Here's my list to start with, I'd love to hear who you would choose for your own Corrie icon list.
The dictionary definition of icon I'm choosing here is a person or thing that is revered or idolized. Using that definition, my own list of current Corrie icons are:
Liz McDonald
Carla Connor
Tracy Barlow
I'd also like to add Deirdre Barlow in my list of current Corrie icons too.
However, there are others which I admire greatly and would put under the title of the Corrie legend.
I'm using the dictionary definition of legend to mean a collection of stories about an admirable person and a person who is the center of such stories.
I'd therefore put in my list of legends, the following:
Rita Tanner
Ken Barlow
Emily Bishop
A special mention goes to Fiz Stape, who I feel could very well fill the Corrie classic Battleaxe role, in due course.
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13 comments:
My list is:
Rita
Ken
Emily
Audrey
Roy
Gail
Sally
Liz
Steve
They are the current icons I would say.
It may not be the strictest definition of the word but I take it to mean something unique. So many of the current characters act and talk the same way, the actors could swap scripts and you'd never know. If we had impressionists on tv, who would they impersonate now? However, nobody does soap snob like Sally Webster, she's top of my list. Audrey's a great character who's stayed the course. I don't think Tracy is an icon, she's more of a pantomime relic along with Dev. Beth might become an icon if they developed her character. She and Kirk go well together. We're missing a few archetypes these days. We've got no wide boy like Dennis Tanner or either of the Baldwins, and we could really do with one. Fiz could be the moral compass, a busybody with a heart of gold. Roy is an icon, clearly recognisable with carrier bag and cardigan. Props make the character as much as anything else.
Its hard to separate "icons" from "legends". I love Emily but she is rarely seen anymore and never in more than a supporting role. Ken had been in hiding, understandably, but is coming back so with his grandfatherly advice, I'd put him, Audrey and Rita on both lists. The competent Gail of 15 years ago when I started watching would be a legend, but the simpering fool she's shrunk down to today can not be an icon. Being an iconoclast doesn't mean you're an icon. Julie with her fashion sense, Mary and her quirks, nasty Norris, evil Toad, sharp tongued and utterly unredeemable Tracy, nope, not icons. Anna is nasty but at least she means well. Tracy is nasty because she likes being nasty.
For icons, I think of a symbolic character representing something important of the show and well integrated into the fabric of society, someone desirable who we'd want to emulate in some way. This is a show about working class families, so I'd put in Liz the landlady, brothers David and Nick (good apart, better when plotting together), Sally but only with Tim (the delightfully mismatched pair), Carla the big boss and perpetual lonely heart, Tyrone and Jason, blue collar small businessmen, good father/son, and everyone's best friends, Steve the decent, spineless son and husband, and Roy the lovable misfit. Sean might be on that list as well, part of 2 workplace crews and openly gay long before it was a thing. Yasmeen and Sharif are a good double act and may one day own the old married couple role but they're too new right now.
Its hard to separate "icons" from "legends". I love Emily but she is rarely seen anymore and never in more than a supporting role. Ken had been in hiding, understandably, but is coming back so with his grandfatherly advice, I'd put him, Audrey and Rita on both lists. The competent Gail of 15 years ago when I started watching would be a legend, but the simpering fool she's shrunk down to today can not be an icon. Being an iconoclast doesn't mean you're an icon. Julie with her fashion sense, Mary and her quirks, nasty Norris, evil Toad, sharp tongued and utterly unredeemable Tracy, nope, not icons. Anna is nasty but at least she means well. Tracy is nasty because she likes being nasty.
For icons, I think of a symbolic character representing something important of the show and well integrated into the fabric of society, someone desirable who we'd want to emulate in some way. This is a show about working class families, so I'd put in Liz the landlady, brothers David and Nick (good apart, better when plotting together), Sally but only with Tim (the delightfully mismatched pair), Carla the big boss and perpetual lonely heart, Tyrone and Jason, blue collar small businessmen, good father/son, and everyone's best friends, Steve the decent, spineless son and husband, and Roy the lovable misfit. Sean might be on that list as well, part of 2 workplace crews and openly gay long before it was a thing. Yasmeen and Sharif are a good double act and may one day own the old married couple role but they're too new right now.
Gail, Sally, Rita, Emily, Ken, Roy, Norris, even Kevin i think. I'd even go as far as to say David and Steve as well. Hayley would definitely be an icon from the former characters, as would Fred Elliot, Racquel and Curly. Becky's sojourn was fairly brief but she sure made an impact.
Spot on Glenda. I do think Steve is on his way to something...legend, icon..I'm not sure which. If he stays the course I'm sure the Jack Duckworth comparisons will start to be made. But Corrie's women win hands down when it comes to impact and status.
I do think Audrey should have made your shortlist.
Tracy Barlow revered or idolized? Really? I feel sorry for UK citizens.
How did Tracy B. get on the list when all I've ever read is how much people loath the character and usually skip through her parts?
Rita definitely I would say is more on the icon rather than legend list. Ken too - as of late maybe not so much, but c'mon the character's been there since day 1. That IS iconic. Rest of the lists seem in line. As for younger cast, David is always a scene stealer and I think we as the audience will always care about his well-being, malgre his past.
Norris is unforgetable to me. The Street wouldn't be the same without him. Defo a Corrie legend in my books.
- Pod
Can't stand Liz or Fiz. Steve, Eileen, Audrey, David and Norris are characters who will stand the test of time. Dev is pretty memorable.
I'm really baffled as to how the poorly acted and deeply unpopular Tracy could make this list ahead of the wonderful Audrey Roberts...
Gail
Audrey
Roy
Sally
Rita
Ken
Emily
Norris
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