By Stephen Leach, who is in Twitter @SirTerenceBoot, our guest blogger, who shares his thoughts on current Coronation Street.
It’s been an interesting few weeks.
Andy’s funeral took place entirely off-screen, almost as if to confirm how unimportant he always was. Nicola seems to have been pregnant for a decade, but somehow there’s still two months to go before she’s due. Drunk Jenny Bradley swiftly established herself as the best character on the show right now. And the Nazirs continue to underwhelm. Rana has joined the long list of women who were sparky and interesting when first introduced who’ve slowly degenerated into tedious drips (see also: Tinker, Sinead and Battersby, Toyah) and Alya continues to be a judgemental bore. One week ago she was furiously condemning anyone who dared take Luke’s name in vain or drink out of his old mug, and now she’s cheerfully going on a date with Josh. She does know the phrase “hour of grief” isn’t supposed to be literal, doesn’t she?
Imran hasn’t made much of an impact on the residents of Weatherfield yet, but on closer inspection there’s something truly exceptional about him. He’s been working on the Street for a good few months now and not been living there – what on earth’s going on? Have I missed something? Is he kipping in Ty and Fiz’s spare room and no-one mentioned it? It has to be something of a record, surely. I can’t recall any character in the last few years working on the Street and not living there. (Audrey doesn’t count.)
Michelle Keegan (remember her?) popped up in one of the gossip mags the other day that she’d “never say never” to a Corrie return. It’s ever so slightly difficult to imagine the circumstances in which Tina could make a return, on account of having her head stoved in and all, but perhaps she could make it work. Has there ever been a ghost character before apart from Vera? I’m not sure Corrie should go the Walking Dead route either, it’d be a pretty jarring shift in tone.
I quite like the pairing of Billy and Shona, surprisingly. The two of them living in the flat and bringing up Summer together is an interesting dynamic, and not one that’s really been explored before. Mind, chances are we won’t see much of it: there’ve been a few interesting living arrangements recently that the writers haven’t bothered to explore. Sean and Norris lived together for a while and we hardly got a look in; and what about Craig and Alya and Kate? What on earth do the three of them talk about?
Conversely, there’s so little chemistry between Carla and Ali I can hardly remember if their relationship is on or off. Are Carla and Michelle not going to scrap it out at any point? We’re due a good catfight, after all. I was expecting Michelle to at least chuck a glass of wine at her. Tony Gordon, Frank Foster, Nick Tilsley and now Ali… it’s quite a feat for Peter Barlow to be the best man you’ve ever slept with, but I think it’s time for them to get back together.
Imagine Carla and Peter running the Rovers. I’m in. I’d have liked to have seen Liz become landlady again, though it’s probably too soon. But even with all the scenes with Moira at the medical centre, Liz is feeling a bit directionless. The writers should bring back Jim, if only for the reason that his habit of saying “so it is” after every sentence and calling everyone by their full name (“Stephen”, “Elizabeth”) means they can get away with making the scripts half as short as they otherwise would be.
So while I’m on the topic of things I want to see: showrunners, please take note. Better catfights and more drunk Jenny, pronto. Ta.
By Stephen Leach, guest blogger.
Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!
Read more Corrie news, interviews, gossip and spoilers
Read more Corrie news, interviews, gossip and spoilers
Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
11 comments:
Haha, now that was a great review...Peter Barlow being the cream of the crop indeed! Haha. Loved drunk Jenny...everyone else is too dramatic or boring. I am just not interested in the characters. I always feel as though I've missed an episode.
Let's just see what direction we take with the new producer. Corrie, you really are going to have to work to hold my interest. After all...I've got YEARS of classic Corrie to watch.
Does anyone know where Sean is living these days? Still at Fizz and Tyrones?
How does Craig afford the rent? he dosen't do any paid work, the rest of his family have just started back to work at the factory after months off
I ADORE Jenny Bradley. (Sorry Johnny, nothing personal but she'll always be a Bradley to me.)
And the most wonderful thing is that, thanks to ITV3, we're able to watch her grow up and be grown up at the same time - watching 1986/1987/1988 and 2017/2018 simultaneously shows how true to character Jenny has remained despite her being absent for decades. I often see a mannerism or a look in present day Jenny that reminds me of teenage Jenny, and vice versa. Lovely stuff.
Which makes me wonder if in 30 years' time, fans will be remeniscing about the time when Faye Windass was still a stroppy teen giving up her baby for adoption, instead of the doting grandma of six she'll be by then.
I think everyone's waiting for the inevitable Carla/Peter reunion.
Having them run the Rover's is a great idea, I'm in!
I can see Carla telling off drunk punters already!
I honestly don't get the Jenny Bradley love. I can sort of understand her appeal as a feisty woman, but watching this woman drunk for hours in that episode, while everyone around her was not celebrating anything, and quite sober, wasn't my idea of good writing or acting.
Her pushiness is always about getting something for herself. If once in a while she was supportive to someone else with that grit, I could grow to like her a bit.
Nice write-up, Stephen!
I think the Rovers should be run either by Leanne/Liz/Peter or Leanne/Liz/Steve.
I cannot see Carla running a pub - she needs a new challenge but not that one. Could see her as a manufacturing consultant, so she can earn big money and have trips to London, Shanghai,... and stories to tell when she returns. And she’d need an assistant, so there’s a good job for Sally or Sophie or Gail or Daniel (it’s better than waiting tables while he’s writing that first novel).
One telling thing from yesterday was Summer blowing up at Billy yesterday. Finally, we get to see a normal teen, not a tiny adult. She’s put up with what life has handed her but she knows she deserves better. I do like the way Carla and especially Alya worked with her at Underworld, that was probably the first real encouragement she’s had in ages. In the US there’s an organization called Big Brother/Big Sister that pairs men with fatherless boys and women with motherless girls in a mentoring relationship. I think something like that would be a huge positive for both Alya and Summer.
No more cat fights I can't stand them. They are so demeaning.
am surprised that I like Jenny so much and it's all to do with the acting. Jenny is mostly very selfish but she isn't vindictive and Sally A M does vulnerability so well. I like the way she's so subtle with her grimaces - great connection with the audience. In that way, she's similar to Joe Duttine who also speaks volumes with his facial expressions. I don't want Peter and Carla to get back together. Is that what Carla was brought back for? How dull. Keep them almost together but never actually getting there; that could be fun. Carla would soon get bored with the pub, especially on quiet days. Toyah needs a counsellor job somewhere and the Rovers should be run by Liz (for goodness sake, get her out of the medical centre), Leanne and Peter/Steve. As for Craig, I've said the same about his ability to pay the rent. I suspect there were problems in writing for this role. Initially, he was referred to a trainee police officer, which is a paid post. Surely, this is why he had Neil as a mentor. More recently, Craig has been referred to quite clearly as a volunteer. Maybe it served the storyline better for him to have problems in his application to the Police Force for a paid role.
Post a Comment