When I admitted this on twitter yesterday, a few fans naturally said the opposite, that they enjoyed the friendship. But one person came out of the woodwork to admit that like me, they too have struggled to accept these two as friends.
I think part of the problem, for me, is that Carla was thrown together with Roy by the powers-that-be at Coronation Street to make Carla appear more fluffy than she actually is.
ITV admitted that here.
ITV's drama director John Whiston said about Alison King: 'She is a consummate actress but somehow she was not breaking through in the research. We thought, 'What can we do to show a different side of her? She had a soft spot for Roy Cropper - this strange character we all love. That boosted her image and it showed she must be a nice person to like Roy.'
So, has it worked for you, this friendship between Roy and Carla?
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21 comments:
I believe that Carla has been a replacement for Becky but hasn't quite worked. She worked better with Hayley tbh.
Their friendship does work for me. They came together to comfort each other during Hayley's illness and death. Admittedly they don't appear
as obvious candidates for such a friendship, but they do convince me.
I feel like Roy has been one of only a few people Carla has ever felt safe enough with to show her vulnerable side. Roy sees right through her tough-as-nails exterior, and not only does Carla acknowledge this, she also appreciates it, because she knows Roy will never take advantage of her (mostly hidden) vulnerability.
From Roy's perspective, I think he's genuinely fond of Carla, mainly because of how kind and supportive she was to Hayley during her illness.
Apart from that, I think David and Alison have surprisingly good on-screen chemistry and I find it a joy to watch them together.
They are a pairing that would seem ridiculous on paper, but that works ever so well in the actual execution. A bit like Dot Branning and Arthur Chubb in EastEnders... they had next to nothing in common, but the chemistry was wonderful and their friendship felt so real.
I agree completely with Wim Lammens above. He wrote exactly how I feel about it. The friendship shouldn't work, but it does.
Roy says what he feels. He isn't PC, he isn't fluffing Carla about. I think she trusts him to be a voice of reason in a world of noise. I like them together.
I agree. The relationship between Carla and Hayley was just about believable,as they had been the whole siege thing together. But,I've always felt that the Carla-Roy one very contrived. This week's scene when he returned was the most unbelievable yet. Mind,they seem to be testing Alison King's acting with so many unbelievable scenarios at the moment. Her chemistry with Nick is non existent,and her jumping through Tracy's hoops also goes against all we've ever known about the character.
I enjoy the Roy and Carla relationship very much. Given this is a soap opera and all sorts of things are overdone this is probably not a relationship that would exist in real life but in the context of a seige, a boss/employee relationship, a woman and man whose mothers were extreme (not that we ever saw Carla's mum but we heard all about her) then it's soap-opera believable.
My answer is the same as the last time you asked. :-) For me Roy and Carla scenes are a joy to watch.
John Whiston's comment makes no sense to me. For a start, even when Carla's been in the wrong, she seems to have majority of viewers on her side. Bit odd to worry about such a flawed character being liked but STILL put her at the centre of so many controversial stories. I'm afraid it's a bit too much to expect me to believe that they have bothered to do some sort of 'how much is a character liked?' research in the first place.
So no disrespect to John Whiston, but his 'view' does not convinced me at all. What matters is that Hayley is at the heart of Roy and Carla's relationship and in my honest opinion, their friendship has been one of the few things the writers have got absolutely right in the last few years.
I love them together on screen like many have said they shouldn't work on paper but they do. I think Roy's been like a father figure throughout the past years which she has needed with the Peter and Tina stuff and the gambling addiction
There was a point in one of the storylines where Roy was at a low point and Carla was nowhere to be seen; maybe, it was to do with the thugs attacking the café. You might have expected Roy to be untouchable with Carla's protection but that didn't happen. As always in Corrie, good actors can make a dodgy storyline work. Shoot me down now, Carla fans, but she is still very 2D which means she takes more from their friendship than Roy does. The thing that would have really softened Carla is a baby and then Roy could have excelled as a surrogate grandfather.
I agree with most of the comments here. They shouldn't work but they do for me. It grew out of Carla and Hayley's friendship. They wouldn't have made that connection otherwise but Roy came to see the person beneath Carla's veneer just as he did with Becky. She sees him as a father figure in many respects even now that Johnny has come clean. She and Johnny don't have that bond that she and Roy have.
Tvor, stop reading my mind! It shouldn't but it does. The cordiality was formed over the years of Haley and Carla's relationship, and their own friendship formed when they came together over Haley's demise. He's the favorite uncle neither of them ever had; even without a role model, it sprang from his innate goodness and her need to have someone with whom she could take off her armor.
I find it impossible not to love Roy and Carla and I agree with the above comments- on paper it shouldn't work but it SO does!
Roy has made it his mission to be there for Carla like she was there for him and Hayley. The bond they have is lovely to watch and so rare in a soap
Didn't find it very plausible at first, but it definitely seems more and more natural as it goes on. Lot of credit to both actors for pulling it off! From someone who used to scoff at the relationship, I thought Carla's joy at Roy's return came across as very authentic, touching even-a real rapport between the two. Much better than Cathy's response, actually, which seemed very sheepish and half-hearted. Got the impression that she would have preferred to have continued running the cafe and chatting to the customers without him! jeanie
I agree with comments about Carla's and Roy's friendship being true.
Granted it began over their shared grief over Hayley but in time Roy has become almost like a surrogate father to Carla.
My favorite scene is when Roy visits Carla in the hospital after her miscarriage.He didn't know what to say but for Carla,just him being there was all that mattered.It choked me up.
I also thought always that Carla's friendship with Roy was a bit forced. Just because you're friends with someone doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be friends with her husband. I think it's more a Carla problem than a Roy problem as the only friend to Carla I find remotely credible is Michelle -- and that's only because they are similar in age and matched in terms of attractiveness as well as related.
The friendship between Becky and Roy was more believable because their history had the breadth of time and depth borne out of Becky's personal ups and downs. With Carla, I thought the friendship was rushed with only Hayley's impending death being the trigger for getting closer.
Anon 21:40 Totally agree. That hospital scene broke my heart too.
Anonymous 00:00 - All friendships start somewhere. Hayley is more than a good enough reason for Roy and Carla's unlikely friendship. Nothing forced about it.
I agree with you. Their friendship always felt awkward and fake to me. But I should mention that I've disliked Carla ever since she let that Polish immigrant working at Underworld die and refused to call for an ambulance. She had been overworking the poor woman (and another immigrant or two) and didn't want an ambulance to arrive at the time because the women shouldn't have been working all night. Carla didn't give a shit about that poor woman. She also let herself off the hook quite quickly after nearly killing Stella while driving drunk, and drove drunk again afterwards as well.
I also find her to be an unlikable, snobby, selfish cow. I'm thrilled she's leaving.
Anyway, her relationship with Roy always bothered me. It's like seeing a cat cuddling a mouse. Unnatural and weird.
If they'd wanted to soften Carla and make her vulnerability truly believable, they should have given her a baby. Much as I loathe babies arriving at the drop of a hat, a real story could have been made about Carla being left with a baby courtesy of, preferably, Peter Barlow. He could have still had the affair and left town. Having a child, whose interests would come first in Carla's life, would have changed her completely and given the character much more depth. Roy would have been a superb surrogate Grandpa. As it was, the writers threw all these ridiculously OTT episodes at Carla, trying to make her the flawed heroine.
Carla has been turned into a dishrag..the old Carla would've told Nick about her one night stand and let the chips fall where they may. As far as Roy in concerned..they're more like acquaintances now - not much there anymore. I sure hope she has a cracking exit storyline though, with Roy involved somewhere.
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