Where's all the male Corrie totty gone?

News that Doctor Carter - or to give him his full tabloid name, Hunky Doctor Carter - is leaving Coronation Street doesn't come as too much of a surprise today for Coronation Street fans.

But it does leave us lady viewers of a certain age in need of some much needed older man totty to look at on Coronation Street.  

Where's the wonderfully strong, silent, cuddly types like Dennis Stringer gone?

All we've got on the street at the minute are the likes of Peter Barlow to gawp over but a) he's not very tall and b) he's an alcoholic. And there's Faye's dad Tim, who's quite dishy in his own way, but a) he's far too self-absorbed and b) he could turn out to be a fake and c) he's not very tall and d) he's a bit young.

Come on, Corrie. You're doing your lady viewers of a certain age no favours by not giving us a male character to believe in. We want someone who's easy on the eye, someone we wouldn't mind getting into a snug with in the Rovers Return.  Someone we want to share a half of stout and a packet of cheese and onion with before heading out for a chippy tea together and a lifetime of cobbled contentent and a cuddle.

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Coronation Street weekly update, June 30 2013

GOT KINDLE? GET CORRIE!
Corrie weekly updates from 1995 - 18 years in 18 e-books
All the wit and warmth of Weatherfield, none of the waffle
Available in UK at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glenda-Young/e/B0077OXHBQ/
and in Canada and USA at http://www.amazon.com/Glenda-Young/e/B0077OXHBQ

Also for Kindle! Corrie weekly update writer and Coronation Street Blog editor Glenda Young's novel TRIPLE WHAMMY and her poetry book CANDY FLOSS GIRL NEEDED - APPLY WITHIN

Greetings and welcome to the Coronation Street Weekly Update. Find out more about the Coronation Street Weekly Updates and why they've been written for th'internet since 1995 at http://www.corrie.net  

It went a bit biblical with the baby this week on Coronation Street. In th’ospickle ward, it’s like King Solomon was there himself, ready to divide baby Joe/Jake (Joke?) in half with both Izzy and Tina getting half a baby each; one gets the ba and one gets the by.  The turmoil of the last few months is too much, way too much for Izzy. Never mind Izzy, what about us poor viewers? We’ve been dragged through it too, you know. Anyway, Izzy sees sense and gives up the fight for baby Joke, telling Tina she can have him, she doesn’t want the baby to go through a fight. “You’ve won, he’s yours”  she says, but Tina had already had a chat with Tommy who told her “You’re stealing a baby” so it seemed like she was ready to give him up anyway, and it was a no-brainer handing him back to Izzy as the rightful mum.  Gary gets his name as the dad on Joke’s birth certificate and there’s a bit of confusion the likes of which I do not understand that means Izzy’s not on the birth certificate as the legal mum but will be after a parental order goes through, or something.

David starts his evil plan of revenge on Nick when he nicks Peter’s lighter and drops it down the side of a chair in Nick and Leanne’s love nest up in the dizzy heights of Victoria Court.  He also whispers nasty nothings in Gail’s ear about Leanne still having feelings for Peter and as Gail likes to believe the worst of everyone, but especially her Battersby daughter-in-law, she’s extra nasty to Peter and Leanne this week too, winding things up nicely to David’s satisfaction. Insert evil laugh here.

Norris shows his true and very nasty colours this week when a box set of film noir DVDs arrive for Emily through the post from Freda. Norris intercepts the parcel, rips off the wrapping and presents the present to Emily himself saying it’s from him. Emily’s overjoyed until she finds the get well card from Freda that went with the DVDs and she’s fewmin, I tell you, fewmin.  But instead of chucking out the nasty little chintz that Norris is, he wheedles and whines and tells Emily that the only reason Freda and Spider are sending her flowers and gifts is because they want to be in on her will when she pops off.  “The vultures are circling,” he warns her, pointing out that he lives with and looks after her and he’s not in her will and therefore due nowt when she goes.   What a horrid little man he is.

Roy sets up CCTV in the café to determine who’s breaking in and tidying up. No one has, of course, it’s Roy with his restless mind who has been moving things around after hours.  But the CCTV does capture Roy piling all the chairs up on a table in the café, then leaving through the front door and wandering out in his pyjamas. He’s sleepwalking and Deirdre finds him in his dressing gown and PJs on the red rec as she’s taking Eccles for a walk.  She gets him back home safe and sound, in body if not in mind. Sylvia and Hayley try to talk some sense into Roy but he won’t he helped, not yet away. “But…” Roy interjects as Sylvia tells her son he needs help. Sylvia shuts him up, makes him apologise to Hayley for being rude to her and tells him to get to bed. She’s great, is Sylvia.

And finally this week, Tim and Jason go off to work in Newcastle leaving little Faye home alone in the flat.  Tim thinks Faye’s staying with Anna while he’s away but only takes Faye’s word for this and doesn’t check with Anna, he just jumps into Jason’s van and haway the lads go to the north-east for work.

And that’s about that for this week.

And that's just about that for this week. Remember, you can sign up to get these Corrie weekly updates by email at http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/corrieweeks

This week's writers John Kerr, Ellen Taylor, Julie Jones, Peter Whalley and Damon Rochefort. Find out more about the Coronation Street writing team at http://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.com/2008/11/exclusive-all-current-corrie-writers.html

Glenda Young
--
Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com


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Why Sylvia Goodwin is Corrie gold

Oh how I love Stephanie Cole in Coronation Street. Sylvia Goodwin is just lighting up the screen at the moment and in my opinion, definitely adds something extra to the Cropper family.

Initially I wasn't sure of her character. Her first stint was bogged down by the fairly terrible storyline involving her romance with The Man From Uncle, Milton Fanshawe. However since Sylvia has returned to Weatherfield, her character has just grown in stature. Sylvia Goodwin now has light and shade. Yes she is capable of the withering putdown and the sharp aside, but she is so very much more than that.

Sylvia very obviously loves good old Roy very much - theirs is a touching relationship of many layers, both funny and achingly sad at the same time. Roy, Hayley and Sylvia have certainly meshed well as characters and they have been a joy to watch of late. It's just such a shame this trio will be broken up early next year with the departure of Hayley.

When Sylvia first arrived she was positioned as a Blanche Hunt replacement. I guess that's why it took me a while to warm to her. There really is just no replacing Blanche. The closest we'll get to that is through her daughter Deirdre - and that would seem like a natural development to me. Sylvia has become her own character and that's why it works. Unlike the other big name of a similar ilk which sadly hasn't. The difference between Sylvia and Gloria Price is like night and day. It's really odd that this has happened as Sue Johnston is just as talented as Stephanie Cole. I guess these things just work or they don't.

Anyway, I'm loving Sylvia Goodwin at the moment and I hope Ms Cole decides to stay in Corrie for the foreseeable future. I think the relationship between Sylvia and Roy will become even more interesting if rumours on Hayley's departure turn out to be true.

So tell me, what are your views on Corrie's Sylvia? 


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Corrie A-Z: J is for Jiltings

These days, Corrie weddings being interrupted by revelations or disasters are common occurrences. Between the 1960s and 1980s, weddings were a quiet affair – maybe the groom or the bride was a bit late but the couple were married off by the end of the episode!

There were a few exceptions though. In 1964, timid spinster Emily Nugent jilted her pompous boss Leonard Swindley – even though it was her who proposed! Swindley didn’t really love Emily but thought, at 48, it was time to settle down. And although she had loved him from afar for years, Emily realised that the love wouldn’t last. She sent Jack Walker to tell Swindley she couldn’t go through it. Swindley wasn’t devastated and even went to stay for a couple of days in their honeymoon hotel. Swindley and Miss Nugent remained friends and colleagues until he left the area in 1965. He sent a telegram in 1980 to wish her luck on her marriage to Arnold Swain. I can’t recall he sent one when she married Ernest!

 

Twenty years later, the best remembered jilting happened – the Wilton jiltin’! Derek Wilton and Mavis Riley had been having an on/off relationship since 1976 and they finally came to the decision to marry in 1984. Indeed, Derek had to fight against potter Victor Pendlebury for Mavis’ affections. They became engaged but on the wedding day, nerves got the better of both of them and a double jilting occurred. Unaware that she had also been jilted, Mavis was worried about Derek but was furious to find what had really happened! Derek left for Bournemouth and although he made a brief visit in 1985, by 1986 he visited Mavis to tell her that he had married Angela Hawthorne. Mavis was again furious but the marriage didn’t last. In 1988, Derek returned again to Mavis’ life and proposed to her and they finally married. The marriage lasted until Derek’s death in 1997.

  

In 1999, another jilting took place when Sharon Gaskell, Rita’s former foster child, found out that her fiancé Ian Bentley was having an affair with Street vamp Natalie Barnes. After walking down the aisle, she thumped him and refused to marry him. Sharon tried to rebuild her life and Rita offered to sell The Kabin to her which Sharon accepted. But Rita was angered when Sharon rekindled her relationship with Ian at the end of the year and married him. Rita had to swallow her pride and buy the Kabin back from Sharon.

 

Others include Alan McKenna jilting Fiona Middleton in 1997; Danny Hargreaves jilting Sally Webster in 2001; Shelley Unwin having the bottle to dump controlling boyfriend Charlie Stubbs in 2005; Jason Grimshaw doing a runner through the toilet window on the day he was meant to marry Sarah Platt in 2006 (they did marry in 2007 only to separate soon after); and in 2011 Sian Powers dumped Sophie Webster for falling for Amber Kalirai.

 

Can you think of any others? 

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Corrie Weekly Awards for June 24 - 28

Mother Lioness award: Say what you may about Beth, she defends her chick.

Song of Solomon award: Izzy, the true mother, was willing to give up the baby rather than figuratively tear him apart. So Tina gave him up instead.

Lesson of the day: Horses and Giraffes sleep standing up by locking their knees. I did not know that's how they did it.

Organization award: Roy has an Instruction Manual drawer. The rest of us have junk drawers.

Fashion Disaster award: Beth.

Lines of the Week 
Deirdre to Norris "How's your bedside manner?" Norris "That's something you'll never find out"
Peter about David "Is he feeling all right? He's not normally this nice" (which should make you suspicious)
Faye about school "Scintillating as usual" (she *is* only 11, right?) Jason "Is that good or bad?" Faye "Is he kidding?" Tim "It's hard to tell sometimes"
Hayley "You don't take pieces of different jigsaws and try to fit them together"
Sylvia "Sounds like you've unleashed the hounds of hell. Gird your loins, Roy, this is not going to be pretty"
Craig "I was already having night..... mares" (Another clue?)
Anna "I'd rather a newborn baby than a stroppy teenager" (that's Faye told)
Tina "This is worse than Ross and Rachel"
Leanne to Gail "Just because the steriotype of a mother-in-law is an interfering old bat doesn't mean you have to live up to it"
Roy "There you have it. I am the ghost"


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Doctor Carter quits Coronation Street

Oliver Mellor, who played Doctor Carter, has quit Coronation Street.

Oliver left Corrie two months ago – because he was fed up of having nothing to do.

The Sunday Mercury exclusively reveals that viewers won’t see him again on screen and there won’t be any explanation for his departure.

Oliver told the Sunday Mercury: “There were quite long periods when I didn’t appear at all, so I realised it was time to leave. They didn’t try to make me stay – they admitted they didn’t have any solid plans for the doctor and it would be more of the same. I thought ‘Fair enough, you’ve been great but it’s time to go’. They just weren’t progressing my character as much as I would like. As an actor you want some kind of consistency and to be busy.  I wasn’t being integrated into the rest of the street. It was great when Matt started dating Tina, but it never came to any real fruition.

“I wanted something to get my teeth into but I was only ever included in other people’s story lines, if there was a pregnancy or someone suffered from depression. I think viewers last saw me stripping off on the Full Monty night, just before the fire. Getting involved in that and the tram crash made a change from sitting behind a desk giving out pills. The producers were very good about being flexible, they let me do an episode of Doctors and Midsomer Murders. But I was getting offers of theatre work and I couldn’t have had three months off Coronation Street to go on tour.

“I realised it was time to move on. I learned a lot in nearly three years and I will really miss the cast, more than the character. It’s a shame Matt doesn’t get an exit story line – they just stopped using him, unfortunately. But they’re not killing him off, so you never know, he could return one day.”

Oliver has been busy since his departure learning lines for the thriller A Murder Has Been Arranged, a tour also starring Anita Harris which goes on a nationwide theatre tour soon. Details here.

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State of the Street - June 2013

Here's a bit of an opinionated wrap up on the major stories for June on Coronation Street and quite a good month it's been, for the most part.

The surrogacy story wound down (and I know many of you out there are thanking the Storyline Gods but I enjoyed it!). Evil David is back and starting to exact his revenge on Nick. But what about Kylie? Dev's quest nearly got him a golf trophe on the back of his skull. But the best thing about June was the Cropper storyline! Superb stuff!

Read more about it here. 

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Corrie A-Z: J is for Jailbirds

I don’t think any street in Britain has as many jailbirds as Coronation Street!

 

From Jed Stone to Jim McDonald and from Deirdre Rachid to Gail McIntyre, countless residents over the years have been behind bars – some justifiably but others innocently.

 

Upstanding resident Ken Barlow spent a night in the cells for protesting against the Vietnam war in 1967; Len Fairclough spent the night for being drunk in 1978 and cost him his council seat; Dennis Tanner has been in and out of prison over the years; Steve McDonald served two short prison sentences in the 1990s; Rita Sullivan spent the night in the cells for contempt of court; David Platt and Graeme Proctor have been in a young offenders’ institution; John Stape was in jail for kidnapping Rosie Webster; while do-gooder Hayley Cropper was jailed for kidnapping.

 

Tracy Barlow (much loved on this blog!) spent three years in prison for murdering Charlie Stubbs while Jim McDonald has been in HMP for the manslaughter of Jez Quigley, being on the run and attempted robbery! Not bad eh?

 

The most famous jailbird has to be poor Deirdre “I didn’t do any of it!” Rachid, who was wrongly jailed for fraud, thanks to her evil boyfriend Jon Lindsay in 1998. The campaign to ‘Free the Weatherfield One’ led to even PM Tony Blair asking for Deirdre to be freed – and that’s what happened! Producers have always claimed that was the original storyline, but who knows?

 

Can you think of any other Corrie jailbirds?

 

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Vote for your favourite Corrie gossip

Who's your favourite Corrie gossip? Martha Longhurst? Hilda Ogden? Norris Cole?

Vote for your favourite here. Voting closes on Monday, 1st July.

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Winners announced in our Jonathan Harvey's novel competition

Congratulations go to four lucky Coronation Street Blog readers who have been drawn at random to win a copy each of Corrie writer Jonathan Harvey's first novel All She Wants.

The winners are Bonnie Guster in Canada; Rebecca Jones in the UK, Petrina Bonia in Canada and Bruce Benton in the UK. 

Jonathan Harvey's new novel is due out on August 15 2013 and it's called The Confusion of Karen Carpenter.  Read more about it here.

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Corrie A-Z: I is for International audiences

 

As we know Coronation Street has been attracting millions of viewers here in the UK since it began back in 1960. But, as we know on this blog, the programme also attracts viewers from around the globe with a strong fan base in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
 

Corrie has aired in the following nations:

 

Australia (on and off since 1963)

Belgium (2006- )

Canada (1966- )

Ireland (1978- )

New Zealand (1964- )

The Netherlands (1967-1975, 2011- )

Sweden (2000s)

USA (on the Canadian border since 1966, online since 2009)

 

Other countries who broadcast Corrie included Asian nations, the Middle East, Cyprus, Malta and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Are you an international Corrie viewer? Since when have you been watching? How did you get hooked?

 

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Fab Photo Friday - June 28th 2013

It's Friday again so it's time for this week's fab Coronation Street photo. The Duckworths and the Platts enjoy a relaxing break in a caravan somewhere in the vicinity of Blackpool.

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Last chance to enter to win Corrie writer Jonathan Harvey's novel

Competition ends today, Friday 28 June at 5pm.

We have four, yes, four copies of Corrie writer Jonathan Harvey's first novel All She Wants, to be won here on the Coronation Street Blog. 

Jonathan's novel is about Jodie McGee, a fictional character and star of a Liverpool-based soap called Acacia Avenue. It's brill, I've read it and can heartily recommend it.

To be in with a chance of winning one of these four copies of the novel, all you have to do is tell us the title of Jonathan Harvey's second novel which is due out on August 15, 2013, published by Pan MacMillan.

Email your correct answer to me at glenda.young@btinternet.com with NOVEL in your email subject line, by the deadline of Friday June 28th 2013 at 5pm. 

Overseas fans can enter this competition.  Good luck!

Check out our competition to win The Best of Betty Driver on CD.

Entries from moneysavingsexpert.com, Loquax and all other competition entry websites will not be included.
 
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Spot the Corrie prop - June 28th 2013

Lots of guesses last week to try and identify the owner of the pot plant. The first to guess correctly was AmandaB who spotted that it sits on Gail's kitchen window sill.

For this week's prop puzzle all you have to do is tell us whereabouts on the Coronation Street set you would find this lamp.

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Sneak preview of tonight's double Corrie - Friday 28 June

Coronation Street, Friday 28 June 2013 at 7.30pm
After an emotional showdown Gary, Izzy and Tina make steps to move on with their lives.
Tim instructs Faye to ask Anna if she can stay for a few nights while he works away in Newcastle. But when she overhears Anna talking to Owen about how she prefers babies to stroppy teenagers, Faye walks out. Will she tell Tim what's happened or decide to go it alone?
When Leanne gets called away by Peter, Gail's immediately suspicious and voices her thoughts to Nick. David's thrilled that his plan seems to be working.
Hayley worries that Roy may be having a nervous breakdown as his erratic behaviour continues.

Friday 28 June 2013 at 8.30pm
Adapting to a new life, can Izzy, Gary and Tina move forward?
When Dev calls for the rent, Faye is forced to lie that Tim has just popped out. Dev's sceptical but will he realise there's more to Faye's lie than meets the eye?
Over a 'brotherly' drink, David sows his seeds of poison in Nick's mind, suggesting there's something going on again between Leanne and Peter. With David's evil words ringing in his ears, Nick returns home and interrogates Leanne.
Hayley panics when she discovers Roy has gone missing. His bizarre behaviour is soon explained but it leaves even Roy feeling he's lost all control. Norris admits to Emily he's worried about his future and reckons when she dies her family will make him homeless.

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Corrie musical 'Street of Dreams' producer goes into liquidation

 

Those owed money by the failed Coronation Street musical Street of Dreams say they have given up hope of receiving thousands of pounds owed to them, after administrators were unable to prevent production company Reckless Entertainment from going into liquidation.

The Stage have the full story which basically says that Reckless Entertainment Ltd – listed as one of two production companies behind the Street of Dreams musical – has now gone into liquidation, with many involved in the production left thousands of pounds out of pocket.

The Stage say that a report to creditors – among whom Paul O’Grady’s management  company is listed as being owed £80,000 – reveals there will no “asset recoveries”. A subsequent letter from the Insolvency Service to potential creditors of Reckless Entertainment also shows there is “no prospect of a distribution to creditors”.

It's been its own soap opera, that's for sure, and one with an unhappy ending for everyone involved.

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Pics: Filming of Corrie car crash stunt

There are paparazzi pictures online today of Coronation Street filming the car crash that will leave Nick Tilsley in a coma. 

You can see the small thumbnail pics above and to see larger pictures, have a look at Digital Spy.

The car crash storyline is expected to be on screen in August.

See also: David and Nick in Corrie horror car crash.

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Sharing a coke with Leanne and Peter

With full credit to Coronation Street fan @sheldakenji13 on twitter for posting this fab picture.    They should sell them in the Rovers Return.

 

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Corrie A-Z: H is for Hotpot

People have always presumed that Betty’s hotpot has been in the Rovers since she became barmaid in 1969. In fact, the hotpot didn’t make its debut until 1973. And for nearly 40 years, it has been an undisputed Corrie icon. Over the years, its future has been in the balance but has managed to survive on the pub menu – despite Alec Gilroy’s attempts to take it off! Even though Betty has passed away, the hotpot is still an integral part of the Rovers Return menu and still bears her name.

 

For the hotpot’s recipe, click here. And don’t forget the secret ingredient: a drop of stout!

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Is baby Jake really Tina and Tommy's child?

As one of our readers pointed out by leaving a comment on this blog post here, the baby that Tina has handed over to Izzy and Gary, might not be Izzy and Gary's after all.

Hang on, bear with me, this isn't another discussion about surrogacy. It's about the fact that, as our commenter says: "Doesn't anyone remember that Tina and Tommy slept together the night before the surrogacy procedure was performed? Hmmmm"

Well, I had forgotten it, that's for sure.  So there's every chance that the baby could be Tina and Tommy's and if it is, and Gary's gone and got his name on the birth certificate, it could lead to all manner of carry on for the future.

Cue that famous scene from EastEnders:
"You ain't mah muvver!"
"Yes Iyam!"

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