Name That Cliffhanger 1 - The Answer...

Actor Ian Mercer - flippin' 'eck, it's Pete Jackson! Nay, yer puddled - it's Gary Mallett...

Thanks to those who took part in my first Name That Cliffhanger quiz.

Tvor said...

That was the guy that later played Gary Mallett but back then he played one of Terry Duckworth's mates (Pete something?). Terry, however, ran off with this guy's missus.

Cerys said...

It's Ian Mercer as Pete Jackson, ex-army mate of Terry Duckworth. Terry ran off with Pete's wife Linda in the 1980's. Ian Mercer returned later as Gary Mallett and thumped Terry!

Darlene said...

Ian Mercer as Pete Jackson - he was dishy back then. I felt sorry for Pete when his mrs ran off with naughty Terry and would of loved to comfort him!

Paula G said...

Yes, Ian Mercer was nice looking. His wife was called Linda in the show and I thought she was a mug to run off with Terry. I remember Pete (Ian) cried and it was well acted and I felt so sorry for him! Terry was back in Weatherfield, minus Linda, in 1988.

Quite right!

It was rather a sad story. Nigel Pivaro had decided to quit his role as Terry Duckworth, and so up popped an old Army pal in the story-line, Pete Jackson (Ian Mercer).

Terry found Pete was living in the Weatherfield district when he was on the rounds with his "Cheap And Cheerful" door-to-door venture, and wasted no time in getting re-acquainted. The two men reminisced about their boozy Army days and "romantic" exploits and Terry discovered that Pete had left the Army and married.

Terry was immediately attracted to Pete's wife, Linda (Kazia Pelka), and she to him.

Pete had been made redundant from his last job as a security guard.

Terry invited Pete to join him and Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) at Cheap and Cheerful, and began an affair with Linda.

Linda hated herself for submitting to Terry's advances, but couldn't help herself.

Pete quickly became aware that she was unhappy. "It's not me, is it?" he asked her, aware that he'd been having a few too many boozy nights out recently.

No, she said - she didn't know what it was.

Determined to cut down on the boozy nights out, Pete returned home early one evening to find Linda in Terry's arms.

Unable to believe the betrayal of his wife and "best mate", Pete was stunned. The following day, he broke down in tears and begged Linda to stay with him.

Moved by his distress, Linda agreed, and Pete called at the Yard to tell Terry - and to warn him to keep away from Linda.

But Terry couldn't. He gave Curly £250 for his half share in the works van, dissolved their business partnership, and drove over to the Jackson house.

At first, Linda remained strong - she would stay with Pete, he needed her, she needed him.

But finally her will broke - and she packed her suitcase.

Terry told Pete he'd never wanted to hurt him. Pete replied: "Yer a bastard!"

"I love you. We'll be all right!" he told Linda.

But Linda told him she loved Terry, she'd never felt this way about Pete.

And she felt that if she didn't leave with Terry, she'd regret it for the rest of her life.

Pete was shattered, but as the van drove away, he said: "I'm gonna get you, Duckworth. I'm gonna kill yer."

That was our cliffhanger.

Another person distressed by Terry's actions was Curly Watts, who faced life alone at Cheap and Cheerful. Not realising that Terry had run off with Linda, he called on Pete the following day to invite him to come back into the business.

Pete asked if this was a perverted joke?

Curly was completely unprepared for the news that Terry had scarpered with Linda.

Terry's Mum, Vera (Liz Dawn), was also deeply distressed by the news.

As it turned out, the Terry/Linda relationship didn't last.

Terry was soon back in Weatherfield.

And who knows what happened to poor Pete, betrayed by his wife and his "best mate"?

I must say, Ian Mercer was very good in the role, portraying Pete as good natured, laddish, and touchingly "little boy lost" and tearful at the prospect of losing his wife. He left some of us wondering just how Pete was going to fare alone.

Ian Mercer returned to the show in 1995 as a new character, Gary Mallett.

And Terry Duckworth deprived Gary Mallett of his wife, Judy - by inadvertently causing her death.

'77, '87...

I've just been watching some Corrie episodes from 1977 and 1987, and reflecting on all the water that flowed under the bridge between 1977 and 1987 in Weatherfield...

In our 1977 screen cap, Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix) and Rita Fairclough (Barbara Knox) had just seen Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley) and Renee Bradshaw (Madge Hindle) driving off - they were going for a drink together.

In 1978, Renee and Alf married, but she was killed in a road accident in 1980, and by 1987 Alf had transformed the Corner Shop into a mini market and married the gorgeously squawky Audrey Potter (Sue Nicholls). They were living in Elsie's old home, No 11.

Elsie had finally left the Street with her old love, Bill Gregory (Jack Watson), in early 1984 to help run his bar (and enjoy the sunshine) in Portugal.

In 1977, Rita's husband, Len (Peter Adamson), was running the builder's yard in Mawdsley Street, as he had done for many years, in partnership with Ray Langton (Neville Buswell).

By 1987, Ray had gone to Holland, after an adulturous relationship with cafe waitress Janice Stubbs (Angela Bruce), Len had been killed in a car crash, returning from a visit to his secret lover as it turned out, and after a brief period in the hands of Bill Webster (Peter Armitage), the yard was being rented by Terry Duckworth (Nigel Pivaro) and his good friend Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy). An odd pairing, trying to scratch a living. Both characters had made their Street debut in 1983 and were unheard of in 1977.

How times changed...

Suddenly... It's 1985!

Eee, chuck, do you remember 1985? Curly Watts, Terry Duckworth and Kevin Webster spent loads of time yacking and moaning in the Rovers, Audrey Potter got her man - local grocer and councillor Alfred Roberts, and somebody sat on Percy Sugden's Christmas pudding (remember who?).

What a year!

1985: The Brazen Hussy!

"Who is best Coronation Street Lover Boy" - Nigel Pivaro (Terry Duckworth) or Christopher Quinten (Brian Tilsley)? - asked the Sun in January 1985.

And somebody who er... knew both the chaps well gave her informed opinion!

So, we here at "Back On The Street" climbed in our Tardis, set the coordinates, whipped through the Time Tunnel, and asked a typical 1980s Weatherfield person who she thought the wicked bean-spiller, the naughty teller of bedtime tales was:

"Flippin' 'eck - it'll be that Dulcie Froggatt, that's who it'll be. Ooh, this neighbourhood's gone right downhill. Now, I'm not one to gossip, you can ask anyone, ask Ida Clough, she'll tell yer, but I don't 'old with this sort o' thing.

"Talkin' o' Dulcie Froggatt, I were on me way up Back Gas Street last Friday when me flamin' 'eel came off right outside Maggie Gartside's..."

And so on. And on. And on.

Actually, It wasn't Dulcie Froggatt who had been passing judgement, but a young page three pin-up who had enjoyed the... er... company of both Terry and Brian. Er, Nigel and Chris, I mean. Sorry.

So, who did she deem the best in the... er... romance department? Well, chuck, I'd tell ya, but as we're now living in the sophisticated 21st Century and not the tawdry 1980s, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested.

And anyway - we don't hold with gossip round here!

Uttered In The '80s - Part 1

Introducing Uttered In The '80s - Back On The Street's look back at some memorable Corrie quotes from the decade of shoulder pads, the Rubik's Cube and the ZX Spectrum.

The Rovers Return, 1986. Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire), Rita Fairclough (Barbara Knox) and Betty Turpin (Betty Driver) have been discussing the latest twist in the long running saga of Derek and Mavis, whilst Terry Duckworth (Nigel Pivaro) looks on.

Emily: "I sometimes think Mavis isn't really cut out for love."

Terry: "I sometimes wonder if Mavis was cut off the back of a Bunty comic."

The lady in question, played by Thelma Barlow, pictured in 1982.