Corrie in HD - We can rebuild her!

Along with the two major stories happening on Coronation Street this week, (Gail's trial and the Factory seige), Coronation Street debuts the new opening titles and is going to be shown in HD. A lot of work had to be done to the set to get it ready so that it would look more realistic. It was more than just a lick of paint as well. Things like changes in actors' makeup, clothing and jewelery had to pass muster. Sometimes jewelery draws the eye to an actress's neckline and subsequently down her cleavage which isn't what they want. (But why dress someone like Liz with plunging necklines in the first place if that's the case?)

A lot of things on the outdoor set also needed rebuilding. There's an interesting feature in the MEN that describes some of the changes that had to be made. I didn't realize a lot of the brickwork in the chimneys and walls (i.e. in the Ginnel) were plastic bricks and they had to be rebuilt in fibreglass so they wouldn't look fake.

Food in the cafe now has to be real as opposed to plastic until they can find a suitable substitute (assuming that when the actors are seen eating, that's the real thing!) I don't have an HD telly, so it probably won't look a great deal different to me but please jump in with comments if you do and want to let us know how it looks to you!

A Fortnight: Fri May 28, 2010 Corrie Episode Review

Written by Simon Crowther, directed by Tessa Hoffe

David and Nick are on edge about whether or not their little plan to bribe-the-witness will pan out.  Things don’t get better when Audrey starts questioning why the witness has come forward now, and calls the police for more information but doesn’t get any.  Audrey goes to meet Gail in jail and to talk with her about the witness.  Gail is holding onto this witness with a hope and a prayer, but Audrey is sceptical.  Gail is scared out of her mind, and is full of tears as her mother hugs her for the last time before the trial.  As Audrey walks off, Gail asks her to look at her, but Audrey doesn’t hear and leaves Gail standing there.  David and Nick are getting cold feet about the legitimacy of their bribed witness, and how she’ll cope under the pressure of the prosecution in court.  Oh, she’ll crumble like a vegan cookie.  David admits what they did was insane, but since it’ll help his mum he still insists they had no choice.  Later, Audrey accuses David of having something to do with the witness, only just then she gets a call from the police saying the witness checked out, and apologizes to David. 

The factory is a mess, and the factory girls are working their fingers off to get the order finished under Carla’s orders of “sew, sew, sew!”  Rickson’s in to check on his order, and after having a quick chat with Kirk to tell him that “Kirk” really means “Church”, he notices that his knickers aren’t to specifications.  Rickson has it out with Carla and Nick and cancels his order immediately to take his business elsewhere!  Well, that’s that for the factory girls, they’ve been laid off now for two weeks – or a fortnight – until more work comes in.  Obviously, no one’s happy about this, especially since there’s a deferred payment of their wages.  After they’re done blaming each other for what’s happened, Carla and Nick agree that they’ve got to come up with some orders now, or they’ll lose everything. 

Speaking of church, that’s exactly where Tony Gordon is this moment, and he takes the body of Christ (cracker), only it’s  not a cracker – it’s a SIM card.  Back in his cell, he receives the mobile phone that his cellmate Robbie has taken from the library, they put two and two together and get a fully functioning mobile phone.  Tony is obviously making a deal with Robbie for money – so that Robbie can pay for his son to go to Uni for P.E.  What exactly is he up to?  He’s got Robbie on the street now, watching Carla and getting friendly with Roy.  He calls Tony from the street to say he’s got ‘the gun’  

Later, Kirk asks Izzy how she got into a wheelchair.  Izzy jokes that she was hit by a hit and run, but when Kirk says that happened to his brother-in-law, only he wasn’t so lucky.  Izzy feels bad, since she didn’t actually get hit by a  car – she has a degenerative illness – she only just tells people that because she gets bored sometimes.  Kirk tells her all about how Carla’s ex-husband Tony – who’s in jail good and proper now – was the one who hit Liam.  Oh, not so sure about “good n proper.” 

Deirdre’s helping out at the Bookies and doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job of it, and thinks that everyone needs to know about it.  Deirdre is thinking about Tracy again and what on earth the incentive would be for putting Gail in it. 

Tina goes to see Jason to tell him about a horrific dream she had regarding the trial.  In the dream, it was a the day of the trial and who was to be in the witness stand but her father.  Jason guessed the witness was Buzz Lightyear when she asked, since it was a dream and all.  Oh, it seems Jason just doesn’t have the sensitive listener personality quite like Graeme does.  Or perhaps he, like everyone else, just doesn’t care.  Tina can’t mind too much, since she asks Jason to stay with her in the flat.  Are they back on? Is this the end for Graeme’s hopes? 

Lloyd tries again to hit on Cheryl and tries his best until he’s in the cabby office and hears that Cheryl has requested a cab and has specifically asked for anyone BUT Lloyd.  Lloyd can’t understand why and goes anyway.  When he arrives he sees Cheryl with a ten year old boy – her son.  The son she has with his father – her husband.  Lloyd is heartbroken to hear this, especially since it seemed she was into him.  What’s left for Lloyd now?  Eileen waiting to console him when he comes back. 

HIGHLIGHTS:

- David doing his perms at Audrey’s salon.  He’s quite the little stylist now, isn’t he? 

- When Tina tells Jason about a dream she had about being in court and asks him to guess who the next witness was, and Jason says “Buzz Lightyear?” To which Tina says, no,  my dad.  Oye!

- Eileen being a good mate to Lloyd by consoling him after his heartbreak with Cheryl.  See?  She’s not SUCH an angry cow! 

- Is it just me or does Tony look really good in blue sweats?

LOWLIGHTS:

- The factory having to lay-off.  Could this mean the end of Underworld?  Especially with THIS happening and all.

- Audrey rudely snubbing Deirdre and Ken’s invite for tea – they hardly control what Tracy says!

- Nick teasing David about living in the fast lane with the Renshaw twins at 9.  Puh-lease, because a broke-down factory is really living in the fast lane.  At least David HAS customers. 

- Hayley sobbing her eyes out and grasping Carla over Roy!  Oh, man. 

- Janice blaming Izzy and Kirk for why they lost the accounts – she can be downright petty at times. 

- I’ve felt sorry for Gail during her whole Joe ordeal, but I’ve never felt so bad for her as I did in this episode.  Did you almost not want to cry watching Audrey hug her like she was a little girl again?  Oh, poor Gail.   As Eileen says, even if she gets off not-guilty, she’ll never be the same again.

- Deirdre still not fully believing that Tracy would stitch someone up!

Corrie's Hotting Up

I don't know if anyone else feels the same, but after the highs of the Norris/Mary storyline I've not found Corrie very inspiring lately. I was saddened by the ruining of John Stape in the utterly implausible Fishwick fiasco a few weeks back, with plot-holes you could drive a tank through, and my ears are still hurting from straining to hear Gail in the "Joe's a Good Man" carry-on. The addition of Tracy Barlow as Gail's nemesis, divulging that the rolling pin was the supposed "murder weapon" (and yes, I do realise that Gail didn't do it!) was dire. (The two coppers are good, mind!) Tina McIntyre is driving me up the wall - yes, I know she's just lost her dad, but her face would curdle milk just now. I'm not liking her embryonic relationship with Graeme, either, much. The adoption storylines - well, they seem to be on the back-burner just now and thank goodness for small mercies.

So, what does Corrie have going for it at the moment? The upcoming hostage and fire storylines sound highly entertaining. Okay, they're sensationalist and very OTT by Corrie standards, but the excellent actors involved will make it worth watching as far as I'm concerned. Gray O'Brien has always been a class act on Corrie. As a bog standard Corrie fan with no insider knowledge, I don't know who's for the chop this week, but I for one would be very sorry to see him go. Alison King has also been terrific, and I don't want to lose her either (I want to see if her voice can get any more nasal! and what was she like, tottering across the cobbles on those heels?!). And on the humour/day to day life level which Corrie does so well, the Windasses are terrific, so here's hoping they've got their asbestos suits handy.

On a controversial note, I'd be happy to see Hayley go. I'm finding her annoying these days. But, that seems unlikely given the rumours earlier this year of a big Roy/Hayley wedding. I'd also happily wave goodbye to Becky Macdonald, but that ain't gonna happen either. Whatever, I'm going to be glued to ITV at 9pm every night this week.

James Fleet comes back to Corrie

James Fleet's mum is a Coronation Street fan but he'd got away from watching the soap until recently. In a "short but spectacular" part this week, James plays Tony Gordon's henchman, breaking him out of prison and helping him lay seige to the factory. James is a familiar face to viewers. He's well known for good natured, bumbling type characters such as Hugo on the Vicar of Dibley and Tom in Four Weddings and a Funeral. He does insert a little of that into his Corrie character, Robbie. In an interfiew in the Sunday Mail today James says "Criminals are usually a bit socially inadequate, which is why they end up in prison. They are not all glamorous secret agent types. They are more likely to be people who are weak-willed, pushed around and bullied"

He never expected to be hired to play a bad guy and thoroughly enjoyed his part. Add to that all the history of getting to work on a 50 year old soap, Coronation Street. And as for working on a soap, he had no qualms about accepting the job. "It reminds you that people who are sniffy about soaps need to be given a good talking to. The actors here do stuff which a lot of rather snooty actors wouldn't be able to do."

He also has a lot in common with his co-worker, Gray O'Brien. James grew up in Scotland though was born in England to a Scottish mother. He doesn't think he'll appear on another soap. Corrie's the best, why settle for the rest?

Weekly awards for Corrie, the week of May 24 - 28

Fashion stars: Carla's lovely red coat and Julie's flowered wellies. Lloyd's shirt was a bit of a joke.

Heartbreaking breakup of the week: Gold star: Noooo Roy and Hayley can't separate!!!

This can't end well award: Gold Star: Paying a witness (with money stolen from your workplace) to lie in court? The witness doesn't seem hard enough to lie well.

Dab hand in the kitchen: Gold Star: Would you have thought Graeme would be handy with a wisk?

Gross me out award: Eddie eating a massive amount of food right from the frying pan and wearing his vest and y-fronts ... You got to hand it to the actor though. He has more (Y) front than Blackpool!

Wet Wet Wet award: How can it be leaking more and more when it's not raining? Shouldn't someone be calling Health and Safety instead of complaining?

Lines of the Week:

Carla about Nick "If he doesn't get back her sharpish he'll be wearing his bits as a bobble hat"

Trevor "Thing with wrong end of the stick is it looks exactly like the right end of the stick"

Julie "It's not a good look, wellies and pedal pushers! I hope i've not lost the respect of the bus driver."

Carla to Nick "Do you even care about keeping this place afloat? Pun definitely not intended"

Deirdre "Tracy couldn't be thinking of getting anything out of this could she?" "Tracy wouldn't stitch Gail up would she?" (ya think?)

State of the Street: May 2010

I may have been off on my holidays to the UK and elsewhere for a few weeks in May but i was still able to catch up with Corrie thanks to the UK weekend omnibusses. They show it on Saturday and Sunday both! Mind you, May's State of the Street is a bit less detailed than usual, touching on the main storylines about Gail's trials and tribulations including scheming Tracy Barlow, whose antics also touched Steve and Becky. Underworld is having problems and John Stape has gone missing. Not that that's a major problem, but the storyline seems to have disappeared along with him. Anyway, you can read more about it on t'other blog.

Izzy and her disability

I meant to write this post last week, but forgot, and have just been reminded now, after Izzy told Kirk about her disability (after inadvertently putting her foot in it by saying she was disabled in a hit and run, just like Lee-um). The lovely Bendy Girl, who writes a blog about having Hypermobility type Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, wrote last week about how Izzy's character is supposed to reflect what the actress - Cherylee Houston - has, and that is Hypermobility syndrome too! She's just told Kirk that she has a 'degenerative disease' so I don't know if they'll go into it further, but I for one am so pleased that she's on the Street!

You can read Bendy Girl's excellent post here.

Eddie Windass in Thursday's episode

So, did anyone else notice the music that was playing while Eddie ate his breakfast in the famed vests and pants last night? It was Stars by Simply Red. I hope that this was a deliberate reference to a couple of weeks ago (I think when the social worker visited) when Anna said, "Oooh, he's like a cross between Delia* and Mick Hucknall, my Eddie!"

* Smith, she of cake baking/teaching the world how to boil an egg fame.

It's stuff like that that I keep noticing and laughing at!

The Gail McIntyre Redemption: Thu May 27, 2010 Corrie Episode Review

Written by Damon Rochefort, directed by Tessa Hoffe

Gail is keeping her little rituals in jail that keep her sane – doing her makeup. Her old cellmate is better than Tracy, but Gail seems quite annoyed by her constant blabbering. Surprise, however, when the guard comes to tell Gail that her solicitors are here and her cellmate thinks it could be good news! Her cellmate was right, because her solicitor has told her that an unexpected witness has come forward and says she saw Gail get off the boat and watched Joe sail away. Gail is surprised to hear this and wondered what the Polish cleaning lady was doing out there at night to which her solicitor says “who cares?” Erm, I’m sure that question will come up, it is rather out of the ordinary that a cleaning lady would be out in the woods at night.

Audrey gets a call from Gail who informs her of the good news. Audrey quickly tells David and Natasha, and rewards David on being such a great son for Gail through all of this. Later, they go for drinks in the Rovers, only who should overhear their joy but the angry little Tina McIntyre. Jason had finally gotten her to leave the flat since she was feeling better and go for a drink in the Rovers. All was well, until she heard the Platts come in and start to laugh and rejoice. She confronts David and tells him that his mother is guilty as sin and will go down. David tells her about the new witness that has come forward to say that Gail never got on the boat with Joe, and Tina thinks he’s lying. Her anger has now caused her to build up the courage to stand up in court to defend her father against Gail. Oh, boy. As David said they said in cop dramas, “We’ll see you in court!”

Now that Tina’s feeling better, she tells Graeme that his “services” are no longer required and that he can return to his life and his dating without having to worry about her. She thanks him for all she’s done, but Graeme is clearly gutted now that he can’t see her, and she’s turned to Jason for support instead of him. Awe, shucks.

At the Windasses, Eddie is eating his breakfast in his vest and y-fronts (they’re baaaack!) while Hayley is so lost in her thoughts about Roy that she hardly notices. She doesn’t even notice that Eddie’s stolen the sauce bottle from the cafe as Anna tries her best to hide it. Hayley ends up noticing the bottle and mentions that they have the same bottles in the cafe. Hayley goes into the cafe to pick up her salsa shoes for later, and Roy has them ready for her. He wants her to come back, but just isn’t doing enough to get her then. When will this cool front warm over?

The factory is in much duress, as are the factory girls as Julie points out coming in with her wellies and pedal-pushers on. Nick is in for it with Carla when he comes in after going AWOL on that meeting with Paul Stokes. Nick plays it cool and says he’s got Paul taken care of, and the factory girls as well. He offers the factory girls a bonus of one hundred and fifty quid extra if they get to work. Despite the fact that the factory looks like the “second half of the Titanic” the girls get to work with that incentive. That is, until, the power goes. Could the factory situation get any worse? Oh, yes, it could.

While Elaine tells Lloyd about her dream of Gail in the Shawshank Redemption last night, Eddie comes in to tell Lloyd that he’s informed Cheryl that Lloyd is only into older women. Lloyd freaks out at him and bonks him one with the paper. Later, he goes to pick up Cheryl from work and sets the record straight: he doesn’t just date older women: he’ll date anyone! Eileen puts her foot in her mouth later, when she tells Anna how they have the lap-dancing club as an account and how all the drivers, including her Eddie, are picking up all the extra shifts they can get for those punters. Anna thought Eddie was working more to save for Christmas Club. Nope, his new fascination with working over time is to do with a whole ‘nother club entirely.

HIGHLIGHTS:

- David referring to Joe as “Captain Pugwash” and Graeme noting sarcastically that that was nice and respectful.

- Gail’s chatting new cell-mate! Will she be the next Jackie Dobbs?

- Eddie is eating his breakfast from the fry pan and Anna says it looks like a wino has broken in and is eating out of the fry-pan. Yeah, because, that’s pretty much what’s happened, only Eddie didn’t break in. Oh, and the fact that he’s eating these in those lovely y-fronts we get to see again!

- Julie wearing wellies and pedal-pushers into work because of the leak and wondering if the bus driver took notice!

- “With all do respect, Mrs. Connor, Gordon.” “Connor.” “Connor.”

- Eileen’s dream version of Gail and the Shawkshank Redemption

- Eileen to Lloyd, “You must know a lot of people on the inside.” Lloyd: “Why, cause I’m black?” Eileen: “No, cause you’re from Liverpool!”

- David learning how to do foil highlights!

LOWLIGHTS:

- After all of Graeme’s care, Tina says she doesn’t need him around anymore, since she’s meeting with Jason again. Poor Graeme!

- Who does NOT want to be Carla? Sure, she’s b*tch, but will she ever get a break with that factory?

- Rotten little Tina McIntyresome (a nickname from one of commenters, can’t recall whom right now!) and her vendetta against poor Gail!

Bruce Jones opening up a bar??

I'm not quite sure if this is a wind up or a truly bizarre twist, but there's a report today in the Sunderland Echo that Bruce Jones is opening a bar with a friend in Sunderland. After a recent run in with the courts due to his drinking, and his previous history of getting into legal trouble because of the same, and reports that he's broke and living in a caravan, I find it hard to believe he's getting involved in a bar to be called Agadoo. They have plans to open up a Comedy club in the establishment and have even bigger plans to open up more bars across the country. I may be a skeptic, but perhaps the friend is hoping Bruce's name will bring in the punters?

Spot the Corrie Prop - May 28

Last week's Spot the Prop was more of a brain teaser, wasn't it? Still, one Anonymous commenter got it right, well done! The first picture of Mr Juicie lives in the back room of Dev's corner shop and the second one, the clock, is on the wall in Streetcars.

This week's prop will probably take more deductive reasoning rather than remembering where you've seen it. I took this photo while on the outdoor Coronation Street set a couple of weeks ago while looking up at some of the windows. In whose window do you think this romantic statue would appear?

William Roache supports Melanoma Research Fund

William Roache, who plays Coronation Street's Ken Barlow, is a supporter of the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund - a charity which aims to raise awareness of the potential damage the sun can do to our skin. Why not have a look at the charity’s site.

This is what William has to say about their work: 'I would like to congratulate all at the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund for their energy and imagination in their efforts to raise awareness of melanoma. I am happy to support and help the Trust, because by raising awareness many lives can be saved'

The charity is holding a Skin Awareness Week from 21st June which will encourage people to be more skin aware and vigilant of sun damage on their skin.

It's going to be a wild ride on Corrie next week

Ian Wylie has a piece in today's MEN about next week's Coronation Street seige at Underworld and from what he's seen, it looks like it's going to be spectacular! I know the media always say that but he's seen the episodes at a media preview and honestly thinks it's the best thing Corrie's done for years. It's certainly some of the most expensive scenes ITV has ever filmed and it took them four weeks to film just six episodes with a special, fireproof replica of the factory.

Also at the preview were actors Alison King, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Samia Smith and James Fleet, all of whom are involved in the storyline that sees Tony taking his revenge for being banged up in jail. There will be deaths but we don't know who yet. An educated guess might bring a few speculations but we'll leave that to you, dear readers.

Ian has a few quotes from Alison and Julie both in the main article and also on his blog where he has a bit more to the story. All the actors had challenges in filming the scenes and it sounds as if they've succeeded themselves. Outgoing producer Kim Crowther says “We’re very proud of this week of episodes,” and I for one, can hardly wait to see it all!

Check over on Corrie.net for the week's spoilers and a few more pictures from both the seige and Gail's trial, which also airs next week. (but it won't give away the twists!).

Steve McDonald gurn of the week, May 27 2010

It's Thursday and that means only one thing... time for the Steve McDonald gurn of the week. Thanks go to Coronation Street fan Martin S. for sending in these fab Stevie McGurns. If you've captured a good Corrie Steve gurn and want to share it via the blog, do email it in. To see more gurnage from Stevie McGurn, have a look here, there's loads. Some good, some bad and some really very funny.

Sneak Preview of next week's Corrie - siege week!

Without any piffle, here's the storyline for siege week on Coronation Street, all wrapped up nicely in 50 words or less.

Monday 31st May to Friday 5th June
Change of schedule this week for the Corrie siege week, as follows:
Monday 31st May, two episodes at 7pm and 9pm, then one episode at 9pm each night for the rest of the week

Tony Gordon returns, Maria returns, Underworld goes up in flames and two people die – but who?, Gail’s trial begins and she’s torn to pieces by the prosecution, as David breaks down in Nick’s arms.

The full weekly preview, with loads of pictures, is right here on Corrie.net

Missed last week's Corrie?
Catch up with the Coronation Street weekly updates.

One More Chance: Mon May 24, 2010 & Wed May 26, 2010

Written by Mark Burt (Mon) and David Lane (Wed), directed by Tessa Hoffe

David is still stuck on the new plan he’s hatched to save his mum: bribe a witness.  He tells Nick about his plan, and of course Nick thinks it’s a terrible idea.    After David makes him feel guilty for not helping their mum, Nick goes along with it after he’s taken three thousand pounds from the Underworld safe.  The Plattilsley brothers headed down to the lake district in search of the “I’m Polish, not stupid” cleaning lady Anka.  The brothers hunt down Anka, and offer her a thousand pounds, but she wants more.  She wants four thousand to lie to police and the judge.  Nick agrees to give her what she wants and they work out her story: she heard people talking in the pub about the woman who killed her husband, only she witnessed Gail get off the boat and Joe sail away with Gail crying maybe something like “No Joe!”  She doesn’t remember exactly what was said, it was a long time ago.  Anka goes to the police station and tells her story, and gets half her money.  Now, she’ll get the other half when she testifies in court.  David doesn’t even think she’ll have to wait that long since now she’s given her statement they’ll have to drop the case.  They’ll just have to, right?

The factory is in shambles, accounts and roofs.  There’s still a leak, and Carla’s crossing her fingers over this important meeting with Nick’s lead Paul Stokes.  If they could get his account, they could finally get going again and fix that roof!  Carla is not in a good mood when she has to face the meeting with Paul Stokes alone since Nick has gone AWOL (in the lakes district bribing a cleaning lady) on her.  On top of it all, the factory girls have all stopped working for the meeting, since they figured it’d look bad on Underworld for them to be working in such terrible conditions.  Trev arrives to bring Carla a lunch before her meeting and Paul Stokes arrives shortly after.  Seeing Trev there with Carla, he assumes that Trev works for Underworld also, and Trev goes along with the ruse for Carla’s sake.  Too bad Paul overhears Trev and Carla talk about how they’re making up rubbish and feeding it to him, he’s not happy and renegs.  It’s all too much for Trev who lets the cat out of the bag that he’s just a bin man, and there goes Carla’s deal – in the bin.  Later, Carla gets angry with Trev for ruining her deal.  She soon realizes that it wasn’t Trev’s fault they lost the deal (it was Nick’s) and she apologized.

Roy tries his worst (best) to make amends with Hayley.  It doesn’t go over well, now that his whole proposal-un-proposal fiasco has caused Hayley to re-think their entire relationship.  Hayley arrives back home, and Roy acknowledges that he may have been insensitive to her feelings. MAY have been?  Roy wants them to go back to the way they were.  Oh, if only we could do that, Royston.  Hayley says there was a time that she couldn’t ever imagine being with him, but now she can’t imagine staying with him.  Hayley needs some time apart from Roy to inventory her feelings, so she asks Anna if she can stay at hers and Eddies for a couple nights.  Hayley is starting to think that Roy doesn’t have anything else to offer her.  She’s only figuring that out now?  In any case, is this the end for the Croppers? 

Graeme actually tries to make amends with Rosie Webster after blowing her off to console Tina the other night.  Rosie’s having none of it, calling his flowers cheap and requesting he leave.  He asks her for one more chance, but she’s all out of chances.  After Graeme tries to return the flowers he bought for Rosie at Dev’s, Dev sees him leave and enter Tina and Jason’s flat.  Later on, Dev lets it spill to Jason that Tina’s still up there since Graeme’s been calling.  Bus-ted!  Upstairs, Tina is the recipient of the second-hand flowers and she finds that Graeme ditched Rosie to console her and is rather chuffed.  Meanwhile, Jason furiously rings upstairs and Graeme finally comes down to open the door just for Jason to manhandle him back in.  Jason kicks Graeme out, and Tina tries to kick him out, but he’s not going anywhere.  Jason’s sympathetic when he finds Tina is a mess although he wonders why Graeme has been hanging around.  Tina says that Graeme has just been a mate because he listened, and not pushed.  Jason is very offended that Tina couldn’t get this comfort from him.  Tina makes Jason promise that he won’t go after Graeme, since he’s been sneaking around for her.  Jason leaves, but makes her promise that they’ll talk more tomorrow. 

Deirdre and Ken prepare for their visit for Tracy and wonder if she’s lying about Gail or not.  Guess who thinks she is, and guess who thinks she might not be?  They arrive and tell Tracy that they’re concerned for her, but only receive a facetious attitude in return.  Deirdre points out that Tracy’s going to be branded an informant in jail if she goes through with what she said about Gail, and that’s not going to be easy for her in there.  Tracy continues to dig her heels in stating that she’s only after justice.  Tracy says her conscience is clear, but is it? 

Elsewhere, Kirk is looking for a place for he and Ozzy to live now that they’ve been kicked out of Maria’s since she’s sold  up to the Alahans.  Kirk says it’s hard to find a place that’ll accept a dog, so Ashley offers that his boys would love a dog around.  Kirk takes this to mean that Ashley would love to have Ozzy AND Kirk living with them, when he only meant the dog so that Kirk could find a living space.  He’s really gone and done it now, and when he tells Claire, she’s obviously not keen.  It’s hard to say no to Kirk, especially when he lays on a sob story about laying up at night sick thinking about where he’d live. 

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Jan bailing Trev out of a tight spot when he almost reveals to Carla that he’s talking about World Cup Tickets.  Nice try Jan, but he’s still just not that into you.

- When Sophie was worried about her exam, and Rosie tells her if she gets stuck she could just ask “What Would Jesus Do?”  Then wonders if that would be cheating. 

- Hayley pulling a bossy Carla at work.  I like her like this!

- I’m really enjoying these factory-girl choruses!

- Dev growling when describing to Graeme how to woo a lady. 

- Kirk thinking that a highlight of his job is working with ladies underwear all day.  Ah, life, you have to take the joys when you can.  Any joys you can.

- The Plattilsley brothers almost running down Eddie Windass!

- Kirk declaring that having a job is better than telly.  Man he’s dumb, no it isn’t!   Especially not when Corrie’s on!

- Anka to Nick “I’m Polish, not stupid.  My money.” 

LOWLIGHTS:

- Roy saying that he needs to look at her revised birth certificate when Hayley asks him if he sees a woman when he looks at her.  *ouch*

- I know he’s under stress, but Nick didn’t have to be SO flaming rude to Hayley in the Underworld office!

- When Hayley tells Anna that she used to think her and Roy were made for each other and Eddie mutters “like anyone else would take either of ‘em.”  Erm, look who’s talking!

Overall Episode Rating: 6/10

Drama: 8/10, Humour: 6/10, Classic Corrie: 5/10, Wow Factor: 6/10

NEW! Coronation Street Quest launched

There's a new, official, Coronation Street board game, called Coronation Street Quest. It's been launched to celebrate Corrie's 50th anniversary. Anyone who's already played the England Quest or Scotland Quest games will know how addictive, fun and quality the games are. I can't wait to get my hands on the Coronation Street Quest game, because I've played the other games and they are great, honestly, I'm not just making this up, you know!

Anyway, the Quest game goes on sale soon and you can pre-order now. But be quick! Coronation Street Quest is an exclusive and strictly limited edition game and once they are gone, they are gone! Order yours here now. I've already put my order in.

Meet Andy Whyment on Saturday 29th May

Poundland are opening another new store at the Hart Shopping Centre, Fleet, Hampshire on Saturday 29th May and you can go along to meet Andy Whyment (Kirk Sutherland).

Andy will be at the store from 10am until 1pm and will be giving away £1 Poundland vouchers to lucky customers.

For more information visit http://www.poundland.com/, the Poundland blog http://www.poundlandblog.co.uk/ and Twitter http://twitter.com/PoundlandParrot

Video: Trailer of Coronation Street's siege week

There's a great trailer for next week's explosive episodes on Coronation Street.

Top TV journalist Ian Wylie says on twitter that the "siege eps are among the best I've ever seen." By 'eck, they must be good.

Watch the trailer here at Digital Spy and find out more at the new pages on the official Corrie site at itv.com

Watch the new Corrie opening titles

The official Coronation Street site at itv.com has a video of the brand new opening titles.

Have a look here.

Corrie producer Kieran Roberts said: “In our new titles Coronation Street remains the star but we see it as part of a busy, modern Manchester through our opening shots. The overall feel is livelier, more intimate and more colourful and they look stunning, especially in high definition. We think the new titles have a classy, classic, timeless quality but at the same time feel vibrant, fresh and very contemporary. That combination is exactly what we strive for in the show itself.”

What do you reckon?

Coronation Street 50th anniversary Audio Quiz

To help celebrate Coronation Street's 50th Anniversary, games company Ginger Fox will be releasing a Rovers Return Audio Pub Quiz.

Hosted by Norris Cole the pack features nine quizzes, each capturing famous Corrie storylines and characters. Each quiz includes memorable sound clips and themed trivia rounds that will challenge even the most committed fan's expertise. Great for those get togethers or long car journeys (says the PR blurb, not me).

It'll be available in the autumn. More here.

It's a family affair

It could be a family affair in more ways than one, if I'm reading between the lines correctly. ITV today says that both of William Roache's sons, Linus and James, will be featured in an upcoming storyline on Coronation Street. In the fall, a "dark family secret" will be discovered. A letter is found during some building work (perhaps Ken is renovating that loft after all?) and it sends Ken on a quest to find out what it all means. Deirdre and Peter don't want the past dragged out of the loft, naturally. Now, my guess is this...We all know how many women Ken has had in the past. Is this going to be a long lost child plot? And if the letter was found in Number 1, why would Albert Tatlock have been the recipient (he owned the house then). I guess we'll find out!

Eileen's No Saint

Inside Soap have been running some 'where are they now?' features recently and this week's victim is the much missed Martin Hancock, who played the wonderful Geoffrey 'Spider' Nugent.

He reveals that Eileen Derbyshire (Emily Bishop) and Amanda Barrie (Alma Baldwin) used to get him into trouble when filming by tickling him (lucky beggar). "They were tickling me and giggling but the minute the cameras were on, the pair of them straightened up and I got done for laughing!"

Audrey's leaving? Say it isn't so!

The Mirror is telling us that Audrey is going to run off to Greece with Lewis, leaving Weatherfield far behind. They liken it to a plot in my favourite movie, Shirley Valentine, where Shirley goes to Greece on holiday and decides to stay. It seems while on holiday, Audrey and Lewis decide to buy a hotel. That leaves Audrey to sell up the salon out from under Natasha and David but you know what? I think this is going to turn out to reveal Lewis as a scam artist, after Audrey's money. Once he gets his hands on the money from the salon, she could be left high and dry.

Though the Mirror thinks that Audrey would want to leave Gail facing a life in prison, I don't think she would do it. My speculation is that this all happens after Gail is exonerated, because that, at least, it would be feasible for Audrey to think about leaving town. What say you, readers?

Coronation Street Weekly Update, May 24 2010

This week the update's packing its bags for a few days in the sun. I'm leaving next week's update in the very capable hands of Janet Waterhouse so be nice to her and I'll see you the week after next. But for now, without any further ado, here we go with this week's Coronation Street update.

Find out more about the Coronation Street Weekly Updates and why they've been written for th'internet since 1995 at http://www.corrieweeklyupdates.btinternet.co.uk/

In Weatherfield nick, Tracy goes about her strange ways and lies to the cops telling them that Gail's confessed to killing Joe by beating him up with a rolling pin. The cops buy it, Gail's in tears, Ken and Deirdre are in denial over their daughter's lies and this fan's left wishing that Tracy Barlow had never returned.

The Plattilsley boys do their best for their mum and David storms into the Rovers to have a battle with Ken and Deirdre over Tracy's lies. David tracks down the Polish polisher who worked at the Lakes cottage and wants to bribe her with cold, hard cash. Trouble is, he hasn't got any, so Nick nicks three hundred nicker from the knicker factory before the lads leg it to the Lakes to bribe a witness.

In the knicker factory, there's a leak in the ceiling, Carla's under pressure to finish an order and needs a new stitcher. Izzy gets the job and Kirk starts work in packing, over the moon to have a job handling ladies undies all day. He's still trying to work out what they all are.

Graeme continues to look after Tina and lust after Rosie. He gets Tina out of the flat for a breath of fresh air but she spies David's hand-made ‘Free Gail McIntyre' banner made from a bed sheet and stuck on the roof of the house, and she scuttles back indoors quick sharp.

Roy and Hayley are at odds over their future. Hayley wants a wedding, Roy just wants things legal and tidy. Why can't they have both? For now, it seems they can't even agree to disagree and fall out over a salsa dress.

And that's just about that for this week. A million thanks go to Janet Waterhouse for writing next week's update.

Coronation Street writers this week were Jonathan Harvey, Peter Whalley, John Kerr and Mark Burt. Find out more about the Coronation Street writing team.

Glenda Young
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Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com/