Corrie cast under the weather in Weatherfield

At least three of our bloggers have been struck down this week with the lurgy and now it seems that it's affecting the Coronation Street cast too.

The Manchester Evening News reports that filming on some scenes has been postponed as cast and crew have been struck down with a bug.

A Corrie source said a ‘small number’ of cast had been struck down with flu-like symptoms causing bosses to shelve filming scenes of Steve McDonald’s stag do

The MEN report that Simon Gregson, who plays Steve McDonald, has been signed of for a week, it is understood. And it is believed Bev Callard, who plays Steve’s mum Liz McDonald, has also been forced off with the illness – which has also affected crew members.

Get well soon to our bloggers and Corrie cast and crew.

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Pics: Coronation Street cast photo 2014

From the newest to the longest serving member of cast, children and pets, everyone gathered on the cobbles of the set at MediaCityUK in March for the new line-up.

Now the photograph has been released hot on the heels of the show being awarded a prestigious BAFTA on Sunday night.

And to top off an already fantastic week the new building was yesterday (Tues) officially dedicated to Coronation Street creator Tony Warren.

Hundreds of cast and crew gathered as ITV CEO Adam Crozier and Coronation Street Executive Producer Kieran Roberts were joined by Tony to unveil a sign naming the new studio ‘The Tony Warren Building’.

A five foot cake model of the street was cut by Barbara Knox whilst William Roache raised a toast to Tony and the programme.

And here's the cake:

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Corrie cast members set up in Dispatches sting, says The Mirror

The award winning investigative current affairs programme Dispatches on Channel 4 has stitched up some of the Coronation Street cast good and proper, says The Mirror today.   

Dispatches set up a fake stall at a Celebrity Retreat event offered “luxury” tonics and creams supposedly from Bali, Indonesia. But none of the items was genuine. A blue bottle of “toner” contained nothing but tap water, despite its impressing sounding label “Puttana Aziendale” – which actually translates as “Corporate Prostitute” in Italian.

And the cameras were secretly rolling as stars and executives from Corrie asked for handfuls of free products in exchange for plugs.

However, The Mirror quotes an ITV source saying: “Allegations have been made that are false and highly defamatory, and ITV have written to the producer threatening legal action if they decide to broadcast the programme.”

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Should Corrie cut down on its cast?

I really think they should. That doesn't mean that they have to cut down on the episodes although I'm sure three episodes per week would be enough.
 

I'm basing my argument on my other favourite soap which is Aussie soap Neighbours. It airs five times a week, all year round and has a cast of only 25-30 characters. Ok, the storylines are lighter than Corrie and they don't last long, but I do think it's a formula that works. Every Neighbours episode stars about eight regular characters - and it's not the same characters every day.

Every character has equal screentime and for me that makes the show more interesting instead of the same old faces. When I look at episode spoilers here on the Coronation Street Blog, I notice it's the same characters who appear in every episode - Stella, Tina, Fiz, Steve, Carla, Peter, Leanne, Gail, and Tyrone. While others like Kirk, Deirdre, Roy, Hayley and Dennis rarely star in a storyline of their own. 

With a small cast everyone could have equal attention. And thus it's the same characters that get nominated in awards much to fans' chagrin. Both EastEnders and Emmerdale follow the same trend unfortunately.

 

 

In 2012, out of around 260 episodes, Stella appeared in 176 and Tina appeared in 150. Kirk and Dennis appeared in 62 and 63 episodes respectively. What a difference eh?

Corrie in the 60s, 70s and 80s had the same average cast as Neighbours has now. Should Corrie revert back to those old days? These days, it includes 60-70 members. Due to this, many characters don't have storylines year after year. Then you've got the same characters appearing week after week and soon enough there's an announcement stating that a certain actor/actress is leaving. Although they don't say it, I'm sure the number of episodes they appear in contributes to their decision to leave. Look at Chris Gascoyne and Alison King - they took a break because they were continuously in the limelight. I know some actors can handle some stories better. While some can handle dramatic stories, others star in humourous ones. Sadly, Corrie lacks the humour these days.

So what do you think? Should Corrie cut down on its members of the cast to like it was back in the day? Is it possible to have 60 people living in one street whereas 30-40 years ago there was only half that amount? Even though there are three more houses and three or four flats, does that mean the number of characters has doubled? I don't know.
 

It is possible to air five episodes and have a cast of 25-30 members. What do you think? Which characters would you include in that reduced cast? Leave your comments below!

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