Monday 24 February 2014

What a drunk Bet and Raquel can teach today's Corrie writers


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

I came across one of my most favourite Coronation Street scenes the other night and I felt it was worth a blog post all of its own. I'm sure many of you will have seen it before, however it definitely stands up to repeat viewings. You can view the scene here.

Bet and Raquel are two of Corrie's best loved characters and their onscreen partnership in the Rovers during the 1990s was a joy. There was always humour mixed with touches of vulnerability. Julie Goodyear and Sarah Lancashire sum up what's best about Corrie in this scene. The performances are spot on, the acting is terrific. You can tell both Julie and Sarah are having fun with their characters. It is also written beautifully. Time is taken to set the scene up and it meanders along with nothing much happening. It's not the wham bam of today. It's funny and a little bit sad and is probably something a lot of viewers could and can relate to, and that for me is Corrie at its finest.

Betty Driver once said that while she would always love Coronation Street, she did miss the times in the Rovers where the regulars would chat together in long scenes where nothing much happened. It strengthened the sense of community and made it feel real. We do see a bit of that now and again, but for me the action nowadays is far too plot driven. 

So Corrie writers, let's take a page out of Bet and Raquel's book. Let's have more Streetcars scenes with Steve, Lloyd and Eileen discussing nothing much of anything and having a laugh. Let's see Liz and Deirdre chewing the fat in the Rovers, Rita and Audrey musing over their rich histories. There's so much material to be explored and it doesn't all have to revolve around Tina flamin' McIntyre and pathetic Peter Barlow!




Follow the Bluenose CorrieBlog on Twitter and Facebook

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here, Here! I totally agree. That scene with Audrey, Rita, Stella, Deirdre and Maria in the salon was ALMOST one of those moments. I loved it.

Unknown said...

Life isn't like that anymore. No one has time to sit around talking about nothing , everyone has to work and raise kids and on and on. The addition of cell phones to the world has not improved things in Corrie Street. People's lives are just too full of the "train-train en vie" ( everything is go, go ,go! ) If they portrayed people's lives on the screen as leisurely it would't ring true. Times have changed and Corrie has to change with it. They have to decide what kind of demographic they are going after_the old-timers or the younger folks that can relate.
Everything changes...twas ever thus !

I have to say that the actors that portray "Tina" and "Peter" are two of the best actors to ever appear on CS. The characters are despicable but the quality of their acting is top notch (imo.)
Cheers !

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...