The Family Affair

I can't have been the only one who thought introducing William Roache's real-life sons to Corrie was a brilliant 50th anniversary idea.  Linus as his long-lost son?  James as his grandson? Brilliant.

In reality, I've been very disappointed.  The whole storyline's been executed really badly.

Firstly, let's deal with the revelation that Ken had another son. This is mind-blowing stuff, for parent and child. Lawrence has never met his father, never known who he was even. There should have been fireworks, recriminations, anger, tears.  Instead, Ken said, "I've worked out I'm your father." Lawrence's response?  "Oh, really?"

And that was it.  No resentment or yearning.  Barely any emotions at all.  In fact, the best responses came from Peter Barlow, who treated it all with amused disdain.

Then came the second part of the plot: Lawrence's estrangement from his own son due to his sexuality.  Again, a potentially good idea, in that it meant born-liberal Ken would be torn between his desire to know his new son and his support for his grandson's rights.  And again, it's been fudged.  Are we really meant to accept that an educated university lecturer like Lawrence, a man brought up by a left-wing firebrand and single mother, would be homophobic?  It seems completely out of character.

It's also too big a plot to be over and done with in a couple of weeks.  Linus will never commit to more than a handful of episodes - the episodes should be concentrating on Lawrence and Ken's relationship, without this distraction of James in the mix.  That could have been powerful, dramatic, and heartbreaking, and given Bill Roache a real storyline to get his teeth into.

I've been very let down by the whole thing.  Especially as by the looks of it, Lawrence is simply going to vanish to the same Barlow purgatory that Daniel lives in, never to be mentioned again...

Linus, James... or Bill?

As this is an open Coronation Street blog and there may be people under 16 reading it, here's a poser for you - which one of the Roache men would you like to knit a nice hat for?

Here's my choice right here.

Lustbox: Linus Roache

Reprinted with permission from the fab TV blog PauseLiveAction

How excited was I, watching Coronation Street the other night, to discover that Ken Barlow’s latest long-lost son is being played by his actual son, the very adorable Linus Roache.

Deirdre spotted the likeness immediately. “Even your mannerisms are the same,” she told her fecund husband. And they are! “Lawrence” is like a mini-me of Ken – handsome, with a lovely head of hair, and just a tiny bit tedious. Ok, very tedious. Lawrence is supposed to be an English Literature lecturer, and Ken is of course cock-a-hoop about this. They have long, dull conversations in iambic pentameter, and Ken is in his element and couldn’t be more proud. It almost makes up for the other sons (Peter the alcoholic and the hairdresser’s kid Ken hardly ever sees).

Even better, Lawrence has a son, James, who is supposed to be the spitting image of Ken’s former girlfriend Susan (i.e. his gran), from which we can conclude that Susan looked like Charlie from Busted. And James is gay! What deep joy for Ken, who is very gay-friendly and has had a bit of a musical theatre void in his life since Gail’s gay dad went south. Not that Ken would stereotype, of course.

Where have you seen Ken Barlow's son before?

If you're wondering where you've seen Lawrence Cunningham, who turned up as Ken's long-lost son tonight on Coronation Street, then wonder no more. Actor Linus Roache who plays Lawrence, is the real-life son of William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow.

Linus Roache began his acting career with a two-week appearance as a young Peter Barlow on Coronation Street back in 1975 at the age of 11. His IMDB profile is here.

See also: Where have you seen...?
Dr Matt Carter, Saucy Charlotte, Izzy's dad Owen Armstrong, The Corrie coppers, Colin Fishwick, Trevor the binman, Connie Rathbone, Uncle Umed, Julie Carp's mum, Luke Strong, Sophie Webster's boyfriend, Eileen Grimshaw's dad, Norris' girlfriend, Graeme Proctor, Molly's Aunty Pam, Maria's mum and dad, Gail's dad, Scary Brian, Tina's dad, Tony Gordon's henchman, Little Simon Barlow

Bill Roache's dream come true

The Roache "Family Affair" will be on our screens soon. Yes, Ken Barlow is about to discover that he has a long lost son, one of the stalward Soap Opera Plots. This time, it works, considering how many women Ken has had in the past! There was bound to be a love child in the woodpile, wasn't there? Anyway, in the Mirror today there's an interview with the Roache men about working together on Coronation Street.

Bill looks at it as a "dream come true", proudly working with his two sons. In the storyline, Ken gets back in touch with old girlfriend Susan Cunningham, the girl he was dating when Corrie first started in 1960. He figures out that her son is also his, and if he looked in the mirror or at an old photo, the resemblence is obvious! Linus is a dead ringer for a young Bill Roache, after all. His newly discovered son, Lawrence, is a professor but Ken finds out that his son Lawrence has disowned his son because he is gay. Ken, of course, is very liberal and doesn't care about these things and tries to play peacemaker.

Linus says it's "a dream" to be working with his dad and his brother and James, the new actor-kid on the block, considers it an honour. James is also playing his father in the BBC drama Florizel Street, the story of how Coronation Street made it to the airwaves.

Homophobic storyline to hit Coronation Street

There's a Coronation Street spoiler in today's Sunday People which reckons there's going to be a homophobic storyline involving Ken Barlow, played by William Roache.

Linus Roache (William Roache's real-life son) turns up on Corrie as Ken's homophobic son Lawrence with his gay son James (William Roache's other real life son!)

But Ken's dream of playing happy families is dashed by a feud between homophobic Lawrence and James.

Linus, 46, has been in Corrie before in 1975 he played Ken's son Peter when he was 11.

Read more: Ken Barlow's secret son

It's a family affair

It could be a family affair in more ways than one, if I'm reading between the lines correctly. ITV today says that both of William Roache's sons, Linus and James, will be featured in an upcoming storyline on Coronation Street. In the fall, a "dark family secret" will be discovered. A letter is found during some building work (perhaps Ken is renovating that loft after all?) and it sends Ken on a quest to find out what it all means. Deirdre and Peter don't want the past dragged out of the loft, naturally. Now, my guess is this...We all know how many women Ken has had in the past. Is this going to be a long lost child plot? And if the letter was found in Number 1, why would Albert Tatlock have been the recipient (he owned the house then). I guess we'll find out!