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

Wednesday 30 June 2021

Preview of tonight's Coronation Street - Weds 30 June


Wednesday 30th June 2021

THERE’S TROUBLE AT THE HEART OF THE PLATT FAMILY David puts pressure on Gail to let Sam see Nick but a stressed Gail’s adamant she must respect Natasha’s wishes. Meanwhile Nick tells an angry Sarah he’s going to sell his shares in the factory as he wants to spend more time with Leanne. When David then dupes Gail into Sam and Nick meeting another row breaks out at the Platts. Gail heads outside for some air where Sam finds her doubled over and clutching her chest in pain.

JAMES FINDS PRIDE WITHOUT PREJUDICE James is horrified to see pictures online of him and Danny, along with derogatory comments about his sexuality. He goes to warn Danny but he’s already left for the airport. As James takes the stage at his promotion press conference he’s asked awkward questions about his private life. James steals himself to tell the truth.

TYRONE BURIES HIS GUILT Suffering from morning sickness, Alina says she can’t attend Kirsty’s funeral. Realising he’s going alone, but not why, Fiz asserts she’s coming with him.

ELSEWHERE Alya reminds Ryan that if they’re to get their own place, he needs to find some more work. Daisy attempts to cheer him up at the pub. 

Wednesday 30th June 2021

THE PRESSURE BUILDS FOR GAIL As an ambulance is called a breathless Gail accuses Nick, Sarah and David of causing her heart attack with their endless bickering. Will Gail pull through?

JAMES AND DANNY FLY THE FLAG FOR LOVE James looks to his family and taking strength from them, announces that he’s gay. As the journalists bombard him with questions, how will James respond? 

TYRONE AVOIDS THE ELEPHANT IN THE WOMB Having returned from Kirsty’s funeral, Tyrone bottles out of telling Fiz about Alina’s pregnancy and making excuses, heads home.

ELSEWHERE When Ryan reveals that he’s a DJ, Daisy urges him to reboot his career and follow his heart. When Johnny announces he’s found a new place to live, Jenny suggests a farewell drink and they reminisce over the good times.

Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
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Tuesday 29 June 2021

Coronation Street Episode Review Tuesday 29th June

I'm disappointed that Kirsty has been killed off - it would be an interesting addition to the Tylina/Fiz storyline if she turned up demand custody, but I imagine Natalie Gumede is a little busy nowadays. Anyway, Kirsty has carked it and Ruby must be told. Fiz helps with this and also the funeral arrangements and we see how a young (and hot) thing may turn your head but it's the people who've known you forever that will help you; all the Live Laugh Love posters, T&A tats and really quite appalling couple photos won't change that. 

As well as death, Tyrone's got birth on his plate because no-one on the street knows how birth control works. Were they all bunking off on the condom-on-a-banana day? Alina tells him she's up the duff and it's kind of amusing that Ty wanted to get away from all the domestic bliss and to have some fun, and now he's back into the domesticity. Evelyn discovers the truth and chews him out, but in the end Ty says he's happy that Alina is in the family way.

 

James has a meeting with WCFC's manager, which he's worried about, but the pow-wow is actually to tell him that Thomas Orpington is retiring. No! Not Tommy O! What about the calendar? What will Tim got Steve for Christmas now? The most pertinent question is who will replace him in the number 9 shirt? Well, it's not Corey. James has more good news as Weatherfield's only chef-slash-builder, Danny, is back. As previously noted, I was hoping for James to get together with Paul, but I'm not against Danny, not at all, not with that cutie-pie grin (above) anyway. They have lunch and Danny says he's moving abroad but that James means a lot to him. James says that if anything happened between them, it would have to be secret and so Danny walks off. Two lads take pics of them, so I guess that's Wednesday's storyline.

Meanwhile, Daisy needs to get some money to pay off the loan (that I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to take out as a mortgage deposit) so she takes Sean off the rota and adds her name instead. If that winds up Sean, so much the better. After a shaky (or rather a pouty) start, I'm liking Daisy, particularly her relationship with Jenny Bradley, which is very much like Jenny's daughterly relationship with Rita, back in t'day. Daisy is not an out and out evil bitch, but quite the self-centred minx and all soaps need one of them.

Anyhoo, Emma finds out and points out that Sean has t'hotpot recipe, although it turns out that they've been using the internet recipe and are only telling Daisy this to get Sean back behind the bar. Gemma and Emma stage a walk-out, which leads to Jenny shouting at everyone and Sean getting his shifts back. Ee, it was just like the old days with Betty storming out every other episode. The upshot is that Jenny will pay back the loan but she will be the sole owner, or Queen Of The Rovers, as Ronnie puts it, her rightful place!

By the way, I know everyone hates Sean, but I enjoyed his scenes last week - it's good for him to have a storyline that lets him shine in his general campy self importance and he always delivers Jonathan Harvey's dialogue - the recent "Get me lallies up on a leatherette La-Z-Boy" was a recent delight.

In the minor storylines, David plots to get Nick to see Sam and the community centre is being repossessed by the bank, so it's probably going to be a hipster bar or coffee shop. Cereal cafe?

Rachel Stevenson - on twitter







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Toby Hadoke interview: Cherylee Houston's partner joins cast as newcomer Fergus



As part of an upcoming storyline which will see Izzy Armstrong starting to struggle with remote working (read Cherylee Houston's interview here), Coronation Street have cast Cherylee's real-life partner Toby Hadoke to play the role of Fergus, Izzy's neighbour. Toby told us all about Fergus, a previous Corrie cameo, and the essential message behind Izzy's storyline. 

"It was just before Christmas and we tested out the equipment and showed that I could walk and talk in a straight line at the same time," Toby said about the early stages of the casting process. "It seems odd that we're finally here because when you're in a relationship with another actor, you never canvas for a job on that person's behalf. 

"I was very lucky because I've been around and a couple of the writers knew my work and the casting directors first saw me, probably 20 years ago, so I think when they were thinking about telling the story, they thought: 'We need somebody else, but how do we get anybody else in?'. One of the writers, a brilliant writer, Debbie Oates, who had seen me on stage loads of times, went: 'Well, Toby could do it.'

"She came up with this part who has some similarities and some differences from me and wrote a lovely scene that is far longer than you'd ever get on telly, in order to put that on tape so we could test the equipment, but also test my equipment. The character was sort of developed with me in mind a little bit, which was nice, and it meant we could work on it."

Toby will play Izzy's neighbour, Fergus. A character who would probably get on quite well with Roy, he does his best to help Izzy where he can. "He's not a usual sort of fellow," Toby mused. "Interestingly, I think in his own way, he's the sort of person who might be left behind by the pandemic as well, because he's a sort of loner and somebody who's not socially robust.

"It's interesting talking about the disability angle, and I think often when these stories are told, they quite rightly sort of highlight when bigots do something really unpleasant, but actually a lot of the things that happen that I've discovered since I've been in a relationship with somebody who's a wheelchair user, is actually the casual unkindness meted out by nice people. People who don't even realise. 

"This story comes from a sort of casual kindness by somebody who probably wouldn't normally say boo to a goose, but he's seen that this person that he lives next door to and has seen come and go, hasn't been coming and going, and nobody's been coming and going to see her. It's not a story of anybody being mean, but of somebody getting forgotten. He's in the vicinity and he sort of plucks up the courage to see if he can help, which he does in his own way. He's nice, but he's odd. I've had to dig deep."

While Fergus will primarily be seen in Izzy's home, Toby is also due to film some scenes on the cobbles. "I haven't done that yet," he said. "It's imminent. It'll be my first time out of the house in about 15 months as well. 'Where are you going? Coronation Street!'"


Toby and Cherylee have had the task of filming scenes themselves, a challenge that they are enjoying. Toby told us: "I'm a telly geek. I love the idea of: 'This has never been done before.' They've never had it with a soap opera where they've had to say: 'We can't get the actor in, OK, well let's drop all the stuff in their house and make it on the fly.'"

Toby was also quick to heap praise on Cherylee. "She's great, because she's such a good actor. She's so brilliant at bringing attention to the importance of disability representation and all of that sort of thing. I think it's hard enough sometimes doing it in a television studio, but doing it on a Zoom screen? She's brilliant."

On top of acting, Toby has also had the job of production crew. "I had to move the lights, I had to move the camera. In fact, if the credits don't read: 'Camera man, lighting, runner.'"

As well as this, Toby currently hasn't acted with anybody apart from Cherylee. When speaking to Carla and Sarah via videocall, Toby and Cherylee were actually talking to the 1st ADs. Toby said: "It's a bit like Jurassic Park. Sam Neill has to imagine a brontosaurus; I've done the same but with Carla. We had to use our imagination, but it's great, it's fun."

Many Corrie actors have played previous, smaller roles within the soap, and Toby is no exception. "If you delve into the archives, I once married Curly Watts. I was a vicar. They wanted a young vicar at Curly Watt's wedding, and I think if you go back, it was about 747 years ago. That was just a one-off.

"I'm from the countryside in the middle of nowhere, nobody in my family was involved in television or show business. I'm a big telly geek and if you vaguely remember a series from the 1970s, I could tell you what it's called, where it is on my DVD shelf, who was in it, and I've probably written to the director. The idea of being in Corrie, which is the biggest and longest telly of them all, if you'd told my teenage self, who was drawn to this gogglebox and thinking how amazing it must be to even be an actor, let alone on telly, I wouldn't have believed it. I'm tickled pink."

At the heart of Izzy's storyline, Coronation Street will highlight the struggles disabled people in employment have had to face during the pandemic, and Toby says he was "amazed" with the scripts. "I was so impressed when I got the scripts through because it's not a finger-waggy story, it's a story that's been told through character. 

"It tells the story without you feeling like you're being lectured. Life with a disabled person is not all about just people being mean. It's the sort of drip, drip, drip, that if you're not in it, you don't quite see it. I think having it presented as a sort of everyday thing in the backdrop of the situations we know and the characters we like, is a brilliant way of prompting the national conversation, but without kicking anybody into it, just because she's there."

Sophie Williams 

I'm on Twitter @sophie_writer1






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Spoilers for next week's Coronation Street - July 5 to 9

Here are the major storylines for the week ahead on Coronation Street, all wrapped up nicely in 50 words or less.

Monday 5 July to Friday 9 July


Todd proposes to Billy but Todd's past threatens to catch up with him when Will returns. Paul investigates Todd's seedy past. Carla gives Izzy an ultimatum, Tyrone faces up to his responsibilities, while Alya and Daisy clash over Ryan.

See the full week's preview with pictures at Corrie.net 

Note: If you still see last week's previews when you click through to Corrie.net, please refresh your browser.

Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
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Preview of tonight's Coronation Street - Tues 29 June


Part 1

TYRONE’S FLOORED BY ALINA’S BABY BOMBSHELL Tyrone’s grateful as Fiz helps him organise Kirsty’s funeral and explain to Ruby that her birth mummy has died. Meanwhile Alina masks her fears that she might be pregnant. When she hears in the factory about Tyrone’s past with Kirsty she’s stunned. Confronting Tyrone, Alina’s hurt that she had to find out from Sally about Kirsty’s abuse because he kept her in the dark. When a tearful Alina then blurts out that she’s pregnant, Tyrone’s floored.

DAISY ASSERTS HER AUTHORITY As an excited Jenny heads into town to sort out the mortgage, Daisy masks her panic. Redoing the rota she gives herself all Sean’s shifts but Emma points out that with Sean gone, so too has the hotpot recipe. Daisy tries to play it down while Emma asserts she’s not lifting a finger until Sean’s reinstated.

JAMES HAS SOME GOOD NEWS James’ manager tells him Tommy Orpington is retiring and he’d like to promote him into his place. As James shares his good news with Ronnie, he’s surprised to see Danny at the bar. Danny suggests lunch.

ELSEWHERE Nick’s saddened that Natasha still won’t let him see Sam. Discovering that Gail is looking after him tomorrow, David forms a plan. Alya reveals that the bank has agreed to repossess the community centre, meaning Yasmeen can pay off all her debts.

Part 2

TYRONE DECIDES DEFINITELY BABY Reeling in shock, Tyrone heads to his meeting at the undertakers leaving Alina in tears. As Tyrone struggles to concentrate on the funeral arrangements, Fiz assures Tyrone he’s a great Dad and she’s happy to sort joint custody. Hitting on Alina’s nausea, Evelyn realises with horror that Alina’s pregnant. But how does Tyrone feel?  

DAISY CAUSES TROUBLE FOR JENNY Jenny’s horrified to read the Double Glammy article in the Gazette. When she discovers that Daisy’s stripped Sean of his shifts and Emma has staged a walk-out, she’s furious and reinstates Sean. Daisy’s humiliated, especially when Jenny reveals she’s looked at her finances and is going to buy the pub herself outright. 

JAMES FINDS IT HARD TO ENJOY HIS SUCCESS As James and Danny catch up over lunch, a couple of lads at the bar take photos. Danny reveals he’s been offered a job in France, James suggests they give it another go, but when James admits it would have to be their secret, Danny heads out. James is gutted, wishing he could live a free life and be himself.  

ELSEWHERE Nick’s choked when he bumps into Sam but Natasha drags him away. Ryan’s fed up when he suggests a night out but Alya asserts she has to work. 

Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
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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