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To be fair, I've only watched the first of the Friday night episodes. One was enough. By eight p.m. I had no idea if I had been watching a drama or a comedy. For me, the whole twenty-odd minutes were a bit of a mess.
The dominant storyline was the plodding, never-ending tale of Andrea and her men. Now, I know it's become fashionable to shriek with derision every time the poor woman enters stage left but for some reason I like her. Beneath that gurning exterior lies a decent Corrie character waiting to emerge. it's taking some time though. You get the impression that whatever the plot, the poor actress is implored to smile like Doris Day throughout. Picture the scene as Andrea is told that her entire family has been run over by a plot device but the producer urges her to turn that frown upside down "because it's how Andrea would cope with it . . . we'd decided". Give it a few weeks and they will have her dressed in a clown's outfit guffawing at funerals.
Back to last night's 'drama' though. The scene was set. Gurning Andrea, the dreadfully dull husband, permanently crisis-stricken Lloyd. There they were, cavorting around on the cobbles, up and down ladders and stranded on roof tops. Somehow the whole thing felt horribly laboured and like an outtake from an unloved Carry On film.
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Maybe it was just me having a grotty half hour but the feeling that the episode was sub-standard persists. Episode two is waiting for me on the Sky box so later I will tune in to see if Andrea crashes to Mother Earth. With a grin.
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12 comments:
No, it was lame,
Don't bother with episode two, that was even worse.
Unfortunately, the gurner is still intact.
Agree it was pretty awful in places. As always Sally and Tim were the best
I'm hoping this is the summer lull and Corrie picks up with the autumn stories. Joe Duttine was excellent as Tim, struggling to keep up with Sally's tv drama pretensions.
Tim's best line, regarding his having to be shouting at Neil to bring the ladder "I've called his mother all sorts!"
Dreadful episode. I think they decided the Neil saga should end (PLEASE say it is finished!) with some drama but it was just too far fetched. Still, I will be back at it on Monday as usual.
Got to say, I love Kevin's beard :)
Tim's a keeper, hope the producer and writers never lose sight of that, like they did with poor Paul last year.
Neil tormenting Lloyd and Andrea is the only thing I can tolerate about Lloyd and Andrea, those two are awful and near unwatchable. The only thing worse is the supposed comic brilliance of Steve and Lloyd, pass the puke bucket.
Now I can't remember if it was the first or the second Friday episode, but there was a dreadful continuity error. There was Andrea, Neil and Tim up on the rooftops in brilliant sunshine, cut to Kevin and Tyrone over in the garage, and you can see through the door that it's tipping down buckets on the cobbles outside, back to the roof danglers, and the sun's out again, and everything is dry.
Perhaps someone forgot to send Mother Nature her copy of the script!
Very poor double episodes again with more of the Tiresome Triangle. Was Andrea just hanging off the guttering which would never have held her weight anyway supposed to be "Corrie humour".? Frankly it was embarrasing. Beth and Kirk are becoming pathetic over this wedding, cant feed their son and are on minimum wage but are talking about swans and money no object, just annoying now. And really what is the point of Kevin back again like the proverbial boomerang, things have moved on and judging by his face pulling whenever Tim and Sally are around he is still mooning after her. Not sure whether to yawn or groan probably both.
Sigh. I can remember a time when Corrie did comedy so well. It seems those days have gone.
I spent most of the two episodes wondering how on Earth they filmed it? Health & Safety obviously meant that the actors were in no danger, but the likes of Tim with his foot on the apex of the roof certainly looked real, as did Neil and Andrea perched on the side of the Rover's roof, in imminent danger of sliding off.
They could have injured themselves even if there were cardboard boxes, mattresses etc on the ground. Were they attached to concealed safety wires or something else? I'd love to know. I'm more interested in that than the ludicrous Neil, or tiresome, stage-school Andrea.
Well, I guess I'm in the minority but I had a laugh when I finally got around to viewing the eps. yes, I could 'see' the writing, the 'full English' gag with Roy, Tim and Sally operating as a couple was a bit of fun. I too think this was a transitionary show. Andrea could be a local gal and finallizing the Neil and Andrea thing with the roof shenanigans was for the character Neil to finally understand that for the regular guy that he is - he's been walking on the weird side for too long and he can now 'snap out if it'. Cool. However, now it's made room for team Platt and the pill popping mamma, twisted ticker boyfriend story to hit. But with Tracy comeuppance gravy to come, it just might be a grrreat thanksgiving. I still love the Corrie ride!
While I enjoyed the episodes (mainly down to Joe Duttine), it felt like an episode of One Foot in the Grave (with fewer chuckles). In the past, Coronation Street has managed to pull off "comedy" episodes effortlessly, but this came across as a little bit forced.
What a miserable bunch you are. My mate and I chuckled the whole way through. You all sit around lamenting the humours gone from the show then when they do something lighthearted you still grumble.
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