It was one of the doom-laden phrases being flung around this time last year. After the tram crash had brought carnage to the cobbles, life would never be the same again. With this is mind, we all sat glued to the trauma of Tram Week and the aftermath. What has been the lasting impact though, if any?
Almost twelve months on and the most palpable sign that all is not right comes in the form of the simmering tension between Kevin and Tyrone. The latter has passed through a range of emotions in the past year - shock, hurt, anger and maybe even a little guilt. What we have been left with though is, arguably, a much improved Tyrone. He's free of a mundane marriage and a feckless wife. There's an element of fun in his life thanks to a sassy new girlfriend and the inanity of housemate Tommy Duckworth.
Sally Webster gained some sympathy in the immediate aftershock of last December's revelations. As usual though, she lumbers from one disaster to another whether it be hooking up with a boyfriend who looks like a Punch & Judy puppet or deciding that working with a rapist is a positive career move. Thankfully though, the storyliners seem to have resisted the obvious path of teaming her up with dreary old Kev again.
Personally, I don't think the characters who left are particularly missed. Charlotte Hoyle was only ever a demented pantomime character and so, no love lost there. Poor old Molly's character had been ripped apart by less than believable (or sympathetic) storylines so her story was over anyway. This is probably true of Ashley Peacock but more so of the dreadful Claire, another who suffered at the hands of bizarre plot twists. Even her exit was based on some ridiculous criminal act. Off to France she went, a fugitive, yet still managed to sell her house to Lloyd. Someone should tell Interpol.
We were promised new characters and in fine soap style, some have worked (Brian Packham, Kirsty Policewoman), some are so-so (Stella Cindy from EastEnders, Tommy Duckworth) and some who really don't seem to have gelled at all (the robotic doctor, anyone with the surname Gray).
Is Weatherfield a much-changed place since this time in 2010?
5 comments:
I think the Tram Crash changed Corrie forever in the same way that Y2K changed the world; no one's ever gonna believe in that much hype ever again! I'd actually forgotten that we'd lost some characters and how lame that one of the dead was some random cab driver we'd never seen before. The Street needs a shake up, a real shake up - change of jobs, homes, relationships, desperate times leading to desperate measures... another industry setting up in the damned faktry or a revamp to what's being sold at the Kabin. Please, give us something to get excited about.
Yep agree, get rid of that time warp faktry and all the mundane stories about losing clients (who?) getting back from the brink, tea and biscuit runs, shouting at the staff. The Rovers used to be the hub but now we have the insipid Stella making ridiculous utterings. Stop bringing back idiots like Keith Duffy over and over again and USE Dennis.
I was distraught at the possibility that Peter might be a casualty of the tram crash. Now look what's happened to his character. One can only hope this is a temporary dip. The factory somehow should have been lost because it's become utterly ridiculous and that would have been a fine exit. Stella is an awful character and I just don't warm to her at all. (I read Lisa Tarbuck had been approached by a soap. Let's hope it's Corrie - for the new manager.) Julie and Brian are a true Corrie couple, a bit Derek and Mavis. But did the tram crash change anything? Not much.
The anniversary week itself was very enjoyable, but I agree with most of the comments above, particularly Anon's point about not believing the hype ever again.
The viaduct was repaired in super-quick time (just as it was after the the 1967 train crash) and so were the corner shop and Kabin. The tram crash DID change Corrie, but only momentarily!
Apparently Peter is set to start drinking again around the time of the anniversary so maybe this'll be a chance for Corrie to redeem itself with regards to a lasting impact.
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