Coronation Street Episode Review Monday 30th November

Well it's over now - he's gone. It's sad that he's departed, but really, it went on for too long and I think we were all sick of him in the end. But enough about Sergei the Meerkat, there's also the fallout from Oliver's death on Friday. Leanne has gone through bargaining, anger and denial but Steve is in the depression phase of grief and has taken to his bed whilst Leanne takes all that manic energy she was going to use to carry on battling for Oliver into organising his funeral, or celebration of Oliver's life she is insisting on calling it. She tells Nick that she wants him to be part of his Oliver's day but after that, it's over between then. She knows it's Nick's flat, right?

Meanwhile, in other stories coming to a head, Sally changes her mind about selling number 4. Fay(e), in her new role as trainee manager (which seems to mostly involve wiping tables), tells Ray this and he organises a discount off of a place in Hale Barnes that Sally gets over-excited about (I didn't realise Hale Barnes was a real place; I thought it was imaginary like Oakhill or Barnsley). Detective Abi smells a rat, although she doesn't smell Debbie and end up telling the fifth columnist that she thinks Rotten Ray wants to buy up all the houses on (one side of) the street. Well, that's more than Constable Tinker has worked out, even with Ray's plans in black and white in front of him. Abi sneaks into Ray's office and finds an invoice for planning application services and so she gets Sally to ring Miriam at the council and finds out that a pre-planning application has been put in. I'm pretty sure that you have to notify people if you're going to knock their houses down, but maybe Weatherfield Council have outsourced their planning department to Serco, or something.

 

Not content with demolishing the street, Ray hasn't done his best Harvey Weinstein impression for a while, so he persuades Faye up to his hotel room for a "wine tasting", greets her in his bath robe and basically tells her if she wants to carry on with the trainee managership, she should join him in the bath and then tries to dress it up as "women's lib". Yuck. Faye is supposed to be about 17 isn't she? Which makes it even more horrible.

Imran visits Yasmeen to tell her that Posh Paula has signed off work for three months and he's found another barrister, but he needs more time to prepare. Yasmeen says she needs to do the trial before the 60th anniversary now and tells Imran that he has to be her barrister. The jobbing actors of Manchester who can do a middle class accent and look good in a suit sigh into their beer at a two episode arc missed. Geoff sees an opportunity to get rid of a witness for the defence and winds Tim up, saying he knew that his son would never amount to anything. Well, not if you don't teach him to read, no. Tim socially distancedly punches his dad which leads to Tim being dismissed as a witness. In more bad news, Elaine has been found, but she's in a psychiatric unit. So witnesses are now down to Alya, who isn't very jury-friendly.

And finally, Daisy helps Jenny with a make over and a Tinder profile. I hear Dev is free? Before she can get her profile set up, Johnny comes back from the cop shop, saying that he'll be up in court in three weeks. He also tells Jenny that he loves her and he wanted to save her from a being a prison wife, and they make up.

Oh and there's some guff about Shona buying a dinosaur cake for Nick and Leanne, but really I've lost patience with this storyline. 

Also, tattie scones is correct if they're square or oblong, potato cakes if they're round. That's just the law.

Rachel Stevenson - on twitter

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Coronation Street 60th Anniversary Press Day - A Corrie Fan review

Coronation Street’s 60th year is destined to memorable, that’s a fact, world events have put paid to that. Nobody could have predicted this unprecedented year and in effect, Coronation Street, like a lot of its continuing drama peers, has managed to soldier on. Even with restrictions, face masks, social distancing, and an unplanned break in filming - the drama has not stopped. Sinkholes, child mortality, racial slurs, shootings, gangsters, and the return of Todd, its all been very memorable, very Corrie, and I’m glad that it’s still around to brighten up this appallingly grim 2020. 

For some the old idiom 'familiarity breeds contempt' could easily come into play, we’ve all had enough of this year, right? That’s maybe, but for this Corrie fanboy, the discovery of zoom press conferences, 60th-anniversary books, and classic corrie on ITV3, it’s probably been my most Corrie affected year, to date. 

Back in June, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Corrie 'return to filming' zoom press conference where Corrie series producer Iain MacLeod told us about scripts and how the studios were adapted to make filming possible again. I remember the 60th anniversary was also briefly discussed, with a promise of a Christmas ‘community’ theme, a return to the social realism, strong northern drama, and characterisations that creator Tony Warren originally based those first 13 episodes on. So often we are used to Corrie stunts, special effects, live episodes, and dramatic deaths for anniversary episodes (2010 being most memorable) but with 2020 being ‘unprecedented’ (insert any other nauseating buzz word, here) I was thinking, even then, that this could be (not unprecedented) but a refreshing change. 

Fast forward six months and amid another flamin’ lockdown, (I live in Sheffield, standard for the north) I had the utmost pleasure of joining a special Coronation Street 60th anniversary press day!! I thought, well, this should be good, I do like the techy stuff from  ITV head honchos, but then I saw hosting was by ITV media correspondent, Nina Nannar, and a massive cast ensemble. My excitement peaked when I realised we would be in the company of Corrie legend William Roache (Ken Barlow) and my personal favourite Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow). With the Barlow's heavily involved in the 60th proceedings, we also had Rob Mallard (Daniel Osborne) and Sam Robertson (Adam Barlow) on screen.  

As the incredible coercive control storyline comes to closure, it was also a treat to see Geoff, Yasmeen, Sally, Tim, and Alya on my laptop screen to tells us all about the upcoming action-packed week. 

As Corrie couplings go, this year has also seen Kevin and Abi get together aka Micheal Le Vell and Sally Carmen, who shared some great banter, which was funny for a fan to see. We were also joined by gangsters Ray Crosby and Gary Windass, both being heavily involved in the development scam of course. It was fab to see Mark Frost and Mikey North on my laptop screen too!

A two-hour corrie zoom fest, this was top-level stuff. The cast split into three panels, and each block of interviews was bookended with a classic Corrie montage and even included a screening of a new trailer that airs tonight (30th of November) 

For this fanboy, the excitement, surrealism, and sneak peek at what was to come;  it was an awesome 2020 highlight, to be honest. A real privilege. 

As I’m in furlough until January, I thought I would pace it and treat you to a cacophony of cast interviews throughout this week and into next weeks 60th showdown. 

 

Let us treat this as my Corrie Christmas present to you all! 

 

Keep ‘em peeled, as I’ve got plenty to tell you about! 

 

I am @rybazoxo over on Twitter - your Corrie Connoisseur and budding Weatherfield history buff 

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New portrait of William Roache celebrates 60 years on Coronation Street

Corrie actor William Roache MBE celebrates 60 years in Coronation Street on 9 December 2020.  

To mark the occasion, Coronation Street has commissioned Manchester based classical portrait painter, Michael Koropisz, to paint a portrait of Bill which will hang in pride of place in his Cheshire home.  Michael specialises in grand, elegant portraits of notable figures who commission his work for their own homes or private collections.

The portrait was unveiled live  today on ITV’s This Morning as TV reporter Sharon Marshall interviewed Bill about his Coronation Street career, retaining his status as the longest serving actor in a continuing drama in the world and how he only ever expected to play Ken Barlow in the Manchester based programme for 6 weeks! 

Adhering to the government’s health and safety guidelines for TV production, Bill was filmed by This Morning unveiling the portrait which Michael was able to paint during lockdown.  Fortunately, Bill had undertaken sittings for Michael in January and February of this year, which meant Michael had already made important decisions about how he was to capture Bill. 

In keeping with social distancing guidelines, 25 year old Michael, who achieved a Fine Art and Art History degree in 2018, taught himself to paint in the traditional style whilst studying at the Manchester School of Art.  He was present in Bill’s garden to see first-hand the reaction to his work.  

William Roache said: “I cannot thank ITV enough for their wonderful anniversary gift. It is an honour to have a portrait painted and is always a joyful reminder of my sixty years in Coronation Street, something that I will always treasure. Thank you, ITV, and artist Michael Koropisz.”

Glenda Young

Author of gritty, family saga novels with Headline

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

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Coming to ITV: Coronation Street 60 Unforgettable Years documentary

To kick off Coronation Street's anniversary week, ITV are screening a special documentary called Coronation Street: 60 Unforgettable Years. 

It'll be show on ITV on Monday 7 December at 8.30pm and is narrated by Joanna Lumley OBE (aka Ken Barlow's former girlfriend Elaine Perkins).  

The show charts Corrie's journey to becoming a national institution.  A host of stars is promised to sill never-before-revealed secrets of the show they're proud to call home.

 Glenda Young

Author of gritty, family saga novels with Headline

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

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

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Coming to ITV: Queens of the Street documentary

On Coronation Street's 60th anniversary, Weds 9 December, ITV will be screen a special progamme called Queens of the Street.

Queens of the Street will celebrate 60 years of the women who have starred in Coronation Street. The show focuses on women such as Bet Lynch, Annie Walker and Elsie Tanner. 

It also catches up on some much-missed faces of the show's recent past including Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley Cropper) and Amanda Barrie (Alma Baldwin).  

Meanwhile current cast members Sally Dyenvor (Sally) and Patti Clare (Mary) look back at the great and good of Corrie's grand dames. 

It airs on Weds 9 December on ITV at 9pm.

 Glenda Young

Author of gritty, family saga novels with Headline

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

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

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