Will we ever see the likes of barmaid Betty again on Coronation Street? Was her send-off in tonight's Corrie everything that she deserved - and more? Leave your comments and tributes to Betty, below.
There'll only be one Betty! Have to say, a tear came to my eye when Gordon read her letter and when her voice was heard at the end. It must've been hard for the actors - they probably cried in reality. Very moving have to say. It would've been nice to have a cameo of Bet visiting the grave. But overall, a good send-off imo. :)
We won't see the likes of barmaid Betty again. She was the ideal mother figure - kind, sympathetic, wise, yet fiercer than a tigress if she needed to be. Above all, she was always there. The Rovers without Betty is like the Tower of London without ravens.
Years ago, in the days when people looked down on soap actors, I remember another member of the cast being interviewed and defending the quality of the acting by citing Betty Driver, who of course had been a huge star. Since then I've seen or heard several cast members pay tribute to her. The image of her driving herself to the studios at 6am in her 90s is pretty inspirational. I had a real sense this week that most in the show were straining to do their best for Betty. They certainly don't make them like her anymore.
This week Coronation Street has mostly been at its very best, although there have been unfortunate flashes of some of the worst aspects too.
Haven't messaged for a while and I apologise in advance for the length of this message, but I thought we saw the best and worst of Corrie tonight and I find myself feeling very indifferent towards the programme.
The best bits; Gordon reading her speech, Rita's anecdote about Betty&Alec, and the little montage and photo at the end. PLus some light comic relief with Norris and her paper bill which was nicely rounded off with "account closed".
Worst Bits; Some of the characterisation has been utterly shambolic. The shoe horning of Stella into a storyline with a character she had no screen time with at all was completely baffling and the story lost alot of credibility in my eyes for this. It's hard to feel any poignancy when you have Stella bleating on about her and we all know they never met.
Secondly; Betty would never have left her hotpot recipe to Sean of all people, that was just weird and was given no explaination.
Thirdly and perhaps most importantly is where Corrie consistently lets itself down; other than a nod to Bet and Annie Walker no other former characters were mentioned or even brought back.
The five characters who would have returned I feel would be Bet, Alec, Hilda, Liz and Raquel. She was close and had history with all of them. I know Jean Alexandar has repeated she would never return but as far as I am aware not one of them was even asked if they would even consider coming back (although we know Julie Goodyear said she would) if someone knows different please correct me. (if they can bring back terry duckworth, they could bring back the others I mention.)
I felt some of the wake scenes lacked little emotion or sense of history.
Maybe I am stuck in the past and should forget about the golden 80's era and accept that things move on, but I cant help feel that a bit of Corrie died with Betty tonight.
I fell out of love a bit with Corrie tonight and I hate saying that.
Lovely touches, like Betty's voice at the end which was very moving. 'Account closed' was another one. The only thing that I felt was a bit stilted was the banter at the wake about Betty's dark side. Rita said: 'She could be funny ...' meaning she could be awkward. It wasn't followed up and the actors seemed a bit embarrassed, or perhaps emotional. All in all, it was a good send-off.
I was disappointed with the "send off" to Betty yesterday, the whole episode should have been dedicated to her and the characters that knew her. Instead we get Stella's plastic face shoved into every scene, the replusive Karl mauling Sunita over the sausage rolls and more nonsense with Sally and the faktry interspersed. No mention was made about how many times Betty was either sacked or walked out of the Rovers only to be reinstated again and again. The hot pot recipie would have been left to Rita surely or Emily if anyone, not the ridiculous Sean who is another of Collinson's pets. Could have been done much much better.
There'll only be one Betty! Have to say, a tear came to my eye when Gordon read her letter and when her voice was heard at the end. It must've been hard for the actors - they probably cried in reality. Very moving have to say. It would've been nice to have a cameo of Bet visiting the grave. But overall, a good send-off imo. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad that the final scene was about her, and not the Terry/Tommy saga. :)
ReplyDeleteYes all very well done, Shame about the absence or mention about Bet Lynch or Betty's sister Maggie Clegg.
ReplyDeleteWe won't see the likes of barmaid Betty again. She was the ideal mother figure - kind, sympathetic, wise, yet fiercer than a tigress if she needed to be. Above all, she was always there. The Rovers without Betty is like the Tower of London without ravens.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, in the days when people looked down on soap actors, I remember another member of the cast being interviewed and defending the quality of the acting by citing Betty Driver, who of course had been a huge star. Since then I've seen or heard several cast members pay tribute to her. The image of her driving herself to the studios at 6am in her 90s is pretty inspirational. I had a real sense this week that most in the show were straining to do their best for Betty. They certainly don't make them like her anymore.
This week Coronation Street has mostly been at its very best, although there have been unfortunate flashes of some of the worst aspects too.
Haven't messaged for a while and I apologise in advance for the length of this message, but I thought we saw the best and worst of Corrie tonight and I find myself feeling very indifferent towards the programme.
ReplyDeleteThe best bits; Gordon reading her speech, Rita's anecdote about Betty&Alec, and the little montage and photo at the end. PLus some light comic relief with Norris and her paper bill which was nicely rounded off with "account closed".
Worst Bits; Some of the characterisation has been utterly shambolic. The shoe horning of Stella into a storyline with a character she had no screen time with at all was completely baffling and the story lost alot of credibility in my eyes for this. It's hard to feel any poignancy when you have Stella bleating on about her and we all know they never met.
Secondly; Betty would never have left her hotpot recipe to Sean of all people, that was just weird and was given no explaination.
Thirdly and perhaps most importantly is where Corrie consistently lets itself down; other than a nod to Bet and Annie Walker no other former characters were mentioned or even brought back.
The five characters who would have returned I feel would be Bet, Alec, Hilda, Liz and Raquel. She was close and had history with all of them. I know Jean Alexandar has repeated she would never return but as far as I am aware not one of them was even asked if they would even consider coming back (although we know Julie Goodyear said she would) if someone knows different please correct me. (if they can bring back terry duckworth, they could bring back the others I mention.)
I felt some of the wake scenes lacked little emotion or sense of history.
Maybe I am stuck in the past and should forget about the golden 80's era and accept that things move on, but I cant help feel that a bit of Corrie died with Betty tonight.
I fell out of love a bit with Corrie tonight and I hate saying that.
Lovely touches, like Betty's voice at the end which was very moving. 'Account closed' was another one. The only thing that I felt was a bit stilted was the banter at the wake about Betty's dark side. Rita said: 'She could be funny ...' meaning she could be awkward. It wasn't followed up and the actors seemed a bit embarrassed, or perhaps emotional. All in all, it was a good send-off.
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed with the "send off" to Betty yesterday, the whole episode should have been dedicated to her and the characters that knew her. Instead we get Stella's plastic face shoved into every scene, the replusive Karl mauling Sunita over the sausage rolls and more nonsense with Sally and the faktry interspersed. No mention was made about how many times Betty was either sacked or walked out of the Rovers only to be reinstated again and again. The hot pot recipie would have been left to Rita surely or Emily if anyone, not the ridiculous Sean who is another of Collinson's pets. Could have been done much much better.
ReplyDelete