When Corrie gets it wrong

The wonderful Flaming Nora has already given an equally wonderful assessment of this week's dire episodes of our favourite show. Of course, we've been here before. Corrie has often blundered into this territory, as far back as the gruesome 'Cult of Nirab' nonsense back in the 1990s. There often seems to be a need to string out wafer-thin storylines to the detriment of everything else. The difference this time is that the plots are filled with a whole host of unlikeable characters.

Take Tina for example. No, for God's sake, please take the harridan-in-waiting. Why we are expected to invest any interest in this joyless piece of misery is anyone's guess. Well done Terry Duckworth (currently being played by several Space Hoppers crammed into a Mister Buyrite suit) for socking it to old hatchet face. Is she on a life-support machine? Shall we draw lots to see who gets the chance to pull the plug?

Eileen has spent many years as the Street's official bore-in-residence. Saddled with a feckless son, a dreary campster and the squint-eyed fireman, she moves through life like an over-stuffed sofa. She's relatively friendless and given the amount of time she puts in at Underworld, a useless employee. Her suitors are either mad (well, you'd have to be) or sad. Eileen has out-lived her usefulness on Coronation Street. If they can't come up with a decent character development for her after twelve years, then maybe it's time to call it a day.

The rubbishing of Sunita is particularly sad. Instead of a fun character and the proverbial shoulder to cry on, we are now presented with a comedy cleavage and those ridiculous, coquette-ish looks. One can only grimace at the thought of the hideous humping sessions taking place between Sunita and professional northerner Karl. She is now almost as ridiculous as her comedy husband, Desperate Dev.

Despite fine acting from Natalie Gumede, the Kirsty character doesn't seem to be working very well. For someone to have so few redeeming personality traits is always a mistake and she already has the air of someone who isn't going to be around for much longer. We know that her storyline isn't going to be particularly jolly but even so. There's something about this cuckoo-in-the-nest that leaves this particular viewer cold.

We should be of good cheer though. There are the shenanigans of Rita's wedding to look forward to plus some bizarre dressing-up for the Jubilee street party. Hopefully by then, Sunita will have dug out her old mumsy frocks, Eileen will have taken her dreary self off to Cyprus (forever) and Tina will be pulling pints alongside Betty in the Celestial Rovers. We can but hope.