Kay Patrick, who has died aged 84, directed more than 250 episodes of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She joined the show in 1994 and stayed with it for 21 years. “I was lucky to be there at such extraordinary times,” she recalled. Popular with the cast, she was an “actors’ director”, aware of their needs during the quick turnover and technical complexities of such a tightly scheduled programme.
In 2014 Patrick was chosen to direct the episode featuring the death of a popular character, Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh), who chose to take her own life rather than endure the excruciating pain of pancreatic cancer. Hesmondhalgh, who was bowing out after 16 years in the role, recalled “the almost holy atmosphere she created in the studio during those last scenes … She instinctively knew that it was a one-take moment, and so just blocked it and shot it with such understated love and sensitivity. It’s entirely down to Kay that those scenes were as raw and memorable as they were.” The episode drew more than 10 million viewers and was widely praised for its handling of a contentious issue.
