Events commence in Roy's Rolls where the benefits of re-usable cups and the abandonment of plastic products is celebrated - with Imran apparently lecturing Toyah on how to do well in interviews. Nina, Mary and Evelyn are off to a protest at the Town Hall as the council is refusing to set a zero carbon target. (Obviously not Manchester Council - who aim to be carbon neutral in 2038). Toyah excited by the thought of a protest goes with them; the protest has been organised by Freya who has a vegan car (above). Later Imran is eating lunch when Leanne arrives with the news that the protesters have been arrested and are in need of Imran's professional skills at the police station!
The McDonalds are now resident at Number One, I am not sure where Peter and Carla are dossing down, no doubt it will become clear. Steve is looking after Oliver today and both Tracy and Leanne give him a telling off - the latter making it clear that Ollie is NOT to be dumped in front of Sponge Bob. Ollie has a bit of a sniffle again apparently. Tracy continues to be nasty to Emma who decides that she will move back to the flat above salon - which in turn means that Seb is homeless (are you keeping up at the back with all these house removals?). When Ken comes in for the post he is less than kind to Emma - particularly when he opens the vet's bill for the operation (it is around a thousand) and reveals he forgot to renew the pet insurance! Seb does not want to go so Emma dumps his possessions out of the flat from a window which is just behind Summer in the picture above. Steve leaves Oliver (who is watching Sponge Bob) with Summer and he dashes across the road. Steve calms Emma down and Seb is allowed back on the understanding that he does not look at Emma. When Steve returns to Number One Ollie is lying prone on the floor having had a fit or similar and Steve gathers him up in his arms and runs off into the Street
Bernie has returned and finally between her and Chesney it seems that Gemma is finally starting to face her demons (which is not a nickname for the quads) - her mental afflictions be it post natal depression or simply the cares and worries of multiple children and the strains that imposes. Initially she tries to deny leaving the quads on the bus was deliberate and she walks out on them. A little later Rita finds her in Vicky Gardens and Rita insists on listening to Gemma's woes which she relates saying that firstly she no longer feels she is Gemma and sometimes that she has some very dark thoughts. Rita takes Gemma for lunch and a longer chat. When Rita brings Gemma home she is able to make an admission of her feelings and that she is not managing. Gemma knows she needs help. Then in a wondrous turn of events an immediate appointment with the super-human Dr Gaddas in the medical centre! Above we see Gemma recalling her old self and she goes on to talk about the way she feels, particularly that if she tells all of it the quads will be taken away.
Over at Still Waters Norris pushes Ken to agree to stand against Charles in the impending election for (I assume) the chair of the Residents' Association citing him as the Cromwell to overthrow Charles! Claudia (above) is referring to Ken's performance in the pool and not to any other activity! Ken has not in fact been in the pool and when he joins Claudia, Freda and Norris, the latter winds him up using Eccles as the key which leads Ken to announce his intention to contest the election.
Imran and Roy arrive at the police station looking for the ladies - as the desk officer calls them "Little Mix"! They attempted to gaffer tape themselves to the head of the Environmental Services Committee - apparently he seemed not to be too bothered - but his secretary had contacted the police! No charges as the councillor has a wife at home and he did not fancy the publicity! Apparently it was R'Toyota's idea to take the tape action! Imran is not amused.
This was the first part of what was probably a double length single episode when originally planned as there is clearly more of both the Gemma and Oliver stories to come.
Writers were Chris Fewtrell and Susan Oudot, directed by Mickey Jones.
Am I alone in actually liking three episodes a week as it was between October 1989 and November 1996? To my mind what is wrong with six episodes is that there is too much story and too much plot and if they are going to go back to six episodes a week then do so - but show us far more of people "living" their lives - for example what and how are Sarah and Adam building a family - at the moment they are married and forgotten? R'Toyota and Imran vanish for weeks at a time as do Jenny and Johnny - indeed how often do we get both behind the bar - in the days of Annie and Jack she would be doing something and he would be quietly pouring customer drinks. I challenge Corrie - have your six episodes a week and use three of them to tell us about people and their lives - drawing on character and not on wild west stories.
Kosmo
@Kosmo100
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
3 comments:
Nice review, Kosmo! I do love your idea for using half of six episodes, if and when they come back, for real daily life, and the rest for (lol) wild west stories!
I heard news of a soap in (I think) one of the South American countries getting around Covid and still filming some episodes! They're following all the distancing rules, doing some scenes remotely. They say it's to help fans get through this tough time. I think it was on Beeb news and the scenes they showed looked good!
Missed that story - I have to hope that perhaps with less of the constant pressure to produce six demanding episodes a week tptb will take time for some reflection which is not normally possible.
On the radio the Grandaddy of all fly on the wall documentaries is reformatting itself for lockdown and The Archers is going to sound very different for a while from the start of next month.
I just want more character driven engagement NOT plot.
Ah, just found the story again in the Guardian. It's in Spain and a sitcom, not a soap, called Quarantine Diaries. Sounds very clever:
"Featuring 15 well-known Spanish actors, including Carlos Bardem, the brother of Javier, the series launched the cast and crew on to a steep learning curve as they sought to make primetime television from the confines of the lockdown. “The beginning was a bit rough,” said Longoria. “We have 10 different houses where actors are shooting themselves and being directed via Skype.”
The footage is then passed along a chain of editors, sound technicians and other post-production specialists. “Nobody has left their house. It’s quite amazing but it works.”
I think the idea is to try and confront the terrible situation in Spain with humour, "tackling the quirks of life in lockdown". Sorry, I got off the topic, but I guess I'm fearing the temporary end of regular Corrie once the filming has to stop.
I quite agree - I miss the old way of character development. How far can we stretch Norris, Ken and even 'middle-age' characters? It's like they're going down a black hole, stretching thinner and thinner as they go.
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