Since the start of 2018, there have been over 50 episodes of Corrie broadcast, with a whopping 87 characters making credited appearances.
However, only 12 characters have appeared in at least half the episodes this year.
Among those who have made fewer appearances are hugely popular characters like Rana, Sally, Tim, Roy and Nicola. Meanwhile some older characters like Gail and Audrey have barely featured at all since 2018 began.
This led me to wonder if Corrie could benefit from a cast cull.
Having 6 episodes a week should in theory lead to the screen time getting shared out better but as my own records show that clearly isn't happening.
I'm sure pretty much each Corrie fan has their own ideas about which characters they could happily see the back of. In my personal opinion you could probably cut the cast by about 20% and give some underused characters time to shine.
When hugely talented actors like David Nielsen, Shelley King, Jane Danson and Nicola Thorp are left to feed on scraps of screen time something doesn't feel right...
Matt Johnson
Twitter @unitedkanamixer
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12 comments:
I say this as a long-standing fan but - I should think most of the good cast are just thrilled not to have to perform the drivel that passes as scripts these days.
Jeanie: Well said! I like characters like David, Bethany, Eva, Gary, Phelan and Billy (till his personality transplant)as much as the next person but when they dominate the screen to the exclusion of all the other characters the whole show suffers. It's characters like Yasmeen, Audrey and Roy who give texture and depth to the street and make it seem like it could actually be a real place, as opposed to a pitstop between stays in hospital and copshop.
There are a lot of characters in Corrie and I can accept that there would inevitably be a group of second tier actors eg: Kirk, Beth, Roy. They are strong characters who often don't have their own storyline, but support those of other characters. That part is believable in a neighbourhood. What I don't like is that many of the minor characters are so bland you can only identify them when they speak to an established one. I don't recognise Shona unless she's in the café or chatting to David. Similarly with Imran who always confuses me until he's in a scene with Rana. Shona and Nicola were interchangeable until Nicola's story moved on. There must be a way of giving these minor characters a bit of sparkle without having to promote them to a major storyline. And, yes, as far as I'm concerned, Shona is a minor character even though she's David's partner.
I could not agree more! Interesting that we are over two months into the year and that's all the more we've seen of many of the characters.
There is some characters who I believe have overstayed their welcome such as Dev, Sean, Kirk and Fiz who are either really annoying or add no value to the show at all and wouldn't miss them if they left. Other characters are in need of a big storyline which would require past characters to come back such as Jim for Liz, Lewis for Audrey and Sian for Sophie. Therefore, cutting the cast is definitely needed to get rid of the deadwood so that it gives more opportunity for humour in the show to be shown rather than the dark storylines that have led to Pat, Eileen and Billy being involved in just about every episode this year so far.
I completely agree - far too many characters! As a very long time viewer I have a list of characters I would not miss, but I won't bore the posters with my rant.
Definitely no need for Jim MacDonald to return. He's a one trick pony. We've repeatedly done the Liz-jim merry go round to death. No thank you
Good bye Billy the sicker and send Summer to her grandma, never to be heard from again.
Brian and Cathy can go and take Alex with them, thankfully we have been spared much of those three lately.
That's five so I did my part.
The trouble is the six episodes. If you have a big storyline, that's a lot of work, and as we know, they have long filming days. This is especially difficult if you're one of the older members of the cast. It means that those people then need some time off to make up for it, so they vanish from sight for weeks or even months. Plus the extra episodes mean that sometimes you need to be filming studio stuff at the same time as outdoor stuff (and maybe even a third location shoot), so actors are forced to only appear in half the stuff being made. The producers also seem unwilling to pay for people to just be in the background, too. Watching Classic Corrie, Ken has done nothing but prop up the bar reading a paper in a couple of episodes - there'd be no way he'd get away with that now.
Cull the episodes first, to reduce the amount of filming needed, and THEN cull the cast. I've got a list of suitable candidates ITV can borrow.
Very disappointed in the lack of material for David Neilson.
Far be it for me to judge, David may be happy with taking a step back and having time off to do other things.
It's just sad to see Roy's character not further developed.
My dream cull would be Robert and Michelle - it’ll never happen, but Z could run the kitchen and Leanne, who needs a job and was good at Nicks, could manage. Underworld’s closing could have had a few characters leave to find work elsewhere. Izzy easily could have gone to stay with her dad, esp as her sister died, and take Gary, please. Kate and Aidan do nothing for me, nor do Brian & Cathy or Shona (I still don’t feel any connection with David and her gal pals seem forced). Gail fits in nicely at the cafe; she needed a job and more screen time; Roy coulda hired her instead. Not sure about Angie & Jude or Moira long term, or how Eileen and Nicola will fit in after Phelan’s fall. Kevin needs more lads time with Tim and Ty.
Even though we are culling, I do wish they make a little more space for Dr. Gaddas. Yasmeen could use a smart friend.
I think part of the problem with too many characters is that some of them are brought in solely to justify storylines for the Platts[eg Josh,Shona Callum].Many times I've read about actors axed due to lack of storyline and yet characters are brought it for Platt storylines.
That being said,I wouldn't miss Sarah or Bethany if they were culled.
I have a similar complaint about the Connors as again too many of them [Michelle's two sons for example]are brought in storylines at the same time just like the Platts and thus we don't see anyone else featured or if they are very briefly.
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