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 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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It's very refreshing to hear such a frank account from an actor about why they're leaving Corrie. Normally, you get the 'I've had a ball' etc, but in Oliver Mellor's case, it sounds like he was bored stiff. On the blog here, some of us thought it was quite good to have an 'occasional' character used for certain stories. That might work for the oldies like Dennis Tanner, but young actors not surprisingly want to get their teeth into something. Good luck, Oliver, and writers beware. Start thinking about character development rather sensational storylines.ltopeac must
ReplyDeleteI'm very sorry but not at all surprised to read this. I always liked the actor and thought the character had great potential, but obviously The Powers That Be didn't agree. Dr Carter was left on the sidelines while screen-time was wasted on aggravating and poorly acted characters like Rob Donovan and Tracy Barlow. Good luck Oliver - I'm sure you will find success elsewhere, and the Corrie producers will wonder why they they ever let your character fade away...
ReplyDeleteI am also sorry to hear this but he wont be missed basically because we very rarely saw him! There could have been plenty of storylines with Dreary in the doctors surgery but its all got to happen in the Rovers, the Bistro or Roys. Tunnell vision from the powers that be.
ReplyDeleteSurprised he's stayed this long.!
ReplyDeleteI wonder why they never tried to give him some good storylines?
ReplyDeleteSuch a waste, 'a doctor' character could/should be an important part of a street's life, and having a good looking doctor would open doors for so many romance, romance gone wrong storylines....would love to have Deirdre making a fool of herself! lol
ReplyDeleteI hadn't noticed he was gone. IMO, not an essential character - don't most surgeries have more than one doctor?
ReplyDeleteWhat a waste of a potentially good addition to the Street. The medical centre should've been where Jenna got a job - doing physio for folks rather than hanging around the corner shop with Sophie.
ReplyDeleteDr. Carter could've become an integral part of the Street - if the writers/producer had done their job right.
~JB in Canada
Yes it does make you wonder what they're employing storyliners for when they can't even come up with a storyline for a doctor. What could be easier? Casualty have been managing very well for 30 years and Holby City does alright too, so no-one can pretend there isn't the potential for a medical slant on an urban street. Obviously the will isn't there. They'd rather concentrate on endlessly repetitive "who's the daddy" storylines and suchlike. Disappointing. Good luck to Oliver - sure he'll do well somewhere he's more appreciated.
ReplyDeleteBut surely the point is....Corrie went for years and years without a regular doctor in the cast. This isn't Eastenders you know!
ReplyDeleteI don't really see why a doctor should be a regular cast member, that's all. Not all communities spend their lives at the surgery or are indeed in need of a doctor at any time.
How could we have even gotten to know Dr. Carter? The only educated professional vaguely his age is buffoonish Brian, so there was no one to be his friend. (Could you seriously see him having a horns vs hooves argument with Steve?) It's a shame, too, because he is easy on the eyes and believable with the doctoring stuff. There were missed story opportunities with the aftermath of the tram crash, the surrogacy, Brian's healthy eating initiative and Jenna's firing. Good luck, Oliver.
ReplyDeleteHe is a community member who happens to be a doctor. Like how we had Martin who happens to be a nurse, and Matt Ramsden who happens to be a doctor. He could have a love interest and settle down somewhere like Kabin flat or whatever. The focus is his love life, kids etc more than as a doctor, but still use him as a supporting role for other characters if they need a doctor.
ReplyDeleteHe wasn't a community member though as he didn't live there. As far as why there should be a doctor, if they didn't want to include a doctor in the show, they shouldn't have built a medical centre. But they did and they had Dr. Matt in it for awhile but he never really clicked either though at least he and his wife lived on the Street.
ReplyDeleteSo many characters have been brought in since the arrival of Dr Carter and these people have hogged the storylines. There was never a game plan for this actor and he should have been told that at the start. I suspected the character is too educated, and the actor too goodlooking to fit into this street.
ReplyDeleteI wondered where he'd gone. I also feel that he was just a prop and not give any stoyline at all unless you count that 2 second episode where he tried to convince Tina to better herself and she told him to bog off. He showed up once or twice at a moments notice to give a pelvic exam in the Rovers and do a little dance the night of the fire but that was about it. Hope he does well.
ReplyDeleteJB is right on the money. Jenna could have worked at the Centre along with Matt and then - amazing, we would have had TWO educated people with careers and aspirations on the Street. And yes, he was pretty easy on the eyes! Such a lack of vision by the creative team.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to Oliver Mellor!
Bev
Tina was a right cow to him too..tossed a pint over his head because he dared try to talk her into being more than just a barmaid and then, a couple of weeks later she's doing Owen's books? He can do better than a part time back-ground actor on Coronation Street.
ReplyDeleteThe last storyline he had was when he dated Tina. Then he was very uncomfortable and unproffesional speaking to Silvia about drugs.
ReplyDeleteI will not miss him....which is sad because I think the writers missed a good opportunity with that actor/character.
I guess Mandy is next as she is not even allowed more than two words now.
Well, Oliver did have time off over Christmas to do panto - I wrote the script for him ;)
ReplyDelete