Sunday Comments, August 2

Lines of the week:

• Dev to Nina "I'm a single man. Therefore I am free to ogle"
  
• Carla about Michelle "She spends more time in the mirror than Simon Cowell" (doesn't want to be upstaged by the bridesmaid!)
  
• Michelle to Steve and Becky "You pair of skivers" (says she who is hardly ever behind the bar doing the job she's paid to do)
  
• Tony to Carla "If i'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, i'm going to have to learn to embrace chaos"
  
• Carla to Michelle about Paul "You didn't have to live with him" (um. brother...sister... they do tend to live together at least when young)
  
• Michelle to Carla "I know you loved my brother" (both of them!)
  
• Liam "At least we'll feel alive" (*choke*)

This week, Tony seems to have a plan of revenge in the lead up to his and Carla's wedding. Rosie is still missing, and Becky's lies snare Steve well and truly.

Liam really is coming onto Carla big time. She turned on the tap and he's not about to shut it off. But she let him in again, didn't she? A few days before she is supposed to marry Tony and that wedding dress hit the floor after all, with Liam's help. Tony nearly caught Liam and Carla too, but though they barely got their clothes back on, you'd think the bed will look, um, used and everyone all sweaty and stuff.

So the stag do. Didn't you find everyone in Tony mask creepy? As filled with rage as Tony is, i think he was actually looking forward to a day with the lads, drinking and playing paintball. (and putting a revenge plan in place). He could pretend he actually had friends! Almost every one of the attendees could not be considered a friend and some of them were downright baffling. Steve? Lloyd? Ryan? KIRK??? Tom's a hanger-on because of Liam. Jason was Tony's lacky. Dev??? Cause... he bought a flat from the building Tony invested in? A fellow business owner? I dunno. With Tony and Liam throwing veiled threats and implications at each other all day, did Liam really not catch on? Laughed at Kirk having a tiger painted on his face as opposed to flag themes like everyone else. I bet Tony wishes there had been something more powerful in that gun other than paint when he shot a run of splatters over Liam's chest. No matter. There are other ways. By the end of the paintball it was sure obvious that Liam just didn't want to be there. The last showdown didn't last long either, they spent so much time bickering the lads caught up and spattered them!

So on to the drinking and the curry. It's disturbing that Liam has a target on the yellow hoodie he was wearing. Poor Kirk, what a lightweight. Face down in the curry before they even got out of the restaurant and to the club!

And Carla... She's not got friends either. Leanne is the closest thing to one and she and Maria have no love lost. Michelle is or was family but i never thought they had much of a rapport either. And nobody noticed Carla and Liama kept running out to moon over each other? Carla's shell cracked, and she confided in Leanne and Leanne, pragmatic as ever, says go for it, since happiness is a fleeting thing, bugger what anyone else thinks. And Carla was convinced too until she found out Maria was pregnant. Rightly so, she knew Liam wouldn't walk away from that no matter what. She told him it was over even though her heart was breaking, with a soundtrack from a tragic opera in the background. You got to hand it to Carla. She's a good liar. So how will this all end? Monday and Tuesday are NOT to be missed!

Becky's escapades only served to get her into trouble with the cops and the cop in charge knows her from days gone by. What does she do? Well she *did* say Steve saved her life so she just picked that up and ran with it. Just when Steve and Michelle are getting back on track, Becky puts him in a very awkward spot by saying she was with him and they're having an affair. Oh crap. And the cop isn't going to let it go either, he keeps putting them both on the spot.

Pam cracked me up! Bemoaning the smoking ban in pubs which would disguise the fire-damaged shirt packaging and then making a cryptic remark about peeing into the wind. She's still badgering Tyrone to help her sell her dodgey gear and working on his guilt to save up for a nice wedding for Molly.

Ok, Teresa wants to work in the kebab shop, and get rid of Tina and Tina needs a new job. Convenient, eh? Actually, i liked it when Rita worked with Leanne all those years ago, a young woman under her wing and Tina is every bit as sparky as Leanne was at her age. John's still banging on about that damn cat.

Rosie's sending postcards???? That gets Sally out of the way for a bit, searching for Rosie. In the meantime, Sophie is getting more and more ticked off because Rosie has thrown the whole family into an uproar and she's getting even less of a look in than usual. And lo and behold, there's a postcard threatening Sophie. But I have a funny feeling it really is a hoax, designed to give Sophie a little more attention.

Now Janice has to contend with her legal troubles too. She kept Leanne's name out of it, but you know Leanne is just an ungrateful cow. I don't think Janice's friends are going to forgive her quite as soon as they usually do this time. Dan certainly put two and two together and came up with four as well and that's another relationship down the tube.

Dev flirting hard with Tara and Nina doesn't like it one little bit. I don't blame Amber for being a bit weirded out though. Tara isn't all that much older than she is. And Dev has a daughter older than Tara, doesn't he?

Becky Granger, Love her or hate her?

There's been a lot of chat for and against Becky Granger over on the Corrie.net guestbook. I for one, love Becky but a lot of people don't. Here's a bit of a history of Becky and a character study, up to the current Canadian timeline, end of July 2009.

Becky Granger first appeared on our screens as a down and out former cellmate of Kelly Crabtree. She was rough, rough as a badger's arse. Very likely homeless or living in a hostel or shelter. She latched on to Kelly who didn't want people to know of her criminal past that she'd managed to overcome. She got a job in the factory and moved in with Kelly and Lloyd. She stole and set up Kelly and she tried to steal Lloyd as well but it all fell apart. Kelly had to plead guilty, she lost Lloyd who didn't believe that Becky set her up and Becky left the Street. Her work here was done.

Only it wasn't. She made such an impact that she was brought back, this time she was brought into Roy and Hayley's world. Hayley was volunteering at an adult literacy class and encountered Becky there. She ended up taking Becky in, much to the disapproval of her mates in the factory who didn't trust Becky one little bit, with reason. Becky struggled to be accepted. Roy and Hayley gave her the chance and she blew it a few times. Once, by trying to do a good thing and cook for them, she caused a fire and once, by backsliding with her old drinking buddy and ex-boyfriend Slug, went joyriding in Hayley's car and got stranded in the countryside when Slug drove off without her. The car was recovered and eventually Hayley and Roy forgave her. She's tried very hard not to let them down since.

She's gone from strength to strength, and when Hayley left for Africa for charity work, Becky moved into Roy's flat in the spare room. Not only was she working in the caff but she was now living with Roy and two more different souls there never was! Becky baffled Roy but he grew to understand her even if he didn't always approve of her and her actions. They've fallen out and made up again a couple of times and the pairing is pure magic. Roy is supportive, a father figure that Becky never really had and Becky is fiercely protective of Roy and Hayley. Remember how she beat the crap out of Christian when he hit Hayley, having found out that Hayley is his biological father.

Becky's very quick with her fists and her body. She'll launch herself at anyone in a fierce attack if they've done her wrong. Jason was recently the receiver of this and she's also jumped on one of the Victoria Court builders who was dating her but had a wife at home. Jason had been dating her and in the beginning, he waffled about Sarah but seemed to settle down. But the chance that Sarah might come back home had him thinking he could get back with her and that left Becky in the dumps again. She felt second best and used and rightly so. She went after Jason then went out and got polluted and smashed up some windows on shops and cars and stole someone's wallet. Now, to keep herself out of jail, she has lied and said she's having an affair with Steve! Uhoh!

Every now and then we get a little glimpse into her past and her childhood and it sounds like she was neglected at best. She's had to rely on herself and she pretty much brought herself up, mainly on the streets. She's been in jail and survived. She's starting to drag herself up and make something of herself but she's got a long way to go. She's self destructive and that's going to take a long time to work out. She reminds me a little bit of Karen McDonald except Karen wasn't quite so destructive though she could be, at least emotionally. Becky is more of a loose cannon. They've softened her just enough to fit in. I don't think she's cruel or nasty, not anymore, though she's a bit selfish. She's very loyal to the ones she loves even if she doesn't always show it the way she should. (i.e. violence towards people that hurt her friends) She doesn't seem to have a self control switch though very slowly she's learning. She's gobby and loud, but she can also be funny and thoughtful. She's a hard worker and she's not afraid of anyone except her own demons.

There's so much more to come for us in Canada for Becky. She's going to be at the forefront for awhile and the storyline we're coming into now, with her lying about her affair with Steve is going to have a lot of fallout and lead into even more! But the road isn't going to be smooth and Becky hasn't changed. She's still got that self destruct button and that loose cannon still fires off unexpectedly. It's a bumpy ride but i have and will enjoy it all!

This week and next week.... don't miss it!

How can i write this without spoiling it? All i can say is.... this is a great week for Corrie! This will be a spoiler if you don't watch until Sunday but as it happened last night, technically it isn't one.

Tony has found out about Liam and Carla's kiss back a few months and he is watching, and coldly plotting. He's angry... no, he's royally pissed. He's a control freak and Carla is as much of a possession as she is a partner and someone's taken her away from him and that will not do at all. Can't you hear him say that in his accent? That will *not* do at all! He will NOT lost Carla especially not to Liam. On Tuesday's Corrie (last night as i write this) he knows that Liam was at Carla's and saw her in her wedding dress. That was earlier in the evening but when he went home, Liam was still there. (having shagged Carla) It was a bit squicky too, they'd just come out of the bedroom, him buttoning up, her in a robe, clearly just had sex. It didn't look like they'd showered yet so ..um...you know. sweaty and all that.

Enter Tony. The bed is probably still messed up. He kisses Carla and says she tastes nice. I won't tell you what went through my mind but if he suspects they just had sex, which they did, he'll have figured she had very recently been kissing Liam. Only Tony figures the affair has been ongoing all along, which it hasn't. Last night's sub-duvet action was the first time since they did it after Liam's baby died. Tony watched Liam from the balcony, his face like stone.

So...what is he going to do? In the UK, the next five episodes, three remaining this week for us and the ones on Monday and Tuesday aired five nights in a row, leading up to the big finale. Tony sets up his revenge over the next three nights and next week it all kicks off.

The lads have their stag night and the girls have their hen night. That in itself is odd because neither one of them really has any friends. Carla sort of has Leanne as a friend and Michelle is a former sister-in-law but they were never that friendly. Maria is there because of Liam i guess, because there's no love lost between Maria and Carla, let's face it.

For the stags, Tony has his best man/target, Liam and half the men from the street decide they're up for a party even if they don't like the groom or even, have barely exchanged three sentences with him since he arrived. Dev? Dev bought a flat from Tony's Victoria Street investment. Steve?? All i can figure is that they're both business owners. Tom? Tom parties anywhere anytime and tagged along with Liam. I think Lloyd and Jason are there too. Jason, i can see, because he was Tony's lacky for awhile. Lloyd? Because why? He drove Tony home last night in the cab? *shrug* What's creepy is they're all wearing Tony masks. Really. Creepy. What they get up to, i will leave for you to experience.

Just don't miss it!

Sunday Comments, July 26

Lines of the week:

• David "I'm no longer the baddest kid on the street. Respect to Rosie!"
  
• Sally to Kevin "You think i'm a trophe wife, you do" (Um, that's probably the last thing he thinks you are)
  
• Tony to Liam "I took one look at Carla and i thought of you" (I just bet you did)
  
• Jason "Becky. We need to talk"
  
• Becky "Hey, Grimshaw. Anyone ever tell you you're a waste of paint?"
  
• Becky to Janice "Says the biggest gob on the street" (that's debatable really)
  
• John to Fiz "Why couldn't you have said something before" (trust me, you'll remember that statement)
  
• Becky sobbing in Roy's arms "You're the only man i love that deserves it" (awwww)
  
• Leanne to Dan "You remind me of me Dad. The way you look me straight in the eye while lying through your back teeth!"

I write these comments, already knowing what's going to happen because i follow the UK storylines. It's not always easy trying to be spoiler free and sometimes i drop a hint. This week... one of the more difficult weeks not to drop lots of hints!! But all i can say, is don't miss the next few weeks of Corrie!!

Good old Roy, willing to help Becky find her own way. Problem is, Jason thinks Sarah might come home but didn't have the nerve to tell Becky who is exitedly busy painting and moving stuff in to their new flat only to find out on the day. But didn't you love the scene with Becky, Michelle and Kirk having fun moving the stuff in and pretending they were characters from Friends? Anyway, back to Jason mooning over Sarah, no wonder Becky went so out of control. It's not as if it's the first time he's waffled over Becky vs Sarah so she probably feels stupid along with very hurt, especially when he was too cowardly to tell her himself. She probably feels like second best, too. And when Becky lashes out she does it spectacularly, getting drunk, nicking someone's wallet with a lot of people standing inches from her, smashing shop and car windows. It's the mark of a good actor if they can play drunk believably and Katherine Kelly sure can! Steve was the one that managed to get her off the streets and poured into bed.

And after running off to Italy to try to see if Sarah really wanted him back, Jason found out that Sarah was only making noises about getting back together because she broke up with her boyfriend. Typical. So she's back with her boyfriend and Becky won't have anything to do with him either.

Poor Sophie is still suffering for attention. It's all Rosie, Rosie, Rosie. Rita gave her a hard time, too. She's such a clever kid but she IS still just a kid. The Websters are so worried that they're bickering and blaming each other now, for Rosie's disappearance and apparent disregard for her family. Carla is being very kind to Sally, proves that Carla does have a heart deep inside that cowy shell.

As truly awful as Janice can be, she does have a conscience. I'm not so sure Leanne does. Janice identifies with Sally, a rare occurrence but she does know what it feels like to have a child missing. Now they're stuck with the money and can't spend it because the police think Rosie stole it from the lottery winners and are freezing the account. Poor Sally is going crazy with worry, and the gossip drove her out of work in the middle of the day. So why was Kevin home?

Well now the truth is out about the lottery, maybe the police will start looking for her again. Will the factory bees ever forgive Janice for nicking their lottery win? Will they get it back? Janice did one good thing, she kept Leanne's name out of it but her schemes have cost her Roger, the one decent man she's ever been involved with.

Pam has finagled Tyrone into helping her sell her dodgey gear and lo and behold, he's actually good at it. He's too gormless looking for people to think he's cheating them.

So Theresa didn't get very far and Darryl of course, is going to feel sorry for her. She's got her feet back under the table and that's driven Mel out and away. If Tony's a self made man, so is Liam. With a little help from Paul. But Tony is far more ambitious than Liam. Wonder why we never saw John's Gran's cat during those few days that Fiz stayed with him there? Fiz certainly acts like she has never seen the cat before but John seems obsessed with it. And why did John seem a bit perturbed when Fiz said she'd have him back? Well they're back together and nobody is happy with it.

Odd Leanne didn't think it was strange that Steve and Dan were all of a sudden pally and going out drinking together. I didn't think they had too much to say to each other after that whole episode where Steve locked Dan in the cellar.

Tony's booked a posh weekend for he, Carla, Liam and Maria, mainly so he could keep a close eye on the rapport between Liam and Carla. He then terrified poor Liam in the caves and you know he probably has a healthy fear of heights and edges after falling off that mountain. All for asking him to be his best man! Tony's enjoying this, you can tell. He's making both Liam and Carla squirm. LOL he called Maria and Liam "Malaria" Bwaahahahaha Well it's clear Liam's mind is not on babymaking anymore, it's fully on Carla and she's marrying Tony.

Sunday Comments, July 19

Lines of the week:

• Steve "I need to knuckle down and be the perfect boyfriend"
  
• Liam "Only Janice... death in the family puts a big smile on her face!"
  
• Tony to Rosie "Carla is the woman i love. She's worth 100 of you, you stupid little girl"
  
• Roger to Janice "I'd love to see how you'd react if you won the lottery!" (um...)
  
• Sally to Sophie "Ey! You kids *are* our corny little sex jokes"
  
• Kevin about Rosie "Right now i can't wait to see the back of her" (you'll regret that!)
  
• Tony to Kev and Sal "Can we talk somewhere private" (Out on the street???)
  
• Carla "I'm sorry i gave you the wrong idea" (her lips say no but her eyes say yes yes yes!)
  
• 
  

That's it? Harry just rolls over and gives up? well neither Liz nor Clarissa want him so he might as well go find new ground. Aww i'll miss Harry even if he is a rotter. I liked the actor. And wasn't it nice to see real emotion between father and son? Dear heavens. He's only gone one day and has to sell up! Well, there's Leanne's share of the money. Janice wants a deposit for a flat, Dan wants money for the business, and they've only won 25K!

Janice actually does show a flash of guilt over the lottery ticket but Leanne has no problems doing the wrong thing. Leanne was bent on sitting on the money for a few days so as not to attract attenction but Janice just couldn't stand it and went out and bought a telly. But now, with Rosie disappearing, it is going to look like Rosie won the money and ran off with it. That's going to land Janice and Leanne in hot water, because it's bound to come out now.

Looks like Jerry is taking the younger kids and escaping to sunny Spain for a fresh start. It's too bad, you know, the Mortons had a rough start, and they didn't have anything to do for ages. Now, when they're finally getting a bit interesting, most of them leave!

Becky and Jason are moving into their own flat. Mawdsley Street is the one right behind the old side of Coronation Street. They seemed very cuddly and cute, didn't they? But uh oh, it sounds like Sarah might be coming back. Wonder how that's going to afffect Jason?

Oh jeez, Michelle's back. I didn't miss her at all, did you? Steve decides he has to get his act together and be a better boyfriend. Guaranteed that is going to jinx him. Tina is determined that her dad will hire David. She'll probably get her way, considering Gail will be happy David's got a job and Joe want's to impress Gail though nobody else realizes why.

Kevin is slowly managing to get his business back on track with a clunker of a breakdown towtruck. He's also lured the taxi contract back again. I guess that's the last we'll see of Tony's efforts to expand the factory. Poor Sophie still finding it hard with Rosie's shadow looming large over her. Finally she gets a bit of attention and pride from her parents. Probably short lived though, now that Rosie seems to have gone walkabout. John professed not to have anything to do with it and Tony said the same though he's got unaccounted for hours as well. The Websters looked right mugs in front of the police. They're accusing Tony of things but they've had run ins before with him, Rosie's got form going after older men, Sally was happy to let Rosie go off with Tony in the first place.

Rosie got a lunch with Tony as a consolation prize and Insufferable Sally is pleased that it's a working lunch with the boss. In which Rosie got legless on wine and stripped to try to seduce him. (I wanna know how she could afford a room in that place!) I don't think Tony would even consider it even if she wasn't his employee, but the worst thing of all is Rosie lashed out and showed him the damning phone video of Carla and Liam!!!!!!! Uh oh!!! Meanwhile, Carla is slinking after Liam, flashing cleavage and her baby blues and he's finding it harder and harder to look away. Tony made sure to tell Carla straight away that Rosie came on to him but if he didn't get home until 2 a.m., where was he since late afternoon? And where's Rosie? After all that, you'd think he'd have shut Rosie's phone off and why didn't Carla at least, recognize the ring tone? Surely she's heard it before? Tony has discovered Carla's involvement in LadRags. So she not only had (or is having) something on with Liam, she's keeping other secrets from Tony. Tony didn't keep the phone as evidence (he dropped it into the canal) and after overhearing Carla tell Liam "It ends here" and kissing him, has got the wrong end of the stick and thinks it's been an ongoing affair. More damning evidence. I think Liam should be very afraid.

Sunday Comments, July 12

Lines of the week:

• Julie about Carla "She's not as nasty as she makes out" (she's worse!)
  
• Lloyd about Vernon "The new Paul McCartney!" John "Leonard Cohn" (well LC can be rather depressing)
  
• Rosie to Stape "You are nothing but a loser!! And even Fiz can see it!" (she's going to regret that)
  
• Deirdre to Liz "I'd make an effort for Tom (Jones) even if you wouldn't. I'd shave me legs and everything"
  
• Tyrone "Molly wants what i want" (so you didn't actually talk to her about the garage then)
  

Norris was eager to find out the gossip. There's no way he'd be bringing home something from the kebab shop for either him or Emily otherwise. He just had to be where the action was. Struck paydirt too, when a drunken Teresa stumbled in and Norris couldn't get away slowly enough lol So Jerry's going to take the kids to Spain...for a holiday?

I gotta say, John calling down Fiz's friends is not going to endear her to him. Mind you, Julie pointing out the humiliating Christmas pressie was very much stab-in-the-back too, wasn't it? Still, i have no sympathy for Stape. He doesn't deserve it after what he did.

Holy Crap! Vernon sold a song!!! Nice that he's actually made some mates to congratulate him and commiserate over the loss of his muse. Yet another delusional spurned lover, taking entirely the wrong end of another stick and thinking "oohh she wants me, she really wants me" It's too bad he had to see Harry and Liz in the afterglow. Poor Vernon, though, Can't get a word in with Liz to tell her his good news and say goodbye, hoping against hope that she'd go with him. Deirdre was in floods reading Vernon's letter, it was sweet wasn't it, the letter? Clarissa is going to pin Harry to the wall too. Harry lied to Liz about his relationship with Clarissa, saying it was over when it wasn't. She didn't mind that she was shagging a married/involved man but didn't like the lies! Duh.

What was really sad was when Liz realized Harry was a rotter and a liar, she thought she would go with Vernon after all but as Deirdre pointed out, it's not the answer. It annoyed me that Liz was all teary the next day because she was sorry she didn't get to say goodbye to Vernon when he was trying to talk to her all day and she didn't have the time for him. Selfish cow. With Clarissa floating around, and knowing what a Beeyatch that woman can be, and knowing Harry is a player, why did she expect any different? Because, like a lot of men, Liz thinks with something other than her brain. So in the end, both Clarissa and Liz got their heads together set him up well and properly, marching him through the pub in just his underpants and a nod of grudging respect from Clarissa to Liz.

All of a sudden, the girls are all playing group lottery tickets and Janice is accusing Rosie of keeping the winnings. Why do you suppose that's just come up? Why it's going to feature in a new storyline, of course. Nothing comes out of the blue without reason. Well they won 25 grand but the girls ticked Janice off by not lying for her so Leanne is encouraging Jan to cook up a way to keep the money all for herself, sharing with her step daughter of course. And Janice wonders why her "mates" won't lie for her? It's all very contrived seeing as there's no way on earth those women would let Dozie Rosie be the keeper of the responsibility of checking the tickets. They'd be more likely to give it to Vikki, Sally or even Fiz. The plan fleshed out, using Rosie's name on a bank account with fake id. Then of course, Kevin turns Tony down and Tony turns Rosie down so Rosie flips out and tells Kevin how she betrayed him and how her mother thought Kevin should have sold, too!

Lloyd really is dumb as rocks, isn't he? picking up the wrong end of the stick with John last week and then sending John to pick up Rosie. And what is it with these young women that they're dressing up like little girls with cutesy pigtails but with plunging necklines and skirts barely skimming past their backsides? Stape seems to have flipped his lid, dragging Rosie into the cab, driving her out into a lonely road and taking her mobile. But in the end he only quoted poetry at her, talked a little crazy and took her home. He decided Rosie should leave? Why should she? Stape is ever the irresponsible and weak spineless Jerk. Rosie then played the victim so that her parents would be out for blood but only Sally believed her and John slickly lied his way out of it. Since Rosie has a history of "crying wolf", who's going to believe her now? She continued to rub Stape's face in it, snogging that bloke where he could see, further depressing him over the whole Fiz situation.

Why would Liam be ringing Carla to tell her that Tom got on the plane? Then he's making excuses to see Carla "on business". This isn't going to turn out well, it's just not. That was very clearly a flirting session in the office even if it wasn't your usual sort of flirting. They were most definitely sizing each other up.

Laughed at Becky talking about custom bras while a fried egg hung off Lloyd's fork. Not a lot of difference (Becky doesn't really have impressive cleavage without a lot of help from a Wonderbra).

Sunday comments, July 5

Lines of the week:

• Carla "I don't like lying, Liam" (but you're very good at it)
  
• Julie "I'm not a consumate liar" (But the day before she was bragging to Fiz how good a liar she is!)
  
• Nina to Dev "Are you throwing me over? From the moral high ground?"
  
• Sean about Fiz's "flu"... "A couple of days on your back do you the world of good!" (ahem.)
  
• Blanche about Number 6 "You get the carpets, curtains and homicidal tendencies when you move in there"
  
• Blanche to Fiz and John "Once a tom strays, they never settle again, unless you get them doctored"
  
• Liam "I reckon there's a thin line between love and hate" (watch this space)
  
• Teresa "We can make a fresh start" Jerry "*We* can, yeah. Without you. Now sling yer 'ook!"
  
• Julie "Us Carps love the water" (well they would, wouldn't they)
  

Ooh Fiz and Stape spent the night in his Granny's house. Lovely garden at Granny's, too bad it'll all go to weeds because i doubt John will look after it. He'd rather just quote poetry at it. Looks like a nice house though. Little room at the top too just for John. (watch this space). THey're going to keep their relationship secret so what does he do? Bring her flowers in front of everyone. That man has a very strong passive aggressive streak doesn't he? Very manipulative. Blanche had a field day with the gossip and everyone else is too. And in the face of all the gossip and negativity, Stape didn't get what he wanted after all, just a door shut in his face. And he didn't manage to win over Maria either. Everyone slags John off and then end up slagging off all the other workers' fellas. Way to make friends.

Can Fiz stay her ground in the face of such adversity? He wants to take her away from her mates and everything she knows. Dangerous sign, isolating someone. Lloyd made it sound as if John had already decided they should move when if you listened to the original conversation, John was only trying to think of what to do. He only came up with the idea of moving to his Gran's house during that convo so of course he'd not had time to talk to Fiz about it yet. But his attitude... implying that Chesney is a little obstacle to be sorted. Their fragile reconciliation crumbled. Would you give him a second chance?

Jason's committment alarms are ringing again. Bill's picked up on the fact that Becky probably wants her and Jason to get a place of their own. She's already living with him but i guess a flat is more permanent. He seems ok with it now but will he get cold feet?

Why on earth would Dev make Amber get in the car to drive her 20 feet to the corner shop. Well i think Amber and Darryl make a cute couple even if they did only go out together in the first place to wind up Dev. So much for Dev chucking Nina. It didn't last very long before they were canoodling on the sofa and hiding from Prem which freaked Dev out. Was wondering why Dev had to buy chocolates at the Kabin but i guess Norris is right, he probably doesn't sell the expensive kind. Dev has now met Nina's beautiful daughter and Nina kept trying to make him look as bad as she could. Jealous of her daughter?

Poor Mel really has been thrown for a loop and feels horribly guilty and is on a mission to avenge Abbi. Teresa has decided she'll help and since Mel is a cop, Teresa took matters into her own hands and heels! Left to the imagination of course! Astonishingly, Mel actually thawed a little to her mother. Mind you, it got dark awfully fast and the amulance practically appeared out of thin air. Teresa only had time to get back to the table from the loo before the ambulance sirens were howling. Anyway, Teresa is probably going to use Mel's good mood to try to worm her way back in again but it nearly got her Jerry's big fist in her face. I'm not surprised he snapped after everything she's done to him, in the past and then trying to kill him. Reminiscing isn't doing any good.

Unfortunately, Mel's soft spot didn't last long once she overheard what her mother had done to her father and now the secret is out. Mel arrested her own mother!! Go girl! Teresa deserves to pay for it even if she wasn't trying to kill Jerry. She nearly did and that's attempted manslaughter but Jerry, ever the good guy, won't press charges. Mel had better be careful or she'll lose her job. Poor Kayleigh really feels bad, too, and guilty. Funny to see Gail so friendly with the Mortons now after the rough start they had, isn't it?

The Websters are back from holiday and Tyrone has shut the garage and is nowhere to be seen. Everyone thinks he's in Blackpool but he's sold his body for science!

After last week's photo fiasco, Norris is going to be bending over backwards sucking up to Emily so she'll leave him her worldly goods. I can't for the life of me think why she would though. And if he didn't know what was in the will before and he doesn't now, why on earth would he think he was in her will? He's moaning about not owning his own home. He owns half of a business, could he not get a mortgage on the strength of that? Why is he so worried about Emily's will? they aren't married. Just shut the heck up Doris.

Ooh Leanne. Not seen her in awhile. Back to Liz and Harry with Whats her name laying down the law to Harry. Love Liz and Clarissa trading barbs. Harry keeps sniffing back at Liz's skirts in spite of Clarissa but i think Liz has the real measure of him now. And Lloyd is being paid by both Clarissa and Harry to spy on both of them.

Liam just can't stay away can he? Even though Maria wouldn't like it, wouldn't it be better just to tell Maria the truth? Now there's trips to New York and both Liam and Tom want to go. Maria is more intent on baby making so that's that. Carla's right, Liam doesn't wear the pants in that family.

Sunday Comments, June 28

Lines of the week:

• Liam to Tom "You just got whacked by a hacked off woofa. Try saying that when you're drunk!"
  
• Lloyd to Rita about the photos "She was lovely once, she'll always have that to console her" (ouch but it was still nice)
  
• Tom "He's an eejit, that's what's the matter with Liam!" (sour grapes, anyone?)
  
• Jerry to Mel "Just don't pinch anyone we know!"
  
• Marcus to Sean "I'm tired of being your straight man"
  
• Norris "It's the perennial 2B or not HB question" (re: pencils)
  
• Amber "I've just thought of a brilliant name for the Indian film industry if it's raining... Brollywood!"
  

Contrived. You'll be hearing that word a lot this week.

You know, Tom really was sending Sean mixed signals. And it all fell apart badly when Sean's jealously got out of hand and Marcus got annoyed and thumped Tom and they broke up. He tells Sean if they can't trust each other they've nothing. And he's right about "Planet Sean". Sean is very self absorbed. Too bad, i really liked Marcus. Meanwhile Tom decides to charm Carla into investing in LadRags and Carla seems to like the idea of being a secret partner. Likes having something to hold over Maria, more like. Tony's not going to like that! Neither is Maria! But how did the house get filled with Tshirts when Tom and Liam hadn't even made the deal with LadRags yet? Everyone is in a snit. Liam doesn't want Carla, Tom is ticked that Liam won't accept her money, Maria's narked because Liam's in a bad mood over it all. Liam's on the rampage and charges over to Carla's. Why? So that she can feed him spag bol sauce and flash her considerably large.... eyes... at him.

Mel and Abbie's trouble with the chav girls didn't come out too well, did it, for Abbie! She had some nasty eye damage and has decided to quit the force. Mel, of course feels hugely guilty. Meanwhile Jerry is all over Teresa like starch on rice and rightly so. Why on earth don't they think they can make the assault charge (on a cop with another cop as witness) stick? Aww but Abi doesn't think she's going to want to stay a cop if she can't be out on the streets.

How on earth could anyone see Roy Cropper and remotely think he could be a drug supplier? that was a ridiculously contrived storyline all designated to get Becky back in Roy's good books. I suppose it would take something like that, though. it was sweet seeing her and Roy and Ken walking arm in arm after the police let them go and awww Becky bought Roy a new briefcase and coat. At least all that got them back together, so to speak, in the cafe. Norris and the mobile phone is stupid too. Though i do think Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy would suit Doris as well ;) That whole storyline with first the funeral arrangements and then the photos in the envelope that were something and nothing was absolutely mind numbingly boring and contrived.

Stape's granny has died and Fiz went to the funeral. Pretty measely funeral too, you'd think there would be more people there. Stape was on the phone to his mother, why wasn't she there? If it wasn't her mother, it was her mother-in-law. It's all contrived to get Fiz and John sucking face again.

It was raining when Ken and Roy returned the phone and got arrested but it wasn't raining on Coronation Street. Well, it might have been but nobody was coming in and out of the put looking the least bit damp. Becky was particularly grungy looking this week, walking around with messier hair than usual and looking like she was still wearing last night's rave makeup.

Amber seems to have transferred her affections to Darryl pretty quickly once David dumped all over her. Nina says her daughter is non stop drama. Wonder where she learned that from? Tyrone has prostituted himself for science. I really liked that grey tweedy jacket with the big black button that Rita was wearing this week. I wish Rita would just spill her guts and ask Emily about the photos, the photos she hasn't even seen herself! So what if they find out Norris has been snooping again! Bugger him! And why does Norris think he deserves to get Emily's house after she dies? She sold it to Richard Hillman and it was deemed a legal transaction so won't it have to pass to Gail who was a director of the company or did Gail just let it drop and tear up the papers? If that's the case, i should think she'd pass it on to Spider, not Norris.

Sunday Comments, June 21

Lines of the week:

• Nina to Dev "Been there. Done that"
  
• Tina to David "You're a psycho possessive control freak"
  
• Rita to Norris "If Emily's hiding something, it's Emily's right" (i think Emily should hide Norris somewhere)
  
• Teresa "It's no one's fault" (oh yeah???)
  
• Sean "What's wrong with clingy and possessive? At least it shows i care!" (not really)
  
• Anonymous chav woman after dragging her kid off the road where he was playing "I'm a good mum!!!" Becky "AND I'M A FLAMIN' SAMBUCA!"
  

I don't understand why Jerry doesn't take himself to the doctor anyway. Male pride i suppose. Of course Mally is going to lie for Teresa, she paid him to but Mel got the truth out of him. Teresa is such a piece of work, though, she knows Jerry is sick and vulnerable. As much as Mel hates her mother and doesn't trust her, she needs to grow up and keep shut for her sick father's sake. Mind you, that would be under normal circumstances. All the stress added to it and Jerry collapsed and all Teresa could think of doing first is wiping fingerprints off the pill bottle which makes no sense. She's been the one that has been giving him his pills and if she wasn't his prints would be there and it would look odder of it was clean. But to be fair, she didn't feed him pills to kill him, just to make him a bit sick. she's just not smart enough to realize what could happen.

Anyway, Darryl's on the phone leaving a message to Mel who's stropped off and the ambulance comes round the corner and he just hangs up! Now Jerry's in surgery for a brain bleeder. And i bet nobody's called Jodie. Teresa really seems contrite so apparently she's got one redeeming feature. She *does* have a guilty conscience under there somewhere! Is she about to confess? The Wednesday show ended just as we were going to find out! Cliffhanger! Doctor interrupts and then he's sleeping! Aggh! What timing, eh? He wants to get back together and she tells him she nearly killed him! So he did the right thing when someone wants to kill you and banished her, as you do, but wouldn't tell the kids what she'd actually done.

Oh dear. Todd saw Marcus out having fun with the fella he was staying with. Well why shouldn't he have some fun? Arms around each other? Doesn't mean squat when you're out drinking. They could have been holding each other up! Eileen didn't have to tell him and it only made his imagination go wild and got him so worked up that his jealousy went wayyyy overboard. Tom is really getting a bit previous isn't he? inviting a load of drunks back to Liam's for a party? I can't really blame Sean for coming on to Tom, it seemed like Tom was flirting with him like mad or at least winding Sean up which wasn't fair. But Sean would never have done it if he wasn't feeling so insecure about Marcus.

I think Liam and Maria better get in the habit of locking the door. Oh Norris shut the eff up! I love it when Becky gets all gobby and protective of Roy! Mel sure got herself in to a bit of trouble, trying to break up a girl gang fight.

As expected, David used Amber to make sure Tina caught them together. Didn't he look like he was in pain when she decided to make the first move and kiss him! Tyrone tried to be helpful but telling Amber she could always be there to pick up the pieces if Tina doesn't want David back wasn't really what Molly thought would be all that helpful. Looks like Tina finally got over her hissy fit though. Now they're snogging on the bench and Amber got hurt all over again when she saw them.

Nina practically attacked Dev in the hotel room and then abandoned him which was probably the plan all along. Get him to pay for the room then take advantage of the situation!! I don't blame her, i'd take the hot stone massage over round 2 with Dev and all! Dev starts to realize he just might not be the one and only man she's ever taken a shine to when everyone at the hotel greets her with open arms and champagne bottles. She's totally running him around by the lead and he says he'll be strong and take back control. Bend your rubber arm, Dev? So they're luring him into this Asian Business organization. I am worried they're going to fleece him. Could Prem really be that thick that he doesn't know when his wife is jumping in the sack with another man because you know, it can't be the first time. She's got it down to a science. Break it off with her and he doesn't get any prestige. So what? But Dev is a shallow guy, after all.

Any other time, the ambulance comes unreasonably fast but this time it took ages!! Long enough for Darryl and Mel to have a big argument. Gail and Joe are still getting up to all sorts on the sly and Tina already suspects her dad has a girlfriend and that's putting the guilts on Gail. Is it me or does he seem a bit on the manipulative side? or is he just a bit forward in his affections? Sounds like Ken is getting bored with his self imposed retirement from the cafe and Vernon is diving into his song writing. Condusive to Ken getting his job back! What a song Vernon wrote for Liz,(Don't Fall Into) the Mason's Arms. Brilliant! He poured his heart out, full of yearning and a touch of bitterness. Not a bad singer either.

Sunday Comments, June 14

Lines of the week:

• Fiz about Stape "I definitely won't be tangoing in that direction again" (virtually ensuring she will!)
  Fiz "I am not stupid, ok? I'm not so daft as to give John Stape a second chance" (And again... )
  
• Norris "This sneaky coffee making is not the first time i've been left out of the loop!"
  
• Molly about Jackie "Does she deserve to get beaten up?" Tyrone "Can i get back to you on that one?"
  
• Sean about Marcus "He's going to have Blanche Hunt looking like Ann Robinson before you know it"
  
• Jackie about Scary Brian "He's not just one sandwich short you know, he's lost the whole flamin' picnic"
  
• Prem about Nina and Dev's new flat "She's really throwing herself into your new home" (more than you know!)
  

Nina always finds a way to impose herself on Dev whether he likes it or not. Pushy dame, isn't she? I keep getting the feeling that Prem and Nina are setting up Dev for something. A financial scam perhaps? What's with the Asian Business committee or whatever it is? I really really don't trust either of them but definitely not her.

Now, that was the silliest set up for a new Norris storyline i've ever seen. Emily forgot her PIN and wanted Norris to find it and in the process, he finds her letter to be opened after her death. Of course that is going to send Norris into a tizzy and we have to suffer his blathering on now for what will probably feel like months even though it was only a day or so. He couldn't get that out of her hand fast enough and it turned out to be her funeral instructions. He opened it like he was going to find out he was left everything in her will. Stupid prat.

Jerry is suffering Teresa's extra medications and boy they sure have him made up to look sick. All she wants to do is keep him feeling low so that he still needs her to stay and look after him. Gail being a good friend, called the doctor on a bank holiday so Teresa makes it sound like it's her idea. She's a piece of work that one. (her black and white top clashed with the black and white coffee cup, too!) I don't think she's planning to kill Jerry with the drugs but i don't think she realizes what kind of damage she's really doing either. I don't know if she's got feelings for Jerry again or if it's just having a nice stable place to live. I wonder if she's actually got a maternal bone in her body and wants to be with her kids but the older ones aren't that keen on her, well, Mel isn't anyway. I also think, in his vulnerable state and seeing how kind and "dedicated" Teresa is with him and the kids, Jerry might be finding some of the old feelings too but boy is he going to get a shock!

Aww Chesney's still romancing Kayleigh. Haven't seen them in so long I'd forgotten. Too bad they were bothered by the bullies and it didn't sit well that Stape rescued them so he lied and said Stape was the one that hit him. Pretty easy to disprove but then Chesney's a child. they don't think in those terms. Fiz really came on to Stape, though, and gave him a whopping good punch to the gut. Poor Chesney is afraid Stape is going to worm his way back in and methinks Fiz is protesting too much and it's going to happen. They even kissed, and all it took was a couple of beers. They're already friendly enough to have a drink together but the rest of the Street still doesn't really want to know, especially Kevin. Julie is sickeningly romantic and she's only encouraging Fiz. He might be a nice guy but he showed appalling bad judgement and he's a weak spineless fool. Fiz is far too good for him.

So Tyrone can't get hold of his mom? You could see that coming a mile away, coulnd't you. There she is, turning up the same night, in all her pink glory!!!! Nothing ever changes, either. Molly wants to meet Jackie and thinks she can't all bad as that. Guess what? She still is! And she's all new age and calm and sweet. So what's up? Well there's a tattooed bloke watching from over the road and that's trouble. As soon as Tyrone clapped eyes on his familiar face, he knew his mother was up to some scam or other. Turns out she's had a boob job in Spain and borrowed the money off this guy, Scary Brian, and he wants it back. Where's she going to get it from? Poor Molly is a sucker for her hard luck story but Tyrone remains dubious. And so he should because Jackie tried to convince Molly that it was just as good if she just ran off with the cash instead of giving it to Scary Bri. And once Molly realized she fell for Jackie's crocodile tears, and Brian had their money, Jackie spewed classic Jackie venom all over them because she didn't get to take the money herself. Hard lesson learned. Now Tyrone is determined to make up for it and give her a fancy wedding, a wedding she doesn't really care if she gets but he wants her to have it. Well then Jackie comes slinking around the back but Pam put up a sturdy barrier aided by Jack. What i can't understand is how neither Tyrone nor Molly who were in the house could hear the screaming out back.

Kevin might as well go away on holiday. It's all paid for but somehow i don't think i'd want to be along with the Websters on that holiday with Kevin in a black mood with everyone. Cilla is moving to South Africa. Watch this space. Why did Sean get all clinging with Marcus all of a sudden? Needing to be in constant contact while he was away and jumping all over him for being a little late back.

Julie's got her feet under a sewing machine table. Tina's acting mighty jealous for someone that chucked her boyfriend to the curb. Amber has had a crush on David for ages and sadly, she's being used. David knows Tina is jealous and he's milking it for all it's worth, even feeding Amber chips in front of Tina! Gag! Did you see that pub Jackie, Ty and Molly were in? The Bowling Green! It's in Chorlton. I've been there a couple of times!!! I heard Sean mention that he and Marcus were going to miss Pride while Marcus goes to London for an interview. I like it when they inject little bits of real life in like that. If Pam went into the shop for milk, who took the money? Dev and Amber were both outside and it was Molly's day off.

Sunday Comments, June 7

Lines of the week:

• Marcus about botox "I think it's vain and superficial" (until Sean mentioned Marcus' red veins!)
  
• Eileen "It only takes two days to learn how to stick needles in someone's face?"
  
• Tony "What can i say? I'm all heart!" (of Stone! pun intended!)
  
• Tony to Sally "I think your husband doesn't like me" (ya think???)
  
• Blanche "I'll take the hamper... apparently"
  
• toast to Tony "To a winner" (if it's the villain of the year award)
  

All kinds of people showed up this week who haven't been on screen in ages!

Is Steve still staying at Lloyd's? otherwise he would know that JD slept on the sofa downstairs when he got up that morning. Steve might pretend he's fine about JD but he's greeeeen with envy. I get so ticked off though. Michelle had no right to throw Steve out and he's a spineless Wally for letting her. Mind you, JD insisting he slept on the sofa while he's sat there in his undershorts doesn't exactly inspire belief. FINALLY Steve called Michelle's bluff and told her if they aren't getting back together, she's moving out. That certainly stopped her in her tracks and Becky's words got her thinking. Now, i wouldn't say that having a one night stand is a very small thing like she said but that's must my opinion. Anyway it worked, Michelle decided to give it another go and made sure Steve promised to always be honest. Yeah. Like that will happen. So they get back together and Michelle reveals that she's already all but told JD that she'll join his band. Steve opened the champagne which didn't even fizz up. I wonder if that's a sign the fizz has also gone out of their relationship!

Liz started putting the poison in, didn't she? accusing Michelle of reconciling just so there would be someone to look after Ryan while she was away. Steve bought it, too. Only Ryan is going to Ireland to visit Granny and he could always stay with Maria and Liam who finally showed up after an age off screen. And Ryan's nearly 17 anyway so i'm sure he doesn't really need that much looking after. But it wasn't like that and his assumption insulted her. Vernon didn't help matters any, inferring Michelle was a real party girl when she's gigging.

Pam's busy with a new sales pitch. Pickle. "Buxton" Pickle. Ahem. (i.e. Branston Pickle! You gotta be careful with that stuff!) I hope she manages to shift it since she's filled Molly's living room with buckets of the stuff. Ladling it into jars isn't going to be very sanitary without a boiling water bath to seal them properly. Molly lost her engagement ring and thinks it got ladled into the pickle so it's a scramble to find it. Paying off Blanche, buying Emily's bottle from the charity and paying off Blanche again with Gin. And guess what? The ring's not pickled. It'll turn up somewhere simple. So if Jack did pick it up and put it in a little dish, why didn't he mention it or leave a note? Old Timer's, I suppose.

Sean wants Botox??? Ah but the needle scared him. It's given Marcus pause for thought though and he's off to London for a course to learn how to do it. It's a growth market, that's what it is. The Websters are going on holiday soon and so are Jason and Becky (or have they just come back?). I'm surprised there's even room for Bill in the Webster house (more elastic walls!) and of course he should have offered to contribute from the start! I don't think loud Hawaiian shirts are really going to be all that popular and if Ladrags is going to produce them, they are going to have a struggle. Leanne's back on screen! Not seen her for awhile. Opening for the new flats. Dev is a guest of honour because he owns one but everyone was invited anyway and everyone gets champagne so what makes Dev a VIP guest? Did you see Rosie looking at the Carla/Liam video on her phone? It showed their faces close up yet Rosie was a parking lot away and her phone wouldn't have been able to zoom that far in without it going all pixely.

Tony's bullying put Jed Stone in the hospital and Tony was left holding the er...pussy (called Sunny Jim!). He looked just like a Bond villain except he then left the cat on it's own to fend for itself!! Bar steward!!! What a lovely little bit of history showing Jed looking through his old photos and seeing one of Minnie Caldwell. And Tony thought about not calling the paramedics, hesitated for awhile first. Tony and Tyrone noticed that there was something funny about it all too. Fridge still full of food and a cash stash in the biscuit tin. Meanwhile, Tony's upping the game on Kevin and having someone steal his breakdown truck. That's going to really hurt the business! And it makes absolutely no sense that Tyrone would have done any sort of job for Tony. If Jed has lived in htat house for 40 years, can someone really take it from under him?

So Michelle and Steve are back together and were making out in a sitting room. But it's not the living quarters in behind the pub, it's upstairs! From out of nowhere, the Tardis walls of the pub have expanded yet again to include a little sitting room with kitchenette in addition to at least four bedrooms (theirs, Amy's, Ryan's and Liz's). Roy's back, too! Did you see his face when he saw all Vernon's music memorabilia had encroached on his beloved train stuff? He wasn't best pleased to see Becky still behind the bar either. Awww but he and Becky made up.

David's going to lose his job if he keeps skiving off to stalk Tina. Or... Tina's going to lose him his job by arsing around in the salon! Well he deserved it, after stalking her. That boy has severe jealousy and control issues. Meanwhile Gail and Joe are having a secret fling, full of excitement because nobody knows! Kirk looked funny in the Elvis shades! Julie wants to work in the factory. Well of course she'll get the job. Wonder why many of the Indian Asian people call Dev "Dave"? I remember Sunita's parents doing the same thing.

CBC back on track June 15

Right, boys and girls, CBC will go back to it's regular Corrie schedule starting Monday June 15.

As you were.

Sunday Comments, May 31

Lines of the week:

• Blanche to Ken "I see the latest whim is still going strong"
• Blanche about Ken going to check the rubbish "A bit of fresh air will do him good"
• Jerry about David "Talk about dead man walking"
• Gail to David "You job, your sickie"
• Deirdre to Ken "If round here is so bloody awful, why did you never have the guts to leave?" "It's always been somebody else holding you back, hasn't it? Not you! Never you!" (i.e. it's you holding you back)
• Deirdre to Eileen "As long as you don't expect intelligent conversation" Eileen "Don't worry. I got Jason for that"
• Tyrone "I suppose i could do with another "sauce" of income!"
• Blanche "You're no Barbara TAylor Bradford" Ken "That's possibly the nicest thing you ever said to me!"
• Ken "I can finally embrace my mediocrity... it was all about me" Deirdre "Yes, Ken. It was. Maybe it always has been" (you finally got that right!)
• Teresa "Kiddies and mold, don't make good bedfellows" Finlay "This bread's moldy" Teresa "It's pennicillin, it's good for you!"
• Becky to Michelle about her singing career "What did you sing?" Michelle "Covers" Becky "Sorry. That's a really bad name for a song"

Ken's now obsessed wiht his novel, the one he started nearly 50 years ago. He's disheveled, he's not shaved for days. I'm also curious to know why Deirdre is vacuuming and tidying up when she should be at work. Ken wasn't best pleased at her efforts but to make matters worse, Blanche read the draft and Deirdre thought he was writing about her! How on earth he could if he'd started the book when he was 21 and hadn't met her for another 20 years but it still reads like it could be about her. Deirdre's very good at putting words in Ken's mouth and he's very good at saying everything except what he means. Blanche is no help either. Ken says it's fiction but he also says it's drawn on real life. He and Deirdre really had it out and she told him a few home truths. He is the only one that has kept him from persuing other things, from making *something* of himself. He told her a few too, he really does think he married beneath himself. But it's not just her. Every one of his wives, it's the same thing. Maybe he marries them so that he has the excuse not to look at himself in the mirror and he can blame someone else.

Deirdre spoke a lot of truths to Eileen. Ken does have regard for her but he still does think he married down no matter how much he'll deny it. And they really don't have a lot in common. Never understood why they were attracted in the first place. Blanche told him a few truths too. Try measuring himself by what he *did* do, Blanche told him and he doesn't see much to look at there either. Warned him that Deirdre could very well pack her bags and he seemed to think on that. Thing is, Blanche told him it wasn't all that good and really, he could see it after that and it all went up in smoke. Literally. He might be ready to settle for what's left with the rest of his life but even then, he makes Deirdre feel like he's settling for her too. ha! Nice call back to history, wh en she said he'd grabbed her like that before and she's not forgotten it. *and* she said it was too bad she didn't have Mike to go to this time. Well at least they've made it up. Notice she talked about a book about a "Salford girl" when techincally, in the realms of the show, they live in Weatherfield which is the Corrie version of real life Salford. I wonder if it was a slip up or not? I've had a nice long rant about Ken over here if you're interested

Now what do we think of Joe, Tina's dad? He and Gail seem to be kind of keen on each other. Let's hope he's not another psycho. Mind you, if David finds out his mother is dating his girlfriend's father, there could be trouble. Daft Darryl slipped up and let the cat out of the bag and both he and David are up the creek. David is dumped but Joe has a cunning plan! Bowling! It didn't work but Gail and Joe had fun at least.

Audrey is obviously of the "But can we still be friends" club. Bill doesn't seem inclined. He wants her back once Ted pointed out the error of his ways but it's no use. Pam is taking over the wedding planning. With wedding magazines she nicked from the medical centre. It sounds like Molly's going to have a job reigning Pam in from all her wild ideas. Molly just wants a basic, quiet wedding. Uh oh, Pam is touching up Tyrone for cash to invest in one of her dodgey deals and is wooing him with the promise of a profit for the wedding fund. Loved her remarks about Billy Three Fingers.

I do think Jason has a point. Sean moved Marcus in all of a sudden but Becky moved in, now Eileen's wondering how long she's staying! Even Ryan thinks Michelle is crossing the mark for chucking Steve out of his own pub. Steve keeps giving Becky looks though, and someone's going to guess. Even Jason caught something though he's not too bright and just thought Steve was going to sack her. All Steve wants is to find a way to get Michelle back. In the meantime, Becky, Sean, Marcus and Michelle had a raucous night out and Michelle met up with an old bandmate and waved him under Steve's nose. But it seems a bit odd that they'd all go for a raucous night out and go to a karaoke bar, don't you think? Anyway, Steve is terrified Becky will get drunk and spill the beans. Then he and Michelle get arguing in front of Amy who fake-cries and what do they do? keep doing it! They all had fun on their night out, though didn't they? But Michelle is not just punishing Steve, she's playing games. She isn't interested in actually, permanently breaking up, she just wants him to pay and pay hard and then she'll allow him back. She better be careful, he might just get fed up with playing her games. You know, i'm rapidly losing any "like" i ever had for her. No i tell a lie. That went out with the Alex storyline. And speaking of whom, it looks like that whole episode has been forgotten. Alex who?

Now, Tony is bullying an old man because he want his house, last holdout to a new development. Mr. Stone. Long time viewers will recognize him as Kenneth Cope who played Jed Stone in the early 1960s and this is the same character!!!! Nice to see him stand up to Tony even if it was a bit of bravado. Tony wasn't done with him though. Teresa is going through Jerry's pills, overloading him like nobody's business.

Ken Flamin' Barlow

Oh i do like a good rant about Ken Barlow!
When i first started watching the show 20 years ago, he was having an affair with Wendy Crozier aka (in Deirdre's words) Miss Piggy. (Not very politically correct was our show. Still isn't sometimes but it's how real people talk!) I wasn't familiar with the history or background and didn't think much more about it, after all, affairs are the stuff of which soaps are made. He didn't seem to be all that interesting an character but then, what did i know?

Some time later i got one of the Daran Little books at the library and read about the storylines and characters of Coronation Street prior to my viewing window. In that, i realized that Ken Barlow is a snob and a real prat. He is portrayed as an educated man, something that most people in that neighbourhood were not. Most people left school, sometimes before getting any qualifications, to go out and work to help support the family. People needed every hand on deck to get by. Higher education was a luxury but Ken's mother wanted nothing but the best for her baby and he got it. Ken was the first university graduate in the Street and everyone knew about it and thought the Barlows were getting a bit too big for their britches.

Ken had big dreams. He was going to Be Somebody. But just as he was going to leave to find out how to do that, his mother died and he felt like he couldn't leave his father alone. His brother had already gone off to be a footballer and try to acheive his fame and fortune that way. Ken also fell in love with the girl next door, sort of. It was the neice of Albert Tatlock, Valerie. He took a teaching job locally and married her. Soon, he had twin babies and mortgage. Although he loved Val, he still thought he was the more intelligent of the two, worth higher aspirations if only he'd had the chance. The chance nearly came once again.

He and Val were going to move to Jamaica but she died tragically. Ken couldn't cope with two little kids so they were packed off to grandparents in Scotland and he drifted. He never really got back on the road to Higher Things.

He always had that arrogant attitude. I'm worth more than all this, he'd scornfully think. But he never got off his posterior and pushed himself. He married two more women, again, both women being, well not stupid, but not highly educated like him either. Meanwhile he'd carry on such intellectual activities as he could, listening to posh radio shows, reading books the size of doorstops and going to the theatre when he could manage it. And having affairs. Let's not forget that. Ken Barlow is the Street's lothario against whom all others must be judged. His son is giving him a good run for his money, though. Ken at least, has never been a bigamist!

Now he's been in a self indulgent funk ever since he went to his university reunion. He wouldn't admit he's been working part time in a cafe, a perfectly respectible job for a pensioner, don't you think? He's been a teacher and a newspaper journalist but no, that wasn't high flying enough to admit to any of his old schoolmates. They all thought he'd have written the Great British Novel by now. Well, it's not as if any of them had achieved extraordinary fame or wealth either but Ken couldn't hold his head up because he never did think he'd achieved anything at all.

He dug up a novel he'd started 40 odd years ago and tried to revise it. From the little bits and pieces we heard of it, it's utter shit. Trite and badly written. But there you go. He became obsessed and self indulgently took over the house, not bothering to shave or shower in his quest to recover his lost ambitions. Deirdre stole a peek at the book and the characters in it were so similar to her that she assumed it was based on her. Never mind it was originally written 20 years before he met her. The man in the book was clearly based on Ken and he admitted it. When she confronted him, he said he was revising it now with all this experience behind him so why wouldn't she continue to think it seemed like her? Ken, for all he considers himself a writer, is terribly bad at communication.

It all blew up this week and ended with a resounding slap across the chops. He raged at Deirdre. He all but out and out accused her of holding him back when really, he knew he was the only one to blame. She pointed that out too. He was the one that never found the guts to go out and find the life he thought he'd have led. That slap and her exit from the house made him realize he'd only himself to blame for all his failed ambitions and *still* he made Deirdre feel like she wasn't good enough for him and he was settling by staying with her.

What. A. Wanker! Every time i think Ken can't sink any lower, he dives into a deeper hole. For someone that thinks he's better than his peer and his family, he sure does a good impression of making them look a hell of a lot more dignified than him! He'll never be happy with what he's got, and he'll always resent that he never reached what he thought was his potential instead of looking at what he has achieved. Being a teacher and a journalist is most definitely something to brag about but he doesn't see it that way. There's no hope for him (and, without spoiling it for the non UK viewers, something that happens in about 7 months from the Canadian timeline make it clear that nothing changes. Ever.)

Sunday Comments, May 24

Lines of the week:

• Natasha "You don't need to speak lingo in a bar, you just raise your glass and they bring you another"
  
• Audrey "I'm getting up to here with all this, you know that" Bill "The whole flamin world knows it"
  
• Tina to Ted "New boyfriend?" Ted "Old faghag i haven't seen for ages" (can they say that on telly???)
  
• Nina to Dev "I'm not going to hold a gun to your head" (no, just be relentless until you give in)
  
• Audrey "I look nothing like Camilla Parker Bowles" (Yes you do)
  
• Bill about Audrey "She led Alf a merry dance for years and he was too grateful to say owt"
  

Well that's me back from my holidays and trying to catchup on everything. The laundry pile is shrinking and the Corrie episodes are getting watched. I'm a bit confused with my timelines, though, trying to watch what i missed, watching this week's shows and having seen some UK Corrie while i was away! So to recap, Ken's in a self indulgent crisis but Blanche thinks he's gone gay (and that has to have been one of the funniest scenes i've ever seen on Corrie!)! Steve and Michelle are off though i can't say i blame her for that. Michelle sure has a nerve tossing Steve out of his own pub, though. And if Steve is staying at Lloyd's, where's Vernon staying? Probably Roy's flat while he's away. Tyrone and Molly got engaged!!! Wasn't that the best proposal ever? Nice juxtaposition against all the other broken couples too. Molly's Auntie Pam is on the scene. I like her! Remember the name "Whispering Jeff". Dev has met a new friend. Not sure i entirely trust him. His wife is an ex Bollywood star and a real man eater from the looks of it. John Stape is back! This can only mean trouble. More trouble too, for Harry and Liz and Clarissa, who isn't going to let Harry go easily from the look of it.

Looks like Clarissa wears the pants, doesn't she? I think she must have used the divorce as a way of winding Harry up but didn't really mean it. Pretty expensive joke. She and Liz are prety well matched in the bitch department stakes. And to tell you the truth, i don't think Clarissa is any more classy than Liz is or isn't. Now, Harry didn't actually go to the solicitor to cancel the divorce. Is he leading her on or is he playing games? I think he wants to play Liz and Clarissa off against each other, the thrill of the chase seems to be attracting him at the moment rather than the thrill of the known.

I really fail to believe that Lloyd and Steve would take their taxi maintenance contract away from Kevin, i really do. Of course Jimmy can afford to do it 20% cheaper, Tony's probably paying the difference. Jimmy is the fella that's married to Jane Danson (Leanne) in real life. Tony's an expert in playing off Sally and Rosie against Kevin, too, knowing how ambitious Sally is for Kevin and for herself. He's now waving fancy garages in her face and Kevin's too stubborn to do anything to better his own situation, as always. I'm on Kevin's side, don't get me wrong. Tony is bullying him and Kevin is happy where he is. The trouble is, Sally has never been happy where she is.

I see Teresa is still in residence and scamming money off Jerry whenever she can but he's still showing her ads for flats and she's resisting with every inch of her being, including grinding up extra pills and putting them in Jerry's food. She figures if he's still sick, she can stay and look after him.

Dev is over the moon and very, very star struck and Nina is definitely playing on that. Sounds to me like she isn't happy about being an "ex" Bollywood star and takes her admirers where she can get them. And doesn't take no for an answer. She pushes her young friend at Dev and then comes on to him in the kitchen. I bet she does that all the time and her husband puts up with it. Is Dev starstruck or just stupid? (Don't answer that). And Dev is kickstarting his life by buying one of Tony's posh flats which makes Amber very happy. No wonder Lisa got tired of Dev, He never shut up about Prem and Nina and he seemed intent on making her bored out of her mind so she'd dump him. Now remember the scene where Nina drives up in the flash car? They had to put sunglasses and a scarf over her head to disguise her for driving. See, the actress herself can't drive so they used the man who owned the car as the driver.

Oh dear. David's getting jealous again and spying on Tina's email. And those who spy (eavesdrop) never hear anything good about themselves and he found that out. He figures she wants him to be spontaneous and so he does it. And where did it get him? Well in a candle lit bath getting very lucky the first time around. He was quite sweet really. You almost forget he's a bit of a psycho.

Audrey didnt' get the fancy French getaway she wanted. She got down in the cheap seats with Janice and then fell out with everyone. Sounds like Audrey's worst nightmare, too bad we didn't get to see the whole weekend! I think it would be quite funny! What did Audrey think was going to happen going away with Janice for the weekend? The crash sure sobered up the partiers. They couldn't have been too far from Manchester when they had the accident. And that was the end of Bill and Audrey. He's going to be bunking in with Kev so the house is going to be filled to the rafters again. She says she didn't really miss Bill at all the day after, she may be exaggerating a bit but really, they weren't that well suited were they? Bill misses her though but wants the real Audrey back. Um, it sounds to me like he always had the real Audrey but she pretended to be something she wasn't for him. And she's still looking for her soul mate. Alfie wasn't it though she loved him and she thinks it's probably too late. Did she have her soulmate and let him go? Doubt it. She'd have known he was her soul mate.