Cosy crimes and gritty sagas by Corrie Blog editor Glenda, published by Headline. Click pic below!

Monday, 4 June 2018

9 Coronation Street hidden gems - No. 6


Here we go with the sixth of nine guest blog posts from David at Corriepedia as their site celebrates 10 years online!

Hello! Flaming Nora has kindly agreed to host a blog post from me relating to the tenth anniversary of Corriepedia, the Coronation Street Wiki. After some thinking, I've decided to expand on something my friend and fellow admin John brought up in his interview with the wonderful Conversation Street podcast last week.  

To help readers understand why these episodes are so special, and why David from Corriepedia rates them as hidden gems, you might want to read his original blog post here which explains all.

Here we go with the sixth of nine. The remaining three gems will be blogged every morning over the next few days.

Heavies come for Dennis (#579, 29/6/66)

"Come on! Just the right odds for you, eh? A boy, and a woman, and a man twice your own age. Well come on, gerron wi' it!"

Yes, it's another Dennis-centric episode, but for once he's not the reason I plumped for this. It turns out that Dennis owes money to some shady characters and we begin just after a couple of heavies have turned up at the Tanners' to collect their £94. Elsie is powerless to warn Dennis before he arrives home and he walks right into an ambush.

In the Rovers, Ena appeals to Dave Smith and Jed Stone to go to Dennis and Elsie's aid but the only one with enough guts to do so is mild-mannered Jack Walker, who has possibly his crowning moment in the programme in the next scene where he stands up to the two thugs. Just as the men call Jack's bluff and one of them starts pushing him around, Len arrives and threatens them with a glass bottle. Ever the dutiful friend to Elsie, Len pays the heavies off and the crisis is resolved.

It's the inclusion of Jack in this scene that made it so tense. When he ignores his wife's pleas and marches off to a fight he can't possibly win, you care about what happens to him (mind you, we already knew he was made of strong stuff having survived being married to Annie for 30 years). Maybe it's because Arthur Leslie is so naturalistic as Jack, so it never feels like someone acting.

Julie Goodyear also features in one of Bet's early appearances at the plastics factory and gets to do some flirting with Jed. The cliffhanger sees Sheila introduce Jerry to her son Danny, the child she had with Neil Crossley. This will eventually lead us to one of Corrie's more questionable plot twists where Sheila gets her happy ending with nasty Neil.

Hidden Gem 7 will be blogged tomorrow. And don't forget to check out Corriepedia and follow them on Twitter too.

Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!   

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GRITTY SAGAS BY CORRIE BLOG EDITOR GLENDA YOUNG, PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE. CLICK PIC BELOW!

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GRITTY SAGAS BY CORRIE BLOG EDITOR GLENDA YOUNG, PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE. CLICK PIC BELOW!