The day has come for Roy to make the pilgrimage to Blackpool to scatter Hayley's ashes.
As he prepares himself, he browses their photo album, resting on a picture
of his wife with the toy elephant she won there.
Life can be hard, and there are times when, if
not its joys, then its important days such as this are tarnished by some ill
wind. We have no control over this. However, in the domain of fiction, we can
choose to spare our beloved characters these unwelcome woes.
Why then, on this most sacred of days, is Roy , standing already
desolate outside the cafĂ© above which he lives alone, Hayley’s ashes beneath
his arm, assailed by a gang of ne'er-do-wells? This scene troubled me. I felt it to be unnecessary and inappropriate in the circumstances.
If its purpose was to increase our sympathy for
Roy , there was
surely no need. Portrayed with the usual brilliance we've come to expect from David Neilson, it was heartbreaking enough to watch him return to the scene of
their paddle in Blackpool declaring how a brave Hayley braced the cold waters and led frightened Roy by the hand. "It was ever thus." he tells Fiz and Tyrone. "I made a promise that day that I
would return and take to the water. I will not be alone.” To hear him announce “I must say, it does feel
rather exhilarating” made me feel such pride for Roy, and not in a patronising Fiz way; it was actually a relief to hear Tyrone remind her, "He's not six years old" in a later scene.
However, as Roy prepares to choose a place to scatter
Hayley’s ashes, an encounter with a couple sharing the day together makes him feel that what has passed can never be recaptured. “This is no
more the Blackpool of 12 months ago than this
is Hayley” he pines, and announces that this is one request he cannot accede to.
In the meantime, his flat is broken into and ransacked.
Meanwhile, at the Rovers, Liz’s prayers are
answered when Tony strides through the door. However, while the chemistry between
the pair is evident from their eye contact across the bar, with neither
prepared to apologise, the rift remains.
Audrey’s accusations of shoddy workmanship on her
car are a delay tactic to prevent her having to return to driving. However,
Luke takes customer service above and beyond by bringing her for a drive in
the scenic countryside and treating her to lunch.
If your son was on trial for murder, or your
friend had been the victim, would you honestly want to sit in the gallery with Norris
Cole munching on humbugs and making smart remarks? Without Mary present to entertain
his insensitive musings, he seemed somewhat out of place.
As the trial reaches its final day, Chris Gascoyne continues his stellar performance. Unable to take his eyes off Carla and announcing that
he still loves her, he conveys brilliantly the very essence of Peter Barlow; a
flawed and very human character who balks at his own moral bankruptcy thus proving himself a good man at the heart of it all. Speaking of his weakness, his flattered ego,
and the escapism the affair brought him, he is also sure to tell the court he cared too
much for Tina to do her any harm. His pain at her murder is clear as he convincingly points out, “It’s not in me”.
Court hubbubs abound when he tells the
prosecution he’d been trying to get Tina out of his life for months, and describes
himself at being at breaking point on the night of the murder, but these
indiscretions, I feel, won’t be enough to see him go down.
The defence’s main argument for Peter’s innocence
is his eagerness to get to Carla before Tina did on the night in question, thus
indicating that she was still alive. However, the prosecution consider this act
to be a smokescreen in order to cover up what he’d done.
As the prosecution sum up, puns concerning
bookies, odds and spread betting abound, and the barrister warns the jury, and anyone else listening, "Do not let
Peter Barlow seduce you”, a tall order considering how many have failed to resist him in the past.
The defence summation follows, highlighting the illogical
leap from committing murder to confessing “damning and humiliating details that
only Ms. McIntyre would have known” to his wife. With the leap yet to be credibly
accounted for, the idea of Peter’s confession to Carla being an elaborate
smokescreen is roundly discredited by the defence. The barrister, played very convincingly by Claire Cage throughout, confirms that “not a single piece of evidence says otherwise”. And
she’s right. With no fingerprints on the missing charm and no blood on his coat
despite claims that he concealed the murder weapon beneath it, she points out
that when the murder was committed, “Mr. Barlow was elsewhere, telling his wife
the truth”.
The judge, addressing the jury, reminds them
that they are not judging Peter’s character, but deciding whether there is
sufficient evidence that he committed murder. They’re reminded that if the
evidence heard does not make them sure, then they must find him not guilty. Further,
the verdict must be unanimous.
This being the case, there is no way to my mind
that he can be found guilty, but all will be revealed in the coming days after what has been a gripping week in court.
By Emma Hynes
Twitter: @ELHynes
All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
8 comments:
Why did Fizz rush off to buy teas right at the moment Roy was going to scatter Hailey's ashes? Seemed rather random.
My understanding is that it was never his intention to scatter them there Frosty. When drying his feet Tyrone asked Roy if he'd made his decision yet as to where would be appropriate.
I totally agree about there being no need for the burglary story. Roy's distress is real enough and beautifully acted out.
Rather contrived for the burglars to hit Roy's flat but not trash the cafe. How would they even know he lived upstairs?
Yes I agree Cobblestone. They broke in through the cafe, not the new outside door to the flat and nothing in the cafe was disturbed. Illogical, Captain.
I don't know. Life does have a habit of kicking you when you're down. Certainly in my life there have been times when I have asked, "Can this get any worse?" and sure enough it does.
There's no subtlety in those scenes with Roy. It's way too over-the-head to really appreciate the gentle and painful nuances he's experiencing.
A case of the writers thinking we don't know what we're watching every day, day in and day out for decades.
Maybe if Stuart Blackburn watched the show once in a while, he'd get it.
I don't think SB will ever get it - the show is not even close to what it has been for the last 50 years - way too much over the top drama and plot lines thrown in at the last minute. I know a lot of fans didn't like Peter Collinson, but at this point I really wish we still had him at the helm.
Atlanta, Ga.
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