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

Saturday 31 July 2021

Coronation Street Episode Review Friday 30 July 2021


Really Billy?  We all know that Todd has been lowlife for over 10 years so why pack his suit and shoes for the soup kitchen?  Just given him his possessions - he needs that suit to go to work.  Indeed much of tonight concerns the after effects of Paul's broadcast of Will's tape.  To summarise rapidly Billy packed up his stuff and took some round to Eileen who refused to accept it.  Todd turned up from court (he must have been first on) and has been given community service so in line with Boris and Priti's announcements this week we should see him in a hi-viz jacket cleaning up the Street; this gives Bill a chance to throw his ring back at his ex-partner.  Having picked up the dumped bag he asked Eileen for a roof over his head but she also closed the door on him.  He heads to see George to ask for his wages and says he is heading off because his life in Weatherfield is over - the Maldives or perhaps Ashby-de-la-Zouch (or as the locals call it Ashby-de-la-Zouch-by-the-sea).  


Todd has lost Billy, Summer and his mother and is at rock bottom; as George observes he cannot say anything without it being slight snide or dig or with a smile on his face and that Todd cannot sink any lower.  Then George makes a slightly strange remark above - so perhaps for much of the time we knew Archie he and George were estranged - which would explain much - but as George goes on to say he turned his life around and was eventually forgiven.  So he offers Todd the chance and make it to the people he has wounded - but it will be a long journey (and frankly I don't think Todd is capable of it) as Billy makes clear later that he will never be able to forgive Todd as he has broken both his and Summer's hearts.


Billy meets Paul in the Street and offers to buy him a brew in the cafe and give him a long overdue apology.  Paul capitalises on the offer and suggests a hot pot in the Rovers (above).  Billy repents - the "way I treated you (Paul) is unforgiveable and I wish I could take it back."  Whilst Paul acknowledges the apology he also his say about the way he was treated and he now feels that Billy was never good enough for him.  


Aadi presses cider on Summer whom we later discover passed out in the flat when Todd breaks in (above).  Apparently she did not take her insulin today because she cannot stand the alarm on her phone buzzing in front of her friends.  She is sitting up quite quickly in hospital and Billy refuses to let Todd see her.  Billy also decides that Summer is going to be his first priority now.  Is he going to give up being an archdeacon again?  He promises her that from now on it is just the two of them.  


Michael clearly regrets spending the night with Grace.  Also she has something going on as Michael sees a strange man leaving the house (above).  Ronnie and Michael have checked on James in the hospital where the operation has happened and he is unable to play for two months by which time as James knows getting a start in the first team will be very difficult, even if he is 100% fit.  Also most of the spectators will have forgotten that he has come out so that will all flare up again.  Michael later checks Grace's phone but is unable to find out what is going on.


Apparently Gemma has been talking to Freda (do they even know each other?) who has found a better BSL teacher to help Chesney.  Gemma conveys her excitement in sign language which leaves Chesney cold.  He is left even more cold when the teacher (above) tries to tell him something and we feel - like Ches - totally left out of the conversation - Ches grasps that everyone - and beyond that Gemma has to explain "learns at their own pace".  Later in the cafe Gemma, Freda and the teacher discuss the cochlear implants - but her objection seems to be based around robbing Aled of his silent world and being different.  Given there is no certainty of success I am not at all sure I understand the argument and (sorry) do not feel that the treatment here is helping explain it to me.


In a failed attempt to inject some humour into the evening Ty finds he has to construct a flat pack cot.  Alina withdraws but later remarks that she heard him shouting at it, apparently the instructions were rubbish.  We know this because he builds it in the living room at the flat and will have to take it apart as it will not fit the doorway into the bedroom.  So when Hope comes round it sticks out like a sore thumb (Ruby is at a sleepover somewhere else).  And Hope immediately expects that baby PopTy will get her (and Ruby's) bedroom and she is not giving it up (above).  Hope is already behaving like a stroppy teenager - "Frozen" is for little kids and pyjama parties do not cut it either!


Fiz has a date with Phill but is not overly interested in his story about monitor lizards and keeps rabbiting on about Hope not being related to the baby PopTy and then before Phill can get a word in edgeways Fiz realises she is not yet ready for another relationship and needs to look after the girls and get her head together, so that's all over for now (above).  


And in the best bit of acting this evening the baby's missing teddy got it as Hope separated head from body.  I sense that Evelyn assuring Fiz that all was well with Hope when she came home earlier may not be right and in reality Hope has a touch of the "David Platt" syndrome and before long she will be pushing people downstairs, causing car accidents and no-one will be safe in her mission to destroy!

I felt at odds with the Street tonight.  Sometimes I feel that they have given up beating the carpets in the back garden and replaced it with beating us over the head for no good reason.  If you have not already detected it above I felt that the approach to the Aled story tonight demeaned the viewers.  It is standard practice when using a foreign language for English subtitles to be provided.  I am sorry as I know this will cause offence but firstly Gemma accepted the decision for the implants several weeks back and secondly if you are going to use sign language then treat it as the foreign language it is to most viewers and provide subtitles.  Instead we have poor Freda acting as interpreter and that mis-step wrecked what might have been the excellent intentions of the production team.  This is my personal view and you can address comments to me on Twitter.

Written by Ella Greenhill and directed by Becky Wild.

Kosmo
@Kosmo100






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Conversation Street Podcast Episode #481


For this week's podcast, we chat about the episodes of Corrie shown in the UK between the 26th and the 30th July.

There'd already been been a few hints this year that Coronation Street wanted to tackle a story about racism and unconscious bias, and this week, it got top billing as James and Michael are stopped when out test driving a flash sports car. We start the Street Talk segment by weighing in with our own thoughts on the issue, and how we feel Corrie's handled it so far. Also this week, the tide turns for Todd as Billy finally finds out the truth about how he manipulated his way back into the archdeacon's affections, Hope becomes increasingly jealous of Tyrone's interest in his unborn baby, and Kelly opens up about her traumatic childhood.

Next up, we head over to The Kabin to chat about a couple of recent reports in the tabloids, then we finish off the podcast with some feedback, including some of our listeners' reactions to this week's racism story.

Street Talk - 00:12:24
The Kabin - 02:47:56
Feedback - 02:55:46


In 2005, Vicky Binns joined the Street as Molly Compton, the dog loving baker's daughter who stirred up plenty of trouble for Fiz, who'd once bullied Molly at school. For our bonus podcast this week, we're joined by Vicky to reminisce about her time on the cobbles, including the notorious affair with Kevin and her explosive exit in the live episode for the 50th anniversary.


You can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, stream all our old episodes on our own site here, or click the play buttons above to give it a listen from the comfort of this very blog!








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Colson Smith interview: Craig dragged into Corrie race row


Talk us through, from Craig’s point of view, what happened when James and Michael were pulled over.

Craig has been called to a job as back-up, not knowing what it is or who is involved. He turns the corner, he sees Michael and James, his two neighbours with one of his colleagues. When he arrives at the scene, not quite knowing what has gone on, all he sees is James on the floor and clearly injured so he tries to calm the situation down and work out what has happened. He speaks to Michael and he speaks to PC Brody and he feels like he is bombarded with information, the story from his neighbour and the conflicting story from his colleague. His main priority is making sure that James is okay and getting him an ambulance. 

What is Craig’s relationship with PC Brody?

It’s the first time the viewers have ever met PC Brody but he is Craig’s work colleague. He is obviously a lot older than Craig and he is quite direct and upfront with Craig. Craig respects him just like he respects most of his work colleagues but he doesn’t know PC Brody too well. When James and Michael are pulled over, Craig can’t really grasp what has gone on so he doesn’t really know who is right and who is wrong so he is taking everyone’s word for it however PC Brody is his work colleague and Craig is at work so he is trying to assess the situation as best he can. 

What are Craig's first thoughts when he is approached by James in Victoria Garden’s and asked about whether he has reported the fact that James wasn’t driving erratically?

Craig is completely caught in the middle of a situation that he does not want to be in, he doesn’t quite know what the right thing to do. His colleague, PC Brody, is putting pressure on him and making sure that Craig is saying one thing when James and Michael are saying that is not the truth so Craig has to decide what is his truth and he really doesn’t know how to get there. Craig knows what he has seen but can’t articulate it properly so he is trying to fill in the gaps which is something that he shouldn’t be doing. He should be true to himself. James asks him, “Are you a good person or are you just going to take your mate’s word for it?” It is at this point that he realises that he may have made a mistake trusting PC Brody and it is obvious that something more has gone on because Craig has seen them driving the car completely fine. 

What is the turning point that makes Craig realise that there is a bigger issue involving race?

In the police station, when PC Brody is explaining to Craig that he is not a racist, it is the first time that it comes into Craig’s head that there may have been unconscious bias towards James and Michael. Craig then realises that this situation is a much bigger thing than he thought because he realises what PC Brody’s influence was. James then hits home to him that if he is not careful, he will be part of the problem and not the solution. Craig knows he doesn’t want to be part of the problem and he wants to do the right thing, he is trying to work out how he does this. 

What does Craig know about unconscious bias before this incident?

Craig knows that James and Michael were not driving erratically like PC Brody has stated and he also knows that James and Michael are good people because they are his neighbours so something in the situation is obviously wrong. When PC Brody continues to mention James and Michael’s race back at the station, Craig realises that there is more to this situation than a misunderstanding and an altercation. It's at this moment that he realises that this is what unconscious bias is and he is not comfortable in this situation. In work he is feeling pressured by PC Brody and in the street, James and Michael are asking him questions so he doesn’t know how to do the right thing.

What would be the best situation for Craig?

Craig needs to tell his truth without being influenced by anyone, especially a more senior colleague who is older than him. Craig’s natural reaction when he feels overwhelmed is to do nothing and ignore the situation and hope it all goes away. But he needs to trust himself and assess the situation from his own point of view because Craig has always known right from wrong so it wouldn’t take him long to come to the right conclusion. 

Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
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Friday 30 July 2021

Spot the Corrie prop - July 30th 2021

This week congratulations go to Den who was the first person to spot that last week's drying rack can be found in Billy and Summer's flat.  Well done!

For this week's prop puzzle all you have to do is tell us whereabouts on Coronation Street you would find these marvellous mugs.










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

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