Are some Corrie characters without real character?

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

We are always divided when it comes to which Corrie characters work and which simply do not. Most avid viewers will always appreciate characters like Deirdre, Audrey, Rita, Steve and Lloyd. Roy and Hayley will always be true Weatherfield legends. 

However more and more it feels like our screens are being filled with dead end characters that we don't care about in the present, never mind hoping they will develop into the next generation of Corrie legends.

While Fiz, Tyrone, Jason and Leanne have achieved longevity and popularity as they developed, will we one day say the same about Sophie, Jenna, Tim or Faye? It's hard to believe the current incarnation of Sophie Webster has been on screen for nearly ten years. She was adorable as a child actor, very sharp, funny and the antithesis of sister Rosie. Then she grew up, stopped being sharp, funny or even interesting. I didn't get Sophie and Sian; I didn't like Sophie and Jenna. All she does is moan, whinge and strop. She should really get herself to EastEnders with manners like hers.

Jenna is a more sympathetic character (it wouldn't be hard). Apart from her scenes with Lloyd, she just doesn't seem to gel. Maybe it was just me, but Jenna's scenes with Roy on Friday evening just didn't quite come off. I would like her to stay around, but she really does need to escape the mess Sophie got her into. Would it be wrong to have one young female Corrie character with a successful career away from the street itself?

TIm was an interesting arrival. Joe Duttine is a great actor with a good track record in other telly and films. The writers kept us guessing for ages - was Tim really a dreadful father or just a bit hopeless, but still genuine underneath. Putting TIm with Sally is a huge mistake. I do love Sally. She's like Leanne in many ways - she has different facets and can go from sympathetic (her lovely chat with Roy recently) to snob (her comments on Anna's soft furnishings) with ease. However Tim's character development seems to have hit the skids. There's only so many times we can see him let everyone down and appear not to care. 

Of course it doesn't help that the daughter at the centre of this storyline is Faye. She remains deeply unlikeable and I can't for the life of me see why Anna is so besotted with the little madam. Adding the vile Grace to the mix really isn't helping one bit. We all know what will happen. Grace will encourage and pressurise Faye to do increasingly horrid things to other adults and children, daft Anna will defend them both to the hilt, blinkered as usual, then it will all come out in the wash. I cannot wait.

So is it just me, is there really a clutch of unsympathetic, unlikeable, EastEnders style characters populating our favourite street at the moment? Can you see a way forward for Sophie, Jenna, Tim or Faye?

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