Novels by Coronation Street Blog Editor Glenda Young

Sunday, 1 October 2017

State of the Street - September 2017

Reposted from State of the Street with permission. 

Sally's running for Mayor. I thought in the UK you already had to be on the town council before being elected mayor by your council peers, not by the general public. I have heard, though, that a few cities and towns are changing their policy so perhaps it is correct that Sally can run a public campaign for mayor. If it was the old way, she wouldn't have to do that, just lobby her peers on council. As far as I was aware, Sally quit the council during the trolling storyline and didn't manage to get reinstated. Anyway, we now get another round of hilarity with Sally on the campaign trail. It was a funny storyline last time, but of course there is a twist this time. Why do a repeat otherwise?

That twist is the grass roots campaign for Kirk as Mayor after he got the job of  a big bee as mascot for Weatherfield County. Kirk is gaining support, mainly for his humour and down to earth point of view, even if it isn't really very politically deft. It would be twice as humiliating if you're Sally Metcalfe, especially if you lose to someone as daft as Kirk Sutherland! It seems a bit too surreal to even contemplate the possibility of Kirk being Mayor of Weatherfield, let alone Beth as Mayoress (and by the way, did she ever get divorced? I don't recall hearing about it and that means they aren't remarried. Surely that would stand against him in a political campaign?) I think Kirk is just going along for the ride, but the main reason for all this seems to be Gina's involvement, backing Kirk instead of her sister. The old sibling rivalry and resentment that Gina seems to have for Sally is the driving force.

Kate finds a new girlfriend while she and Rana were out on a girls' night at the Bistro. Not really the place I'd have thought would be a pickup joint. Do singles go there for a drink on the off chance of finding someone else that's only there for a drink and a look-see? Apparently so, even though it's main mission statement is as a restaurant. Rana came over all jealous which was a bit strange. Ok, feeling like a third wheel isn't fun but it went on longer than that. Is this the beginning of a new storyline for Rana? Something to actually make her interesting? Is Rana bisexual and actually jealous of Kate because she fancies her? Time will tell. If that's the case, Zeedan is in for a shock. I suppose he already was aware that she's not the traditional Muslim he always thought his future wife would be. She wasn't a virgin and she drinks alcohol and has been a bit of a live wire.


Rita's memory loss became more obvious, at least to Gemma who got more and more concerned. Jenny was in Bride mode so fiercely, adding on top of her dislike for Gemma, that she wasn't giving Gemma any part of her attention so Gemma leaned on Rosie Webster who is being an absolute star. I like the two of them as friends. Poor Gemma hasn't had any friends her own age since becoming a refugee from the estate. I think this could work.

Back to business. Gemma finally impressed on Rita that she should look into the problem and she did but evaded telling the doctor what the problem really was until she eventually collapsed in hte pub. So, with tests, the diagnosis is a small brain tumour. What will happen? Does Barbara Knox want to retire? Perhaps, and it would be a good exit story for her. The injection of the obnoxious Colin, the sponsor of the Mr. and Mrs. competition that Mary and Norris entered (causing them to get married) might be something to consider. He wants to buy the Kabin from Norris and the flat from Rita and at month's end, seems to have a verbal agreement for both. But he's only a temporary character so your guess as to where this is going is as good as mine.

All of this came out on the week that we had the big double wedding of Aidan and Eva, Johnny and Jenny. Both brides looked really gorgeous, with dressed perfectly fitting each one's personality. Aidan confessed his infidelity, then waited to see if Eva would marry him anyway. She did or she tried to. But Maria showed up to try to ruin it all and she succeeded. Aidan knows the truth and though Eva nearly managed to get him to try to work it out, once he found out that the factory had been emptied and figured out Eva had a hand in it, she was dumped well and truly.

Jenny and Johnny had to race to the wedding venue on the backs of motorcycles driving by Hells' Angels. In the end, though, Jenny couldn't get married without Rita so the wedding was brought to her hospital room. Jenny Bradley is now Jenny Connor. The wind was taken out of her sails, however, when the potential for being a partner in Underworld was undercut by the complete devastation in the aftermath of the factory burgulary, where even part of the roof was removed. That makes no sense at all and even less sense when you know there's a whole neighbourhood of people coming and going. Ok, many of them were at the wedding but a number of them including the Platts and Nazirs were not, and they live right next door! The corner shop was open as well and nobody at all noticed? I don't buy it.

Gary is still working away at that security job and his post traumatic stress is really kicking off after an incident where he had to hold a gun to someone's head. He's defensive, he's aggressive, he's touchy and volatile. His temper is on edge all the time when he's home. He met Nicola in a bar one night and she's licking her wounds after breaking up with her boyfriend and she's a sympathetic ear. But when he finds out she's Phelan's daughter, he doesn't want to know her. Except when he's in another fit of "freak out", they end up sharing wine and talking. Sometimes it's easier to confide in someone you don't know. A vulnerable woman, a car crash of a man and wine. Bad combination and the inevitable happens, quite quickly from what it seemed like. And if we pay attention to soap law, another inevitable is sure to be revealed in a few weeks. At least he's confessed all to Sarah, about the job not being as safe as he pretended. He loves her but it's all going to hit the fan.

Billy and Todd are still finding their feet where Summer is concerned. The actress is quite good and they've had her interacting with Amy and Asha so that's good. I think she and Amy will be quite the duo if they let them. Todd also figured out about Adam's involvement in the factory break in so he's got something to hold over him if need be. Todd isn't above a bit of industrial espionage, though. He doesn't exactly approve but he doesn't really see the problem, either.

Liz has managed to get back behind the bar due to a misunderstanding over a note Peter sent to Steve as an apology. Neither Peter nor Toyah could tell her it wasn't an invitation to be re-hired. This isn't going to end well, is it? And what to do with Moira, the office manager at the medical centre? She's showing a more vulnerable side but she's still a control freak. I'm not sure where they're going with that, whether she's a permanent character or not.

At the end of September, we're just about to Nathan's trial which will start in the next week. Bethany is scared and worried and Nathan's former cohort, Mel, has shown up. Bethany is trying to get Mel to testify with her to bring Nathan down but Mel keeps saying she's not up to it and that she probably would get torn apart on the stand and be no help at all. Of course she won't, she's still under Nathan's influence and is under orders to keep Bethany away from the trial altogether. Still, you could see that when Bethany tried to convince her, assuming she believed about Nathan the same thing Bethany did, that Mel was a bit conflicted. I think she knows down deep that Bethany is right and all the damning things about Nathan and what he does is true but she's so far into it and under his thumb that she can't see a way out even if she wanted to.

Phelan still has Andy in the cellar. He nearly let Andy go but it was a test to see if he could trust him and he failed. It's a no-win situation and Phelan is going to get to the point of having to do something about Andy before someone finds out. Peter and Toyah are going to use a surrogate. Why do I get the feeling this is going to turn out stalkerish? Speaking of which...

Michelle finally discovered that Will is the stalker and I still have a problem with that. He supposedly carried a torch for her all those years. Then she led him on and then dumped him when Steve came back. After her marriage to Steve went up the spout, she didn't go back to Will, she jumped into Robert's bed and that seems to have turned Will into a psycopath stalker. I found it difficult to believe and it was painful to watch. Even after she figured it out, he was hot and cold, threatening then pleading and then violent, it was just ludicrous. It's got Michelle and Leanne speaking again and while they'll never be friends, I suppose they'll be able to be civil to each other.

October should be interesting, with the trial to start us off and then waiting to see if the truth about the factory will come out.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)




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

Corrie Weekly Awards for Sept. 25 - 29

Voices of Reason: Gail and Audrey didn't trust Mel at all. With good reason as it happens. Liz, for resolving conflict in the pub the old fashioned way. Banging heads together (metaphorically). It worked.

Changed your Tune award: Liz is seeing a less-Ice-Queen side of Moira.

Missing in Action award: Adam asked Todd to make the tea for a client. Where's Rosie?

Selfish award: Sean sure wasted no time swooping in on the medical centre receptionist job, not letting any of the other recently unemployed factory "friends" about it, you know, the ones that don't have a second job to fall back on?

Volatile combination award: Vulnerable woman, wine, petulant car crash of a man.

Lines of the week:
Michelle 'I didn't know you could fight like that" Steve "only when it's something worth fighting for" (oh please don't get back together!)
Steve "Yesterday, I saved my last ex-wife from a psychopath"
Anna "Famous last words" Gary "I know what I'm doing" (Phrase of Doom, anyone?)
Todd to Adam "You need to work on your poker face"
Liz "You nail a lid on top of your feelings, you slap a smile on your face and you get on with it!"
Gary "I'm a car crash in human form" (I'd go along with that)
Sarah "Were you with someone else last night?" Gary "No" (no, it was about 45 minutes ago, actually)





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

Saturday, 30 September 2017

Five Things We Learned In Corrie This Week

I must apologise for the lateness of this week's entry.  I've had a rotten cold, but I've spoken to Moira at the Medical Centre, and she's promised to fit me in to see Doctor Gaddas on the third Tuesday in February.  Apparently I'm not important enough to get one of those special Rita Tanner Sunday Afternoon Walk In Appointments.


There's a new graffiti artist in town.   Now Craig's an upstanding member of the law enforcement community, his street artist mantle has been passed on.  I'm hoping this leads to a new storyline where Craig, wracked with guilt over the betrayal of his artistic community, is forced to arrest Banksy.


Will has thirty pairs of brown shoes in his spare room.  Lock him up now; the man's clearly a nutjob.  Presumably he has another room devoted to his forty spare pairs of glasses with a mirror so he can practice taking them off... then putting them on... then taking them off again.


Liz and Moira are now Super Friends.  Katherine Hepburn said of Fred and Ginger: "He gave her class, she gave him sex."  I see this as a similar exchange of sensibilities, with Liz teaching Moira how to loosen up and enjoy life, and Moira teaching Liz what a top button is for.


Warren Jackson is still a presence on set.  It would be easy to enforce a Stalin-esque purge when you change the head of a child actor on Corrie.  Wipe out any evidence that the original face existed.  It's nice, therefore, to see Original Flavour Nicky Tilsley turning up on Gail's sideboard, and to know that he hasn't been cleansed from the show in favour of pictures of Ben Price when he was a sapling.  (Bonus marks for including pictures of OG Bethany Platt too).


Nicola was going to get Summer drunk. I mean, I may be misinterpreting her, but apparently the young girl being rushed to hospital left her with two bottles of wine to share with Gary.  Either Nicola is a proper alkie - and the amount of bourbon she poured in those wine glasses may be evidence of that - or she was planning on splitting her booze stash with a teenage girl.  Pretty sure THAT isn't part of a traditional Shabbat meal.




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

Friday, 29 September 2017

Coronation Street Episode Review; September 27th, 2017 7.30pm

                                                                       
Welcome to Part One of this week's Weatherfield Wednesday double. How are we finding this newly installed double dose?.

For me, the drama appears to become thick (like Adam Barlow's hair) and fast, like the upcoming trial of Nathan Curtis V Bethany Platt. Tonight, the first episode begins with Bethany checking the calendar, we are informed that the 2nd of October, is when the trial begins.

Over at Roy's Rolls, child prodigy Summer, has apparently quizzed Billy on the ethics of religion (that would be an ecumenical matter!) whilst Todd pours over Adam's accounts. Does his dodgy business partner suddenly have a 'money tree'?. As an abundance of ex-stock furniture arrives for his solicitor's office, Adam protests his innocence - money from an ex-employer apparently. Will Todd be convinced?.

                                                                       
Over at The Rovers Return, Sean suspects Eva has brought down the factory, Leanne hasn't got a concussion and a surrogacy meeting is on the cards for Toyah and Peter, leaving Eva in charge of the pub. Considering her recent revenge tactics have completely closed Underworld, would she best person to leave a business with?.

Down the cellar, Phelan is clearing up after Andy like some psychotic Snow White and his 'pussycat persona' is hardly pleasing an agitated Andy, he is dying to get out and tries to coerce Phelan into another cunning plan. Phelan doesn't really enjoy playing prison guard but I for one, would have liked to have seen him capture weirdo, Will, I would have loved that!!.

Meanwhile, outside Audrey's salon, new apprentice Bethany retreats to the bistro for her dinner date with Craig, but is side-tracked by the sudden reappearance of Nathan's psycho sidekick; Mel. I wonder why, with the trial only a week away?. Also suddenly reappearing via Ukraine is Gary, surprising Sarah and to show his support as the unmissable court case, looms.

Before Bethany can call the police, an emotional Mel is seeking refuge and claiming poverty. Bethany needs Mel but can she see talk to the police, or, is she still shackled to the chains of Nathan Curtis?. Craig meanwhile, waits nervously for Bethany and broods over a budding romance on the next table. Can we see Bethany and Craig as a couple?.



As Mel settles in a round at Gail's, Gary is settled back into his moody and short-fused, newly acquired temperament. As he eyeballs Nicola and gets annoyed with Baby Harry, just what is eating Gary up this time?. After Anna spots his black and blue bruising, is his job in the Ukraine proving to be too dangerous?.

Someone else who may be in danger is Bethany. As Mel confesses a load of psychological horrors to Bethany, still claiming to be Nathan's number one victim, but will she side with the law or is Nathan still under her skin?.

Nicola seems confused by Gary's reappearance and sits on Maxine's bench as Seb consoles her, over her failed brief dalliance with PC Scott. That 'non-violent communication' shan't be wasted now Seb is back working with Phelan?. Maybe Robert could do with some advice from Seb as over at Weatherfield prison, Michelle informs him of the drama with weirdo Will. 'Shell obviously doesn't see the irony in visiting her unhinged businessman boyfriend in prison whilst her stalker(an unhinged businessman) is now also in custody. Get back to Steve 'Shell!.

Remaining precariously unhinged, Mel continues to delude Bethany with stories of Nathan's earlier psychological abuse. Just how will this trial turn out?.

Save the date... the 2nd of October is in my diary.

Just what will Bethany do? Does Adam have a money tree, and is Craig still in the Bistro?

Follow my pal Glenn and found out, as he gives us part 2 of this mid-week episode double!

Anyway, I'm off to meet Shirley Savage outside Millington's Butchers - cheers Kirk!

TARA! I'm back next week.

I am @rybazoxo
Editor @Drunkonmusic2
https://twitter.com/Drunkonmusic2
Your Corrie Connoisseur






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

GRITTY SAGAS BY CORRIE BLOG EDITOR GLENDA YOUNG, PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE. CLICK PIC BELOW!

You might also like...

Coronation Street Books for Fans

GRITTY SAGAS BY CORRIE BLOG EDITOR GLENDA YOUNG, PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE. CLICK PIC BELOW!