Brian Packham has recently been left single on the cobbles after his partner left Weatherfield in a sudden exit. The Kabin owner in Coronation Street, played by Peter Gunn, wanted a new life for him and Cathy Matthew in Cornwall. But it was clear it wasn’t what his girlfriend wanted.
In a desperate attempt to be more romantic after Cathy’s complaints, Brian dropped to one knee in the newsagents and asked for her hand in marriage. But she ended up turning him down and headed to the Rovers where she told Jenny, Daisy and Evelyn about her partner Brian’s unromantic proposal after he once again tried to convince her that they should move away.
Cathy already wasn’t sold on the idea but has been left even more unconvinced after making a discovery. She revealed to the ladies that she had found letters that had been sent between Brian and his ex, Julie Carp. The character, played by Katy Cavanagh, was the long-lost sister of Eileen Grimshaw and appeared on the famous street from 2008 to 2015.
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And later, Cathy realised her romance with Brian had to come to an end. As she broke to the former teacher, she decided to have a fresh start, and confirmed to her loved ones and friends that she would be moving away to stay with a friend. As she packed her things and said her goodbyes to Yasmeen, Alex and Roy, she tearfully drove out of Weatherfield for good – not before a final goodbye with Brian. As she headed off in a taxi, he popped out The Kabin to stop her, handing her a bag of sweet for her journey – across Manchester.
So now this has left Brian single in Weatherfield with viewers left wondering whether he’ll stick around or carry on with his hopes of moving to Cornwall. In the meantime, we thought we’d look at the life of the actor who plays him. Peter joined the ITV soap back in 2010 when he romance with Julie began.
He became a more regular character in 2011 but when Brian’s relationship with Julie ended, Peter left the cobbles after three years. But that wasn’t the last we saw of him. Brian felt he and Julie still had a chance, and returned in 2015 in an attempt to win her back. They separated again the following year, and by 2016 Brian was working as an Environmental Health Officer for Weatherfield Council and we’ve seen him on-screen ever since.
(Image: ITV)
Prior to his role in the Salford-based soap, Peter had appeared in various other TV shows. He is probably best known, after Brian in Corrie, for the character Len Cosgrove in the BBC series Born and Bred. He’s also appeared in films such as Frost, Heartburn Hotel and Sunshine.
But younger fans may just recognise the East Lancashire actor for another role. Back in 2009, Peter had a role in the award-winning film, Hannah Montana: The Movie, working alongside popstar and actress Miley Cyrus. He played British journalist Oswald Granger in the film and spent three months filming in America.
It turned out that one of his mates, also from his hometown, Peter Chelsom was directing the film and thought the soap star would be perfect to play the part. “I spent one month filming in Tennessee and two months in LA filming the Hannah Montana movie and it was incredible,” Peter previously told the Lancashire Telegraph.
“It was amazing and to get the job I needed to submit a showreel or something similar. I didn’t have one at the time so my mum Barbara came to the rescue. She has got a cuttings book called Peter’s Progress. There’s everything in there from my first theatre performance to the movies I have done. So yes, that’s how I landed my Disney film role,” he added.
According to the Daily Star, Peter and his family flew out to America for eight weeks in Nashville and LA and it “blew their minds”. He also spoke of what a hard worker Miley Cyrus is and how disciplined she was, filming five days a week and then flying off to perform two stadium tours every weekend.
But things haven’t always been as easy on set. Back in 2018 Peter’s Corrie character faced a workplace bullying scenario while working as a devoted teached at Bessie Street Primary. He was manipulated by the school’s deputy head, Phil, and the storyline brought Peter straight back to an unpleasant experience he had in real-life as a young actor on one of his very first jobs.
A veteran actor abruptly put him in his place when he got all the laughs rather than the unnamed star of the show. Peter told the Mirror : “We used to film on a Thursday in a live studio in London. I was a policeman and I got a laugh and I thought, ‘brilliant’. But he got it wrong deliberately and as we had to set up to go again he said to me, ‘don’t ever do that again’.
“He didn’t like that I had got the laugh. We did it again and I didn’t get a laugh and we carried on. That was the first time I thought, ‘what was going on there?'”
Away from work, Peter, 59, who is believed to be living in Blackburn, has been married to wife Julie for more than 20 years and the couple share two grown-up sons, Tom and George. And fans may be surprised to know that Peter was a real-life governor at his sons’ school for ten years.
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