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

Saturday 2 December 2023

Coronation Street Episode Review Friday 1 December 2023


Good evening.  The story opens this evening in the Kate Oates Weatherfield General Hospital where Gemma and Chesney are at Joseph's bedside briefly before Gemma departs to prepare a Christmas for Bernie as previously promised with Joseph being discharged later and able to participate.  Billy is also getting in the Christmas spirits early and presents Paul with his and his jumpers for the day.  Dev is in the shop already in full elf wear ready for later.  Just as Chesney is about to head home with Joseph the nurse introduces Caitlin Edwards who is part of the Child Protection Team - the storm clouds gather.

Michael is worried about Sgt Bilko who went out early and has gone missing.  Ed tells him not to worry - Sarge will be staying for Christmas.  It is clear that a portion of the money which Ronnie provided has now been spent on presents as he comes back loaded with shopping.  (Indeed how did he pay for the air fare? - this story has more holes than gorgonzola).  Sarge later assures Ed that he has only bought small gifts - but he feels he has to give some presents.  Sarge confirms he is staying until Christmas at least.


It is officially Lauren's birthday and Max wishes her happy birthday before telling her that he knows she cannot afford that watch and he really thinks she should return it.  Shona overhears this, so when later Bernie tells Shona that the till was short yesterday, Shona's head adds two and two and the answer is that she believes that Lauren robbed Roy and so suspends Lauren from her shifts at the café.  Lauren did not take any money - as Shona finds when she lifts out the cash tray and finds the missing notes underneath the tray.  Shona goes round to the precinct to apologise to Lauren.  Lauren delivers a cock and bull story about a rich boyfriend, loaded and drives a BMW - she refuses re-instatement and slams the door in Shona's face.   Max and Sabrina go round to Lauren's and although she is initially frosty but as they have brought cider and cake she thaws.  However the combination unsettles Max's stomach and after being sick, the two girls gang up on him and Sabrina has to take Max home!  Lauren suggests that they should do it again sometime - and Max suggests same time next year once he has recovered.  All laugh.  


Crystal pops into the Bistro and arranges with Ryan to visit some bars later in the day.  Noticeably the scars are less bright red than they were .  He also takes an "interesting" phone call - but the content is not clear, merely something he intends to consider by the end of the day.  Anyway Crystal is otherwise occupied and they do not go out - but Ryan reveals to Leanne that he has had a job offer from a big gym who saw his livestream and they have offered him a job heading their social media team - he will be the face of the company!  He has to do an audition.  Leanne assures him that they will manage and he should go for it.


Asha is lunching with Isla and Miles who is a more senior paramedic and they tell some stories from the paramedic world.  Asha bigs up Nina as a fashion designer but when the latter arrives she puts the record straight and later challenges Asha on telling the truth.  Nina asks if Asha fancies Isla.  Things are not going well.  Asha heads to the café much later and tells Nina that she will only spend time with Isla at work.  However Nina says she cannot trust Asha if she tells lies.  They both agree to try and forget about this.  They hug.


So we have a great early Christmas at number 5 as the family open presents, read the cracker jokes (we'll have Narnia of them here) and have the Nana singalong with everyone in full voice.  In particular Bernie has tracked down the Tekno Robo Puppy which Paul wanted many years ago and it starts walking along the table.  Much laughter, much fun and when Paul laughs it is recorded for his  voice collection for his talking machine.  Chesney and Joseph arrive just as the turkey is about to be served accompanied by the doom machine and Christmas turns turkey as Ms Edwards wants to interview Gemma NOW and somewhere quiet.  They head to Billy's flat.


Gemma tells her story and Joseph tells his but the doom machine has already decided that Gemma is an unfit mother and has to removed from the family household - and just how is Chesney going to manage the five children?  This is so impractical (and as Bernie reminds us she is going to be residing at His Majesty's Pleasure on Monday) as Gemma has to be supervised by an approved adult if she spends time with her children.  Voice of Doom claims it is normal procedure - I really honestly hope that this is not a true reflection of the way such things work.  Billy says Gemma can move in with them until the investigation is over.  Later Paul seeks to comfort his sofa surfing sister and all have accepted the necessity of the situation.  Gemma stares at a family photo. Roll credits.

Good points - the Christmas scenes before the roof fell in were great fun.  As I think I have said previously the Ed gambling story is not my cup of tea and he is going to be forced to hide it as he would not want it coming out in front of his father - whose own storyline is a mess and I suspect not what was originally planned.  It is good to see Max / Lauren / Sabrina working together and I assume that Gav ought to be around.  I have had my say about social services already, I wonder if it could be used as an additional explanation to enable Bernie to avoid being sent down?

Written by Mark Wadlow and Joe Turner.  Directed by David Beton.

Kosmo

Conversation Street Podcast Episode #604


On our latest podcast, we talk about the episodes of Corrie shown in the UK between the 30th November and the 1st December (Episodes #11121 - 11126). Before we get onto that, though, we chat for a while about our trip to London last weekend, when we attended a live Q&A and book signing with Corrie legend Julie Hesmondhalgh! Not only did we have a chance to talk with her and her husband, Corrie writer Ian Kershaw, but we also got to chat with her mate Connie Hyde, who played Gina Seddon between 2017 and 2019 - who as you might remember was a bit of a favourite character of ours back then!

Up next is the Street Talk segment, where we have a natter about what went on in Weatherfield in the past week. Christmas came early to No. 5 on Friday, ahead of Bernie's imminent sentencing - and trust Chesney to come and pour cold water over the festivities by bringing round a woman from child protection to investigate Joseph's mysterious bouts of sickness! Also this week, we're introduced to Ed and Ronnie's dad Sarge, who seems like a fun character - though of course you can't be part of the Bailey clan at the moment without immediately hitting secretly broke Ed up for some cash and making his gambling problems spiral even further! Elsewhere on the cobbles, Lauren and Sabrina make amends, Asha continues to be ignorant of Nina's problem with her Isla obsession and opportunity comes knocking on Ryan's door.

There's a very, very truncated feedback section at the end of the podcast this week (sorry - tired!) but before that, we take a look at the latest Corrie news in The Kabin, including catching up with how Ellie's getting on in Strictly - could we have the show's first winner from Weatherfield in a few weeks?

Intro and London trip chat: 00:00:00
Street Talk - 00:30:23
The Kabin - 02:30:58


For this week's bonus podcast, we chat about Liz's little drummer boy, Vernon Tomlin, who made his debut on Corrie just shy of 18 years ago. A loser in life, love and ultimately Liz, Vernon may not be anyone's favourite character, but his total inability to ever catch any kind of break at least makes him someone who many viewers from the time at least have a bit of a soft spot for. His dreams of hitting the big time with his band may never have come true, but for now, here's Vernon's hour in the spotlight.


You can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, stream all our old episodes on our own site here, or click the play buttons above to give it a listen from the comfort of this very blog! 



Friday 1 December 2023

Preview of tonight's Coronation Street - Friday 1 December 2023


Friday 1st December

A VISITOR RUINS THE WINTERS’ WONDERLAND With the Christmas lunch in full swing with Paul, Billy, Bernie Gemma and the quads having a great time, the mood is killed when Chesney and Joseph return home from the hospital with a child protection officer who wants to interview Gemma. With everyone out of the house Caitlin questions a horrified Gemma and suggests that she may have poisoned Joseph on purpose. 

LAUREN’S WRONGLY ACCUSED Max returns the watch to Lauren and explains that it’s too generous a gift and he can’t accept it.  Shona listens, mildly suspicious. In the café, Bernie tells Shona about the missing £80 from the till.  Shona confronts Lauren and accuses her of stealing the money to buy the watch and suspends her.  Lauren’s horrified. Lauren tells Shona she doesn't need the job as she has a rich boyfriend. Max and Sabrina head round to Lauren’s flat with cake and cider.

ASHA BIGS UP NINA TO HER MATES Nina assures Asha that she’s looking forward to lunch with Isla and her senior colleague, Miles, as it's time they got to know each other’s friends. Nina arrives at Speed Daal in time to hear Asha bigging up her to Miles and Isla and explaining that she’s a budding fashion designer. 

ELSEWHERE In the flower shop flat, Billy shows Paul the Christmas jumpers he’s bought, determined they get into a Christmassy mood for lunch at No.5. Crystal calls at the bistro and invites Ryan to join her at a new bar in town later.  Ryan’s delighted. Ryan takes a call offering him a job.  He’s taken aback and quickly covers in front of Leanne. Sarge returns to No.3 laden down with Christmas presents.  He explains to Ed that they didn’t cost much but he couldn’t see his family go without


Glenda Young
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Thursday 30 November 2023

Coronation Street: First view of Hays Travel Weatherfield Branch

Coronation Street viewers will have their first sight of Hays Travel’s new branch on the cobbles of Weatherfield on 4 December 2023.

Hays Travel announced its new partnership with the world’s longest running soap opera to coincide with HM The King’s Coronation in May.

Since then, a storefront on the famous cobbles has been produced and eagle-eyed viewers will have spotted a ‘coming soon’ hoarding from 24 October.

Dame Irene Hays, owner and chair of Hays Travel, visited the Coronation Street set where she met Peter Fergusson, ITV Business Development Controller and Anthony Privilege, Branch Manager of Hays Travel Prescot - who was selected to be ‘Honorary Manager for the Day’ of Weatherfield’s Hays Travel.

Dame Irene said: “Our thanks to the team at ITV who worked with our in-house property team on our shop’s design and production. The on set branch had to look just like all our Hays Travel shops on high streets across the UK; we are proud of the finished result and look forward to seeing it on TV in December.”

Jason Spencer, Business Development Director ITV said: “We are really proud of our ongoing partnership since Hays Travel returned to TV advertising at the start of the year and we're now delighted to see the opening of the Hays Travel store in Coronation Street, enabling Weatherfield's residents to have a travel agents on their doorstep for the very first time!  

“We're all looking forward to seeing Hays Travel frequently on the cobbles from December, helping make a fabulous brand even more famous across the UK and beyond."

Anthony Privilege said: “I thoroughly enjoyed being Honorary Branch Manager of Hays Travel Weatherfield for the day! I am a huge Coronation Street fan and remember my Nan taking me to visit the set when I was a young lad. Being back on set brought back lots of memories and was quite an emotional experience. I think this partnership is brilliant; we have Hays Travel branches across the UK, so of course there should be one as part of the UK’s most famous street.”

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

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