Coronation Street: Up the workers!

(This post was originally posted by Graeme N on the Coronation Street Blog in February 2013.)

From what a lot of regular commentators on this fine blog say the cast of Coronation Street is currently bulging at the seams with unnecessary and often unloved characters. Oh yes, I mean the dead wood of Weatherfield.

From what I've seen the same names appear on this roll call of shame. Tracy Barlow. Rob Donovan. Ryan Connor. St Ella of The Back Room. Eileen's Fireman, who increasingly I believe I would appreciate more if he'd actually left La Grimshaw's head stuck in those railings. No matter who we would cull if we had the power, I think we can all agree that Corrie currently has far too big a cast. 

My mother, after watching the Street religiously (not in an Ivy Tilsley way) for most of her adult life, gave up tuning in for around six months. I recently encouraged her to join me for an episode and I spent much of that time explaining who everybody was and how they could possibly all fit in those tiny little houses. Enough is enough! I think it is time for a wee experiment.

Most Corrie fans are aware of the actors' Equity Strike that caused havoc for Granada back in the early 1960s. For several months only the core cast of the Street was allowed to feature. This meant Corrie relied on the talents of just fourteen regular characters to keep viewers entertained. As these characters included Elsie Tanner, Annie Walker and Ena Sharples, it was probably still a heavenly experience. However, imagine if that situation happened in 2013!

What a test that would be for today's cast! So here's my question for you. If a strike was announced today, and only fourteen characters could continue to appear, which would you choose? 

I have given this a bit of thought and here is my selection:

Gail, David, Kylie, Nick, Leanne, Audrey, Rita, Dennis, Sylvia, Roy, Steve, Sally, Lloyd, Marcus. 

So have a go yourself. Share your choices with me and then sit back, relax, and imagine a world without Tracy, Rob and Ryan. 




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