In our house, we're huge fans of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series of novels. At Christmas we treated ourselves to the first two series on DVD - Tales of the City and More Tales of the City - and we've just received from the USA the DVDs of Further Tales of the City which have yet to be watched.
Anyway, I've been noticing some similarities between the residents of Barbary Lane and Coronation Street.
What do you reckon?
Two different countries, two different locations, two fantastic dramas going on.
Created by two men, both passionate about their cities and background. Armistead Maupin in SanFran and Tony Warren in Salford.
With two fantastic leading ladies. Transsexual Mrs Madrigal in the US and home-grown Hayley Cropper striking a victory for transsexuals in the UK with, finally, a legal wedding to Roy.
Michael "Mouse" Tolliver was the leading man in the City and Todd Grimshaw was the first gay character that Corrie ever had. Both had characteristics of the writers who created them.
And no great drama would be complete without a strong lesbian relationship. Another first for Coronation Street.
The rather wonderful Dr Jon Fielding and equally caring sonographer Marcus Dent.
And both shows have been transformed from the page to the screen to the musical.
Fans of Tales of the City will note I've not included Mary Ann Singleton or Brian - simply because I couldn't for the life of me think who would represent them best on Coronation Street. Any ideas?
Leave a comment below and I'll add the best ones to the website.
Leave a comment below and I'll add the best ones to the website.
Take a look at the rest of our Weatherfield Style series:
Desperate Housewives
Downton Abbey
The Sopranos
Mad Men
The Flintstones
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3 comments:
Mary Ann Singleton. Claire, perhaps?
Yes, Claire was like Mary Ann.
Jason as Brian, resident stud!
Yes, but Claire was married, and didn't have any ambitions to make it in the big city. How about Violet? She escaped small-time Weatherfield for London, and was a good friend to Sean, like Mary Ann was to Mouse.
Not sure who'd be Brian. Could be Jason, but how about Tommy Duckworth? While Jason is the resident hunk, he's been willing to settle down a few times, whereas Tommy seems like the type who will be trawling the bars for many years (though Tommy as an ex-lawyer beggars belief).
I loved the TV series when it aired here in Canada on PBS, and I read the first 5 books too. The sparkle of the first TV show wore off quite a bit for me as Maupin's chronicle of the times really did reflect the reality of those days. It wasn't being filmed in SF any more, but in Canada, which didn't help. Still, lots to love!
Good review here http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/?p=10132
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