Queen of Soaps and former celeb super-agent Melanie Blake is back with a bang as she releases Vengeful Women, the jaw-dropping conclusion to her best-selling trilogy of Falcon Bay novels set behind the scenes in the world of soap.
Picking up the story 18 months after the last book, Vengeful Women sees the saga’s five leading ladies languishing in jail as they await trial for a manslaughter they didn’t commit. The stage is set for a truly gripping finale – jam-packed with twists, turns, glamour and showbiz scandals…
In real life, Melanie worked her way up the showbiz ladder to become the most famous soap star agent in the UK. She represented dozens of icons including Coronation Street‘s Beverley Callard, Emmerdale‘s Claire King and EastEnders‘ Gillian Taylforth, and is known for working with top soap bosses to pull off some headline-grabbing comeback plots.
Digital Spy recently caught up with Melanie for a chat about the new book, the secrets behind reviving iconic soap characters, her wildest near-misses, and the moment she decided to take the leap from talent agent to international author.
Melanie Blake
Hi Melanie! What can you tell us about the new novel Vengeful Women?
“Well, it’s had the best reviews of anything I’ve ever written. They’ve all been bestsellers, but if you’ve never read any of my books, go for this one. It’s got a brilliant storyline, killer characters – literally – and the mother all endings, that will leave you shook!
“It nearly killed me it’s so complex and dramatic, but seeing people’s reviews on socials about how much they love it and particularly the ending, makes all those hours trapped behind a laptop worth it!”
What was the inspiration?
“I was the first person to ever write, essentially, a soap opera in a book. This Falcon Bay trilogy is based on my 25 years of being in the devil’s playground during my time in showbiz. So it’s back to skullduggery, shagging, secrets and backstabbing – they say write about what you know, so I did!
“The first two books have now reached over a million global sales as they’ve been translated into nine languages, which is mind-blowing. So I knew for the grand finale, I had to pull out all the stops and from the early five-star reader reviews, it looks like I have, which is great. At the end of the day, it’s what the readers think that matters most to me.
“You can still read this book solo even if you haven’t read any of the others – it doesn’t matter. They are written in a way you can just pick up any of them as each is a fresh story and you get a cast of characters in the intro, so you immediately know who everyone is and their history. So if you love Vengeful Women, you can go backwards and binge-read the previous ones.”
Melanie Blake
In your career as a talent agent, you were known as ‘Queen of the Comeback’ after engineering soap returns for several leading ladies. Which were your favourites?
“Oh, this is like being asked which one of your children is your favourite, it’s impossible! But the one I worked hardest for was probably Claire King as Kim Tate in Emmerdale. She had been incredibly popular so when she wrapped Bad Girls in London, I thought it would be easy to get her back in.
“But it took me nearly 10 years! They kept saying they wanted her, and we’d get really close, but the writers were worried it would tarnish the legacy of the show, because she was one of the only soap baddies not to pay for any of her crimes. They couldn’t work out how she could come back on the show AND pay the price for what she had done.
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“Eventually, I gave up trying and secured her a role in Coronation Street as Erica Holroyd, a new friend of Beverley Callard’s character Liz. She was very good – but so much so that all of a sudden, Emmerdale wanted her back!
“It took another three years, but the Emmerdale writers came up with an amazing storyline, her return was explosive and she’s been at the forefront of the show ever since. Now if I watch an old episode of Corrie I think: ‘What the hell is Kim Tate doing in the Rovers Return?'”
Are there any others that stand out?
“Another one of my favourite moments was returning Beverley Callard to Coronation Street as Liz McDonald. Beverley had left to star in the stage show Little Voice, and with the pub vacated, the producers brought in Michelle Collins as the new Rovers Return landlady Stella Price.
“Michelle is a brilliant actress and an EastEnders legend, but that actually worked against her as although she had some great storylines, the audience never fully accepted her. I think she was just too famous as Cindy Beale, who is iconic, to be in an alternative soap.
“About two and a half years into Michelle running the pub, Beverley finished her run in Little Voice and a new producer took over at Corrie. He happened to be the person who had created Megan Macey in Emmerdale for one of our clients Gaynor Faye, so we had a brilliant relationship.
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“I asked Beverley if she’d be up for wearing Liz’s high heels again and she said she was – so I picked up the phone to the producer and said: ‘How do you fancy Beverley being back?’ His reply was: ‘When can she start?’
“Just months later, Beverley was back in charge of The Rovers and not long afterwards, Michelle left. As we all know, she has since reprised her legendary portrayal of Cindy Beale. Just like with Claire King, these ladies are proof that sometimes you can be too good an actress in a character the audience can’t ever forget.
“But they are both back where they belong, alongside EastEnders’ Gillian Taylforth, who I had risen from the dead to return as Kathy Beale – and what a return!
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“I’ll also always be proud of returning Danniella Westbrook back to EastEnders in 2009 after her role had been recast. Now that is a major feat given everything that had happened in the past, but I chanced my arm. I emailed the then producer and said: ‘I’ve just seen Danniella Westbrook, she’s ten years clean and she’s ready to go – nobody plays Sam Mitchell like she does’.
“Within about six weeks, she was back on screen and it was massive. Sadly things didn’t work out, as she encountered some difficulties in her personal life, but her work on the show during that stint was some of her best.
“I absolutely love Danniella and I was so proud to have played a part in it. Kim Medcalf has since made the character her own, so the soap circle of life continues!”
Were there any comebacks that didn’t come off, but you wish they had?
“Definitely Carol Harrison as Louise Raymond – Tiffany’s mum in EastEnders. In 2022, EastEnders got a new executive producer and he was the man of the moment, as EastEnders was on its knees when he took it over and his revival of it was nothing short of spectacular.
“I messaged him via a Twitter DM to pitch my idea. The next thing we know, we are holed up way off-site, in a hotel restaurant, just me and him and Carol discussing her character and throwing around possible storylines.
“You never have an off-site meeting unless it’s serious, and I knew he was a massive fan of her work on the show 20 years earlier, which won EastEnders their first Bafta.”
Melanie Blake
What was the storyline idea?
“That Louise had left the Square pregnant secretly after one last fling with Grant Mitchell. Her daughter – a missing Mitchell – would turn up working in The Vic, and no-one would know she was a Mitchell until the reveal.
“There’s an incredible backstory and to give it maximum impact, they’d need Grant and Bianca – Tiffany’s husband and Tiffany’s best friend – to come back too.
“It ticked every EastEnders box: legacy, shock, family, drama. We left the meeting really excited – but it never happened.”
What about Roxy Mitchell? You’ve represented Rita Simons in the past and fans are still obsessed with the possibility of a return. Do you think it could ever be done?
“Soaps can resurrect anyone if the storyline’s good enough! This was during Chris Clenshaw’s reign, who despite being the busiest man in soap always gave me time to pitch to him. So I did loads of research and checked every frame of the death scene, and she was underwater for six minutes.
“You know, there’s an episode a few years back where Roxy said she could hold her breath really well at school. Plus she was on cocaine, which is known to change your heartbeat. We barely saw her body – all the focus was on Ronnie, who we saw die.
“I suggested: ‘What if it was a prank gone wrong? Roxy came up for air thinking she’s given her sister a big scare, only to realise she was responsible for her sister’s death?’
“Roxy could have fled the Square plagued with guilt, with the help of her mum and brother – who were in the hotel and could easily have got her out – and Billy who ran the funeral parlour and could have been involved in the cover-up too. But now the pull of her daughter Amy having such a difficult time makes her break her cover and face the music.
“Do you know what, it’s such a good idea that I’d put money on it happening. So if Roxy Mitchell ever walks into The Vic one day, I’ll be tweeting: ‘Told you so!'”
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What’s the secret to getting a soap legend back on screen?
“There’s no single secret hack. It’s a combination of timing, persistence, and knowing exactly who you are persuading so you can tailor your approach. Comebacks don’t happen because someone sends a nice email. I learned early on that producers hate being told what to do, but if you can make them think a good idea is theirs, you’re golden.
“We all know that a great comeback has the kind of emotional pull that just makes you gasp: ‘Oh my God, of course!’ So the trick is to gently feed a producer something like that, which they can’t stop thinking about. You drop the seed, water it, and basically step back before anyone notices the watering can.
“Also, producers have literally hundreds of people shouting at them every day. Writers, actors, network bosses, press, fans… so you learn to time your pitch. Friday afternoon is useless. But I did once message a producer on a Sunday night with a story idea, and he phoned me back straight away, which is unheard of during office hours let alone a weekend!”
You’ve been outspoken about fighting ageism in the industry. Did that play into your comeback work?
“A hundred percent. I made my name bringing back women in their forties, fifties, sixties who’d been written off. I hate that ‘past her prime’ rubbish. I’d sit in meetings and say: ‘The audience doesn’t want another twenty-something influencer, they want to see someone who looks like them, just a bit more glam. Someone who has lived a little. They want her back’.
“Usually, I was right, and it’s been the same in my books. My main characters are all over 50 and it’s something my readers often send me letters about.”
Melanie Blake
You’ve left agenting behind now. Do you miss the buzz?
“Only the buzz of returning an iconic actress to the screen and the audience loving it and knowing you played a part in making that happen. That I’ll always miss.
“I still hope EastEnders bring Carol Harrison back, as she’s a brilliant actress and it’s a plausible story. I guess that feels like my only unfinished business.
“But no, I’m definitely finished with agenting. Writing gives me the same adrenaline rush, and you get similar peaks, like hitting the Kindle number one two days after my publication date, meaning the entire trilogy are all Sunday Times and Kindle bestsellers. That kind of buzz is hard to beat.
“And to be honest, whenever I miss the entertainment industry – and remember I didn’t just rep soap stars, I had pop stars and TV presenters too – I just pour it all into my books!
“Vengeful Women is basically my own fictional soap: glamorous, outrageous, full of secrets. Every twist I write comes from something I once saw behind the scenes. I just change the names to protect the guilty.”
Is there any chance you’d go back into the soap world?
“It was a huge decision to close the agency, especially because we had such a massive roster on screen that any agency would kill for – still at least 10 or 11 leading actors everywhere from EastEnders to Emmerdale, Coronation Street to Hollyoaks.
“I was already struggling to juggle managing a packed agency with everything else, because the success of the books was totally unexpected. But because I was so committed to the actresses, I probably would have always carried on because my loyalty was always there.
“But Covid has pretty much destroyed TV habits now as everything is on demand, and the networks have no money to pay big reality show fees, and print media is almost dead. I could feel that the industry was changing under my feet, so that was the push I needed to take the leap to focus solely on my career as an author.
“I have zero regrets: I came, I saw, I conquered and I left on top – that’s the way to go. So, yes, after 25 years, my agent’s hat is officially hung up.
“And thank God the books have become successful. I think it’s because readers know that what’s in them is all true and based on real life and on real actresses – yes, even the bitches!”
Vengeful Women is out now via Amazon. Fans who order a hardback before December 30 will receive a rare limited edition copy, signed by the author.
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