Captain Moonlight: A Street cad named desire

THESE are times which provide few causes for general celebration. Death follows disaster follows scandals venal and louche. The mood is grumpy, consolation rare. And then we hear Reg Holdsworth might be leaving Coronation Street. Not good, not good at all.

For Reg is to be cherished, because Reg is the kind of character popular drama, soap opera and fiction throws up only rarely: a memorable one. Reg is sly, selfish, preening, petty, over-sexed, overweight, self-deluded and strangely loveable, an Arthur Lowe, Leonard Swindley and Captain Mainwaring for the less subtle Nineties.

Who could fail to warm to Reg, cravatted up, ready for dalliance with one of his 'fancy women'? Who could honestly blame him for fixing it for his grande amour, Rita Fairclough, newsagent and former exotic dancer, to win a trolley-full of goods in the competition at his Bettabuys supermarket?

It would have taken a heart of stone to laugh when Derek Wilton, Mavis's husband, drilled through and punctured Reg's waterbed in the middle of a tryst with his long-suffering wife-to-be, Maureen. What poignancy, too, there was in Reg's stag night, when nobody came. How satisfying to watch a grocer's son remaining true to his calling, progressing - with the aid of a motivated philosophy, native cunning and his faithful Panza, Curly Watts - from manager of the local Bettabuys to area manager to his present place behind the counter of the corner shop, beneath it his bootleg lager, beside him Maureen, his former shelf-stacker and a woman thrilled to a quiver by his merest touch.

No wonder 20 million watched them marry. No wonder that in less than five years Reg has become the Street's most popular character. But, perhaps, not for much longer. All great soap opera characters are, unfortunately, at the whim and mercy of the actors presenting and interpreting them. And it can do strange things to you, acting in a soap opera, twice, three times a week.

Jack Howarth, who played Albert Tatlock, carried a tape of his appearance on This Is Your Life around with him. Neville Buswell, who played Ray Langton, was last heard of as a croupier in Las Vegas. Margot Bryant, who played sweet little old Minnie Caldwell, swore like an alternative comic. 'They're all odd,' says one of Coronation Street's famous and often-quoted 'insiders'. Now Ken Morley, son of Chorley, Elvis Presley fan, Cadillac owner, university graduate, former teacher and employee of the Salford Skin, Fat and Bone Co, is talking of leaving.

Morley came into the show in 1989. His best-known part previously had been General Von Flucken Stuffen in 'Allo 'Allo. He didn't give up teaching English and maths at a South London comprehensive until 1991. Last year he was voted soap opera actor of all time by the readers of TV Times. Now his contract is up for renewal. There was an exclusive story in the News of the World about other job offers, big money in prospect (he is said to earn pounds 100,000 a year from Coronation Street), backbiting from the rest of the cast, unhappiness with Reg as presently written.

The insiders interpret this as a lust for money. Morley does far more personal appearances than the rest of the cast, commanding fees of pounds 2,000 a time to open supermarkets and such. Morley, they say, won't talk to the press and co-operate in their stunts without charging: 'He wouldn't cross the street for less than a grand.'

I rang him up. He said he couldn't talk about his dispute with Granada, but his agent and the Coronation Street producer were 'stripped to the waist deciding among themselves who is having what'. Had he been surprised at the scale of the reaction to his unease with Reg? An article in the Daily Mail by Roy Hattersley, a campaign - Save Our Reg - in the Daily Star?

'I'm not surprised really. He has become a very popular character.' What was the secret of Reg's appeal? Reg, he said, had 'sensuosity', 'good looks' and was a 'hi-falutin' prat' epitomising British middle management, familiar to nearly everyone. 'And he's very gamey with women. Most men have given up past the 40-year mark. He's just continued in a straight line, seducing everything with a pulse.' Reg - and all these politicians - had been a great encouragement to middle-aged men everywhere.

What did he think of acting? 'In essence, it's as Plato said, actors aren't real people. Human beings are imposters of the gods, and actors are imposters of human beings. They're a bit third-rate, like journalists.'

Was he greedy? Well, he was 51, and he would be lucky to have another 10 years, very lucky to have 15. 'There's nothing wrong with money. It's what you do with it. Everybody worth their salt is ambitious, so am I. I've enjoyed Holdsworth, he's done good things and he's intrigued people. He's also made people think about the inner person.' Reg as dread warning.

Morley said he took his work very seriously. 'When I'm on the job,' he said, perhaps a shade infelicitously, 'there's nobody better at doing what I do.' He compared his interpretation of Reg with the work of Chopin and Rachmaninov. But he didn't ask for any money.

(Photograph omitted)