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TS Character to Join UK Soap

By Peter Beal, PA News
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker

London
January 16, 1998


New character Hayley Patterson is to join TV's Coronation Street as the first transsexual in a British soap opera.

But programme chiefs at Granada TV say the delicate subject will be treated sensitively and not introduced as a "soap-box cause".

Actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, 27, plays Hayley, a timid clerk at Firman's Freezers who arrives on the Street hiding her secret that she is awaiting final surgery to complete her transformation from a man to a woman.

She confides in lonely cafe owner Roy Cropper as the couple strike up a relationship together. Only he and Alma Baldwin are told the truth before Hayley leaves the Street to undergo her final operation.

Granada said they were confident the way the subject will be handled on screen would not affect some of their more staid viewers.

Producer Brian Park, brought in to spice up Coronation Street story-lines in the fierce battle with BBC rival EastEnders said: "It's never been tackled before in a soap and we felt it was a challenge for the Street.

"We are approaching it sensitively. We'll get to know Hayley as a person, not a soap-box cause."

Accrington-born Julie, who lives in Camberwell, South London, with actor friend Joseph Alessi, said she had initial reservations about the part because of her womanly appearance. But Street wardrobe and make-up experts came up with the desired effect.

"It's a privilege to play a character like Hayley and to carry a responsibility for all those people who have gone through what she has," said Julie, who has also appeared in The Bill.

Her character first appears on screen in two weeks time, although Granada are not saying how long she remains in the plot.



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