Goodyear to return in 'Corrie' shake-up

WENN

Julie Goodyear is among a number of old favourites poised to make a
Coronation Street comeback in a revamp of the ITV1 soap.
Producer Phil Collinson has decided to reinstate Rovers Return landlady Bet
Lynch as part of a ratings-boosting plan aimed at returning the show to its
"golden days", reports the News Of The World.
Goodyear, 67, left the soap in 1995 after 25 years, having scooped a
'Lifetime Achievement Award' at the NTAs. Collinson also hopes to bring back
Kevin Kennedy, who played Curly Watts from 1983 to 2003, and Loose
Women's Sherie Hewson, who played Maureen Naylor.
A source said: "Phil feels viewers have been turning off because the show has
become a teen soap, like Hollyoaks. So he's set a brief to make changes
and revive the golden days.
"Julie is on the top of the list. Phil thinks she stands for everything about
the show - the humour and the campness of Corrie."
Richard Fleeshman, who played Craig Harris, is another name which has been
mooted for a return.
However, the move leaves younger stars facing the axe, with Ashley Peacock
(Steven Arnold), screen wife Claire (Julia Haworth), Helen Flanagan (Rosie
Webster), and Maria Connor (Samia Smith) under scrutiny.
"Phil's aim is to make the show more about the older, more established
characters. The Street celebrates a landmark later this year so it
seems natural that they would want the big names back in the show for then. Just
a glimpse of Bet back on the cobbles will be enough to get fans tuning back in,"
the insider said. (from DS)