Friday 30 March 2018

Conversation Street Podcast 299

Welcome to Gemma and Michael's podcast for the  episodes that aired up to last night's Canadian Corrie. Click here to listen.

In the last podcast of the 200s, we chat about the episodes of Coronation Street between the 12th and the 16th March. A couple of massive talking points in this week's show, starting off, of course, in Street Talk with David's rape. Is it Corrie's duty to inform viewers about this issue that's often considered taboo, was it too much to put on TV before the watershed, and is it just another attempt at ratings grabbing? Of course, the story's only just begun, but in any case, we do our best to look at both sides of the argument, and ponder where things could go next.

After more discussion of Tyrone and Gemma's night together and our early reactions to clairvoyant Rosie, we move onto the second big discussion of the week: the new Victoria Street set! We take a look at every nook and cranny of the recently revealed expansion, give our reactions, and wonder how each part might be used on screen.

That's followed by a few smaller bits of news, including a report on how Brooke Vincent got on in the Dancing On Ice final. We round off the episode with some feedback, including an email from a new listener and a voicemail.

00:02:15 - Street Talk
01:34:11 - The Victoria Street set expansion
02:32:38 - The Kabin
02:39:48 - Feedback







Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter

Monday 26 March 2018

Corrie Canada Weekly Awards March 19 - 23

Ironic Man award: Tim. Sally wanted to move house to get away from Phelan and Tim then ends up saving Phelan's life. And Tim was the one that then outed Phelan's admission to the old Calcutta Street flat scam. He really is a super hero, Tim!

Peaked Blinders award: Eileen has been blinded to Phelan's true nature by her need to have her man.

Pants on Fire award: Phelan told Mona that his wife was ill then told his wife that he quit because too much work ruined his last marraige. Then he promises Eileen no more lies!

Fashionista Award: Mary was wearing a really pretty dress. Loved the colours.

Lines of the week:
Kate "I actually felt horrible for not feeling more horrible"
Rosie to Sophie "I'm the stupid one, remember?"
Tim to Phelan "I might not be a genius, and I might have saved your life last night, but I'll not let you get away with this"
Tim to Eileen "If he's lied about them flats, what else has he lied about eh?"
Phelan "I'm a fool for love and I regret it" (shocked at the lengths he goes!)
Tim "He's just around the corner.... well it's a very large corner"
Eileen "I just don't think he's that bad a man" (if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...)
David "Talking's overrated"
Eva "Thank your lucky stars I don't phone the police" Lee "Lucky stars? What's one of them?" (true, he's probably not seen very many in his life)
Eva "Scum of the earth is a flippin' insult to scum of the earth"
Audrey "Oh David. It's the other side of the world, not the end of it" David "You been practicing that?"





Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter

Sunday 25 March 2018

Cooking with Coronation Street - Bet and Alec's Guinness casserole

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog January 2018, reposted to this blog with permission.)

All pictures copyright @ConversationStr
Greetings! Here we go with the fourth of our Cooking with Coronation Street blog posts in which we take recipes from this little gem of a book from 1992 and see what they turn out like when cooked at home by Corrie fans.  



Our friends from the Coronation Street podcast - Conversation Street, Gemma and Michael have taken up the cookery challenge again, this time to make Guinness casserole. 

You can follow Conversation Street on Twitter @ConversationStr and Facebook


Michael and Gemma chose to cook Bet and Alec's Guinness Casserole from the Corrie recipe book this time and now, it's over to them both... 
"
For week two of our Corrie cooking experience, we decided to tackle Bet and Alec Gilroy’s Guinness casserole. A boozy, meaty dish is not the sort of meal you’d catch the current recovering alcoholic landlord and vegetarian landlady cooking, but it hit the spot on a cold January evening! Just like Betty’s hotpot, it’s simple to make, uses few ingredients, and is a great, traditional dish. 




The most important part of recipe is the Guinness. No other beer will do, not even a pint of Newton and Ridley’s finest. First of all, you must procure 290ml of the stuff, which could leave you with quite a lot left over in the bottle, so here are some ideas to use up the remaining Guinness:

Pour it down the sink
Pour it down your throat
Pour it over a cheating partner or chuck it in the face of a shrieking harpy in the pub
Sell it on for a profit at school (but don’t get caught, Simon)

Another similarity this has with Betty’s hotpot is that you use copious amounts of lard - the Northern climate makes it essential that you grow a thick insulating layer of the stuff across your ribs to keep out the cold, so this is absolutely not negotiable and under no circumstances should you use something sensible like vegetable oil. Fry up your onions in spoonfuls of it and try not to wonder what it’s doing to your arteries. Think of excuses for when Doctor Gaddas confronts you about your cholesterol levels. (She’s a pushover anyway, just ask Eva.) Then you chuck in big chunks of flour-dredged beef, let it all brown, and pour in the Guinness. Cover and bake for a few hours, and you’re ready to eat yourself into a coma. 

Guinness Casserole, serves 2

Lard, and plenty of it
2 large onions, thinly sliced
450g stewing or braising beef
Seasoned flour
1/2 pint or 290ml Guinness
1 beef stock cube
Bay leaf

Preheat the oven to 160C, gas mark 3

In your casserole pan, fry the onions with the lard until browned. Make sure to keep squinting into the pan as you stir so your face gets the full force of the noxious onion fumes and you can then stride around the house with tears streaming down your face, letting everyone know how hard cooking is and what a sacrifice you’re making just so they can have dinner. 



Coat the meat in the flour and stir it all around until you have disgusting meat gummy fingers. Don’t lick them - it’s gross. 

Brown the meat in the pan in batches and then add the onions back in. You might want to chuck in more lard; it can’t hurt you now. 

Pour in the Guinness and add the stock cube and bay leaf. Bring to the boil and then cover. 



Bake in the oven for at least three hours, or until the bitter flavour of the Guinness has mellowed. 

Serve with mash, roasted potatoes, or if you’re watching your figure like Rosie, masses of green veggies. 



Keep your eyes peeled for the next of our Cooking with Coronation Street blog posts coming very soon.






Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter

Saturday 24 March 2018

Another Record Broken for Coronation Street

(This post was originally posted by Tvor on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2018, reposted to this blog with permission.)

This week marks another first for Coronation Street. It slipped by almost unnoticed but was marked on Twitter by the superb Corriepedia.

This week, Corrie became the world record holder for the longest serial drama on television, passing the American soap Guiding Light.

The Guiding Light was created by a woman called Irna Philips who also created and wrote for many other soaps and serials, first on radio and then for television including several top ratings ones. My personal favourite was Another World which aired from 1964 to 1999. As The World Turns ran from 1956 to 2010. Ms. Phillips was also a writer for Days of our Lives which is still broadcast daily since the mid 1960s and she was a consultant on the popular Peyton Place in the 1960s.

You may remember that in 2010 just before Corrie's 50th anniversary, William Roache took the crown for longest continuous serving actor in a role away from Don Hastings who played Bob Hughes on As the World Turns (not Guiding Light as I had originally posted. Sorry!) from October 1960 until the series' final episode on September 17, 2010. You can see where Roache's dates were very similar, his starting point being December 9, 1960. In November, the calendar turned over in Roache's favour.

The Guiding Light actually started it's life as a 15 minute radio serial in 1937 and moved to television in June, 1952 though it continued on radio as well until 1956. It was actually cancelled twice for several months each time but was brought back by popular demand. Another actress on As The World Turns, Helen Wagner, holds the record for longest serving actor in a role, having had hers since 1956 but she had left the show for several years so her tenure is not continuous like Hastings' and Roache's were/are. Eileen Derbyshire is next on that list. I don't think it counts for absences for medical or personal leave when the actor is still technically on the cast list.

Congratulations, Corrie, you are king of the soap/serial drama world!







Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter

Top 5 Romantic Moments in Coronation Street

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog February 2018, reposted to this blog with permission.)


In honour of St. Valentine's day this week, let's have a look at some of Coronation Street's most romantic moments.  These are some of my personal favourites, so please do leave a comment below if yours isn't mentioned as I'd love to know what other people love too.

In no special order, here we go with my top 5 of Coronation Street's most romantic moments.

1. Curly names a star after Raquel


A beautiful, touching scene from Christmas 1994. Curly points to the heavens and tells Raquel he's named a star after her. It's called Mrs Raquel Watts.

2. Roy and Hayley at the airport


After Hayley had her gender reassignment operation, she followed Roy to the airport and wrote, in red lipstick on the window the words he longed to hear: "I'm coming with you."  You can watch the clip, below, with commentary from Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Hayley Cropper.



3.  Stan and Hilda's second honeymoon


The Ogdens won third prize in a "Loving Cup Shandies" competition - a second honeymoon night in a five-star hotel with her winning slogan "Be a mistress as well as a wife and your husband'll still be a boyfriend".  The scene above gave rise to one of Corrie's best loved lines.  Stan: "What's that lipstick taste of?" Hilda: "Woman, Stanley. Woman"

4. Deirdre agrees to marry Ken, for the second time
In 2005 Deirdre finally accepted Ken's proposal of marriage - and agreed to marry him (for the 2nd time).  Ken got down on one knee, in the rain, while Deirdre was sitting on Maxine's bench outside of the hair salon.  What a lovely place for a proposal.

5. Vera's ghost returns as Jack Duckworth dies


When Jack Duckworth died in his armchair at No. 9, his little swamp duck Vera returned to take him away with her.

What are some of your favourite romantic moments from our favourite show?






Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter

Friday 23 March 2018

Interview with Jennie McAlpine: Are Fiz and Tyrone on a sinking ship?

(This post was originally posted by Tvor on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2018, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Why has Tyrone and Fiz’s relationship become so fractured?

They have fallen out because whilst she has been away Tyrone has been telling her that everything is fine at home. Ruby has been really well behaved, her behaviour has improved and then Fiz has found out that Tyrone has been lying and Ruby has been badly behaved. Gemma knows, Sean knows, everyone but Fiz knows. So she is angry at him for not telling her but also tells him that he needs to get help for Ruby.

How does Tyrone react to that?

He says he doesn’t think it is necessary she is only 5. Fiz says that if he doesn’t she is going to move out and go and stay with Chesney as she doesn’t want Hope under the same roof as Ruby.

Is this problem made worse by the fact that they both have their own children by other people and are trying to bring them up as one happy family?

Yes it is really hard because they are both trying to prove they love the children equally but Ruby is Tyrone’s daughter and Hope is Fiz’s and Fiz has basically said to Tyrone that she won’t risk having her daughter in the same house as his daughter. Fiz thinks if it was the other way round she would be feeling exactly the same and she insists that she loves Ruby.

Does Fiz think Ruby’s behaviour is down to her mum being Kirsty?

Well for Fiz there is no denying that Ruby has this mother and how do we know she hasn’t got these traits off her mother, which is awful for Tyrone to have to think about. Obviously Fiz is conveniently forgetting here that Hope’s dad was a murderer, but then they don’t think Hope is the problem here.

What makes her think they should make a go of it?

They talk, have a heart to heart and they agree to try and sort things out. Fiz is grateful and agrees to move back in unaware of what Tyrone has done the previous week.

Then she makes a shocking discovery?

Yes she is taking some washing out of the washing machine that Tyrone has washed. She is impressed he has washed the bedding but then she finds a condom wrapper. Her first thought is that it is Sean and she is not happy he has had someone round in her house and has to have this embarrassing chat with Sean.

How does Sean react?

He is mortified and says ‘absolutely not, I have never brought anyone back here nor would I do’. He says he respects Fiz and Tyrone and the family. So at that point they both start thinking and there is only one awful conclusion that they both come to. And that is not thought that either of them want to have and it would never have even entered Fiz’s head.

How does she react?

She never thought for a minute that it could be Tyrone’s until she has the conversation with Sean, she believes him so then she has to face up to the fact that it must be Tyrone’s and she tackles him about it straight away. Fiz is like that she doesn't pussy foot around things, she speaks her mind. Tyrone and Fiz have gone through so much to be together and have always been honest with each other till now. The dishonesty and betrayal is the shock for her. She is absolutely blindsided by it and can’t believe that he could do that to her.

How does Chesney react?

Chesney feels betrayed by both Gemma and Tyrone. Fiz has been suggesting to him that Gemma might have a bit of a thing for him and Chesney was possibly starting to wonder about making a move with Gemma.

What reaction are you expecting when people find out what Tyrone has done?

Myself and Alan have a bit of a bet on who will be the most hated. We thought we might get Team Ty and Team Fiz t-shirts. Fiz will not shut up about the whole Ruby business so people might be on Tyrone’s side for that reason. Some people might think she should give him a break! Or maybe Gemma might get some backlash?

Did you ever think when you went off to Australia for I’m a Celeb that it might lead to this for Fiz and Tyrone?

No did I heck!! This is quite a bomb under their relationship and had I not have gone off it might not have happened in this way. As actors it is great for us to have this change of dynamic in their relationship and for Tyrone to do something that people would not expect.

Their relationship was at breaking point with the Ruby situation and this has totally destroyed them. She thinks the only thing they can do is protect her own daughter and they could end up being two separate families.

Then at the end of the week there is a twist that could change everything?

Yes Fiz spots Hope and Joseph at the top of the stairs and she realises that Hope is pushing him down the stairs.

Does she realise at that moment that she could have got this all wrong?

All in one second she sees what is happening and then has the dawning realisation that Hope is the problem not Ruby! It is a real shock for her to realise that she is wrong and Hope’s response is really worrying because she just says I’m sorry mummy and walks off giving a sweet little smile.

Does she come clean to Tyrone?

No she is guilt ridden and doesn’t know what to do because Tyrone comes round and says he is sorry about missing Hope’s hospital appointment for her cancer check up and that he has been a bad dad and is going to take Ruby for counseling. Meanwhile Fiz is trying to process that it is her daughter that is the problem.

Can Fiz and Tyrone recover from this?

I really don’t know, they have a very rock road ahead, they have both been guilty of dishonesty and it is going to take some time to get over all of this.







Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter

Conversation Street Podcast 298

Welcome to Gemma and Michael's podcast for the  episodes that aired up to last night's Canadian Corrie. Click here to listen.

An interesting week this week, for sure. Although there were big plot developments in some of of the stories - Pat gets stuck in cement, Eileen finds out about the Calcutta Street scam, Tyrone cheats on Fiz - quite a bit of it made one or both of us feel rather angry, so strap yourselves in and prepare for some epic Gemma rants!

There was even some disagreement between the pair of us over Phelan's confession, so things really did get quite heated! At least one thing we did agree on was that Moira's performance at the party was just brilliant - who says comedy on Corrie is dead? Just to lighten the mood after a grumpy Street Talk, we then delve into an irreverant discussion of illegal drug taking on Corrie. From the evil dealers like Callum and Jez to the unintentional comedy of Izzy on cannabis, our narcotic-based natterings will give you a thorough history of one of Corrie's darker terriories.

There's good news for Brooke Vincent fans in the Kabin as our Weatherfield representative makes it to the Dancing On Ice final, and we round things off with some listener feedback.

In response to a lister request, we've decided to put time stamp on the main sections of the podcast in our episode notes from now on, so here's the rundown for this week!
Street Talk: 00:04:21
Feature Discussion - Drugs: 01:41:42
The Kabin: 02:42:32
Feedback: 02:51:56







Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter

Thursday 22 March 2018

Corrie Canada sneak previews for March 26 - 30

Without further ado here is a brief sneak preview of what you'll see on next week's Corrie in Canada.

Tyrone confesses. Fiz finds out which sister is really the naughty one. Their mutual guilt brings them together but there are still more secrets to hide. The clairvoyant has messages for Audrey and Gail from the other side. Billy turns up with Adam at his side. Jude gets a job. Adam confesses to Billy and the church offers it's support. David and Josh help Alya but who's flirting with whom? It's getting more difficult for Eva to hide her bump. Ali's legal mother turns up. David has a horrifying experience.


For these and more detail, see the Moosejaw Mercury on Corrie.net







Tvor @tvordlj on Twitter
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