'Coronation Street' Helen Worth: 'Canal stunt was exciting'

Helen Worth has said that she was excited by the Coronation Street stunt where her character Gail was driven into a canal.

The long-serving Corrie actress was appearing on ITV1 breakfast show Daybreak to promote a new three-part retrospective The Corrie Years.

Worth said: "It was a great stunt that, wasn't it? Yeah, Jack [P Shepherd] and I stood and watched it as it was being done, it was very exciting.

"It kind of rocketed off - I think they did it in one [take], I think they had to do it in one. I think they only had one rocket!"



The stunt aired in 2003 as serial killer Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) attempted to murder wife Gail and her family.

Worth also revealed that she helped to design the wedding dress for Gail's wedding to Joe McIntyre in January 2010.

Joking about her character's reputation for unhappy marriages, she said: "One day, I'll open a script and it'll say, 'Gail smiles at so and so', and I'll think, 'Oh, here we go! This is it, here's the next one.

"'What actor will come and work with me now, 'cause he'll be dead in six months! It's kind of getting difficult!'"

Worth added that actress Jean Alexander's scenes - including the moment where her alter ego Hilda Ogden breaks down after the death of husband Stan - are some of her favourites.

The Corrie Years starts tonight at 7.30pm on ITV1.

Watch a classic clip of Jean Alexander as Hilda Ogden below: