Coronation Street Weekly Update – bold, strong and big-hearted

Corrie weekly updates from 1995 - 20 years in 20 e-books
All the wit and warmth of Weatherfield, none of the waffle
Available from amazon.co.uk or amazon.com

Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - 2015 official ITV tie-in book
and Coronation Street unofficial companion books:
Norman Bates with a Briefcase, the Richard Hillman Story
A Perfect Duet, the diary of Roy and Hayley Cropper

Greetings and welcome to the Coronation Street Weekly Update. Find out more about the Coronation Street Weekly Updates and why they've been written for th'internet since 1995 at http://www.corrie.net/updates/weekly

 

This was the week of Deirdre’s funeral and her final goodbye. The funeral was split over two episodes written beautifully by Damon Rochefort. However, I know I’m not alone in wishing the funeral episodes had been about Deirdre alone. Callum, David, Max, Kylie and Bethany all came crashing into this storyline, their crassness and brashness at odds with the dignified send-off for Deirdre.

 

 

In the lead funeral car were Ken and Tracy with Emily, Amy and Simon. The pallbearers were Ken, Dev, Kirk, Steve, Kev and when Peter doesn’t arrive in time to say his goodbyes at the church, Liz takes up the coffin on her shoulder instead. Inside the church, Ken gives his heart-felt eulogy and there’s not a dry eye in the house. It was outstanding, truly moving, the two funeral episodes were fully charged with the emotion of the cast. It was impossible not to be moved. We all know we weren’t just saying goodbye to Deirdre this week. 

At the funeral, a familiar face returned after reading about Deirdre’s funeral in the paper. It’s Robert Preston, Tracy’s first ex-husband. She introduces him to Steve: “Steve, this is my ex-husband, Robert.  Robert, this is my ex-husband, Steve”.  She just needed Roy to be there and she could have done the hat-trick. Robert seems genuinely caring about Tracy and the Barlows but then we see him on the phone to someone, lying about his whereabouts and whatnots.  Ken chucks Robert out of the house when he returns from Deirdre’s wake to find Tracy and Robert snogging on the sofa. It’s too much for Ken, especially after Bev had told him the reason Deirdre stayed away so long was because she was embarrassed and upset by Tracy’s affair with Tony.  Ken explodes at Tracy in his grief and his anger and tells her some nasty home truths she needed to hear.  

 

And just then, Peter walks in through the front door at No. 1. He’s late because his train was delayed but he arrives just in time to take up Ken’s mantle and have a go at Tracy. In the episode after Deirdre’s funeral, the performances were so strong, so vivid, it was incredible. I honestly think this is one of the best Coronation Street episodes I’ve seen in some years. And of course, it was all about Deirdre, with, thank heavens, not a single Platt in sight.

 

 

Deirdre’s death and how it impacts on Tracy will play out over the coming weeks and months. For now, after a stern talking to from Ken and from Peter, she decides to change her ways, for Amy’s sake. She bakes cakes, makes the tea, does the shopping, smiles. It can’t last and I truly hope it doesn’t. Tracy is a villain and must revert to type, it’s the way of all soaps. In the meantime though, it’s fun to watch her trying to be good.  

 

And as Tracy tries to change, Carla tries to cope. She’s got the death of two people on her mind, two people she didn’t kill and whose deaths she had nowt to do with. She takes herself off to the casino at all hours, spending her own cash and that from Underworld too. She argues with Roy and tells him – and here’s where I did a sharp intake of breath – that he’s being unfaithful to the memory of Hayley by striking up a friendship with Cathy. It was uncalled for, that comment, and Carla knows it. It upsets Roy greatly. He’d just shared a very touching moment with Cathy who bought him a model of the same train that he’d driven on his wedding day to Hayley. The same model train that had been damaged when the kids broke into his flat.  Carla upsets Cathy with her comment and Cathy walks away from Roy. Carla apologies later to Roy, who’s become very concerned about Carla’s behaviour. In a lovely scene in the café, he tells her as much and Coronation Street once again brought a tear to my eye. It’s been one of those Weatherfield weeks.

Bev and Audrey reconciled this week, for Deirdre’s sake. Bev, you’ll remember, fell out with Audrey as Bev was due to marry Fred Elliot. But on her wedding day, Fred fell down dead – on Audrey’s welcome mat. It’s fair to say relations between Audrey and Bev have been somewhat less than cordial since. However, at Deirdre’s wake in the pub, they shook hands and made up.  Bev has gone home now, as has Peter. Their visits were fleeting but necessary and it’s Corrie’s loss that they’ve both gone, again. Ken’s even thrown his kimono away. 

 

Elsewhere this week, the loss of grandma Deirdre impacts on Simon more than he can say. He’s a young teenage boy with a voice that’s on the break, his emotions are all over the place so he’s hardly going to articulate the loss that he feels. Instead, he hits out at Leanne, verbally and manipulatively. I’ve never felt sorry for Leanne before, but I do now. I feel Simon’s pain too. He’s not her son, she’s not his mum. They’ve been thrown together and it’s not really what either of them want. Leanne’s on her own trying, and failing to cope.

Leanne has much on her mind though and when Dan the brewery man gets rough with her, she decides to tell Liz the truth about her new squeeze.  Liz is upset, as you’d imagine, to hear her fella visits prostitutes and then beats them up and chooses her moment carefully to dump him. In full view of everyone in the pub, and in front of Dan’s daughter and his brewery boss, she tells everyone the truth. Let’s hope that’s the last we ever see of him. I never did like the way he smirked.

At the Nazir house, they celebrate Eid Mubarak and there’s extra reason for joy when Alya and Gary announce they’re engaged. Now then, I love Gary Windass. I think I might be a little bit in love with him and in my eyes, he can do no wrong. But this storyline is all wrong, nothing feels right about it at all. Gary’s little son Jake appears to have been forgotten and the fact that Alya would be Jake’s stepmum has not been mentioned either. As I said, it feels wrong. 

"To Deirdre."

And finally, I’ll end this weekly update with my favourite line of the week. It came from Wednesday’s superb episode written by Chris Fewtrell. At Deirdre’s wake, Liz opens a bottle of red wine to drink a toast to Deirdre. She says: "It's a Shiraz. Bold, strong, big-hearted and takes no prisoners. It were Deirdre's favourite."

And that's just about that for this week. Remember, you can sign up to get these Corrie weekly updates by email at http://www.corrie.net/updates/weekly/subscribe.htm

This week’s writers were Damon Rochefort (Monday double); Chris Fewtrell (Wednesday's gem of an episode; Thursday); Ellen Taylor and John Kerr (Friday double). Find out all about the Coronation Street writing team at http://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.com/2008/11/exclusive-all-current-corrie-writers.html

Glenda Young
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Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com
 
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