Merry Corrie-mas!

It's now as traditional as dry turkey and over-boiled sprouts - the seasonal glut of soap opera action. On Christmas Day at 8.00 p.m., ITV1 viewers will see one Corrie character fighting for her life and another attempting to keep a promise. The yuletide soap epics seem to be the mainstay of the schedules, yet a quick look through the history books would indicate otherwise.

Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, there was very little Corrie around at all. It tended to be ITV policy only to air the show if Christmas Day fell on a normal Corrie day. Even then, it wasn't always the case. Also, Granada tended to keep the festive storylines fairly light and managed to wait until 1987, the year of Hilda Ogden's departure, before really having a big story on the big day.

In fact, the Corrie Christmas storylines tended to be either low-key or a bit odd. Some of those you could have enjoyed include:

1961 - Ena chokes on a sixpence, by crikey she does Minnie Caldwell!
1962 - Emily and the tranquilisers. Well, it was the Swinging Sixties . . .
1969 - Ena & Emily duetting on "Cockles and Mussels" in the Rovers. Valerie Barlow's topless rendition of "We shall overcome" was never transmitted.
1976 - Vera attempts to strip Ernie Bishop
1982 - The community centre dance sees Elsie getting groped by someone older than her . . .
1985 - Alf sits on a plum pudding
1996 - Curly and Maureen. Together. In bed . . .

We should be thankful though that Corrie has never strayed down the Albert Square root and killed off a major character under a Christmas tree. For a full rundown (in more ways than one) of the Corrie Christmas episodes, take yourself off to http://clinkerstoriddle.blogspot.com/ and check the December 2010 blogs.