Saturday, 10 December 2011

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.
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7 comments:

  1. Tvor10 December 2011 at 15:15

    One of my favourites was the big black labrador that ate Jack and Vera's turkey and cornered them upstairs in the loo!

    And um, there may be a list of Corrie christmas stuff on your blog but where is it? Could you post the actual link to the blog post please?

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  2. Glenda Young10 December 2011 at 15:32

    Wonderful. I've put a link in to your Corrie December 2010 blog posts - they are fantastic. If you wish, please copy and paste them to this blog too, one by one?

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  3. Clinkers (David)10 December 2011 at 15:57

    Many thanks Flaming Nora! Me and technology . . .

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  4. corrierules10 December 2011 at 19:44

    I remember an old Corrie Xmas episode (on a VHS compliation) and the show revolved around watching the Queens's Xmas message. Very sweet and charming. Oh, and Harry Hewitt bought Concepta Riley a watch

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  5. Anonymous10 December 2011 at 22:46

    I have enjoyed all the Corrie Christmases, even if some have been quite tame, I think every christmasy episode from each year starting from 1960 should be released ON DVD, I'd buy it what a cracking corrie festive feast that would be!

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  6. John in Cincinnati10 December 2011 at 23:53

    'I think every christmasy episode from each year starting from 1960 should be released ON DVD, I'd buy it what a cracking corrie festive feast that would be!' Annonymous,
    I agree with you wholeheartedly.

    I like the episodes where the street would put on a panto for the oaps or kids..Cinderella, Aladin..what fun!

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  7. Sunny Jim11 December 2011 at 14:00

    I thought the year that ITV actually incorporated the queen's speech into the programme was particularly odd.

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