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Coronation Street: New producer uses Leeds as inspiration INTERVIEW
The new producer of Coronation Street may well be submerging himself in the fictional world of Weatherfield in Manchester, but not only is he from Leeds he's also using the city as inspiration.
Phil Collinson has just landed possibly the best job in telly – as boss of Britain's biggest soap opera.
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After the huge job that was producing Doctor Who, one of the biggest TV hits of recent years, the 39-year-old has moved from being the BBC's head of drama to taking the reins of Coronation Street.
It's a task he relishes because not only has he been a lifelong fan of the show, his own upbringing in working class east Leeds means he has some form of gritty life experience many of his contemporaries don't boast.
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Phil recalls growing up on a road not dissimilar to that of Coronation Street and his mum, Elaine, worked in a factory reminiscent of Weatherfield's knicker producer, Underworld.
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Small wonder he was such a devotee from an early age. When he was just 14 he travelled from Leeds to Manchester to do the Granada studios tour.
"It seemed like such a long way," he recalls. "And it had only been open a few days – the queues were enormous. I've got a whole set of photos of me on the street. It was one of the highlights of my youth."
When he fled the nest it only took him as far as Bretton Hall, near Wakefield, which, when it was closed down in 2007, had been taken over by the University of Leeds. The dearly departed institution was always a hotbed of artistic and creative talent producing an array of famous faces in the field of theatre, TV and films.
The broad-ranging alumni includes writer Kay Mellor, dramatist John Godber, Rocky Horror Show creator Richard O'Brien, even the recent pop starlet Victoria Hesketh, better known as Little Boots.
But his adolescence was far from plain sailing. "I grew up in a very working class part of Leeds, and no one else in my family was gay." he says. "I struggled with it, it's fair to say.
"But of course, when you talk to your parents, you realise that people don't feel any differently about you and they love you and care for you just the same. I'd gone off to drama school and left at 24 and still hadn't come out."
After graduating he pursued a career in acting. He had long been pals with Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies, and Russell even wrote the character of Alexander in the Manchester-set drama with Phil in mind.
But, ironically enough, it was now Coronation Street star Antony Cotton who impressed in the auditions, which meant Phil missed out.
He laughs: "Antony and I both auditioned for the role on the same day,
but I had a terrible audition. When I didn't get it, I just thought, If I can't even get a part that was written for me, I'd better give it up!
"It became a life changing experience for both of us – it was the role that started Antony Cotton's TV career, and it started my career behind the camera."
But he also reveals he did have a small role in Coronation Street before he gave up the acting lark.
He laughs: "It must be buried in the archives somewhere. I played Bob Wright – he basically arranged a mortgage for conman Jon Lindsay. I like to think I was inadvertently the man who sent Deirdre Rachid to jail!"
With acting out of his system, Phil joined Granada as a script editor in Manchester in 1997 and went on to work on shows like Peak Practice and Emmerdale.
In 2004, he was reunited with friend Russell T Davies to produce his new-look version of Doctor Who. He was later appointed Head of Drama for the BBC which brought him back to Manchester, before taking the hotseat as producer of Coronation Street in March this year.
He didn't expect quite the amount of media attention he, as producer, would be getting in his first few months in charge – especially after the high profile departures of characters like Ashley and Claire
Peacock were announced, and the promise of more to come in a huge winter storyline that will see a tram crash onto Coronation Street.
Phil laughs at the idea that he's "polishing up his hatchet" – and insists the stars of Corrie, like all actors, know their roles will not last forever.
Phil says: "The idea that I came in with some sort of manifesto to shock is nonsense. I'm very aware it's people's jobs, they've been in the show a long time, but the decisions don't just come from me.
"I steer it if you like, I'm the man at the tiller, but there are 18 writers on the show and every week we debate where the storyline is going to go, and we reach these conclusions together. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to come in and say 'get rid of this person'."
Phil adds that since joining the ITV show the cast and crew have been "wonderfully welcoming".
He says: "Most of what people will have read in the tabloids about my confrontations with people in the show, or that I'm polishing up my hatchet, is absolute nonsense.
"I get on really well with the cast and they've all been wonderfully welcoming. There really haven't been any confrontations. They all realise they are jobbing actors and that being on Corrie isn't forever – nothing is.
"Characters reach a point where there's nothing left for them, or even the actors themselves, like Vicky Entwistle most recently, who decide they want to do something different.
"I've been a producer for 13 years now, but this is the first time I've come in for such personal criticism. Having said that, it's absolutely true that there will be some surprising departures come the winter – because soap is like life, things change, things get shaken up."
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