Corrie's spare parts

(This post was originally posted by Graeme N on the Coronation Street Blog in April 2014.)

Coronation Street will never be perfect. Shocking but true. We all have differing opinions on what is good and what is absolute rubbish about Corrie. It has good times and bad, sometimes even good scenes and then bad. On the whole though, the quality of Corrie's weekly output is still way above any of its rivals.


However I still have niggles. I feel like Corrie boasts some wonderful, almost sublime pairings or groups but these are almost always tarnished somehow by the presence of an unwelcome interloper. There are some really annoying "spare parts" getting in the way of my viewing pleasure at the moment...


The Webster household. I thought getting rid of Rosie would sort things out here but oh no, it has only served to make Sawphie all the more irritating. The writers are on to a good thing with Sally and Tim. Kevin's presence in the background isn't even worth the effort. Maddie is an annoying character played by a super young actress and I like the banter she has with Sally and the bond with Tim. There is just no point to Sophie. She's whiney, rude and frequently obnoxious. She treats her mother with practically no respect yet claims to be the next Emily Bishop. I never thought Sophie would irritate me more than Rosie, but that moment has come.


The Grimshaws. I've always liked the Grimshaw house. Eileen and her lodgers are normally the source of good drama mixed with some funny, down to earth scenes. I don't even mind Sean in the midst of the Grimshaw action. Jason, Eva and Julie all flit in and out and it works. I thought things were on the up once Paul slung his hook. Then along comes Todd, back from that London with bad hair and an attitude to match. I know it's a plot device to split Maria and Marcus up, allowing Charlie Condou to leave, but it's tedious, unlikely, contrived and a waste of a previously decent character.


The Rovers. The bad seed here has to be Michelle. The Rovers has improved no end since St Ella of the Beige shipped herself down the street and then off to the Big Apple (rather swiftly and unbelievably though it was). Steve was meant to be behind that bar and while some of us don't care for Liz, I think she makes for a pretty decent Rovers landlady. Michelle is nothing but horrid though. Her belittling of Steve recently reached its nadir when she dragged him through the streets by his ear, like a mother would an errant child. It wasn't funny, it wasn't clever and it's not the picture Corrie should be presenting. Ditch her.


The pensioners. Emily, Rita and Norris are the dwindling face of the older Corrie generation. The three of them work so well together. The actors involved can find humour in practically nothing and raise the bar whenever they appear together. While Mary is by no means my favourite character, she does fit with the older characters and I actually think I might miss her if she left. No, my spare part here was/is Dennis Tanner. Bringing Dennis back was inspired but quite obviously poorly thought through. Marrying him off with Rita on the basis of one episode from 1964 just wasn't good enough and it didn't work. It ruined the dynamic and involved the hideous Gloria. It also meddled with Rita's character and that will never do. What was wrong with Dennis getting together with Audrey? I think that may have worked out a whole lot better and who knows, Philip Lowrie may still have had a future in the show?

The unpleasant menage a trois. Ah yes, let's spend years pulling Carla and Peter together only to marry them off and plunge him into an unbelievable, inappropriate affair with Tina, a character he's barely spoken to over the past five years. Makes perfect sense. Peter and Carla took a while to grow on me, but at least they have chemistry. There's nothing behind the eyes when Peter and Tina share intimate scenes. Like the Todd and Marcus debacle, it's contrived and ruins a good thing.



So those are my thoughts - who are the spare parts for you down Weatherfield way?



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