Coronation Street Episode Review Friday 2 October 2026

Good evening.  Doug (Steve Evets, best known probably for his long term role in Brassic) provided a class performance this evening.  We know that Jodie has swapped his drugs out so that he cannot remember that Jodie and David are having an affair (according to Jodie).  He therefore commenced behaving strangely this evening as a man losing his marbles, not helped by Jodie playing noises from her phone which she allegedly cannot hear but he can..  I find some of the Steet villainous behaviour hard to fathom these days.  I think we are supposed to believe that Jodie wants what Shona has; because Jodie cannot have a friend she has no-one to whom she can talk and explain what is going on in her mind and of course maltreating her own father is probably payback as far as she is concerned.  She congratulates her father on him getting his life together and remembering to take his tablets.  Shona has a message from the school and it seems that vapes are being used.  Aunty Jodie is so much nicer to Lily, the latter tells Shona.  

Sally and Lucy visit Christina to sort things for Lucy's mother funeral and they go through various photograph albums.  An earlier discussion with a former neighbour implies that Richie was a controlling so and so, supporting the narrative around the murder.  Christina takes one of the photos on Rachel's graduation but it is spotted as missing and Sally returns to the undertakers where Christina admits that Rachel was her daughter.  Sally tells Christina that she can have nothing to do with Lucy.  I am not sure that secrets can be kept on Coronation Street.

Nick is now in serious financial do-do.  He cannot pay wholesalers and they will not extend credit.  Sam is seeing the mental health team later in the day.  Eva is not going to report the push.  They cannot ask the bank for help as they will want to report the identity fraud.  The psychiatrist thinks the events could be down to the meds and they will look to find an alternative.  Sam admits he is a coward and a thief but no-one wants to punish him.  Leanne suggests a family outing on Sunday so Eva has to come up with a load of excuses (and then later has to come up with an action plan to support them all to avoid the outing).  Eva simply does not want her family anywhere near Sam at the moment.  

Sally makes it crystal clear that Christina cannot further disrupt Lucy's life as they have only just managed to stabilise her.

So in one episode we have: a) Doug being mentally unstable because Jodie has switched his drugs; b) Sam being mentally unstable because he is on the wrong drugs and c) Lucy being mentally unstable because - well apparently her father was excessively controlling.  Now I am not an expert but if a popular tv programme cannot entertain us without going on about mental instability and drugs it seems likely that life will imitate art and mental instability in the community will go off the scale.  Can someone please look at the content holistically and decide on something which is uplifting and does not involve mental stability or am I simply reading far too much into events?

I cannot be here for the next three weeks as I shall be out of the country.  Perhaps by the time I return the direction will have changed.

Written by Carmel Morgan and directed by Simon Ferguson.

Kosmo

@Kosmo100

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Episode Review: Friday 7 November 2025

If I had not recently been in a lot of doo doo for allegedly forgetting my wedding anniversary I might have been able to laugh at David's travails this evening.  In reality I had to suffer an hour of pained looks from the good lady wife.  As an anniversary present David has bought Shona a six pack of beer, only one of which is non-alcoholic (she is now noticeably pregnant and has still not had a scan).  However he has booked a table in the Bistro for later which just about gets him off the norty step.  He ends up back there pretty quickly as he has booked the table for the next night.  He tells Nick he got the days confused which is less serious than getting sisters confused nodding at R'Toyota - a joke which is not well received.  One of the tables has been booked by Sarah and Kit so David decides that the four of them can sit together, solving his norty step problem.  We are reminded that they have been married six years.  I had forgotten that there is a Platt family sweepstake running on how long Sarah and Kit will last given her track record.  Seven months and counting so far.  Kit gets upset at being the subject of a bet and Sarah demands the bill.

It seems unlikely that Carla and Lisa will even get married - wedding dresses are under consideration but Becky/Kim wants her family back together and in Spain, DI Costello wants Becky either really dead (he threatens her with a Tia Wardley exit for which Costello takes responsibility by ordering the Radcliffe boys to do the hit) or dead (but alive) in Spain.  Lisa makes it crystal clear to Becky that her future is with Carla but Carla thinks that it is all just a delaying tactic whilst Lisa hedges her Betsy, sorry bets.  This entire story has been shot through with holes since before it started and it now leaks like a colander (who has one of those these days?).  Filling in some of the plotical gaps we are told that Becky had ripped off Curtis (the now dead gang leader) for a lot of money and that Costello was the main beneficiary although he cannot sleep any longer due to the guilt he feels.  Becky makes it clear that she is running the show.  However allegedly the Curtis gang are now on Becky's tail but I suspect they are two of Costello's friends.  It leads to Becky spending the night on the sofa chez Lisa and Carla who warns her that the bed springs can be very noisy.  

Newly arrived Will has probably been undergoing grooming by Megan as we understand it, more worryingly she has something to tell him when she sees him.  This is very different to the Tim / Trisha situation.  Trisha may have been older but she was not Tim's teacher or in a position of authority - so I stand by Tim's view of his youthful experience.  Will is another matter and is befriended by Liam at school.  They end up in the back room of the Rovers necking lager - which is just too obvious and the secret is soon exposed first by Maggie who gives them a good natured explanation of why it is wrong and then later the entire family dynamic explodes - Maggie tries to cover up, Eva explodes and Kirk collects the shamefaced Liam; Kirk is loco in parentis which he think makes him sound like an unhinged parent as Maria and Gary are away in Bristol.  Will gets a right telling off and it is clear that Maggie much prefers the ex to Eva.

Abi is taking on Lauren's old flat in the precinct - which is lucky because Alfie in his innocence managed to get a load of books to fall on Roy's beloved model trains which he struggles to repair. However he can replace it by visiting the model railway convention in Bridlington next year.  Tyrone however is able to almost repair one of them as he has little to do at present, he shows it off to Hope and a part falls off!  Abi sold her rings to get the money for the deposit on the flat she later advises Roy.  

The Dobbs family saga returns to our screen.  Ruby wants a new phone as the old one is cringey and clapped but Ty has accidentally blown £200 downloading "trial" games (the good lady wife commented that her online game is free and it has kept her busy for six years).  Later Hope receives another nasty message telling her she is cringey and clapped which when she tells Tyrone even his brain is sharp enough to realise that Ruby is sending the messages.  He discusses it with Ruby who agrees to desist and not tell anyone else providing her phone is replaced and that they stop treating Hope as a special case.  Fiz on haring about the latest message decides she will summon the police and in trying to convince Fiz that it is not worth actually gives the game (see what I did there) away as to who is responsible.

The star member of the Driscoll family is little Susie (Aurora Bradshaw sister to Bobby who plays Jake Windass) who puts Liam through the third degree over dinner - with a lamp shining in his eyes she would fit in with any spy interrogator.  She wants to be a cheerleader and would like her name to be Vision Price.  I can see the next Carla Connor in the making.  If anyone can confirm Liam Connor's relationship to Susie then please let me know.  

The episode closes with Becky looking at online pictures of Costello, his wife and daughter Lainie - so what is she planning?

Leaving aside the reason Becky/Kim is there (and indeed the story itself) tonight we largely had stories about people living in a back street in Salford and forgetting anniversaries, underage drinking, Rovers front and centre, sisterly rivalry, making jokes at one another's expense and keeping secrets for 10 seconds - so a huge thumbs up for most of these two episodes the heart of the Street was right where it should be.  I have been a little critical once or twice recently - tonight hit is out of the park and a final tip - never buy a mermaid a pair of tights.

Written by Cameron McAllister and Jan McVerry.  Directed by Durno Johnston.


Kosmo

@Kosmo100

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Coronation Street Episode Review Friday 17 January 2025

In a court case the prosecution get first dibs on telling the jury what happened and how disgraceful the perpetrator has been in the acts they have executed.  It is hard to have a good day as the accused and Lauren senses things are not going well.  The defence barrister strongly challenges the expert witness on the number of blows and the damage done to Joel - which could have been after Lauren's one blow - so he keeps changing his story but it feels ineffectual.  Kit gives evidence which is pretty damning for Lauren.  Meanwhile back in the Big House Lauren's tormentor, Brie Benson, pops by to stir the pot further.  It feels like she is on a mission judging by her smiles to the camera.

Carla is well enough to find out how much a private kidney transplant operation will cost but as far as I know we do not know that Rob is a match and there is a delay despite the urgency.  Anyway Carla now needs £100k for a private operation and remembers that Jenny & Daisy owe her something like that so would they kindly extract their digits and cough up please?  They both protest but it cuts no ice.  Later Bets announces that Becky left her lots of money - and it should pay for half of the operation and she will lend it to Carla with a formal agreement and with interest charged and Lisa approves the transaction.  [In my view if Rob is a match then the NHS would easily setup the operation as it saves them the complexities around continuing dialysis].

Leanne and Nick are no longer tearing each other's clothes off but instead tearing lumps out of each of other, in front of Sam who makes the worst of a catch up session with Leanne after she insists (anything to get out of rugby and I don't blame him).  He manages seven minutes with Leanne before there is an excuse to go - Leanne is pretty nasty about both Nick and Toyah - which is not helping Sam's frame of mind.  Leanne uses it as a reason for another argument with Nick.  Tracy appears to be back permanently she tells Leanne.  Tracy tells her to get over Nick and get out there again.  Leanne has to buy her a drink for advice.

Daniel and Adam discuss Cassie's secret as spotted by Bertie and Daniel also admits possible parentage of the Daisy bump.  

Kev visits Dr Gadass who wants him to have an ultrasound - from that a visit to a specialist might be needed.  Kev updates Debbie on progress so far.  Kev retires for a lunch time drink with Tim and Kev eventually admits why he is out of sorts and helps Kev come to terms with the problems he is facing.    When he gets home he finds Abi asleep and looks after Alfie upstairs.  Debbie finds the keys in the front door and shouts waking up Abi who is distressed that Alfie is not in the same room and Kev gets a telling off for looking after the lad.  Eventually Kev calmly tells Abi the nature of the problem.  However Abi is not really listening as she has drifted off.  She is instantly upset he did not tell her sooner and she takes Alfie and goes for a walk.  She then has a monologue confusing Seb and Alfie again.  Her phone pings and she listens to Seb's voicemail by accident.  Abi half admits her problems to Roy - but then dashes out of the café.  Roy says she needs help and she needs to tell Kev - but she is not taking the advice at the moment.

In real life how you would you know that I was mad?  Or your partner?  In a soap the creators are able to provide unmissable clues - eg dead people walking and talking - to the audience which are not available to the on screen friends and families.  If used sparingly and with care then it can enhance the narrative for the viewers.  However three times - with Billy, Gail and now Abi - in a few months feels like a fixation, a lack of vision for the programme and a sad departure from the standards set when Vera returned for R'Jack.  I hate to have ended on such a negative note but it colours my current thinking.  Feel free to give your views in the comments or on X which I have not deserted.

Written by Simon Crowther and John Kerr.  Directed by Mickey Jones.

Kosmo

@Kosmo100

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