Monday, 17 August 2015

Corrie Canada weekly awards Aug. 10 - 14

Art is Life award: Cathy's portrait of Roy was full of colour, life and nuance, very much like her. Roy sees things in black and white so his portrait of Cathy was the same.


Tangent award: Roy broke into Cathy's house to help her and started on an explanation of why he keeps a fire extinguisher in the car! European regulations and all that. I *heart* Roy Cropper!

Trivial Pursuit award: Laughed at Lloyd and Kevin and Tim reading nature facts from the book left in the cab. I love little things like that!

Musical Doors award: I thought there was now a separate entrance door to Roy's flat. Why did Cathy come to the cafe after hours looking for him?

Grand-Mothra of the Bride: Forget Bridezilla, Yasmeen has taken the art of wedding planning to new heights!

Careless but Contrived award: Alya left the pregnancy test box in a bin so the others naturally found it.

Dropped Storyline award: The bailiffs were at Cathy's door, promising to come back. They never did. What happened? She wouldn't let Roy pay them so she must still owe.

Sopranos award: Sarah thought Gemma was over dramatizing what happened to her, likening it to a mob movie. Then Max came out of the bedroom with a gun.

Lines of the week:
Tim about Sally "She drops the K-bomb (Kevin) like there's no tomorrow"
Sally "You're perfectly happy 'pootling'" (so leave him alone!)
Yasmeen "This marriage is going to be a complicated affair and will need military Liz to Tony "You know where the viaduct is. I think there's a tram due in 10 minutes" (Ha! Clever!)
Sally to Alya "I diagnose a severe case of being out of your depth" (she is, but not to do with business)
Roy "The one constant in life is change"
Beth about Sally and Tim "I've seen the pair of them sneaking off at every wedding we've ever been to!"
Gail about Bethany "She's a teenager. She sees it (winding up her mother) as a rite. Or, in David's case, a pass time"
Cathy "I like a bit of a boogie in the morning, get the blood flowing"
Sally "This may be a back street greasy spoon, but to me, it's an oasis in a cultural desert"
Kylie "So what, you're going to brainwash him (Michael) into going back to you?" Gail "If that's what it takes. Yeah!"
Kirk to Beth who's just been called an attack dog "It's a compliment! Dogs are loyal, good looking and the top of their head smells great!"

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Sunday, 16 August 2015

Sunday Comments August 16

Well Bethany's made her move and Callum backed off just in time, so Sarah didn't see Bethany try to kiss him. Callum doesn't want Bethany in that way anyway, he's just winding her up and stringing her along, let's face it but Bethany doesn't know that. Sarah practially dragged her out of the pub by the hair and Gail dragged her in to work by the Bistro. Steph offered to talk to Bethany instead and she's right, kids don't listen to their family. But then neither do adults a lot of the time! It didn't work. Bethany knows a lecture when she hears one and Steph is too young to be giving life lessons.

Even Sarah can see Bethany has a crush on Callum. A passionate snog on the corner, knowing Bethany can see might be Sarah's and Callum's way of trying to put her off but i doubt that will work. When confronted with her crush and laughed at by Gail for it, Bethany decided to push a few buttons herself and then ran out to meet Callum, and he met her because he wanted to make sure she kept quiet about the raid. Seems to be they're both playing a dangerous game, trusting the other.

I'm surprised Sarah lets Bethany push her buttons where Callum is concerned. Unless, of course, down deep, she does know that Callum is a wrong'un. Callum is in a dirty mood, too, scowling and shouting the odds in the gym. What's eating him? Sarah confronting him and Bethany had Bethany backing down and clearly, that plan of hers didn't work. Callum still has Bethany under his thumb, though.

Gail's had an idea, con Bethany into making spaghetti, try to keep her out of trouble, make peace with Sarah, neither of which worked because she and Sarah can't seem to help bickering though I think this time Bethany was the one that just couldn't leave it alone and instigated it. Sarah and Gail had a nice conversation but even they are still a bit at odds at times. What's really weird is Sarah trying and trying to call Bethany and even standing in front of the window, where, shortly before, we saw Bethany standing across the road while Kylie was loading kids from the taxi. She could have just gone outside to talk to her.

Kylie's back from holiday with the kids but David stayed on to visit with his dad a bit to get away from Max going on about Callum constantly. Sarah still can't really accept that Callum is a wrong'un but I think she knows down deep. What will it take to open her eyes? Kylie really is scared she's going to lose Max but today, the scales finally fall from Sarah's eyes and she realizes that everyone was right about Callum. She is at Callum's flat watching DVDs with Max while Callum is out doing business and Gemma comes in, bleeding and black eyed and ranting about Callum needing to sort someone out. She lets slip that she covered for Bethany but won't say what that's about and when Callum comes back, Max comes out of his bedroom with something he found up in the back of the wardrobe, a big, black handgun!!! Oh crap!

Sally's on the warpath now that she knows Tim didn't go for the new job. But Tim kind of reckons Kevin should have kept his beak out. Sounds very much like Tim is starting to feel compared to Kevin and coming up short. Tim hid out in the pub so Sally came to drag him out. He doesn't have much ambition, so what? Well, Sally has always pushed her fellas to greater things and back in the day, Kevin resisted, too. Sally's going to push him right out the door if she keeps on like this. I'm glad he reminded her of the fact that Kevin with off with another woman (twice, you may recall) and he would never do that to her. Will it give her something to think about? Sally is still pushing Tim. All he has to do is suggest a contract he might try to get and she's all over it. She better be careful. At least Tim tried to make it up by wearing the ironed shirt for her. They kind of made up, though. They are so good together!

Eileen and Michael are settling in quite domestically. Eileen seemed to feel just a slight sliver of guilt over taking Gail's fella. Just slight. It didn't last. Eileen takes great pleasure in baiting Gail which makes Michael uncomfortable. Then later, after a dressing down from a very bitchy and demanding woman, who didn't pay Lloyd for an airport run, Eileen finds a bracelet and decides to keep it. More disillusionment for Michael. Gail's still heartbroken over Michael and Kylie does seem to be sympathetic. to a point. But Gail certainly can witter on and bore for England, can't she?

Anna still thinks Faye is going to regret giving up the baby. Tony's still trying to get back in Liz's good graces. He'd be willing to sell Steve back his half of the pub but Steve can't afford it just now. She's not got an answer for him and he's still lurking around. Lovely that Ken went to the pub on the anniversary of his and Deirdre's first wedding. Very nice gesture for him to give Liz one of Deirdre's bracelets. Kevin is really getting grumpy lately and Tyrone doesn't like it much.

Gary is starting to think Alya's going off him but she managed to soothe him by coming to apologize. Alya might have made it up with Gary but she's still distracted and feeling a bit ill. And there you have it, the oldest soap cliche ni the book. One shag where she shouldn't have and she thinks she's pregnant. Is she? Sinead ended up saving her backside, pretending the pregnancy kit was hers (and negative) when the others found it in the bin. Careless, that. And contrived. She said it was negative. She confessed to Sinead that she slept with Jason.

Meanwhile, her grandmother has jumped into wedding planning with a vengeance, probably overwhelming the bridal couple. They're handling the engagement sensibly at least. The planning session didn't really go smoothly because Alya was in a state. Why didn't Gary mention inviting his father to the wedding? Seems a bit mean.

Roy was horrified at the suggestion that he fancies Cathy but Tyrone kept reminding him that Cathy's a good friend so he did call her. Next thing you know, Cathy's invited for Curry Night at Roy's with Tyrone and Fiz. The curry night didn't go off as expected. Roy is still defensive that anyone thinks he and Cathy are romantically inclined. Then Cathy didn't show up because the clutter got on top of her. Literally. It had to happen. At least now, Roy can drive to check on her himself. He rescued her and they had a lovely conversation there and later at his flat. Roy's right, of course, she can't live like that.

Roy has a plan. He's taking Cathy out for the day and Fiz, Tyrone and Chesney are clearing out the living room for her. She even agreed. That's a step in the right direction. Cathy chose to go to a gallery. She loves art and museums, gets really passionate about art. Roy may not be passionate about art but he does enjoy it, another thing in common with Roy. They even took a walk in art class and painted each other's portraits, Cathy's of Roy full of colour and his of her a sketched outline in black on white. Very much like their own personalities I'd say.

They didn't throw anything out so where did they put it? They boxed it up, bagged it up and put it in a shed. Tyrone thought it was better to do a proper clear, which was more than Cathy or Roy expected and she had a difficult time with it. Panic attack time. She really couldn't cope and didn't think she was going to be able to maintain the tidiness. Therefore, she's accepted Roy's invitation to live in his flat. Where Carla has been living. But she did say her own flat would be repaired by the time she came back from her holiday. She sounds desperate and I think she could benefit from counselling. Cathy is getting used to Roy's little foibles and the way he does things in the flat an cafe but it seems like it's a bumpy ride so far.

Meanwhile, Carla returns from holiday and is a bit awkward with Roy, regretting the horrible things she said before she left. Her flat is now liveable so she doesn't even have to retrieve her things from Roy's. Nice, that. We also discover that her bank balance is 31,000 in debt and when Michelle comes and is given a gift, we find out that Carla went to Las Vegas, not Madrid and must have gambled that bank balance into red. Oh dear, that's not good.

Robert shows up again, though he says he's not hoping to talk to Tracy he's still sitting in the Bistro hanging around which is where his wife finds him. She makes him sign their restaurant over to her and we find out that she's the one that financed it anyway, he was just the talent! Beth has already shouted at him once already and runs into them in the Bistro where Joni insults her. Beth does always seem to back down, though, all mouth and no bite.


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Roy's Rolls - haven for lost souls

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog August 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

The new Roy's Rolls on the current Corrie set
Note the extra door to the left - the entrance to Roy's flat - which we have never seen used on screen
The highlight of the past week for me on Coronation Street has been the wonderfully subtle development of the relationship between Cathy and Roy.  When Roy invited a scared Cathy to stay at the flat above the cafe while Carla was away, well, it was just perfect and as it should be.

Roy's Rolls has a history of taking in lost souls and Cathy is definitely very lost indeed.

But Cathy is just the latest in a long line of lost souls who have been given refuge in  Roy's Rolls. The most recent one is Carla Connor, taken in by Roy and installed in the flat when Carla-no-mates  had nowhere else to go when Victoria Court burned down.  

Roy currently employs a lost soul in the delightful form of Gary Windass. Never has a catering pinny looked so lovely.  Despite the outward-bravado of Gary, inside he's a tormented young man having suffered from post-traumatic stress after his stint in Afghanistan and losing his best mate Quinny.


The most memorable waif and stray to be given refuge in Roy's Rolls was Becky McDonald.  She came into the show as a homeless girl who Hayley had befriended and she ended up moving in with the Croppers.

Roy and Hayley fostered both Fiz Brown when she first appeared on the Street and Wayne Hayes. Fiz and Wayne were children from broken homes, families who didn't know how to look after them properly. Roy and Hayley did.


And I often wonder how baby Patience Cropper might have turned out if Roy and Hayley had been allowed to keep her.

They had to hand the baby back to its rightful mother Tracy Barlow who renamed the child Amy Katherine Barlow.  Patience Cropper might just have turned out to the one of the most interesting children that Corrie's ever had, although admittedly, not half as much fun as Amy flaming Barlow.

Have I missed out any more lost souls who have been given a safe place in Roy's Rolls?



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Saturday, 15 August 2015

What are the current icons of Coronation Street?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog July 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

A little while ago, I wrote a blog post asking who are the current Coronation Street icons?

I'm now wondering what the current Corrie icons are. For instance, in the past we've had Hilda's curlers, Ena Sharples' hair net, Bet Lynch's ear-rings, Deirdre's big glasses, Hayley's red anorak, that sort of thing.

An icon would be immediately recognisable as Coronation Street and a definite trademark of only one character. 

But what would the current icons of Corrie be today?

I would say Roy's shopping bag and Liz McDonald's black zig-zag necklace.


Are there any other current Corrie icons that you can think of?



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To all the men I've loved before - Deirdre's song

(This post was originally posted by Llifon on the Coronation Street Blog in July 2015, reposted with permission.)


Deirdre's friends reminiscing about her in the Rovers, and especially about her track record with men, prompted me to look up the men she dallied with over the years. 

Below is a list of all Deirdre's men with a brief synopsis, with a link to their profile on Corriepedia.

1. Jimmy Frazer (1972)

When we first met Deirdre, she was Jimmy Frazer's floozy. It is unknown if this was just a one-time association. Jimmy was around 40 years older than Deirdre. When she returned in 1973, she was no longer tied to Jimmy.

2. Alan Howard (1973)

She made a pass at Elsie's husband during a party at No.11.

3. Ray Langton (1973, 1975-1978)

Deirdre briefly dated Ray in 1973 and he later secured her a job at the Builder's Yard. The relationship ended when she caught the eye of Billy Walker. After Billy fled for Jersey, Deirdre had whirlwind romance with Ray and they married 1975. Daughter Tracy was born in 1977. Ray had an affair in 1978 but they reconciled. Deirdre refused to join Ray when he got a job in Holland and they divorced in 1979. Ray returned in 2005 to make amends before he died. 

4. Billy Walker (1974-1975, 1979, 1984) 

Deirdre caught the eye of publican son Billy who was 17 years her senior. After a whirlwind romance, they got engaged and planned a big wedding, to the chagrin of Annie Walker. But weeks before the wedding, Billy got cold feet and fled to Jersey leaving Deirdre heartbroken. When he visited in 1979, he asked newly divorced Deirdre to join him in Jersey but she refused. In 1984, he made a pass at her while Ken was away but she rebuffed him. Who knows, if things had worked out differently, Deirdre might have become landlady of the Rovers! 

5. Maurice Gordon (1975)

With her engagement to Billy broken, she sought solace in Maurice and had a few drinks with him. A few weeks later she was mortified to see Maurice again and when he tried to force himself on her, Ray stepped in. When Ray comforted her, they kissed and they were married in a month!

6. Mike Baldwin (1979, 1981, 1982-1983)

She briefly dated Mike in 1979, but then chose Ken. They dated again in 1981, but fed up of Mike messing her around, she chose Ken again and they later married. But after 15 months of marriage to Ken, Deirdre was bored and began an affair with Mike that gripped the nation. Deirdre eventually confessed and with the nation was on tenterhooks wondering who she would choose, she decided to stay with Ken. Despite divorcing Ken years later, she never rekindled with Mike and instead became a good friend and confidante to him, to Ken and Alma's annoyance. It is disputed who was Mike's true love: Deirdre or Alma. Who do you think?

7. Ken Barlow (1979-1980, 1981-1990, 1993, 1996-1997, 1999-2015)

After an on/off romance, they eventually married in 1981. The marriage survived Deirdre's affair with Mike in 1982/3. Ken adopted Tracy in 1985. In 1987, Deirdre was elected councillor and this annoyed Ken as she was now on the same social level as he was. With Deirdre constantly in meetings, Ken had an affair with Wendy Crozier which ended the marriage in 1990. They had brief reconciliations in 1993 and 1996 but didn't reunite properly until 1999, thanks to Blanche's matchmaking. Despite Deirdre's fling with Dev in 2001, they married again in 2005. While both Ken and Deirdre strayed once again, they stayed together until Deirdre's untimely death. 


A colleague of Ray's in Holland. He updated Deirdre on Ray's life and took her out once or twice. While Ken warned him off Deirdre, it didn't stop him offering Deirdre to come to Holland for a visit. Deirdre never took up the offer.

9. Dave Barton (1990)

Dave was hired to fit in a new kitchen at No.1 and struck up a friendship with Deirdre. Deirdre was reluctant to go out with Dave alone as she had only separated from Ken. But they did and they kissed. Despite Ken wanting to reunite, Deirdre had no intention and continued to be romanced by Dave. Growing tired of Ken's presence, Deirdre began divorce proceedings. Dave proposed but dumped her when she rejected. 

David Beckett, who played Dave Barton, married Anne Kirkbride in 1992.

10. Phil Jennings (1990-1991)

Suave businessman Phil was attracted to Deirdre's feistiness when she campaigned against his amusement arcades. Ken once again interfered, but to no avail. Phil and Deirdre spent New Year in Paris. He later helped Deirdre with her council campaign against Alf in 1991, but she lost. Phil hid the fact that he was in debt and indeed married. Deirdre found this out before he fled the country and came to the conclusion that she was just one of his mistresses.

11. Doug Murray (1992)

She dated Doug for a while and Tracy had a crush on him. Deirdre dumped him when he used Tracy for his financial gains.

12. Samir Rachid (1994-1995)

A holiday romance in Morocco that led to her third marriage. Samir was 18 years her junior. After they married, they moved to Morocco, fed up of being gossiped about. Deirdre had to return months later when Tracy took a drug overdose and lost a kidney. The marriage was strained, and once again Ken's involvement didn't help matters. When Tracy had to have a kidney transplant, Samir was a match and was happy to help. But he was attacked one day and eventually died. Devastated Deirdre had to consent for the operation to go ahead. During many heated arguments in the future, Deirdre blamed Tracy for Samir's death.

13. Stephen Reid (1996)

She reluctantly went on a few dates with Stephen Reid, her first since Samir's death. But she ended things when she sensed he only asked her out out of pity.

14. Jon Lindsay (1997)

Undoubtedly one of Deirdre's biggest mistake as a boyfriend. Charming Jon swept Deirdre off her feet by telling her he was an airline pilot. Ken once again was concerned about Deirdre and investigated Jon - to find out that he worked in an airport tie shop! Jon confessed that he was no longer a pilot (he never was!!) due to an ear problem. Viewers soon found out that Jon was leading a double life and Deirdre moved into a new house with him and they planned to marry. Deirdre later found out that he was married and to her horror had framed her for fraud. Deirdre was found guilty (despite being innocent) and it was only when another woman who was duped by Jon came forward that Deirdre was freed. Jon was later jailed and Deirdre had to begin life again.

15. Dev Alahan (2001)

Deirdre returned to work in the Corner Shop in 2000 and found herself falling for new owner Dev. Dissatisfied with her life with Ken yet again, and after rowing with him and Peter, she slept with Dev. She was disappointed when Dev later rejected her. She kept the fling a secret until 2003 when Tracy began dating Dev. Ken was furious but forgave her.

16. Lewis Archer (2010)

After charming Rita and beginning a relationship with Audrey, Deirdre found herself under escort Lewis' spell. He pretended that he fancied her, but in reality he was only using her to get his hands on the bookies' money. When he feared that she had found him out, he kissed her which was videoed on a CCTV camera. Lewis eventually stole £4000 from the bookies and fled. Peter sacked Deirdre and she also got a tart in the face by Gail. 

And there we have it, Deirdre's conquests. But who was Deirdre's true love? In my opinion, it was good old Ken!

by Llifon


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Friday, 14 August 2015

Conversation Street Podcast 160

Gemma and Michael's podcast for the episodes in Canada that aired (up to last night's Canadian Corrie) can be heard here.

Alya's distracted and wonders if she's pregnant. Bethany nearly gets arrested. Cathy nearly gets killed by encyclopedias so Roy and friends help her out. Sarah and Bethany continue to be at odds and Michael sees the real Eileen and isn't best pleased. Listener questions are discussed including who would Michael and Gemma like to swap places with on the show.

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State of the Street - July 2015

Coronation Street in July was shadowed by the death of Deirdre Barlow. So much loss and grief. Lives of family and friends forever changed. It's also brought Tracy's ex back into her life. Will Deirdre's death or Robert's influence be the redemption of Tracy Barlow? Possibly, or partly, perhaps. Years of loss for Simon is really having an effect now that puberty is adding testosterone poisoning to his system. Leanne is the one on the end of all that anger. Who will be the one to pull him around and straighten him out? Will Leanne be seriously injured before then, because it's not brave for her to do this alone. That kid needs help and so does she.

Roy and Cathy's friendship is blooming. Alya and Gary's engagement is withering under her guilt only he doesn't see it, yet. Callum takes his vendetta against David and the Platts to a new low in his efforts to win Max. This time, Bethany is getting caught in his web by way of her teenage crush. That just might be his downfall.

Read more on State of the Street, here.



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Thursday, 13 August 2015

No Coronation Street return for Les Battersby

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog July 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

In the last week or so there's been an online petition by a fan of Bruce Jones to get him back onto Coronation Street as Les Battersby.

Coronation Street Producer Steve Frost sacked Bruce Jones from the show in 2007. Bruce was sacked after allegations of a foul-mouthed rant against his Corrie cast mates. In the statement issued by ITV at the time, it said: "The character of Les will not be seen back on screen".

In Bruce Jones' autobiography 'Les Battersby and Me' he claims he was set up by two News of the World journalists after they conned him into discussions about possible work in Dubai. 

A spokeswoman for the soap told the Daily Post: “There are currently no plans to bring back the character of Les Battersby.”



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Corrie Canada sneak previews August 17 - 21


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


Sarah and Callum are finished but Callum has a hold over her. Carla's gambling addiction has financial consequences. Sally wants to invest and when Kevin offers to help, things get a bit heated. Robert gets a job. Michael and Eileen find a bracelet but get into a tangle over it. Tony's still trying to win over Liz. Simon's temper flares again.


For more details and photos, visit the Moosejaw Mercury at Corrie.net




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Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Cathy Matthews - what's she up to with Roy?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog July 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

What do you think of Cathy Matthews so far?  The reason I'm asking is that I think there's a lot more going on with Cathy than we first thought.

When it was announced that Roy was going to get a new lady friend, I breathed a sigh of relief that the official press release said that Cathy wasn't being brought in as Roy's girlfriend. She's been a friend to Roy, they've bonded at the allotment and now she's spending time with him as his friend on the Street.

We know she's got problems, what with the hoarding and all, and in her way she's a lot like Roy too.  In a way, it's reassuring that Cathy is almost as socially awkward as Roy is, if not more so.  But will their friendship turn into something more, I wonder, and I have to admit, I think it might not.

And I'm not sure if I want it to. This isn't out of some sense of loyalty to Hayley, although I have that in spades, but it's because I don't trust Cathy and I think she's playing Roy - slowly and subtly. For what, I'm not sure. But there's something about Cathy that makes me wonder what she's up to with our Roy.

Paparazzi pictures released recently show Roy and Cathy enjoying a day by the seaside at Blackpool. They look happy together, eating ice-cream and having a paddle in the shallows. Why Blackpool, though?  Would Roy really take Cathy to his special place that holds so many memories of Hayley for him? I wonder if Blackpool is a special place for Cathy; perhaps it's where her husband and she used to go and it holds special memories for her too?

Cathy's a complicated character, more so than I first thought, and Melanie Hill is playing her superbly. Roy seems to be becoming rather irritated by Cathy of late, and I wonder if he'll try to pull away from her soon?

I'm intrigued to see where Roy and Cathy's friendship goes next, if indeed, it goes anywhere at all.

What do you think about Cathy - are her motives pure and simple and friendly or do you think there's more to her than first meets the eye?



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Corrie photos revealed from City of Toronto Archives

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog July 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

A long-time Coronation Street fan in Canada and a huge fan of the Coronation Street Blog has emailed in with some great pictures to share.

"While searching through an online catalogue from the City of Toronto Archives for photos, I came across a whole slew of photos of Coronation street actors visiting Toronto for a number of Brit events. These photos, though undated, are most likely from the mid 80s, judging by how everybody looks.

This Corrie fan likes to brag about a very tenuous (to the point of totally fragile) connection with Corrie. As a music producer with CBC Radio in the 80’s and 90’s in Toronto, I often had contact with (and for reasons now unimportant, turned down an opportunity to work in Ottawa with [though ironically live here now!]) Harry Elton. I did not know his Corrie importance, however, until reading his obituary when he passed a few years’ back. It was something he didn’t talk much about!"

Hope you enjoy looking at these pictures of some of the Corrie cast signing autographs for fans in Canada. Do any of you Canadian fans recall this event?





This one had us stumped - and it took a bit of time before we realised it was actress Louise Harrison who played Dawn Prescott.













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Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Bubblicious

(This post was originally posted by Scott Willison on the Coronation Street Blog in July 2015.)

A couple of days ago, Our Glorious Leader Flaming Nora wrote a conjectural piece.  She wondered if Corrie was gaining a sixth episode a week, based on the somewhat odd scheduling for the next couple of weeks.

Oh no, I thought.  Surely they can't spread this treat any thinner?

But then I had a brainwave.  Yes, I thought.  Let's have an extra episode a week.  And let's make it nothing to do with the rest of the show.

A soap "bubble" is a spin-off that exists outside the continuing storylines but involves the same characters.  Brookside pioneered it, as it did for so much of British continuing drama, releasing tie-in videos in which, say, Lindsay Corkhill would be kidnapped and spend a weekend battling armed villains to escape.

I'm not suggesting anything as melodramatic for the Street.  Instead, how about a Sunday night playlet?  Every weekend, just a small episode following a couple of characters on a single set.  Cheap.  Quick.  Easy.


Imagine, for example, Sally Webster has invited the Nazirs around for dinner.  For half an hour, we watch her getting increasingly hysterical and shrill as she tries to make an Asian feast for six people, while Tim is of no use whatsoever. In fact, Tim is trying to stay well away, but she keeps pulling him back in.

Or half an hour of Rita and Norris in the Kabin, just talking.  Nothing else.  Perhaps Rita makes a comment about the cover model on a copy of Chit-Chat and the episode flows from there.  And after half an hour, we go away and leave them to it.

How about Kylie and David watching a terrible film on TV, and providing a running commentary?  Fiz and Tyrone struggling to put together a flat pack bed for Hope?  Eileen and Steve on a quiet night in the cab office?  Kevin on a terrible blind date in the Bistro?  Audrey and Maria doing a stock check in the hairdressers with a bottle of white wine to keep them going?  Craig having his tea in the kebab shop when Chesney's on duty?


They wouldn't all have to be funny.  Imagine if Roy and Cathy sat in his flat and quietly told each other about their dead partners and how much they loved them.  It'd be heartbreaking.  Or if there was a large event in the show - like the recent fire - you could take two peripheral characters and show how it affected them.  Not something big, like Sophie coming to terms with the death of Maddie; something smaller, like Beth and Kirk missing their friend who has died, wondering how Mrs Connor is, wondering when the factory will reopen.

It'd also have the virtue of being relatively cheap.  You could even get in guest writers, perhaps up and comers auditioning for the real show, or famous guest writers allowed to play with their favourite characters for a week.  I imagine people like Russell T Davies and Paul Abbott would love to write for the Street again, just as a one off.

Corrie has experimented with bubbles before, with the wonderful online series featuring Ken & Deirdre and Steve & Lloyd.  This would give them that extra ad revenue they wanted without harming the rest of the show.  It'd be a spin off while still being within the show; adding depth to Coronation Street without making the writers drag out storylines and cliffhangers even further.

If we're going to have a sixth episode - make it bubbly!



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