There was an actress on British TV called Jean Alexander. She worked for the world’s first and longest running drama “Coronation Street.” When she wrote her autobiography I was asked to be her bodyguard at the book signing.  I didn’t expect to take a bullet for her but I did expect to calm down some over zealous fans. In spite of working in an unappreciated genre Jean was a great actress, Her character was Hilda Ogden and with her stage husband Stanley, played the magnificent actor Bernard Youen, they were the down-at-heel couple who always had bad luck.

Once, however, the scriptwriters gave them a break and the Ogdens won a night in a posh hotel. It has always been one of my favourite scenes in Coronation Street,