Will we see any of Tina's family in the aftermath of her demise? Her mother hasn't been glimpsed in years. Surely she will make an appearance in the weeks ahead? It would be bizarre if she didn't. Once Tina herself departs, I wonder how long other characters will remember her? Will she succomb to the usual "out of sight, out of mind"?
Sometimes it can take months, even years for a character to leave our screens. Nowadays it feels like actors announce they are leaving around a year before they actually get in that cab and take a right onto Viaduct Street. Afterwards however...nothing. For example, how often has Stella been referenced since they invented that never-before-mentioned-friend in New York for her to go off and live with?
I'm not necessarily pitching that we need a full blown nostalgia fest, but given the links still in Corrie, it would seem natural for the occasional comment to be made. When was the last time Norris talked about Derek or David about Martin (his dad for goodness sake!)
Thankfully we still have Emily conjuring up moist-eyed memories of her Ernest, but I for one would love Deirdre to reminisce about Blanche more often. It would be a joy for some of Maggie Jones' classic one liners to get another airing. There's definitely not been anyone come along since to replace her in our affections.
Even if we never see some of these classic characters again in Coronation Street, I think it would reward long time viewers just a little if the likes of Mavis, Alf and Betty were name-checked every so often.What do you think?
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20 comments:
I totally agree. As long there are links to those characters, I say take advantage.
What a wasted opportunity we didn't get to see Dennis mention Elsie more and countless others.
Never forget history!
Well Diggory never turned up for Molly's funeral or wedding for that matter so I dont think it would be odd if Tina's mother didnt turn up. But I think a doff to the past is often good, it doesnt make sense that a close family member would disappear and never be mentioned again - like Ted for example. There were a few references to Elsie by Dennis but they are few and far between.
I'd forgotten about Ted. Even though the actor went off to do other things it doesn't mean they can't mention him from time to time. It was all really abrupt and didn't do the storyline justice.
Daran Little used to be very good for referencing past characters
in his episodes. Whilst I can understand that they don't want to be namechecking past characters all the time,they almost go out of their way not to mention the past in some very obvious situations. For instance,Maggie Clegg was never mentioned when Betty died. And Gail and Dennis were never seen to have even one conversation about Elsie. And why couldn't they have brought back Mavis for Rita's wedding? As for Tina,her mother will probably be on holiday when she dies,and therefore be unable to make the funeral!
Mavis in the character that could be mentioned quite naturally because she's still alive. When it's necessary for Rita to get away, I seem to remember she's been to see Mavis, but that's not the same as reminiscing with Norris about her, or even reading out a Christmas card from her.
I find it totally odd and unbelievable that considering the strong and interfering nature Gail has with her children she hardly ever mentions Sarah-Lou. I can't even remember the last time she went to visit her. I really think it's about time Sarah came back for a while or even to stay. We know absolutely nothing about the young mum and her daughter, it's like she never existed!
I would like to hear the the occasional reference to old characters, a bit of reminiscing in the pub perhaps.
Call me cynical but probably stems from the fact that new writers know nothing about the history of the show and can't be bothered to find out.
This is to do with the shorter attention spans of the younger viewers and also the assumed stupidity of the fans by the writers. They spend so much time recapping the plot thus far (as though we are too stupid to keep up) that it seems impossible that we dim wits could juggle story threads from years gone by as well. And if they reminded us of past plots, wouldn't we start to notice that the writers are recycling old ones? Better keep the the past in the dark, else the writers might have to earn their keep.
This goes to prove, Graeme, that they really DO need you on their writing team. At the very least, as continuity director. I look forward to your musings, and would like to thank you for a great job!
Likely Tina's mum will ask for her body to be returned to whichever secret location she's been at all this time and there'll be no funeral on the Street - given all the heartache for that family (Joe and Tina both dying after being on this Street), I can't imagine her family would want to have ought to do with it.
How often are these characters referenced when they are still on our screens? We don't hear the idle gossip of old Corrie and that's likely why once a character leaves the screen no one talks about them - no one's really talking about anyone! Not only will Hayley be remembered because of Roy but because she was already gossiped and talked about while she was on the Street and had interactions with many, many characters and not just a select group. I would also like to hear references to Blanche and Betty but the writers would have to set up situations where people are just shooting the breeze about what's going on now, so there can also be references to "remember when".
Thank you very much, I'm really glad you enjoy them!
I think the only former character are still mention - but not like reminiscing way tho. Maxine. Her bench is always outside salon.
Anonymous said...
Since the bloggers and commenters on this site, not to mention the contributors to Corriepedia, have a much better grasp of the character, temperament and personality of each of the characters on this soap, perhaps they could be prevailed upon to assemble a "history" book for each of said characters, which could then be presented to the ITV staff of storyliners and writers. I can only assume that the pressure of cranking out 5 episodes every week leaves them no time to do such research themselves, and whoever used to be the keeper of the archives, has possibly retired and not been replaced. When one of the great attributes of the world's longest running soap is the history, and when ITV has spent a fortune in materials, (not to mention Hype!) moving to better quarters, and painstakingly recreating the sets, so as to keep the "feel" and historic accuracy of the show, then so cavalierly wastes all that time, effort and money by making many of the characters' personalities unrecognizable, with complete temperament changes, it can only be seen as a failure of management oversight. Is it Stuart Blackburn's fault, or someone higher up? Whoever it is, in other businesses, they'd be fired. If another company spent such a fortune to make sure they retained the appearance of the product's "brand", then carelessly changed the product itself, for the worse, you can bet heads would roll!
Just sayin'!
there is a street archivist. Even an assistant archivist, as he gave evidence at Bill Roache's trial as a defence witness, to confirm when certain actors (mentioned in the trial) appeared in the show
Tina, who had a meltdown after her daughters death doesn't even mention him - nor Gail for that matter. What about Martin Platt - gone and forgotten but they weren't really part of Corrie were they. Just because some characters were on the show 30 years ago, doesn't mean they need to be mentioned. I had no clue who Denis Tanner was and had to search the archives to find his profile..same with Ernest Bishop, or any of Rita's husbands. Bringing back long gone characters in order to garner ratings doesn't work either IMO.
I think the Corrie Archivist would be my dream job!
There's already a public archive of Corrie characters - Corriepedia. Here's the page for Mavis Riley - http://coronationstreet.wikia.com/wiki/Mavis_Wilton.
Thanks Kristine, Corriepedia is super :)
Considering that they were his surrogate family and he now owns their house,I'm disappointed that Tyrone doesn't talk about the Duckworths anymore.It would've been a nice touch if his daughter was named in memory of his 'mum'Vera.
Oh I agree, given how close they were it does seem odd
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