Stephanie Beacham makes her screen debut inCoronation Street next week as barge owner Martha Fraser, Ken Barlow's (William Roache) potential 24th love interest!

Here are a few quotes from Stephanie talking about her role and how she'll never set foot in the Rovers during her entire three to four-month stint.

How did you get the part?
"My agent contacted me about the role, it just came up and I was given the breakdown and really liked the character and the storyline so I came up to see the producer and met everybody and next minute they were asking me my sizes for Martha’s clothes and I was on the barge in the freezing cold – all very quick."

How do Martha and Ken meet?
"Martha meets Ken because Eccles makes a dive for a bird and plonks in the water and Martha fishes him out. She is quite lonely, it is a solitary life on that boat and he is an intelligent man who likes to make conversation and so does she. It is a relief for him to get away from his problems and lovely for her to have someone to talk to. They are having an intellectual friendship that may develop! She knows nothing about his track record, he just turned up on her boat. I believe Martha would be his 24th girlfriends in 48 years – that’s not bad, only one every two years, that’s moderate!"

Have people been asking you about filming?
"I won’t ever be in the Rovers, which is a shame. People can’t believe it when I tell them that I am inCoronation Street and I’m not going to get a scene in the Rovers. I’ll have to sneak in the back of a scene in disguise."

Have you met many of the other cast?
"I am fortunate that I have had my own set built but it is a quite a way from where the rest of the sets are – in another building entirely so I haven’t even had reason to go into studio. I bump into people when I am getting lost in the building where all the dressing rooms, costume and makeup are!"

Did you know anyone else fromCoronation Street before you joined?
"I have just worked with the delightful Amanda Barrie inBad Girls so she told me all about Corrie during the four years we worked together and 42 years ago I worked Maggie Jones, she is wonderful, she used to come out with great words of wisdom even then. I was also married to the lovely Michael Byrne (who plays Ted) inNo Bananas, he got blown up so I am still his widow!!Coronation Street is a bit like six degrees of separation, everyone knows someone who has worked on it."

Let me know your initial thoughts on Martha using the usual form below!