IF you’re planning to see Corrie!, it would be to your advantage if you knew something about the soap opera which inspired it.

If you don’t, this affectionate and gloriously tongue-in-cheek play will mean nothing to you.

All your favourite Coronation Street characters are here, brilliantly brought to life by a multi-talented cast who have the time of their lives on the Palace Theatre stage.

From the bad boys like Alan Bradley to the battleaxes like Ena Sharples, all of Weatherfield life is here. The piece, written by Jonathan Harvey, also takes a sideways look at some of the storylines that have made Britain’s longest running soap a TV institution.

None of the cast are dead ringers for the characters they portray but they give you a flavour of them.

Jo Mousley is particularly good as the unlucky in love Deirdre and a suitably shrill Hilda Ogden and Simon Chadwick is hilarious as an earnest Ken Barlow.

Running her a close second in the relationship disasters stakes is Leanne Best as Gail and the infamous car in the canal scene with Richard Hillman, also played by Chadwick, is particularly well done.

Sherrie Hewson, formerly the Street’s Maureen Holdsworth, narrates this evening of fun and nostalgia.

I haven’t watched Corrie on a regular basis for 20 years, but I really enjoyed this.

* Until April 9. The box office is on 0844 847 2295.