We’ll all miss ‘our Deirdre’

I handed out the gong to the best serial drama at the National Television Awards this week.

When I walked out on to the massive stage at the O2 and opened the envelope, I was sorely tempted to blurt out “and the award goes to Coronation Street” even though the actual winner written down in front of me was EastEnders.

I hope the cast and crew of the London soap won’t mind me saying that, but I just felt it would have been a wonderful tribute to “our Deirdre” the late Anne Kirkbride if Corrie had scooped the award.

In fact, Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale in EastEnders, generously dedicated the prestigious award to Anne saying that it was for ‘The Weatherfield One’, referring back to the storyline where Deirdre was falsely imprisoned after falling for fake pilot Jon Lindsay and his dodgy scams.

The NTAs are one of the biggest nights in TV and everyone’s thoughts were with those who loved and lost Anne Kirkbride.

We knew her as Deirdre, a fantastic soap character, who really deserved to be called iconic.

Her chequered love life, hilarious attempts at cooking, love of a fly cigarette when Ken wasn’t looking and fantastic comedy one-liners were a joy to watch.

She actually met her real life husband David Beckett through Coronation Street when he was cast to play her boyfriend and he was by her side when she died in hospital from breast cancer last week.

None of us had any idea she was so ill and were expecting Deirdre back on the Street to continue supporting daughter Tracy, no matter what evil deeds she was up to and laughing at the bar of the Rovers with a big glass of red wine in her hand.

Apparently, Anne was in talks with producers shortly before she died and was keen to get back to work. However, her condition worsened and it became clear she wouldn’t get better.

William Roache, who of course plays Ken Barlow, gave a heartfelt tribute to his friend and co-star at the awards which received a standing ovation and also revealed that, in her last moments, Anne looked peaceful.

Now the writers and producers of Corrie will have to work out a way to mark her death on screen and that will be extremely hard for them and the cast and crew who will have to eventually shoot those scenes.

Anne’s funeral will take place on Thursday and will be for close friends and family only.

We can all pay our own tributes and perhaps make a donation, no matter how small, to a cancer charity in her name.