It's November 5th as I write this, and with a deluge of rain and flooding in South Yorkshire having quelled the expected fireworks, I'm devoid of excitement. Therefore, I thought I'd start writing up the latest Corrie Christmas / New Year teasers to post on the Corrie blog. Rather than saving the best until last, my first article starts with the best at the front - that being a two-hander that celebrates/commiserates the end of Peter and Carla's incredible tenure, which is due to air during Christmas week. Coronation Street is giving the relationship finale the best treatment, with a seasonal special two-hander, exploring the ins and outs of this dramatic duo. You cannot beat a Corrie two-hander, and as 2023 draws to a close, this could be the pinnacle of a brilliant year on the cobbles.
On October 25th, I joined an ITV press event to chat with Corrie producer Iain Macleod, to give you a little sneaky peak of what's to come.
Hi Iain, following Stephen Reid's death, we know Peter is due to leave the street. Can you give us the lowdown on what's to come for Carla and Peter?
What we wanted to do with Peter, was to deal with the reality of a man who has demons, it's fair to say, with a history of alcoholism and depressive episodes. His reaction to what he did to Stephen and the kind of battle to get it straight within himself. (He wonders) whether it was the right thing to do, was it necessary and how much of it was to do with getting revenge for Carla!
Will Peter succumb to alcoholism again?
We were very clear when we started the chapter of this story that we wouldn't want him to fall off the wagon again, so you won't see that. We thought it was important that as a transplant recipient, he wouldn’t drink again - that was an important message to send out. However, he will struggle psychologically with his demons and his happiness on Coronation Street. Carla becomes aware of his feelings - he’s not okay. It's a fork in the road for them, with their happiness appearing to be not reliant on each other.
Does this lead to a Carla and Peter showdown?
It leads to a surprising Christmas day episode* - a HUGE two-hander between the two of them (they are pretty much the only cast on the episode) that picks over every single detail of who they are, what they've been as a couple, what they want for their futures, and what happiness looks like for them. As we know, this is leading to Peter’s exit, which will be bittersweet and is Corrie at its best.
Has this been filmed yet?
It's filming right now (late October), and I cannot wait for you to see the results. If it's as good as the scripts, and experience tell(s) me it's always better, it will lead to a stunning Christmas episode for us. It's the culmination of a decade-long* love story, I think the viewers are going to love it!
Thanks, Iain!
* The Christmas Day episode is not the two-hander, that's a full-cast ensemble. The two-hander will follow on Boxing Day.
Corrie has teased this image:
Is this a double for the ‘Weatherfield North’ tram stop? It makes a change from someone leaving in the back of a black cab, doesn't it?
*It's actually been 12 years since Carla and Peter’s affair began!
Do we have any current/new relationships on the street that could last that long?
Let me know in the comments or @rybazoxo on X using #Corrie
4 comments:
Steve and Tracey already have lasted that long, if you don't count the hiatus in the middle of their relationship.
As soon as the writers ended the 'will they/won't they?' storyline for Peter and Carla by keeping them together, the magic vanished. How typical that Peter's best script of late will be his exit storyline. In 2016, there was a post on this website which quoted Chris G as saying about Peter: "If he was boring, if he were just ordering a half and going in the pub and being dead nice to everybody, then it would be really, really dull". That's more or less what happened to Peter prior to his clash with Stephen. Carla and Peter needed more tension/humour/anything in their stories. Carla and Michelle were good entertainment. Peter had a brief friendship with Steve which was fun and the writers could have developed this by creating comedy and pathos with Peter, Steve and Tim. How good was that fishing scene with Tim and Steve. Peter needed male friends like that. Maybe Peter should have stayed with Leanne, Carla with Nick and there might have been an unrequited love storyline. Best of luck to Chris. He deserves it.
Chris G has taken breaks before, so I reckon he'll be back, and he'll reunite with Carla then.
I think the Corrie team don't know what to do with him now.
His drinking problems and bigamy/ womanisng plots led to drama and that was fine - that hooked the viewers in.
But he's moved on.
As he's aged, he's more settled, but hasn't done particularly well. A scruffy taxi driver married to a business woman breadwinner... the snooker hall idea didn't take off and the betting shop went adrift too.
As you say Humpty, Peter needs male friends and he could have become pals with the middle- aged dads - Kev, Steve, Tim and Dev.
Instead he relies on Ken, Daniel and Adam for friendship and support.
If not them, it's his exes he turns to - Lee-anne and Toyah.
I wonder if Chris G feels frustrated himself about the development of his character?
He's a Barlow, so they need him, but they don't give him a meaty plot.
I know there's the Stephen one but that'll blow over soon. All he seems to do now is argue with people.
He'll be back, I'm sure!
Sally and Tim has been together for about 8 years now, haven't they? Fiz and Tyrone would have been together for a long time if it wasn't for Alina Pop. Leanne and Nick has been together for a while as well as Abi and Kevin, David and Shona, Kirk and Beth, Gemma and Chesney (they all have been together for more than 5 years)
Post a Comment