As the nights draw in, the BBC One drama Life has been captivating fans with the interweving stories of neighbours living in the same building.
The Manchester-based series, which is being binge-watched on BBC iPlayer as well as watched in bite-sized chunks every Tuesday on BBC One, is a spin-off from the world of the channel's major hit series Doctor Foster starring Suranne Jones.
Life, which draws to a close on BBC on Tuesday night, is set within a subdivided mansion in our city and takes us inside four flats where the inhabitants go through surprising life-changing experiences.
Two of these inhabitants are mum-to-be Hannah Taylor, played by Melissa Johns and Saira Malik as Saira Choudhry, the student of a recently widowed English literature tutor called David, played by Adrian Lester.
Melissa and Saira will be familiar to soap fans because they both previously starred in Coronation Street.
Melissa played Imogen Pascoe in 2017, who dated Kate Connor played by Faye Brookes, and she is an ambassador for disability in the arts and advocates for better representation of disability on and off screen and stage.
Before Corrie Melissa starred in BBC dramas The Interceptor, Silk and Casualty.
In one of her online profiles she said: “I was lucky enough to be born with only one arm so I get to enjoy half price manicures and can afford to lose the ‘other glove’.”
She added: “I, like many disabled actors, are continuously fighting to change the way disability is seen in this industry.
“For me, having a disability has never been a disadvantage. Unless I’m trying to cut steak or tie up my hair.
"For me it’s about experiencing situations differently to people without disabilities and therefore having a different take on the world.
“It’s about showing that talented disabled performers can be raw, gritty, vulnerable, beautiful, sexy, real and it coming from a very personal and unique place.
"So its not a disadvantage.
"It’s an ability to see things from a completely different angle and take on characters in different way.”
Melissa is a friend of Corrie favourite Cherylee Houston, who plays Izzy Armstrong in the ITV1 soap, and they are co-founders of the pioneering drama project Triple C - The Creative Confidence Collective - launched so the next generation of budding actors don’t meet blocks to the arts.
Saira, from Middleton, played glamorous journalist Naila in Corrie, a reporter for The Weatherfield Gazette, and soap fans reckoned she looked like Michelle Keegan's twin sister.
She's had a recurring role as Naila since 2013 and in 2018 she was on the cobbles with a good news story, to tell young Summer that she had been nominated for a Good Samaritan Award for her Speak and Save Scheme.
Saira also starred in Channel Four cop show No Offence and Hollyoaks.
Saira is known as tough rookie cop PC Tegan Thompson in the hit Manchester police drama and in the Channel Four soap Hollyoaks she played Anita Roy from 2008 to 2011.
