Coronation Street Episode Review, Wednesday 16th August, 8 pm

Welcome to another Wednesday Weatherfield round-up and to catch up on the latest goings on, on Coronation Street. 

Tonight starts with the continuation of Lauren's absence from the cafe following her pervy pass at Roy. Also in the cafe, Peter is riled at Stephen’s admission to Lou, with Peter clearly in the doghouse with Carla following the stolen watch fiasco. Why Peter would steal a watch, and why a watch would be worth £15K I have no idea, but Carla back at Underworld's helm can only mean that Reid’s days are numbered. Peter's also now onto him which means it's looking ever more likely. However with Peter due to leave the show soon, could he end up going down for it? I digress, I’ll leave that for another review. 

Back to tonight’s offering. Cringe-inducing ‘singing’ aside*, tonight’s stand-out moment was the return of Dame Maureen Lipman, the baptism of soap legend Claire Sweeney onto the cobbles, and Tyrone’s parentage truth being finally revealed, after something like 20 odd years. 

What. A.Treat! those scenes at number 7, (following the Bistro confession) were ridiculously high-quality, and the living room setting sold the scene for me, a claustrophobic fly-on-the-wall viewing of this family fall-out; loved it! Having been privy to the press day over a month ago, introducing the former Brookside legend, I knew tonight was the night for it, but having seen no preview scenes, the dramatics topped anything I could have envisaged. Roy’s involvement was also a clever move, and it blindsided him from Monday’s Lauren drama, leaving the wayward teen to admit her pass at her boss to her former beau, Max. Tonight's narrative did make out as though Lauren would be leaving in a wave of embarrassment, but with no black taxi insight, and reconciliations all around, it concluded with her stealing the salon keys and asking Roy for his job back.

Meanwhile, with Carla back at Underworld, she arranged another meeting with Lou tonight, and Stephen attended on his own! The stolen tie-pin strand of this murderous story arc may be more Wagatha Christie than Agatha Christie, but you can't fault Lou’s dog-eared attempt at solving her ex-partner's murder, unlike Jenny who has forgotten all about Leo. Upon meeting Stephen at the Rovers, Lou is quick to dispel any new business ventures and tells Stephen she knows about the stolen tie-pin and suspects he's stolen it! 

*Although I don't like small people singing, Glenda in circus attire certainly made up for it!

In other news, Hope’s revealed as a Slytherin (of course), Ed and Ronnie argue over their new business venture, and Carla tells 'roid rage' Ryan that he’s boring! Ryan then decides to have a sarnie with Alya, who is anything but boring!

I thoroughly enjoyed tonights offering - what did you think?  

I am @rybazoxo if you want to tweet and let me know!

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Coronation Street Episode Review, Wednesday 7th June, 8 pm

Welcome to another Wednesday Weatherfield round-up and to catch up on the latest goings on, on Coronation Street. I've had a few weeks off as doing press day events usually means I’m weeks in front with storylines and spoilers, but I've now caught up. That said, I've another event in the pipeline so we shall see how this month pans out!

Tonight starts at Sarah and Adam’s Redbank pad, with Adam getting deluged with solicitor work, so he's unable to make the football match with Harry. The late licence is granted but he’s still busy with work, much to his wife’s irritation. Sarah despatches the match tickets to Shona so she finds herself free for the evening. Damon overhears the cafe conversation and heads over to her flat armed with a bottle of vino and a cache of sweet nothings to whisper in her ear. 

The clandestine meet is soon interrupted when Gail brings Harry home from school! Sarah's lied about her whereabouts and her mum is quick to spot that something is going off. With Gail out of the way, it’s Harry who sees Sarah actually kissing Damon. 

Harry then decides to draw a picture of the event to show his granny! Gail confronts Sarah with the evidence and she admits the truth, and about the fact that she wanted to ruin the late licensing chances. Later, Sarah tells Damon they've been caught and that things must stop, whilst she lies to Harry to shut him up. 

 

Meanwhile, the Baileys haven’t really had much comedy, have they? Ed debuted by knocking a hole through Ken’s living room wall, for the renovations, but we've had little funnies from them since, until now? Fresh from meeting their ex-very posh neighbours at Debbie’s hotel cuisine night, Ed and Aggie are embarrassed about swapping Alderley Edge for Weatherfield and living in squalor at N0.3 (that makeover hasn't done much for them, I guess). Ed tells Dee-dee that they won't stop texting to arrange a posh dinner party, so Agie harangues Tim and Sally into letting them use No.4 for a soiree, instead. A house-swap? I can only guess this will lead to shenanigans, especially since the guest stars playing Patrick and Yvette are both comedy gold. 

Elsewhere, Ryan’s suddenly crystal clear with the fact that he’s been catfished and Daisy insists on playing dumb. Carla is hellbent on getting to the bottom of who’s been playing with his emotions. Ryan unloads all of this on Daisy and she blames Justin and Karen.  

Back from the STC, Max must wear an electronic tag as part of his licensing conditions. Starting rehabilitation, Max writes a letter for Alya and manages to get it delivered to Speed Daal. Alya's stressed at the solicitors, blowing up in front of Sarah and admits her misery from the Weatherfield race riots and Max’s hand in the violence. Adam offers her some gentle advice. Alya receives the letter and is furious at Max’s indifference, catching him in the street to throw the letter back in his face. Gary splits up the ruckus but lends a sympathetic ear to Max's plight. Gary then tells Alya he’s smoothed things over and Max will now leave her alone. Gav calls Max to arrange a catch-up with his girlfriend, and he arrives home late to the police paying another visit. He’s been spotted visiting Speed Daal! Shona promises to keep a closer hold on him. 

In other news, Todd’s still single, David and Glenda got a great scene together, and the charity shop does a great sideline in Dad jokes! 

What did you think of tonight’s offering?  I am @rybazoxo if you want to tweet and let me know!

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Coronation Street Episode Review, Wednesday 12th April , 8 pm

Welcome to another Wednesday Weatherfield round-up and to catch up on the latest goings on, on Coronation Street. Since last week, we've had nothing from Ryan's acid attack, and seen nothing of the consent storyline, however, Glenda's lucky pants pulled a business deal and Sarah committed adultery as Damon's pants got lucky too, but what about Rufus’s underworld dealings? Will he get lucky with Stephen’s share of the money? 

Tonight starts in Sarah and Adam's swanky flat (she’s dressed to kilI I noticed) and the solicitor is mulling over Damon’s paperwork ahead of the court case. Dee-dee’s geared up at N0.3 and I quite like seeing all of the Bailey clan in one scene - a rare delight. Leanne and Nick have reunited but are apprehensive about the outcome. In court, Dee-Dee’s dolled up in lawyer attire (RIP Imran) and makes a mean case for evidence mishandling which gets Damon off the hook. With a clean slate, Damon tells Leanne and Nick that he’s hanging around for his Bistro investment, clearly hiding his intentions with Sarah. Sarah tells Damon she’s not interested in further bedroom shenanigans but unfortunately, Dee-Dee sees this and works out the sexual tension between them. 

The lawyer tells Sarah her evidence and Mrs Barlow admits her guilt. Stood outside the Bistro, the girls gossip over wine, and I like this production shot - a new set-up for summer evenings perhaps? The lawyers take the rest of the afternoon off for more champagne and Damon decides to hold on to their legal services as a retainer. As the wine flows, Damon is quick to work out that Dee-dee knows about his indiscretion with Sarah. He’s quickly warned off by Dee-Dee but then Sarah texts him so she meets him in the ginnel. He may be a bad lad but you can't blame him for the mixed signals he’s getting! Later, Sarah decides she wants to try for a baby with Adam after all - the little minx!

Meanwhile, Rufus meets with Stephen at the factory using blackmail for 50% of the profits. Stephen succumbs to the deal but is fuming at losing and promises serious repercussions - just as the gazette walk in for the nippersnapper's press interview. Michael's left out of proceedings (even though he designed the gear) and after speaking to Sean, decides to quit and take Rufus up on his London offer. Michael arranges to meet Rufus at his swanky rented pad later that evening and tells Stephen to stuff his job. 

Elsewhere- Glenda readies to open little big shotz, with Eileen discovering the truth about George’s £5K gift. It’s a comical light affair, and even though we can't be sure if Ruthie Henshall is playing a musical baddy, I love any scene with George and Glenda, with Todd also on form tonight (telltale signs of a Damon Alexis-Rochefort script) as the gang mulled over Glenda’s new venture (and Eileen’s disgust at George) over a pint at the Rovers. 

Roy’s having a ruff time (not sorry) with Freddie as Melvin’s family isn't interested in keeping the little dog after his owner's death. Roy confers with Evelyn who remains unconvinced that Roy can care for a dog so he decides to take it to a shelter. Evelyn is later upset at Roy and disgruntled at winning the rovers raffle. 

Paul’s desperation for money leads him to borrow Chesney’s car to steal a posh one. He finds a posh one to steal, which is sat outside Rufus’ upmarket rental gaff and he nicks it. Michael turns up at the posh house for his meeting, and Rufus is nowhere to be seen!... I think we can guess what has happened here!

I loved the production shots tonight (wine alfresco, the big house), the gang in the rovers, Rufus’ taste in 90s dance music, and Glenda!

What did you think of tonight’s offering?  I am @rybazoxo if you want to tweet and let me know!

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Coronation Street Episode Review, Wednesday 15th March, 8 pm

Tonight starts at the Barlow flat with Carla clearly worried about the van crash, and Peter pushing for her to see Doctor Gaddas. I’m glad we got a scene tonight with Corrie’s greatest Doctor, and she prescribes Carla some diazepam. With the factory gearing up for an American client visit, Carla obviously needs to be on top of her game. Meanwhile, Sarah is still pushing ahead at Underworld and trying out a few Americanisms on Adam ahead of the meeting. I’ve no idea what a ‘Monday morning quarterback’ is so that was a gag completely lost on me. I once told a real-life Canadian I thought he was American so you can imagine my confusion here. Anyway, Adam is enthusiastic about his wife’s ideas but is clearly blind-sided by a lack of business at the solicitors. The big USA meeting is due at underworld at 1 pm and Stephen tells Carla that they need to be at the ‘top of their game’ and Carla certainly is. She shows Stephen up in front of their clients (was that fella in ‘Hollyoaks’?) and verbally harangues him, reminding him of the Dick Haversham fiasco. 

By 2 pm the meeting is over and the deal is seemingly in the bag so the underworld gang have a party, but with Stephen drugging Carla with LSD again, she’s in less of a party mood - it’s less of a psychedelic trip and looking a lot more like another psychotic episode. Carla’s clearly distraught and quickly breaks up the party. 

In my opinion, I genuinely think this could be Corrie’s greatest drug-based storyline. For me, it’s (unintentionally, I guess) hilarious, and as I’m a huge Carla and Peter fan, it keeps those two on screen so I'm happy with that- the wobbly psychedelic direction - not so much. Guiding the stumbling Carla back to her flat, Stephen is spotted by Rufus. Peter thinks the diazepam has affected his wife, even thanking her business partner for his help. Later, Rufus tells Stephen he knows exactly what he’s up to and wants in on the Underworld subterfuge.

Meanwhile, Daisy’s still down in the dumps but pushes ahead with the reorganising of the wedding anyway. Craig tells her that Justin has been charged with assault but released on bail. Feeling shocked, Ryan offers her a shoulder to cry on, lending a non-judgemental ear and his thoughts on Justin. A reminder of his fondness for Alya ends a platonic chat between the two. 

Less platonic and more marital strife, Kirk and Beth take a trip down memory lane tonight, when Fiz reminds Kirky of his Eminem impression, in which he serenaded his red-haired ex out on the street (google it, it's classic) Bizarrely, Beth seems jealous by this but I guess it's more from guilt following her night out with ex-boyfriend, Marco. It was a good reminder though, that her 80s-themed wedding with Kirk was in fact an illegal one. A few nods to Corrie of old tonight, and this one was the most enjoyable. I'm unsure where her usual BFF Tracy Barlow is hiding, but Glenda is making such a good confidante to Beth and I'm interested to see if this is a new friendship being cemented on the cobbles. 

Elsewhere, Faye is in no party mood (what a surprise!) following Miley’s visit, and she’s fallen out with Tim. Boyfriend Craig tries to give her guidance, but just like his Mum’s relationship - the chemistry here is zilch. Faye eventually visits her father and makes peace, making plans to see her daughter. If my Corrie memory serves me correctly, didn't Craig help Faye deliver her baby girl? Meanwhile, Leanne’s annoyed at a school jumper order for Sam and uses it as an excuse to have another go at Nick 

My highlights tonight were The Beatles getting a mention (again) The Human League getting some more airtime (I'm a Sheffield lad), Carla’s drug acting, plenty of Glenda, and great to see Steve Mcdonald back in the cab office. 

I've still no idea what ‘Monday morning quarterback’ means. I am @rybazoxo if you wanna tweet to let me know!

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