How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Nazirs?

Guest blog post by Glenn Meads who is on Twitter and LinkedIn
You can read all of Glenn's guest blog posts here.
Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!   

When the Nazirs were first introduced three years ago, expectations were high. Not just in terms of Muslim representation in a mainstream soap, but also because the family set-up seemed interesting.

Kal was killed off and that gave the family more drama to contend with. And we witnessed some first class acting from Shelley King, as the matriarch, Yasmeen. Then Marc Anwar was sacked, and since then, there has not been much for this family to do.

So, how do you solve a problem like the Nazirs?

1. Get Alya more involved in Underworld. She has a good job, but we barely see her do it. She has the makings of a cut throat Carla Connor, if we saw her at work.

2. Zeedan has a great sense of humour. Let's see more of it. I like this character, as he has evolved, since he first skulked onto the street. But, if Alya must be the bad girl, Zeedan needs to laugh and joke more.

3. Yasmeen needs more scenes with Roy and a storyline. Shelley King can act, so give the actress something to do. Her scenes with Roy used to be superb. We need more of them, and she needs a challenging story arc.

4. Let's see the family's friends. They would mix with other people outside of the street, so let's see them and how they interact with more than Rita.

5. Give Zee a wandering eye, even if it never comes to fruition. He began the show as a bit of a wide boy. Now, all he does is fret about his chunky chips.

6. Integrate the family more. They are on the street, but not in the street. They need to be immersed. And the only way is to do this, is by developing friendships, to enable this family to interact.

7. Give them some conflict. They need something to play off. Drop the Tracy feud, it's boring; create a new one!

8. Rana has a big storyline coming up. Good job, as she has become like Steph;  a cypher for more interesting characters. I hope this new storyline does her justice.

I know many would rather this family left the cobbles behind. But, I think we have a strong cast here, but they are not being stretched and on paper, these characters could create some fireworks.

Glenn Meads

By Glenn Meads

You can read all of Glenn's guest blog posts here.
Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!   

Read more Corrie news, interviews and spoilers 

---

Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Wall of Death

There's an important anniversary coming up on Corrie.  On the 3rd July 2006, Charlie Stubbs bought number 6 Coronation Street as a home for him and his fragrant girlfriend, the delightful Tracy Barlow.  Yes, ten years ago today.

That's not the anniversary I'm talking about though.  No, what's far more important is that it will mean it's almost ten years since Tracy Barlow put up that awful wallpaper in the living room of number 6.

Of course you know the one I'm talking about.  Pastel blue and white, a mix that swims round the back of your eyeballs like you're experiencing an extremely polite LSD trip.  Perhaps it was a good choice in 2006.  Sandi Thom had got to number one with "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)" in June of that year, so there was clearly something weird going on in the national psyche.  In 2016, that wallpaper is a cause of revulsion, frustration and anger.  For me, anyway.

I realise some people don't redecorate very often.  Emily Bishop has had the same wallpaper in her front room since the Cretaceous Period and that's fine.  In fact, I'd be a bit annoyed if Linda Barker suddenly turned up and told Emily how to brighten her nooks with some stenciling.  My point is, there have been three families living in that house since 2006, and none of them have thought "maybe a splash of magnolia would cheer the place up and distract us from the fact that a man was clubbed to death in this very room".  They've all been so lacklustre about changing the decor, I wouldn't be surprised if there's still a bit of Charlie's brain on the bordered Axminster.

First came Jerry Morton, better known as Sinbad from Brookside, who found enough money to have a crane lower a summerhouse into the back garden, but couldn't be bothered to nip to Homebase.  Mind you, he bought a three bedroom house despite having five children so clearly he wasn't the homemaking type.  The hideousness of the Morton family, with their many disparate children of random ages and their haunted grandfather, actually proved an effective distraction from that nasty blue and white pattern on the wall.  For a year they bellowed at one another, trying to summon us some kind of familial chemistry, before they were dismissed as a bad lot and shipped off to Spain.

Admittedly, the Windasses were initially tenants at number 6.  Most landlords don't like you blu-tacking posters to the walls, never mind a comprehensive redecoration, so you could understand why Anna didn't rush to do the place up.  But in 2011, Owen bought the house, and soon he moved in with Anna.  Owen was an actual builder.  He could have put up some cheery striped vinyl in a couple of hours with very little fuss - or at least, he'd know a man who could.  And yet that wallpaper carried on,  Anna mithered him about many things over the course of their relationship, but she never once demanded that he get busy with a scraper and some sugar soap.

Remember, during the same period, Ashley and Claire redecorated number 4 so comprehensively they actually moved a staircase.  But no-one had even the slightest inclination to pull down the pastel covered migraine at number 6.  I mean, look at that sofa: it doesn't match the walls at all, and everyone just lives with it.

The house was finally bought by the Nazir family, and I thought, "hurray!"  Surely there would be a radical change under the new owners?  After all, this was a family who clearly had a bit of money, a bit of class.  They wouldn't want to carry on with someone else's decorating mistakes.

Nope.  Yasmeen is clearly a woman who knows what she wants and frequently gets it, but all she seems to have bothered doing is chucking up a few paintings and getting a "summerhouse" built out the back.  And here we are, ten years later, still staring at that turquoise nightmare.  I'm starting to pray for a horrible fire - not because I have anything against the Nazirs, but because that might actually make them redecorate.  Surely Sally would see this as an easy win in her fabulous war of snobbery with Yasmeen?  "I never thought a respectable lady like you would take interior design tips from a convicted murderer."  Speaking as someone who has mercilessly judged my neighbours for crimes as minor as putting the toilet roll on the holder the wrong way round, I can't believe Weatherfield's own Margo Leadbetter wouldn't leap at the opportunity to get one over Mrs Nazir.

Perhaps it's a trick on us, the viewers?  Perhaps, like Nicky Tilsley's on-off brain injury and the continuing existence of Robert Preston, this is a test of our loyalty.  "Let's see how much of that wallpaper they can take before they start switching off."  Well, you've broken me, Corrie producers.  Never mind a sixth episode.  All I want from the Street in 2017 is two coats of Farrow and Ball.

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Download our free App | Visit Corrie.net

Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog

All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Whatever Happened to Tracy's redemption?

Even more difficult times are ahead for Tracy, who, obnoxious though she is, is having a rough time at the moment.

She is still grieving for her mother, her father has taken up with Nessa, Tony has cleared out the money from the Barlow’s Buys account and, presumably, she is still experiencing great guilt at her causing the death of two completely innocent people.

A while ago, Robert seemed to be on her case. He was trying to encourage her to admit her guilt and she seemed on the very point of doing so. Viewers will recall that Tracy was arrested and there was great jubilation on the cobbles as a result. Carla, in particular, was transformed when it was revealed that she was not guilty of causing the fire and therefore not guilty of the deaths of Kal and Maddie. The drinking, the gambling, the drunkenness were all kicked into touch and now, she is experiencing one of her happiest times on the cobbles. The factory is picking up, the relationship with Nick seems to be going very well and Carla seems the least tortured she has been for some time.  

 But then, for some reason, Tracy was released and since that time, the strange thing is, that there has been barely any mention of the fire. So what is happening? Has the storyline been abandoned? There are references to Maddie, usually by Sophie, and Kal’s memory is invoked frequently when we see how devastated Alya and Zeedan are, and their grandparents too.

It also seemed for a while that Robert might have succeeded in persuading Tracy to move towards some kind of redemption, the first stage of which would have been her confession. Yet it all seems to have dwindled away.

Things are going to get even worse for Tracy. Robert will take a shine to Leanne. Soap magazines are even suggesting that Robert will leave Tracy for Leanne. But hang on a minute. Wasn’t Robert supposed to be devoted to Tracy? All through his marriage to someone else, wasn’t it the case that he couldn’t get Tracy out of his mind? At least, that was what he claimed.

Though this may be a contentious view, I like the fact that Corrie has a female villain. Many say she is surplus to requirements, unconvincing, even ridiculous, but I for one would miss her. Why? I would miss her directness, her snarkiness, her rudeness, her viciousness. the relationships she has with Amy, Ken, Liz, Michelle and the other residents.

If Tracy was redeemed she wouldn’t be Tracy any more, so maybe the whole redemption idea was shelved. In Tracy’s favour, her grief over her mother’s death was real as were her attempts to be nice to Ken and help him recover, though it has to be said that Nessa seems to have been more effective at that.

The much talked about return of Rob, even though he will be pulling strings from his prison cell, may well involve Tracy and her old nemesis Carla. By. then though, she may well have gained another nemesis in Leanne

Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog

Download our free App | Visit Corrie.net


All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License