Have you ever wondered what might happen on your average Sunday afternoon in Weatherfield? I can only speculate of course, however I see it all unfolding something like this...
Norris Cole nervously eyes up poor old Emily as she struggles through another portion of Mary's roly poly pudding. Norris, suddenly aware that our Emily has appeared in Coronation Street since January 1961, realises she may not be around forever and frets about his own future in the show. Emily's demise threatens the return of Geoffrey "Spider" Nugent - calm down Flaming Nora! Even more of a worry, it dawns on Norris that he may have to explore the vulnerability that lies behind the malicious frontage we've come to know and loathe.
Over at the cafe, Royston has spent another night hiding on the floor behind his pinny trying to catch out nasty Beth. Poor Roy stands no chance against this alarming CIlla/Janice concoction. If Les Battersby was still around, he'd think all his Christmases had come at once. Roy must also battle through this slightly bizarre yet wonderful storyline, giving the magnificent Croppers some much needed airtime before Hayley's tragic demise climaxes later this year...Weatherfield's barm cakes will be soggy with the tears shed.Back on the Street, the unpleasant mob that is the Windass/Armstrong clan queue up to take turns at smacking selfish Tina Mac in the face. It might not get them their money back, but by gum it is satisfying, both for them and for us. Tommeh D watches from Rita's chintzy living room of mismatched soft furnishings, panicking that he may have to utter the words "breast feeding" during Monday night's double bill.
Of course young Katy Armstrong is not present in the long line of Windass/Armstrong slappers as she has her own boring storyline to concentrate on. Ah yes, how to fit Steve, Michelle, Ryan, herself and that baby into the smelly kebab shop flat and conjure up interesting stories. The writing was on the wall for Katy that fateful morning when she woke up bright orange. Weatherfield history shows this to be downward spiral of unbelievable stories and unwatchable melodrama.
In all seriousness, I've really started to enjoy Corrie of late. I think there has been a marked improvement in a lot of what has played out on screen. Deirdre has become watchable again. The Croppers have come back to the fore, with Sylvia proving an integral part of this. I love all the stuff with the Platts, even if David's reaction to Nick and Kylie's deception is a bit like Groundhog Day. I even loved Emily's modest return to our screens after too long an absence. And I hope Sinead Tinker is here to stay.
Yes, there are still things I don't like - Eileen's recent storyline has been hard to watch and I can't wait for the surrogacy nonsense to come to an end. However, I don't know if it's just me, but Corrie just feels more like Corrie again.
Do you agree?
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I have noticed that Corrie has changed a bit since Blackburn has taken over. And it's great to see Emily back, and getting her own storyline as well and not just appearing in a scene with Rita and Norris.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it has changed and for the better. I've commented several times about how it seems stories are more focused on the emotional side of the characters. But there's also more silly idle banter. Characters behaving in character (Anna is the best example). Details. The past remembered. Yay!
ReplyDeleteThe surrogacy and fallout from the fire, those are long arc stories that still have to be played out. Please make them go away.
I am wondering if Emily sent those flowers to herself. She seems so lonesome..maybe Sylvia can become a new BFF for her..they'd make a good pair IMO.
ReplyDeleteRyan..can he get any more droll? Each and every line delivered in the same monotone voice..like he's being forced at gun-point to even be on the show. Move on mate...you're bringing me down!
The end of the surrogacy borefest can't some soon enough for me, mainly so we get Tina's miserable fizzhog and Izzy's soggy-bog-roll "crying" face of our screens for a while.
ReplyDeleteI am loving the slow burn (geddit?) of the fire storyline though. When it all blows up in Karl and Stella's face, as it surely must very very soon, it'll be the most glorious delayed gratification.
LOVE the story with Roy. LOVE the story with Emily and her badly ankle. LOVED the scenes with Eileen and Deirdre and the bottle of wine. And LOVING the scenes with evil David
Corrie is the Queen of Soaps, no two ways about it
Agree completely about the cry faces! Holy ugly criers batman!
DeleteI hate the surrogacy storyline, it is insulting to those that have struggled successfully through it. Corrie had a chance to showcase a real option for the infertile and instead used it as a "conflict" storyline. Tina should have had counseling throughout, Izzy and Gary should have at least been together longer than a few years...they had no need for this to happen "right now" in fact using a surrogate should have given them all the time in the world to decide. I love the casual banter...especially at the bar with Steve and Lloyd and whoever else happens by! Can't wait to see Karl get his!
ReplyDeleteCorrie has changed back to it's good old self. I love the surrogacy plot, roy's breakdown and david returning to his evil ways and if he or nick are the father of kylie's baby. It could only get better now that stuart blackburn is the shows producer and the ratings are improving. It really hit me when anna slaped tina in the face in the rovers which is classic corrie at it's best.
ReplyDeleteLoathe the surrogacy storyline. There was never any need for it and Tina had other options to get the funds for Tommy's debit. The only excuse I can give tptb is that with MK leaving they had to find a way to stretch the story longer than it was supposed to run. At the moment, Rita is backing Tina and seems to have changed her mind on seeing how much Tina loves the baby. Rita's gone down in my estimation, I'm afraid. I think she should have suggested counselling. I'll be very happy when the story arcs started by PC have finished and we'll see what SB has in mind.
ReplyDeleteYou are right with this post, Corrie is very good recently. It works better when there are lots of little comedic scenes, most of which add nothing to any particular storyline but are fun to watch, and also the observations of relationships, such as the ever more interesting one between Roy and Sylvia.
ReplyDeleteI think it's when major storylines come a long a couple of times a year that the soap loses it's way a bit and viewers get frustrated with inconsistencies, unrealistic situations and repetitiveness.
When you consider the train wreck that PC left, there has been a great deal of improvement. You can't expect SB to suddenly through on the brakes, the stories have to be slowed down, and then steered in a new direction, which seems to be happening. Well done, SB!
ReplyDeleteAt this point, I'd have rather seen Tina try it on as a stripper or a madame or something illicit in order to raise funds. She's got quite the gob on her and I think she could have recruited Beth to help keep the girls in line - it could have at least led to some dark humour and brought up ethical issues of its own (human trafficking anyone?). This surrogacy storyline is drawn out nonsense and I'm sick to the back teeth of hearing about other people's infertility issues. It's a private matter, close the door already.
ReplyDeleteAbout the only thing I'm really disliking is the Ryan/Katy bits. Eileen and Paul's story is a bit dull but I don't mind it that much. Loving the Platts, Love watching Karl squirm and looking forward to this playing out. Loving the Croppers. I have even enjoyed the surrogacy storyline though I still don't think Anna had any right to smack Tina. The hollering across the cobbles or in the put on that storyine is getting tedious but it will be over soon.
ReplyDeleteCorrie 'feels' better because it isn't constant Prices and Windarmstrongs over and over, and the little silly moments are back.
ReplyDeleteCorrie has changed for the better compared to a few months ago. Great little scenes with Diedre and Eileen and those belts LOL. Snippets of Steve interacting with different characters, David being re-possessed by the devil and seeing the lovely Emily again and talking to Spider - yippee! Funny that Emily only suffered a sprained ankle in that fall. Seems to me she was up much higher than a stepstool and fell straight backwards landing full force on her back and head. A mild concussion wouldn't have been out of order.
ReplyDeleteI am loving the new little interactions that are popping up unexpectedly that don't add to anything to a plot but are character based and sometimes quite comical. Steve is and expert at this :)
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who hated the way Anna slapped Tina. Yes Tina is a madam and needs a good rhetorical slap granted but do people really march around doing that in this day and age? The acting was good but I hated the scene.
Maybe it's because I just have so little time for Anna and her brood. Another family that's been over played like the Price's until we are sick of them. Anna was a nasty piece of trash when she first came to the street and then they gave her a personality transformation of a mother earth, marshmallow, warm and fluffy personality for a while. Maybe she's now reverting to form. But each of those Windsrongs are just annoying - every one of them.
Hopefully once Blackburn winds down this story and the boring Rovers fire story he'll have a better handle on the street that he's inherited and we'll see a lot more of his vision. However he needs to knock Eileen and Paul, the most boring man in the world on the head and please get rid of Katie and Ryan (why are you keeping these two, is there any reason??).
A refreshing change on Friday was that there wasn't a Price in sight - though I was holding my breath throughout... incase!
Beth, i'm with you. I disliked the slap as well.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see it, but I am also anti-slap. There's way too much of this in soaps. I know they do it for ratings, but do most people really enjoy seeing characters getting hit?
ReplyDelete