I know Marcia's taken a terrible slagging about wigs, teeth, dress sense, you name it, but I have to admit I'm quite gripped by the Mark/Audrey storyline at the moment. I'd go so far as to say I think it's turning into a Coronation Street classic! It's definitely one I'm not going to forget in a hurry.
Audrey's long been one of my all-time favourite Coronation Street characters, and I think it's good that at 70 years old they have given her a potentially interesting romantic storyline instead of a dull pipe and slippers equivalent. When Marcia first reared her head I have to say I groaned and switched the telly off, thinking this was yet another trashy, ridiculous, headline-grabbing attempt by the producers. Which indeed it clearly is. I really thought that a Corrie stalwart like Sue Nicholls deserved better. And the terrible wig and awful clothes really didn't help - Mark is comfortably off, and supposedly a man of taste - it doesn't make sense that Marcia looks quite so much like she's stepped out of a charity shop fancy dress night.
But I've come round to her a bit. I really liked the way Audrey stood up to Kylie's vicious bullying the other night, and I thought it was great when Marcia appeared in the Rovers for her I am what I am moment. Like it or lump it as my cross-dressing gran used to say.
Interested to see what the next few episodes will bring. Hopefully a better wig...
15 comments:
I think the story was good on the whole. I like that it involved Audrey, because it's great to see the senior members of cast get their own storylines. I like how it's been handled. I just didn't like the actor and i hated the wig and clothes. I don't know as there will be much more to the storyline though as I thought Friday's episodes were pretty much the end of it.
I don't get the Mark/Marcia hate at all. I think it's been a great storyline and Sue Nicholls has proved yet again what a terrific actress she is - the scenes between Audrey and Mark on Friday were beautifully played.
I'd like Mark to woo her back and for them to have a high camp Corrie wedding with two brides!!!
If he was a transexual then OK but how many transvestites actually go out in public places/bars dressed like that in real life. seems like corrie producer is ramming homophobia down our throats. they may have just pulled it off if only they'd have chosen a more convincing actor.
Oops is that it over then? I must have missed a bit! :-)
I liked the story, too. Audrey had 2 for 1, a handsome fella, and a new girlfriend, and she seemed to enjoy spending time with both of them. Agreed about the costuming, though; no way would anyone of means go out like that when clearly they could have afforded better. If they had chosen a slightly shorter actor and better wig, it could have been a more interesting story as Marcia actually passed for a woman and the relationships developed, instead of being an easy, obvious target quickly served up to nasty Kylie.
I think the actor needs to learn how to speak properly or get some better fitting teeth before he continues with anything!
However, a poor actor is a poor actor!
The problem with Marc is that we only ever saw him with Audrey. If they had written him a back story of how maybe his marriage had collapsed, he might have become a more sympathetic character.
What's really telling is that no professional or self-help group has thanked Corrie for bringing this into the public arena. When Peter Barlow's alcholic story developed, doctors etc were saying how useful it was. It seems people who might have an informed opinion about cross-dressing are keeping quiet and waiting for the whole thing to go away.
I thought the storyline, really showed off Sue Nicolls great acting skills, she played it with such sensitivity, unfortunately i can't say that of the Mark/Marcia charactor, who i felt 'held back' and didn't get into the roll at all, he was very un-convincing as a woman, he didn't even try to move in a feminine way, or speak in a feminine way, he just looked like a man in womens clothes.
I don't suppose Marc was supposed to be convincing as a woman. He wasn't trying to live life as a woman as a trans-gender person would. He just enjoyed wearing women's clothing and yes, of course people who like to do that go out and about if they feel they can find places to go where they feel comfortable as Marc did.
Sure, Audrey was fine with it and liked to go out with Marcia but still didn't want anyone she knew to find out. She obviously wasn't 100% comfortable with it and she most definitely was very kind and sensitive to Marc on Friday when she admitted that it was her problem and she wasn't able to cope. It was not a reflection on him personally.
At first I thought this was such a trashy headline grabbing storyline but gradually it grew on me. Sue Nicholls is a producers dream. They can literally throw anything at her and she pulls it off. It is completely realistic that she would fall for Marc. The woman has been trying to find love with disasterous consequences ever since Alfie died- Sergie, Fred, Bill, Lewis and now Marc. She entered the street over thirty years ago as a good time girl so was pretty open minded then and this latest storyline has been true to her character. Long may this fantastic actress and character reign!- Micky
When I first heard about this storyline, I thought it was a fabulous idea, but it has been a disaster.
Andrew Hall was a smarmy, unlikeable character with an inane grin in Butterflies. Casting him was shurely shome mishtake. Instead of feeling sympathy for the character, I wanted to throw a brick at his face.
As Julie Birchill pointed it out, the whole thing was preachy. No-one likes being lectured and that's what it often felt like. And the end was ridiculous. Audrey had to sack Kylie, to set up the "blackmail" and then Marcia's outing. It was a farce.
I like Audrey. But like many others, she has had a personality transplant to fit a story. For example, she condemed Claudia's intolerance and then followed in her footsteps. It is a testament to Sue Nichol's acting that people are not killing themselves laughing. She deserves better stories, better scripts and better actors to work with.
I think Tvor has struck on something here. The way this story was written, neither Audrey nor Marc really seemed to gel with the idea of his cross-dressing. Audrey was worried about what her friends would think and Marc was awkward with his horrible outfit. I really feel like that's what sunk the longevity of this storyline. I also honestly believe that any man who loves women's clothes enough to wear them [and wigs]out in public would have so much better fashion sense.
Im loving it. Great to see more of Kylie aswell, one of my favs right now. Cant wait till we see some more Claud.
Sorry Barriet, but what has homophobia got to do with a STRAIGHT MAN's desire to go out dressed as a woman? If you'd said that they were trying to ram "alternative lifestyles" down our throat you might have a valid point, but it's been stressed again and again that Mark is 100% straight, so it's nothing to do with homosexuality.
And I may be mistaken, but I'm sure I read somewhere that actually there are far more straight men who like to dress up as women that gay men.
The single worst idea in the history of the programme - the writers, unlike the days of giants such as Harry Kershaw, Jack Rosenthal, Adele Rose, Leslie Duxbury and John Stevenson, are utterly out of touch with the vast majority of their viewing public. People like Doris Speed and Violet Carson must be turning in their graves.
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