Responding today to the complaints online from fans about last night's Coronation Street, an ITV spokesperson has given the following statement:
“Coronation Street has always been recognised for its mix of drama and comedy, as well as hard hitting storylines.
“Phelan has already been established as a villain in a long line of murderous Coronation Street villains and so his actions, evil though they are, won’t have come as a surprise to viewers.
“In addition the programme is always careful to limit the level of violence actually shown to a minimum to convey the drama and tell the story.
“And, of course, one day, Phelan will get his comeuppance and justice will be done."
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27 comments:
“Coronation Street has always been recognised for its mix of drama and comedy, as well as hard hitting storylines."So give us back some comedy because there's been none for ages!
Like Val -- where is the comedy?
Jeanie (anon):
The two actors did fantastic jobs--I can see why they would be excited by an opportunity like this, particularly Farnsworth who must be looking for new roles. But the story itself was pretty much violence porn--gratuitous, voyeuristic, and with no other purpose than to entertain the viewers by showing suffering, terror, torture, and death. The whole Andy imprisonment thing didn't advance the plot in any way and had no repercussions on the story lines; it had no educational value; it had no thematic purpose; it's not launching new stories. It was a depiction of suffering and torture purely for its own sake--designed to entertain.
Arguably the show could say it was intended to advance Phelan's character development--to show a man torn between good and evil-- but I think that's a ludicrous claim. He was always bad, sadistic, a bully, and this sudden attempt to suggest that he is torn between his good and bad angels is not believable. Phelan staring in anguish at his hands before he drives away--like a modern day Macbeth-pretentious BS. Shakespeare this is not; and not even a competent psycho-drama of a believably conflicted man. Just suffering and cruelty for its own sake.
I wouldn't deny I found it gripping--like watching two animals fight to the death would be gripping--but it's not what I want to watch on a soap.
I so agree with you I have fast forwarded much of Phelan’s scenes
There used to be a mix of comedy, dramady and drama. Now almost ever man is a bad man, and the women have to carry the stupid stories.
A good end to Brittany's story was not that they are going to jail, but for how long.
A murdering priest, again more of the same.
Babies born on the same day (usually Christmas) was the repeating story of old.
Put some comedy into it. And stop getting rid of good actors like Andy; that story of him in the basement, just to be killed off, was a waste of time I will never get back.
Get your heads out of your butts; the smell and view is better.
I have watched and loved Corry for years but these sick, overlapping story lines are as much as i want to see. I miss the funny lines and stories of days gone by. I'm at a point where I'm thinking of stopping. Please stop this terrible writing!!!
Clearly you don't watch the programme Gail because I have no idea who Brittany is but I do remember watching a story about a character called Bethany. As for Phelan storylines I just switched off every time his face appeared. Coronation Street is currently making Eastenders look cheerful.
As I said on a different thread, I'm very very disappointed about the turn of events last night, such a waste of time. And I can't imagine what Ms Oates is thinking.
I don't buy the suggestions that this was always a long story arc with a planned come-uppance. The storyline has been piecemeal with bits stuck on eg Andy coming back, Nicola appearing, hints that Phelan would repent of his evil ways. I can see that the writers want to make Phelan a troubled soul but his inner torment hasn't been shown. When did all this talk of being a psychopath start? When tptb realised they hadn't given viewers enough back story to explain his actions. Was it an alcoholic father, a strict religious upbringing, vicious bullying? None of this was explored and it was simpler to give him a mental illness. I'm cynical and think the video of actors enjoying themselves is to show viewers that it's not real so chill. ITV have not helped by giving out this statement. It should have issued an apology for showing disturbing scenes before the watershed without displaying a warning statement at the beginning.
I don't understand many of the comments here. I thought Friday's episodes were excellent. During the scenes with Pat and Andy, the tension and cinematography bordered on motion picture territory, rather than the small-screen pub gossip seen in almost every other episode. When Pat looked at his hands, for a split second, it was plain he was thinking, "What have I just done?" For a viewer who's been waiting for the "beginning of the end" since Michael died, the depth of these scenes needed to be both powerful and emotional. It achieved both. To treat such a subject lightly, or interspersed with silly jokes would have been both a disservice to the subject and a huge letdown. These were clearly great scenes. I feel sad that almost no one understood the meaning.
Terrible writing..superb acting by Oliver and Conner....especially the scenes with Nicola!
It's all about a rating grab which was the point of the whole storyline,substance be damned!
I did notice that the building Pat used for his murders belonged to J.Phelan and Son, could this be the clue that we are seeking to understand the mind of a lunatic?
I've been watching the classicCorrie ...five minutes in the Rovers and I've seen more comedy than I've seen all year on the current Corrie.
The bit with Steve and Dev was absolutely freakin' stupid....what a wasteof air time!
Sean and Norris living together...comedy gold Corrie writers!!
Seriously getting hard not to fast forward through the whole freakin' show. Having said that...it'll be worth it to see the Smugness wiped from Eileen's face when she finds out what a turd Pat is.
One more chance Corrie...that's it mate
I can't comment on Fridays episodes because after 57 years of watching I have finally switched off, and I won't be back for the foreseeable.
Blah Blah..best storyline in years. I love watching the evil Phelan.
I've been watching for 40 years now and one of my first Corrie memories is Ernie Bishop being shot. Obviously I've seen quite a lot of deaths and murders since then, some of them quite gruesome, but this was in a class of its own. In my opinion it went too far, particularly with getting Andy to kill Vinnie. I found it quite disturbing. I'm certainly not a precious little snowflake, but scenes like these belong in the likes of Taggart, Prime Suspect etc.
TPTB would do well to remember what happened to Brookside, with their increasingly sensationalised storylines.
Great comments by Jeanie, Loubie and 'Think I could write better....' that echo my own feelings. If I want to watch sadistic cruelty and psychological crime I'll watch late night drama. For my Corrie fix I shall watch Classic Corrie.
A step too far this time.
I couldn’t agree more. The performances were excellent and where is it a written Rule that Corrie has to be portrayed in a certain way. Times and shows evolve. Will Corrie depict this kind of drama in every storyline? No. This kind of drama won’t be seen in every episode, I believe it’s a one off and kudos to the team for exploring something new. Also, someone had written about how characters play to 99% realism but they should act to 100% - that’s their job!
This storyline of sadistic torture and psychopathic Murders revolted me thoroughly
I am in Canada and we are about two weeks behind in episodes, so I can't comment on the content of last night's episode that aired in Great Britain. I will say that I never liked this storyline, nor the Bethany one, nor the Michelle/Robert/Will one, and the Aiden/Maria/Eva one. Mainly because there's too much gloom and doom on the show now. And the above storylines have gone on for....ev....errrrr...People have referenced some of the older storylines that involved murders, like the Richard Hillman one which was full of suspense and kept us on the edge of our seats. The difference with the current storylines is that the suspense is just too dragged out and many of us just want these stories to be over for that reason. And there's no fun in the show anymore! There used to be some really funny storylines and quirky cast characters that used to put smiles on our faces! These are the cast members that we hardly see anymore...for some reason. There used to be a good balance of different types of stories on the show..not so anymore...all the same now...all doom and gloom!
No analysis needed, Fridays episodes were more than a step too far. Ratings and award grabbing attempts thats all and managing to alienate true Corrie in their thousands. If l wanted to watch a horror movie l switch to the movie channel.ITV you have pushed the boundaries too far this time.
Susan Clayton: thanks for your correction on Brittany/Bethany. By the way, it was Gale who posted, not Gail. Easy to get mixed up though.
Jeanie (anon):
Love your comment Gale--about where and how the producers could achieve a better view! Couldn't have been more eloquent. I think people who say the scenes with Andy and Phelan were great because they were gripping and cinematic entirely miss the point. It's about violating/betraying viewers' expectations and trust. When we sit down to watch a crime thriller or a psychological drama based on some real-life hostage taking and/or torture, rape, murder, we already know what to expect and don't invest heavily in the characters. But a serial soap establishes a completely different relationship with its viewers; it encourages them to invest heavily in the daily lives of the characters and their on-going tribulations and triumphs--which is why you'll often see viewers confusing characters with actors. So to suddenly flip things upside down and inflict such wanton cruelty on a character--eg. systematically stripping Andy of every emotion except despair, terror, self-hatred before killing him--feels like a betrayal. And it was totally pointless as well. Phelan could have killed Andy 8 mths ago, as it appeared, and never imprisoned him in the cellar and the story line and characters would be at the EXACT same point they're at now. It was all just a sadistic little sideshow.
That's Bethany's middle name, though so think it's spelt Britney, as in Spears as she was very popular around the time Bethany was born. I think Sarah contemplated Britney as her first name. :)
My auto correct loves writing whatever it was I assumed yours had done the same and changed Bethany to Brittany I've just had to go back as it wrote Bethnal
If Connor McIntyre were a less competent actor, that whole thing would have fallen apart. I love crime shows and the warehouse scenes were tense compelling drama. As one of the Anons pointed out above and I also did on another board, it was movie quality. Put down Candy Crush and pay attention good. Except for one thing. It’s a soap and my fantasy was that Andy would get out and find his way back to Steph. But Phelan rarely makes mistakes and this was a tight drama, so what happened made sense. He is a treasure some of us will get to enjoy for a little while longer.
That said, I imagine it was a bit much for some Corrie fans. Well, guess what? There are some of us who find Mary’s flights and Beth’s shenanigans just as unbearable. So maybe, dear writers/directors/producer, it’s time to be mindful of the limits of believable. We don’t want pablum but we also don’t want characters who feel like, well, characters. They should feel like our neighbors. Normal people who have a quirk, demon or interest. Rita, Peter, David (now, not as a teen), Sally, Roy, Craig, Audrey, all good places to start.
I think I may watch this week’s Phelan stuff again.
Anonymous 14:36--Phelan doesn't seem like any neighbour I've ever known (thank goodness)! Fortunately murderous psychopaths who torture their victims before killing them are only a miniscule fraction of the general population. Soaps are a particular genre of TV. as are forensic drama and psychological thrillers. Neither is better or worse than the other, but if you add too much violence and psychological and physical torture to a soap then you no longer have a soap. And yes, some-time tiresome women like Beth and Fiz chattering on about relationships and household life and other men and women exploring their sexual identity and cheating on each other, and women like Mary becoming over-protective mothers-in-law from hell while their daughters in law suffer from postpartum depression ARE standard fare of soaps. That's why I can rarely compell my husband to watch soaps with me! jeanie
You've hit the nail on the head. No matter how great these scenes would be in another genre, they aren't suitable for a soap. Just the fact that if this were a movie it would be done and dusted in two hours instead of two years explains why the storylines have to be more carefully presented.
After 30 years of watching Corrie I have now stopped after the violent and emotional disturbing scenes with Andy. Corrie is not the medium for this type of drama. I'm out
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