Woman, Stanley, Woman!

It being Valentine's Day got me thinking about romantic, fluffy stuff in Weatherfield and then I quickly realised there wasn't much to speak of. Even though I know it's all fictitious, i think it's a shame they can't portray more happiness in Coronation Street.

Most couples in Corrie are separated into two different categories. There are those who lurch  from one outrageous disaster to the next (Nick and Leanne; David and Kylie; Peter and Carla; Steve and whoever). 

And there are those who just seem to exist together because it's comfortable and despite faults on both sides, they're well and truly stuck with each other. Yes, that's you Ken and Deirdre Barlow! Normally when couples get together in Coronation Street and enjoy happy times or good fortune you know something disastrous is just around the corner. 

Yes, I hear you cry! A consistently happy couple in Weatherfield would be tedious, dull and boring. I guess that is true, but I would love a bit of long lasting happiness for some of our Corrie couples for a change. Or at least a few more couples managing to fight through their troubles and stick together regardless. Too many break ups and musical beds, oh powers that be!

So who have been the happiest couples in Weatherfield in the past? Looking back, one couple stand out above all others. Stan and Hilda Ogden. Together on screen for twenty years, they never had much of anything and Stan was forever driving poor Hilda up the wall. However there was a strong bond between them that was only broken by Stan's death. There were never any huge romantic gestures between the two of them, but there were often touching moments and you knew they would never be apart. Similarly Jack and Vera Duckworth, very much the Ogdens' successors, shared an often unspoken love for each other which could be both touching and heartbreaking.

Are there any couples to rival the Ogdens or the Duckworths today? Probably the closest thing to enduring happiness on the cobbles today is the relationship between Roy and Hayley Cropper, however this image has now been tarnished as we know the partnership is to come to an end. I had hoped Audrey and Lewis would settle down long term, but sadly both the writers and Nigel Havers' pantomime commitments got in the way. No, for me there is one clear stand out happy couple in Weatherfield today - Rita and Dennis Tanner. 

I loved the touching story of Rita and Dennis finding each other after so many years. Although we don't see as much of them together as I would like, I think both characters have gelled and I love the idea of Rita being a Tanner after all her history with Elsie. I hope Rita and Dennis have a good few years together. So please writers, don't follow the pattern of Rita's previous partners. That means no motorway crashes on the way back from visiting a mistress. No Blackpool trams. No brain tumours. And finally, please don't turn Dennis into Alec Gilroy!

So do you think there should be more happiness on the cobbles? Who do you think are the happiest couples in Weatherfield? 

I'm off to watch Stan and Hilda on their second honeymoon back in 1977. What could be better - a bottle of champagne, chocolate mouse and a borrow of Rita Fairclough's best nightie...

"What's that lipstick taste of?" All together now...





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