Cilla Petunia Aurelia Brown (formerly Battersby-Brown) is a fictional character from the BritishITVsoap operaCoronation Street, played by Wendi Peters. She made her first appearance on 20 October 2003. After three years in the role, Peters announced her departure from the show in January 2007. Cilla made her on-screen exit on 12 October 2007. Peters later reprised the role for the feature-length episode Coronation Street: Out of Africa, in November 2008. This was produced on the condition that it would be only be available on DVD and would never be broadcast on TV. On 26 June 2014, it was announced that Peters would reprise the role of Cilla for a short stint. She returned for three weeks from 22 October to 14 November 2014.
Cilla was introduced as a love interest for established character Les Battersby (Bruce Jones), after his marriage to Janice (Vicky Entwistle) ended after nearly ten years. Cilla was also the mother of Chesney (Sam Aston), Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) and Billy Brown (Jay Martin). During her time on the show, Cilla pulled several scams and was disliked by most of her neighbours. She was diagnosed with skin cancer and later used her condition to get revenge on Les after he had an affair. Cilla left Weatherfield for Las Vegas in 2007, leaving her teenage son Chesney behind.
Storylines
Cilla meets Les Battersby (Bruce Jones) in the Weatherfield Arms, where she works as a barmaid. When Cilla comes face to face with Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine), it emerges that they are mother and daughter. Cilla also reveals that she has left her young son Chesney (Sam Aston) at home alone, while she is out having fun with her new man. When Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) hits Chesney for stealing from her shop, Cilla uses it as an opportunity to claim compensation. She has Rita arrested and prosecuted for assaulting Chesney. Rita spends a night in jail for contempt of court and Cilla receives £500 in compensation and £500 in damages. However, she demands more from Rita and threatens to sue her in a civil court. Eventually, Cilla drops the case. When Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) finds out that Cilla and Les are dating, the two women begin arguing; which leads to a fight. Cilla and Chesney move in with Les and Fiz. Les buys them a large bathtub, but when Chesney's dog Schmeichel decides to join them, it crashes through the floor, due to the extra weight. The next day, Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden), tries to report the bath incident to the council.
Les and Cilla plan to marry just to get wedding presents from everyone. When Les' favourite band Status Quo show up in Weatherfield, Cilla sees another way to make quick money when the band attacks Les for ruining a concert twenty years earlier. Cilla demands compensation from the band unless they perform at her reception. The band agree to perform, which angers Cilla as she wanted the money. On the day of the wedding, Cilla has a run-in with Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), as she has not paid for her wedding bouquet. Cilla and Les marry. At the reception, The Quo are in a back room where the presents were being kept, when Les walks in and tells them that he has always wanted to trash a room full of expensive things. He duly wrecks everything and throws a television out the window, only for Cilla to walk in and inform him that he had just trashed their wedding presents. Cilla attacks Les, before they join The Quo on stage.
Cilla throws Les out after he admits to having slept with Janice. Cilla is hurt at what Les has done, and starts wearing basic clothes and no make-up. When Les says he will crawl across the cobbles in order to win Cilla over, Cilla can not let Les go through with it, and they reconcile. Cilla tells Fiz that she has skin cancer. On finding out that Les has had an affair with her best friend, Yana Lumb; Cilla decides to get revenge. She tells everyone that her cancer is terminal, leading the Street's residents to make a collection to send Cilla to Florida, so she can swim with dolphins. Les and Yana sit in a bath full of mushy peas, raising £600. Cilla admits that she lied about the cancer, leaving the family devastated. Cilla travels to Florida alone, leaving Les to apologise to their friends and neighbours.
When Cilla returns, she slaps Yana and reunites with Les. A few months later, Les leaves to work as a roadie for a tribute band called "ZZ Top O' The Mornin'", and Cilla is sacked from her job at Wong's Chippy; where she blames Jodie Morton (Samantha Seager). Cilla struggles financially and takes a job at a nursing home, where she meets a wealthy man, Frank Nicholls (Keith Clifford). Frank is a perfect match for Cilla, as he is just as ruthless as she is. Frank tells Cilla that he needs a full-time carer and he invites Cilla to go with him to Las Vegas. When Frank dies, Cilla believes that she will inherit everything, but is disappointed when she is left just £500 in Frank's will. Cilla decides to sell a necklace that Frank had given her, and is surprised to learn that it is worth £45,000. Cilla then decides to leave the country. Chesney, Fiz and Kirk later visit Cilla in South Africa, leading to the events of "Out of Africa".
In October 2014, Cilla returns to the street to visit Fiz and Chesney. It is revealed that she is now living in Wolverhampton. She later reveals to Sinead Tinker (Katie McGlynn), Chesney's girlfriend, that she is suffering from osteoporosis, and she swears her to secrecy. Her family aren't too pleased to see her when she arrives, as they believe that she is up to something due to her mischievous past. She later leaves the street on the bus, but once Fiz and Chesney find out about their mother's illness from Sinead they later try to find her, invite her back and apologise but by that point, she had already gone.
Casting
On 17 September 2003, it was announced that former Bad Girls actress Wendi Peters would be joining Coronation Street playing the character of Cilla Brown, mother of Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine) and a love interest for Les Battersby (Bruce Jones). A spokesperson told the Daily Mirror: "Les is like a born-again teenager with Cilla and becomes very defensive of her. He believes she is definitely the woman for him and acts the perfect gentleman with her in an effort to be a romantic. He starts to behave so unlike Les by opening doors for her and insisting they link arms whenever they are out together. But just when everything seems to be running smoothly there is a bolt from the blue."[1]
Development
In May 2004, it was announced that an upcoming storyline featuring Cilla marrying Les later in the year. A source for the News of the World revealed: "It all started as a joke at a boozy party after the British Soap Awards, but at the ideas meeting this week, the bosses realised what a great idea it was. Any scene with calls for Les and Cilla in wedding gear will be classic Corrie."[2]
Departure
On 18 January 2007, Peters announced she would be leaving Coronation Street. On her decision to leave the role, Peters said "I've had a brilliant four years at Coronation Street. It's been filled with wonderful experiences and great opportunities. "I feel very privileged to have been given the fantastic character of Cilla and I shall really miss her. I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time with my families and pursuing and working on other projects." Producer Steve Frost said "Wendi is a valued member of the cast and she has made the character of Cilla one of the most colourful and memorable characters in soap history. We totally understand her reasons for wanting to leave and are grateful that she has given us so much notice – this means that we can spend time writing an exit storyline which will do her and the character of Cilla justice."[3] Cilla made her final appearance on 12 October 2007. Peters later reprised the role for a DVD spin-off in November 2008.
Return
On 26 June 2014, it was announced Peters would reprise her role for six weeks.[4] Her return storyline was not immediately revealed, but it will help to facilitate McAlpine's maternity leave.[4] Peters commented "I'm really thrilled to have the opportunity to revisit Cilla and the cobbles for a short while and to see what she has been up to for the last 7 years."[4] Cilla made her on-screen return on 22 October.[5] It was later announced that Cilla would be hiding the fact that she has osteoporosis from her family.
Wendi Louise Peters is an English actress. Peters began her acting career in theatre, with appearances in various productions including The Scarlet Pimpernel (1991), Guys and Dolls (1991), Into the Woods (1992), Bedroom Farce (1996) and Noises Off (1997). Then from 2003 to 2007, she portrayed Cilla Battersby-Brown in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.
Maria Connor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by Samia Longchambon. The character made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 19 May 2000. During her time on the show, Maria has been the centre of major storylines. In late-2009, Longchambon took maternity leave and Maria was off-screen from November 2009 until June 2010. Longchambon went on maternity leave again in 2015 and Maria was off-screen from October 2015 until April 2016. In June 2019, it was announced that Longchambon had signed a new contract keeping her with the show for at least another 12 months.
Roy Cropper is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by David Neilson. He first appeared on-screen on 19 July 1995. Originally a secondary character, he was given a more prominent role in 1997, by the executive producer of Coronation Street, Brian Park. Roy has been featured in numerous high-profile storylines, most notably marrying the first transgender character in a British soap opera, Hayley Patterson.
Janice Battersby is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Vicky Entwistle, the character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 6 January 1997.
Weatherfield is a fictional town based on Salford, Greater Manchester, which has been the setting for the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street since its inception in 1960. Much of Weatherfield has been seen by viewers throughout the years, though the primary focus from the viewer's perspective is the eponymous Coronation Street, a cobbled street where many of the programme's characters live. Weatherfield areas are often shot on location around Salford and the neighbouring large city of Manchester, as its filming studios, the Granada Studios complex on Quay Street in Manchester city centre and its replacement set MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, only house the outdoor sets of Coronation Street and its immediate surrounding streets.
Fiz Dobbs is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Jennie McAlpine, the character first appeared on screen on 20 April 2001. Initially appearing for five episodes, McAlpine's contract was soon extended and Fiz became a regular character. In May 2014, it was announced that McAlpine was expecting her first child and Fiz temporarily departed on 14 November 2014, returning on 19 June 2015. In November 2017, McAlpine took a break from filming to take part in the 17th series of the ITV reality show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and her exit aired on 18 December 2017, she returned on 2 March 2018. In April 2018, McAlpine announced that she is expecting her second child; she took maternity leave from the show on 5 December 2018 and returned on 30 August 2019. McAlpine took maternity leave a third time in 2023.
Les Battersby is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, who appeared from 1997 to 2008, played by Bruce Jones. The character is best known for his outspoken opinions and his following of English rock band Status Quo.
Kirk Sutherland is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. The character first appeared on-screen as "Mark" during the episode airing on 22 May 2000, played by an uncredited actor. He was renamed Kirk and has been played by Andrew Whyment since October 2000.
John Stape is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by actor Graeme Hawley. He made his first on-screen appearance during the episode airing on 6 May 2007. The character departed on 3 June 2011 after four years on the show. Hawley made a short return to Coronation Street from 21 October 2011 until 28 October 2011 when he was killed off.
Coronation Street: Out of Africa is a 2008 direct-to-video film featuring characters from the British soap opera Coronation Street, who visit the luxury resort of Sun City, South Africa. Cilla Battersby-Brown, the mother from hell, brings her son and other "son" over to Africa to win a $500,000 competition.
Chesney Winter-Brown is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Sam Aston. He made his first on-screen appearance on 10 November 2003. The character is named after the singer, Chesney Hawkes.
Coronation StreetLive is a live episode of the British soap opera Coronation Street, which was first broadcast on Thursday 9 December 2010 on ITV. The special live edition was to celebrate fifty years of the programme being on air. The sixty-minute episode was directed by Tony Prescott, who had directed the soap's 40th anniversary live episode in December 2000. The episode, the 7487th in the series, was written by Jan McVerry and produced by Phil Collinson for ITV Studios. It was filmed at the Granada Studios complex in Manchester.
Beth Sutherland is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Lisa George. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 5 August 2011.
Katy Armstrong is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Georgia May Foote. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 30 July 2010. Foote had previously appeared in the soap in January of that same year as Jess Burrows. In the show, Katy is the youngest daughter of Owen Armstrong and sister of Izzy Armstrong. Her storylines mostly revolve around her relationship with Chesney Brown, her pregnancy, and being a mother to Joseph and embarking on an affair with Ryan Connor. Foote's departure from the show was announced in April 2014, with her filming her final scenes on 16 February 2015 and the character departing on 20 March 2015. The character Katy was killed off-screen in a car accident in Portugal on 18 October 2017.
Toyah Habeeb is a fictional character from the British soap opera Coronation Street, played by Georgia Taylor. Toyah and her family were introduced to the serial by executive producer Brian Park in a bid to increase falling ratings. Actress and singer Toyah Willcox gave the producers permission to name the youngest member of the Battersby family after herself, since the character was said to be born during the height of her career. Taylor originally auditioned for the part of Zoe Tattersall, but was cast as Toyah instead. The role marked her acting debut. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 4 July 1997.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
