Coronation Street’s Great at Recycling (Stories)

In 2015 Coronation Street was recognized as tv’s greenest show at a fancy awards ceremony, acknowledging efforts to consider and reduce the environmental impact of filming the nation’s favourite soap. But it’s not just the show’s carbon footprint where Corrie considers its resources. Writers also have a reputation for recycling stories.

Digital Spy recently listed seven storylines that Corrie can’t help repeating, which include Lewis Archer’s cunning cons and the knicker factory being in financial trouble. And they make a good point with this list. Can’t Corrie come up with any new ideas?

JAILBIRDS

Don’t put Sal in a Cell 

One major story unfolding at the moment is Sally’s arrest for fraud, something we all know she is innocent of. To make matters worse, Tim appears to have been taken in by Duncan’s lies and suspects Sally may have been having some kind of fling with the villain.

We’ve been here before. Not so long ago Anna was wrongly accused of chucking Seb off a ladder, and accuser Phelan also made untrue accusations regarding their sexual encounter. Anna’s nearest and dearest were taken in, and Anna ending up in prison sparking a public campaign to get her out, and a rather naff campaign by Corrie’s Daniel to the same end.

Back in 1998 Corrie embarked on one of its most iconic and popular storylines when Deirdre was imprisoned after being set up by con man Jon Linsday. The story gripped the nation and was even discussed at Prime Minister’s Questions in parliament, and national campaign “Free the Weatherfield One” is still talked about to this day.

"FREE THE WEATHERFIELD ONE, OR WE'LL BE VERY CROSS"

So if Sally is about to tread the same path as Deirdre and Anna, why should we keep watching? We’ve seen it all before, right? I’m of the opinion that as long as it’s written well it shouldn’t matter. At the moment any scene that Sally is in is tv gold. Actress Sally Dynevor is lucky in that writers give her both heart-rending and hilarious scenes and she carries out both brilliantly. Sally is one of Corrie’s iconic characters and viewers have a great deal of affection for her, particularly so in recent years as her chemistry with Tim has made their scenes together a real treat. I remember posting a Tweet of disapproval when she and Tim first kissed, as in my opinion those lips were only intended for Kevin (and Tim’s for me). I couldn’t have been more wrong. 

A TYPICAL SCENE IN MANCHESTER'S RUSH HOUR

Time Travel

Many other storylines and events have been repeated over the years. To celebrate the show’s 50^th anniversary in 2010, an explosion at the Joinery Bar led to a tram leaping off the viaduct onto Molly Dobbs’s head. The same thing happened back in 1967, trapping Ena Sharples under the rubble. A moment’s peace for the Street perhaps. A tram could come off the viaduct once a month for me, help get rid of some of those characters who are doing nothing more than treading water on the Street.

Carla and Peter had a snog in one of last week’s episodes. That’s novel. They do actually look good together, but surely it will all end in tears again?

 

LIZ GOES THROUGH THE CONJUGAL VISITS RULES WITH JIM 

And once again it’s the return of the Mac. Jim McDonald is about to burst back onto the cobbles. I can picture Liz McDonald now. One minute a look of stress and exhaustion plastered across her face as her ex-husband brings chaos to her life once more.  Quickly replaced with a look of complete surrender as her carnal urges toward her ex-husband take over as they always do. She can’t resist Jim and this time will be no different I’m sure.

Simon Barlow looks set to bring more trouble to the cobbles as he continues down a destructive path egged on by older boys in the neighbourhood. The words “thick” and “ear” come to mind. I sound like my mother.

Nick Tilsley’s on his way back. That character has made so many dramatic departures I doubt anyone will notice when he returns for the four hundredth time. I think he just does it for attention.

And Steve McDonald is set to remarry Tracy Barlow. The idiot.

Coronation Street is going through a really good period for me at the moment. I’m enjoying each episode and there’s loads of comedy which makes me a happy fan. Whether that has anything to do with the change of producer who knows, but whatever storylines we are to expect over the coming weeks and months, let’s give writers the benefit of the doubt when it comes to repetitive or unbelievable plots – watch first then criticize. And in some cases, suspend your disbelief and just go with it. 

Oh and I claim the hashatag #DontPutSalInACell 

@StevieDawson

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Smile, Though Your Heart is Aching

I can’t stand crime dramas. It always baffles me how successful they are. It’s a whole industry centered around death and misery. I did dip my toe into Broadchurch last year but that was only because Julie Hesmondhalgh was in it and it was the last ever series so I didn’t need to worry about getting hooked. Which I might have, it was very good. Julie was brilliant in it too.

Some of our most successful and long-running TV shows have been crime dramas. Prime Suspect, Morse, all of Agatha Christie’s work, Midsomer Murders, Silent Witness, CSI Miami, CSI Las Vegas, CSI New Brighton (etc, etc). And the basic premise in all of them is that someone’s dead and we all need to be kept in suspense until right at the very end when the person we least expected to be responsible turns out to be the killer. Or the rapist. Our obsession with death keeps these franchises going. Are we this eager to see characters on television peg it to prepare us for our own end? Or is it that death is still such a mystery to us that we use fiction to try and understand it more? Who knows. 

This week’s Coronation Street proved yet again that death is a key ingredient for soaps as well as drama. Aidan’s devastating suicide and the aftermath has been praised by fans and media alike over the past few days, and some have said Corrie is back to its best. Here's a Radio Times article including some Tweets from the public.

Gail’s monologue from her front window, looking out over the cobbles across the street she’s known for forty years, was a particular high point from Wednesday’s hour-long episode. She pondered how she and others could have done something to help Aidan, if only they’d known what he was going through. And how concerned she was for her son David’s own safety and wellbeing. It was a gut-wrenching episode that I found difficult to watch. But it was also a brilliant piece of television, beautifully and skillfully written by Jonathan Harvey. It will go down in history as one of Corrie’s best I’m sure.

For the chop

And it will be in good company. Some of my favourite storylines and scenes have centred around Corrie deaths. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Audrey complain that she hasn’t had time for a cup of tea whilst standing over a near-lifeless Alma as she faded away. I swear I saw Amanda Barrie lick her lips in that death scene at one point. Anyway because I loved those two characters together so much, Alma’s death from cancer is one of my all time favourite episodes. 

I also enjoy reliving the moment Fred Elliott keeled over in Audrey’s vestibule. The two of them had some great scenes together towards the end, and after parting on good terms, Audrey ended up being the last person to see Fred at his best. I say at his best. Fred was given the perfect final goodbye as the comedic character’s coffin got stuck on the crematorium conveyor belt, causing Audrey to burst into fits of giggles as other friends and family looked awkwardly on.

The tram crash of 2010, widely criticised, is another of my top Corrie moments. Death and destruction everywhere. I thought we’d lose Rita at one point but she suffered nothing more serious than an Uncle Joe’s Mint Ball to the face. The disaster brought some questionable CGI along with a handful of dead characters. I loved it. It’s imperfections and all. I even enjoyed seeing real life reporters from ITV News and Granada Reports including Alastair Stewart, play parts in the unfolding drama. It was awkward as hell. But brilliant. The perfect way to celebrate 50 years of Corrie. 

Mind the Gap - in your roof

Going back a few years, Judy Mallett’s death was harrowing. She’d had a car accident a short time before her demise and suffered an embolism as a result. The scene of her collapsing, holding her chest in the back yard of Number 9 was awful. In heartbreaking scenes, her husband Gary was grief stricken and struggled to accept she was dead.

Aired well before my time, a Corrie death that everyone knows about it Stan Ogden’s. Actor Bernard Youens had passed away and it was decided that they would kill off Stan. This led to the iconic scene of Hilda, sitting at her dining table clutching Stan’s glasses case, wedding ring glistening in the light. It was perfectly heartbreaking.

Probably the most well known Corrie death was that of Alan Bradley in Blackpool. Despite the tram hitting him with as much force as a bluebottle flying into some double glazing, he met his maker in one of Corrie’s best rating episodes with over 26 million people watching.

All of these deaths in some way brought characters within Coronation Street together. Particularly Aidan’s recent death which seems to have touched everyone on the Street. And of course peppered among the distressing scenes of pain and anguish are little comedic gems, like Beth worrying if they would still have jobs now that the boss has croaked it. Perhaps we love watching these types of storylines on TV because at the end of it, we always see some kind of justice. And that is quite satisfying as a viewer. Quite what justice can be found from Aidan’s death who knows, but the awareness the story has created over mental health and suicide is a positive real-life effect that we can all be thankful for.

Coronation Street is all the better for it’s deaths. They can have a message, be heartbreaking, see storylines come to a conclusion, or in some cases provide a bit of comedy. Corrie is capable of handling all of the above, and I look forward to the grim reaper returning to the cobbles in due course. Who for? I wouldn’t like to say….

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Someone called ‘UnitedRoar’ on YouTube made this little compilation of Coronation Street deaths over the years. The sicko. Enjoy.

Twitter: @StevieDawson

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@theCALMzone 

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Trammelled

Coronation Street and Metrolink have a complicated relationship.  This is perhaps to be expected given that the show once used a tram to try and dent Rita's wig.  The two Manchester icons nudge up against one another, occasionally butting into each other's business, sometimes working together to celebrate.

The earliest Metrolink intervention came in 2005.  Mousy mum Claire Peacock revealed that she had long dreamed of driving a tram, and even applied for the job, but it didn't go any further.  The reason for this was GMPTE's objection when they discovered that the plan was for Claire to drive a tram right off the viaduct and into the Street.  They were understandably less than thrilled that the show was portraying their network in an unfavourable light, and the whole storyline was dropped.

It was another five years before the tram finally made its way off the viaduct, this time with Metrolink's assistance.  Look closely, however, and you'll see their subtle influence over the plot and the filming.  The tram crash is not the fault of the driver; instead, it's the explosion at the bistro that causes a hole in the track, and he does his best to try and bring it to a safe halt.  They also used a T-68 tram (numbered 1030 - a number never used in real life), a model at that point being phased out across the network in favour of the M5000s; the implication is that this sort of thing might happen to the old trams, but not the new ones.  Finally, though the yellow and grey livery looks an awful lot like Metrolink's, tiny writing on the side identifies it as part of the "Politanlink" network.

The negotiations between ITV and the local tram provider must have exhausted the producers.  A few months later, Izzy, Sean and Julie took the tram into town, except now it was a different network entirely.  Instead it was an orange "City Tram", calling at a very 1970s "Manchester East" stop that looked more like something from the abandoned Picc-Vic scheme.  It was a surprisingly permanent looking set, and made a couple more appearances before disappearing.

But it wasn't always Metrolink making the demands.  In 2014, they began consultations on a much-needed new tram line to the Trafford Centre, the second largest shopping mall in the UK.  The route passed along Trafford Wharf Road, right outside ITV's studio complex, and the broadcaster immediately objected on the grounds that the noise of the trams might interfere with filming.  Their objections were overruled, and the line is under construction right now, with a provisional opening date of 2020.

This slightly fractious relationship may be why the new Weatherfield North tram stop, unveiled yesterday, isn't quite right.  Nice try and everything, but it's just a bit off, and it makes you wonder if there was a breakdown in communication between the designers and TfGM.  Perhaps there was a licensing issue; perhaps there was a question over corporate logos and liveries.  But when it's sitting next to a lovingly recreated Costa and an incredibly accurate Co-op it's hard not to notice what's wrong.

Let's start with that station building.  It's been designed to look like a former heavy rail station, which is fair enough.  Metrolink has taken over railway services right from the start; the Bury-Altrincham line which formed its first incarnation was a heavy rail line converted to trams.  In the majority of cases, though, the expensive-to-maintain station buildings were done away with.  Heaton Park, for example, retains the platform canopies and stairways from its railway days, but at the road level there's a large open patch of land where the ticket office used to be.  Some historic buildings were kept, but devoted to new uses.  Sale, for example, is now a newsagent, while the building at Trafford Bar is up for redevelopment.  The actual tram business lurks behind, entirely separate.

Weatherfield North is a station.  They've built a railway station and called it a tram stop.  The font used for the sign is Metrolink-esque, yes, but the signs for the Ticket windows use something more like Railway Alphabet.  Oh yes - there's ticket windows.  Which is completely inaccurate.  There are no manned Metrolink stops.  Tickets are dispensed by machines; the only time you can buy one from a human is where the tram line is shared with National Rail premises (and sometimes not even then - hello Navigation Road).  Note that the ticket offices come equipped with contactless card machines, so these have been planned for practical use within the show.

And on top of that - why would you build a station where the two members of staff are separated by a pedestrian entrance?  I love symmetry as much as the next OCD nerd, but that's an incredibly impractical building.  If Frank in ticket office one wants to talk to Sheila in ticket office two he has to lean out the window and shout at her.  If this were accurate, one of those offices would be a butty bar, and the other would be a cab office to rival StreetCars.  There would be a ticket machine just inside the doorway and that would be the beginning and end of the facilities - or, even more likely, a lift and a set of steps and no station building at all.

The colours aren't right either.  Blue?  For a Metrolink stop?  They are always, always yellow and grey; they're almost as obsessive about it as Merseyrail.  Any ironwork or canopy gets a slap of the corporate colours, making it immediately obvious that there's a tram stop there.  The blue and white is just plain wrong.  It's not even the teal of the old Metrolink livery.  It looks like they've tried to do a tram stop without Metrolink's input - note there's a lack of a Metrolink flag, too.  This is disappointing.  EastEnders has had a Walford East station on its set for decades, and it looks fantastic.  Weatherfield North... doesn't.

This might be overthinking; it might be personal bias.  I've been spending months visiting every Metrolink tram stop, plus years before that visiting every railway station in the north, so I'm pretty familiar with the architectural features and design of Manchester's transport network.  I looked at the photo of Weatherfield North and I was disappointed.  It isn't right.  I accept, for millions of Corrie viewers, it doesn't matter; they won't even notice.  It's just that the Weatherfield of Coronation Street has always been proud to be part of Manchester, and the Metrolink is a Manchester legend.  They should treat it with respect.

Let's finish with something a bit more fun; a look at the geography of the tram stop.  Many thanks to regular blog contributor David Chew for this map of the new set.

It seems there are in fact two separate tram routes (in blue) running parallel to one another; the one at the top of Coronation Street itself, and this new route with the tram stop on it.  The alternative is that the trams do a huge loop round the back of Mawdsley Street, which seems unlikely.  Presumably there's a junction further along where the lines merge, which helps us to place Weatherfield North on the Metrolink map.  Weatherfield has long been analogous to Salford, so it would seem to be somewhere around Pomona and Cornbrook.  Perhaps Weatherfield North is on a branch heading off at Cornbrook towards the new developments at Salford, I mean, Weatherfield Quays, while the Coronation Street line is the route to Pomona?  In real life that'd put Coronation Street in the middle of a dock, but I'm clutching at straws here.

It's good that we finally know where Deirdre Barlow was getting the tram to work from after all these years.  It's just a shame that the stop isn't as well designed as the pool hall or the estate agents.  Maybe we can have another crash to knock it down and rebuild it.

It's occurred to me that the creation of Weatherfield North means that I'll never feel like I've truly visited every Metrolink stop, even though I've spent the best part of a year doing it over at www.merseytart.com.  Commiserate with me on Twitter @merseytart. 

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What Corrie Means To Me

I've pretty much grown up with Coronation Street. I can't remember when my mum started watching it full-time but I do recall secretly hoping that it would be on whilst I was in the living room when I was a kid. I was drawn to the idea of being able to be taken to Weatherfield for half an hour to learn about the lives and mishaps of the residents of Coronation Street. Although, I do have to admit when I first started out it took me a while to learn the difference between The Rovers Return and The Queen Vic in EastEnders.

As I got older I took more of an interest and made sure that Mum and I would sit down and watch Corrie together, something that I sorely miss since being at University. It was about 2010 when I began to properly fall in love with the cobbles, I was absolutely fascinated by the tram crash and how brilliant that live episode was. I remember being captivated by John Stape, wondering what on earth he was going to do next, and desperately willing for someone to rescue Rita from underneath The Kabin rubble. Since then I was eager to see what else would be thrown at that little street (maybe not another tram) and I doubt that eagerness will ever go away. Like every television show, Coronation Street has its ups and downs, but as fans, we go up and down with it. We remember how wonderful the show can be and that gets us through the bits we may not necessarily enjoy.

I've watched this scene about 1000 times. Timeless classic. 

Since Coronation Street really started to peak my interest, my passion for it has grown massively. Especially over the last year, I've gone back and watched endless episodes dating from 1960 all the way back up to now. I love going back in time and falling in love with Elsie Tanner, or Hilda and Stan. A particular favourite scene of mine is our Hilda holding a seance, which never fails to get me giggling. Or more recently, I just loved the birthday party Gemma held for 'Enry. Sat alone in my Uni room, I cackled at Rosie's, "The Red Line".  There's something remarkable about the way we feel after watching an episode that particularly kept us entertained, whether that be just the right amount of nail-biting drama, or whether it was just Gail Platt (what's her last name now?) singing along to the latest cringey pop tune.

But Coronation Street is so much more than just a show that we switch on for three times a week, if you'll excuse the cliche. It's been one of the driving forces that has influenced what career I want to go into once I finish my degree. It's allowed me to meet so many incredible people and work with a wonderful team of bloggers. It's always a conversation piece when somebody asks me what my favourite TV show is, more often than not they're surprised when I say Corrie instead of something like Love Island. I will never forget the day I walked along those cobbles myself and my friend and I even had a Corrie-tacular weekend during Manchester Pride last year (you can read about my Corrie themed weekend here). Coronation Street has this fantastic legacy where almost 60 years on, fans from the beginning and new generations of fans will continue to love the show, continue to talk about the episodes, share who their favourite character is and discuss what they'd like to see happen to them.

Even though I read the spoilers that appear online and tut and complain sometimes, I know I'll never stop watching. No matter what, I have this burning need to find out what happens next (like, will Carla and Peter just get back together already?!). As I wrap this up, I realised about ten minutes ago that today marks one year since my first guest blog. So thank you to anyone who takes the time to read my posts!

Sophie Williams
Read some more of my general natterings on Twitter @sophie_jw26

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Coronation Street complains about Manchester trams

ITV has formally objected to a plan by Transport for Greater Manchester to increase frequency of its tram services, as the noise could disrupt filming on Coronation Street.

A spokesperson for ITV said: "We were obviously unaware of plans for the newly proposed tram route when we made the decision to move to Trafford and, having carried out our own tests, we have serious concerns about its impact on the production of Coronation Street.

"We are in discussions with Transport for Greater Manchester to explore what mitigation it can offer to ensure we are able to continue filming Coronation Street uninterrupted."

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Fab Photo Friday - January 18th 2013

It's Friday again so it's time for this week's fab Coronation Street photo. For reasons which may become clear later, here are some pictures of the lovely Coronation Street outdoor set.

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The weight of the world on his shoulders

This time last year, Peter was knocking on heaven's door. After Ashley sacrificed himself to get Peter out of The Joinery alive, he was only showing weak signs of life. One year on, Emily Bishop innocently asks Peter to make a speech for the tram crash memorial service.

Little did she know she had sparked another type of crash altogether - the sound of the crash as Peter fell off the wagon.

Peter's day wasn't made any better by the fact that one of his AA meeting friends was himself on death's doorstep, Peter told him that they were a team, that they could fight through it together.

That night at the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Peter was told his friend had passed away, he'd discharged himself, and made his way to the closest drinking hole. Devastated, Peter returned home and worked on his speech, and forced by the immense pressure he was under, he took a swig of Vodka and went back to working on the speech that Emily had asked him to give.

What did you all think of Peter Barlow's episode last night?

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There's a tram through the viaduct

One year ago today, was the fateful night that the Joinery exploded into flames and a Politanlink tram came crashing down onto Coronation Street, killing Molly Dobbs, Ashley Peacock and Mr. Blokeincar (who I have to say, I miss the most).

We were promised that the street would look quite different following the tram crash. It looks somewhat different now, with the Joinery being replaced by the swanky Nick's Bistro. The Corner Shop also looks quite different, and a touch more realistic I think. The Kabin or 'Norris' News' is no longer a post office, which it hadn't been for years, at least not realistically.

It's been quite a year since then too, with bank robberies, John Stape surviving a five story drop only to be killed later by a bump on the head and of course, the rise of the nasty Frank Foster

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Corrie's tram to crash onto DVD

It looks like the Coronation Street tram crash is set to make its way to DVD.

According to both Play.com and Amazon - it will be one two discs and is set to be released on 21st February.  It will include all the episodes plus plenty of tasty extras!