Sarah Lancashire, an accomplished and award-winning Happy Valley actor, has always made it plain that she won’t be going back to Coronation Street.
Since time has passed and there wouldn’t be much for the barmaid to do, Sarah is saying goodbye to the ditzy Raquel Watts role she performed for four years.
The Last Tango in Halifax and Kiri actor won’t be coming back for one additional, far more particular reason, though: the clothes.
Raquel had a reputation for being glam and wore some outrageous clothing, which attracted Curly, the geeky grocery manager, to her.
Sarah has argued that the distinctly 1990s aesthetic wouldn’t work in the current Corrie.
She said this when accepting three awards at the National Television Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award: “I would never go back since the program changes, decade after decade.”
When someone claims to have been on Coronation Street, you might wonder, “Which one?” It was either the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s. Each of them has a distinguishing trait.
“I know it was really unique to that area and period when I was there in the 1990s, with a voice for authors who were simply completely great,” the author said. Heavens, my character would be too old for short skirts at this point.
She said, “So no, but you can leave it there and walk away from it because you never truly leave the people.”
They move in with you, preventing you from truly moving on from them. I’ve always thought that you chose your characters, not the other way around.
That is definitely the case with Raquel; any other actress could probably do Sarah just as well.
Raquel gained popularity as a result, and three decades later, she is still regarded as a legend.
Her most well-known tale was an on-and-off affair with Curly, whom Raquel never actually loved, and their subsequent marriage.
She informed Curly that they don’t have a future in a special two-person episode that marked the end of her character.
She was renowned for taking things slowly and had some hilarious situations when she struggled with Ken Barlow’s French lessons.
The crew didn’t want to lessen the effect of Happy Valley and knew that it had a very clear finale, so Sarah exercised her “never return” feeling elsewhere, confirming that it is likewise a closed book.
Of course, she is correct, but it doesn’t eliminate the tad of disappointment.
