Coronation Street Blog: A decade in Weatherfield

Sunday, 8 December 2019

A decade in Weatherfield

It's time to raise a glass of Freshco Essential Cava and toast the end of the decade. Don't bother pouring one for Michelle though - she's got a taxi waiting and we wouldn't want her to be late. We agreed.

Fear not, this isn't going to be open of those hideously long, year-by-year, scene-by-scene accounts of all things Corrie. How many storylines can you remember from the beginning of the decade? Way back in 2010 we still had the likes of Jack Duckworth, Betty Williams and ... err, Janice Battersby still with us. Not for long though. It's always interesting to see which characters caught on - and those that didn't.

Anyone remember Trevor Dean? He has the hapless bin man who had the grim Janice letching after him. Janice spent over a decade learning nothing from life and was too dense to put up a fight for Trev when Carla swooped in looking for a bit of rough. She installed him as her new toy in t'faktry but Trev soon realised that he couldn't compete with the sound of her bangles or her love for dead Liam.

The intake of 2010 were a mixed bunch - Chris & Cheryl Gray (a vortex of nothingness), Charlotte Hoyle (started the year as Head of RE and ended it with John Stape tapping out Christmas carols on her skull with a hammer), DS Carr (Tim pretending to be a policeman) Kylie Turner (a pair of hooped earrings with a mouth).

All of these paled into significance in 2011 with the arrival of the ever-so-lovely Price clan. In came Michelle Collins, ee-bah-gumming all the way from Ian Beale's chip shop to t'Weatherfield Viaduct. How readers of Corrie Blog warmed to her. Our Lady of the Back Room soldiered on, sounding like Hylda Baker one minute and Janet Street-Porter the next. Daughter Eva, initially, had all the charm of a wooden spoon but the powers that be suddenly realised that Catherine Tyldesley was gold and so the character was softened. Another newcomer we all spat bile at was the grim Xin Proctor. The unlikely paring of daft Graeme with Tina McIntyre had worked well. Then came Xin. Irritating doesn't even begin to cover it. She was the ruination of the Graeme character and thankfully, by summer, they were history.

Casting a familiar name can be both a blessing and a curse for a soap. Stephanie Cole's arrival as Roy's acidic mother Sylvia was the former. The show had sorely missed an elderly tartar since Blanche Hunt's demise. Sylvia went into battle with most of the Street including Norris (toilets) and Doctor Carter (cannabis). Cole shone brightly for a couple of years and then quit for personal reasons. A memorable character for the right reasons - something that could not be said of Gloria Price. News that Sue Johnston was joining Corrie was greeted with delight. Would Gloria be a strong, resolute presence like Johnston's legendary Brookside character, Sheila Grant? Not a chance. Feckless and stupid, Gloria seemed to embody one daft scheme after another. Seemingly, the writers had no idea what to do with her which was shameful. You don't employ someone like Sue Johnston and then waste the opportunity. Gloria was horrible and eventually left in a mean-spirited attempt to break up Rita's marriage.

By 2013 DS Carr had decided that he'd had enough of policing and so re-emerged as Tim Metcalfe. Initially, Tim was a wee bit creepy and Anna 'hiyaaaaa' Windass did well to be suspicious. Again, you don't squander talent like Joe Duttine and so Tim was softened and humanised into the loveable berk we know today. Other newbies that year included the rays of sunshine that were Steph Britton and Sinead Tinker, the perma-grinning Andrea Beckett and Maddie Heath, the latter receiving the kiss of death by being teamed up with So-feh. Speaking of death, Uncle Evil, Pat Phelan debuted in 2013 too. Little did we know the fun and games that lay ahead and that it would be Anna 'hiyaaaaa' Windass who would eventually take him out.

By 2014 we were welcoming Gemma Winter, Billy Mayhew, Andy Carver and the enigmatic Doctor Gaddas. Or is it Gaddash? Or was it Gaddaffi? The mysterious medic floats around to this day. Where does she live? Does she just spend her life in that poky surgery, hands poised over her keyboard, a diagnosis on the tip of her tongue? Why hasn't she killed anyone yet, or been berated by errant offspring/evil husband/needy partner? Bless her, she's lasted the course along with comedy Gemma and hand-wringing vicar Billy.

The Connors arrived in 2015, having never been mentioned before. Suddenly they were everywhere. Aiden in his nasty coat, Johnny in his pinstripe Burtons number and Kate . . . no sorry, I'e forgotten her already. Hard to believe that it's less than a year since her and Rana's nuptials brought the house down. A death scene that lingered so long that everyone gave up the will to live. Remember Ali just shrugging and shuffling off over the wreckage? Many viewers are still upset and saddened by the shocking scenes where Sean survived. It took many by surprise and there was a real sadness that he'd made it. As did Kate but by autumn she was engulfed by her own dullness and disappeared somewhere.

The Appletons descended on Weatherfield in 2016 and 2017. Jude was Mary's long-lost son and within a few months, we were wishing that he'd stayed lost. Wife Angie soon had the lifeblood sucked out of her and the entire family spent a year dithering around amongst Emily's knick-knacks despite the fact that not only was she long gone but so was Norris. It was an uncomfortable, dreary storyline and the whole shebang seems to have now been conveniently forgotten.

In the last couple of years there, arguably, have been several welcome additions to the cobbles. Abi Franklin is the latest in a long line of Corrie women who have turned their lives around. Is she on course to be the next Mrs Webster? Emma Brooker has been a slice of joy too. It's important that we have 'nice' characters and linking her to the McDonald clan was a stroke of genius. Three cheers too for the casting of Maureen Lipman as Evelyn Plummer, picking up the battle-axe baton from Ena, Blanche and Sylvia. Another welcome addition was Peter Ash as Paul Foreman - what an incredible 2019 for him. The arrival of the Baileys at number three has also been handled well. They are nice people and must have special skills too, navigating their way around the remains of Emily's house with its random staircases and doors that lead nowhere. Bravo!

How about a few more random names to finish off with? James Cunningham, Geoff Metcalfe (all shades of vile), Frank Foster, Erica Holroyd, Nessa Warner, Mandy Kamara, Kirsty Soames, Paul Kershaw, Luke Britton, Rob Donovan - they all came and went. All of them added something to the rich tapestry of Weatherfield life. What we all want to know now is - who's waiting in the wings for the 2020s?