Coronation Street: Out of Africa explained

Coronation Street: Out of Africa
Director:Duncan Foster
Producer:Gavin Blyth
Starring:Wendi Peters
Jennie McAlpine
Sam Aston
Andrew Whyment
Katherine Kelly
Michelle Keegan
Brooke Vincent
Langley Kirkwood
Studio:ITV Productions
Distributor:ITV DVD
Runtime:107 minutes
Country:United Kingdom
South Africa
Language:English

Coronation Street: Out of Africa is a 2008 direct-to-video film featuring characters from the British soap opera Coronation Street, who visit the luxury resort of Sun City, South Africa. Cilla Battersby-Brown (Wendi Peters), the mother from hell, brings her son and other "son" over to Africa to win a $500,000 competition.[1]

Plot

The story begins soon after John Stape's kidnapping of Rosie Webster was revealed in the main show. In the soap, Fiz Brown receives bad news from her mother, Cilla, about her brother, Chesney, who had recently gone with her friend and ex-boyfriend Kirk Sutherland to South Africa to see Cilla.

Fiz arrives in South Africa to make sure that Chesney was safe. Fiz finds Chesney in a wheelchair but it soon becomes clear that Cilla had lied about Chesney's accident and that Chesney is not in fact injured.

She is both relieved and angry, when they inform her this was all a scam to win a competition to find South Africa's best family. Fiz reluctantly agrees to participate when Chesney tells her that, if they win, Cilla has agreed to return to Weatherfield and be his mum. As part of the scam, Fiz is forced to pretend to be a nun, Kirk poses as Cilla's mentally disabled son, and Cilla's boyfriend Lesedi pretends to be their stepfather.

Fiz winds up falling for an AWOL South African soldier, Alex, who is working as a hotel security guard. He asks her to stay in South Africa with him, as he could not apply for a passport for fear of being court-martialed. Fiz agrees to stay in South Africa providing that Cilla will return to Weatherfield to look after Chesney.

Unfortunately, Cilla has no intention of keeping her promise. When Chesney overhears her true plans, he ruins the prize ceremony by telling everyone of Cilla's lies. They are disqualified, and Cilla vanishes.

A heartbroken Fiz had no choice but to tell Alex goodbye. She attempts, not very successfully, to convince him as well as herself that it had only been a holiday romance anyway. After one final kiss with Alex, Fiz returned to her life on the Street. In the closing moments, Cilla is crowned "Worst Mum" on South African television.

Cast

Actor Character
Cilla Battersby-Brown
Fiz Brown
Chesney Battersby-Brown
Kirk Sutherland
Becky Granger
Tina McIntyre
Sophie Webster
Momelezi V. Ntshiba Lesedi "Les" Mushapamwe
Tim Plewman Alfie Vlok
Sibusiso Mamba Rick
Kate Normington Pamela Teal
Ed Teal
Lise Marie Richardson Ellie Teal
Theo Landey Alex
John Lata Eric

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Coronation Street: Out on a limb in Africa. The Guardian. Lucy. Mangan. 19 November 2008. 2 September 2021.