Strong Women and Feckless Men - my Coronation Street talk in Sheffield

I am very pleased to report that my talk on Saturday at the Manor Library in Sheffield, about the happenings on the cobbles, was received most warmly. The organiser noted that I didn't appear nervous and that was probably because I wasn't nervous. Many things bother me, I'm not immune from nerves, and some things make me very anxious indeed, but talking to groups of people is not one of them. Having taught for many years is a tremendous help.

The audience was lovely. Fortunately they laughed in the right places and, when invited, asked plenty of questions. I talked them through the decades, and hung on to the theme of Strong Women and Feckless Men. That wasn't difficult as during each decade you can find both.

Most of the audience was interested in the original characters and seemed to imply that Corrie was better then - during the sixties and seventies. Any thoughts on that?

Much loved characters were the ones you would accurately guess - Ena, Elsie, Hilda and Bet. Their absolute favourite? Elsie. The general feeling was that the current characters would not make the iconic status of those four. Only time will tell. I would be delighted if others would add a comment as to whether or not they agree. The average age of the audience was 50+, though there were a couple of teenagers - a boy and a girl.

Their opinions largely concurred with what readers of the blog say in their comments. A wish for more excellent dialogue, excellent characterisation, more humour, fewer affairs and a break from dramatic crashes and fires.

Their favourite current couple? Sally and Tim, of course. Eeh, they're alrayt them Sheffield folk! Especially as I was asked to do another talk at some point!

Ruth Owen - twitter @ruth1722

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Coronation Street talk at Sheffield Library - Saturday 16 April

If anyone is in the Sheffield area tomorrow, I'll be giving a talk about Coronation Street at Manor Library.

The general theme will be - Strong Women and Feckless Men. I'm hoping the talk will be interactive and that there will be plenty of questions, which I hope I can answer.

If I have time, I'll show some of the first episode of Corrie.

Sheffield is having a bit of an Appreciate Stories festival and I was happy to be asked to join in.

On Thursday, next week,  I've been asked to talk about my first novel, INTO DUSK, for Storying Sheffield. My novel was published in March 2014.

Please see here for details

Ruth Owen - twitter @ruth1722

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Doing a Talk on Corrie

Sheffield, my hometown, is having a bit of a festival moment. As a result, I’ve been asked to do a talk. The only trouble is I don’t know when, but have been told to be ‘ready to roll’ from about 19^th September.

There are several things that I could talk about but only one that I would really like to talk about –Coronation Street, of course, and our wonderful blog in particular, with  much gratitude to Glenda for starting the whole thing off.

My plan for the talk is essentially this -:

·      Beginnings - Tony Warren - his vision

·      Facts and figures – audience viewings, number of hotpots sold etc.

·      Issues raised in Corrie

·      The women  - in general

·      Characters – Elsie Tanner, Ena Sharples, Hilda Ogden, Emily Bishop, Bet Lynch, Rita Tanner, Deirdre, Carla Connor, Mary Taylor – detailed character analysis and their individual speech styles

·      The men – holding back the women – general theme.

·      Details of men and their secondary role – as envisaged by Tony Warren

·      How the show has changed or not, through the decades.

·      Snobbery surrounding soaps, lighthearted comparison to the great dramatists

·      And then finally, some clips – including-: death of Stan Ogden - Hilda and the glasses, Death of Martha Longhurst, rows between Ena and Elsie. And some modern stuff.  There is SO much, it is difficult to be sure that you have the best bits.

I would be very grateful for your assistance here, my fellow bloggers and our much valued and loyal readers. Is there anything that you think is CRUCIAL in a talk about Corrie that I have not touched on?

Btw did you know that in 1990 Hilda Ogden was the 4^th most recognizable woman in Britain, after the Queen, the Queen Mother and Princess Di?

And this – Blanche Hunt – ‘Good looks are a curse Deirdre. You and Kenneth have been very lucky.’

Very much looking forward to your comments. Thank you.

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