Is the end nigh for Corrie?

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

No of course it isn't. As much fun as today's article in The Guardian was, it didn't make me weep at the thought of Corrie's demise. A few of the facts were pertinent but I don't think Stuart Blackburn will be hurling himself off t'faktry roof any time yet.

What the article did press home though was that despite a soap running for eons, when the axe decides to fall then fall it will. For UK viewers, the two dramas that bit the dust big style were Crossroads and Brookside. Can Corrie avoid the disaster that brought these two former soap stalwarts to a sticky end?

Crossroads ran, originally, for twenty four years until ITV pulled the plug in 1988. What killed it? Partly laziness. Although Crossroads came up with decent storylines, they would often run out of steam or were just badly thought out. Introducing a character with learning difficulties was radical in the early 1980s. Crossroads did it but teamed the character up with the local strumpet, Sharon Metcalfe. It made no sense. The show also continually tried to re-invent itself in the wake of Noele Gordon's sacking in 1981. For many she was the whole reason to watch the show. With the character of Meg Mortimer out of the way, successive producers faffed and tinkered with the programme. They tried to send it upmarket, ditched the jangling theme tune, wheeled in a bunch of actors from The Archers - and so lost their core viewers. Characters disappeared and were never mentioned again, plotlines withered on the vine. The end came at Easter 1988 but the show rose again, like the un-dead, in 2001. It wasn't too bad but ITV decided they wanted more 'camp'. In came Jane Asher and some truly horrible storylines and in 2003, Crossroads died forever.

Corrie has nothing to fear from any of the above. The show is what it is and has no need for a re-boot. Also, the emphasis of the programme does not rest on the shoulders of one particular character. The great and the good have departed the cobbles but the Corrie continues.

Perhaps a more worrying tale lies in the demise of Brookside. The soap spent twenty one years on Channel 4 and in its imperial phase, boldly went where no soaps had gone before. Quite rightly it was lauded for being more grounded and socially aware than Corrie. Sue Johnston shone in a particularly grim rape storyline. Depression, AIDS, drug use and homosexuality all featured. However Brookie prided itself on not having a pub as a focal point. After a few years this started to look odd as there was no central place for characters to meet. The producers invented The Parade and soon realised they could bomb, burn down and detonate the place every other week. Suddenly helicopters were crashing into the shops, every house had its own siege, everyday housewives suddenly morphed into lusty lesbians overnight, there was incest, religious cults - all life was on Brookside Close. By 2002 the programme was looking ridiculous. Channel 4 dumped it in a late night spot where it died, un-noticed, in 2003.

Of course, Corrie has never reached this level of demented storytelling but on a smaller level, there are only so many fires, car crashes, sinister murders and vengeful partners that we can cope with. The show does need extreme drama but it should be used sparingly. Judging by some of the comments on the blog, the things we have enjoyed most in the past few months include the re-birth of Deirdre as a sharp-talking battleaxe-in-waiting and the sad yet exquisite story of Hayley's demise. These are areas where Corrie truly excels. Let's have more.

To me, it doesn't feel as though Corrie is about to topple over a precipice into the soap void. It has probably had a wobbly few months but seems to be in rude health once again. We should also remember that however bad things might be, at least we won't have to contend with Danny Dyer running the Rovers!



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