Coronation Street Blog: Missing Corrie puzzle pieces

Sunday, 13 February 2011

Missing Corrie puzzle pieces

I hate it when the writers on Corrie seem to forget that they've not told us something. A situation will unfold and the viewer, me, will be watching and thinking they missed something when it was just that the writers decided they'd include or drop something that contradicts something they'd already been telling us.

Lloyd and Cheryl's new loving relationship is one of those things that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Read over here to find out what else I've noticed and feel free to add your own 'huh?' type storyline puzzles.

21 comments:

Frosty the Snowman said...: Some of the ones I have noticed:

Lloyd saved Chris's life at the tram crash and they shook hands and the next minute Chris is trying to frame Lloyd for burglary.

Owen organising Jim' beating, one scene with Jim in hospital and then he just disappears again.

Jason and Tina's flat, was it ever sold, who lives there now?

Tina screeching "me dad" at every opportunity then forgets the anniversary of his death and has to be reminded by Gail.

What is Gail living on since she was sacked by the doctor and what happened to the case of complaint by Natasha?; 13 February 2011 at 09:18
Blackie Bird said...: What happened to Carla's alcholism? It lasted a couple of weeks, one minute she was veering out of control the next she seems to be cured and was enjoying a glass of champagne with Peter et al in the Rovers on Friday and the odd cheeky glass of red.; 13 February 2011 at 09:56
Anonymous said...: Yeah I noticed that aswell with Lloyd. One Episode Cherryl was saying no I dont want to date you, the next they were kissing each other.; 13 February 2011 at 10:11
Cobblestone said...: I think the Owen/Jim thing, Frosty, was a result of the scripts being buggered up by Liz going AWOL again. I gather it's going to be picked up again, in some form or other, when she gets back for her exit storyline. I thik this is one instance where we can;t really blame the writers, although personally I think they could have handled the problem more adroitly.
The Lloyd/Chris thing didn't bother me as, as I saw it, Chris had to grudgingly shake Lloyd's hand after saving him, but being the self-centred scumbag that he is, soon let his jealousy take over again. Psychologically, to find you owe your life to someone you detest, can breed even more hatred & resentment.
I assume Jason/Tina's flat was damaged in the tram crash. Surely it must have been - and even if not, difficult to show prospective buyers around when it's effectively in the middle of a building site! However, if it WERE damaged, then surely Eileen's roof problem could have been paid for out of the insurance settlement. The insurance for the Kabin, Alahans' & Joinery seems to have come through without a hitch, and it was the loan of Eileen's inheritance that allowed Jason to buy No 12. So what we have here is another sloppy oversight by the story team.
I suppose we have to assume Natasha left before making any formal complaint against Gail, but again, we have to make the assumption, because we haven;t been told, which is Tvor's central point.
One additional but related point that bugs me is the descrepancies between performance in one episode and descriptions of the event in a later programme; for example, Peter insisting that Tracy, Ken & Diedre were having a "ding-dong" row, when he walked in. Actually, they weren't. They were having an emphatic discussion, and frankly, in a household containing Tracy Barlow, it was nothing remotely out of the ordinary. Now had the director of the earlier episiode seen the script for the next, he could have upped the ante in that scene and had a few genuinely raised voices for Peter to react to. Or alternately, had the writer of the second script seen the earlier scene as performed, he could have found another way around the problem to justify Peter's suspicions, but of course the script would have been written way before. Hope I'm making sense here. Seems to me that these are the inconsistancies that are going to occur when a show with 5 episodes a week is created by such a large team. The writers have to work in semi-isolation, knowing only the synopsis of what has happened in the previous script, without actually seeing the finished dialogue. Surely it's the story editor's job to make sure these things don't occur.; 13 February 2011 at 10:51
Dolly Tubb said...: Tvor - excellent post, a 'light blue touch paper and retire' type of posting!!!!

I can only agree with what has been said above. And the thing that has really bugged me is the business with Eileen's roof - whenever did she buy the house in one of the UK's great recessions and the banks are (allegedly) being very tight with mortgages. Also, why she couldn't get an insurance claim after the tram etc beggars belief.

I've said it before and I'll say it again (with left hand on hip and right hand wagging finger)until Corrie writers start treating its viewers like intelligent adults then they will not do well in awards. Don't say I never told them.

*flounces off in a huff*; 13 February 2011 at 11:18
Nana banana said...: Also what happened to Eileen's "partnership" in Street Cars? Much was made of it at the time now she works in the faktry and the terminally boring Cheryl has taken over from her.

Whatever happened to Uncle Len Windass, not that I miss him, but he is never ever mentioned now as the Morton's Grandad at the time, just disappeared into a puff of smoke. Same as Audrey's son in Canada and whatever happened to Ted?; 13 February 2011 at 11:29
Anonymous said...: - The storyline about Ken's secret family is one of the most dislocated plots of recent times. We know Ken's 'new' gay grandson is returning, but it's hard to remember/care where we left the story.

- Why was noone ever really culpable for the Joinery explosion? Wasn't it just based on 'faulty equipment'?; 13 February 2011 at 12:21
Kate said...: Totally agree, and reading all of these makes me a bit sad! So many holes, and so much potential in the holes. Some things I've been wondering lately. Wasn't Amy initially supposed to go to Spain with Becky and Steve? I could've sworn so, but next thing know no there's no mention of it and she's back living with Tracy. Maybe I missed something. Also found David in Tenerife mention VERY odd (I thought Gail was on the phone to Sarah initially).; 13 February 2011 at 13:04
Tvor said...: Yes, the Owen and Jim thing was scuppered due to Bev Callard's sudden departure. I can't really blame them for that one.

Scenes are also shot out of sequence so they wouldn't know what was shot when and the scripts are written well ahead of time. Peter walked in on them saying that he needed to know something and it was clear they'd been arguing so he would naturally assume they were having an ding-dong.

Jason's mentioned about the insurance and the flat and it would be rebuilt along with the Kabin. I assume once it's all done he can start showing it again or he and Rosie might move into it?

Eileen's roof... she hoped the insurance would pay out but first, Jason thumped the assessor and later she said the insurance decided it was not as a result of the crash but normal wear. The house next to them, 13, was damaged by the fire far more than the crash itself.

Chris seemed to get jealous pretty quickly when he realized that Lloyd and Cheryl were indeed a couple and Russ and Lloyd were getting closer. He felt like he was losing his son and that's what sparked off the set up.

Presumably Gail is getting Job Seeker's allowance benefits.

Yeah, good point about Carla though she never really seemed to go as deep into the alcoholism route. it always felt more like a period of too-heavy drinking (and plot device to get her and Peter closer while Leanne and Nick were shagging)

Eileen wanted to be in partnership with Streetcars and Steve and Lloyd turned her down. I think they made her "manager"

Len and Eddie had a big "ding dong" over his influence over Gary and helping Gary with alibis and Eddie chucked him out. we've never seen him since.

They did investigate the explosion and Nick was interviewed by investigators. He didn't realize he had to report any problems with the gas and the equipment was deemed faulty, the end result was that they didn't assess blame to him or anyone else.

Amy didn't go to Spain because Tracy's court hearing set her free and she took Amy back.; 13 February 2011 at 14:38
Defrost Indoors said...: Steve is Eileen's landlord; they seem to have forgotten that.

This is going way back, but when the Harrises first showed up and were in hiding from gangsters (or whoever), Angela made a big deal about calling her mum. Then after Katy and Tommy died, her dad showed up on his own and appeared to be single/widowed, or at least free to woo Audrey.; 13 February 2011 at 16:40
Anonymous said...: I know its going back abit, but the departure of Phyllis Pearce, bugged me, she was a popular character and in the show for 14 years, yet she just disappeared. I think we were to presume she moved into Mayfield court, the retirement home, were Percy Sugden and Maud Grimes moved to..... actually Maud had the same sort of exit as Phyllis, at least Percy left the street in a taxi and was waved off by the residents !!; 13 February 2011 at 20:05
Tvor said...: Steve isn't Eileen's landlord. He sold the house to pay for his wedding with Karen. Last year Eileen actually purchased the house. She was first going to buy Molly and Tyrone's and when they backed out she bought her own.

The actress that played Phyllis became ill and died off screen and her family apparently did not want her death addressed on screen.; 13 February 2011 at 20:42
Anonymous said...: What I really want to know is, why did Liz just randomly disappear like that?; 14 February 2011 at 05:09
maggie muggins said...: Wow, this is the longest bunch of posts I've ever seen here! I'll have to come back later and chew over them - veeery interesting topic!; 14 February 2011 at 05:44
Cobblestone said...: And here's that perenniel favourite - why on earth is Michelle & Ryan's surname Connor (her maiden name) when we are told she was married to her beloved husband Darren? Unless Darran's surname was also coincidentally Connor (just as Elsie Tanner's second husband was also a Tanner), which is possible but unlikely and you'd have expected mention to be made of it in passing, this makes no sense. Even if she had chosen to revert to her maiden name (and why do that when she adored him?) she wouldn't change Ryan's legal surname, surely? Only alternative is that they were never (like Anna & Eddie) legally married. But let's face it, it's far more likely to be a cockup on the storyliners' part when they introduced Liam & Paul.; 14 February 2011 at 10:07
Tvor said...: When they first came to the show, I believe it was mentioned that Dean and Michelle weren't legally married, just long time partners. Then she would refer to him as her husband but then, Anna and Eddie do as well and it was a storyline point that they weren't married, she j ust took on his name.; 14 February 2011 at 10:32
Cobblestone said...: Thanks for that, Tvor. I must have missed it first time around and it's bugged me for years.; 14 February 2011 at 20:26
Dilly Daydream said...: Something that struck me last night - Sean never mentions his son any more.; 15 February 2011 at 09:09
Anonymous said...: Dilly, that's because he's only ever mentioned when the production team realise that he is merely the token gay character of the street, camping it up and distilling every gay parody ever depicted into one Sean Tully, and they try and give him something remotely emotive to cling on to. His son is mentioned, he visits Vi, she's alright with him being back in Dillon's life, he forgets again. They're even going to bring Marcus back (a far better character and more believable) in an attempt to make something out of a nothing character.; 15 February 2011 at 10:23
gab said...: thank god i was wondering about certain storylines-i dont even remember eileen buying the house off steve i thought she wanted molly and tyones but they didnt go so she left it

surely insurance would pay out even if there was a miunderstanding over that bloke peering through the window its silly

and yes the cheryl/lloyd relationship

she said she didnt fancy him next minute theyre kissing and calling each other babe

asnd hopw the hell would eddie and ana get to adopt a child when hes falsely claiming benefits and working-surely thoey would have caught him out on their checks; 16 February 2011 at 12:58
Anonymous said...: Where's liz gone?; 19 February 2011 at 05:10