FINAL CURTAIN I’m glad Jim McDonald is dead – Corrie bosses RUINED him, says Charlie Lawson as he opens up about character’s exit
CORONATION Street star Charlie Lawson says he is relieved that his character Jim McDonald is finally being killed off – because soap bosses ”ruined” the TV favourite.
The actor reckons it is time to put Weatherfield’s boozing, brawling jailbird to rest after his most recent stint on the soap left him despairing over the “weak storyline”.
But there will be no dramatic exit scenes and Charlie, 66, describes it as a “tragedy” for the once-great character.
After we revealed Jim’s son Steve, played by Simon Gregson, gets a call to tell him of his dad’s passing, Charlie says: “That is it. It’s a tragedy he didn’t go in a shooting or something dramatic, powerful and great.
“But that wasn’t possible because they’d effectively chopped his balls off.”
Jim — who was a permanent face on the cobbles from 1989 to 2000 — later returned many times over the years.
He was last seen in Weatherfield in 2018, battling muscle condition myotonic dystrophy.
Scheming Jim — famed for his catchphrase “So it is” — tried to convince ex-wife Liz, played by Beverley Callard, that the daughter they lost as a baby was alive and had been swapped at birth.
However, it soon emerged that the woman he was with, Hannah, was his secret lover.
And the whole plot was designed to rinse Liz and Steve of their money.
Charlie says with a laugh: “The storyline was weak. So many people contacted me to say they hated it.
“I agreed to it before I even saw the script. The work was lucrative — you can’t really turn it down.”
And he added of Jim’s imminent departure: “Now he can’t be ruined any more. He’s out of his misery.
‘I was scared’
“I know I will watch that last scene and be able to say, ‘Well, what a load of s**te that was’.
“I will raise a glass to the old Jim, the one I loved and was proud of, who spoke his mind, with cracking, strong storylines in the Nineties.”
Charlie learned of his character’s death in September and says he is pleased soap bosses had the “courtesy” to tell him directly.
The actor, who lives in Cheshire with wife Debbie, sees this as a new positive chapter, where casting directors will remember he has done everything from the National Theatre to Shakespeare.
Since his last stint on Corrie, he has written an autobiography, That’s Life, So It Is, and also turned to coaching after being approached by aspiring actress Hattie James-Norbury in his local pub.
He says: “She said, ‘My dream is to be an actress, will you help me?’. She was quite a high-powered executive and 31. It was a brave move.
“I read with her, did tapes, gave her notes, directed and coached her. She’s a natural.
“She got signed up by a major London agent and was in Hollyoaks for its 30th anniversary special in an on-screen crossover with Brookside. If I helped in any way, I’m very proud. I’d love to help more people like her.”