TV Times – 03 August 2019

(Axel Boer) #1
6 TV TIMES

Y


ou’ve got to
feel for Eileen
Grimshaw.
Having steered
clear of men
since discovering that now
late husband Pat Phelan was
a serial killer, she has been
persuaded by best mate Liz
McDonald to take a chance
on builder Jan Lozinski –
only to find out this week
that her lodger is involved in
a people-trafficking ring.
It’s the latest in a long line
of disastrous relationships –

but Eileen being Eileen, we
know she’ll soon dust herself
down and carry on.
‘There’s a survivor’s instinct
in all Corrie women,’ says
actress Sue Cleaver, who
joined the soap in 2000.
‘If you walk down any
street in Manchester, there’ll
be single women who haven’t
met the right man and they’re
getting on with life. I think
Eileen is representative of
a lot of women.’
As Eileen approaches her
20th year on the cobbles, we
look back at the turbulent life
of the Weatherfield trouper...
ALISON SLADE

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SOAP


Coronation Street
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY /
ITV / 7.30PM & 8.30PM

COVER STORY


THE EARLY DAYS


It was in May 2000 that we met
Eileen for the first time – Vikram
Desai gave her a ride in his cab,
and was so impressed with her
knowledge of the area that he
employed her to operate the radio
at his and Steve’s firm, Street Cars.
‘I’d only been in the show about
five weeks, and I got a call to say,
“Can you do a screen test; we’re
interviewing for your sons (Todd
and Jason). You’re getting a
house on the street,”’ recalls Sue.
‘When I came in, I said I would
only stay one year. But to play a
character for 10... 20 years, and
find new elements to bring to
that role, it’s a very exciting
thing for an actor.’

STREET FIGHTERS


Some of Eileen’s most memorable
moments in Corrie have been her
catfights with Gail Platt.
The best barney was in 2004,
when Gail squared up to her over
the fact that Eileen’s son Todd had
been in a secret gay relationship
while he was engaged to her
pregnant daughter, Sarah.
Thankfully, off-screen, Sue and
cast mate Helen Worth (Gail) are
great friends and, in fact, Sue
turned to Helen for advice when
she first joined Corrie.
‘I was very anxious about the
celebrity side; it’s not something
I’ve ever been interested in,’ she
explains. ‘Helen was brilliant on
advising me how to deal with it.’

ARRESTED!


Eileen paid the price when she
got on the wrong side of Owen
Armstrong. The pair started
dating in 2010, and when
Eileen discovered he was
seeing Liz McDonald behind
her back, she plotted revenge;
cashing a cheque for £10,
that Carla had left for Owen
at the builders’ yard, and
blackmailing Owen to keep
quiet with evidence that he
was guilty of tax evasion.
But Owen had the last laugh
when he called the cops on her.
‘She was devastated,’ says
Sue. ‘Especially as the police
arrested her in front of her
colleagues at Underworld!’

CORONATION STREET IS
PREVIEWED ON PAGES 22-

Family: Eileen
with her sons
Jason and Todd

Revenge plot:
Blackmailing
Owen backfired
for Eileen

Catfight:
Gail and
Eileen

2000


2004 2011

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