Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Coronation Street fan of the week - Jeremy in Crawley

It's Wednesday and time to meet another Corrie fan of the week.

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Who are you and where are you from?
Jeremy from Crawley, West Sussex

How long have you been watching Corrie?
I've watched Coronation Street since 1989. My earliest memory is of Alan Bradley chasing Rita in that rain mac in Blackpool and being hit by a tram. I was only 7 at the time and he gave me nightmares!

Who are your favourite female and male characters - and the reasons why?
Frank Foster was really successful and a classic suave Corrie baddie. Everyone loves Roy Cropper - one of life's awkward outsiders but a man of great intellect and love for Hayley, Becky and Fiz. My favourite male character would be Brian Packham - it's easy to see how he and Julie have been dubbed the new Derek and Mavis. He's a loveable buffoon - Julie has him on a pedestal as a superhero and he's one character who is under-rated but ingenious.

I think Kylie Platt has really come into her own - for me she's one of the most believable characters and gets some brilliant lines. She's gobby, feisty and yet still has a heart. I admire Carla Connor's grit, Beth Tinker is an excellent newcomer, and Eileen is incredibly real. Leanne is one of my favourites especially since the live 50th anniversary episode - her performance was so emotive and flawless - but my ultimate favourite ever has to be Gail! If she's not power-walking with Audrey or walking down the aisle, she's helping Becky obtain Tracy's medical records or being dragged out the canal. She just has to pop up in Nick's Bistro in her tabard and I laugh. She tries to keep up appearances but flits from comedy to crisis in a heartbeat - she is just brilliant.

What's been some of your favourite Corrie storylines over the years?
The Colin Fishwick storyline dragged on but Charlotte Hoyle was the most unhinged woman ever seen in Weatherfield since Mad Mary was out chopping logs with an axe. I really enjoyed her performance til she met her maker with a hammer at no.5! 'Mad Maya Monday' was up there. Dev's shops all going up in smoke, Sunita chained to the cooker but the best storyline was Toyah Battersby's rape. Traumatic, poignant, well written and superbly acted.

And what would your fantasy Corrie storyline be?
There is still unfinished business with Tracy and Karen McDonald - and also Claire Peacock - who must still be on the run with Josh, Freddie and a false passport! I think Sarah-Lou Platt should return to No.8, and Cilla's friend Yana Lumb back at the chippie.

I think the stunts have been done so much over the last few years with the tram, the factory, the crash into the bookies. Character driven plots really pull on your heart strings like Alma's death, Mike Baldwin and Lesley Kershaw's Alzeihmers Disease. I think the writers would handle a euthanasia storyline superbly and contrast that with a happy wedding for Anna Windass. And could Stella develop an evil side and lock Sunita in the pub cellar? The writers love a hostage drama.

Have you any snippets or news about meeting any of the Corrie cast, or trips to the set, etc., that you'd like to share?
I've met Chris Gascoyne who is knee high to a grasshopper, Johnny Briggs who was very approachable and clearly enjoying his retirement and also the late Brian Hibberd in a cafe in Aberystwyth.

I've been to the set twice, once was a school business studies trip in 1998. It was intriguing to see all the backyards dressed to suit the characters who lived there, the gravestones of characters gone by. At the time Roy's Rolls was just a wooden sign stuck on the side of The Rovers set. It will be interesting to see if viewers notice a change on screen when the set is rebuilt in Salford Quays. The show can only get bigger and better!

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