Guest blog post by Rob Innes on Facebook and Twitter @RobInnes87
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I’ve always thought Coronation Street is prone to the odd cycle. We’re in one at the minute with a lot of characters going through one of Weatherfield’s annual credit crunches, where everyone is suddenly skint, save for the Roy’s Rolls savings that every character seems to have in situations like this. And then, now and again, Corrie will go dark. And viewers will suddenly decide that Corrie has lost its way, its warmth, its identity. “The humour is gone!” they will lament. The events of the dark Phelan story on Friday was responded to with cries of “I am never watching again! Tony Warren would be spinning in his grave!” Actually, I’d argue that Tony will still be sleeping soundly.
Coronation Street has had some incredibly bleak and dark stories over the years, and each time, viewers are outraged that the show that they claim should be filled with hotpots and hairnets has suddenly become besieged with such depravity. There is no denying that the image of Andy, terrified and desperate to escape Phelan’s clutches, forced to commit murder then being brutally killed was horrific. It was supposed to be. How else are we supposed to realise exactly what Phelan is capable of, and how, more importantly, are the writers supposed to surprise us with a story that is technically one they’ve told a few times now but with a new and Liverpudlian coat of paint?
Darkness is nothing new to Corrie.
The Richard Hillman story, one of the most memorable and best loved plots that the show has ever done, featured a young mother being beaten to death with a crowbar while her newborn son was asleep upstairs. Incidentally, the scene then cut to a slab of bloody meat being slammed onto a plate, and for one brief, awful second we think the director has gone insane and strayed into Texas Chainsaw Massacre territory and we think it’s Maxine’s head.
Remember the Harrises? When Rosie was going through her goth phase, she dated Craig, surely one of the show’s most tragic characters? In just a few short weeks, his father was murdered by his sister, his mother was sent to prison for his death, and then his sister committed suicide by overdosing on sugar, leaving him all alone. THAT’S dark. That’s horrific. I could go on; Toyah’s rape, the shooting of Ernest Bishop, any day in the life of Carla Connor, some of Liz’s outfits. The point is that Coronation Street is no stranger to throwing horrible visual imagery at us. How was last Friday’s offering any different?
I’ve seen complaints that Corrie has lost its humour. This is, of course, entirely subjective, but am I the only one who found themselves chuckling at Beth fluttering around in her flower costume? I am surely not alone in being utterly in love with Moira and excited for the potential for comedy she will bring, especially as she is being allowed to slowly develop so the viewers get to know her, rather than just trying to make her a walking gag reel with no substance.
I would argue that Weatherfield is in rude health. I’m finding myself excited to be tuning in for the first time in a while, without it feeling like a habit. Kate Oates is a high octane producer. The stories she crafts into her soaps are dramatic and make a statement. Admittedly, this is not for everyone, and in truth it is impossible for this onslaught of high drama to sustain itself forever, but we now have six episodes to play with.
In quieter times, the street can focus on character, on relationships. There’s room for the odd two or three hander, and the comedy can build itself as it has always done. The sky is the limit, and with a new set on the horizon and a group of characters that are growing in strength and potential. Oh, and incidentally; the ratings have gone up since Friday. So much for never watching again. I would argue that Coronation Street is far from losing its identity. It may well be that the journey is only just beginning.
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Very nicely put. And an accurate description of the show, it has always had its lighter and darker sides - what would be the point if it didn't ?
ReplyDeleteCorrie still has some humour, although it's in short supply. I think the real problem is that Corrie has lost its way and its roots and is slowly sinking into a cross between Eastenders and Brookside and if the slide isn't halted it's risking getting lost altogether. Sort it out please.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you. I enjoy the dramatic high suspense plots as well as the gentler stuff. If there's more of one than the other these days, well, if it didn't change with what the audience wants to see, there would be no Coronation Street. While I enjoy watching the older classic episodes, I also find them slow, having got used to the faster pace over the years. And yes, there have been many dark and horrible moments even in the golden earlier years. I started watching Corrie with the storyline that had Brian Tilsley knifed outside a nightclub, for heavens' sake!
ReplyDeleteJeanie (anon):
ReplyDeleteI've seen all the murderous characters mentioned in the blog post, along with John Stape (my personal favourite!) and Tony Gordon (runner up favourite). While murders are a staple of the show and some of them have been brutal, I would say Phelan's antics stand out from the rest because of their explicit cruelty and sadism. And that could be why viewers are so upset. Kill Andy yes. Bash his head in with a laptop or a hammer, okay. Even shoot him and Vinny dead in the mill. But keep him in a cellar for months, torture him in a variety of ways, force him to stay alive when he wants to die, then make him kill another human being before slaying him...That is just too sadistic and underlines how gratuitously violent and sensationalized the story line was.
I think the trouble with high intensity story lines like these is that they're very addictive, even to people who don't particularly like them--the more violence and shock used to carry the story and engage the viewer, the more desensitized we become and the more sensation and shock we need to keep our attention. Also, the more sensation we're given, the more tedious mundane, everyday story lines can come to seem. Who wants to see Rita or Mary fretting over Norris's fussiness or his skinflint ways when we've become used to Phelan's psychological and physical violence?
If Corrie wants to re-invent itself in this way to improve ratings, why not? It probably takes a lot less time, money, and skill to engage viewers through sensation then by presenting thoughtful, engaging, humorous vignettes of everyday life. But if they do so, they will need to work on improving the consistency of the tone and perhaps get rid of a lot of the mundane, everyday stuff and understated humor that once made it popular. Because the gap between the two (I think, anyways) is growing too wide to be bridged and the action moving back and forth between Andy's death and "comic" moments like Eileen fussing in her bathrobe or Shona raising a glass to the best day ever seem forced and tasteless.
When you get fed a diet of sensation, everyday things on the show just seem boring--which is probably why I found myself falling asleep and didn't bother making up the two episodes I had missed.
Humour is definitely subjective. I enjoy the outrageously un-PC comments from the likes of Blanche and sometimes, even now, Sally. People say Phelan has a sense of humour but it passes me by. And, no, I'm afraid Beth in costume did nothing for me, way too slapstick. To be fair, there's always been slapstick in Corrie and I've never liked it. Moira is beginning to settle down and her total lack of self-awareness is comical. They need to keep her playing it straight. Beth and Kirk are 'the comedy couple' and it gets wearing after a while.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the violence in Phelan's story that was disturbing. It was the gratuitous violence. OK, you can say Tracy didn't really need to wallop Charlie over the head but there was only a short build-up to her destroying his reputation and then she did the deed. Anyway, enough said on Phelan's storyline.
I find the old Corrie episodes very slow-paced now and somewhat stagey. Something to do with camera shots, probably, but they often don't have a realistic flow of movement. Victoria Wood did a lot to keep us amused at classic Corrie characters. I sometimes wonder if I fondly remember Ena Sharples or Victoria Wood's exaggerated impersonation of her.
As far as future storylines go, there is a middle way between fearsome and gentle Corrie. A character like Sean who, for all his brave face to the world, could be bitterly disappointed at the way his life has turned out. Not another story about depression but a study of how loneliness creeps up on you after a certain age. There might be some mileage in scenes between Sean and Norris who we rarely see together.
I agree that Corrie's in a dark phase right now, but it will lighten up again. I have to admit that it's times like this that I miss a good comedy double act like Jack and Vera or Steve (before he was psychologically abused by Michelle) and Lloyd inserted into episodes to break up the drama. I wish the writers would give us more of the Norris and Sean possible double act or Tim, Steve, and Eileen at the cab office.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI disagree with pretty much all of your post, although it was well written. Besides the humour,which Beth in costume is not (it's ridiculous)...the show has lost its charm. Of course this is just my opinion. I don't care about many of the new characters, and am really hating the personality changes that occur in some of the older ones.
As for Moira...can't stand her, totally unnecessary to the program. As if someone would just move into Steve and Liz's apartment the way she did..Gimme a break.
Once again..Kate Oates is ruining what little Stuart Blackburn left behind of an iconic program. Roy Barraclough predicted the show wouldn't last another ten years for precisely that reason...lack of comedy. I fear he may be right.
As I stated in another post, I am in Canada and have not seen last Friday's gruesome episode and the murder of Andy yet; however, I strongly feel that Corrie has morphed into something other than what it used to be and what so many viewers loved about the show. I have been watching for many years and remember the storylines involving John Stape, Richard Hillman, Charlie Stubbs, etc and I remember being gripped by those storylines and couldn't wait for the next episode to see what happened next. But I don't feel like that anymore about the show. Unlike the storylines involving the above characters, current storylines surrounding the characters of Pat Phelan; Robert, Michelle & Steve and Will; Aiden, Eva and Maria; Gary and Sarah; Bethany and Nathan; to name a few are full of hate, evil, plenty of shouting and screaming and at the very least, are very dreary. They are extremely wearing on myself as a viewer and apparently, on other viewers as well. It is like going to work everyday to a job you hate. And the storylines go on and on.....much longer than some of the older ones used to. And to make it worse the storylines are gone for a while and you think that is the end of it, like the one where Bethany was being bullied. There would be a blurb in one episode and then nothing for a few months and then another blurb about the bullying and then gone for another few months, etc. How many times did that happen with that storyline? There used to be plenty of other types of storylines to balance out the more serious, dramatic ones. They have all but disappeared except for "moments" here and there in a scattered episode. Recently I read that there may be one or more new storylines coming up, but all still serious and depressing. If the plan is to turn Coronation Street into "strictly" a drama, could someone let all of us know now so we can find something else to watch.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with the darkness - but it seems a relentless conveyor belt of hospital stories, murder, drugs, crime etc at the moment. With no - or very little - humour at all. I once met Tony Warren and he said that the dramatic always works better when it's counterpointed against lighter stories. I agree.
ReplyDeleteThe blogger is right, there is still humour there, however as the old saying goes dying is easy, comedy is hard. One of the funniest moments recently was Amy and Asha being forced to sing Rivers of Babylon was hilarious. However I thought that the Kirk running for Mayor had real potential for satire, they could have done a Corrie equivalent of the Black Mirror episode the Waldo Moment, but instead they bottled it.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Humpty Dumpty. Torture, gratuitous brutality is simply vile. The plots are all dreary and depressing at the moment. Very little to enjoy for me.
ReplyDeleteWholeheartedly agree with 'Where's Emily' about Moira. Over acted and not funny, a total failure.
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