Coronation Street Blog

Sunday, 28 August 2022

Five Things We Learned In Corrie This Week

Bow down to the master. Copyright reasons mean I am unable to embed videos here; also I'm not really sure how you do it. You'll have to take my word for it that Dev saying "oh my word, why would you do something like that?" in Wednesday's episode was one of the greatest line readings in the history of scripted entertainment. Dench, Mirren, McKellen, none of them could've delivered that astonishing mix of shock and extreme campery after Bernie belted him. Jimmi Harkishin is a treasure of the acting profession and should be given every award going. I know Corrie doesn't technically qualify for the Oscars, but can we persuade the Academy to make an exception?

But Dev isn't all comedy; he's also heart. I was strangely touched when he presented Aadi with his new car, then hugged him close and kissed him on the forehead. There are many problems with men in the 21st century and one of them is quite simply that their dads weren't affectionate enough. Dev was unabashedly tactile, demonstrating his love for his son, and Aadi wasn't embarrassed and didn't push him away. They were two mature adult men who wanted to express their familial love for one another and it was adorable. It was a bit less adorable that Dev was handing over a brand new car to Aadi while Asha stood on the sidelines and got nothing. Hopefully she's taking driving lessons as well and will get presented with her Fiat 500 next week.

Incidentally, isn't it great that the parking problems on Coronation Street have been entirely sorted out? I'm not sure how, or why, but the street is almost entirely empty of vehicles again. Maybe they withdrew those residents only permits round the corner that were causing the problem. Maybe they've now introduced them throughout Weatherfield and Coronation Street is just waiting for its signs and yellow lines to be put in. Maybe everyone's forgotten about that plotline. Who could possibly say.

Don't believe what you read in the papers. A couple of weeks ago the Daily Star alleged that Debs Brownlow would be returning to the Street. I was baffled. Debs wasn't even interesting the first time she was in the show; why would you bring her back? Of course, this was a showbiz reporter talking nonsense, and actually it was Gabrielle Glaister turning up as a different character - Bernie's evil twin. I'm disappointed Damon from Brookside left before Patricia Farnham from Brookside arrived; it gives me hope that when Gabrielle's storyline ends we'll get Rosie Banks or maybe the divine Bev Dixon showing up for a stint on the cobbles.

Gabby was here to fight for ownership of one of the worst blazers I've ever seen. If I'd have been Bernie I'd have chucked it at her - take it, it's awful - but one can't really turn down the opportunity to own a Gina Uno original. Those things are worth anything up to fifteen pounds on the indoor market.

Know your audience. I feel like, with the entire Stu storyline, the producers have deeply overestimated how appealing the character is. They seem to think he's a loveable chirpy spark we desperately want to protect, while I find him mildly irritating and really couldn't care less if he's innocent or not. He's served his sentence, it's all over and done with, move on. The only thing I care about is that he never, ever sings again. It seems that the Nazir family, for all their efforts to help him, can only tolerate Stu in small doses as well. A few weeks ago, Zeedan went on holiday, leaving Alya and Yasmeen to deal with him. When he returned, Alya went off on a business trip slash dirty week with a saucy rep, leaving Yasmeen and Zeedan to take care of Stu. And now we've learned that Yasmeen is off to Inverness with Cathy, leaving Alya and Zeedan to cope with the Littlest Hobo and giving her valuable time off. It's a rotating shift system, and don't be surprised if in a couple of weeks Zeedan discovers he's inherited a spooky mansion in the Pennines and has to stay there for seven nights to meet the terms of the will.

In the meantime we get to watch Alya and Zeedan pointing at files and pretending they understand them. It's like the Innocence Project, but staffed by astonishingly unqualified people. A particular high point was when they managed to randomly pick the exact cassette (from 14) and fast forward to the exact point where Stu confessed; I'm guessing that was written by a Young Person who never knew the tedious agonies of fast forwarding through a C90 in search of a single song, never knowing if when you pressed play you were behind or ahead of what you wanted. Still, it's nice of Adam to let them use his office to play John Grisham; I guess since Imran died he's found himself at a loose end.

Love is in the air. A couple of years ago, I was blindsided by Coronation Street. They set up Nina and Seb as an adorable young couple with loads in common, then blam! Seb got kicked to death under a viaduct and a nation's heart was broken. It seems they've decided to repeat this storyline by getting Kelly and Aadi together in the quickest possible fashion ahead of Millie Gibson's rumoured departure. On Monday, they were mates, entering a competition with no ulterior motive than getting a free holiday. By Wednesday, they were taking one another's virginity, and on Friday it was sincere declarations of love and down on one knee; there are Kardashians who've had longer courtships. (Incidentally, nothing made me feel more ancient than seeing "Mr & Mrs" had to be renamed a "Couples Quiz" because there are millions of people out there who no longer remember Derek Batey). I really don't need Aadi to have his heart broken when Kelly is, I don't know, caught up in a terrorist attack or dropped in the lion cage at Chester Zoo or whatever disaster they've got planned to get rid of her. He could've just been friends with her and upset by her departure without all this "love" nonsense. Wasn't he hung up on Summer about eight minutes ago, to the extent that he was willing to take the rap for her cheating?

Speaking of Summer, Friday's episode continued the theme of Teenagers Losing Their V Card by having her and Aaron finally get round to doing it. There was a vague hint it might be fun and sexy - Aaron asked if breakfast was included at their dirty night out, and Summer replied "everything is"; the "including my vagina" was unvoiced - but as it frequently is with these monotonous humanoids everything went very boring very quickly. Soon they were sat on the edge of the bed chatting about room service and I wondered if they even owned genitals. You're two attractive young people who are clearly up for it - get on with having sex, for the love of God, and stop over thinking it.

It's called fashion, look it up. Beth has glasses. Let me rephrase that. Beth has glasses, and they are fabulous. How dare the show sneak this seismic fashion moment on us without so much as a preview or a photoshoot in British Vogue. The official Twitter account could at least have posted a full video interview. This was an iconic moment up there with that time Sally got a hat, and should've been treated with the reverence it deserved. They're pink and sparkly! They match her hair band and her earrings!

I'm not suggesting we should have a return to that time Jack Duckworth had an eye test and the show detailed it in laborious detail like it was a public information film; still, it might have been nice to see that La Tinker was suddenly long sighted and experienced her journey. I'd much rather hear about that than her nudist evenings with Kirk, who, I'm sorry, genuinely needs help. This week we learned that he - a delivery man with a driving licence and everything - had misinterpreted the "no return within one hour" road sign to mean he has to go for a Costa rather than going home. Kirk is no longer "a little bit naïve" and is instead actually intellectually challenged and should be probably getting a benefit of some sort.

Since we seem to be getting nothing but dream sequences these days, even though they are always awful, I have a list of characters who should be brought back for imaginary antics. Contact me via Twitter @merseytart, ITV, and I'll let you know what Imran, Luke, Henry Newton and Andy could be getting up to in the dreamworld.

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

Coronation Street Episode Review Friday 26 August 2022

Derailed and replanned due to covid reasons Dylan's visit to the Street has been reshuffled many times. Tonight he is due to go back to London and his mother and when Sean has to cover a shift in the Rovers the twin fairy godmothers of Mary and Glenda decide to throw a party based on musicals - at least they use that story to wind up Sean - but in reality they have got James (how is the learning going on becoming a world famous football coach?) to come and have a kickabout in the Street. Dylan however decides that the time has come to live up to his accent and move to live permanently with Sean leaving behind those southern lads who make his life difficult. We await this news being broken to Violet - who is apparently a somewhat absent mother. A new double act is being built - Mary and Glenda.

Most of the Street consider the concept of a murderer out on licence living on the Street somewhat unpalatable and Dev, Tim, Elaine and others express their wish for Stu to move away. The opposition simply stiffens Yasmeen's resolve. Initially Kelly does not want to know - but her attitude changes later. The scene is repeated almost word for word later with added Bernie. Stu is not conceding any ground either. Stu cooks a meal for Yasmeen and family and she makes it clear that Stu should go nowhere and she may cancel her trip to see Cathy.

To make up for the lost trip to Barcelona, Summer uses her advance on her wages from Underworld and books a room at the Chariot Square Hotel for the night for her and Aaron. When they get there (given their ages) they show more enthusiasm for room service under cloches than they do for each other. Have they no hormones - has the insulin killed it all off? OK perhaps they are both nervous and food is more important to ensure they have the stamina needed!

Aadi has his practical driving test today and after the usual parental wind-up admits that he has passed - so Dev hands over the key of a blue car and Aadi now has wheels (whatever happened to Dev's financial crisis a little while back?). Before this however he and Kelly have to attend the Mr and Mrs quiz by the local paper. Inevitably, between them they get one answer correct! However Aadi makes an impassioned plea and so the paper decides to keep them as competitors despite not knowing each other for which Kelly puts on the (ex-Sunita) engagement ring which has been borrowed and which Asha spots when they return to the Street. Later Asha challenges Aadi and he tells Asha that he and Kelly are engaged and Aadi does a bit of a reverse ferret - explaining it is a joke for a free holiday - all of which Kelly hears. She takes the ring and chucks it in one direction and whilst the twins are looking for it she jumps in the little blue car and floors it - although she no licence or insurance. Aadi, having heard earlier of a place that Kelly considers her happy place, (Fernly Clough) so he pursues Kelly on Asha's tiny "princess" bicycle (with the requisite health and safety helmet in place). He leaves a voicemail message for Kelly saying she is amazing and he loves her.

Bernie has bought Joseph's school uniform and whilst in the shop the assistant handed her the blazer she ordered and paid in advance, delivery having taken place. The true owner of the blazer turns up and doing the right thing Bernie hands over the item - which is placed back in the carrier bag and the mirror image picks up both carrier bags including the uniform. Bernie had left her purse behind and it is returned in exchange. Fern is NOT Debs Brownlow returning, but is a new character of whom I feel sure we shall see more. Only Joseph and Dev believe the "evil twin "story - but it has to be true because it is so far fetched.

Aadi's first find is the car - which has hit a bollard. The car is damaged but Kelly is safe and they sit and discuss the day - and end up snogging by a lake. The car is not too badly damaged and they return in it to the Street where Gary and Dev espy it returning in damaged form. Explanations are limited but to save problems Aadi insists that he was driving.

Later, once in an otherwise empty house, Kelly reckons it might not be so bad being married to Aadi - so he does the decent thing - down on one knee and with the recovered ring he pops the question. And receives a positive response.

The way the relations between the two young couples was portrayed was such a contrast and (in my view) a mistake to have two such similar interactions in the same episode was immediately evident. I know consent is important - but getting a private space Aaron/Summer are more interested in food than each other. Obviously there have been spoilers and this may not be the place to go further - but it jarred and felt very uneven.

Finally an apology (if you have read this far) - I should have been here last week but was in Spain dog and villa sitting for friends and with other absences planned there will be some further shuffling around - so apologies there was no review last Friday.

Written by Mark Wadlow and Owen Lloyd-Fox. Directed by Chantelle Kayall.

Kosmo

@Kosmo100

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

Saturday, 27 August 2022

Conversation Street Podcast Episode #537

On our latest podcast, we chat about the episodes of Coronation Street shown the in the UK between the 22nd and the 26th August (Episodes #10723 - 10728)

This week, Stu gets released from prison and is determined to prove his innocence, but can the combined powers of Alya, Zeedan and (eventually!) Yasmeen get to the bottom of what really happened 27 years ago? Well we have a theory if they need a bit of help with that one... Meanwhile, there's double trouble for Bernie when she meets her doppelgänger, Stephen's quest to get into Carla's knickers continues, and Aadi loses his L plates AND his V plates all in one week!

Up next on the podcast it's the Kabin, where we see how Corrie's fared in this year's NTA shortlist and find out about Alexandra Mardell's first post-Corrie project. We end the show with more of your feedback, including some lovely comments about our report on our trip to Manchester and plenty of praise for last week's scenes with Audrey.

Street Talk: 00:09:46

The Kabin: 02:06:36

Feedback: 02:17:25

Our bonus podcast this week is a report on our recent trip up north. When we headed up to Manchester for the tenth anniversary of the podcast with very little in terms of plans for the week, little did we know just how much Corrie related goodness we'd be packing into those seven days. From catching up with cast members to going behind the scenes to see some upcoming episodes being filmed, this was a truly unforgettable experience, which we're excited to share with you now. A big thank you to everyone who helped make this week happen! With plenty of photos and footage of the trip, we think the YouTube version is definitely the definitive way to experience this one!

You can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, stream all our old episodes on our own site here, or click the play buttons above to give it a listen from the comfort of this very blog!

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

Daniel Brocklebank interview - Billy's battle as Summer turns 18

Summer’s been through a really tough time recently with her diabetes, battling diabulimia, her A-Levels, as her 18th birthday approaches do you think Billy knows quite how bad it's got for her?

Yes and no I mean, I think you know, as a parent, you obviously try to monitor your kid. He’s aware she’s struggled with the diabetes diagnosis, then subsequently the diabulimia and that she cheated in one of her exams. But as is with most teenagers, she probably hasn't disclosed everything to him.

How worried is he for her future now she’s given up her dream of going to Oxford?

I don't think he's that concerned right now, she’s a bright kid, he tells her there are other universities and things that you can do. I think he's definitely a little bit disappointed about getting a job at the factory because he thinks she can do better than being Carla’s dog's body. I don't think he's too worried, he just doesn't want her to fall into a trap of thinking that that's all there is.

Billy’s a very supportive parent, so when we get to Summer’s 18th birthday and he has to hand her this letter from her dad, is he worried about how she's going to react?

No, he doesn’t really think about it too deeply and he feels guilty about that afterwards. I think he's more excited, thinking that it's going to be a really beautiful moment and a lovely gesture. He’s not quite prepared for how upset she becomes because of it, he could maybe have thought that through a bit better but the thought was there

At the same time Billy gets a call from the diabetic nurse to say that Summer’s eligible for the glucose monitor and Summer realises that Aaron and Billy have spoken about it behind her back. How does she react to this? Is Billy worried about how she's managing her diabetes at this point?

Well, of course, he doesn’t know that she's still mucking about with her levels so he can't quite understand why she doesn't want this monitor, because of course, to him, it just makes sense to have something that can totally alert you to any possible problems. She's had to cancel her holiday because of messing about with her insulin but because Billy doesn't know any of these details he’s not seeing the picture. So when Aaron brings it up with him, because Aaron is aware of what she's doing, it highlights how unaware he is of how little she is continuing to take care of herself.

Do you think Billy's finding it hard having a teenage daughter and everything that comes with it to deal with?

When you take on a child, you know that at some point they're going to be a teenager and teenagers are notoriously difficult, I was one once myself. I think he's prepared but obviously they’ve had extra stuff to deal with that most people with teenagers don't. It's not just about the partying and the going out, Summer isn’t really that kind of kid, so he's never really had to deal with that, mainly it’s been University worries and the diabetes. However he is unaware to the extent of which she is not taking care of himself.

How much have you enjoyed working with Harrier on these storylines?

Harriet is adorable and incredibly professional, she’s a joy. She’s a dream to work with and what I’m really enjoying is seeing Summer develop as an adult, because the character was only 11 when she joined the show. It's been lovely to see Harriet being given the opportunity to actually get her teeth into something that is purely and simply her story. It's been really lovely to see Harriet shine, she’s brilliant and she should be very proud of herself.

How do you think Billy will deal with her relationship with Aaron and her growing up? Do you think he's ready for all that?

I mean, you've got to be mentally prepared for the fact that obviously she's growing up and there are going to be changes. I’d love to see Billy and her having the chat because I think there could be some real comedy in Billy squirming his way around talking about the birds and the bees. All in all she’s a pretty good kid, I think he actually just doesn’t know half the stuff she's contending with but that's got to come to a head at some point.

Glenda Young

Novelist published by Headline