Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street star Pauline McLynn has explained a secret tribute to the long-running soap, which will tie in with an upcoming special episode. Next week’s scenes will feature a big party in The Rovers Return, as Maggie Driscoll (McLynn) celebrates her 65th birthday.
Viewers have already seen Maggie meticulously planning her birthday bash, ensuring every detail is perfect. However, her party spirit is dampened when the feisty matriarch experiences a flashback revealing her past struggles as a young wife and mother.
Speaking about the extravagant event, McLynn explained that Maggie’s celebrations will also serve as a tribute to Coronation Street, as this month marks the soap’s 65th anniversary.
“It is going to be a very big birthday. She’s 65, which is a nod to the show’s anniversary. The whole birthday thing is kind of a ‘Happy Birthday to the show’ element too,” she pointed out.
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While Maggie is one of the more outspoken residents on the street, viewers still don’t know much about the newcomer or her family. However, McLynn has confirmed that the special episode will provide a deeper insight into her character.
“When it comes to events, Maggie, we discover, is like anybody who’s the head of the family, as she sees it. You put on your game face every day, you go out, and you do what you have to; you put on a performance, I think,” she said.
“What we’ll find out during the birthday is we get to know a little bit more of the personal Maggie, whether she likes it or not.”
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The flashback will see a young Maggie in the midst of a stressful altercation while standing on a staircase. The audience will be introduced to Maggie’s husband, who has not appeared or been mentioned on the show since her arrival.
“It’s actually very moving when you see what happens in the flashback because it shows the difficulty of being a young mother,” McLynn shared. “I won’t say whether she was happy or unhappy in the marriage; you can decide for yourself, because there’s no slant on it, it’s just presented as what happened.
She added: “It’s intriguing, and it’s one of those things that you know when you see it, that this will have repercussions somewhere, somehow. It could be way down the line.
“We don’t know, so you’ll be waiting for somebody to say, “Can I just ask you…?” and then it’ll just take one question to unlock a whole load of things. It could even be a question from her son, Ben. It’s obviously something they don’t talk about.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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