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Wednesday 7 October 2015

What now for Leanne?


Leanne, played by the brilliant Jane Danson, has had a very rough time of late. The Nazirs had just begun to accept her into their family, when Kal died a horrific death in the fire at Carla’s flat. Grieving for the man she loved and the life they might have had together, before fate jumped out at them and prevented it, Simon decides to add to her troubles and behaves extremely badly, resulting in a stay in hospital.

In addition to all that, let’s not forget Dastardly Dan and his threats to tell Simon that his mum had been a prostitute, which, the despicable man actually  carried out. Viewers will remember that Dan had become violent towards Leanne during their ‘encounter’ in her previous life and he was terrified that Leanne would warn Liz about his propensity towards violence. Dan seemed keen on Liz and did not want Leanne to wreck what Dan had going with her.  But Leanne had to tell Liz - she had no choice. It would have been a dereliction of duty if Leanne had not warned her that she was potentially putting herself in danger, by carrying on seeing Dan. Liz might be tough, but she would be no match, physically, for Dan. It wasn’t long before Liz saw for herself exactly what an unsavoury individual Dan was.


 Alya and Leanne were  friendly before Kal’s untimely death and even Zeedan, who had been dead set against their relationship, was beginning to thaw. I feel confident in claiming that the thaw would have continued, even if Kal had not died. Zeedan could see Leanne’s worth. Now of course, Zeedan has been very good to Leanne. In particular he has supported her in her difficulties with Simon. What a heartwarming moment and excellent script idea it was to have Zeedan turn up at Leanne’s with his sleeping bag, to ensure Leanne’s safety and to send a warning shot to Simon.

What I really hope the writers don’t do, is bring on a new man for Leanne in the next few months. There is nothing wrong with being single, even if,  like Leanne, you are an attractive, woman in her mid-thirties.  After such a tragedy, it would be best to give her a break from men, let her concentrate on her work, her friends and on Simon of course, once he returns from his dad’s.

 As for Peter, he really does need to step up. He has a child. It is not acceptable to abdicate responsibility of the day to day bringing up of a boy, who has seen far too much trouble and trauma in his young life. Sadly, Peter has always put Peter first. It may well be the case that if Peter had done right by Simon, in sticking around, the abuse inflicted by Simon on Leanne, would never have happened. Of course, this is speculation.  Zeedan has been more of a support to Leanne, young as he is, than Peter has.

Ken isn't getting any younger, thats true, but perhaps he could do more with and for Simon. He could take an interest in what Simon is doing at school and work with him. He could perhaps try to inspire him with his love of literature, leaving alone for now the Russian greats and perhaps starting off with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

For Leanne, I would like to see her enjoying friendships, meeting up with other men and women her own age, taking up something outside of work that she finds enjoyable and doing what she wants to do, not always doing what she ought to do.

After a difficult start, Leanne and Eva have become close. As sisters, they work for me and they both need some fun. Just to repeat, it is possible to have fun without bringing new men into their lives. Let’s see more interaction between them.

Loud and long has been the cry to have Toyah return to the cobbles. Now what a treat that would be! Add in Janice?   Perhaps,  that’s just too much to hope for.

Ruth Owen

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12 comments:

Humpty Dumpty said...

I wonder if Simon is coming back. Alex Bain is getting on for 14 and may need to concentrate on his education. In hindsight, the abuse against Leanne was a lead-in to Simon's exit rather than an analysis of teenage aggression. Quite easy to write a storyline where Simon has settled in a new school and is happy living with Peter and his new partner. After Leanne has got over the initial upset, she'll be fine - or as fine as the writers want her to be. And she won't be on her own for long. You can't have a single, attractive woman on the Street without a partner. Just not done.

Anonymous said...

JD is a good actress but I'm not a fan of Leanne anymore. I don't think it matters what storyline she gets or which poor bloke she ends up with - she's still going to be the same character and that's the problem. She's usually either stomping around the bistro with a sour face or wailing.

I never found her and Kal anything other than dull and ultimately her decision to stop half way down a ladder for a chat - when she was meant to be escaping from a fire - cost her beloved Kal his life. He would still be alive if it wasn't for that but she has managed not to blame herself at all.
The storyline I'd give Leanne would involve sending her off to Toyah's for at least a year.

Anonymous said...

Humpty Dumpty, I do hope Simon doesn't come back. He really doesn't fit in any more.

Anonymous said...

I also hope Simon doesn't come back - he doesn't fit in any more and just doesn't do anything for the show. Same as Leanne, the character has been involved in too many major storylines and for the most part she is always stomping around with a sour face. Not fun to watch at all.

C in Canada said...

I think Eva coming back may help freshen up Leanne's life.

Tvor said...

I would love to see Leanne have some fun. She and Eva need to go out on the lash and have a really good time. There arent' many women around that same age on the show. Tracy isn't going to be her friend and Beth is Tracy's friend so that kind of rules her out, too. Maria, Izzy and Fiz are kind of close in age, a tad younger but Leanne never had anything in common with them. Carla's never going to be Leanne's bezzy mate either. Leanne's never been one much for female friends other than her sisters. Maybe that should change.

Cobblestone said...

I think this 'sour-faced Leanne' criticism is rather unfair. Yes, she can be, when life is dumping on her from a great height, which it frequently does, but there are other facets to her character. She can be very light hearted when the circumstances warrant it, and at Sally's (almost non-) wedding, she showed herself sympathetic & compassionate.

njblas said...

Leanne and Fiz are (or were) step-sisters. Leanne's dad was married to Fiz' mum. Yet this connection is never mentioned, yet alone worked into a storyline. They don't really ever have anything to do with each other. Shame really, it would be nice to see different groups of characters interact instead of moving in the usual small circles.

Anonymous said...

'Nail on the head' njblas, big stories in small circles, that's what's wrong with Corrie now. The residents don't interact anymore.

Tvor said...

Even when Cilla and Les were married, Fiz and Leanne had very little to do with each other, though.

Anonymous said...

Cobblestone - Apart from the odd scene here and there, she is always stomping around the place in a bad mood and Simon is now copying her! He's being rude and aggressive just like his mother but of course, we're meant to overlook that and just blame Peter.

Anonymous said...

Ruth excellent blog! The book you mentioned Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, very good book I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Humpty, I agree with you I really don't want to see Simon back. He has become thoroughly unlikeable and is too hard for Leeanne to handle. High time Peter took a fatherly role. Leeanne needs to find some joy in her life, hopefully Eva can help. I would love to see a return of Toya.

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