now Roy would be like, brilliant, I'm going to do a eulogy. Yeah, you're doing all over that, will you? I've got a list of funerals I can't wait to go to.

21:31No, that's a joke, that's a joke. So she turns up at Roy's roles on the day the funeral does Sylvia saying, Why won't you, that at the funeral, to support me, you terrible terrible son? And in fact, that's not the only thing that Roy has been... Listing Roy has been... Yeah, yeah, because he didn't even tell her that he got married to Haley over 10 years previously. This is... They were having to explain why she wasn't interested and had never been in the show. Look, there's an awful lot to do at Hastings where Sylvia lived without having time to go and visit her son. It's always the kind of battle reenactment. Exactly, exactly, it would be a love dole that. And surprise that Roy didn't visit her just for that, to be honest with you. Yeah, he probably has been to Hastings at some point in his life. It's probably really peed off. No, it's probably really peed off because he never went there because he was scared around and into her. And his group are like, we're going to go do that, I hope he's like, can't come back. Tell you what, I bet Roy is going off to see the Bayer tapestry this autumn, isn't it? Who can get a ticket?

22:32Not us. Quite. So anyway, Roger has left Sylvia with a load of debts. She's at her salad home, she's at her move into a car home, she absolutely hates it. So before long, she... No, but it means she's been to a car home to save money. No, that's true, actually. For long, she's living with Roy and Haley at the cafe. Haley feels sorry for her. Maybe she had a monthly rent. She can take care of herself. Nobody goes from a house to a car home to save money. That's just silly. I don't know, I'm just reading the notes. Just reading the notes, Gemma, I'm just reading the notes. Yeah, so... I think this is some kind of gowns. Even though she is a massive cow, she is slightly able to warm herself to us and indeed Roy in one of her early appearances, because she brings him his burst childhood train set, which... Yes, because she sold the house, she got a good rid of it. I thought I've got room for him at my car home. I think that's probably... Roy's...

23:32So Haley's really the one who takes pity on her, and she's the... She persuades Roy to let Sylvia move into the cafe flat. Of course she did. So Sylvia starts sniffing. Half of gold. She's like, so, you've been married since when was it? I think they first got married, Roy and Haley. Why don't I have any grandchildren then? Hey, Roy, wear them on their little pit of patro tiny feet. She does a bit of digging and finds some hormone tablets in Haley's stash. She thinks that, oh, Haley must be going through early menopause, maybe that explains it. There might be a story about this. There might be a story about this, but... There might be an issue's based story. I can't wait. Fortunately, I guess Tracy sets her straight by gleefully revealing to Sylvia that Haley is trans Sylvia, the very unwoke character, is not impressed by this, but Roy says, well, she's my wife. Yeah, she's trans. Sector, or butt out, mum. So Sylvia's like, well, I don't want to go back to that care home.

24:33I suppose I'd better deal with it. And I think she did by the end of it. I don't think I remember it being... Not when Haley's so. Well, exactly. If Haley can't win you around. No, you're hopeless. To the cause, then I don't know who can. But we can't. You couldn't rent her out. Could we? If we could rent out Haley to just go and take her to some of these anti... Do all looking campaign. Yeah, I think the country would be in a certain different state than it is now. So anyway, Sylvia's particularly unhelpful one episode when Fizz goes to prison. Remember, Fizz goes to prison, queues the murder. You saw her and you listened to her unlawful imprisonment episode earlier this year. She leaves hope with the croppers to look after her for a little bit. Sylvia isn't really a fan of that. Just like the fact that she won't be a child. Sylvia is not a fan of anything. She isn't, she isn't. Not a fan of the fact that Roy didn't come to the funeral. Not a fan of the fact she was living in a care home. Not a fan of the fact that he's a big mover. Not a fan of the fact that she has to look after her kid. Yeah. So Roy eventually snaps at her and is like,

25:34he stands up to her. Good for him. And it works because she is a little bit more helpful around the place after this. She starts working up Roy's roles to earn her keep and give Roy and haily a little bit more time to look after hope. But she soon decides to make some changes. Which include charging to go to the toilet. Ten P. No, 20 P. To go to the toilet. She wants to charge ten P for sachets of sources and milk and sugar and that kind of thing. She tries to reduce portions. I think it makes good business sense. But for a lovely family, diner, dining establishment as Roy's. Squeezy spoon is what it is. You don't charge for ketchup and a greasy spoon. No. One of the scenes that, because we put her on our Patreon, the weekend that we were doing this episode this week and somebody wrote in the said, oh, one of the scenes that I remember most about Sylvie was when she locked Norris in the toilets. And I vaguely remember saying that. I think I mostly remember it because we don't ever actually get to see

26:34the Roy's toilets, do we? They're even rarer than the rovers lose. But Norris, who is also Sylvie and Norris both had their principles. And they were not afraid to stand up for themselves. So he didn't want to back down and he snuck into the toilet at one time. Sylvie catches him, locks him in and he stays there overnight. So he's resting his head against the toilet seat. I'm sorry, but that's no hardship. What? It's got everything you need. Running water. Toilet. Toilet. Somebody sit. Yeah, I guess so. Something to eat. It probably gave Emily a night of peace, didn't I suppose. No, she didn't care. Ah, she probably did. When I think of Sylvie, she's a little bit like Brian and Ken. They kind of form a bit of an old e-friendship group, don't they? And if there's a scene we're Brian and then probably Ken's not too far behind and Mary and they all kind of merge together and Sylvia had her.

27:36And Mary's not far off our age right? She's far enough. She's older than a year's anyway. So with Sylvia, she had her gang which was obviously the cropper's, Norris was kind of part of it, blanched, you know, friends, enemies, but also Dennis Tanner. Because this was the Dennis Tanner return, which we obviously didn't appreciate when we were watching the time. I wouldn't say that. So we didn't know just how amazing Dennis Tanner was, but in preparation for today's episode, I was rewatching a few classic Sylvia scenes and Dennis Tanner pops up in quite a few of them. I'm like, oh, god. Didn't appreciate him while I had him. It was great. It was great. Anyway, Roy makes Sylvia wait, hand him foot on Norris, Mary, Emily and Dennis at this special after hours closing meal thing to the impenence were locking him up in the Lou so it was probably quite the come down for her. In October, Sylvia finds a magazine competition in the bin because Mary and Norris entry in the bin.

28:42Thank you. That Norris and Mary have thrown away. She sends it in herself and what do you know wins a Caribbean cruise. So she bogs off for a couple of months. She comes back on Christmas Day with a Yuki Banjo. No more questions. I think it's just a little mini Banjo. Is it a Yuki Leili and a Banjo? Yes. It's a little instrument. So she's back with that and the news that she has acquired an American boyfriend called Milton Fanasho. She doesn't bring with him, but it's not long before he appears on the street. Sylvia's first year of the Coppers, they certainly made the mark that they wanted to. Phil Collinsson said that Roy's roles would never be the same again. I think it definitely did feel like a bit of an all-changed, didn't it, with her in charge and calling the shots. You can stand up for himself sometimes, but I think that in the face of Sylvia, sometimes he's just going to bow down to her and let her go on with it really.

29:49One thing I would say was that I bought that they were mother and son because they are two both very, very talented actors. The chemistry there was right for me, I think. It felt correct that she had ruined his childhood. Yeah, it makes sense for the character really. Yes. If Roy, as we knew him then, had had this wonderful childhood with doting parents and everything was great for him and they nurtured his and said eccentricities, it wouldn't have felt right. I think previously Roy had mentioned that he had a bit of a sadder bringing himself and his parents, one is actually the best role models for him. Yeah, and as somebody I can imagine, like Roy growing up in the Sixth is, I think there probably would have been an awful lot of stigma for being the way he is. It's just classic, classic fiction, isn't it, that your parents or guardians don't accept you if you're a little bit out of the ordinary?

30:57Well, yeah, this is, yeah. It makes a good origin story. I mean, it doesn't say whether or not he was living in the cupboard under the stairs, but I wouldn't be surprised quite. I thought his parents were killed by an evil wizard. I don't know what happened to Sen-jen, I'm not sure. It's a good wizard name. There's a new world, maybe just went off to Hogwarts with her master. Yeah, maybe, maybe. So, as much as I didn't like her for being really quite horrible, it fit. And if she'd have come in and she herself had just been like a back to old woman, a bit of a, you know, Roy, but 20 years older, then... Then what Michael? What would you have done? It wouldn't have fit what I thought the Roy's mother was like. Or previously, it's that place, canon, which we know Coronation Street is very strict about hearing too. 2012, from very strongly worded tweets. 2012, the year the podcast started only 32 appearances of Sylvia, because...

32:00She's busy with love. She was busy with love for a bit, but then Stephanie Colgott, six, so she out to disappear off for a bit. But this was the Milton era, right? She's got this American hunk of chunker, and Sophie has to teach her how to use video calls, so she doesn't keep spending all of Roy's money on international phone calls. Mary is still annoyed, because Sylvia and it they're cruise prize. Why are they fricking the bin? I can't remember. No, I did read this the other day. I think they talk the entry form or something, and then they throw it away. Oh, no, it doesn't accept torn forms. So she enters Norris in a music competition against Sylvia and... I do love that idea. Like, I challenge you to a duel of music. I've got a Yuki Banjo. Yeah, what have you got, Darius? I've got a saluki. Norris was quite the accomplished piano player, actually. He played the organ at Clare and Ashley's wedding, so he's quite the competition.

33:02So the contest takes place in the Rovers in January, because what else is going to happen in January in the Rovers? They haven't invented pub quizzes yet. No, Jenny and come around with a Monday quiz by then, aren't they? Milton himself turns up unexpectedly, Sylvia is playing H.E. Suite on a Yuki Banjo. He was played by Robert Vaughan, who, I mean, again, I don't know anybody. I didn't know really who Stephanie Cole was when she came into Coronation Street. I didn't know who Robert Vaughan was when he popped up on the cobbles on that cold January night, but I believe he's fairly famous. He was in the man from Uncle. Yeah. Yeah, everybody else knew who he was. It was a special guest star, I thought, three-week guests, then, which was announced the previous November. It's a superman 3. Superman 3. Yeah, let's get that. I think I kind of enjoyed him. It's always a bit of a novelty, isn't it, having an American accent on the programme. I wonder who's the equivalent of that he could get in now, because I just...

34:03It feels like they don't really do that. Who's the most famous person? My most famous person in America. Who? No, he has. Someone from London. He's an actor. He's in Home in I-2. Yeah, I know. He might have a job, he might be out of a job scene, or I don't know. I don't want to get political about it, but I thought you could only have two terms. I've got to feature plan, hasn't he? I think. Let's get... I really can't name any of him. Who's... Who's alive? Who's that guy that's in the... the... the... the fockers... the... the dad. Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro. Let's get him on Coronation Street. Tell him that Ian McAllen's done it. Yeah, are they... are they, um, rifles? One hundred percent. No, I was going to say, who's the most famous person? It's that... what's her face, isn't it? He died, the jolly part and fan. Who's the most famous recent... guest-starring, you know, stunt cast? Oh, yeah, a barber, Francis Barber.

35:03Yeah. She was a bit of a... Yeah. She's a shit- I mean Robert Vaughan is... is... far more famous. Well, that's why they could only happen with three weeks, although Francis Barber... She was probably less than that, actually, wasn't she? Like, TV, Budger Cats and the life... They really... they don't really... it doesn't really feel like they do this kind of thing anymore. Look, we don't want them to. The last time previously that they did this, they got Heather Lederer on for one episode to promote it. By... I know I'm a shallow, awful person, but I kind of like it and makes me excited. And it validates me. I'm like, oh, well, if Heather Lederer wants to be in Curry, then it's fine to watch it. We also had the... to Vines definitely beat Jim, isn't we? Oh, yeah. He's currently... well, he's just recently finished her stint on classic coronation. Bring back, lovely. Yeah, I know, exactly. It was... it was quite cool to have an American on the... on the cobbles, as I was saying. Um, and I'm really trying to fight the urge to say it's to even read, because... I know that the character was Canadian, but, uh, Todd Boyce... Yeah. ... threw in through. Bit of Australian in there, as well, I believe. Um, sorry, I... I interacted with you.

36:04You want to carry on the 2012 synopsis, Gemma? I want to know who's a... who's somebody who's similarly famous. Richard Chamberlain. David, but... no, I don't know any of that. I never, when you do a live Google in the middle of a Chamberlain, you haven't stayed down the pace at all. I think get, um... Get... get that third rock from the sun guy on. He'd be good. He's busy! What? I don't double-daw. Yeah. What's his name? He can play the top ever he ever is, right? He can fit it in. He can fit it in. Right, listen. Yeah. He'd go look. I don't know if you know this, but if you want... John Lip, go. If you want to get yourself ingratiated to the locals here, I'd give a big debut as... I don't know whether this is going to take off. Is that a report of thing? He got to go and quarry. I think he should. It's like a bit of a party. It's like a party of a publicity tour of Harry Potter. You've got to do turning in quarry. Absolutely. Anyway, um... he was... yeah, three-week guest in in November. He resumes his romance with Sylvia, and he notices that the... um...

37:05the vacant unit next to Roy's Rolls, which was the butcher's... That's... that's... That stayed... um... empty butchers for like two years, didn't it? Because Ashley got splattered in December 2010. At the time that Stephanie Beatchum was... and not Stephanie Beatchum, Sylvia Cole, no. Stephanie Cole. That's what we're talking about. It was announced to come onto Coronation Street, and all that time it was just sitting there as an empty... It's because it's got to be... You're right right, way to France. Oh, I know. And, yeah, Milton looks at this and is like, Hey, I've got an idea. Look at all those dusty sausages. Let's get rid of them and make a diner. Yeah. He wants to knock it through and make an American-style diner, and Sylvia loves it and Roy's like, No. Look at you. They've... they've... they've flirted with ideas like this, and Cory and the past, haven't they? Like, um... I think at one point, the rovers was gonna be... built by... It was gonna be bought out by the boozy new chain, but I think there was also a story where it was going to be possibly an American bar as well. Yeah, when I remember...

38:05Alan King will we love the idea. Taken bet, she took back to that themed place, and there was like crocodiles and barrels everywhere, and she was unimpressed. Yes. Um... It's not... And when... It's fine. When Johnny and Johnny took over the rovers as well, they... they pretended that they were having big makeover like that. But I mean, a greasy spoon is like our version of a diner. Yes. I don't think he would have gone down one with the locals. What's the big... All the viewers. What's the big difference? Um... It's broadly the same sort of food. Like, red and white striped... I mean, now... The milkshakes. Milkshakes. Yeah. Do they... you don't have bacon bombs in America? Do you imagine... can you imagine Roy with a... With a milkshake dispenser and... Where are one of those... Roller skating around the red and white tiled floor. Where are one of those paper hats that looks like a thunderbird's hat? Yeah. With his permanently sour and special on his face. Yeah. I'm still wearing his anorite. But Milton thought that there was money in it.

39:05And as a rich American businessman, he knew where there was a good deal. He's like, you're still charging £2.95 for a bowl of curry. We could make money out of this place by putting up the prices at least. Roy, was it a simple sort? No, he said, I don't like money. No, thank you very much. I don't like success. I want to just stay here. And I don't remember if I've hit Gary with a baseball bat yet, but... Oh, not yet. I'm going to save that up. So Milton's like, fine, I'm going back to California. Sylvia, come with me, you'll love it. And she says, I cannot think of anywhere more suited to me than California. What everybody would appreciate my non-nonsense British attitude. She'd probably be there... That's very conservative over in California, aren't they? Yeah. She loves overcardos. She loves orange juice, roller skating. Yeah. No, well... She'd get a job like Judge Judy, wouldn't she? So she agrees. So it's goodbye to Roy and Haley. It gets to the airport, but she can't go on the plane because suddenly she can't abandon Roy.

40:09She's like, I've done it, I've been doing it for 69 years. Needs is not. He's a bit useless. So I think I'm going to stay here. And she says, I can't, I can't tell Roy this. I'm going to have to pretend I hate Americans. I can't tell him I love him. I hate Americans. I've just realised that everyone, everyone in weather feels like that makes sense. I can't see Sylvia living in America whatsoever. I can...no. Not in California. No. Not at all. I can imagine that. I can imagine that. Living in a, you know, like in Rikiddi apartment building in New York City and like, shouting at people on her stoop. Yeah, but... That's what you do, isn't it? So anyway, she stays through a bit, doesn't she? Although it doesn't. And I'm saying for very long. No, because I could... I have to give up my chance for love for five minutes. Yeah. So Stephanie called after this story fell ill for a little bit. So she was... I can't remember if it was mid... Third of the way through the year maybe. She up to and left to America to go and look after Milton.

41:10Oh, we handy that he was... Because the healthcare is not free there. Yeah, it is. Exactly. So she packed up... And he's not that rich in America. No. She packed up a bunch of stuff that was free here from the NHS. Took it over there. Yeah. Dr. Nurse, bunch of like medical bed and stuff. And what... She's there, she ends up having an accident herself as well. I'm probably roll skating, I'm gonna say... The right to him like this is free. Oh yeah. So that was her disappeared for the final six months of 2012. This is why I said, you know, she was in it two years, which was a barely short amount of time. But even that, it was slashed by the actresses availability. It was kind of... I think it was kind of fun having this Milton's story because... She doesn't see the sort that would entertain American anything. No, no, no. I like it when they give these characters, these sorts of characters, a boyfriend like Arthur and Evelyn. Yeah. That it brings out a sort of vulnerable softer side.

42:11But I don't think Milton really did with her. No, I don't think so. I think the three weeks was a quite tight turnaround for there to be any kind of big, big chemistry. But there was in like his heartwarming touching backstory. Like there was with Arthur and Evelyn, it was just like... Hey. What was the attraction? Like she liked watching the man from Uncle. Oh yeah. I don't see what I threw them seeing the other... No, but yeah. A shadow lover, Eucaban Joe's. A spaffling is that she would fancy him. I cannot see what he would see in her. What the hell's the attraction? No, imagine he had his pick of the golden girls over the hoes of his face. But hey... Well, look, she's... We don't know what... Stephanie Carl's a barrier attractible. It's because, it's because in 2012, she won the British Super Award for Best Comedy Performance. And he obviously saw the potential in her. Which isn't it again in unusual... I don't want to sound bit too about her. I don't think I ever found her character like...

43:14Really, really funny. There were bits that were... I thought it. And I think that there is this weird... It's like the Emmys were comedy series, like the bear is not comedy at all. That's not funny. But if you're not 100% serious all the time, you're comedian. But that shouldn't really be the case for Soaps, because Soaps got a broader range. Maybe they're just... Wasn't much competition for Corridor's. Well, I think there's... Where Dennis Tanners... Maybe you're all misremembering. I possibly am. As I say, this was from the very early days of the podcast. I guess by the time the podcast started, that was August 2012. And Silvia was already away. So we basically just got the first half of 2013 to really dig into her. And I can't say that even once the podcast started, we were as analytical as we might be these days. So anyway, congrats to Stephanie Cole for winning that award. 2030 award. Well, it's like...

44:14What's her... Maggie Jones always said, I don't think Blanche is funny. She did. She did. She said, I don't get what's funny about Blanche. I think she did. And I don't... I think she was pulling people's legs. I just can't see how you could play her the way she did and not find any of it funny. But maybe there's an element of that, I don't know. I mean, because she... I think one of the things that a Soap actor has to do if you're a comedian, if you're playing a comic character is almost just playing it completely straight. Like a lot of the characters don't know how funny they are. That's the joke about most of them, isn't it? Yeah. Because characters on... on Curry, especially, on very witty these days. Back in the day, they were all cracking jokes all the time and being sarcastic and stuff. But that's kind of missing from, I think, to tell me what you think. No. You compare it to what it used to be like. Everyone was so quick and funny and... and now the comedy comes from characters not realizing how funny they're being.

45:16And I mean, Sally's a really good case in point. I think Curry sometimes leans too much into that if we show this character as being a bit stupid, then that's funny. Yeah, that's why you know. Or Kirk. Or Mary. Yeah. Anyway, 2013, so Sylvia's funny year on the cobbles. She returned to the street in February. Oh no, I mean, she was in the show for a fair bit at Patilla departure in August, because she was in 74 episodes that year, which is quite the number to cram in before she ended up leaving. She got back to America at the beginning of the month. First off, she pretended she was just coming back for a flying visit, but that story quickly fell flat when a big trunk containing all the belongings turned up at Roy's Rolls. I... What a track. Sure, I remember. I want to track it. I didn't find any reference to this online, so please... um... Tell me I'm not going crazy listeners, but what's the herastory about the fact that Roy used to hide inside this trunk? Either he hid from his mum, or if there were people around,

46:17and he needed somewhere to go and... you know, just shelter. Shelter from the busyness of the outside world. I'm sure that he said that, as I can't mind anything about it. But anyway, Sylvia's trunk, everything's there, at Roy's, Milton's Dumpter. I'm saying that we had fun together, but he's got someone else looking after him now, and he doesn't want Sylvia to return to Palm Springs. So that was the end of that. So then they had to bring up her next stories of the year, and I think they thought, we're going to lean into this kind of a bit... kooky comedy side of Sylvia, or a little bit more. Because the first story that she has in 2013 is when she develops a serious gambling addiction, which, you know, Ed Bailey, very serious, as we know, we have learned about this, but I think it was played a little bit more for laughs in 20th-20th-20th-20th. She was being a bit of a mini-coglour here. Yeah, she's making all these late nights trips

47:17to the casino, where the field casino, who knew that existed. I did. Did you? The carpet. The carpet, Annie Walker. Oh, yeah, was that a casino, though? Yeah. I know. The mom and grandma can't. Alain, alain, alain. Yeah. Alain, alain, alain. Anyway, Roy follows her, finds out that she has become quite to the gambler, and not only that, but she has run-up debts of 2,000 pounds on the slot machines. So Roy says, I got this, Mum, gambling. It's just maths. It's probability, isn't it? Don't tell Sam. I can get your... I know Sam totally could. Sam totally could, if everybody gets into any money, they'll have problems, and Sam, he just needs to go to the casino for a bit. Roy can chew to him, because Roy learned, I'm going to say fairly quickly, you'd have thought that if it was this easy, more people would be doing it. They do do this, and they get banned. Oh, okay. If you're too smart for a casino, they're like, no, we take advantage of stupid people who just like to pull the slot

48:18and spend a bit of work in the ball. My great granddaughter could count cards, and he wasn't allowed in any of the casinos. Well, he shouldn't have told people he could. No, because you've been realised after a while, this guy keeps winning all the money. Well, Roy didn't have any intentions, or bankrupting the Weatherfield Contents Casino. He just wanted to get this £2000 back, so he studges his books, and he does a bit of practice, and he heads off there, and he gets back his £2000, well, Sylvia and Ken and Dennis kind of watch on it in awe. And I do remember that episode very vividly. So that star wars me, eh? I remember thinking that they should have led more into the Oceans 11 parody. I don't think there was much in there, but I do like a bit of Oceans 11, and back then, even more so. I'm not quite sure. I definitely understand it. I definitely follow Oceans 11, and I know it's not a lot of music. There's lots of characters in that. Yeah, exactly. There's the 11. I really wanted there to be a scene where, like, they left the casino, and then that music was playing, and then the fountains, or something, or maybe just...

49:19Oh, I thought you were going to say Norris pops out of a box that they've left here. No, no, no. You know the end of Oceans 11? Yeah. I can't remember what that debutsing is. Yeah. And I wanted them to be standing there by the Manchester Canal with a shopping trolley in there. Yeah, well, it was the imagination. Yeah, it was a fun little episode. But that was the end of the episode. That was the end of that. That was the end of that. So, in March, Sylvia starts attending the One o'clock Club. What club? What's that? You might ask, well, it's the little gathering of old folks that Blanche was quite a fan of. She was the... She was the radio master. She was, I guess. Thank you. So she makes friends with somebody they're called Stan Whitmore, who notices that Sylvia is suffering from arthritis. And he's like, don't worry about that Sylvia. Have one of my homemade, herbal brownies, and it'll be... You'll be right as rain before you know it.

50:19It's got drugs in it, everybody. It was cannabis. It was face cakes. And Sylvia doesn't know about things like this. Despite living through the swinging sips, it's like we said. So she eats them and finds out her wrist is suddenly absolutely fine. And then just keeps on eating. No, actually, I don't think she gorgeous herself on them. I think she has one when Stan gives one. And then the next morning she has one for breakfast or something. So it starts today, right? There's a fun episode where she's kind of... Uh... Dancing around the cafe. I think this was her funniest moment. My most vivid memory of Sylvia before doing any of the research for this episode was her... At the sink. In the back of Roy's rolls, bubbles all over the place. And she like scoops up a load in her washing up gloves and puts them over Roy's face like a beard. And I think even then I thought, this is a little bit... This is a little bit silly, really. He was going on here. But it stuck in my head. And Roy is just utterly baffled by the usually very straight-laced mother acting.

51:24Being happy. Yeah. Being sadly, happy and stoned. So Dennis, of course, bit more man of a world. He knows what's going on. Yeah. He kind of says, well... I've been in prison. I know about these things. I think he says... Because she's told by Stan, oh, it's herbal. And he goes, oh, I wouldn't say her. More grass. And Sylvia was like, grass, grass. Why would anyone put grass in a brownie? And then he reveals to her that she's actually cannabis. It's good for her digestion. Yeah. So Sylvia is horrified by this, the fact that she has been doped. And she tells Stan to bog off. But, you know, doesn't admit it. It did do wonders for her arthritis. So, yeah. These are... These applies a few more. Then when Stan can't bake anymore, Sylvia decides to take matches into her own hands. She's, you know, all her moral outrage about these... Well, this is the... ...about these drug-dupped brownies.

52:24This quite completely disappears when the pain and her wrist does as well. It's the dog's mark. But is he went down? It is. It's very much... But she went to bloody court. Yeah, so she was like... She went to prison. But she ran over policemen. Yeah. So Sylvia makes her own little secret stash of them, which Anna unknowingly sells on in the cabins. So she's not the cabin, the cafe. So Rita and Sylvia and Dennis have to rush back to the cabin to kind of collect up all these brownies as Rita and... ...as Norris and Mary are tucking in. And they all just get kind of high on the brownies. And it's kind of funny. It's not funny. It's irresponsible. It is irresponsible. It is. It does say something about the attitude towards... ...soft-a-drugs in the UK that Cory will happily... ...make a see that's just saying, hey, they're fun aren't they? No, it's okay to take them for comedic purposes. But if you try to take them for actual proper pain relief, like...

53:27...is he dead? Do you have to get a prison? Yeah, exactly. He's actually. Anyway, they get marched off to see Dr. Carter, who says, well, you know, drug misuse, blah blah blah, got to make a... You can't... You're going to get addicted to these brownies and get fat. Yeah, so Sylvia says, tell you what, I'm just going to... ...lip in my arthritis. Ditches the brownies. I love it. Stop going to the 1 o'clock club, which is what... ...it's a bad episode. It's a bad episode. I like Dr. Carter's like, oh, you should use... ...safe of ways of dealing with pain. Why didn't you give this to me before? Yeah, very good point. He's like, I didn't take you seriously because you're an older woman, and I just thought you were winging. So, how about you take some parasyte mal? Yeah. Also, anyway, in May, an acquaintance of Sylvia called Dorothy passes on a letter... ...addressed to Roy, which should have been... ...venter him into December of 2011, and it is from his estranged father, as we all know,

54:27...singent cropper, who was asking Roy to get in touch. Sylvia doesn't like the idea. She doesn't want anything to do with this. Singent's dead to her turns out that Singent is actually dead himself, isn't it? Dead to everybody. Dead to everybody, because when Roy and Hayley go there to visit him, ...they meet up with his dead... ...no, his... ...not his dead wife, his second wife Margaret. Live wife. ...and yeah, she says, oh, sorry, Roy, your dad's dead. When you come early. Dad's dead. If only you come when this letter got to you that never made it away to where they're filled. And Roy finds out that his father went on to have two sons on a daughter, ...which means that Roy's got three half siblings. He never even met... ...plus Richard, he doesn't even know about, yeah, at this point. But he does get an old fashioned train set that Singent left to him, so that was quite nice. These women are hoarding all these trains, aren't they? They give to Roy. Can't wait to get rid of him as soon as he turns out that I take this train. I collect Trina Shepardess', it looks crap. They don't go together to do the same thing. They're the same scale.

55:27No. And this is what leads into Roy's sleepwalking story. It's been brought up a few times since that Roy can't be prone to sleepwalking in times of stress. And in June that year he starts noticing that things are going a bit funny in the cafe overnight. Like, chairs are stacked up when he comes down in the morning. Probably in space cakes. It could have been, I've probably suspected of that one. Does that happen to you get stoned and forget that you stack the chairs away? Yeah, why not? Why not? Yeah, as I say, turns out the Roy's been sleepwalking, sleep chairs stacking. And I remember seeing where Deer Tree was walking out, walking echoes on the red wrecking bumps into Roy Warrantus, dressing gowns and everything. Yes, and we were like, what? What? What's happening? What is happening indeed? Is it mystery? That is what's happening. He ends up, you know, sleepwalking story. Is this what we're happy with Lucy at the moment? Oh, he got postpartum anxiety. That's it, isn't it? Because he burns a cake. I think it is the same as Lucy's sleepwalking and he's actually murdered somebody.

56:30I wouldn't be surprised. And he's keeping it secret. I've got a violent streak. Roy does. Anyway, he gets it sorted. This isn't about Roy, but this is where his sleepwalking tenders came from. The main drama, of course, of 2013 is Haley gets diagnosed with pancreatic cancer because Julie has been how's Ronda to leave the show and she's done quite well for herself since as well. But big news, and I remember being absolutely gutted when I heard that she was going to be leaving. But I thought, oh, I wonder. I wonder how Roy and Sylvia will be written to deal with this. And it turned out that Sylvia didn't want anything to do with it. She just disappeared in the middle of the night one day. Left Roy a note saying that she's gone to the liver of her sister, Jean. She literally didn't get an ending scene whatsoever. And that's the last we heard of her or saw of her on Coronation Street. Probably quite a few rewrites needed doing there. I'm going to say, but it's not Stephanie Cole's fault.

57:32It's not Sylvia's fault. Stephanie ended up having to leave because of, well, the time it was, I think it might have been reported as an illness, but it turned out that there was a family bereavement. And she was going to leave any way she says. But I think this story was going to play out first. And I do wonder how it would have been different because parts of Haley's cancer story didn't sit right with me, like the reintroduction of her son Christian. And I just wonder, like, would they have done that? Had Sylvia not been there? I think it gave more of an opportunity, maybe, for Roy to have scenes with Anna and Carla, maybe, that would have been scenes with Sylvia at first. But yeah, sometimes real life circumstances get in the way. This is why I didn't. When I look back on Sylvia, I don't think of her fondly because what kind of horrible woman leaves their son in the most object need of support?

58:33It was, you know, it's all very well saying, well, Sylvia was never a great mom. She was a bit nasty to Roy, you know, a bit of tough love. But when you say, yeah, and she abandoned him when his wife was diagnosed with, turn them, look at that. That's a different level, isn't it? That's just awful. That's like, that's, yeah, that's... And you can, I get why they put it into the script that she just chickened out or felt that she couldn't deal with it as a character. But it was a bit of a nail in the coffin for me for Sylvia. Yeah, yeah, it was just an, it left an arty taste, like I said, in my mouth about it because... It shows that she never changed to me. She reverted back to neglectful mum, like cold and withholding. Yeah, but the thing is, in over the course of those two years that we've known her on the programme, she had softened, she had grown to accept her. Yeah, but that... She had become a bit of a better... Yeah, it was all done at the end.

59:33And, you know, sometimes you have to forgive things like that when real life circumstances dictate it. You don't care. We have to go this way. We don't want to recast her. No, you can. You can definitely understand it, but you can't deny that they had the world, you know, they had all the letters of the alphabet, right, whatever it is they wanted, and they had her just leave because she couldn't cope with the emotional baggage. They could have said, you know, I don't know, they could have said... She said that the Normans are inviting again and they had to rally the truth back at Hastings. She's got to finish the tapestry off because she... there's a few bits that haven't been done. But anyway, Corrie's Twitter at the time, I mean, I'm just going to say, it doesn't have to make sense, right? Because some of this stuff never makes sense. What? But if they could have chosen to do anything, they could have written anything and they wrote that she was back to being a rich. Yeah. She, um, the coronation she Twitter account confirmed that Stephanie Cole had left for the time being.

1:00:37I think it was the second of August that that was put on there. And then it was a couple of weeks after that that her final scenes played out. They didn't know it was going to be her final scenes at the time. Um, and in February 2014, Stephanie confirmed that she wouldn't be coming back. She was on Daybreak, which was breakfast show, ITV, BBC, I don't know. She said, I'm a little bit like a fly. I like to flit hither and thither. Well, let's say a butterfly. And that was her reason for not going back to coronation street. It's tough, isn't it? You never know what's going on in people's backgrounds and personal life and everything. But it just in some circumstances, you think, ah, can you just come back for a bit? Can you just like tied a bow in it or set a final farewell? Well, she, you know, they all say it was left on good terms. She said she loved working on Corrie. She said everyone was great. All the actors were great. Crews great. Crews are great. Loved having Robert Vaughan as my boyfriend.

1:01:37Yeah. I think the, she, because she is such a thesp. I think she liked dipping in and out of many of play a TV show. I got the impression that she didn't like doing the same thing for too long. And, and for her two years was enough. She's like Robert Vaughan ducked out for three weeks. Did anyone see anyone moaning at him about it? Why would people go on at me? Yeah. Well, when, when Maury Litman came in as Evelyn, I think a lot of us were thinking, oh, how long she going to be in the show? I bet she's not going to be longer than a year or two because it's Maury Litman. And we were, you know, fortunately blessed with her on the cobbles for, well, five years or so at least. I don't know whether we're going to be seeing her again anytime soon, but she hasn't said no. So anyway, that was the end of Stephanie. Well, I've still for you on the show. I think there could have been, even after Haley's death, I think that would have been a really important time to have kind of kept her there for Roy. The story wouldn't have worked the same way there.

1:02:38I think that Roy being left alone was a real big part of his character, Ark. It made him, I'm not dealing with it. Like she wouldn't have been able to help him deal with it. No, Roy dealt badly. Yeah. I thought you had to blame somebody in this situation, but he didn't want to even go to Haley's funeral. Did he? No, but you can be supportive of somebody and say that they didn't deal well with something. Yeah. That's like not brushing it under the car, though. So I've been able to deal with Haley's decision to enter her own roles. And I think it's good representation as well, because I think the trouble is with lots of these shows, because lots of these stories, sorry, characters die or leave so often, nobody gets to deal with anything, and if they do, they're kind of sad for a week, and then we have to move on. Roy just went to absolute pieces. He absolutely withdrew into his shell. And you know what? And his mum's not being there helped that part of the story go ahead. I think it would be quite cathartic if you were going through similar thing, watching that going, yeah, bloody does suck.

1:03:39My life's over. I feel like my world has died, and I'm not going to be fine next week. It's not going to be another story block. I'm still stuck here with this trauma, and I'm not coping well with it. And it's not just like go to therapy and the doctor, Dr. Gannis comes and tells you you're sad, and he's a pill. It doesn't work like that. He just, he went completely off the deep end. And it took him years, really. And he's like not... He just need a catheter to come along to... Wow, it's exactly like that. He decided that he couldn't be with her. And I think it's a tribute to the real bond that they had, Roy and Ailey, and I think it is nice to see a character because not everybody does move on. Not everybody does want another partner. Not everybody wants to marry again or date again. Some people just don't never do, and it's not that common. But it's not like never happened. Yeah, and only in Ailey, I would imagine, would have said to Roy, don't, don't dwell, move on if you need it.

1:04:39Yeah, I imagine she probably did, and we just forgot that she said it. But it's not like you're going, Roy, get back out there, and you were such a stud before. I don't think that Roy would have found, I think, Roy and Ailey were made for each other. And I think that it feels... Who would you have given Roy as a girlfriend, if not, if Ailey didn't exist? I don't know who you would have entered her mouth with. I didn't, I did, and Kathy, I'm going to say... Yeah, I did as well. But okay, I've said what, my piece. So that was the last that we saw of Sylvia, but she was mentioned in the subsequent years on Coronation, so she wasn't, she, we learn that she stays in Hastings with her sister, maybe she wasn't in Hastings before then, I don't know. And in 2014, so shortly after Ailey's death, he leaves a note claiming he's gone to go and visit them. But Fitz discovers he hasn't, and Sylvia's often tenoried, anyway, so he's just, there's a bit of a disappearing act. What a bloody cheek this woman had. Oh, Sylvia. She didn't even come back when Hailey died. She didn't go, oh, sorry about that.

1:05:40They come with you. She felt guilty about it, but it was too much. Sorry, Jean, what a task, much. I don't do cancer storylines. So Jean, who'd say that? Jean contacted Roy again in 2016, because Sylvia's managed to break both wrists while line dancing. Yeah, she was flipping off the DJ. Yeah. And Roy goes down to see her, even though we definitely get a bit of resentment for her not showing up for Hailey's funeral. But in 2019, in January, we find out that Sylvia has had a sudden heart attack, travels down to Hastings, but alas, she shovels off this mortal call before we can reach her. Because it's a long way between Manchester and Hastings. You shouldn't have stopped at the services. You shouldn't have stopped offering a cluster on the way. Yeah, just to test out the competition. It's not even that good. But Sylvia's death was brought. They didn't even have, didn't even have cortardos then. Sylvia's death was brought in as a way to introduce Nina to the street, wasn't it? So, you know, a definite flower,

1:06:40a blossom doubt of the tragedy that will Sylvia's death, even though it did also add this extra layer of red connery to the procedure, which I'm never quite a fan of. What do you reckon Nina would have made of Sylvia and vice versa? I would have loved to have seen what Sylvia and Nina would have made, because I think that she would not have accepted a one bit at first. If she didn't for Hailey, when she found out that she was trans, she was just really, really... Yeah, but you can't. I'm welcoming. She's not very prejudice. Nina's not a stealth goth, is she? No, no, she's not. You don't like discover, she's a goth. I can imagine... I'm seeping through her stuff. You know, they've been a world where Nina was working at the cafe and Sylvia was still alive. I can imagine Nina were kind of clopping in there, seeing Nina then turning 100 and they ended on a... Nina clopping in there and seeing Sylvia. No, no, no, sorry. Sylvia clopping in there, seeing Nina behind the counter, doing a 180 and right back out again,

1:07:40because you wouldn't even know where to begin to talk to somebody looking that looks the way Nina does. I think, but Nina wouldn't have had any fear of her, which... She would have stood up to her, she probably would have taken her to task. I think she would have... I think she would have... I think she would have... I think she would have... She would have played a role similar to Hailey. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think maybe we could have worked towards some kind of acceptance on Sylvia's part. It would have been really funny to get Sylvia's stone again and make her listen to some of Nina's music. Oh yeah, she might have. I like it. She could have done a Nina, you know. She had that LSD last year, didn't she? They're all into it. I mean, some is the local dealer. We all know that she does it all the naughty things. Absolutely. She's a rebel. Sylvia could have had a final few years, a little flatter there, with the young ones. I think over the course of her two years, they did soften her out somewhat. Yeah. With these battle act type characters, they often have to introduce them being, you know, as Kaui,

1:08:44as they're ever going to get to say, hey, look at this. Look at this bombshell that we're dropping on the street. And I think if you get to know any character over a period of year, it's the same with Evelyn, the same, not Joji. The same with the Windas clan. They come in as these real hard face of noxious oaks. Even Tracy. Yeah, yeah. And after a few years, you kind of got used to them a little bit. But I think the fact that Sylvia had learned to accept Haley and the other weirdos of the street. Oh my God. No, thin her eyes. I'm saying. I don't know. I'm not a million miles away from Royal Italian. And you know, in my mind, it's the only one. He can cook. He can cook. And do maths. He's better than me, yeah, everything. And earn money and set fire to both. I think that by the way. He's a real man. It would have been nice to have seen her actually accepting Nina.

1:09:45Had they ever been able to meet up together. But I think it would have been just too much of a missed opportunity. Oh, they. They're not really, they are related. It would be her. Yeah, she then. Yeah, Nina was her granddaughter. Granddaughter. Yeah, because Richard was Sylvia's son. Yeah. Yeah, there we go. There we go. Anyway. I wonder if she would have wondered if Nina would have had a go for what? For like giving him up. Oh, probably. Because I think that there's, you know, I genuinely think that there's a generation gap of people who don't understand what a stigma it was to have a child out of wetlock or to have a single mum. Like you would put, you get put in an institution. Well, I think that these days if Sylvia was still around, there's, you know, people who give up their children, a tenor penny aren't they? Saying, what, oh, I've got a suddenly appearing relative. Sylvia would fit right in there. I do think that if she'd have stayed for the cancer story, we would have seen even more of her softer and loving side come out.

1:10:51I think that's the other thing. Just her disappearing in some ways. It was in character. But I imagine Corrie's plan for her was to. Yeah, the maker into a born old grandma. Oh, no, no. I was just as important with a spoon. No, supportive, caring. No, take drugs and tell people to they start. Maybe it was for the best. Why does everyone have to be nice? I don't know. I don't know. People at the hands of. No, you need people like her. You need people like her. You need people like her. He's like, no, I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like you. I'm off. Well, talking of going off, Stephanie Cole herself died on the 18th of September. That was the time. But that, what? Go on. I was 18th of September. That's the same place. 18th of September, 2026. She was 84. It was revealed that she'd been nipping with Alzheimer's disease for a few years. But there was such a massive outpouring of love for her when the news did break. Because, you know, a lot of the headlines were like, Correlation Street actor Stephanie Cole while we're blah, but.

1:11:51I don't know. I don't know. So much more that she was really famous for. The most recent thing that was famous that she did because she really. That was the last big role. Oh, is it just that we found the Corre ones and other people got the, you know, quite possibly, quite possibly. The waiting for God. Yeah, well, as I say, she, this she had the way to the God she was in talking heads. She was in Scarborough, that inside number nine episode. That if you haven't seen that, find that. Well, it was great. I'm sure my boy is called. Well, you just go go inside number nine Stephanie Cole. Yeah, that's a great, great episode. You do have to watch it live to get its full effect. She was appointed an OBE in 2005 for services to drama elderly people and mental health charities. And she spoke very publicly about her own experience of depression. It was a longstanding supporter of mental health causes. So you go, you go, good for her exactly. And her agent John Grant described her as an extraordinary talent. He brought joy to millions through her work. Yeah, really, I think it must be amazing to.

1:12:52To have a body of work. She left a quite a legacy. Millions listen and love us. Oh, yeah, of course. Well, whoever goes first, the first Gemmer on. When comparars directly, Stephanie. Oh, yes, she's still got a few years on this. She was on camera more than I will ever be. Very, very similar. There was a there was an outpouring of love for Stephanie from the Coronation Street side of things as well. The actual Coronation Street report was it called statement about it was in the her two years on the cobbles. Stephanie created an indelible, perfectly drawn character in the best tradition of strong Coronation Street women. Yeah, she was, she was a joy to write for and to watch. And the news of her passing is deeply sad. This is just making me feel even more guilty starting the podcast acting really like Sylvia. I think actually I you weren't supposed to like her. I know. Looking back on some of the things she did it is like, oh, that's a bit of a, you know, a bit of a blank, yeah, a bit of a time.

1:13:53I've got a bit of a blank spot in my head. It was long enough ago. Right. And I don't remember it fully well, but you know, reading all some of those. No, they have to like everything. Reading back on with some of those stories. I was like, oh, yeah. Lots of people will remember and like what we've gone through. Right in and tell us. Samin Long Shanborn said very saddened to hear this. Stephanie was a brilliant actress and a wonderful lady. Kate Ford. I loved working with her. She was brilliant and super kind. I'm just laughing because I, when I originally got this the notes three, right? I scrolled to the bottom and I thought that this was stuff that she'd written about these people. And I was like, what should she get? She must have gone on Twitter like a bit tipsy or something. I'm happy to be caught in. Stephanie Culls said, adored by everyone in weather fields and beyond. Very sad though. She's still mad at Stephanie Culls going and put a kiss after every, because Samin and Kate and Andi all put a kiss on the end of these.

1:14:55And I just imagined her writing like, super kind. Kiss. And I forgot Kate Ford. No, not Andy Wyman though. No. Andy Wyman himself said, very sad she was a lovely lady and a fantastic actress. That was when it twigged that it wasn't actually. I'm glad that you read my notes that I sent you thoroughly and don't just skim through to the end. Look, read these and tell me that that couldn't, well, no actually, Samin said Stephanie there. Damn it. Never mind. Right. Look, I said at the beginning of this episode, back in 2013, we can do a character profile of someone who was only in it for two years. But we've managed it. We've got the Hit the Iron of Cautumark and I think we're pretty much there for a character who, you know, isn't going to be troubling my top 50 coronations for your characters of all time. I hope that in some way we've done her proud and I would like to think that hopefully she wouldn't mind too much that we didn't love her because like you said, you weren't supposed to like her. Yeah. That's it. We've done it now. That's it. That is the end of our character profile. If you've got other things at the fondant memories, if you were a massive Sylvia fan writing, let us know why.

1:16:01Tell us we should be ashamed of ourselves for not enjoying her time too much on the street. And send in your own. We will. We will. We don't have anything. We don't have anything. Who do you think should play Roy's secret half siblings? Because he's still got three left. He's having secret relatives pop up all over the place, isn't he? Dodie's his granddaughter. That's her big secret. That's, that's, yeah. 100%. And Roy's like, I love a box, me. I can see why you do it. I love that, that parrot family that Sylvia had it off with. Because there was the character of Alice Parrot that turns off. He's like, she's Parrot. I think she's the one that tells Roy what about him. And I was, quite like that character. She thinks she was only in one episode. I just love the name Alice Parrot. He sounds like a children's book character, doesn't it? Yeah, this is Parrot. Who owns a magical bookshop. It's like, it sounds like everybody who ever gets their heads on it, the salon has got a bit of a funny name, haven't they? For comedic script purposes.

1:17:01But I bet she got her head on there. She's fitting right in. Yeah. Anyway, I'm whaffling again. That's the end of this episode. Like I said, we're going to be back on Thursday night this week with our thoughts on the three episodes of Corrie that are broadcasted in between our last episode and this one. So it may be a bit of a short one. If you want to get any feedback into the podcast, make sure you send it by then. And don't forget to say happy birthday to Gemma on our social media on Friday. She'd love it. Send money. Send, send, send Gemma. Gemma wants to get a PlayStation 6 next month. Is it? No, it's not. Five. Sorry, six is not. On the LAN, after all, take six. Gemma wants to get a grand theft auto sick. But I thought he'd been delayed again. Or contributions, but no. I'll tell you what, as if you want to put off again. When is it? No. Because I'm not doing any work. When that comes out, I've got this crime stick in it. I hope I like it. We'll say, right. Anyway, this is a crime game podcasting. You can play a lady in this one. Goodbye, everybody. See you in a few days, Tera. The music of this episode came from podcastteams.com.