Honourable Sue wins local grocer

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 13

Honourable Sue wins local grocer

By

ROBIN CHARTERIS, London

Psst! Do you want to know a secret? Alf Roberts at the “Coronation Street” shop is going to get married. He is marrying Gail’s mum, that silly common Audrey Potter, only she’s not common at all. She’s actually an Honourable — the Honourable Susan Frances Har-mar-Nicholls. Yet she just loves playing the part of the brassy, brazen, hussy who has moved into Alfs life in recent weeks and is about to move into the shop and the house upstairs as well, j To set the record straight, she is Audrey Potter in "Coronation Street,”; but the Honourable Susan Frances Harmar-Nicholls in real life, an actress and the daughter of the former Conservative M.P., Baron Harmar-Ni-cholls — and she is listed in Debretts to prove it. “I suppose myj background is a bit strange for ‘Coronation Street’,” she says. “I went to boarding school from the age of nine to 16, and it was a bit jolly hockey sticks and all that. “Technically speaking, I am the Honourable i Sue.

“Mind you, my sister and I think it’s a bit of a hoot that we can call ourselves the Honourables. Can you imagine the Honourable Audrey Potter?” | Although her father is now a life peer, with a seat in the House of Lords, he was born the son of a Staffordshire miner and educated at the; local schools.

Says Susan Harmar-Ni-cholls: “I don’t have blue blood; my father was a selfmade man.” Lord Harmar-Nicholls made his fortune first through the catering business and eventually by owning a chain of hotels across the Midlands.

The family crest is a shield with two arrows. The motto is perse verantia vincit — perseverance conquers. And that has paid off for Susan. After six years as a semi-regular, she is now seen in Britain as the hottest star in “Coronation Street.” i

On British screens next week, as Audrey, she will marry the Street’s grocer, Alf (Brian Moseley). The same episode will be seen in New Zealand in the first week of January, New Zealand now being just a fortnight behind Britain. Three months ago Audrey Potter was brought back into “Coronation Street” to give it a bit of sexy sparkle and to help fight off the popularity of “East Enders the rival 8.8. C. soap opera. Now, Granada hopes that a Street wedding will raise the ratings. The wedding scene has already been shot — twice. The first time rain got into the film in the cameras and blotched the shots, so the entire cast had to do it all again.

Granada imposed a news blackout on the filming, but it can be revealed that the wedding takes place in a Manchester registry office. On the way there Audrey’s friends sing the funeral march, until she gives them a clip around the ear with her handbag. The bride wears a royal blue crepe dress and a white straw picture hat trimmed with blue. The Honourable Sue, single for all her 42 years, admits she would like to play a wedding scene in real life. “I’ve had some lovely romances in my life, but I’ve never really been close to marriage,” she says.

“Coronation Street” screens on One at 7.30 p.m.