Kay Mellor (1951 – 2022)

“I think that even when I write dark stuff it’s got a hidden warmth to it and maybe that is the Yorkshireness.  That northern side of people.”

~ Kay Mellor

Talented scriptwriter Kay Mellor passed away last Sunday, at the age of 71.  As well as keeping us entertained, she is credited with having changed people’s lives.

Birth Chart

Kay’s Sun was in Taurus, conjunct Mars, giving her the Warrior Archetype.  Actress Samantha Morton has described her as a “fighter, a warrior woman”.  Her ruling planet Venus was in the sign of Cancer, together with Uranus and the Moon (in its own sign), so women’s issues were important to her, as well as her own experience of motherhood (she had two daughters, one of which is an actress).  Of Kay’s first big writing success for television, Band of Gold in 1995, Morton said: “You really didn’t get writing like that for women on television at the time. It was a whole series that was written by a woman and starring women, with female directors and producers.” Kay also had the Writer Archetype, in the shape of Mercury closely sextile Venus, and was most prolific in that activity.  She had Venus conjunct Uranus, which she used in her writing to create unusual and surprising twists and turns of plot between the characters.  Though there is humour in a lot of her writing, she had experienced the nitty gritty side of life, coming from domestic violence in her home background (shown in her chart by Mars square Pluto).  Her mother threw out her father and subsequently raised her children as a single parent.  Kay had what I call the “Chancer’s” aspect, a square between Jupiter and Uranus, but this is what gave a light hearted twist to her writing.

Life and Career

Kay was brought up on a council estate in Leeds, and that background very much informed her writing: “I am Leeds born and bred, and the city, both architecturally and socially, feeds my creativity.”  She did her bit for levelling up, at least for drama in television, and stated that she never forgot “what it’s like not to have enough money to get to the end of the week.  I’ve experienced that first hand, so it’s easy for me to write that.”  She had her daughters at a young age, and remained happily married to their father, Anthony Mellor. 

She started out as an actress, in Coronation Street, then began to write scripts for the soap in 1986, later writing for Brookside too.  In 1995 she created the series Band of Gold, about sex workers in Bradford, which proved to be a huge hit, and made her name.  In casting the main role, she took a chance on the very young actress Samantha Morton, one of those people who credit her with changing their lives.  She subsequently cast Samantha Morton in her adaptation of Jane Eyre in 1997, in which she also acted.  There are strong connections between their charts: their Suns are conjunct, Samantha Sun conjunct Kay’s Mars, and Samantha’s Neptune squared Kay’s Nodal Axis (symbolic of a “karmic rescue” by Kay).

Fat Friends

In 2000, Kay created a series called “Fat Friends”.  She says of that work “It was such a lovely time of my life, it was a drama that was really important to me because I thought I had something to say about weight and body image.”  In doing so, Kay changed more lives.  Indeed, she brought together a group of people who may in fact be a Soul Group, going on to star together in other series, such as Gavin and Stacey and The Syndicate (including her own daughter Gaynor Faye).  The cast of Fat Friends, a series about a weight loss group, included Alison Steadman, Gaynor Faye, Ruth Jones, James Corden,  and Sheridan Smith.

James Corden and Ruth Jones in particular credit her with having changed their lives.  Kay picked James Corden because she had seen him in a Tango advert.  James Corden has the same fated interaspect with Kay as Samantha Morton had (their Neptunes squaring Kay’s Nodal Axis, plucking them out of obscurity).  James Corden’s eulogy included the words ” [Mellor] was the most generous, kind and loving person. An exceptionally gifted writer. She changed my life when she cast me in Fat Friends on ITV. She saw something in me that no one had before that point. She gave so many people their first chances.”

The other actor of note whose life was also reportedly changed was Ruth Jones.  Bringing her together with James Corden of course gave rise to their own creative success, Gavin and Stacey.  Ruth Jones’ Sun is exactly conjunct James Corden’s North Node, indicating a karmic tie.  Ruth also gave huge praise to Kay: “She was a great mentor to me when I first started writing – and always hugely encouraging of new writers – a real testament to the idea of paying it forward.  Her series Fat Friends was a massive turning point in my career and I will be eternally grateful to her for what she did for me.”  The cast of Gavin and Stacey included Alison Steadman, Ruth Jones, James Corden and Sheridan Smith.

The Syndicate

In 2012, Kay Mellor introduced a new series, which she co-directed, the fourth of which only aired last year.  In each series (the first of which was set in a Leeds supermarket), we followed a group of people bound together with a lottery syndicate win.  She gave her motivation for writing it as the feature of the times we are living in, where people feel the only way out of their financial difficulties is a lottery win.  Kay demonstrated her trademark humour, observation of the nitty gritty element of life, and mastery of the unexpected plot twist.  In the casting of these series, we see again some of the same actors, including Kay’s daughter Gaynor and Alison Steadman.  Emmerdale actress Gaynor herself has the Warrior Archetype (North Node exactly conjunct Mars), and mother and daughter have healing Chiron trines in their synastry.

Kay Mellor received an O.B.E. in 2010, and will be a great loss to the entertainment world.

“I was saddened to hear that Kay Mellor has died. I was lucky to work with her on the Syndicate and found her to be incredibly creative, funny and instinctive.  She knew what she wanted and knew how to get the best from us as actors.” 

~ Lenny Henry

“I adored her. She taught me so much. And she was hilarious… I think of her always when I’m writing.”

~ Russell T. Davies

Aspects

On this day of all the 22s (22/5/22), we have at 22.15 Hrs this evening, a sextile between Mars and Pluto.  Numerologists, please enlighten us!  I do believe 22 is a number of Mastery, and Mars sextile Pluto is also an aspect of Mastery, whatever it means for you.  This sextile will give you extra physical and emotional energy, so you may find yourself spontaneously clearing clutter just before bedtime.  It may also take a while to settle to sleep, so some people might want to do some extra exercise before retiring.  It could be very constructive too, with vigorous discussion and perhaps some decisiveness.

In the early hours of tomorrow morning (Monday 23rd) Mercury re-enters Taurus, retrograding from Gemini.  Some may be aware of a special connection of our Earth with the Pleiades at that time.  As the Sun and Mercury are cuspal, the Sun just having switched from Taurus to Gemini, there may be scope to combine the practicality of Taurus with the mental energy of Gemini.  However, Mercury has some of its own agenda to attend to, focussing mental faculties in going back to resolve some practical issues, temporarily.  The quality of the mental energy may become steadier and calmer.

Late morning on the same day, we have our second sextile of the week, in the shape of the Sun sextile Jupiter, which is one of the brightest aspects of the year.  Time to embrace hope, or even celebration.  It will certainly be lucky for some.  Focus on what makes you happy, and make more of that.

Tuesday (24th) brings two more sextiles, the first between Mercury and Mars.  Physical and mental energies can co-ordinate.  If you are cycling a great deal to keep fit, you may find the wind behind your sails.  You may be able to cycle just that bit faster or longer, and your fitbit may register record stats.  You may also find shortcuts to your usual way of doing things.

The second sextile on that day is that of Venus with Saturn, late morning.  It’s a constructive sextile, a re-affirmation of where you are going, especially in terms of relationship, or art.  In the realm of human relations, it is about steadiness and loyalty: cementing commitment.

In the last hour of the day in the U.K.,  Mars enters Aries, so, we have an influx of energy.  As with Sunday evening, Mars is no respecter of sleep time, and the same advice may be repeated,  to do some gentle exercise before retiring (as you would, if you were trying to tire a toddler before bedtime).  Mars ingressing its own sign, gives rise to a purer quality of physical energy, especially for those born under Aries.

On Wednesday (25th) Mercury trines Pluto which is mentally harmonious if not challenging us to dig deeper.  If you have been treading water (please excuse the mixing of metaphors), you’ll meet your rescue vessel, so to speak.  That aspect is conducive to deep thought and psychological reflection, and earnest conversations.  It is good for in-depth consultations and negotiations, and researching past lives.

Early on Friday morning (27th) Venus squares Pluto, and it is time to contemplate, and reflect, rather than to dig even deeper, as it is time to digest recent experiences in a loving and healing way.  That may even include a damage limitation exercise.  You may for example have woken up after a revealing nightmare, which  you need to work through.  Venus rules relationships and Pluto represents the force of transformation or deep soul searching, and both planets rule money, so all these factors may be on your mind and vying for attention, in some cases conflicting.  

Lastly, we have the ingress of Venus into Taurus on Saturday (28th), another case of a planet entering its own sign.  This gives a feeling of “all’s right with the world”, apart from obvious background concerns such as climate change and the invasion of Ukraine.  Within yourself, and in your relationship with nature, you are capable of feeling much more settled and harmonious.  This placement of Venus in her home sign continues right through to the 23rd June.  Those born under the Venusian signs of Taurus and Libra will especially feel its benefit.

With Neptune, Venus and Mars in their signs, and Saturn in a sign it co-rules (Aquarius) there may be a sense, at the end of the week, of a naturalness in some areas of your life.  Even if you feel there is room for improvement, some things feel they are meant to be as they are.

The week in bullet points:

  • Today – mastery and energy
  • Tomorrow – applied mental energy; hope and celebration
  • Tuesday – physical and mental energies co-ordinate; constructive and committed in relationship; late influx of energy
  • Wednesday – digging deeply and profound conversation
  • Friday – processing feelings and relationships; in some cases, licking wounds
  • Saturday – some measure of harmony
Date: May 22nd, 2022 · Comments RSS · Tags: Obituary