‘Working on Corrie was very tough’ says The Royle Family star Sue Johnston
The Downton Abbey favourite found the busy schedule a strain
SUE Johnston has opened up about her time on Coronation Street admitting it was "very tough".
The TV veteran first played Mrs Chadwick back in 1982 but returned in 2012 as Stella Price's mother Gloria.
She was a regular on the Weatherfield cobbles until 2014 when she left the popular soap.
Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield on This Morning, Sue, 72, said it was tough working on such a busy filming schedule.
She said: “Corrie was tough, it was very tough.
“They work so hard in soap opera because of the amount of material they have to get through.
“So you’re on all day, then you go home and I found it hard.
“When I worked on Brookside we were only filming two episodes a week at that time so it was a normal filming routine.
“But with Corrie, you were on it and it was fast.
“I didn’t like the rhythm of it, I felt that there wasn’t any time to be creative or give any input.
“But I loved being there and I loved the people and I made really good friends.”
Meanwhile, she is back on the small screen with her Royle Family co-star Craig Cash in a new comedy series on Sky 1 called Rovers.
Sue plays Doreen who is the landlady of the the Redbridge clubhouse, while Craig directed the series and also plays Pete.
Speaking about the role, she said: “She just loves the club, she looks after the players and she looks after the 27 supporters in the club.
“She never watches a match, she doesn’t know anything about football, which is very different to me.
“I love football so I get the gags, I think you can watch this and enjoy it even if you don’t know anything about football because the characters are so rich and they’re very funny."
She also said that Craig created a "really good atmosphere" on set and was a very good director.
She said: “He knows exactly what he wants.
"He was very laid back; the whole job was a total treat."
While many of her fans are hoping for a Christmas special of The Royle Family, Sue said she'd love for it to happen.
She said: “I often wonder but who knows?
“I talked to Caroline [Aherne] last week and we both wondered a little and thought it would be nice.
“I know that everyone of us wouldn’t object to getting back together again."
Rovers begins tonight at 10pm on Sky1.
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