In 1997 something very strange happened to Coronation Street – The Battersbys arrived! The cobbles were rocked with their brash, boisterous and brazen ways as upstanding residents looked on with horror at their new neighbours from hell.
In Coronation Street Family Album the colourful and chaotic Battersby family come under the spotlight and actors Bruce Jones (Les), Vicky Entwistle (Janice), Jane Danson (Leanne), Georgia Taylor (Toyah) and Wendi Peters (Cilla) reveal what it’s like to play characters that are truly larger than life.
Over the years we’ve witnessed many a scam from lying Les, marvelled that Leanne’s short-lived marriage to Nicky Platt actually lasted so long, and watched Janice’s affair with Dennis end in tragedy. Now with the next Mrs Battersby ‘Cod Cilla’ joining the clan along with cheeky but cute son Chesney, the next generation of Battersbys are certainly a force to be reckoned with.
If you’re a Battersby you fight, cheat argue and scheme your way through a life that is never dull, but the cast recall how the public originally hated them when they were first introduced.
We’re reminded that Les has a long lost son, Greg Kelly, who turned up on the street wanting to find out about his dad. The women on the street couldn’t believe he was a Battersby since he was tall, dark and handsome. But he was a true Battersby at heart with a definite crooked side: he set his sights on Sally Webster who’d just inherited £50,000 and tried to lure her away from Kevin and to go into competition against Mike Baldwin.
When it comes to scams the Battersbys will stop at nothing to save a few bob or make a bit of extra cash: Les even took this to the point of pretending to be gay and in a relationship with Kirk to avoid being evicted from his home. Bruce Jones recalls headlines including ‘Les Is Gay’ and how some of his fellow cast members thought he’d come out of the closet!
Janice put up with Les for so many years and was often on the verge of leaving, but when he gave her a deep fat fryer for her birthday, it was the final straw. She began an affair with Les’s more thoughtful biker friend Dennis, yet the relationship ended in tragedy when Dennis died trying to stop Les from committing suicide over the affair.
With Les and Janice divorced it wasn’t long before Les found himself a new wife in the form of Chav-tastic Cilla and their wedding proved to be one Battersby bash with a big difference.
Daughter Leanne however was desperate to get rid of her Battersby name and ran away with Nicky Platt to be married. But it wasn’t to last and Nick left Leanne for a new life in Oz, leaving Leanne to hit the self destruct button by turning to cocaine. Before long she was on a downward slope which saw her leave the street for a while.
Meanwhile Toyah, the more mellow of the Battersbys perhaps because Les wasn’t her natural father, set her sights on a better life outside Battersby world. She teamed up with Eco Warrior Spider and soon learned all about love, life and the world outside Weatherfield.
No matter what they get up to, the Battersbys have entertained and delighted millions, never more so than when Les got a Christmas turkey in for the family. Instead of popping down to Frescos, Les opted for a live one much to vegetarian Toyah’s dismay. Les was successfully put off the idea of killing the bird, but it ended up as Christmas dinner after all when Les and Toyah ran over it!
