There are always going to be some Weatherfield residents who can be described as Marmite characters amongst fans. When I say that I mean, you either love them or you hate them, and there's very little in between.This subject came to mind when the return of Liz McDonald was announced a few days ago. The news was greeted very favourably over all, although some fans made it abundantly clear that they did not view the return of Elizabeth as reason to celebrate! Similarly, Stella has also been a Marmite character since her arrival two years ago. The majority of contributors to this blog can't stand the character, however as we have seen in recent days she does have her supporters.
So my question is this: who is your ultimate Marmite character in Coronation Street?
Who do you love to hate, and who do you just hate? Which character(s) divide opinion like no other? And why do some characters escape such discussions entirely?
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24 comments:
Tracy Barlow, don't love to hate her, just hate her! Not terribly fond of Carla either, and please stop Eva from wearing little girl bows in her hair!
Tracy Barlow also Tracy Barlow..oh....I forgot to mention Tracu Barlow.
Get rid already!
There are characters that we are not meant to like such as Tracy barlow but there are characters like that, that I dislike but enjoy watching as the actor and writing is very good. Of course it's all personal opinion. In the past, one of my favourite love to hates was Cilla. She was horrible but Wendi Peters was absolutely brilliant. The character that i really hate have a lot more to do with the actor than the character themselves because most often those characters aren't likeable. On the current list of characters i can barely stand to watch are Tracy, Ryan, and Stella. I never liked Norris and don't really even love to hate him but the actor is very good, I'll give him that. I do love to hate Beth, she's another tacky, tactless gobby mare but she's still great!
Gail, Faye, Leanne can't stand any of them. Don't mind Stella though.
Can't stand Owen myself. And how come Eddie W has not been mentioned since the birth of his grandson ? Get rid of Owen . Also Stella , Ryan and Michelle !
God, has it really been two years? Enough already.
It's quite clear who your Marmite character is Digger!
I wondered how often Tracy's name would appear and I haven't been disappointed!
I agree with everything Tvor says...Cilla was great in her day, but I couldn't see her as a long term character, she had a limited shelf life!
I do not like Michelle or Carla. Especially when they are acting like they are in some sort of high school clique.
They are know it alls and hold their noses in the air.
Even when bad things happen to them I have no sympathy whatsoever.
Oddly enough I enjoy Tracy very much and would love to see her get the upper hand on them both!
For such a long time, on various blogs, posters would say of Tracy that she must be a brilliant character, brilliantly played by Kate Ford if so many people disliked her. I never subscribed to that view and now Tracy's aged, it must be obvious to everyone that she's a non-character, poorly portrayed. There are no layers to this character, and no redeeming qualities. Carla was one that I didn't get for a long time but Alison King is a good actor and we are beginning to see something of her back story. Stella and Gloria are just a mess. It went terribly wrong with this family and I mentally switch off when they're on-screen. To balance it out, the characters I *do* love to hate are: Norris, Sally (sometimes), Gail (sometimes), David, Leanne.
The chronic attempt to redeem the Tracy Barlow character by the writers is a dismal failure time and time again. She's had her day. If they had some fore-sight, they might not have had her club her boyfriends brains in and then come back to the streets a couple of years later..it really irks me to see this character parading around. I know it's just a soap but there are limits IMO.
I have never understood all the love for Carla,I personally cannot stand her,her and Peter as a couple make my skin crawl.I love him with Leanne,but not Carla.There was great chemistry between Peter and Leanne,they were a family with Simon,a lovely one at that.Why oh why did the writers have to break them up?
Also cannot stand Tracyluv(who can?)and Rob is more wooden than a plank of wood.Get rid!
Don't see the point of Anna, Faye, Carla, Rob, MICHELLE!!! These characters don't really add anything at all in my opinion. If you are gonna keep Anna, bring Eddie back! Corrie would not be the same without Tracy, don't particularly like her, who would? But The Street without her? Pish tosh! Don't have any problem at all with Stella. Can hardly wait to see what happens when Karl is found out.
Hate Leanne. Utterly miserable character as well as condescending.
Going back a few years, Reg Holdsworth was pretty marmite. I don't think any character has been so equally loved and loathed since.
I really didn't like Reg and I hope he never comes back!
Sean has become a marmite character. SOme love him others loathe him.
I can't stand Leanne. I'm not keen on Saint Stella either, although she has got more bearable as time has gone on.
Have never understood why others hate Owen so much. When we first met Izzy she was a fighter - which is why Gary fell for her - and it was Owen who nurtured that strength. Sure he gave FayE a swat on the leg, but that was after she heartlessly killed some living things. Owen's outrage was both palpable and IMO reasonable. He's everything you could want in a patriarch: hard and soft in all the right places - a sentimental bruiser.
I think the writers missed the boat when they failed to pair him with Eileen. As the single mother of two sons, she's his perfect counterpart - a butch matriarch who is as vulnerable to others' opinions as she is ready to spit in the eyes of her gossiping neighbours. Both Owen and Eileen seem capable of raising non-f*ck'd up kids.
Why both characters get bad reviews, I'll never understand :)
I find most characters I dislike end up redeeming themselves for me at some point.
I have never liked Carla especially during the Liam/Maria/Carla stuff. She almost made into my heart, but that quickly ended up with her getting with Peter.
And I've never minded Tracy because I figured that was just the way they meant her character to be but now I find she's just getting too old for it all. Friday's scene at Deirdre's house she was just acting like a little girl when she's really what, 40? Amy's more mature than she is and that becomes more tiring as they get older.
I can't stand Tracey, Carla, Leanne or Michelle. They're all screechy, whiny self entitled brats. As for the men, I can't stand Peter or the latest incarnation of Nick. That's not the same Nick that Leanne fell for.. not even close. Even after all this time of there being the latest incarnation I just can't see him as Nick. Nick was never poshish, never had manners, never would be anything like the current version.
I'm one of the odd ones who actually really likes Stella. I love her in the show, although I have to admit I'm going through a bit of Stella OD right now with the whole fire/rebuilding storyline.
I can never get sick of Steve, Rita, Emily or Hayley. I like the pairing of Owen and Anna (partially just because I think the man who plays Owen is amazingly gorgeous...)
I agree completely about Reg- Could never see what all the fuss was about, same goes for Curly. In the current cast I find there are too many characters that, far from being marmite, don't give me any strong feelings either way which is actually worse. Mandy, Jenna, Sophie, Dev, Leanne, Michelle are all just 'people on the screen' rather than characters I give a ha'penny about- Micky
It's interesting but not necessarily surprising that Tracy, Michelle and Stella feature most prominently here!
Quite surprised though that several people dislike Carla so much.
I absolutely hate Carla. Always have. Also up there are Kylie, Tracey, and Blanche.
In the "love to hate" category would be Owen: I can appreciate him as a baddie!
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