It’s a sunny day in May and we are in St. Martin’s church hall, Ashton-on-Mersey after a funeral. But this is no wake.

It is the Coronation Street crew taking a break from filming Tina McIntyre’s final farewell and enjoying a well-earned coffee.

Most of them are backstage staff although I spotted Alison King (Carla Connor ) wearing enormous sun glasses.

We now know that Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis) murdered Tina but at that time I thought Carla had done it.

Lorraine Hodgson, 43, comes in. She’s a new cast member playing Tina’s mother, Ann.

She said: “I felt so excited when my agent told me I’d got the part. The audition had been hard work.

“I am horrified when I hear the news of my daughter’s death. “ In disbelief, I display a range of emotions especially as Tina was my only child.”

Lorraine’s Ann had cried in church that day.

“Tomorrow they bury the body in the churchyard so there’ll be more tears,” she said.

Amazingly Lorraine, who lives near London, has been to Sale before, doing role play for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

“It’s beautiful here in Ashton, it’s so villagy and the church is quaint,” she said.

“I like the horses across the road, I’ve said ‘hello’ to them.”

Booked for four episodes, the first of which was shown on Wednesday, June 11, she’s hoping there might be more.

“The cast have been wonderful, they have made me feel so welcome.”

* The funeral was shown on ITV on Monday, June 23.