All the wit and warmth of Weatherfield
None of the waffle, available at Corrie.net
Greetings and welcome to another week of words from Weatherfield.
I’m starting this week with the story that’s dominated not only Coronation Street, but the nation’s media… that of Aidan Connor’s suicide. Johnny had me in tears at the loss of his son and my heart goes out to Jenny who’s reaching out to help only to get batted back as the Connor family drown in their grief. But the story was much more than just about Aidan, prompting David to reveal to Shona that he’d been raped by Josh, another scene that had me in bits. And then to the other part of this storyline, Gail’s speech as she stood by the window looking out onto the cobbles, her words floating like feathers down from the Salford sky. Corrie fans have been raving about this bit, saying it’s the best bit of Corrie that they’ve seen in years. I’m afraid I didn’t feel the same. I found the whole scene without subtlety or honesty. But that’s just my opinion, we’re all entitled to our own and I truly feel my enjoyment of this powerful episode was marred because of what I've been through this week because of it. Read on.
As editor of two Coronation Street fan sites, my involvement with this storyline has been uncomfortable to the point where my own mental health has been affected. Fans in distress, with suicidal thoughts, have reached out to me online for help. Me. Can you imagine for one second what that responsibility has done to me? I, too, have gone through mental health problems in the past and it’s a daily battle to keep myself from falling off the wall. I responded to all those who contacted me with words that the Samaritans (after I contacted ITV for help) advised me to give. At one point there were three of us from our blog team keeping watch on our Twitter account as I knew I couldn't handle things alone if another message came through from a fan needing help. But dealing with this storyline has affected me a great deal – what if I missed a message – what if? - and I have no wish to ever be in a similar position again.
Elsewhere this week, Eva and Toyah continue with their lies to cover the fact that Aidan held his baby in his arms and then visited Eva on the night he took his life. Ken calls round to see baby Susie, who he thinks is his granddaughter. And then Johnny calls in, he’s a man in turmoil, determined to make sense of his son’s last movements before he killed himself. It’s too much for Eva to take and she runs crying from the room, knowing the truth and unable to tell anyone because if she did, then the whole lie about baby Susie, Toyah and the surrogate and the baby’s real dad will come out.
Meanwhile, David’s on his way to court for his plea hearing for beating up Gary a few weeks ago. But he does a runner and later gets arrested and banged up for missing is court hearing. He’s put into a cell with another guy while out on the street, Shona’s onto Josh and tells him she knows what he did to David.
And that’s just about that for this week. A raw, emotional week – off screen - for me because of Coronation Street. I never want that to happen again.
Need support? Contact the Samaritans.
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
Also more support available http://www.itv.com/advice
And that’s just about that for this week.
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This week’s writers were Owen Lloyd-Fox (Monday); Jonathan Harvey (Wednesday); Carmel Morgan and Jayne Hollinson (Friday). Find out all about the Coronation Street writing team at Coronation Street Blog: Exclusive: All Current Corrie writers online
Glenda Young
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Blogging away merrily at Flaming Nora
Website: glendayoungbooks.com
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