Bonus Scoop: Corrie's Fiz on 'Out of Africa'

Here are some bonus excerpts from my interview with Coronation Street's Jannie McAlpine at the end of last month. If you haven't read the original interview, click here. If you have, read on for some snippets about Corrie's Out of Africa DVD, which is released on Monday.

Are you excited about the DVD?
"Yeah. We filmed the DVD about three months ago and it's coming out at the beginning of November. Fiz finds a little bit of happiness and she meets someone in South Africa. She has a little holiday romance to cheer her up!"

Does Fiz's storyline in the regular episodes integrate with the DVD spinoff?
"Not much. Chesney and Kirk say they're going off to see Cilla in South Africa and Fix goes about a week later to rescue Ches from their mother! We're away from the Street for a couple of weeks, but it's not part of the storyline. It's more of a standalone thing, to be honest."

What was it like filming out in South Africa?
"It was really great. Definitely different to filming Corrie. There were very long days. The scenery is just spectacular. We filmed it all in about three weeks. Any Corrie fan will love it because it's Corrie through and through. "

What was the highlight for you?
"The whole experience, really. It was just lovely to be out there. We had a South African crew and so working with loads of different people was great. Obviously I had my mates Sam [Aston] and Andy [Whyment] out there with me and, of course, Wendi [Peters]. I can't really pick a highlight - just feel privileged to have been asked to be a part of it."

How about Wendi Peters? It must've been great to have been working with her again...
"Lovely to see her again - she was on great form. All Cilla fans will be very pleased with her material! It's Cilla at her best."

Would you like Cilla to make a full-time return?
"It'd be lovely to have her back, but I think she's happy spending time with her family at the moment. Maybe we can just do these DVD specials once a year?!"