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Our blogger Tvor wrote a compelling blog post recently about the demonisation of Gary Windass. In it, she admitted that Gary has never been a favourite character of hers. Now then, it's my turn to admit that I like Gary Windass a lot. In fact, I think I might have an old lady crush on him. But it's not just his ginger locks and steely looks that I admire, it's the core of Gary himself. He's a belter and here's why.
He's a bad lad, but not so bad that we hate him. He's complex. He's been mentally wounded by his stint in the army and the death of his mate Quinny. His breakdown came in the form of kidnapping Izzy, and then lusting after Tina McIntyre. And then there was all that carry on with baby Joe/Jake and now he doesn't know whether he's coming or going, poor lad, after splitting up with his soulmate, Izzy.
The lad needs some proper mental health care. While Steve McDonald's depression will be headline-grabbing with the upcoming bus crash, Gary suffers in silence, battling Owen in the Windstrong flat and trying to come to terms with stooping so low to try to steal from Roy's Rolls.
Gary Windass is played excellently by the wonderful Mikey North, whom I admire a lot as an actor. For Mikey / Gary to be given his own online spin-off shown in Gary's Army Diaries, it shows that his work as an actor and his appeal as a character have not gone unnoticed by the Coronation Street powers-that-be. Here's to a happy 2015 for both actor and character alike.
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Well done for writing a blog post about Gary Windass without using the phrase "hot ginger".
ReplyDeleteI like Gary. I've always liked Gary. It's too bad they didn't explore his PTSD in more depth. I'm sure it affects a lot of returning soldiers. I just read a stat that, here in Canada, we've now lost more soldiers to PTSD than we did in Afghanistan. That's huge. Gary's should've been an ongoing back-story. So while we focus on Steve's depression (which is also very important) we are losing sight of the fact that Gary's erratic behaviour can be attributed to PTSD. SAD.
ReplyDelete~JB in Canada
And while, it's true, Gary has never been a favourite, I do like the character well enough. Mikey North is indeed a very good actor.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. Gary is a fantastic character, and Mikey North is just a brilliant actor - although he hasn't been given the best material this year...
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree less. LOL. I can't stand his character. He has been in a holding pattern of anger for years now and it's only getting worse. I started to like him when he and Izzy were so happy with baby Jake. That lasted two minutes, then it was on to consistent despicable actions across the board. Like all Corrie back stories the writers have dropped the whole PTSD thing, so I am not excusing his behaviour. I'm just tired of him now.
ReplyDeleteNice to see a positive write-up on my favorite Ginger...thanks Flaming Nora. Finally, Anna tonight tells off Owen about his behavior towards Gary.....the beginning of the end for Anna and Owen?
ReplyDeleteI started to like Gary when he joined the army and got together with Izzy as he finally seemed to be settling down and taking some responbility.Sadly that didn't last due to his indifference to Owen being bankrupt and his mother and sister almost homeless due to his fight with Phelan because he was more concerned with pursuing Alya.As for Anna,instead of treating him with kid glves,perhaps she should be telling off Gary for his behaviour too and maybe pressure him to take some responibilty and hve the charges dropped against poor Roy by admitting his plans to steal from him.
ReplyDeleteI like Gary and think he's been backed into a corner by his family rejecting him. The Roy's Rolls break-in was not believable, for me, because Gary's innate goodness means he'd never do that to Roy (his Mum's employer!) regardless of how strapped for cash he found himself.
ReplyDelete