Fat Brenda's Cream Horn (July 9)

(This post was originally posted by Fat Brenda on the Coronation Street Blog September, 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Well loves it's time for another cab eye view of Weatherfield courtesy of Aunty Bren.

I've had Eddie on the night shift with me this week and he's been ever so worried about his Gary's brush with the law. Apparently he gave some punter a right going over after he was horrible to Izzy. Between me and you, if there's one girl who doesn't need protecting it's Izzy. I tried to talk to her last week and told her I could sympathise about her being in a wheelchair because of the time I had an ingrowing toenail removed and had to use a walking stick for a week; she gave me a right gob-full! I reckon Gary's soft on her but he's been fandangling with that awful Kylie Granger girl, I think I'd rather face the Taliban than Kylie Granger!

The best news for me has been Eileen showing off her dazzling 'figures' for Owen, and failing to bag her man. I mean, come on, she does the same thing every time; puts on the Superdrug hair mousse to create that 'just been sleeping rough' look, wears a bit of lippy and tries to intoxicate her prey with a bottle of plonk from Dev's! Alas, it wasn't meant to be and Owen ended up getting a personal lock-in with the lovely Liz, I'd kill for her legs. Eileen has handled the situation like she always does, with a kebab, tons of chocolate and a large helping of bitterness. Still, at least she doesn't have to work nights like me, then she'd really have something to complain about.

Back to that Kylie again though; fancy making at pass at Steve! She's trouble that one, you mark my words, and if you think that kiddy's going to make her mend her ways then I'm afraid you're softer in the head than Becky! Twice she's tried to take our petty cash from the cab office telling us Steve sent her. She must think I'm daft!

So that's me then loves, I'm off home now for a Findus Crispy Pancake and a week of Jeremy Kyle on me Sky+. Remember, if you need a cab then just call Street Cars and I'll try to make sure it isn't Eddie who picks you up, he always goes the longest route so he can charge more and I've had enough of it!

If you want regular updates from the cab office then you can follow me on the twitter into-net web or your orange apple hi-phone here. See you next week for another generous helping of Fat Brenda's Cream Horn.

Sneak Preview of next week's Canadian Corrie, July 11 - 15

In brief, here's what's coming up on Canadian screens next week in Coronation Street:

Natasha's lies are revealed with an interfering nudge and near-tragic consequences.  Eileen has several reasons to take revenge on Owen.  Sian and Sophie struggle. Will they give in and come home? Will Michelle let Ciaran go?

For more detail and photos, visit the Moosejaw Mercury on Corrie.net.

Corrie's Betty says she won't be killed off in tram crash

Betty Driver, who plays Coronation Street's Betty Williams, has promised fans she will survive the soap’s 50th anniversary cull – and aims to be pulling pints when she is 100.

In a wonderful interview with the Manchester Evening News, Betty says: “I’m not leaving. You’ll have to shoot me to get rid of me. I’m 90 and I aim to be 100 and still working.”

Betty, who has spent a lot of time off work this year with pneumonia, was speaking at the official opening of a new oncology unit at the private Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle. A thousand balloons were released into the air to mark each cancer patient who has been treated at the old unit.

The new Richmond Centre is part of a £7.5m revamp for the hospital, where Betty and her late sister have been treated in the past. Betty said: “It’s a beautiful centre. I like to get involved in things like this. I did it mainly for (fellow Street actress) Sally Dynevor who had breast cancer.”

Watch a video of Betty Driver opening the new oncology unit via the wonders of YouTube.

Fab Corrie Photo: Duggie in Drag

(This post was originally posted by me on the Coronation Street Blog in August, 2010, reposted with permission.)

It was back in 2001 when there was a drag show for charity in the pub. There were some great costumes but none of them could sing. Norris, however, played a real blinder as Eartha Kitt! Here's a few pics from the show. Sorry about the quality, though, the file was ripped from an old video tape.

Claire Peacock - an under-rated character? (Contains possible spoiler)

I'm curious as to how the current storyline about Coronation Street's Claire Peacock (played by Julia Haworth) is going to develop.

They've brought out some pretty powerful stuff with this one, not least regarding distasteful attitudes towards mental health. Claire's been suspected of harming a child - Dev and Sunita's son Aadi - and because of her history of mental health problems many people are more than willing to jump to the wrong conclusion. I think this is really interesting and I hope that the writers find a way to play this out to a satisfactory conclusion, without allowing the Sophie/Sian storyline to swamp it.

(SPOILER warning)
I'll be very sorry to see the Peacocks leave (that's if they DO leave!) Ashley has been really enjoyable to watch, and I think Claire has been under-rated. I've always admired the way she's handled some really heavy-duty storylines.  Apparently she is a keen writer and has recently made a short film. Info. about post natal depression and other mental health issues here.

"Molvin" redux

I just needed to bitch a bit about the Molly/Kevin storyline that is *still* ongoing, albeit in a different form. The affair is over but the fun is just beginning now that the baby is born. We'll be in for more dirty looks from Molly and longing glances at the baby from Kevin who isn't sure yet it's even his baby. It's bound to be, though, because that will bring out a lot more conflict and repercussions over time. Let's face it, the truth about the affair has to come out sometime. That's pretty much soap law.

This storyline was one of the worst conceived ones in a long time, pun intended. From what I know, though, the affair was meant to start very slowly and built up to where you might actually believe they could have developed feelings for each other. Instead, because the storyline was leaked to the media early, they just dove in with both feet and dropped us in it with an almost instant shag-fest.

Kevin has a mid life crush, I could get my head around that, but Molly, though initially rejecting him, was secretly flattered and the next thing you know, she was returning those feelings of lust when only 6 months before she was newly married and happy. It made no sense, and we suffered for it as did the character of Molly who was completely ruined, I think.

I used to like Molly. She was bright and cheerful and cheeky. She and Tyrone made a perfect pair. She didn't try to change him like Maria did and she didn't try to mother him like Fiz did. I haven't much liked Kevin, though. He's always been a bit of a neanderthal. Putting the two together really didn't work for me or most people I talked to. Both actors seemed uneasy with the romantic scenes and it really didn't feel believable.

After the breakup, though, the acrimony and sniping did work! Now we're in for another dose of it because Kevin is going to want to know if it's his baby even though he *says* he doesn't want anything to do with it even if it is. So what will happen if baby Jack is Kevin's? Will he want access? How long will it be before Tyrone and Sally find out because you know they will eventually. The fallout from this will be far reaching and cobble-shattering and hopefully, worth all that angst and frustration we had to sit through!

Corrie's Peter Barlow: Take him or leave him?

(This post was originally posted by Seapenguin on the Coronation Street Blog in August, 2010, reposted with permission.)

I was just thinking about how much I'm enjoying Peter Barlow on Coronation Street these days. I think he's a brilliant male character. I would almost say he's the best in Corrie at the moment. Chris Gascoyne's got that saturnine, Heathcliff-type look going on, which is very engaging. He's someone with a pretty awful past (bigamy, anyone?) but he's tackling his alcohol problem and is genuinely trying to provide a good life for little Simon. I loved the dynamic between Peter and Blanche - the scenes around the Barlows' dining table when Maggie Jones was still with us, were just a joy to watch. And I think Peter and Leanne make a great couple.

Chris Gascoyne "does angry" really really well, and I couldn't wait to see his reaction when he found out Lewis had scarpered with his four grand - however, I wasn't entirely comfortable with the way he snapped at Leanne in recent episodes. I know (edited to remove spoiler) why, though you'll have to keep watching to figure it out.

Anyway - my top three Corrie males at the moment, are Peter, Eddie Windass, and I'm preparing to run for the hills after saying this - John Stape! anyone else got any faves just now?

Where have you seen Ken Barlow's son and grandson before?

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog September, 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

If you're wondering where you've seen Lawrence Cunningham, who turned up as Ken's long-lost son on Coronation Street, then wonder no more. Actor Linus Roache who plays Lawrence, is the real-life son of William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow.

Linus Roache began his acting career with a two-week appearance as a young Peter Barlow on Coronation Street back in 1975 at the age of 11. His IMDB profile is here.

If you're wondering where you've seen James, who turned up as Ken's grandson on Coronation Street, then wonder no more. Actor James Roache, who plays James, is the real-life son of William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow.  Also in real-life, James is the half-brother of Linus Roache, who is currently playing Lawrence, Ken's son.

And we'll also see James in the BBC documentary Road to Coronation Street later this month where he plays his own dad, William Roache who plays Ken Barlow.

Confusing? A bit!  His IMDB profile is here.

Corrie weekly awards: June 27 - July 1 (Canadian timeline)

Heartwarming award: Gold Star: Jack kissed the baby and the baby looked up at him!
Silver Star: Man oh man, did little Alex Bain ever do a great job "crying" and confessing.

Long Lost Relatives award: Gold Star: Ken finds his son and grandson.
Silver star: Kevin's sister Debbie gets a mention after 25 years.

Nasty Mouth award: I think Michelle is getting awfully mouthy and opinionated and not in a nice way. Molly mouthing off at Kevin. Deirdre and Peter both sniping at Ken. Nick insulting Trev. Lawrence and James were horrible to each other. Ashley and Dev taking shots at Peter. Leanne and Cheryl bickering over their kids. Half the characters were full of fizz and vinegar this week.

Apples don't fall far from the tree award: Gold Star: Lawrence is every inch his father's son. Accademia, women, sweet tooth, poker up the backside. But at least Ken isn't homophobic.
Silver Star: Becky and Kylie are pretty much cut from the same cloth. Becky's just matured a bit. Kylie has a longggg way to go.

A Job in Name Only: So Kylie gets a job at the cafe and was only there the one day the one shift. Then she gets drunk and steals Mary's Motorhome. Yeah. That'll help.

You couldn't make this up award: Ironic Star: Sally delivering the baby that could very well be her husband's. Cleanest newborn i've ever seen, too!

Could you actually get to the point? Gold Star: I didn't think Ken would ever actually tell his grandson he was ok with gay.

The Smack Devendra line starts here: Good heavens, that man gets more and more opinionated, nasty and obnoxious. What does Sunita see in him? And how come Aadi didn't tell the Social he had a tumble with a friend? And Dev drinking his sorrows away before a supervised visit with his kids, that would help get the kids back, wouldn't it? And he was awful to Peter instead of being understanding.

Lines of the Week:

Deirdre about Ken's new family "pretty soon there'll be a whole row of new Barlows all bobbing about and demanding attention"
Nick "If I'm going to be pushing a pram, it's going to be a better one than that!" (And that is Nick in a nutshell)
Sally about Molly "It'll be her hormones" (Yep!)
Sally about the baby "It makes me think I've got a very special relationship with him" (More than you know!)
James to Ken "You, Ken, are a true sister" (Did you see Lawrence's face? Ha!)
Sunita to Dev "You just get my children back" (that's it, you'll never see them again if you leave it to him!)
Tyrone to Jack "You tricked me" Jack "Yeah. It wasn't hard!"
Dev "I'm not accusing anybody, I just want to get to the truth" (You're making a pretty good impression of accusing folk)

Canadian CBC Corrie schedule for the fall - update

Ok, Canadians, here's an update on the CBC schedule for the fall.

Starting September 5, Coronation Street will be aired from 6:30 to 7:30 in most time zones. The omnibus will be airing on Sunday mornings from 7:00 a.m. to noon in most time zones.

That's great news because we'll catch up at a rate of about a month per calendar month. It's bad news because it makes more work for me doing the Sunday comments! ;)

Corrie says Au Revoir, Ryan

(This post was originally posted by Merseytart on the Coronation Street Blog October, 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

And that's the end of Eddie Munster Ryan for now.  Once the sainted Michelle gave her blessing, he couldn't get out of town fast enough, taking a train that wouldn't get to Glasgow until midnight, even though there are perfectly serviceable services on a Saturday morning.  Fortunately, like so many students who transfer universities a month after term begins, he has a space in halls waiting for him.

Ryan's always been a sensitive boy.  He came into the Street as a budding Linford Christie, with much being made of his athletic ambitions; that was quietly dropped, presumably because Ben Thompson doesn't look like he's ever spent more than four minutes in the sun in his life.  Instead, Ryan developed an interest in console games, leading to many hilarious scenes where he would beat Steve or Liam at Pro Championship Death Wizard Four.  The console always came in handy when an adult was required to talk to Ryan after the death of yet another one of his relatives: they could sit beside him on the sofa and make awkward chit-chat while Ryan stared vacantly into the distance.

As he matured, Ryan inherited the Busby wig recently abandoned by Adam Barlow, and was able to combine it with his naturally pallid skin to give a charming Frankenstein's Monster effect, which livened up his scenes no end.  He also had a best mate in a wheelchair, who stopped visiting when Michelle moved them into the flat over the kebab shop.  Funny that.

The biggest upheaval in Ryan's life came when he started being stalked by a mysterious man in a car.  Rather than being a demented pervert, it transpired that this was his real father, and that he had been switched at birth.  The ramifications of this were enormous, especially when Michelle seemed to prefer the other son over him.  Over the course of eight hundred and twenty thousand episodes, Ryan wrestled with his new found family and identity, while Michelle agonised over how she could have given birth to a son who didn't have shiny black hair.  It caused a huge emotional trauma for the boy, as he was torn between nature and nurture, and was forced to question his entire self.   Then everyone decided to pretend it never happened and no-one mentioned it again.

Having overcome this minor obstacle, Ryan discovered an interest in music, and suddenly acquired a band, consisting of people who have never been seen again.  With bands come groupies, and next thing you know, Ryan and Sian were having underage bunk ups with Michelle's blessing.  Their teenage passions only came to an end when Sian realised that frankly, if the best the male species could offer was him, she'd be better off as a lesbian.  Ryan responded with his usual grace and tact, calling Sian a dyke in the ginnel, all the while doing that weird thing with his eyes darting from side to side like an Eagle Eye Action Man.

So this is goodbye to Ryan, for now; we have been promised return visits in University vacations. Mind you, they said that about Amber and she's been forced to spend her Christmases in a dingy bedsit in that London while Dev romps with his new family.  We'll miss you Ryan.  Without you around, who will Michelle act wholier than thou about now?  Who will Michelle complain to when she's being besieged by another forty thousand lovers?  Who will Michelle kick out onto the street to get some chips while she has a bunkup with the newest tradesman within twenty feet?  You won't get that in Glasgow.  You'll miss it, you know.

Sunday Corrie Comments, July 3

Wow, Kevin actually called his sister, someone we haven't heard about in years and  years! I'm glad Rosie gave her father hell for how they reacted to Sophie's news. And now the baby's born, doesn't he look smug that he's going to be the baby's godfather? He seems to enjoy winding up Molly. Kevin's another one that i find irritating, a real neanderthal at times.

Molly and Tyrone are back, just in time for her to have the baby! She sure is cranky! I think that's fairly typical for the end of a pregnancy. How ironic was it that Sally delivered the baby? They called the baby Jack! I hope Ty's mother doesn't think they named the baby after her! Did you see the baby open his eyes and look when Jack gave him a little kiss? Awwwwww..

Did you see the looks Molly was giving Kevin while she was in labour? pure venom! Tyrone and that van driver, kicking each other and pushing, i was waiting for them to start pulling hair! Bunch-a girls! And those boxes Ty was shifting out of the van were very clearly empty. Why didn't he just back up the tow truck and go another way before the traffic landed on his backside? Or call a taxi? Kevin was next to useless, not that you'd expect him to know what to do with a birth at his feet but tell me, there's a medical center 50 yards down the road, why wasn't he down there trying to get help for heavens' sake?

Becky is determined to get Max back for Kylie. You think maybe she's pouring all those maternal instincts that got kicked around after the adoption rejection all onto that little boy? Me too. She's determined so Kylie has to get a job and Roy is the lucky employer. I use that term loosely. Kylie in the cafe? Even worse than when Becky first worked there. At least with Becky, what you saw was what you got but Kylie is sly and sneaky.

Oooh Trev's back again too! Carla is supposed to be ok with his job as a binman but she's trying hard to get him in the office. I really think, bright though he might be, he would be suited to that. And Nick is absolutely vile to Trevor. There's no need of that, if he doesn't think Trevor is good at it, he could help train him.

Dev is back to blaming Claire again since she, too, ran away. He's vile. Just as vile as Nick. There was no need of him throwing Becky's childlessness in her face. Maybe i had just a tiny little bit of satisfaction when Social Services decided not to let Aadi home with his parents and removed Asha too. For all that Dev was running around scowling and hollering and blaming everyone else, the authorities maybe think that's "protesting too much"? Well, of course, we the viewer know neither Dev nor Sunita would harm their children. Doesn't Aadi remember falling? Or he would tell, surely? Anyway, the truth came out quickly enough. Simon and Aadi were tussling and Aadi fell, as we all know. So does that make Dev apologize to all the people he was unbearably rude to? Of course not! Sunita will be more gracious at least. I really fail to understand what she sees in him.

Ken has now met his grandson as well and is trying to play peacemaker between his son and grandson. Turns out they're very different in personality and politics. James is  more of a free spirit and Lawrence is a buttoned up conservative. Close minded too. Unaccepting of his son being gay. Ken is appalled! How could a good Liberal like him have a bigot and homophobe as a son! Boy Peter sure put the boots in, letting all Ken's skeletons out of the closet. I really think Deirdre should be a bit more supportive no matter that it's a bit of a shock but she's just using it to take all her frustrations out on him. It's not as if he got Susan pregnant while he was married to her or even while he was married to Val.

As for James being gay, it looks very much to me like James makes every effort to wind up his father about it. I suppose we don't know all that's gone one between them and there seems to have been a lot but it remains that Lawrence doesn't approve and can't accept. Maybe if James had been living his life the way his father wanted, use his political degree, go in to politics, that sort of thing, rather than be an artistic free spirit so different from his father's goals in life, coming out might not have been as difficult for Lawrence to accept. Lawrence no doubt loves his son, he's just disappointed. Ken ended up sending Lawrence away because they just couldn't see eye to eye and Ken didn't approve. Yes, Lawrence is right, it's the same situation in reverse. But it's different, too. And none of the three will change their views and attitudes

I heard a great saying "If you don't like gay people, blame straight people for continuing to have gay babies" ;)))) Ken seems to have a pretty bad track record, not just with women but with his children! His oldest is a stiff necked homophobic prig, his next oldest is an alcoholic, his adopted daughter is a convicted murderer. At this rate, his son Daniel should turn out to be a junkie or a serial killer! Poor old Ken, another child he didn't bring up but at least he wasn't on hand to screw him up either. He sure decided to spend some quality time with Peter, though, didn't he?

*sigh* even more reasons to hate Nick. Snobby about a pram. Snotty to Kylie *before* she pulled the attitude. Gary stood up Izzy for a lash on the town and a shag with Kylie who couldn't have been more obvious. I don't think he particularly fancies her, but what's a lad to do? Poor Izzy got cornered with Mary and Norris instead, she ought to take it out on Gary for that alone!

Fat Brenda coming to Bluenose Corrie blog

Over the years, you may have heard the occaisional reference on Coronation Street to "Fat Brenda". She's one of the switch operators at Streetcars, often doing the night shift. We've never seen Fat Brenda, she remains an unseen mystery but over on the Coronation Street blog, she's been writing blog posts every so often. Her introduction is here. She brings a unique slant on the goings-on on the Street and we'll be reproducing her posts here as they pertain to what's going on here on Canadian screens. We hope you enjoy her!

Location, Location

 

 This was first posted by Chewy on the Coronation Street blog in September 2010. Reposted with permission.

While watching Corrie last night, I noticed something, the location Sophie was calling home from. It'd been used before, and quite recently too, as Cheryl's lap dancing club (the second one, where she only worked for a few days, not La Belle). Knowing the Corrie set quite well, I also know that it is very close by to where the old Davenports Garage used to be, which of course was under a viaduct - Which was the viaduct used for the original outdoor Corrie set! 

 

Edited to add: This is actually a courtyard inside the Granada Studios compound. This staircase leads up to the area where the outside set is, which used to be located through another outside set called Baker Street. Well, it used to lead there. Now the Baker Street set is gone and a new studio building blocks the way. I'm not sure if the staircase will take you into that building but I'm guessing it might. This is a photo from my visit to Granada in September 2000 that clearly shows the staircase and our group going up for our set visit!

Sneak Preview of next week's Canadian Corrie, July 4 - 8

In brief, here's what's coming up on Canadian screens next week in Coronation Street:

The Social Services court hearing day is here. Will Kylie get Max back? Will Claire convince Ashley to go along with her wishes? Kylie and Eileen both get part time jobs. Gary loses control. Will it affect his army career? Steve is between a rock and a hard place. Several, as it happens.

For more detail and photos, visit the Moosejaw Mercury on Corrie.net.