AXED Coronation Street star Bruce Jones re-visits a few demons on TV tomorrow night.
Including the day he found one of the Yorkshire Ripper’s victims.
And how Les Battersby took over his life.
Manchester-born Bruce, 55, appears on BBC1’s The Dark Side Of Fame With Piers Morgan.
You can read more in last Friday’s MEN TV feature here.
It’s not the first time he’s spoken about the horrific Ripper discovery.
The story first re-surfaced when he joined the Street in 1997.
He also talks about the beatings he had from his father.
And how he knew he’d become the most hated man in soap when he agreed to play layabout Les.

DAWN was breaking today when a Coronation Street story caught my eye.
ITV is to cash in on the popularity of the soap by launching a range of spin-off products, it read.
It added: “ITV is also planning to re-open the Coronation Street set in Manchester to the public with behind-the-scenes tours.”
Except the new report here reminded me of how these possible plans had already been trailed back in March here.
Having since spoken to the ITV team currently out in Cannes, it’s clear that these potential spin-off products are still “in development”.
Although a presentation has now been made to manufacturers, no deals have yet been signed.
So don’t go rushing out just yet to order Betty’s Hot Pot in your local Rovers Return.
As for some kind of return for Granada Studios Tour, that’s still just another idea – and certainly nothing to get excited about just yet.

THE Coronation Street cobbles could see the return of a few rovers next year.
As mentioned in last night’s blog, I spoke to producer Kim Crowther yesterday.
She told me: “There might be a few faces we bring back.
“Ones that have left recently, who we love but we just felt at the time, ‘Why would they stay at this point in the story?’
“But that we might well still bring back and see again next year.”
Although I may be wide of the mark, my thoughts immediately turned to one or two members of the Morton family.
They were led by Michael Starke, recently departed as kebab shop owner Jerry

SO, farewell Liam.
We watched your dramatic demise on a big cinema screen in London this afternoon.
And then we spoke to the man who killed you.
Or rather…actor Gray O’Brien.
The press launch for Coronation Street’s Murder Week threw up several points of interest.
There’ll be more in the MEN tomorrow and next week – plus, of course, online.
Those nice people from the Corrie press office showed us a compilation of scenes from next Monday and Wednesday’s episodes.
Followed by the full double bill to be screened on Friday October 17.

CORONATION Street writer Lucy Gannon told me recently how she was once banned from watching the soap.
I spoke to her at the launch of her latest drama The Children, starring Kevin Whately.
It’s just the latest of many projects from acclaimed writer Lucy, who joined the Corrie team last year.
So how, I wondered, did that come about?
“I’ve always been a fan of Coronation Street. I’ve watched it for 25 years,” she replied.
“But when my mum died and my father re-married, one of the family rules was, ’You’re not allowed to watch Coronation Street.’
“We moved down from Lancashire to Wiltshire and my dad felt that if we saw northern accents and people with tomato sauce on the table, we’d be homesick.

JOHN Thomson is to bring a touch of the Wild West to Coronation Street.
As blogged yesterday, the former Cold Feet star rides into town as a children’s entertainer called Jessie.
There’s another story in today’s MEN, which for some reason hasn’t made it online.
So here are a few of the extra details:
A cowboy and Indian double act with his wife hits the dust after the couple have a big row.
And that could lead to a spark between Jessie and Streetcars cab controller Eileen Grimshaw, played by Sue Cleaver.
Which for some strange reason brought the scene (pictured) from Toy Story to mind.
Soap bosses approached John after he expressed an interest in joining the cast.

BREAKING news from the cobbles of Weatherfield.
Former Cold Feet star John Thomson is joining the cast of Coronation Street.
The Salford-raised actor and comic will play a down-on-his-luck children’s entertainer called Jessie.
John, 39, will film three episodes in October but producers hope to tempt him back for a longer spell on the cobbles next year.
A Street spokesman said: “We are delighted that John is joining the show. John is a fantastic comedy actor and is perfect for the part of Jessie.”
His episodes are due to be seen on screen in mid-December.

JENNIE McAlpine described it as a seriously scary experience.
Even more frightening than bumping into John Stape again.
I spoke to her yesterday about the Coronation Street special of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
It will be screened later this month.
Jennie, who plays Fiz Brown, recorded the celebrity charity special earlier this summer with Samia Smith (Maria Connor).
The pair were first into the hot seats and followed by Sally Whittaker (Sally Webster) and Michael Starke (Jerry Morton).
Bury-born Jennie was playing for a cause close to her heart – the Manchester-based Mood Swings Network.
It’s a mental health charity which supports those with mood disorders and their carers.

ALAN Halsall was on good form when I met up with him at Coronation Street last week.
Chatting during a break between scenes, we spoke about his tenth anniversary on the cobbles.
Plus a range of topics, including wedding bells for Tyrone and Molly and his forthcoming real life marriage.
Not to mention Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pele.
And Gray O’Brien’s – Street villain Tony Gordon – love of baking.
You can read the online version of the feature here.
At the time of writing, a second sidebar story on the same feature page has yet to go online.

REGULAR readers will know how impressed I was by the acting of Vicky Binns in scenes immediately following the death of Vera Duckworth.
I recently got the chance to chat to Vicky – Coronation Street’s Molly Compton – about those emotional scenes, screened in January.
“I just wanted it to be genuine, to be exactly how it is when someone dies,” she told me.
“Usually women are easier with their emotions, aren’t they?
“It’s certainly easier to cry. I think Molly took all that on straight away, whereas men react differently.
“It’s just the way that I’d read it. And the scripts were brilliant because there were very little words for all of us.
“So it gave us lots of time and lots of nice pauses and spaces to be upset.”
Vicky spoke about working with Corrie legend Liz Dawn.