Over the years, Corrie has been very good at portraying long running friendships - Ena and Minnie, Len and Alf, Alma and Audrey, Rita and Mavis, Steve and Lloyd or Deirdre and Liz to name a few. The friendship is built over time, be it due to the characters working together, they're neighbours, they share the same hobbies and sometimes because they're the same age.
There have been unlikely friendships over the years. Rita and Mavis is an obvious one where their chalk and cheese personalities provided a lasting friendship while in recent years Roy's friendships with Becky and Carla are not ones you would think would be fathomable. But they work!
The other friendship is this one: suddenly characters become best buddies despite no previous indication that they share common ground. Sometimes it's led by a plotline, like when Carla and Tina struck on a close friendship just because Tina would later have an affair with Peter. Much more plausible was Carla's friendship with Leanne which I would love to be rekindled. If Peggy Mitchell and Pat Butcher could develop a strong friendship after their rivalry, I'm sure Carla and Leanne could let bygones be bygones. Enough time has passed now for them to start on another page. In real life it probably wouldn't happen, but this is soap after all!
But the new-found friendship that has been puzzling me for a few weeks now is that of Ken and Audrey's. It all began when Ken returned from Canada. He'd only just come home and Audrey was running across from the salon, excited to see him. Only for her to get the door slammed in her face by a flustered Deirdre. Soon after, Ken is in the Rovers and Audrey rushes over to welcome him home and offers to buy him a drink. She's also been concerned about Peter and the effect this has had on Ken and last week they shared a drink in the Rovers and they laughed and joked.
Now before Ken left, he didn't have that close a friendship with Audrey. Despite around the same age, they had very different viewpoints in life - Ken studied the past and history while Audrey lived in the present. Watching old episodes from the 1990s and the early 2000s, I see Ken and Audrey were often at loggerheads over one matter or another - be it Ken being disgruntled about Audrey gossiping about Deirdre or Ken annoying Audrey with his newspaper column badmouthing the council. While they may have both been hurt by Lewis kissing Deirdre, there was no indication that they shared a bond.
Ken's main friends on the street in recent years have been Rita, Emily and Roy while Audrey has been linked over the years with Fred Elliott and Alma. While Ken enjoyed a good and long friendship with Alf, Audrey always saw Ken as a bit academic and boring for her liking, compared to businessmen like Mike Baldwin or Fred. And Audrey and Deirdre have been seen as bosom buddies, so there's no link there either. So it's a bit puzzling really. It has come about so suddenly. Maybe Audrey sees a bond between them because Ken's been to Canada and her son Stephen lives there as well? Or maybe it's because she knows how it feels to have her child in prison? Who knows?
More plausible, in my opinion, would be that Emily would be eager to welcome Ken home while it was over a drink with Rita that he would confide his problems. But maybe due to the unavailability of both Eileen Derbyshire and Barbara Knox, Sue Nicholls had to step into the breach?
And another thing, why hasn't Ken been seen talking to Roy about the closure of the library. I know he's in enough dramas with Peter, but surely a scene could've been slipped in? Come on writers!
Anyway, have you noticed this new-found friendship on the cobbles? What do you make of it?
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8 comments:
Good post, I find it a bit odd too. Also, Ken has been back weeks and he hasn't spoken once to Roy about Hayley. Poor.
I honestly couldn't remember if Ken and Audrey were ever good friends but their recent scenes have been great.
I adore Roy and Carla's friendship. The actors are brilliant so it's a joy to watch and I just find it so endearing because Hayley is at the heart of it.
Arguably, the best thing about Michelle is her friendship with Carla. I'm not a Michelle fan but they remind me of my sister and her best mate who have known each other since they were kids. I'd like to see Maria more involved with them though.
I'd like to see their friendship develop to be honest. I also agree that it's out of character for Ken not to have mentioned Hayley or visited Roy. Not good.
The one positive thing about this friendship is that Audrey has a drinking pal other than her daughter. Gail has Michael so maybe she's not available. A line or two about Audrey feeling a gooseberry might have explained why she alighted on Ken in the pub. As for rushing round to see him when he arrived home, that seemed an unlikely event. Probably it would be Emily or Rita but why should anyone go round the minute Ken steps foot on the Street? Clunking plot device to let a harassed Deirdre lose control and allow Ken to talk to Carla.
Ken and Rita have kiss, cuddled, and slept together, circa 1972
I think maybe the reason,Ken and Audrey are 'best buds'is because she is genuinely sympathetic about Peter because she went thought the same nightmare when Gail was arrested for Joe's murder.I think Deirdre more or less believes Peter is guilty as so does Rita who loved Tina as though she was her own.I am disappointed that Hayley's death was overlooked by Ken.
I guess the writers were told to think up something for Ken to do so this is the best they could come up with. Might be interesting. They're both a pair of delightful snobs so it might be good fun.
I noticed Diedre wasn't there when Ken Rob and Tracey were at Peters 'deathbed'side. I wondered if she's now on hol May be Audrey is being used as a filler for those who aren't available at the mo.
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