Coronation Street: Romanian Holiday is a feature-length spin-off released exclusively on DVD on 26th October 2009. It follows Roy and Hayley Cropper as they go on holiday to Transylvania, Romania, to house-sit for the newly married Frankie Baldwin while she is on her honeymoon. David Neilson and Julie Hesmondhalgh play their familiar Coronation Street roles, with Katherine Kelly as Becky McDonald also appearing.
Following the pattern set by 2008's Out of Africa DVD spin-off, the special was recorded on location in Romania and many Romanian actors were cast in small roles. John Henshaw and Siobhan Finneran also star as Glen and Verity, a couple who befriend the Croppers despite their vastly different interests.
Romanian Holiday is written by Simon Crowther and Chris Fewtrell, and is produced and directed by Ian Bevitt. It is only available to buy in Region 2.
Plot
Roy and Hayley Cropper accept an invitation to attend Frankie Baldwin's wedding to Dean Fraser in Romania and to house-sit for the couple for a week while the newlyweds are on their honeymoon. Leaving their café in Victoria Street behind, they fly out to Romania, but due to an electrical storm, their plane is late arriving and they miss the ceremony. Their mood improves however when they arrive at Frankie's luxury villa in the Transylvanian Alps.
Another couple, Glen and Verity, soon arrives. They claim to be Dean's aunt and uncle and that he asked them to house-sit too. Roy and Hayley invite them to stay for the week, although Glen and Verity prove difficult to live with as their crude, loutish behaviour clashes with that of the quieter Croppers. Roy and Hayley are eager to go sightseeing in Cluj to get away from them, but due to poor public transport they have to be driven by Glen and Verity. The couple prove to be even more difficult travelling companions, as while Roy and Hayley visit a monastery, Glen and Verity find a pub and get too drunk to drive back to the villa. Hayley has to drive despite her fear of the right-hand traffic system in Romania. Roy is outraged when Glen provokes a Hell's Angels biker, who chases them back to the villa.
Glen and Verity convince the Croppers to give them one more chance and they set off into Cluj again the next day. The group visits Bran Castle, where Glen and Verity get themselves lost, requiring Roy and Hayley to waste the day looking for them.
When they're alone, Glen and Verity talk about how to get rid of the Croppers, having been trying without success so far.
The two couples try to live together
They wake Roy and Hayley up at 3am to suggest they participate in a karaoke contest. At the end of his tether, Roy says that he and Hayley have to return home as their daughter Becky has gone into labour prematurely. At the airport, however, Becky shows up, having had an argument with Steve on their honeymoon and decided to surprise Roy and Hayley. Their lie exposed, the Croppers ashamedly apologise to Glen and Verity, who decide to let them stay longer.
With an exciteable Becky around, Hayley starts to unwind and goes along with Glen, Verity and Becky to the pub for the karaoke, where they sing Waterloo by Abba, while Roy stays behind and indulges in the villa's jacuzzi. Enjoying herself, Becky stays behind while the others go back to the villa. Becky makes friends with the regulars and wins a beer drinking contest before being driven home in a cart.
The group is getting along better so on their last day together they drive to the Valley of Hell. When the car breaks down in a remote location and they can't phone for help, Roy, Hayley and Becky go off to find aid. When they get back, however, the car, and its occupants, are gone. At the villa, Dean arrives, and is nonplussed about Glen and Verity being missing as he claims not to know them. They realise Dean has been duped - Glen and Verity have stolen his car and many of his and Frankie's valuables and fled. At the airport, the guilty couple discuss the success of their scheme, which they have done many times before. Verity feels bad about leaving the Croppers in the middle of nowhere and persuades Glen to phone the police to alert them. In doing so, however, he informs the police - who have already been consulted by the Croppers - of his and Verity's location, and their holdings from the villa are held by airport security. Glen and Verity run off before the police can catch them.
Cast
- Dean Fraser - Daymon Britton
- Father Balthazar - George Grigore
- Octavian - Rudy Rosenfeld
- Roy Cropper - David Neilson
- Hayley Cropper - Julie Hesmondhalgh
- Eddie Windass - Steve Huison
- Glen - John Henshaw
- Verity - Siobhan Finneran
- Barman - Constantin Florescu
- Old Man - Mihai Persa
- Biker - Eduard Opaschi
- Tour Guide - Cristina Cioran
- Becky McDonald - Katherine Kelly
- Bogdan - Constantin Barbulescu
- Teodosie - Ion Sora
- Plainclothes Policeman - George Remes
(Listed in order of appearance)
Production
Romanian Holiday was commissioned following the success of the 2008 DVD spin-off Coronation Street: Out of Africa [1]. The two week shooting schedule took place during August 2009 in Transylvania and in Castel Film Studios in Snagov, Romania, except for one scene which was recorded on the Coronation Street set in Granada Studios, Manchester. Production in Romania involved a largely Romanian film crew, with key personnel flying from Manchester.
Because recording took place out of sync with Coronation Street's schooting schedule, David Neilson and Julie Hesmondhalgh were required to carry umbrellas to shield themselves from the Sun so that they would not tan. Production wrapped shortly before they were due to record Fiz Brown and John Stape's wedding on the main show [2].
Katherine Kelly's suitcase was delayed by two days upon her arrival in Romania, forcing the actress to wear her character's clothes in the interim [3]
Notes
- The main theme for the film is an unusual European arrangement of the regular Coronation Street theme.
- Roy and Hayley's visit to Romania is referenced several times in the main programme. They receive their invitation from Frankie in Episode 7177 (5th October 2009). Roy appears in Episode 7190 (23rd October 2009) and again references his upcoming excursion. On his next appearance in Episode 7195 (29th October 2009), he remarks to Pam Hobsworth that his trip was "eventful", but refuses to elaborate.
- Eddie Windass drives Roy and Hayley to the airport, with Steve Huison making a cameo appearance as his Coronation Street character.
- Frankie Baldwin briefly appears in a flashback scene, but she is not played by Debra Stephenson.
- The DVD release of the film also contains two short featurettes, entitled Behind the Scenes (featuring cast interviews) and The Story Of (featuring writer and director interviews).
- The scene where Eddie Windass collects Roy and Hayley was filmed at the Reebok plaza of shops in Horwich, outside the Horwich branch of Harvey's the furniture store.
References
- ↑ Digital Spy: Roy, Hayley, Becky for Romanian Corrie DVD
- ↑ Behind the Scenes - DVD Special Features
- ↑ Digital Spy: Kat kelly 'forced to wear Becky's outfits'