Rovers Re-burn

(This post was originally posted by Clinkers (David) on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2013.)

Well, have we all enjoyed Fire Week then? A well-deserved round of applause for the technical team on Corrie who made the whole thing look so fearsome. Enough of Rita's wig though and on to the main action as viewers looked on to see St. Ella do her Joan of Arc routine.

Possibly therein lies the problem. As exemplified by numerous comments on these very pages, the most that Stella can elicit is apathy. Many loathe her whereas most of us just accept her for the vision in beige that she is. Had this been Hayley, then we would have felt justifiably upset. Tears would have been shed. At this stage of the game though, Stella's passing would not have been a cause for regret.

The idea of the locals stripping off in the local restaurant (how weird was that) hovered between gigglesome and dreadful. Sean's truly disgusting jacket should have been fed to the flames and Rita should have known better. For some reason, these scenes didn't feel right - they were all just a little too out of the ordinary, especially the shoe-horning in of the seldom seen Doctor Carter and another odd post - "We'll Meet Again" cameo from Tommy.

Otherwise, the fire episodes were funny in parts (the previously blogged Peter Barlow line was pure genius) but also manged to feel a little clunky. The swift drafting in and demise of Toni was poor. Expendable, she sallied forth into the flames.

Even with fire raging, Tina still found enough venom in her to bitch about Kirsty, the latter of whom was spiralling out of control in a sour world of her own making. Meanwhile, a more beige than usual Stella was pulled from the wreckage and deposited in an ambulance. The medic advised that "She's in respiratory arrest" to which Gloria/Barbara Royle responded, Mrs Overall style, "Please tell me what's happening".

The medical updates continued at a pace Holby City would have been proud of. "They've sedated her. Perhaps they should sedate me an' all" moaned Leanne, yet again bringing the story back to her. She's definitely her mother's daughter. The episodes were peppered with weary dialogue from Emily about 'burnt tongues' (no idea what she was banging on about  . . .) and Gloria/Sheila Grant wittering on about Karl walking over hot coals.

However the best was saved for last, with those touching hospital scenes as Weatherfield General cured Karl of smoke inhalation within minutes, in order that he could continue emoting like a comedian in a 1970s working men's club. Meanwhile, Dev was doing a passable impression of Thomas the Tank engine reversing into the sidings, as he tenderly rubbed Sunita's scorched hands. She gamely slept through it all, grateful of the chance not to be boomed at by her increasingly odd ex.

The week's episodes held little excitement and few expectations and therefore I was not disappointed. They heralded the end of the Collinson era, the beginning of the end for the much-maligned Sunita and a new beginning for our favourite pub. If nothing else, let's raise a glass of Newton & Ridley's to that.




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Blog Exclusive! Behind-the-scenes interview at Rovers Return fire

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog February 2013, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Matt and his team from Rapid Fire Cover on Coronation Street

Q: Matt, what is Rapid Fire Cover and how did you become involved in filming the Rovers Return fire at Coronation Street?
Rapid Fire Cover is a specialist fire protection company providing fire safety services to the Television, Film and Events industry. We supply professional firefighters, costumes, props, fire appliances and other fire service vehicles. Previously we’ve worked with Emmerdale, Prisoners Wives, DCI Banks, The Syndicate, Bedlam and Silent Witness and have been involved in numerous feature films and adverts.

Q: Are you a fan of Coronation Street and if so, what's it been like to see the Rovers Return burning down?
I am big a fan of Corrie and watching such an iconic landmark burn down in front of us has been quite surreal. To have been involved from the start and to finally get to filming, after all of the planning and such a long exciting wait, has been incredible. We feel very privileged to have worked on such a high profile storyline.

Q: We've seen press pictures on twitter of Corrie's fireman Paul as the Rovers burns down. Did you have to give the actor specific fireman training?
Tony Hirst, who plays Paul, is a great guy and has kept us entertained all week. We have talked through with him in great depth various techniques and procedures that relate to his part within the storyline which have added to his already in depth knowledge through his own research.

Q: What's been the best things about working on Coronation Street
Apart from the dinners?! The cast and crew have been great and very welcoming towards us.

Q: Did you get star struck and meet Corrie cast members you are big fans of?
Having worked on many productions in the past, being star struck is no longer a novelty and you soon realise the cast are ordinary people just the same as us going about their normal working day, although this is definitely not your usual 9-5 job!

Q: As a Corrie fan, who are your favourite characters and some of your favourite storylines from over the years?
My favourite character has to be Norris; I think he makes the show! To be able to meet and work with both the young and senior members of the cast who are legends in their own right, is something some of the fans who have been waiting outside all week in the rain, can only dream of.  Although this maybe is bias, my favourite storyline has to be this one due to the fact I have heard there are some pretty handsome firefighters involved! No, seriously, having watched back what we have filmed already, I can assure you that these episodes are going to be amazing and will surely change a few of the characters’ lives forever.

Q: Is there anything you can tell us about the Rovers Return fire from a technical point of view?
Whilst we understand there is a need to get the desired footage, there cannot be a compromise to anybody’s safety, so we have to ensure all bases are covered. We have had 10 firefighters, 2 fire appliances and 2 support vehicles on standby ensuring the cast and crew’s safety were not jeopardised whilst filming. We use mainly co2 to ensure we do not cause water damage to the sets which can at times also impose its own risks. We have also had breathing apparatus crews on standby for high risk scenes where we may need to have crews inside the burning pub to carry out firefighting or should the worst occur and we have to rescue a cast member.

Q: Ooh, it sounds exciting!  Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Fans can expect an adrenalin filled week of episodes with some spectacular stunt sequences which will keep them on the edge of their seats.  Oh - and I don’t share puddings!

Matt Owens
www.rapidfirecover.co.uk
The Television and Event Fire Safety Specialists

Follow Matt on twitter @rapidfirecover



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Death on the cobbles

It's a requisite part of any continuing drama that the characters will eventually have to be killed off. Not everyone of course. The very nature of drama means that those we have known and loved, or even loathed, will never pass away quietly under a snowy white duvet, friends and family gathered around, teary-eyed yet thankful for a life well-lived.

The  fire at t'Rovers had very little appeal. Even the hopeful prospect of St. Ella of the Back Room perishing like Joan of Arc is perhaps not that great a draw. Death in Weatherfield is not what it used to be.

Personally, for shock value alone, I'm taken back to episode 1772, broadcast in January 1978. The day Ernie Bishop met his maker. The preamble to his demise has been well-documented over the years. Actor Stephen Hancock was less than happy with the programme's slightly odd idea that certain members of the cast were paid regardless of the number of episodes they appeared in. Hancock was not one of the lucky few and having been told by Bill Podmore that this system would not change, the end of Ernie Bishop was nigh.

The general agreement amongst the management was that Ernie would have to die. It was unlikely that the character would have had an extra-marital affair, given his Christian beliefs, so death was the only possible exit.

As a child, still at primary school but already a keen Corrie viewer, I found myself horrified by Ernie's murder. At that age, death still seems a long way off and you don't expect anyone to disappear from your life, even if they are fictitious. Here was a character who had regularly been popping up on my telly a couple of times a week for the entire length of my life. The following day at school, Ernie's murder was the only topic of conversation. Kids were genuinely shocked. Of course, it's only a TV show and we soon moved on to other things but, for a while, the sight of a familiar character meeting a bloody end had a palpable effect.

Thirty five years later, we are all a bit older and wiser. Some Corrie deaths still have the power to resonate though. Alma Halliwell's demise from cancer was pitched beautifully, with the right amount of anger, sadness and resignation. It was an emotional departure for another much-loved character. The long goodbye of Mike Baldwin was similarly sad and even the off-screen passing of Betty Williams brought a lump to the throat.

Death, in most dramas, tends to be overplayed these days. We get used to characters falling from rooftops, being clubbed over the head or exploding in sets that require a makeover. These kind of endings are simply run-of-the-mill. Using the death of a little loved landlady in order to build a shiny new Rovers, if it turns out to be true, will be shockingly ordinary.



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A suggestion for a new Rovers layout

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

It's no secret that the current Rovers layout is a bit strange, with toilets that by all means should be in the Barlow's living room, a back room and kitchen that should be in the middle of Rosamund Street, and a stairway that leads to the back yard.

So here's my simple solution to all the Rovers TARDIS woes, a more compact back of the Rovers, with two doors behind the bar, one leading to the kitchen, and one to the private hallway.

A door to the kitchen would be a good addition due to food being more important these days, after all they have a designated cook now.

I also put two small toilets in the hallway that leads to the smoking shelter as well as a staircase that would lead to the cellar in the bar. The bar itself would end up being bigger too.

I hope Corrie do take this opportunity to sort out the layout of the Rovers, even the original Rovers was oversized with the snug and select breaking the boundaries of reality.



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There are no secrets in Weatherfield

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

Here we are then, yet another Corrie 'bombshell', another 'explosive' week for the residents blah blah blah. Realistically though, it feels as though there is little drama to be wrenched out of this whole affair. Rovers burns? We know. Sunita meets her maker? Yes we know that too. Hastily written-in character perishes? Yes, we'll tick that particular box as well. Everything we need to know about the entire saga has already been laid bare which brings about the question - does secrecy have more value?

Nowadays it's the norm for all TV dramas to unveil plotlines weeks before they air. Ok, they sometimes roll out that tedious 'we've filmed two endings' nonsense which fools no one, especially as most media outlets will have named the departing actor anyway. It's not often that soap producers can keep a secret. In terms of Corrie, possibly the last one of any note was Raquel's surprise visit to Curly back in 2000. ITV took this very seriously, even going as far as taking the actors to an off-location set so that their colleagues did not get wind of the plot. Away from Corrie, the producers of BBC Radio 4's The Archers managed to keep quiet about the killing-off of a major character on the programme's sixtieth anniversary programme.

In the media savvy twenty first century it would be a difficult job but it would be rather special if Corrie could offer up a story with a twist which has not been signposted for weeks on end. It could be anything - a death, an unknown character trait, a confession - that part isn't particularly important. The dramatic potential of a quick, shocking moment could pay dividends. Just for once, play a trick on us all. Leave us gasping in surprise or recoiling in shock as something totally unexpected happens. Come on Team Corrie - accept the Coronation Street Blog Challenge!



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Fat Brenda's Fire Engine Horn

(This post was originally posted by Fat Brenda on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2013.)

Oh Toni, Toni! Oh no, Toni!

Loveys, it’s a sad day on’t cobbles cos we’ve lost one of our own. A hero. Sometimes I feel like folk are introduced into our lives only for them to be cruelly snatched away! As if the ONLY reason they’re there in’t first place is to die!

“You din’t even know her”, Paul keeps shouting to them what offer their commiserations. But we did know her Paul. We knew her! OH WE FLAMIN’ KNEW HER!

Oh Toni, you were a lass that drunk pints; that organised charity events! A lass that din’t get a dickie tummy or the runs when all the other firefellas did. You could choreograph doctors, builders, factory bosses, mechanics and Karl. Oh Toni Toni Toni, will I see you in heaven lovey? Are you climbing that ladder into the beyond as we speak; wearing yer breathing apparatus; rattling yer charity bucket? IT’S SO UNFAIR!

Seeing Stella banging on that window and screaming for help will be a vision that haunts for me for a long time to come, she’s that pale she were like an apparition. The ghost of the Rovers past; all beige and wan; wailing; screaming; with a vile stench (her Freshco bath pearls) wafting above the thick black smoke!

Stella climbed out of the bath...

I did see the fire earlier on in’t evening but there’s always thick black smoke in that part of the street due to Deirdre smoking in’t yard so I din’t think owt of it.

Oh loveys, did you see ‘em all getting their kit off? All pallid and gyrating! It was like Cocoon!

The Full flamin' Monty!

Rita was in bits, loveys. It reminded her of that harrowing night when the tram derailed and trapped Molly underneath them Heinz (product placement) tins and HP (product placement) beans. Poor Rita lay across the road in't Kabin, under a sea of bon bons and brick dust and the fire just brought it all back. Still, at least she din’t start that warbling again! Mind you, Dame Tommy Vera Lynn Duckworth did sing the 'White Cliffs of Dover' for us all when we held a candlelit vigil by the glowing embers of the pub. It wan’t meant to be candlelit but all them candles Gloria got when the power went out were still burning so it seemed rude not to use 'em!

Deadly and harrowing bon bons!

Apparently the firefella on the scene said that if Liz McDonald was still running the pub it’d have gone up much quicker due to the amount of man-made fibres she had in her underwear and negligee drawer. In fact, if you look closely at Liz McDonald she has a tattoo that warns folk about going too near her with a naked flame - just in case. A nightmare for a smoker!

Tattoo!

The thing that I find most tragic about the whole thing is that someone woke Tracy up!

Poor Sunita is wired up in Weatherfield General so we don’t have to worry do we, loveys? We all know that whoever goes into that place comes out alive! Sophie – when she fell off that roof and then when she got hit by that car, Stella – when she got hit by that car, Graeme Proctor – when he got hit by that car… so basically when folk get hit by a car (except my poor Liam Connor – may Cliff rest his soul – mind you he never made it to the hospital did he) they’ve got a pretty good chance of surviving.

I’ll tell you who gets on my wick: Leanne! What a sour faced, self-righteous, moody mare she is! Looking down her nose at folk when she were the one that was a drug addled scarlet jezebel! She's heading for a slap that one! I wish she'd have popped into the Rovers for summat on Monday night! Mind you, she was too busy ogling all the fellas on't stage wan't she? Old habits die hard!

Anyhow, I’m going over to the Rovers to see if them gin bottles have cooled down so I can do a bit of good old fashioned Weatherfield looting!

I'm here an' all - on TWEETER!

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Michelle Collins chats about Karl, Jason and the fire

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2013.)

There's an interview with Michelle Collins on the ITV site today and she's telling all about the Rovers blaze. She reveals that Karl will save Stella and manage to get her out through the flames. This will probably have the effect of softening Stella's recent hard attitude towards him. He's been showing distinct stalker-ish signs and she's been insisting that he back off.

The pub has electrical problems and Jason and Tim try to fix it this week. Is this the cause of the fire? The Plot Recycling Department may be in play here. If you will recall, the last Rovers fire was caused by the wrong sized fuse installed by Jack Duckworth. Time will tell but Ms. Collins says that Stella suspects that Jason may have made this similar mistake.

On filming the fire, Michelle says she felt safe but admits it was kind of scary just the same.

Prior to the fire, Stella has a go at Dev, pointing out that she thinks Sunita is unstable and untrustworthy. Michelle also think that Stella is starting to be disillusioned about Jason but jumps into asking him to move in, more to prove to Karl that she's moved on. She thinks Stella still has strong feelings for Karl in spite of everything and when he proves himself to be a hero, those feelings appear to be warming up again.

ITV has a full gallery of photos from the fire here.



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Thar she blows, The Rovers goes up in smoke

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2013.)

The creepiest line of the night was Karl whispering to Stella that at least they will die together. Then the best line of the night came from Peter.

Holy Crap, that was exciting for the most part, didn't you think? The only part that made me want to stick pins in my eyes was that absolutely cringeworthy performance of Dev's in hospital, triple sniffing over Sunita's body while Karl was stood behind him aching to pull her life support plug! Or maybe he wanted to wrap it round Dev's neck, I don't know.

Aside from that, I thought everything was very well done. Nice touch having a ladder from the builder's yard and Stella coming out of the same bedroom window that Bet did in 1986. It was strange not seeing Roy and Hayley manning the teapots in the cafe, when everyone went to the Bistro instead.

For more observations, and to find out what Peter's line of the night was, look over here.



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A Potted History of the Rovers Return

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in March 2013.)

Tonight, the Rovers burned. It's a brick building so it won't be a pile of ashes but the devasation will be pretty bad. I'm sure all the Barlows will get out safely and Number 1 will be unscathed, miraculously, but what of the pub?

The Rovers has been the heart of Coronation Street for the entire history of the show and it's seen  tragedies and triumphs, and been damaged a few times as well.

Look back on a potted history of some of the highlights of the Rovers Return here.



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Regurgitation Street

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

Do you ever feel like you've been somewhere before? I had a strange dream last night that Coronation Street had run out of storylines so the powers that be simply took all the old scripts out of the archives, added a few references to the credit crunch and One Direction, spruced it up with some product placement and trotted it out to the poor viewers. 

What a horrible nightmare. Sadly, though it seems to be coming true. Ah yes, a fire at the Rovers Return! What a great way to celebrate the arrival of Spring. Gail and Sally can sit on the cobbles and toast their marshmallows while St Ella hides under a pile of manmade fibres with that bloke who used to be the totty in Taggart.

I can just see young Philip Collinson sitting in his office, stroking his white cat, sipping his Aqua Libra (ooops, more product placement) and wondering just how he can sign off his triumphant reign at the top of ITV's flagship soap. Perhaps he was watching Celebrity Big Brother at the time and caught a glimpse of Julie Goodyear, poor thing.

 "Get it! Got it! Good!" he cried, and dug out his 1980s Coronation box set. Two and a half minutes later and the episode was written and ready.

One question remained though and that troubled him. Who could star in this Towering Inferno? It would have to be someone who hasn't had enough screen time of late. Suddenly he knew who it had to be. St Ella of the Back Room! But of course. Coronation Street fans' favourite. Young Philip knew it had to be St Ella - it would firm up her rightful position in the Best Actress category at the 2013 British Soap Awards. It was all coming together nicely...

...Oh, how I wish this was far from the truth and just a bit of a laugh, but sadly I'm not so sure. It really does pain me to say it but I'm really disappointed at the prospect of another Rovers fire. If you haven't seen the first one back in 1986, do track it down. It was well written, expertly handled and felt completely real, and a tad scary. It showed a community pulling together. I'll always remember those first few quiet moments as we saw images of a sleepy back street Weatherfield - it was haunting, hard-hitting and it worked. So why the need to rehash it in 2013? 



I know television ratings are of paramount importance these days and stunts like this are apparently necessary in making sure Corrie maintains it's share. However as far as I can see  it is all a bit cheap, blatant and unnecessary.

How's that for a legacy, Mr Collinson?

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On the edge of my seat

It started with a argybargy in the Bistro and ended up in an inferno. What did you think of the beginning two episodes of the latest Coronation Street disaster? I enjoyed it, I really did. The pre-show slanging match to the Full Monty seemed to entertain the punters almost as much as the show itself and one or two of the dancers appeared to have enjoyed themselves so much that I'm sure they had done it before.

But it was Karl that lit Stella's fire unknowingly. He didn't realize she had gone back home early and is now playing the hero, though trapped up at the top of the stairs. Was it wrong for me to be a little sorry that Tracy Barlow got out alive? We were promised a death. I had hope. On the plus side, she did go back for Eccles.

There's more commentary and a few photos here. Previews for the next episode look even more exciting! Tonight will have us on the edge of our seats for sure. Well, me anyway! What did you think?

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My thoughts on the Rovers fire (with speculation)

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

So last night we sat and watched while the Rovers Return burned. Goodness me, all this in the name of entertainment! Obviously, I couldn't wait to get my thoughts down on the blog, as this storyline has been much heralded for many weeks now. 

However rather than write at great length I'm just going to keep it simple and do a list of things I liked and things I definitely did not. 

So here we go. Let's start off on a positive note:

- The special effects and the fire itself were spectacular and very realistic. You could see where the money had gone on screen.

- The build up to the fire itself was nicely paced, even if it did feel like the strip show took an age at times!

- The fire will thankfully mark the end of the awful wallpaper/curtains/sofa combo in the Rovers back room.

- I liked that it was Emily and Norris who raised the alarm, even though the Barlows were almost all absent.

- John Michie is proving to be a very effective villain in his role as Karl.

- Tracy Barlow finally has a saving grace - she rescued Eccles from No. 1!


And now we come to my negative thoughts I'm afraid:

- Echos of the tram crash Mr Collinson - lots of residents rushing down the cobbles towards a flaming building, only this time we had the refreshing change of it being in the opposite direction.

- The strip show was just ludicrous! I actually found it embarrassing to watch, even if Rita was planted right in the front row.

- It was yet another story centred on St Ella of the Back Room. I found it disturbing to watch her soaking in the bath with Barry White crooning in the background. Urgh.

- This big event will obviously lead to lots of plots by numbers in the coming weeks: we'll have the beside vigils, the blame game, the guilt, a possible yucky Karl and St Ella reconciliation and the inevitable eventual unmasking of Karl by a suspicious St Ella. Yawn!

- The fact that this is Phil Collinson's idea of a big exit for himself. Get over yourself I say: I'd rather have had a better quality of stories and scripts throughout his reign rather than a big bang to say goodbye.

- The overall feeling of deja vu. Despite a more modern approach, it just feels like we've been here before.

- The promo picture of St Ella, Karl and Sunita surrounded by flames is one of the worst I have ever seen!

- I was most disappointed that St Ella didn't pay homage to Bet Lynch by crawling though her own vomit a la 1986. 

Despite my reservations I will of course be tuning in tonight to find out what happens next. So what are your thoughts so far?





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Michelle Keegan reflects on the Rovers Return

Michelle Keegan has been playing Tina Mcintyre for quite some time now and Tina has been working behind the bar for nearly three years. In the Express, Ms. Keegan talks a bit about the iconic pub.

When she first started at the pub, several of the cast members pointed out an anomoly on the set that may have given her pause for thought:

"I remember it well," she says. "I was with Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald) and some of the other cast members - Betty Driver, Katherine Kelly and Bev Callard (Bety Williams, and Becky and Liz McDonald) - and they pointed to a sign above the door that says 'Welcome To All'.
"For some reason, the letter 'A' had become worn, so it looked as if it said 'Welcome To Hell'.
"'That's exactly what it is!', they told me."

It might not really be Hell but it will probably look like that on Monday night when it bursts into flames. Michelle says Tina is horrified watching the building burn. Any other night she could have been there but on Friday's episode, Stella mentioned closing the pub on Monday night for a staff night out to attend the Full Monty charity show at the Bistro. That and no electricity is as good an excuse as any!

Michelle agrees that the pub is the center of the show, the very heart and is thrilled to have been able to be one in a long line of barmaids. It's a great spot to be in, too, because the Rovers is usually the center of the action and you get to be in the thick of it, though not always in a good way as she recalls when Tina and Kirsty got into a pushing fight and Kirsty ended up in labour!

She also mentions that the real set has no ceiling and I can vouch for that. It's a group of moveable walls and the bar in the middle. up behind the bar at the top of the set, behind a lighting reflector, sits the pub cat, a wooden version. It's up there out of sight but it's there for good luck.

Michelle would like to see the renovated Rovers be a bit brighter in decor but it sounds like she doesn't think it will change much overall.



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Your views on Corrie's gay characters

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

I've been having a good old muse about Coronation Street's gay characters and the direction they are currently heading in thanks to the powers that be and the Corrie writing team. I must start this blog by saying thank goodness we have gay male and female characters in Weatherfield these days to actually talk about. Progress at last. 

Currently we have four gay characters, well three and a half if you count Marcus and his current partner, Maria (no, that's not just a strange name for a bloke). So we have Marcus Dent, Sean Tully, Sawphie Webster and her new girlfriend, Jenna Kamara.

Let's start with the longest standing character on that list - Sean Tully. Sean has been a regular in Corrie for almost a decade and certainly does split viewers - some love him and others, well not so much. When Sean first appeared amid the Todd and Karl coming out storyline back in 2003 he was like a breath of fresh air. He was like Bet Lynch, only less butch. He was funny, bright and unlucky in love, just how we like our Corrie characters. He freshened up both the Grimshaw household and Underworld. For a while he was flavour of the month, appearing everywhere, and then something went wrong.

I really liked Sean when he first appeared. I also enjoyed watching the early days of his relationship with Marcus, but it wasn't to be. Sean's character has unfortunately started to grate on my nerves and I really dislike his selfish "all about me" childishness. He must be in his late 30s now and unfortunately, like many Corrie characters he just hasn't progressed or moved on. I think he suffered from over-exposure (shudder!) and in my view, it will be hard to rescue him from this slippery slope. There are rumours that he may be heading for a new romance in the future so let's hope that sees an improvement. Otherwise, I'd be happy to see him leave the cobbles.

So what about Sean's ex, Marcus Dent? I really really like Marcus. I always thought he was too good for Sean. He's a well-rounded, caring, sympathetic character of the kind that seem to be in short supply in Coronation Street today. Charlie Condou is a great actor and is always believable. I know his current story, which sees him in a surprise relationship with Maria Connor, has divided fans. I think it works though. The actors clearly demonstrate how much the characters do care about each other and I think Marcus makes a great father figure and role model for Liam. How much of this relationship is down to the instant family Marcus has long craved, I don't know but I guess time will tell.

I would really like to see Marcus interact more with his parents. We saw a glimpse of them at Christmas and I think there would be plenty of mileage in having them back again. I hope Marcus and Maria are not a flash in the pan, even if he eventually gets back on the other bus.  Ten years ago Corrie could never have explored this kind of angle so I think we must see it as a positive thing.


Finally, let's look at the only current gay relationship in Coronation Street, that of Sophie and Jenna. i like both characters individually however I had real reservations about them being together. I just couldn't see it happening in real life - it didn't seem true to me. However recent, more relaxed scenes between Jenna and Sophie have seen me warming to them as a couple. I also like how accepting Sally has been. So please, less drama and more humour in the Webster household! I was never a huge fan of the Sophie and Sian partnership. I always felt a more mature lesbian character would have been a better approach, rather than two screechy teenage girls. I hope Jenna's arrival will see Sophie grow up. 

Another interesting aspect of this relationship is Mandy's reaction. Jenna's mum was less than pleased when Jenna came out and not just because she was dating someone significantly younger. Mandy had a point when she despaired about Jenna losing her job and career prospects. I too was upset with this - there is a serious lack of educated young people in Corrie and I think this is something that needs to be rectified. I would like to see Mandy getting closer to Jenna and Sophie in the months ahead - some scenes with Sally could also be quite amusing.

So what do you think about the current crop of gay men and women in Coronation Street? Do you have a favourite? Anyone you'd gladly see the back of? 

And more importantly, do you think they are representative of gay men and women in British society today?


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Corrie Canada weekly awards March 25 - 29

Your eyes say yes but your heart says no: Katy accepted Chesney's marraige proposal but Gary knows she's up to no good.

Cunning Plan: Karl used the bust pipe to switch off the lights and pretended the water fused them.

Pants on Fire award: Katy. Ryan. Karl.

Nice Save award: Gail caught Sally out in her lie but Sally covered very well.

None of your business award: Is it Gary's place to thump Ryan for having Katy in the back of the van?

Oldest game in the book: Sophie set up Sunita and Dev to get them talking.

Tug on the heartstrings award: Katy has broken Chesney's heart.

Spirit of the Blitz award: Loved the oldies talking about the war and the old times and singing songs in the candlelit pub.

Stressed out award: Kirsty isn't dealing with the stress and a crying baby isn't helping any.

Too Little Too Late: Stella regrets sticking her nose into Dev's doubts.

Mea Culpa award: No guessing who started the fire, then. I never doubted it for a minute.

Swan Song award: Bluebirds of Dover marks the end of an era.

Lines of the week:
Jason to Karl "I didn't smash your window like you didn't torch me van" (point to Jason)
Jenna to Sally "Maybe you're gay but the penny hasn't dropped"
Fiz about Katy "She's a very lucky girl" (cut to Katy snogging Ryan)
Dev "Who's going to look after the shop?" (doesn't Sunita also work there?)
Chesney "Mr. and Mrs. Brown. Can't wait" Katy "Hmmmmmm"
Eileen "Do the show, Nick. You've only got a little part!"
Michelle "Bout time we had a bit of eye candy behind the bar"
Sunita "Shut your face Karl, you're just jealous, cause everyone has a happy ending except you"
Eileen "Oh Steve, don't worry. We've managed to find men with bulges in all the *right* places"
Gloria "If that's the Spirit of the Blitz, I'd take me chances with the Luftwaffe"
Sunita to Stella "St. Stella of Flamin' Weatherfield.... You're like Norris with bad roots!"
Gloria to Sunita "You broke up your kiddies' home, nobody else"
Jason "A Little Bird? Is that rhyming slang?" (HA!)

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