To have and to hold: the Coronation Street wedding
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The Wedding of Roy and Hayley
They said it would never happen, but British Soap’s odd couple tied the knot in April 1999! Well, as best they could, given the circumstances.
It was to a be a fairytale event, what the public had waited for ages to see; the marriage of cafe owner Roy Cropper to seamstress Hayley Patterson. But of course nothing in soap-land goes smoothly, and a price had to paid. For Hayley, it was her church, and a bit of her pride too.
Making plans
From the moment Roy proposed to Hayley, dressed as John Travolta at the 70’s disco (well it was never going to be conventional, was it??), the nation knew that the wedding was on. They even went to see their local vicar, who, although initially keen, changed his mind quickly after hearing of Hayley’s past. Hayley was happy enough to be engaged, and to wear Roy’s grandmother’s engagement ring. Roy, however, was more determined to give Hayley her day, and to make an honest woman of her. We all waited a month and then the wheels started into motion. Roy had a look at that den of vice “the Internet” via a local cybercafe (with Curly Watts’ help) to find a minster who would willingly marry the two lovebirds, and so found the Reverend Marvin Winstanley, who looked more like a country and western singer, with a Bolton accent, than a vicar! His “Temple” was odd too, and was licensed! That aside, he WAS an ordained minister, albeit from an American theology school of dubious validity. Not really their scene, and when Roy told Hayley of his find, she was less than pleased that he’d been looking around the Internet.
Emily Bishop, Patron Saint of Coronation Street, came to the rescue and told them of the new curate at her church, a Jessica Lundy, who might be supportive, and so the pair set off to see what she had to say. As with most of their previous encounters with the cloth, Jessica was taken aback, but to their surprise, did not refuse them. She decided to think, to pray and to take advice over this issue. Precious days ticked by, and finally Jessica called at the cafe to give Roy and Hayley the glad tidings that she would indeed be willing to marry them, despite the advice of her “betters”. The couple were over the moon.
With only three weeks to go, the plans swung into action and they set about making up the guest list, choosing best man (Martin Platt), bridesmaids (Sarah-Louise Platt and Toyah Battersby) and Matron of Honour (Alma Baldwin). Hayley also busied herself making her own dress and those of her bridesmaids! Les Battersby, stone-age man incarnate, was appalled and told his family to have nothing to do with it all, much to Janice and Toyah’s disgust.
The honeymoon was also discussed, and although Roy wanted to take Hayley abroad to Spain, she was unwilling to go through customs again and suffer the same humiliation as she did coming home from Amsterdam. She wasn’t concerned about her passport, which HAD been corrected, but she was worried in case any of the staff recognised her and gave her a hard time. After discussions involving museums, tearooms and scenic views, the venue of York was decided upon!!
Hayley was running out time! With only a day to go, she still hadn’t started the train for the dress, and was disappointed. However, at her hen night at the Battersby’s house, she was amazed and touched to find that the factory girls had made one for her; her dress was complete, and she had her new best friend, Janice, to thank for the gift.
Les, meanwhile, was phoning the papers to sell the story!
The big day
Hayley stayed at Alma’s house that night, and after getting her hair and make-up done by Audrey Roberts and Maxine Heavey, and still in her dressing gown and nightie, was soon greeted by her Auntie Monica and Great Uncle Bert who had travelled down from North Lancashire to be with her on her special day. Bert wasn’t at all sure why he was there at all, as he clearly didn’t understand why young Harold was dressed was he was and calling himself Hayley! In one of the most touching scenes, Hayley sat with her Great Uncle and explained how Harold had gone now, and that as Hayley she was happier than she’s ever been before. Bert seemed to start to see reason.
Les discovered that Toyah was determined to go to the wedding and locked her in her bedroom, but her friends came to the rescue by getting a ladder and letting her escape!
In no time, Hayley had gotten dressed and ready, the cars had arrived and the bride’s party was on its way to the church!
Back at the flat above Roy’s Rolls, Roy was battling with himself over whether he was the right man for Hayley, and if he would ever be good enough for her. Martin, his best man, was getting increasingly impatient. This crisis of confidence aside, Roy finished getting ready and set off for the church.
At Saint Paul’s, Weatherfield, trouble was brewing. Early guests saw the hasty arrival of two cars and some men with cameras, accompanied by Les Battersby. He’d brought the reporters, and wasted no time in turning the scene into a farce. Anxious that neither Hayley nor Jessica were exposed to the cruel eyes of the tabloids, Emily ran to stop Roy’s car before it arrived at the church doors and told him of the problem. Roy was angry, and hurt, but was more concerned about Hayley, who by now was on her way! Sure enough, round the corner, but out of sight of the reporters, came the bridal cars. Roy ran to catch them and told Hayley of the disaster. The wedding could not go ahead. Hayley was devastated.
All’s well …
The unhappy wedding party arrived back at Roy’s Rolls and Hayley was inconsolable. She attempted to be brave, but, realising the day she had dreamed of lay in ruins, ran upstairs in tears. Roy followed her and they had a heart to heart. In perhaps the best scene of the storyline, she told Roy how she wanted the same things as the other girls as a child and how she knew that people would always be against her, even her Great Uncle Bert, because of who and what she was. It seemed that she had given up hope. When Roy returned downstairs he was met by Jessica, who had returned to offer her sympathies. As the tea and sympathy was handed out, a cunning plan started to hatch in Roy’s head……
The other wedding guests were trickling back to the cafe when Alma went up to see Hayley. After some cajoling, she persuaded a bereft Hayley to come down to talk to her family. Hayley reluctantly agreed and made to go downstairs, whilst behind her, Alma snatched her bouquet!
As Hayley opened the door to the cafe downstairs, she was met by a sight that made her gasp. All the wedding guests had arrived at the cafe and were making an aisle down to the front of the cafe where Jessica and Roy stood. Roy asked her that if she still wanted to, would she marry him? Hayley was overwhelmed and agreed. As Alma handed Hayley her bouquet, Bert stepped forward and offered to give her away in a gesture of final acceptance and love. And so that afternoon, in the cafe, Hayley Patterson was married to Royston Cropper.
The reception went well and had some nice speeches, but when it was in full swing, Hayley asked Roy to come upstairs with her! Roy looked alarmed, unsure of what was in her mind, but agreed. Up in the flat, Roy stood with his eyes closed until Hayley told him he could open them. She was holding up a piece of paper, which Hayley told him to read; a Deed Poll. To his delight, she had gone and had her name officially changed to Hayley Cropper. Now, he realised that he really was the happiest man alive!
As the happy couple left the cafe for their honeymoon, Les Battersby came round the corner with some surprise. Janice saw him, grabbed a frying pan from Spider and went at him for trying to ruin Roy and Hayley’s day, to the cheers of the assembled guests!
The effect
Upon most of us, the effect was one of delight and joy. Even putting aside our own personal bias towards the couple, if we can, this was one of the best romantic tales in soap for many a moon. It also shows how a wedding CAN be done without the legal document, and STILL have meaning, because this one was researched and written with great care. Everything you saw is possible under current UK law. I worked closely with the storyliners to put as much of my feelings as I could into the final version, and an expert vicar was consulted about the wording of the actual ceremony.
The effect on the Government was interesting. Coincidentally, only one week (to the day) before the wedding day, the Government announced, by way of a written question from Lynne Jones M.P., the setting up of the Working Group to investigate how to overcome the legal problems faced by transsexual people on a daily basis. It is, of course, no coincidence that the Government chose this time. They clearly saw some public pressure soon to bear and decided to head it off.
Hayley and Roy made four magazine covers that week; TV Quick, Inside Soap, Woman’s Own and Woman, and also had big features in the TV Times and What’s On TV. The public support for this two had never been higher.
The promotion for the episodes was also quite fierce, with Julie Hesmondhalgh and David Neilson doing a number of TV appearances and radio and press interviews.
The future
Just like the rest of us, being transsexual doesn’t necessarily mean your life is remarkably unusual. Hayley has her work at the factory, and Roy has the cafe. Just two ordinary, rather plain people, living and working in a small town near Manchester, who love each other.
Obviously, as must be expected in a drama serial, from time to time her past will continue to make itself known. There are some on the Street who won’t let her forget it of course, such as Les Battersby and Mike Baldwin. Thankfully they are the minority, because, as the wedding proved, these two are well-loved by the locals, and by most of the country too! Good health and happiness to the Croppers!!
All photos © Granada Television 1999
