Coronation Street airs Carla Connor and Lisa Swain’s long-awaited wedding scenes next week – but the occasion doesn’t go exactly as the happy couple had originally planned!
In the run-up to the ceremony, Swarla are horrified to learn that the Chariot Square Hotel’s function room has flooded, which means that their nuptials will have to be postponed. Or will they?
Later, there’s another surprise when Carla heads into the factory to deal with an alarm going off. Once inside, she discovers that it’s another ruse and Underworld has been kitted out for their wedding reception, with friends and family ready to celebrate with them.
Here, Alison King and Vicky Myers – who play Carla and Lisa – tease the big episode…
Alison: “Carla feels absolutely devastated, or as she might put it, ‘well narked’. This is supposed to be the best day of her life and now it’s all ruined. She is not happy and it’s everybody’s fault, even though it’s not. She throws her toys out of the pram. She’s really angry.”
Vicky: “Lisa is a bit more pragmatic about it. Obviously she’s devastated, but that presents itself in a completely different way. Part of the reason why it works between them is because while there are some similarities, a lot of the time they react to things very differently. I think that’s part of Lisa’s job as well, she’s like a fixer.”
What does Lisa decide to do?
Vicky: “It’s something that Ryan says, which Carla had said to him. It’s basically about how Carla just wants to marry Lisa. Any hour, any venue will do! And that sets something off in Lisa. She realises: ‘Well, we don’t need all of this big fuss’. Which Carla didn’t particularly want anyway. It was more about the intimacy between the two of them. So Ryan and Lisa try to set some wheels in motion and recover the day.”
Carla is not known for liking surprises, so how does she react?
Alison: “She hates surprises but she likes this one! She is pleased because I think by the end of it, she just wants to do it. She loves that side of Lisa that can fix things and will let her take a step back, because Peter Barlow wasn’t very good at things like that. So it’s quite nice to have somebody that has foresight and does nice things for her, takes on the mental load.”
Lisa has also been married before, so does she want this wedding to be different?
Vicky: “Very much so. I think it’s the age that she is, the job that she does, the life that she’s had, and including when her dead ex-wife came back! All of that means she just wants to get it done
“But it’s not just a case of wanting it done, she wants to be married to this woman who she’s fallen madly in love with, who feels like home to her. The complete antithesis of the relationship she’d had before. It’s not just about the wedding day, it’s about the marriage itself and she can’t wait to start that.”
Carla’s had several big weddings before. Were you glad this time that it was something different?
Alison: “Yes. I was relieved it wasn’t [a big wedding], no big dress for Carla this time. The surprise reception at Underworld is Carla’s favourite bit. She likes to feel that even though she shouts at everybody, they still love her – all the workforce.
“And she likes that – she likes being part of it, because she’s always, always been left out in the whole Connor clan. She was always the one that had the mickey taken out of her. So she likes to be part of something. Those factory workers are Carla’s family. It is her safe place.”
Is Lisa nervous about surprising Carla in this way?
Vicky: “Very much so. And also because she’s got Sally on the case. Sally is a pivotal part of it because it really is a last-minute attempt to pull this ceremony together for everybody they know and love. How could they possibly manage to organise that in such a short space of time? There is a lot for Lisa to be nervous about, but the most important thing to her is to get married to Carla.
The wedding goes really well, but at the end of the day, there’s a terrible scream as the new murder mystery plot begins! How did you feel when you found out the day wouldn’t be entirely drama free?
Alison: “I thought: ‘Haha, great! Now that’s drama’. That’s how it has to be. I’m just glad it wasn’t our drama and that the wedding happened and they had their day!”
Vicky: “They think the scream is a fox and just carry on watching the fireworks, so it just ends nicely. They are oblivious but it’s a great hook.
“And also it’s a trial for them at the start of married life as Betsy is the one who found the body, so they have got something difficult to deal with from day one of married life. As a family, after what they have been through, I think they feel very equipped now to be able to deal with things as a team.”
“Obviously when they met, they were both at loggerheads. I think for Carla, it’s a lot of respect. And also, Lisa was a huge turning point for her. The fact that she liked her like that is everything, really. It was the person, not the gender – that didn’t come into it. They don’t need each other. They chose to be together.”
