John Thomson plays
Terry Corlette
Ripley Holden has a great line in killer put-downs and quite often
it is his much maligned old friend Terry Corlette who is on the receiving
end of his one-liners.
Terry owns a run-down bed and breakfast in Blackpool and is also an
investor in Ripley's grand scheme to build a luxury casino and hotel
complex in the town.
The pair might be business partners but that doesn't stop Terry being
the butt of Ripley's jokes.
"Terry is Ripley's fall guy," says John Thomson who plays him. "They
might be old friends but Ripley is just constantly taking the piss out
of him. He's the Syd Little to Ripley's Eddie Large, so he is always
at the brunt of his gags."
Their business relationship is rather one-sided too.
"The whole casino plan is a huge pipe dream," says Thomson. "Terry
is actually quite shrewd with money and is constantly asking where the
cash is going which Ripley doesn't like.
"The trouble is both Terry and their friend Jim Allbright are a bit
in awe of Ripley. They've got a lot of admiration despite the fact that
he's ripping them both off."
But later in the series Ripley finally pushes his luck with Terry
just too far, with disastrous consequences.
"At one point Ripley slaps him and that changes their relationship,"
says Thomson.
Despite being shrewd with money, Terry's business plans aren't always
the most thought out.
"As he's also an investor within Ripley's supposed new Vegas-style
place Terry has decided to take on board the idea of converting his
bed and breakfast into a boutique hotel.
"The two guys who owned the bed and breakfast were delighted that we
had used their exterior in Blackpool - then it'll cut to what we've
created as Terry's interior and then they'll probably go, 'Oh my God!'"
Like most of the Blackpool cast, Thomson had his own musical numbers
to perform.
"My hardest day filming was singing Alison Moyet's track Invisible
while I watched a stunt double of me being beaten up," he says.
"I also had to do a solo dancing piece while Terry is getting ready
to go out. I got a full Saturday Night Fever routine to Can You Feel
The Force by The Real Thing in Terry's bathroom!"
Thomson put his all into it and just accepted that some of the filming
was like drama school exercises.
"Sarah, David and I said that there are elements of this show where
you have to be a tree - and forget any kind of shame!" he says.
"It was like music and movement at school in your pants and vest! You
have to just get on with it and say to yourself if you don't put in
101 per cent it's going to show - and everyone else was in the same
boat."
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