March 28, 2018. Episode 9,415 of the world’s longest running soap opera, and there’s a new character strolling down Coronation Street.
It’s cheeky Geoff Metcalfe, dad of nice-but-a-little-dim Tim. Geoff thinks of himself as a bit of a ladies’ man and he’s got his eye on Audrey Roberts. He’s funny Geoff, silly Geoff, buying everyone-a-drink Geoff, Geoff the magician, Geoff the cheesy hospital radio DJ. It’s going to be a while till Geoff turns dark. And becomes one of Corrie’s greatest villains…
You may think you’ve seen Geoff before, or rather Ian Bartholomew, the actor who plays him, but not remember quite where or when. It could have been in one of his four Olivier Awards-nominated theatre roles, or in 2011 as Alfred P. Doolittle in Pygmalion at the Royal Exchange when he won the Manchester Evening News award for Best Supporting Actor, or when he took the title role in Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, receiving outstanding reviews. It might be from his catalogue of television work covering many of the most popular programmes of the past 40 years: Minder, The Professionals, The Darling Buds of May, Wycliffe, The Bill, New Tricks, Spooks, Heartbeat, Foyle’s War, Maigret… Perhaps you have passed him on the streets of Malpas where he has lived for 15 years, or in Anglesey, where he and his wife Loveday Ingram, the theatre director, like to spend their holiday time with their daughter and son.
This story is from the October 2020 edition of Cheshire Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 2020 edition of Cheshire Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Home From Home For Christmas
Want to get away for the festive season but somewhere that’s comfortingly close? Here is our top 10 of feel-good escapes in and around Cheshire
LAUREN SIMON
Lauren is still in shock about where she lives, but is making the most of autumn in Cheshire
LOUISE MINCHIN
The BBC breakfast host on life beyond the red sofa
KALINI KENT
In conversation with Cheshire’s movers and shakers
AT HOME WITH Dave Lister, Lloyd Mullaney, Trunk of Funkster CRAIG CHARLES
The multi-faceted entertainer spends his working life here, there and everywhere, and he’s very happy he has Cheshire to come home to
CLARE MACKINTOSH
Where does the author of four bestselling novels find inspiration when she’s stuck for words?
Suits you
Your chance to take home a bespoke tailored suit made in the heart of Liverpool
Swamp thing
Kunal Trehan and Thomas Hope are creating the home of their dreams in Sandbach, and started with the very damp grounds
An autumn stroll with Darcy and Elizabeth
A quarter of a century ago Colin Firth took a swim and plunged Cheshire’s Lyme Park into global fame
A BRUSH WITH CHESHIRE
Explore our diverse county through the eyes and imaginations of these artists and their very different styles