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Friday 26 September 2014

Is size everything on the Street?

You get a lot more for your money down Weatherfield way these days. It's reassuring to know that we could navigate a couple of cruise ships down the centre of the Street and that the Rovers accommodation potential exceeds that of the Shard. A bigger space therefore demands to be filled and to that end, we seem to have cast members squeezing out from between the cobbles at an alarming rate.

How would Corrie fare though if the cast suddenly had to be reduced to 1960s levels? Which of the characters would you deem 'essential' and which would you relegate to a 'supporting' status? It's a difficult concept given that you have to have the right kind of mix for the programme to work. Think of it as being a soap opera version of Fantasy Football!

Any reduced Corrie cast would have to feature Ken and Deirdre. Ken for historical reasons and Deirdre for hysterical ones. She is priceless and as the years go by, Deirdre is morphing into something quite wonderful.

The Rovers is the cornerstone of the Street and probably wouldn't be much cop without Liz and Steve at the helm. Would we miss Michelle? Possibly not. She's never really been popular and it's probably too late to start softening her character now. Ditto Tracy luv.

There traditionally has to be an Alpha male or even Alpha female in residence and therefore Carla would escape any cast cull. Alison King is always a joy to watch and the multi-layered Carla would be too good to lose.

Couples have always been a feature of life on't Street so it would be 'yes' to Sally and Tim. Joe Duttine continues to shine as hapless but not hopeless Tim and is the perfect foil for Sally and her Mrs Bucket moments. We would also keep Jason and Eva. Again, this feels like a very 'right' pairing. Jason has matured nicely and Eva's dippy but not in a 'Raquel' way.

Kirk and Beth are Corrie gold too. Kirky is dependable and Beth's scattergun approach to life is refreshing at times. She's the new Millennium Vera Duckworth.

Although they are not a couple, Luke and Steph Britton have settled into Street life nicely. Steph, although prominent, hasn't been foisted on viewers in the alarming way that Michelle, Becky and later Tina were. Luke seems like a decent bloke and at the moment there are no signs that he is going to start bashing people around the head with a spanner.

One of the best characters in the show of late is Julie Carp. As I may have droned on before, Julie ought to be front and centre in the Corner Shop. Her personality is ideal for that arena and she would probably suit a designer tabard.

That's a total of fourteen cast places filled. To round it up to sixteen, let's add Roy and Tyrone. Of these two, Tyrone has gone off the boil recently with some odd bordering on bad judgement calls in his battle with Jason. As for Roy, well he always makes for interesting if not always comfortable viewing but we love him to bits - so he stays.

Who gets left out? The list is long and worrying. I've not included any of the Tilsley/Platts. Todd and Eileen, Dev, Mary, Rita, Norris, Emily, Sean, the whole Nazir clan, assorted Windasses, half the inhabitants of number five, Fiz, Leanne. Madness! Would it be even feasible to reduce these characters to 'supporting' status or even have a version of the Street that focuses on a core cast of sixteen characters?

There's your task. If you were asked to trim the cast list, who would stay and who would be ordering a taxi from Street Cars?




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13 comments:

Tvor said...

I agree with all your choices but I'd also keep the Platt/Tilsley clan including Audrey who is wonderful! mmm??? Lloyd and Eileen also make great supporting characters for Steve and Liz and Deirdre as their mates. We do need someone for conflict, however. In the past that was supplied by the likes of Mike Baldwin so perhaps we do need Tracy. Tracy and Todd both on the same screen may be a bit much.

What about a "larger than life" character? (not so much stature as presence) In the past we had Fred Elliot. I wonder if Steve is about to fill Fred's shoes as a somewhat of a buffoon but with a heart of gold.

Humpty Dumpty said...

I agree with your choices and I bet we'd find that we hardly missed any of them.

While it's realistic to see children on the Street, I would do away with child-based storylines. ADHD, teenage pregnancy, bullying are all very important issues, but they don't sit well with the current fast-paced Corrie. Too many of these issues are dealt with in the blink of an eye so there's no educational value. Keep kids in the background but don't give them major stories. Corrie tries to do too much which is why we have a cast of thousands, queueing up for screen time.

Anonymous said...

I could see Dev getting a new lease on life with Julie. She could be front and centre in the shop, but he would still be the owner and maybe her partner. Rob surely cannot stay around, he must be found out soon. Tracy could move away, taking Amy with her. when he goes to jail. I agree with the top sixteen, but also think Eileen should stay, but without Todd, Lloyd without Andrea and Audrey without Nick or David and their assorted love interests. Characters need to have friends to chat to, but these should be secondary and not necessarily have sensational story lines of their own.

Anonymous said...

Kill of Tracy Barlow and watch the ratings soar!

Anonymous said...

Here's who I'd trim ...

Tracy, Kevin, Jim, Sophie, Leanne
Dev, Eileen, Maria, Tony, Julie
Faye, Eva

and...

I'm not sold on the Nazir family yet, but I'd give them a year at least, and as for the Windass /Armstrong family..they've reminded me a bit of the Slater family when they were at their worst (that's an EastEnders reference if you don't know).

Anonymous said...

I quite like the large cast.

Even though I would have to admit that it's a little on the large side I would never want to see it reduce to a core cast of just sixteen.

At least it means the writers have plenty of characters to write for (a prerequisite when you're on 5 times a week) and long absences between appearances can mean that you don't get bored of the characters as quickly

Also, can you imagine what would happen if it was just 16 characters and it included some characters such as Emily, Rita, Norris etc who the writers can no longer write for now they're in their eighties.

Anonymous said...

With the exception of Audrey who's a wonderful character and a great surrogate mum\grandmum to the Sutherlands,I would get rid of the Platts and Nick.It's no longer Coronation anymore but the Platt Show and perhaps if the Platts who are in the same recycled satorylines anyway,were gone,other characters would be allowed to shine.

70sStreetFan said...

Great idea for a blog. Have to say,I don't agree with some of your choices. Luke? Kirk?
But,hey,we're all entitled to our opinions. I didn't have too much trouble narrowing my list down to about 20,but had a tough job limiting it to 16. But if I had to I would elect Peter. I know he's leaving,but I'm sure he'll be back
at some point. Such a complex,multi layered and believable character,and the best male actor in the show. His one time other half Carla is also essential. Like him she has so many layers and combines glamour,toughness and vulnerability.
Another essential couple is Tim and Sally. They've got shades of Annie and Jack,and maybe Stan and Hilda- but a 21st Century version.
The other essential duo,for me,is David and Kylie. Easily two of the best of the younger cast.Both interesting characters and a relationship that offers lots of potential.Audrey is the other key member of this clan. Warm,wise and funny (and without the Grande Dame persona of Rita),she's the best of the matriarchs for me.
Liz is Queen of the Rovers,and Eva is an inspired choice of barmaid.Comic,Feisty and vulnerable. Both essential behind the bar.
Owen is the best alpha male character,but I'd like to see him single- perhaps like Len in the 60s and early 70s- with an on-off relationship with Liz. I'd also keep Gary as his sidekick,but would like to see him revert to his initial scally persona.
I'd also keep Norris,Mary and Roy. They're all unique characters- not just on the Street,but in soap in general. They all offer much in the way of comedy,but also- the latter two,certainly- pathos.
My final pair would be two of the factory's finest- Beth and Julie. As with the previous three,they offer much humour- but as characters there's still a lot to be explored.
Hope you enjoyed my list. Any feed back would be welcome.

Carry On Blogging! said...

A very good idea! This is almost like therapy deciding who you would cull...

I think my sixteen to stay would be:

Audrey, Steve, Sally, Tim, Carla, Roy, Eva, Jason, Emily, Deirdre, Gary, Steph, Julie, Ken...actually, I can't quite make it to 16! Oh dear...

Anonymous said...

How bad must these recent episodes be, for everyone to resort to this sad little game?!
It would certainly be an interesting show with almost all the relationships eliminated.

Barrie.T said...

KEEP
Steve, Liz, Ken, Deirdre, Tracy (sorry but the barlows need Tracy so she can keep getting into trouble), Amy, Simon, Eccles, Rita, Norris, Emily, Eileen, Jason, Eva, Kirk, Beth, tyrone, Fiz bomb, All of The platts, Windasses, Carla, Sally, Tim, Lloyd, Julie, Jim, Leanne, Roy, Mary

CUT
Michelle, Andrea, Todd, Sean, Dev, All of the Nazirs, Kevin, luke, Stuart Blackburn

BRING BACK
Janice, Dennis, Sarah Lou, Jenna, Todd's original personality

Anonymous said...

Speaking of bringing back, I wish they would bring back a character we've never seen - the daughter of Eddie Yeats and Marion. She should be about 30 this year.

Defrost Indoors said...

The mentions of Gary reminded me that we haven't seen Izzy, Anna or Faye in weeks (not that I'm complaining) and Owen only seemed to pop in to accidentally spill the beans about the unsuitable flooring. I don't know what else they can do with Izzy now; she may pop up as part of the Greek chorus in the factory but I can't imagine a storyline for her, unless it's a new relationship? She doesn't seem to have made much of a footprint on the Street, if you'll pardon the expression.

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