Actress and comedienne Janice Connolly appeared on Coronation Street in two minor roles: firstly Dolly Gartside, the overbearing mother of Newton & Ridley drayman Eric who briefly dated Shelley Unwin; and returning to the programme in the autumn of 2009 as Sheila Wheeler, a short-term assistant to Norris Cole in The Kabin. Founder member and artistic director of the Women and Theatre company in Birmingham, her other credits include roles in The Locksmith, Doctors, Dead Man Weds, Thin Ice, Lunch Monkeys and In with the Flynns.