Return of the tram

Did anyone else notice this in Monday's episode? We finally got a glimpse of the trams running again, the last time we saw one in the street, was when it was on the cobbles.

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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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Coronation Street post-tramcrash - better, or worse?

I've not been blogging here much lately due to total apathy regarding the state of the street. Up until the tram crash I'd watch avidly, but it's much easier for me now to walk away and put the kettle on than ever it's been in the past.

I think the scripts have picked up a bit recently, with a bit more humour, but I think the actual storylines are woeful with far too many in your face issue-driven plots. Homelessness. Transvestism. Sexuality. Schoolgirl mums. Broken families. Marc/Marcia must be a nadir. They've "done" cross-dressing before (Ida Fagg anyone? Duggie Ferguson even! Different world wasn't it?)

I find some of the new characters unappealing - Roy's mum, Ken's grandson. So far, I've no desire to get to know them any better. The two that keep me going at the moment are Kevin Webster (just does angry so well) and believe it or not, Owen Armstrong! He's getting some good lines and I like his gruff delivery.

As far as the Stape blockbuster goes, I will watch it with interest next week out of respect to Graeme Hawley, who has been terrific throughout. But overall, I'd far rather have seen him get back into therapy and settle down nicely with Fiz and the baby than run amok on a rooftop.

I remember people commenting a month or three ago that Coronation Street was just hitting a post-tram crash/post 50th slump, and that it would pick up again. Personally, I think that it has picked up but only very minimally. Anyone else got any thoughts?

Nick's Bistro unveiled

MTVnewscanada posted a picture today from Coronation Street, I couldn't help but notice on small detail...the new Joinery! (To the left of the picture) From the picture it looks quite...American, and probably is the biggest change the tram crash has brought. The Joinery is no more though, it seems, Nick looks to have changed its name.

People have been speculating what the sign says. Deborah from the Coronation Street Chatter forum suggested that the full name could be "Nick's Bistro" which sounds like it could most probably be the name, it could be a Cafe by day and a bar/restaraunt by night.

UPDATE: Full picture of Nick's Bistro posted, see more set pics on MTV News Canada's blog

What next for No. 13?

It's been well over two months since No.13 Coronation Street was last lived in, before a fire tore through the home. Still, now the house is in the same exact state it was back then, boarded up and burnt out. I can't help but wonder how long it will remain like this? With the sole owner of the house now on the run in France, how will anyone be able to buy it, and on that note, the butchers too?

I have wondered if Claire will somehow legally hand it over to Becky and Steve from abroad (if the spoilers are true about them selling the Rovers). Or will the house and butcher shop be destined to stay empty for the foreseeable?

New Kabin and Corner Shop exteriors revealed

Picture from @craiggazeyfans on Twitter

Pictures of the exteriors of Coronation Street's Corner Shop and The Kabin have surfaced on the internet.

The Kabin has dropped its Post Office branding by the looks of things (about time too, since I can't remember the last time we saw the Post Office counter in there), so The Kabin is once again a newsagents, just like it used to be.

The Corner Shop has taken a more realistic look than the last Corner Shop, by looking more like you'd expect a Corner Shop to look. I have to say I like the windows - a good way of hiding the fact that the interior set isn't actually inside there.

All that is left to reopen now is the Joinery, and of course, No.13 still needs to be rebuilt, as it's still sat there in its burnt state.

See more pics of the set here on @katkellyfans fan page.

The return of the tram

So, after two months, the Politanlink is once again running along the viaduct, in the week that seems to conclude most of the long running drama caused by the tram.

I am glad the tram is back up and running, it has always added more atmosphere to the area (especially since it's first on-screen appearance during Kelly's exit). I thought that Coronation Street would probably scrap the tram after the tram crash, but thankfully they have kept it.

Though, everytime I hear that rumble...

Behind the scenes pics from the Corrie set

Recently, Digital Spy member markyboy35 got a tour of the Coronation Street set and even managed to get a sneak peek at the new D&S Alahan's Mini-Market set and the new Kabin!

The Kabin looks roughly the same, with just a little sprucing up, the Corner Shop however looks to have doubled in size, and now looks more like what you expect a modern day shop to look like.

The exterior street set looks a little different as there is a distinct mix of old red brick and new red brick in several places, the Corner Shop's new frontage no longer looks to follow the old red and beige colour scheme (then again, neither did 2004's short lived red and blue colour scheme.)

Take a look at the gallery of pics here (Thanks to markyboy35 for sharing the pictures with us!)

What next for 'The Joinery'?

So after exploding and sending a tram flying off the viaduct above, one has to wonder, what does the future hold for the doomed building? I doubt Nick will keep the building for long as he seems to be blaming himself for Ashley's death. So will someone buy it, and turn it into a bar again? Or will it become something else?

Only time will tell...