The Ghost of Ivy Tilsley

The Ghost Of Ivy Tilsley was a Channel 4 documentary broadcast at 8.00pm on 5 October 1996. It told the story of singer and Coronation Street actress Lynne Perrie, who spoke about how she had lost her sense of self in her search for fame. Known to the soap's fans as 'Poison Ivy', she had left the series in a blaze of publicity two years earlier – after a 23-year stint as a cast member – and was filmed packing up to return to Yorkshire and the husband who stood by her through all her scandals.

The programme saw Lynne speaking openly about her life and career. She was filmed looking through scrapbooks and watching clips of herself as Ivy Tilsley and her film appearances as Mrs. Casper in Kes and a face in the crowd in Yanks. Reduced to a guest spot calling numbers in a bingo hall, Perrie told everyone she was happy out of the Street and had finally realised fame was not important. Throughout the documentary, there were short clips of her performing 'I Miss The Hungry Years' in her friend, drag artist Frank Lammar's cabaret club. She was also shown visiting her son at his home and bringing him a meal, as well as betting on a horse at the races with her husband.