Cosy crimes and gritty sagas by Corrie Blog editor Glenda, published by Headline. Click pic below!

Thursday 11 April 2013

Whatever happened to Eileen Grimshaw?

It's the Corrie storyline that we all seem to have missed. Yes, those wily writers managed to sneak a secret plot into the show without any of us realising. At some point in the past year, Eileen Grimshaw was snatched from the cobbles and replaced with someone else.

You remember Eileen don't you? Sarcastic wit, razor-sharp one-liners, general shoulder to cry on?

The Weatherfield bodysnatchers presumably descended on the Street one dark evening and bundled our favourite taxi switch operator into the back of a van. In her place they left a cunning impostor. A woman who resembled Eileen, save for the hairstyle which they obviously could not master. New Eileen is a dreary, desolate ha'porth. She trudges between micro-kitchen and tiny sofa with a face like a bag of spanners.

New Eileen makes enemies of former friends and shacks up with a man who has all the vitality of a balloon on a stick. She fails to notice that her barmy sister spends all day, everyday swanning around in a full-length woollen cape.

New Eileen doesn't laugh or have fun. She hides in fire station cupboards and whines on about how scared she is that someone might pop her balloon on a stick at any moment. Well, we've had enough. It's time for sharp-shooting, fun-loving, wise-cracking Eileen to return and usurp this pretender to her throne (or PVC clad office chair). Real Eileen needs to make a glorious comeback, stopping off at Audrey's on her way for a new barnet.

Meanwhile, I've got the urge to burst a certain balloon. Anyone got a pin?


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19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where is the 'like' button!!

Humpty Dumpty said...

Great blog! Agree that the old Eileen has disappeared but I have to say she didn't have much range. There were a lot of sarcastic one-liners, so when the character/actor had to perform beyond that, we were in trouble. I don't want to see the feisty Eileen back instantly, but a mature woman with several layers to her personality. We had a glimpse of this when she took Jason's hand in silent support. Sue Cleaver is good at quiet emotion and I'd like more of that as she recovers gradually from her heart-break.

Anonymous said...

Great post David! Old Eileen was one of my favourite characters on the street. Loved her acerbic wit and one liners, and I for one would love to see her back. Also really liked her relationship with Steve, saw a little bit of that when she was confiding her fears to him the other night.

Kiwi Kim

Anonymous said...

I know what happened to the old Eileen...PAUL! I have never liked Paul. Him and Eileen have absolutely no chemistry whatsover. Since she hooked up with him she is no fun at all. He drags her down. I think the way he is carrying on (here in Canada) that Toni was more than just a mate. It breaks my heart that so many women on Corrie are so desperate for a man that they will put up with just about anything.

Chatty Kathy said...

I've been saying this for months now. I agree, it all started with Paul. Her lowest point, from which she has still not recovered, was that she was so desperate for a man that she took on the care of Paul's sick wife. Even Jason, who I love dearly, but who's not always the brightest light on the circuit, saw the folly and shame in this. Eileen took time off from her PAYING job to babysit a woman who clearly needed professional care.

Then to rub salt into her wounds, Paul gave her a hard time when Leslie died!

And from there it's gotten worse. He treated Jason badly after the fire, and brushed away all Eileen's attempts at comforting him. You would have thought HE was Toni's widower the way he went on.

Even Eileen's physical appearance has gone downhill. Her hair is always a mess, and she looks pale and washed out most of the time. Eileen was never a glamor queen, but she never looked this bad.

She used to be one of my very fave characters, but I hardly recognize her any more.

Fat Brenda really needs to take her in hand and shake her out of this.

Janice. said...

At least we can be thankful that Eileen was not replaced with a slutover:The very thought of Eileen's goodie bags spilling out from behind the switchboard is enough to put me off my cream cakes.

ChiaGwen said...

Fab blog David LOL! HaHa...vitality of a balloon on a stick! That dastardly fireman has been Eileen's downfall. Truly mismatched from the get go and down the slippery slope from there. Thankfully he's leaving though would have liked him to have been burnt to bits in the Rovers fire, so there is hope for Eileen yet.

Anonymous said...

Was never a fan of Eileen..unless she was rowing with Gail. She had a personality transplant along with most of the characters in this soap and now there doesn't seem much of a way back. Eileen was never a strong woman IMO..she always had to have a man somewhere lurking in the background. If she left the street I wouldn't mind one bit.

Chatty Kathy said...

I remember a few years back when Eileen broke up with Gerry (can't remember his last name, but he was a decent guy) because she didn't want to spend their date watching TV at home with his kids. How she has changed!

Anonymous said...

Eileen is one of my favorites. I liked when Steve bumped into Paul in the bar and told him that Eileen had never kept quiet before! Some of you are so down on Paul! Some of the other characters are no great-shakes either! Wish they'd get rid of the Stella-Eva-Gloria-Karl crew once and for all.

Anonymous said...

Lovely Baby Jane-esque photo; let us pray there is some fun in store for Eileen once Paul leaves.

Mavis Pendlebury said...

Humour and one-liners are hard to write.

Misery, sex and death are easy to write.

Just saying.

Lulu Guiness said...

Dont like Eileen a bitter moaning woman that has had her time on the Street. She should leave with her drip of a boyfriend Paul

Mad Hatter said...

Don't mind Paul, decent guy, with ambition, can actually work outside the street. Never taken much to Eileen, she was Ok in the early 2000s, but she is not a nice person. Head wobbling and being mean isn't funny in my book. Wish she would just leave as well, but won't because she will be considered a "strong woman" character, which equals to being loud and annoying.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure what the strong woman vs weak woman debate is about, only that Eileen is the character who has always led the vanguard when it came to gay equality. I'll always love her for maintaining a solid position. Nothing recent has sunk her cred in that department :)

Chatty Kathy said...

Eileen is also, hands down, the best mother on Corrie. I don't care that Audrey officially won the recent blog contest. Eileen wasn't chosen as a candidate, and Audrey raised that Gail. Nuff said.

PS: more proof that the Corrie PTB read our blogs-

In one of Eileen's recent scenes where she's talking to Jason, she's leafing through "Hair Today" magazine.

Ruth owen said...

Superb post!



Anonymous said...

Yes, Eileen for best mom. Revote!

jules said...

Lol @" face like a bag of spanners"

GRITTY SAGAS BY CORRIE BLOG EDITOR GLENDA YOUNG, PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE. CLICK PIC BELOW!

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