Tracy confesses to Victoria Court fire

There's a good interview in The Radio Times with Tristan Gemmill, who plays Robert Preston in Cornation Street.  He says that Tracy will confess to Robert about starting the fire at Victoria Court.

Tristan says that Robert gets suspicious when he catches Tracy being uncharacteristically sympathetic towards Carla.

With Carla still under the misapprehension that it was she who brought about the demise of Kal Nazir and Maddie Heath in the recent blaze, Tracy finally tells her that she should stop torturing herself.

The exchange is witnessed by Robert, who is left wondering why Tracy is behaving like this. "Robert can't work out why Tracy is responding to Carla in this way," says actor Tristan Gemmill. "So he grills her about her behaviour. But she becomes increasingly evasive and the penny suddenly drops for Robert that maybe she had something to do with the fire."

So how does Robert get Tracy to own up? "He says that as long as she tells the truth, then he can support her. But there must be no more lies. Circumstances come to a head and Tracy is left with no choice but to tell Robert the truth. He forces her hand, really."

And what does Tracy end up saying? "She says that she was in the flat and that she left a candle burning. The only bit where there's a grey area is when he asks her why she went round there. Did she go round to harm Carla? Tracy says no, but the audience knows that Tracy clearly contemplated doing something bad."

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



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

The aftermath of Corrie's latest tragedy

(Reposted from State of the Street, with permission)

Friday's episode on Corrie was there to wrap up the week's stories.

The Nazirs and Leanne are in shock. (Why are they all wearing white except Alya? Surely she would as well or is it only for Muslim men? Yasmeen was in an off white/beige so perhaps it's something only the men wear. Anyone, please and thank you?)

Sophie is holding vigil by Maddie's side while we wait to see if she'll survive, hoping against hope. Jenny is heaving a sigh of relief and gathering her scattered wits and shattered nerves while the family is there to support Sophie. It's a nice touch, having Norris in a state over worry for Maddie, harking back to them finding a new understanding a few months ago.

I was surprised at Maddie's injury. I know the actor is leaving the show and I thought perhaps Jenny would be directly responsible or that Maddie and Sophie would break up due to Jenny's interference and Maddie would leave. Getting in the line of a secondary explosion in front of the builder's yard was a surprise. The vigil in the hospital was fraught with gut wrenching emotion and as of this writing, we don't know if Maddie will survive the head injury but it's a pretty good bet that she won't. Maddie hit the cobbles in nearly the same spot Tina did when she fell off the balcony almost the same time last year but then Tina didn't hit her head when she landed. Rob did that for her with a lead pipe.

Blame. Everyone's blaming someone. There's really only one person that should wear this and it's Tracy Barlow. She didn't start the fire on purpose but she did sneak into Carla's flat, up to no good and she left the candle burning and well she knows it so she did everything she could to push the suspicions onto her arch rival, Carla, aided by the fire report which is going to show a candle started the fire.

Carla believes she accidentlly started the fire and she's going to turn into the next enemy of the state as far as her neighbours go. They're never short on turning against someone like a pack of rabid dogs, this time, led by Leanne's rage and grief and Norris' nasty accusations and Tracy is most certainly not going to let her forget it, either. She probably thinks all her birthdays have come at once. Even if it was true, it was an accident. Carla would never forgive herself but Tracy can gloss over it in her own mind. She's very good at convincing herself that her problems are caused by everyone else. Tracy wouldn't have been in Carla's flat if Carla hadn't been her enemy so she'll convince herself of Carla's blame rather than her own. Except probably those long nights when she can't sleep.

 

As always there were cast members missing, inexplicably. Where were Anna and Faye? They live a few yards from Victoria Court, surely they would have heard the ruckus. What about Steph? Her flat is right over or next to the builder's yard which had an explosion. Maria is within sight of Victoria Court as well. Eileen was at the wedding and reception but then disappeared when Liz needed her mate the most and Erica managed to get across the city in the space of 20 minutes, a near impossibility in Greater Manchester. I know, I know. They usually don't have the whole cast on hand for these things. Move along.

Nick's probably going to have to live back with mummy again unless he bunks with Leanne to support her and Simon and Carla will be bunking in with Roy. Conveniently, Nick was out of town and Sarah and Beth were at Audrey's when all hell broke loose. Think of it. Sarah and Beth left Italy with very little other than the clothes on their back and  a small bag. No mention if Uncle Stephen sent on their things but presumably, he did. Now everything they owned except the clothes on their back is ashes and what didn't burn won't be salvagable. They did have a throwaway line from Nick that Bethany could borrow some of Kylie's clothes though David didn't like that at all.

And best of all, Kylie's back!!! Bethany was absolutely sure, and she said she knew what Kylie looked like except when she went across the road to confront her for watching them, she didn't seem to know who it was. Ok, Kylie was standing back in the shadows.  It can only be from photos around the house, though. They've never met though possibly have talked on Skype I guess.

All in all, a good week. I might bitch and nit pick but really, I loved this week of Corrie! Next week we will likely find out Maddie's fate and the crusade to crucify Carla Connor will probably begin.


Also, see Monday to Thursday's recap with photos here and a summary of all related blog posts here. 



Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



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

Flamin' Coronation Street

I haven't blogged about Coronation Street for a while because I haven't watched Coronation Street for a while. However after Sally Ann Matthews told me on Twitter that I MUST WATCH IT NOW I decided the special fire week was the right moment to try again. 

I freely admit I fell out of love with Corrie. It's been a bumpy ride since the wonderful, emotional, beautifully written final journey for our Hayley early last year. I'm not going to write again about why I switched off as it's pretty obvious - too many characters, too many characters I don't like, too many storylines that either go nowhere or go on too long. Basically the heart of Corrie just wasn't there for me any more.

I was planning to tune in one final time for the episodes that will broadcast Deirdre's exit storyline. If I know Corrie they will raise the bar and pull out all the stops for this one. They owe it to the fantastic Anne Kirkbride to do so and they know it. 

Anyway, I gave in and watched Fire Week. First of all I completely disagree with Corrie being used to support ratings for Britain's Got Talent. I've never watched BGT and I never intend to watch it either. Corrie shouldn't be used by anyone for anything. It's flipping Coronation Street for goodness sake. It's stands alone! I also don't like Corrie popping up at random times. 9pm?! Spare me! Corrie belongs at 7.30pm and that's that!

First of all, the positives. Sally Ann Matthews is an absolute star. It was a brilliant move to bring the legendary Jenny Bradley back to our screens and Sally Ann has put in some fantastic performances. I had hoped Jenny would be back long term but after this storyline peaks I don't see that being likely, which is a huge shame. I'm hoping that despite the drama, kidnap plots, roof-top dangling and dodgy wigs, we will get to the root of why Jenny has gone bonkers. Some sensitive scripts will do Sally Ann justice. A few more mentions of her nasty daddy and some more scenes with Barbara Knox would be special too.

The other actress who stands out for me is Beverley Callard as Liz. Poor Liz has been put through the wringer by slimey Tony and toxic Tracy this week. I've loved Beverley's gutsy performances - putting Steve's happiness before her own, helping to rescue Amy and destroying most of the Rovers back room! Lovely stuff. Liz is no saint though - Des Barnes' brother or Jim's physiotherapist anyone? - but I'm sure this storyline has got the audience coming down firmly on Liz's side. Bravo Bev!

As for the fire itself? Coronation Street must be the most highly flammable street in Manchester. How many fires have we had of late? The Bistro, The Rovers, the faktry, number 13, Peter Barlow's flat, the cab office flat...the list goes on. Surely it's time for something else? The special effects were terrific and the whole thing was very dramatic if a tad slow and implausible. The rescue of Amy dragged on for decades. There were also strange aspects. For a modern block of flats the anti-fire measures (smoke alarms/sprinklers) seemed pretty pathetic or completely absent. However if it means we get rid of the useless Victoria Court then I'm not really complaining.

As always it looks like everyone is going to turn on Carla. That woman takes the blame for everything! I love Carla but her incredibly dramatic life and the fact everyone but Roy tends to hate her is wearing really thin. Can she please have some happiness before Alison King takes her time off? Tracy's nasty act is also a yawn. Kate Ford does it very well but it's really just a round robin of spite these days. Either turn it on its head and find her a new direction or else it's time to wave goodbye I think.

Kal has already left our screens and although I like Jimi Mistry as an actor, he's never quite worked in Corrie as far as I'm concerned. Maddie's life currently hangs in the balance although we know the actress is also leaving. I don't care for Sophie Webster so I'm not relishing weeks of her misery. I did quite enjoy the shock explosion that seems to have claimed Maddie. Nice for a change for Corrie to hold something unexpected back. 

I've really enjoyed certain aspects of this special week of Corrie but it still doesn't feel like quality, classic Corrie to me. I'm undecided on whether I'll keep watching after Fire Week, although strictly speaking it's not over yet. Let's see what happens next.

Follow me on Twitter @GraemeN82 

Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



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

How the fire week came about

INT.  CORONATION STREET PRODUCER'S OFFICE.

Stuart Blackburn, much feared Coronation Street producer, crosses to his water cooler after a long day of script reading.  He turns the tap, but instead of pure clean water, a trickle of blood pours out into his paper cup.  He turns ashen, and calls to his secretary.

SB: Serena!  Bolt the doors!  The executives are coming!

But it's too late.  His office doors swing open and he is confronted by four black-clad representatives of ITV Network Centre: Conquest, War, Death, and Ratings.  Stuart cowers behind his desk.

SB: What... what do you want?

WAR:  Three coffees, thank you.  No sugar.  And just an Evian for Conquest: she's on the paleo.

CONQUEST: I've got a christening in August, and I'm a bit hippy for the pictures.

DEATH: We're here to discuss BGT week.

Stuart slowly rises up and sits in his chair.  

SB: Oh.  That's fine.  We've sorted out a big event for that week.  Steve and Michelle's wedding.

The Executives wince.

DEATH: And?

SB:  And... Liz will realise that her relationship is a sham.  She'll have a huge breakdown.  It'll be very touching.

DEATH: And?

SB:  And... people will enjoy it.  It's a much loved character finding happiness after a year of depression.  It's heartwarming.

RATINGS:  MORE!

CONQUEST: Yes, calm yourself Ratings.  Stuart, dear, I don't think you've quite grasped the significance of Britain's Got Talent week.  This is Britain's Got Talent: the United Kingdom's finest hunt for talking dogs and Eastern European gymnast acts.  It's a huge hit for us, and we can't have Coronation Street sandwiched inbetween the main show and the results being "heartwarming" and "life-affirming" and "happy".  No-one wants to see that.

WAR: I mean, what will we put in the trailers?  A kiss?  I know I wouldn't tune in to that.

SB:  Oh.

WAR:  Can't you blow something up?  Blowing something up always looks good in the trailers.  People like explosions.  Look at the Transformers films.

DEATH: I do like those films.

RATINGS: MORE!

SB: We've already written the scripts, though.

WAR: Scripts can be revised.  Writing is easy.  Death's a writer.  He does Midsomer Murders fan fiction online.

DEATH: Barnaby and Nelson are lovers.

SB: It's all been planned.  And the budgets have been allocated.

CONQUEST: Stop coming up with barriers.  Barriers are just there to be vaulted.  I have that on a poster in my office.  You just need to reallocate the money.  You have the wedding on Monday and Tuesday, then we blow things up Wednesday through Friday.

SB: We've only just opened this set, and you want us to blow it up.

WAR: Sets are made to be destroyed, Stuart.  That's why they're made out of plywood.  Blow up an unimportant corner of it.

DEATH: Those flats.  They've never really fit in.  Blow them up.

Stuart begins scribbling notes through his anguished tears.

SB: I suppose we could burn down Victoria Court.  I'm not sure why.  If Steve and Michelle have their wedding in the pub, we could save on location costs.

RATINGS:  MORE!

CONQUEST: You'll have to cut down on guest stars.  Andy and Ryan can go.

SB: They're close family members to the bride and groom.  They have to be there.

CONQUEST:  Rubbish.  Ryan was hopeless when he was in it, so no-one will miss him.  And Andy hasn't been in it for ages.  No-one will remember him.

SB: He's providing the honeymoon.

DEATH: You can cover it with dialogue.  Remember: "Tell, don't show."

CONQUEST: You're so good at this writing stuff.

RATINGS:  MORE!

WAR: A good explosion.  The roof can collapse.  Fireballs on the trailers.  Bits of wall falling into the street.

CONQUEST:  Are you aroused?

WAR: A little.

CONQUEST:  Me too.  But we need more.  Carla.  Carla is ratings gold.  She's trapped and needs help.

Stuart pulls a pained face.

SB: Does it have to be Carla?  Ali King's unhappy.  She says she's an actress, not a crash test dummy.  She's only just forgiven us for dangling her over the edge of a cliff in a minibus.

DEATH: Pfft.  Actresses.  They're just meat puppets.  What's she going to do?  Leave?

CONQUEST: Put the lesbians in there as well.

SB: Sophie and Maddie?  Why?

CONQUEST:  They're massive on Tumblr.  Teenage girls love them.

SB: I'll need more money for casting.

WAR: Why?

SB: We're blowing up a block of flats.  All those extras.

Death shakes his head.

DEATH: You don't need extras.  Let me tell you something, Stuart: no-one tunes in to watch extras.  Extras do not make valuable trailer moments.  We can't say, "do tune in, we'll have forty people standing around in dressing gowns."

RATINGS:  MORE!

DEATH: No, take the money you would have spent on extras and spend it on explosions.  You could probably get an extra three gas jets for that money.

CONQUEST: In fact, cut out the cast members you need as well.

SB: Nick lives in Victoria Court.  With Bethany and Sarah-Lou.  Obviously they'll have to be there.

CONQUEST: No.  Send him to Birmingham.  And have the girls stay with their nan.  Problem solved.  We should be concentrating on Carla, not getting distracted with side characters.

SB: The Tilsleys have been in the programme for forty years.  They're hardly side characters.

WAR: Forty years?  Really?  Has the programme been going that long?  Blimey.

DEATH: Don't ask me, I used to work at the Post Office.

CONQUEST: I think my nan used to watch it.  I didn't really watch tv growing up.

RATINGS: MORE!

WAR: So that's settled then?  Get this stupid character filled wedding out the way, blow some stuff up, and put Carla Connor in peril.  Ratings gold.  Absolutely no-one will turn over to Panorama on BBC One while that's happening.

The Executives get up to leave.

DEATH: Oh, and one more thing.  Kill someone.

SB: No problem.  Jimi Mistry's just handed in his notice.

DEATH: Who?

WAR: Him off Strictly.

CONQUEST: Oh, I love Strictly.

RATINGS: MORE!

Stuart Blackburn sobs.


Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



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

Corrie's Hell Week

Wow, it's not over yet but already Coronation Street has had my heart pounding! Exciting stuff, isn't it? I was going to wait to blog the whole week in one go but there's just too much so I'll do the aftermath over the weekend.

It's a good thing Steve did go out of town or he'd have been huddling in a corner like Gary was after the tram crash. I did wonder why it took Jenny hours to pack a small bag when she didn't know Kevin was going to be gone so long. Was she going to pick up Jack while wearing that black wig? We knew that Jimmi Mistry and Amy Kelly were leaving the show so it was a pretty good bet they wouldn't make it out alive. At the end of day today, Maddie is clinging to life but I don't have a good feeling about it.

There was a lot of drama. Tracy nearly killed Carla once and then again after the candle she lit caused the fire. And it's for sure that her negligence resulted in Kal's death. Throwing Amy into the danger zone was a good move. I suspected Maddy was going to come a cropper but I thought it would be at the hand of Jenny who, so far, has managed to recover her equilibrium once she realized that Maddy may be out of the picture. But  how long will she be able to keep herself from cracking wide open? Not long.

There's a whole lot more, with screen captures, over on State of the Street, complete with some extra observations at the end.


Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



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

Karma and Tracy Barlow

One of the more enjoyable moments for me last night was watching Tracy's reaction to hearing about the fire. She looked curious, almost satisfied but that quickly turned to horror when she realised her daughter was trapped in the fire. Tracy Barlow might be one of the worst mothers on Coronation Street, but her one redeeming characteristic is that she does love her daughter and parents even if she's got a funny way of showing it at times.

I'm sure Tracy realises that she carelessly left a burning candle on a table and it could have been that which started the fire. She definitely knows she nearly took it upon herself to kill Carla. If the toilet hadn't flushed, would she have gone through with it? Perhaps not. But isn't Karma a... well, you know the expression.

As for Amy, this is the second time Tracy feared losing her child in a fire, you may recall. The first time was when Karen McDonald burned the car that was a bone of contention between she and Tracy. Karen took the car that had baby Amy strapped in the back though she didn't realise it at the time. When the car was later found burning, Tracy had pushed Karen too far and she was sure Karen had killed her daughter. She hadn't of course. She left Amy with Roy and Hayley but Tracy didn't know that. Now Tracy knows Amy really is in that burning building.

Will nearly losing her daughter after another obsessive vendetta change Tracy?

Time will tell. I don't want Tracy to turn into a saint, where would be the fun in that? It would be nice if she wasn't quite the panto villain she is now, though.

Well done to Elle Mulvaney on her performance last night and kudos to the writers that had Amy written as a smart, scared little kid blocking the smoke from the door and keeping down low, hoping someone would come to get her.


Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



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