Coronation Street legend defends show against backlash and predicts its future

Sherrie Hewson knows the world of soaps inside and out and thinks the golden era is making a comeback! (Picture: ITV)

TV favourite Sherrie Hewson has spoken out in defence of Coronation Street and the wider soap genre, as she reflected on the evolution of soaps in recent years, the importance of humour, and why she believes the golden age of soap is far from over.

A veteran of British television, Sherrie is best known for her role as the hilariously frazzled Maureen Holdsworth (or Grimes, Naylor, Webster and Elliott) on Coronation Street, where she starred through the 1990s.

Viewers will also know her from Emmerdale, Crossroads, and as the sharp-tongued Joyce Temple-Savage in ITV’s Benidorm. Alongside her acting work, she was also a regular on Loose Women for many years, becoming a household name for her honesty, warmth, and wit.

But it’s her time on Corrie that still holds a special place in her heart, and it’s where she believes the perfect balance of drama and comedy once lived, and could return to again. 

Speaking to Metro the actress revealed:

‘Now, when I was in Corrie, it was very funny, very funny, but we had half and half,’ she says, recalling her time on the cobbles. ‘So it would be me with Reggie on the water bed, being ridiculous, and it would flip to another scene of somebody having been murdered. And that’s when those soaps could click. That was such clever writing.’

Long time fans will remember Maureens turbulent love life (Picture: ITV)

Sherrie passionately believes that perhaps the genre has leaned slightly too far into gritty realism, often at the expense of the light-hearted moments that once made soaps so uniquely beloved by millions.

‘I think what it is, that it’s to do with advertising. They think, I believe, that they have to look at what’s going on in the world and reflect it. Now, for me, soaps are a drama, you know, that’s what they are. And comedy, which we’ve lost in a lot of the soaps.

And I think what’s happening now is that the world we live in, everybody seems to think we should reflect it. You know, whether it’s, I don’t know, a drug scene, the gang lands, all of it, we seem to think that soap should reflect every part of life. It should, but you have to remember it’s not real. We have to always hang on to the fact that it’s a drama.’

While she doesn’t dispute the importance of tackling real-life issues, she’s clear that soaps should never lose sight of their identity as entertainment, something that brings audiences both tears and laughter in equal measure.

Can we expect to see Sherrie back on the cobbles again? (Picture: ITV)

‘Let’s take it back to that,’ she says firmly. ‘Let’s reflect on what we’re seeing in the world, but you have to have every part of it. You have to have every part of life, whether it’s young ones, you know, in a stabbing and going to prison, you have to flip back to the older characters who also have their problems, but also can be very funny.’

Her memories of Coronation Street are full of affection, especially for the characters and actors who managed to deliver humour without ever losing the show’s emotional core.

‘Maureen Lipman in Coronation Street. Amazing, amazing actress, brilliant at comedy. Do you remember Deirdre’s Mother? Blanche was hysterical. She could be quite evil, but a bit like Paul O’Grady in the funniest way possible.

Soap Royalty! (Picture: ITV)

You know, we need that back. We need that kind of snappy, funny, and Maureen is brilliant at it.’

For Sherrie, this balance of humour and tragedy is what once made Corrie so powerful. And she believes the genre is slowly starting to correct itself.

‘Now, in my opinion, I think it’s changing back. Everything is cyclical, everything. Everything comes around, goes around, comes around, goes around and comes back again in life, your hair, your clothes, drama, people, everything is cyclical.

And I feel in my waters that things are changing and that people are realising that actually you have to give everybody everything. You can’t just say that’s just one part of life, the young getting into trouble, you have to have every part of life.’

She draws on some of Corrie’s most iconic and emotional moments to make her point.

‘You know, in Corrie they used to have Vera and Jack, they were probably called funny characters and they were brilliant, but they had their poignant moments when it was very, very sad.

You know, when Hilda’s husband died, and I remember her sitting there with the three ducks behind her. She had three ducks on the wall behind her, and one of the ducks had always fallen down, and she sat in front of those ducks, and he had just died. And she just sat and cried. And it’s one of the most poignant, wonderful moments on television.

She just cried. I think she might have said at the end, “Oh, Stan,” and that was it. And I thought that’s drama, that’s acting, that’s writing at its very, very, very best. That’s what I believe will come round again.’

Sherrie is due to depart her role in Hollyoaks (Picture: Channel 4)

Despite her critical eye, Sherrie is still a loyal fan of Coronation Street today and has clear favourites among the current cast.

‘I love, love Corrie. I’ll always love Corrie, because I was there for a long time. I love the characters. I love Sally. Sally is my favourite character of all time, but then I am her mother-in-law, ex-mother-in-law. So she can be my favourite. Yeah, she’s so fabulous, so fabulous.

Corrie, it still has a warmth about it. It has a warmth and a soul. I love Tony Maudsley’s character, but then I was in Benidorm with him, so, you know, I love him anyway. I love George, and I think George is about to get a girlfriend, which is lovely.

So you know, those characters are just… are forever, aren’t they? They’re endless. That’s why I like it. That’s why I like watching it.’

While Coronation Street remains her home turf, there is one soap she’s yet to conquer, but would love the chance to. Could we see Sherrie heading to Walford?

‘My best friend, called Harriet Thorpe, who plays Elaine. You know, she runs the pub, and she and I are very good friends. So I’d like to go in and be her evil sister or evil cousin, and be really nasty to her, and we would have the best time ever, because I love it, so yes, I would love to do that. That would be fabulous.’

From soap tragedy to waterbed comedy, Sherrie Hewson remains a passionate champion for British soaps, and if she’s right about the future, we might just be entering another golden era on the cobbles

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