OK, hands up, guilty as charged m'lord. I'm one of the bloggers who, when the wind is blowing in the right direction, can happily (Julie) carp on about storylines and characters. I've ranted about the car crash that is Tracy Barlow/McDonald/Whatever and the life-crushing slice of misery known as Tina McIntyre. But enough.
At the moment Corrie is showing signs of steering away from the obvious. You know what I mean - plot devices employed by some dramas that may as well be signposted and decked out in flashing lights. Any easy one to anticipate on the distant horizon might be the coming together of Tyrone and Fiz. On paper it looks like an easy fix. Match up two old mates with a bit of history, both single parents and both characters who are popular with viewers. What's the betting though that the powers-that-be take us in a completely different direction? If rumours are to believed (and let's face it, we are suckers for a juicy rumour) Fiz may come to harm in a cheery festive gas leak storyline. With Tyrone as the cause of the trouble, this could drive a wedge between the two of them for years to come.
The Maria-Marcus relationship is another little twist, just as we settled down to the prospect of Mrs Connor settling down with meat-head Jason. Thankfully, we have the rather good Charlie Condou at the heart of this storyline so expect a bucketload of angst any day now.
Spanish night at Roy's Rolls could also be the making of Mary. Full marks to storyliners and writers for moving away from the somewhat tedious Mad Mary plots by making her a little more human. If she is to have any staying power in the Street, Mary has to be brought in from the cold.
One story which could be a winter warmer is the 'normal service has been resumed' version of Owen. The smug little family set up with Anna, the perpetually vacant-looking Izzy and explosive Gary could never last. Again, if rumours are to be believed, the Owen is going to get nasty with Tina (hurrah for that!) I'll be cheering on from a distance.
So how about it, storyliners? Why not take Tina in a different direction? Michelle Keegan is a talented actress so why not give her a fresh, positive, hopeful approach in 2013? As it is, she exists merely to snarl and whinge. She's a young biddy, an Ivy Tilsley in the making and a bit of a bore. Let's have a fun Tina and Tommy in the New Year. Or kill them off with a double dose of Deirdre's stuffed marrow and Victoria sponge 'cake'.
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