Sunday Comments, December 30

Lines of the week:

• Tracy to Deirdre about Charlie "It's dead simple. I lose. He wins."
  
• Jane the solicitor to Tracy "You disgust me"
  
• Tracy "Live in the moment, I say"
  
• Dev (about his new shoes) "I can play around all i like and never get in trouble!"
  
• Norris on the practicality of rubber gloves "I think most homicidal maniacs would find bright yellow a bit garish"
  
• Betty "Oh i say. Who'd be a mother!" (don't you just adore Betty!?)
  
• Liz about David "She's got that little swine figured out whether he was lying or not"
  
• Leanne to Liam "What sort of a girl do you think I am?" Um....
  

The main focus this week is of course Tracy's trial. Seems awfully soon that Tracy was on the stand. The prosecution case was over quite quickly. Is it odd that Tracy would be one of the first witnesses for the defence? Isn't it more usual for them to be the last? I suppose it's always different from one case to the next. There's no way if Tracy told the truth on the stand that she'd get off easy. She even started off as if she was going to "tell the truth" but it was the lead in to the abused partner case, wasn't it. I think she poured it on a bit too thick though. She seemed to fail the statue test but adrenaline could account for one-handed strength. The thing is, though, aside from her blood not being on the statue, could they tell from fingerprints which hand was used? Making Claire out to be less than mentally competent was mean but typical of prosecution wrecking character witnesses, i guess. Other than the fact that she didn't witness anything specific, I thought she came across fairly well. But that fact is a big one. It could still cast reasonable doubt.

Deirdre nearly didn't make it and she was close to saying the wrong things a few times. Calling her a good mother and questioning her on one short contradiction. I'm surprised she got through as much as she did and then spilled her guts to the solicitor. Too late, she got back on the stand and the prosecution made mince meat of her, pressing all the right buttons. And David! He was cocky and full of bravado. The prosecution made "dead meat" out of him. Cocked up which hand Charlie was supposedly holding the knife, and the bit about her turning the music down. Tracy shouldn't have forced her mother to testify and Deirdre just couldn't handle the guilt. Now i expect we're in for weeks of Deirdre's scenery chewing guilt and if Tracy gets convicted, we might as well all buy earplugs and oil up the Fast Forward button on the vcr. At least Tracy came clean and told David she was only using him. I don't suppose he'll take that well but it's too late for him to get any sort of revenge.

The only person Tracy'll listen to now and then is Steve and even then she keeps trying to push herself back into his life. I think after being married to Karen who was a bit of a psycho herself, maybe Steve is one of the few people who understand Tracy a bit. She certainly seems to be more herself with him than with anyone else. Tracy sure has a lot of nerve making cracks to her mother about telling the truth. I've never seen a pot more kettle looking in my life! She's holding her mother responsible no matter what happens and leaving with Amy. The thing is, people like Tracy, no matter how much they say they've cut off their family, will have it hanging over them the rest of their lives. Why shouldn't David to to see the end of the trial? It's not that odd since he had an integral part in it and as far as anyone else knows, he was supportive of Tracy, not a blackmailing little git. So we hear the closing arguments and we wait. Put yourself in the jury's box. Judging from *just* the evidence and the barristers' speeches, if you didn't already know what happened, would you have said Tracy was guilty or not? Is there reasonable doubt that she was abused and lashed out in self defence? Well, you'll have to wait until Tuesday night to find out what happens.

Janice seems intent on sabotaging Leanne's jobs. Good for her! More foreign speaking workers for Underworld. As long as they're getting equal pay, what difference does it make? Well i don't suppose any of us should be surprised at Janice's attitude. She's like that with almost every new stitcher, regardless of whether they're foreign or not. The Polish workers... They're working both night *and* day shifts? Is that legal? Looks like Leanne has Liam well and truly wound up about the house inspection. Probably nothing wrong at all.

Jerry's ex-wife seems a bit of a prize cow, doesn't she? I don't see why Molly should make fun of Dev's excitement over shoes? Women sure go into ecstatics over footwear, after all. And he sure is getting obsessed with golf, between the shoes and practicing on the computer game. I think Amber might have hit the nail with the club so to speak, substitute for no sex? Again, a car mysteriously appears in front of the house when it's needed but you never see them parked on the road any other time, do you? Ashley won't like that Claire left Freddie with a woman she hardly knows. She gave Claire a bit of a start too, disappearing with Freddie like that. Hasn't she ever heard of leaving a note? It might have hurt Casey's feelings that Claire jumped to conclusions but it should have been understandable.

Tracy in the dock

This photo is misleading. It is from the brief alternate ending to Tracy's trial. There used to be a Youtube of it but it looks like most of the Corrie clips have been removed for copyright issues. I wrote awhile back about how alternate endings are rarely written and how i believe, as most veteran soap watchers to, that Tracy would be convicted of Charlie's murder regardless of whether i already knew the outcome or not. Which i did anyway. Canada will find out this week but as i said before, you would have to be a complete newcomer to soaps to believe she might get off.

What did you think of the trial? I tried watching it as if i was one of the jury, with no prior knowledge of the storyline at all. Mind you, that's not easy because we didn't see all the evidence, only as it pertained to the testimonies of our characters. But going from that, and a bit that Peter and Blanche might talk about back at the house after, would you have convicted her or was there reasonable doubt? Would you have believed her story about being abused? Or would you see a manipulating, bad tempered woman scorned who could very well have planned the murder?

The evidence about her cut hand came out. No blood on the statue but could she have picked it up one-handed and clubbed him hard enough to kill him if she were pumped up on adrenaline? She couldn't do it in court but could she have done it that night, with a man allegedly coming at her with a knife? Not so sure. Reasonable Doubt #1.

David got the hands mixed up as to which one he saw her use. That alone was enough to discredit his testimony but his smirking smug attitude on the stand more than helped, too. David also insisted that Tracy stopped in the middle of it all to turn down the music. Tracy coached David but i don't think she told him to say that. It would have been smarter to say that she turned down the music before he came at her, not in the middle. It just wouldn't happen that way. She did coach him about the left hand but he messed that up in his cockiness. Reasonable doubt #2.

Peter mentioned about an expert witness that said he thought Charlie was sitting down when he was hit but, when badgered, allowed that he *could* **possibly** have been standing up for the first blow and then fell back onto the settee. But look at her height and Charlie's. The angle of impact just wouldn't be there if he'd been standing up. If the second blow had obscured the angle of the first one, then the expert wouldn't have been able to say what he felt about charlie being sat down. Charlie could hardly have been running at her with a knife if he was sitting on the settee, could he? Reasonable Doubt #3.

Deirdre's testimony was all over the map, poor woman. She wasn't handling the stress at all. She contradicted herself a few times and made a few passing remarks that weren't followed up that made it clear she was hiding something. Reasonable Doubt #4.

Then there was all the various statements by people like Maria who claimed Tracy was having a go at her when she found out about the affair. Jason said Charlie was going to finish with Tracy which contradicts Tracy's statement that she was trying to leave and he wouldn't let her. (Even Steve said that though he wasn't asked to testify). Why didn't Jason say he saw her and David practically canoodling on the cctv? Maybe that's hearsay since he didn't have the tape to back it up but they could then have questioned Deirdre about what she did with the tape if Jason had said he gave it to her.

I don't know that, in real life, her past deeds could have been brought out. Sometimes in trials they aren't allowed as evidence if they aren't directly related but it's too bad. It sure would have shown what Tracy's really like if the jury could have heard about how Tracy tried to cancel Steve and Karen's wedding and all the confrontations subsequent to that. Then there was the whole baby selling incident where she bedded Roy on a bet and used it to cover up her pregnancy by Steve. Scheming cow! Any jury would have decided it was an open and shut case after hearing that. Guilty, Yer Honour, lock her up!

All that aside, yes, if i was on the jury, i think i would have had enough reasonable doubt to find her guilty. As i said before, it's a soap, and someone that cold bloodedly plan a murder *always* get found guilty in the end.

Corrie Sunday Comments, December 23

Lines of the week:

• Fiz "Les likes his food like his women, fast and cheap"
  
• Janice to Leanne "You are the nearest thing to a daughter that i've got" (you mean, besides your biolgical daughter Toyah?)
  
• Deirdre "There are too many questions"
  
• Deirdre to Tracy "I know you better than anyone in the whole world"
  

Tempers are wearing thin at the Barlows' house. No wonder. With Tracy's temper and the stress levels rising, and her guilt trips aimed at Deirdre, number 1 is going to bust wide open, starting with Deirdre's panic/anxiety attack. Peter shows as much sense as he always had presented with a pretty skirt. Of all the women, wouldn't he know better than to stick his tongue down his sister's most recent rival? Course he wouldn't. Bloody right, Tracy, it's all your fault, more than everyone knows yet but Deirdre is going to get it out of her if it's the last thing she does. If Deirdre was called for evidence, why wasn't Ken? Tracy expects her mother to "pull a panic attack" in front of the whole court? She thinks testifying is a positive way to tackle the panic attack. Just when you thought she couldn't sink any lower!!

In a rare two-handed episode, we see Deirdre and Tracy lay it all out on the table. Deirdre wanted Tracy to be honest with her. But it took a half an hour to drag it all out of her. Deirdre reckons she knew Tracy was lying all along. Horse hockey! She was naive and believed everything Tracy told her up until the stories started not adding up. Even after all the truth was bared, Deirdre still wanted to believe that Tracy was making it up, ashamed at being battered. I'm glad Deirdre threw it all back in Tracy's face. All that history, even Samir! A few more truths came out than expected on both sides. They really tore each other up. Now Deirdre knows the truth, all the ugly details of it. Shouldn't have been surprised at the lengths to which Tracy went to exact her revenge. I am surprised Deirdre didn't have another panic attack though, the way she was sucking on the ciggie and the wine glass. Even at the end of it, Tracy sat on the stairs and cried. Guaranteed that her mother would hear, one last little guilt trip. And still she thinks Tracy isn't a bad girl. Some excellent performances, though. All three of them, Ken included. I don't normally rank William Roache in the list of great actors but now and then he can really pull out a blinder.

So the trial begins. Jason's testimony was iffy but Maria's managed to paint Tracy with a bad temper though also painted Charlie the same. I'm surprised the defence didn't ask Peter *why* Charlie beat the crap out of him. It would have shown Charlie as being really jealous, good for Tracy's case. Ahh good they pointed out that there should have been blood on the statue. They should be able to tell which hand she hit him with from the angle of the injury. Mind you she did pick it up with both hands but even then it would have come from one side or the other. that would determine which hand was holding it. If she only used her right unbloodied hand, she could only really have hit him effectively on one side of his head. Was that the side that was injured? Still, it came out. Now they have to see if she can lift that statue with one hand even without adrenaline. And the expert says he had to be sitting down. Well he was in spite of the "possibility" that he could have been hit standing up then fell back. Will Deirdre be able to lie on the stand or won't she? Stay tuned!

Derek the drayman seems to have an odd looking upper lip, kind of like there's a moustache missing. Love Molly and Amber winding up Dev! I think i like Doreen but she certainly brings out the worst in Norris. Mind you most people do that anyway. The Actress that is playing the judge is the real life wife of William Roache. So Claire has made a new friend in this Casey.

So Leanne just got into hooking by accident? She was going to shag some guy who gave her money so she thought oh why not? Now Janice is going to have to carry on the lie as well. You wouldn't think Janice would have jewelry good enough to sell for 400 quid. Janice is in a hard place, really. What can she do about Leanne? Not a lot. Leanne lost her bid to buy number 7... to Liam! Obviously these Mortons are a cheeky, shifty lot and that grandfather? No taste in clothes. His shirts and ties clash horribly! He gives me the creeps, i'm telling you. Good god there's another Morton, 6 year old Finlay! Dear me, they're like rabbits!

Boy, Anne Kirkbride's mouth area is really showing the effects of all those years of smoking, isn't it? Well one thing about Rita having Doreen under her roof, at least we get to see a bit more of Rita and her having a good time. Candice is getting married in Greece! Aww!

Notice that Corrie is only on four times Christmas week, with two on Wednesday (Boxing Day) and two on Friday!

Corrie Sunday Comments, December 16

Lines of the week:

• Deirdre to Ken about Tracy's case "Isn't it about the truth?" (well you might say that. I couldn't possibly comment)
  
• Janice "They (blokes) aren't all like Danny Baldwin" Leanne "Yeah they are"
  
• Maria to Peter "Like you were too much a gentleman to explain to one wife that you had another?"
  
• Sarah "You know i don't know why people bother with reading, not when you can watch it on the telly" (that explains so much!)
  
• Liam "I know i'm dead 'andsome" (uh yeah, you are!!)
  
• Janice to Leanne before she knew about Leanne's real job "Sex sells!" "It's all about looking professional" (well they do call them girls 'pro' don't they?)
  
• Leon "what am i going to do with a big ping Jerry?" (the mind boggles)
  
• Steve "How long does a game of golf take" Dev "depends on how good you are" Steve "Maybe we should borrow some torches"
  

Liam didn't seem to waste any time telling Carla the secret about Dean. He says it's because Paul took himself out of the picture but he was only been gone five minutes. More like a tempest in a teapot. It's a sure bet that Michelle is going to find out about what Paul and Liam did on the night Dean died. Didn't take Liz long to start running after the new brewery guy, Derek. I think she's getting bored with Vernon. I knew that would happen. Then Vernon squashed her plans with a potential fancy man.

Tracy sounds like she's starting to fall apart. She wasn't very convincing with the barrister and even her solicitor is now having doubts i think. All those clever questions are there for a reason and they're working. And i don't think i'd be telling that Charlie had affairs. Isn't that a good motive for murder? Tracy doesn't "get" that she can't put on a performance in court. Of course she doesn't get it, her whole premise in this situation is a performance. Peter thinks Maria is smart even though she just admitted not being able to see through Charlie's games. Deirdre decided to take the matter to Gail, and Gail's reaction to David's supposed "nightmares", and then Steve's comment about Charlie supposedly leaving Tracy not the other way around has raised her suspicions even more. So what does Tracy do? Go on the offence. Works every time with Deirdre but it won't be so easy to squash those doubts now that they're seeded. Tracy going on about how she's only playing the game pretending to be best friends with Claire because she needs her testimony isn't helping. Deirdre has to testify and so does Claire and it looks like Tracy realizes that her mother is entertaining doubts. I think Tracy is starting to feel things closing in on her.

So this is Casey, the woman that Claire has been telephone councilling. She lost her baby, right? New neighbours too, and they are related to the one that was in charge of the building project. Jerry Morton et. al. They've bought Charlie's house. From whom? That's what i want to know. They've bought the house Charlie owned yet Jason is continuing to run the business. Why wasn't that sold as well? I think they're going to have to fit all the family in with a shoehorn. They didn't waste any time ticking off the neighbours with loud music. And he seems pretty good at scamming the sign people to get a few bob off. I expect the junk food joint will do better than the bakery though. Mind you, Jerry has a bit more cheeky charm and charisma than obnoxious Diggory did. Now let's see, the twins are a little older than David and Rosie but i can't see Rosie fancying that scruffy Darrel though David could crush on Mel. The younger girl Kayleigh looks like she's about Sophie's age or a shade older. Could be a romance for Ryan there. I'm surprised Sophie didn't develop cow eyes for Ryan, too.

And why is Joanne so vicious about Vicky and her gift of cakes? I just don't buy Leanne as a real estate investor/seller. There's something fishy there. Violet can still have a baby, with possibly a bit of difficulty. Well that's good news, isn't it? Janice managed to get her job back again, only because they needed a good machinist and he didn't tell Leanne and Liam seemed to enjoy her flirting with him to get Jan's job back for her. (Aw but isn't he cute?) Now we just have to get our heads round Leanne the prostitute who's using the name Rachel. I'm surprised the concierge was so welcoming to Leanne. Is he getting a cut? Leanne reckons being an "escort" is honest but as Janice pointed out, she's lying about what she's doing and using an assumed name. I agree with Janice. Leanne is deluded. She's go nowhere to go but down if she keeps on.

Dev and Steve must go play golf with Paul sometime? Golf? Steve? Not sure Steve would know which is the business end of a golf club. Paul might have come across like a pro but his first shot went into the trees. Something tells me he's a bit more of a plonker than he wants people to think or is he just suckering them for that bet he made? Seems he's blaming his new clubs. lol Sign guy at the new fast food place.. "Leon's Neons" ? lol! Laughed at Norris finding all the rubbish in Chesney's paper bag. After years of working with lads you'd think he wouldn't be surprised at all. And Norris was nasty to Ryan and ended up making a prat of himself as usual. You know, for the amount of lovely looking lingerie they sew in Underworld in the usual colours (white, red, pink, black, purple) they sure had a lot of rolls of ugly print material in the stock area of the factory!

Christmas in Corrieland

Y'allright? Nearly Santa time but sadly, here in Canada, we're only up to about early March. Hard to feel Christmassy watching the show when we're not even seeing Easter decos in the Kabin! I won't grumble on about CBC now though. Been there, done that and it does no flaming good. The only thing that strike did for us a couple of years back was catch us up a bit. I'd love to see them show an hour a night over the summer every year, wouldn't you?

Anyway.

I've got a dvd that i obtained in a Corrie Christmas magazine that was released in the UK a few years back now. It's Region 2 so won't play on just any North American dvd player/computer because ours are coded Region 1. You can, of course, change the region in your computer software but that only lets you change 5 times and it'll stick on the last one it's been changed to. I have two dvd thingys in my computer, one that just reads and one that reads and writes. The one that just reads is set to Region 2 all the time so i can play my UK stuff. My home dvd player is also "hacked" so it will play all regions dvds.

I'm digressing again, aren't i?

Corrie Christmas dvd...yes... it's got clips from Corrie Xmases past with some very good scenes. Babies born, weddings, disasters, it's got them all. It's got Hilda's goodbye in the pub, it's got scenes of Ena Sharples playing carols on the piano with everyone stood around singing along.

One of my favourite scenes took place in 1992. All the single women had Christmas together in the pub... Bet, Rita, Denise Osborne, Raquel and Phyllis and the scene showed Raquel charading the movie title "Desperately Seeking Susan" to the hilarity of the others. Good fun! Another great scene had Jack and Vera returning to the house to find that the dog Jack had bought Vera had eaten the turkey and then chased them up the stairs! Then there was Sally giving birth in Don's cab with Liz there to catch the baby (Rosie born on Rosamund street.... they sure didn't get very far, did they!) Other Christmas babies included the Mallett twins and Ben Watts.

Another good Christmas, though it wasn't on that dvd, was a couple of years ago when Karen took off in the car that she and the Barlows were sharing only she didn't realize that baby Amy was in the back in her carseat. Tracy thought Karen took the baby on purpose and went spare. About the only time she ever showed any maternal instinct, if you ask me. Karen ended up burning the car on the red rec and Tracy thought the baby went with it and tried to run over Karen with a cab. Of course the baby was ok, Karen took her to Roy and Hayley. After it was all over, the next day (Christmas Day) Steve saw Vera hollering at Jack and asked Vera if she ever got tired of rowing with Jack. I can't remember what she said but she sees that Steve is upset and when he says that karen miscarried, Vera hugs him right there on the street. It seemed to fix his decision in his head and that's when he goes back to the flat and tells Karen they're finished. Great stuff. The actors were dynamic right to the moment when Karen stalked off down the street in the snow, head held high.

What's going to happen this year? We in Canada will have to wait until early next Fall to find out unfortunately. I already know and there will be a few surprises, emotional and physical bruises and one or two happy families.

Sunday Comments, December 9

I'm back! And on a fortuitous day, too! Happy 47th Birthday Coronation Street! Over at Corrieblog, i've posted the episode summary with a few pics of the very first episode that appeared 47 years ago on this date. I'm back from my hols and had a lovely time with my fella, walking the streets of Paris, London and Manchester.

Lines of the week:

• David to Tracy "Have i got 'muppet' across me forehead?"
  
• Tracy to David "So... how's school?"
  
• Dev "I'm the boss!" (I'm sure Amber lets him think that!)
  
• Liam to Leanne "I'll take you anywhere you want" (yes please!)
  
• Steve to Vernon "You should be on a stage... in a cage"
  
• Liam "Tribunal and homophobia." Carla "Majority and shareholder!" Liam "Nut and case."
  

Leanne is sure spouting a lot of jargon about property development and profits and losses. Who on earth owns Number 7? Blanche did and Danny wanted to buy it but she didn't sell it to him as i recall. Something is telling me she did sell it to someone to raise the money for her Polish hip. Now Leanne wants to buy it and rent it to Jamie. Talk about conflict of interest! She also seems interested in Liam, too. Somehow i don't really buy her tales of making a mint in property sales.

Vicky already seems to have got the measure of those cows that are treating her like dirt. Seems like the wages she's getting are dirt too. *tsk* Oh Peter's back for a bit and Janice is back too! Did you find it strange that the television seemed to be behind the dining room table at the Barlow's? Surely it used to be out in the main room anytime we actually saw it. Maybe it was just the angle.

Tracy is still stringing David along. She managed to get the keys to Charlie's flat to take David there but hey, there's stil a security camera watching the door and she doesn't know about it! I bet that comes back to bite her on the backside since she's not supposed to be consorting with witnesses. She nearly had to follow through on her empty promise. God, i don't kno whow she could stand it, being there with a smirking smug teenage boy. Desperate times. (and where's his tan coming from?) David actually looked scared to death and even Jason could tell something was up and now Deirdre has her suspicions too. Tracy always seems to put that little extra detail too much into her stories, doesn't she? Saying that David is traumatized is one thing but wetting the bed?

Deirdre is starting to see behind Tracy's lies i think though she isn't quite ready to admit it. Destroying that tape which is evidence, could get Deirdre banged up again too. I don't see why it's so unbelievable that Tracy might actually "interfere" with a spotty 16 year old when she was perfectly willing to interfere with her grandmother's boyfriend who was close to 80! Tracy's pleading not guilty. Of course!

Can't blame Michelle for being upset with Sean. It's causing so much trouble in the pub between Michelle and Sean that poor Jack had to change the barrel in order to get his pint. Sonny didn't waste any time either did he? Michelle dumps him so he might as well go back to Sean? "We could be good together" What??? two days before that he was proposing to Michelle (obviously to cover up his fling with Sean) Selfish scum, that's what i think and that's what Sean told him too. Poor Michelle. Seems she gets all spikey when she gets dumped instead of mooning and crying. Makes a change at least. Poor Ryan thinks it's his fault but he found out the hard way.

I still don't understand why Sean when knocking on Sonny's door after he tossed Sonny out the day before and that's bollocks that "Sonny" was playing games with him. Michelle, yes a lot more so. And i really didn't buy that the kid would jump into a powerful Porche to get his own back. Obviously it's brought back pretty bad memories for Michelle who lost her partner to a car crash and it's *really* touched a nerve with Paul because Paul and Liam are keeping a secret about when Michelle's husband died. Paul was the one driving, not Dean! and Holy Crap, did Paul overreact to Sean or was he justified? I know he's got a right to be angry with Sean for Michelle's sake but attacking him and firing him like that was a bit much. Still, the strike was effective.

I still fail to see what Liz sees in Vernon. He's really a waste of space. He's going to offer drum lessons in the upstairs of the pub??? Where? In a bedroom? It didn't take her long to start making eyes at that new drayman, did it? both of them complaining to the other about their respective partners. There lie dragons, i tell yer! Dev is trying to get himself back out in the dating scene again. But somehow i think his charm is falling a bit flat. Is he getting fat? Maybe a little but he looks fine to me. Dev the charmer though, probably could use new duds for confidence. I laughed at him and Peter both wearing the same shirt and getting all fussy about it like two women at a ball. Sean said they should get a peephole but it looked like there was one in the door when he opened it to Joanne.