One of the gems I've found online over the years being a Corrie fan is the reggae version of the Coronation Street theme tune, which I love. You can listen to it here. And it's now up for sale on eBay. I might just have to bid for it myself.
There's a quiz that'll tell you which Coronation Street character you are. But I'm not sure it's that accurate. Even though I told it was a lay-dee, it still dobbed me as Tyrone Dobbs. Me? Tyrone? Summat's gone wrong somewhere. Anyway, try it for yourself here and let us know what it says.
Kirk’s back from Cyprus and he’s got some big news for Fiz. She’s worried he’s going to suggest he wants to get back together and while it’s true that it’s matters of the heart that he wants to speak to Fiz about, it’s not Fiz he wants. And that’s when, ladies and gentlemen, we meet Julie Carp. Julie’s a divorcee, a lady of a certain age and as thick as two planks. How else could she think Kirkeh is “deep” and “intense”. “Hello Sausage!” she greets him when he walks in the Rovers. A reference, we can only hope, to the fact that Kirk once worked in a butcher’s. “Hello Snugglebum,” he returns before they rub noses together and get sentimental over a shandy. They’d met on holiday in Cyprus and are clearly made for each other being as thick as each other. “She only lives twenty minutes away,” Kirk tells everyone who’ll listen. “She’s lovely”. Actually, she’s great fun so far.
Audrey plucks up the courage to give Ted Paige a call after he’d left a message looking to find her. She didn’t want anyone to know but ends up telling both Rita and Maria, who egg her on to call Ted back and find out what he wants. “Hello Ted,” she breathes into his voicemail. “It’s Audrey here, actualleh, Audrey Potter, as was, obviousleh…” She’s intrigued as to what Gail’s dad could be wanting after 50 years but whatever it is, Audrey’s going to find out. Truth is, he just wanted to catch up after his partner died on him this year. Audrey takes this to mean his girlfriend but there’s more to Ted Paige than first meets Audrey’s eye. She tells Rita later that Ted had a twinkle in his eye that he never had before. Anyway, Audrey tells Ted he’s got a daughter and that he’s a great grand-father too and that brings a tear to Ted Paige’s eye. When he finds out that his granddaughter’s a slapper whose husband is sleeping with the tart from the local café and his grandson is in jail for pushing his mother down the stairs, Ted Paige could end up wishing he’d never got in touch.
For the first time since 1979, Deirdre and Gail find common ground to talk about over Gail’s kitchen table when Deirdre pops round and talk turns to their kids who are banged up in jail. This talk at the tea table was about the only scene this week not accompanied by a track from Duffy’s CD. It’s been played all week – in the factory, the salon, Carla’s flat and the pub. The Coronation Street soundman must be a big fan. Gail got her cast removed from her arm this week. She waved her arm about. “I feel like a million dollars,” she bleated. What, all green and wrinkly?
There’s bad news for Leanne when lovestruck Paul dobs himself into the cops and admits he torched the pizza place in the precinct. This scuppers Leanne and Dan’s plans to turn the burnt out shell into a posh bar and they’re worried the men in blue will be after them soon too. Paul comes clean to Jack about what he’s done and it fair breaks Jack’s heart. “You are your father’s son, all right,” he tells him, shocked. “I can’t even look at yer, get out.” Paul leaves and Jack gets stuck into the whisky bottle with Tyrone and Molly only too happy to help. The scouse copper comes to caution Leanne and Dan. “We’ve got nothing to hide,” says Dan. “That’s what Crippen said,” butts in Blanche.
The whisky bottle got well and truly trashed this week as the Connors hit the bottle when Carla cooked dinner. Tony flew off on a business trip to China leaving Carla and Liam alone in the flat when Maria waddled home, tired out. The next morning, Maria’s beside herself with grief wondering what went on between Liam and Carla but she’s got worse things to worry about when she tells Marcus that she hasn’t felt the baby kick for a while. He marches her to the maternity ward where a scan reveals the worst and the baby is dead. A stunned Maria goes back to the Street looking for Liam but can’t tell him what’s happened. He’s all loved up and promising undying love to his missus and his child, without the baby in his life then Maria knows she means less to him, so she hides her grief for now and it fair brought a tear to my eye and I’m not easily moved by such things.
Over in the bookies, Vernon’s spending an increasing amount of time and money there betting on horses that never seem to win. Even Dan the bookie man tells him not to waste his money but there’s no stopping Vernon who keeps losing his cash. He tells Liz he’s been offered three months on a cruise ship, drumming in a band and asks her to go with him. She’s not keen, you can tell. As Vernon practised his drumming in the back room of the pub, Liz has to leave him alone to get away from the noise. “Had a little paradiddle in your ear, did he?” asked Lloyd to which Liz didn’t answer but it could explain why her hair looks such a mess.
Am I the only one more than a tad surprised with this snippet of news? Margi Clarke looks set to return to Coronation Street as Tyrone's mum, jailbird Jackie Dobbs.
From Monday 28 April to Friday 2 May, voting will reopen in the British Soap Awards for one category only - that of Best Soap.
Anyone want to buy a bench just like the one dedicated to Maxine Peacock on Coronation Street?
If you like looking at behind-the-scenes pictures from the Coronation Street set (I know I do) then you might like to look at these from a visit by radio station Heart 106.2.
What do you make of the latest addition to Coronation Street in the shape of Kirk's girlfriend, Julie Carp?
Kevin Horkin's website is a gem. He first started providing advice on specs to the Coronation Street cast and ended up providing the pets!
The entire Morton clan have been given their marching orders from Coronation Street, screams today's Sun newspaper. Ian Wylie's blog at the MEN confirms the news too.
Following on from previous Coronation Street picture puzzles:
Get your Jack and Vera t-shirt right here, only £12 each.
Last night on Coronation Street, Jack Duckworth sat at the kitchen table in his vest. Nowt wrong with that, he's been doing it for years. But then he slipped his anorak on over his vest and went out without a shirt on. Is that the male equivalent of popping to the shop in your slippers when you're a Corrie woman?
There's a good little YouTube of the Daily Mirror's Hope Not Hate bus on its travels this week. Not only did it take in the Emmerdale set this week, it also visited the Coronation Street set too. You can watch the clip on YouTube right here. The whole video's worth watching for its worthy message and the Corrie bit clicks in towards the end, around 3:35.
Kirk Sutherland might have a new love in his life in the shape of his Julie but there's summat else he loves just as much.
She's Coronation Street's drag queen but do you think Becky should give up the fags? Inhale, breathe out and vote. Go on, you know you want to.
It was Gail Platt’s 50th birthday this week and on the day when she should have been eating cake and drinking binge, she was drowning her sorrows instead. David was sent to the big house for four months in a young offenders’ institution for smashing up the Street and breaking his mum’s heart.
Not one to let a small matter of her grandson being jailed spoil a good party, Audrey invited a cast of thousands to the house, put her best frock on and helped herself to the gin. To the strains of the Stones singing Time Is On My Side (Yes It Is) there were embarrassed mutterings across the Platt living room carpet until Gail’s mates and neighbours slowly left the party, Gail headed up to bed and Audrey got stuck into the drink. 
Mind you, that Audrey’s going to need to keep a clear head as Gail’s real dad has been trying to get in touch, the only trouble is that he doesn’t know he’s got a child, even if she is now a 50 year old patron saint of suffering.
Over in the big house, David was trying to cope with being banged up and lied to Gail on her visit that he couldn’t phone her as the queue for the phone was too long. The truth was that he called girlfriend Tina instead. But if David was hoping to get an engaged signal from Tina then he’s got his wires crossed as there was no reply. She’d already dumped him when things got too weird. “I need a break,” she told him. “I’ve had enough, I’m getting the bus.” David’s sharing a cell with a bloke who sings his way through the day starting with How Much Is That Doggy In The Window and dispenses hardened words of wisdom: “Don’t sit on any razor blades”.
After Roy’s car caused chaos last week for Tony Gordon’s mega bucks sky scraper, there was a stand-off on the Street and Tony backed down after Roy’s Ghandi-like passive resistance. Tony donated ten thousand pounds to the bat charity of Roy’s choice, but ten thousand pounds is small change to a man like Eyeball Tony the Catalogue Man. Did you know there’s a Facebook group called Tony Gordon’s looking at me funny? Well, there is. Anyway, in the caff, Becky gave Roy a power hug in support, something which upset a sensitive soul like Roy greatly and he longed for the night to fall so he could check his emails from Hayley in th’Africa. Not sure what a power hug is? Steve McDonald demonstrates one here as he comforts Eileen when she realised she'd eaten the last of the chocolate Hob-Nobs.
Meanwhile, Jason and Becky are back together in the Rovers after Bill got them thinking and drinking in the pub. Jason had found out that Becky’s builder boyfriend Rick had a missus and a kid and he warned Becky, who took the news in her stride. She pinned Rick to the floor of the caff and smeared him with cream cake and tea. Atta-girl, Becks!
Elsewhere, Leanne’s hoping she can turn the burnt-out pizza place in the precinct into a late night drinking den and enlists Roger the plumber to give her some advice. She’s keen to get stuck in and feckless Dan the bookie man’s up for the idea too.
Over in the Rovers, Vernon’s got problems when Harry the bookie started chatting up Liz in the pub. He’s a flirt, is that Harry, and Liz is tempted but may have some reservations about a man who wears his glasses round his neck a la Larry Grayson. It’s a look that not many men can, or indeed should, carry off.
and had a quiet word with Betty in the bar. “What kind of sweet would you describe me as?” he asked her. “Am I more of a chocolate éclair or a marshmallow?” Betty looked him up and down and gave him the benefit of her wisdom. “I’d say you’re more fruit and nut.” And you can’t argue with Betty.
Now then, we know her better as the fragrant Audrey Roberts but in real life she's the honourable Susan Francis Harmar-Nicholls, daughter of Lord and Lady Harmar-Nicholls. Sue Nicholls had chart success with the song Where Will You Be. The tune hit the charts in 1968 for 
7 weeks and was produced by Tony Hatch. And if you get in quick enough, you can bid for the 7" single on eBay right now along with another of Sue's hits, Every Day.
He might have the gift of the gab when it comes to chatting up the ladies, but lordy-lordy, the boy's getting lardy. Should Steve McDonald go on a diet? Ooh, just how will Coronation Street fans vote on this one?
It's the Coronation Street Hustle by punk band The Notsensibles. Find out more and download the choon right here. And if you want the lyrics to sing along with the record, here they are! 
If you enjoyed this week's Corrie story about Roy Cropper and the bats, you might like to know that Natural England really does exist, it's not just a made-up batty thing for soaploand.
The team from Your Home magazine were invited on a very special behind-the-scenes trip to Coronation Street and you can see more of these wonderful pictures on their website.
Mind you, the best behind-the-scenes pics I've ever seen are these ones from tvor.
If you watched Coronation Street tonight and wondered to yourself what on earth David Platt was wearing (I know I did) then wonder no more.Ladies and gentlemen, raise your glasses to Gail Platt as she turns 50 this week. Oh yes, indeed. Our favourite Coronation Street put-upon mum reaches the big five-uh-oh. Where did it all go wrong?
Want to see more of Gail including her hair-do horrors? Click here.
The Hairybloke blogger has written a Coronation Street haiku over on his blog. It's a good 'un even though I'm not really sure what a haslet is.
