the rolling Coronation Street thread.

what's albert tatlock up to these days?

Full name: Albert Tatlock
Parents:
Born: 10 August 1895
Siblings: Alfred
Married: Bessie Vickery
Died: 13 May 1984

:)

I don't miss Cilla in the slightest, though I think we have disagreed on this before. I share your concerns about the John/Rosie storyline, mostly because it is totally unncessary - the unrequited love that the entire female Webster clan have for him could well have been enough.

Unnecessary sex scandals could also account for the against-character tension between Carla and Liam. Corrie is much better when it is character-driven - the Hayley/Roy/Christian storyline has been a million times better than it could have been for the intervention of Becky, who is probably about to overtake Eileen as the best character in it. As long as they can engineer a way for Becky to stay, I think the show can survive the loss of both Roy and Hayley, though they'll have to give her another friend to bounce off.

i wouldn't mind a bit of against character sexual tension with Liam, myself.

yr OTM about Becky. it's just what corrie is best at - introducing a horrible character and spending two years making you grow to love them.

the Rosie and John story line again shows the producers desperation to replace Tracey Barlow, but why choose Rosie, of all people? best Webster at the moment is Sophie who has superb delivery and comic timing.

what they did with Becky, they're doing with Lloyd as well (not quite as effectively, but they're getting there) - how long before they do it with Vernon, that's what I need to know.

Agreed about Sophie. The actress who plays her also looks enough like Kevin to convince as his daughter, which is often rare in soaps. I like that they've given the Polish factory girl some good banter as well - I thought she'd be dispensed with after the "oh noes, immigrants" storyline was finished.

Don't know who else they *could* do a Tracey with, tbh. Since they've knocked Violet up in a total reversal of character and more or less written Maria off as a minor character, there isn't anyone young, single or sexy enough to get away with it (though lolz at them trying it with Casey and getting her to end up seducing Ashley!)

it's just me and you, kid.

oh man i always hated sally webster, and by extension the actress who plays her, but a friend of mine who runs a teens drama group in glasgow met her once and asked her if she would come and speak to the kids about acting and do a workshop. she agreed, he forgot about it thinking it would never happen. she chased him up on it and came to glasgow at her own expense to speak to the kids and do a workshop with them. i've loved her ever since i heard the story.

I really like Corrie..but have fallen out of touch with it a bit over the last few months. It never ceases to amaze me how much better than other soaps it is, there's something quite smart about in a really raw, subtle way.

And it does really annoy me when people act as though all the soaps are the same.

I'm sure I'll catch up again now it comes to winter.

really, Eastenders boggles the mind. i don't know how anyone can watch it. coronation street makes me laugh every single episode.

Liam to factory workers: "have i got MUG written across my head?"

shawn: "yes, but it's nothing a choppy fringe wouldn't cover"

Was there a third Polish character? There's Vicky and the one that died but I could have sworn there was another one when they were first introduced?

I've missed it for a bit, can someone explain Kirk's terrible girlfriend to me?

He met her on holiday. Not much more to say than that.

Recently divorced, thinks Kirk is a genius.

she is terrible. also, shut up maria!

I stopped watching because of Claire. She is the worst person in the world, and having her annoying self onscreen so much is a crime against humanity.

Just catching up with Corrie, having given up on it a while back because of Tony/Maria ridiculousness (think the last time I watched properly was a few weeks ago, when Kirk and Julie were splitting up), though I did see some of all that nonsense when it turned out Eileen and Julie were related, and Eileen's creepy dad died really unconvincingly). Just tuned into the omnibus to find Kevin embarking on his eight millionth affair, this time with Molly. WTF writers, please let Tyrone be happy :-(

oh i know, it's stupid. the tony & maria stuff is worse though. as if carla would have run away knowing that tony was a killer and was circling round maria: we still got the big revelation scene where carla finds out that he's a murdered but he stays in the show nonetheless. i think this is called having your cake and eating it.

They have also ruined Becky. Bah.

i know!

and my Tina is now some daft moaning bore.

RIP Blanche

RIP. I'll genuinely miss her!

Me too. I haven't been watching that much recently - how have they explained her absence while the actress was ill?

She hasn't really been absent. I don't know how far in advance it's filmed but she was in a few episodes as recently as last week. I'll genuinely miss her too, she's by far the best one in it these days.

noticed the other week betty turpin in the salon with v blanchey turns of phrase - v cutting and abrupt with audrey in front of another about reece dinsdale and his drugs and that

didn't mean to sound like I was playing cluedo there but

Betty Turpin's outliving everyone!

Betty Turpin? She's been Betty Williams for about 20 years!

Anyone still persevering with this drivel?

even i have pretty much given up, ailsa. i stay tuned for a few minutes if i flick past it but then it goes off.

i briefly got quite into emmerdale during the whole hot gay ned storyline though.

I am trying to maintain some level of interest in Corrie, but this John Stape/Colin Fishwick nonsense is possibly the worst thing they've ever done, and it's had some stiff competition these last few years.

it's utterly ridiculous but boring as hell at the same time.

& blanche is a huge void.

betty turpin in the salon with v blanchey turns of phrase... didn't mean to sound like I was playing cluedo there but

LOL

I said I'd give it tonight's double episode, and I did, but now I'm not watching it again until the lead up to the tram crash.

3 episodes a week again, please.

i can't even tell when it's on now.

can i just...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_K-ESPDZ8PoU/S-MmDLN12QI/AAAAAAAADFo/NE_8tqBMShE/s1600/dannymillerhot.jpg

that's the most shameful thing i have ever posted to ilx.

How did Gail get released from prison?

just cos she was innocent. i can't remember the details.

She never done it, and Tracey Barlow was the prosecution's main witness.

Jed, I don't recognise your shameful man.

it's aaron from emmerdale. my distraction during the corrie slump.

yeah i know she was innocent, but she got banged up. they realised tracy barlow was full of shit or someting?

and i think tina had some kind of realisation.

that was nice of her.

I saw Nick and David trying to bribe a cleaner to say something or other in court, but I didn't see it for a couple of weeks after that, so no idea where that went.

yeah i think the cleaner turned up to give evidence but bottled it and ran away.

also, what have they done to the music?!

also tina is a potentially great character and michelle keegan is a superb actress but they have no idea what to do with her. they're trying to turn her into another comedy character with the graeme romance.

xpost the title music remix is a disaster.

i know! it's just all so wrong. All of it. Everything. Except for like when they wheel out Rita and Norris and that, that's good.

Blanche is a massive loss, yes. I watched the Blanche tribute show thing they did with my mum (total old-school Corrie fan, also losing patience with it) and we had to rewind it several times because we were laughing so hard.

xpost, yes, agree about Tina. Thought her and Jason worked quite well. Getting her together with Graeme was just madness.

Also, fuck off with the Sean/Violet/baby stuff already. In fact, just fuck off Sean, really.

we had to rewind it several times because we were laughing so hard.

http://www.britishblogs.co.uk/images/512033.jpg

"oooh, nasty gash..."

what do people make of the lesbian teenagers storyline?

sophie is another good character/actress they don't know what to do with

^ truth. Is just dull teenage angsty "we just want to be together" shit, like when Rosie was all emo with Craig Harris before she turned into a moron. Think Corrie are handling it quite well though, from what I've seen.

I saw the episode where Gail was set free but I'll be darned if I can remember what happened. Something like 'yeah you surely did some dodgy stuff but we can't prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was murder so off you go then', with a couple of police officers being all 'yeah like we'd ever trust YOU' to Tracy.

the new theme (which I had to look up because I only watch this when I'm with my mum) is a travesty, but I appreciate the little flashes of long forgotten memories that the cat brought back.

nick is so fuckin haggard and stale looking

truth

From a dramatic point of view, I quite like his relationship with Natasha. The fact that he is using her and just keeping her onside as much as he needs in order to get what he wants could develop pretty well. I thought for a while that they were going to have him try to split up Leanne and Peter, but they seem to have dropped that.

Haven't watched Corrie in years but will make an exception if the rumoured Snoop Dogg appearance happens.

Didn't Snoop say the same thing about EastEnders when he was in London?

I have read about the upcoming developments in the Nick/Natasha storyline, and I have some amounts of fear that they are going to make a mess of it (if these rumours are in fact true). Also rumours regarding Clare and Ashley's possible departure, which also sound terrible. And another old character coming back around the time of the tram crash...I need to stop reading the internet.

I am glad they didn't have Nick split up Peter and Leanne, they are two very good characters who work well together.

peter is rubbish with a rubbish actor and rubbish character and rubbish storylines

I don't really like coronation street though

when's the tram crash going to happen? Would be good to arrange my next visit home for a relatively exciting Corrie week.

dev has transcended bad- and rubbishness and is now actually funny

nick is so fuckin haggard and stale looking

The character of Nick is supposed to be 29 years old! This new one could pass for mid-40s, easy.

December, I think? Is for the 50th anniversary anyway. xposts

Peter used to be rubbish, but addition of son + believable relationship with Leanne rather than that bigamy rubbish he had before has made him one of the better characters (relative to other characters, this is not that much of a compliment, I realise).

Dev is awful. I hope the tram is aimed squarely at his shop, would get rid of him and Molly at the same time.

oh that's quite some time away. My mum probably wouldn't be pleased if I didn't visit her for six months.

Well, if you go in between you can learn to hate the newer characters, just as Ailsa and I have.

You'd better learn who they are before they all go under the tram, for a start.

Nothing's going to top the wtf-ness of Denise not actually being dead in Eastenders any time soon.

I liked when Denise ran out of the house, and no-one actually went WTF at all.

EastEnders also fairly shit just now. They do traditionally go a bit shit in the summer (Darren's uncircumcised penis is NOT something I want to contemplate for early evening entertainment, ta very much) when they think everyone has better things to do than watch them, but I have less faith in Corrie to get themselves back out of the slump.

I liked when Denise ran out of the house, and no-one actually went WTF at all.
This was brilliant. Jordan's shite acting and "Huh, what, oh, Denise, you're alive" moment was amazing.

Jordan's terrible. The only kid on that programme who can act is Ben, and he's being changed now.

I love the Darren and Max double act. Although they won't be much fun when Abbey's Sabrina-like transformation finally gets through to Darren.

ocht i can't stand eastenders, it's all misery and bad acting but at least they can handle that. when they tried to do comedy that's when i find it truly embarrassing.

Darren's the new Bradley isn't he. The "ARGHHH HE'S UNCIRCUMCISED" scene sealed it.

It's not though! There's a lot of heart and soul in there, and like Corrie, they *do* like their older characters.

Barbara Windsor's departure can't come soon enough though, she's so bad and annoying.

xpost to jed

The problem is that I know she's leaving, but I don't know when. So every time she looks wistfully into the distance and complains about how things aren't the same and she doesn't fit in (which is nearly every episode), I'm waiting for her to ride off in the taxi to Grant's, with the long version of the theme tune playing. And it doesn't happen, which is frustrating.

max makes me feel ill with his scowling pasty face and ginger potato head and his sclaffing his feet all over the fucking place

ben annoying - aren't they replacing him with a diff actor because he's so bad and that's the real reason he's away to borstal for a bit?

they're getting rid of a bunch of others too I think incl minty and squiggle

coronation st is kind of bad and depressing despite its comic relief of which eastenders is totally devoid and eastenders is just 100x rubbisher and actually depressing and rubbish

it's all just so much bad acting and bad storylines and eye-rolly crap stuff that goes on forever

The episode last week where John Stape and Charlotte were moving a dead body (Colin Fishwick) in a rolled up carpet, whilst underage drinking was going at Roy and Hailey's, was brilliant. It combined comedy and tension in a way that worked really well.

I watch both Corrie and Eastenders and they both have their moments.

I kind of regard watching Corrie and Eastenders as an investment which takes a bit of faith. There are bleak periods of low benefits and then every so often you get a brilliant return on your investment.

phil's a junky

http://tv.uk.msn.com/photos/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=154310496

I know! He's on the crack!

i don't get the eastenders = depressing thing. it's a soap! plenty of humour in it too.

the dead body rolled up in a carpet scene in corrie was proper funny btw.

i don't get the eastenders = depressing thing.

It's about cunts being cunts to other cunts. lol misanthropy

Tonight's double episode was a right good un.

Yes, I enjoyed it. Except I kept wondering whose pot of gold paid for the steam train and all that palaver. That must have cost a few quid.

Hayley, Fiz and Becky on the pump cart thingy was hilarious.

I presume Roy and Hayley have secret pots of cash since their cafe is always busy and they never spend it on clothes or anything really apart from the odd pineapple juice.

I figured that must be it. And they would be exactly the kind of people who would turn over a load of money to Becky to organize things.

Steve (who wasn't even at the wedding with his missus) is also owner of a bottomless pot of gold what with his pub that only employs a million people and still sells drinks at 1989 prices, and his cab firm that employs a million people and only has about two cars which only services the dozen or so in the street who never actually go anywhere.

Well, what about Dev and his vast empire of corner shops that never need the help of Mary Portas, despite the fact that everyone only ever buys biscuits in them?

Also Rita who needs three people minimum to run a small newsagents which only sells the Weatherfield Gazette when something happens which warrants people reading it, and a post office which no-one ever uses.

I assume they are all rich because they drink in the cheapest pub in the world. If I could still get change out of a fiver for a round in the pub, I'd probably be loaded as well.

Is just dull teenage angsty "we just want to be together" shit

I WAS ALL WRONG! it was actually proper emotional tonight, especially when Sophie fessed up to Kevin. Has Sally always been a secret homophobe?

Also, Roy's speech <3

Sophie whispering "I love you" was so sweet.

I think that cardboard cutout of Roy was from the medieval reenactment a few years back wasn't it. Mmm, puritan pottage.

Has Sally always been a secret homophobe?

Sally hates everything and everyone, particularly things that are outside of her personal experience. Homosexuality, foreignness, intellect, she hates them all.

Yeah, but she's friends, sort of, with Sean, isn't she, at work at least? Don't recall any "not normal" digs, though I'm not quite as keen an observer as I used to be.

Also, genuine lols at "intellect" :-)

Yes - great two episodes. It made me realise how much I like the current cast.

Rita's outfit though...And was it really necessary to have a topless Kevin, however briefly?

I almost forget - last Friday's episode with Hailey's hen night was like Corrie on hallucinogens:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bViZUVajspo/THmMXr9KyZI/AAAAAAAAB7c/jdSdaVP4vpY/s400/henNurses.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bViZUVajspo/THmNNFv-_MI/AAAAAAAAB7s/Tp0LKvoH3t4/s400/HayleyDancing2.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bViZUVajspo/THmNEU49c6I/AAAAAAAAB7k/IEvZYrdrn9g/s320/Styling.jpg

re. sally being a homophobe. i see the "where's that come from" pov, but i guess it kind of reflects the 'not a problem with it until you find out your own son/daughter is one of them' scenario? which i guess is possible?

But she doesn't appear to think her daughter *is* one of them? "It's OK, you can hug Sian, no-one here thinks you aren't normal" = ugh.

i guess she'll find out soon though, and she won't like it? if her reaction to claire telling her she saw her kissing sian is anything to go by anyway. i reckon kevin will be ok about it. girl who plays sophie is really good btw.

she used to wash corin's hair in the salon sunday mornings

Well, yes, she won't like it, that's why she's suddenly become all "ooh, it's not normal" despite being not noticeably averse to Sean (and, er, being at Roy and Hayley's wedding - can't really remember her being one of the people particularly disgusted at Hayley's revelation about her past back in the day). It's just added soapy drama for Sophie to struggle against.

Sally is friends with Sean, but he's pretty much John Inman at this stage, so there's not much for her to rail against with him. Even if he started having a relationship with a man, I reckon she'd be okay as long as they didn't start flaunting it up and down the street where she would have to see it.

Although I was pleased about it from a dramatic point of view, because it meant they didn't spin out the storyline any longer, I was disappointed in Claire being so quick to break her promise to Sophie not to tell. Fuck you, Claire. (I don't like Claire anyway. If she didn't have Sally across the road as a cautionary tale, I reckon she'd be just like her.)

Yeah, I was really disappointed that Claire broke her promise so quickly. I find Claire very inoffensive though and more sinned against than sinning (having to put up with the mega-dull Ashley for a start).

"Mary queen of shops she's a lesbian, and i love mary queen of shops!"

Just watching this now. That Mary Queen of Shops thing was pure Sally at her Salliest.

Silly Sally at her Silliest Salliest!

corrie really driving home the "gays aint that bad!" message at the mo. i mean i'm not saying it's not plausible for two families on the same street to be facing such issues at the same time, but, hmm.

who's the other family? i know the websters. i haven't watched it much recently.

ken barlow's grandson is gay, and his father (ken's son) isn't too happy about it. the son and the grandson are played by bill roache (actor who plays ken)'s sons.

ok, i saw linus roach the other day.

so linus roach's son (in the show) is played by his real brother, bill roach's other son?

yeah that's right.

just googled and they were born to different mothers, so i guess that makes them half-brothers. but yeah, they're all related.

Seeing Linus Roache without his American Law and Order accent was ... interesting.

Did anyone watch the road to coronation street? i liked it so much i watched it twice!

I have recorded it for later consumption. I am very much looking forward to it.

you'll enjoy it, i'm sure.

it's still on iplayer til this weekend for anyone else.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ttj2r/Corrie_The_Road_to_Coronation_Street/

You can also download it which gives you longer if, like me, you are a bit rubbish at remembering to find time to watch stuff.

Enjoyed the 'Road to Corrie' a lot. The acting was great, especially David Dawson in the lead Tony Warren role.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it as well. I had no idea how hard they had to fight for it. Of course, that could just be the BBC's current narrative.

Good cliffhanger tonight on Corrie as well. Trust Gail to go looking in the medical records with that sense of righteous moral superiority she has (even about doing something quite wrong).

Then she goes and gets sacked in public, with nary a disciplinary procedure or referral to HR, and replaced in ten seconds with Deirdre with nary a reference or CRB check.

Carla's descent into alcoholism is a belter an' all.

Why can't this just stay good for any length of time?

Had a good old sniffle at Jack telling Tyrone that he had cancer.

molly really is an annoying busybody isn't she.

r.i.p Jack ....

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/11/8/1289241657665/Jack-Duckworth-reunited-w-006.jpg

I had a wee sniffle. Poor Jack. Shame they had to ruin what was otherwise a decent episode with (1) bloke that plays Ashley being a really bad drunk and (2) this fucking Fishwick pish.

Nice that there wasn't a HERE'S WHAT'S ON NEXT over the credits at the end. Now can every single other TV programme take note, please!

i'm always sniffling but, really, couldn't they have put some better writers on this one? the jack and vera scene was very poor. they must have spent all the money on the vertical tracking shot through the house.

It could have been a lot lot worse. Also, y'know, it's Jack. It was sad. Was Fiz around at all in the pub, btw - wasn't she the wee apple of his eye when she was going out with Tyrone? And Maria?

I hope to God Nick Tilsley goes under the tram, btw. This Leanne angst is v. annoying. They're going to make Peter have an affair with Carla, aren't they?

yes i also noticed that the pub looked a bit sparse. this was the first i've seen it in a month or so, it's definitely in recession from what i can see.

The pub was shot from a new angle that I'd never seen before, from right behind the door.

yes and there looked something very "set like" about it. maybe new, smaller, cameras let them get into more nooks and crannies? and allow vertical tracking shots through rooms you've never even seen before.

I believe they'd been taking some of the set apart to do the crash/aftermath/rebuilding so maybe that's allowed them to get in places that they didn't have access before?

Also they've had to revamp a lot of the sets since going HD apparently.

ah right, i imagine that's why it looks a bit different now. not that i'm watching on HD but they do jazz things up a bit when they do that.

xpost i had forgotten about the upcoming crash.

The Corrie/Eastenders thing on Children In Need was fun.

the young lady who plays Sunita was on Loose Women yesterday and said that the 50th anniversary episode would feature 'live CGI'. Sounds, interesting?

I reckon Ken and Deirdre would look great in those motion-capture suits.

the "big event" is being trailered as "four funerals and a wedding".

i thought it was supposed to be, like, 20 funerals?

also, another wedding??? put the brakes on ffs.

Who's getting married - Peter and Leanne? I was trying to work that out earlier when I saw the advert. Is Jack one of the four funerals - are we only losing three folk then?

Eileen in the Children in Need trailer said "I also said those trams would be the death of me." - spoiler or red herring?

also = always

I hope that was a red herring because her 'nicking money off boss' storyline could be fun.

Gotta be Ashley or Clare to go? This moving to France thing is pretty rubbish so must be leading up to something.

My money's on Molly. Hopefully Dev as well.

If the wedding's on then that rules out Peter and Leanne, am predicting Nick instead of either of them. One out of Molly and Kevin (Molly probably), one out of Ashley and Clare (please god Clare), and one more (Janice?)

just four? we need a bigger clear out than that.

i can barely look at eddie windass.

but please, yes, dev.

They couldn't kill off Eddie Windass with the whole Gary-back-from-Afghanistan storyline, poor Anna :-(

Don't think Peter and Leanne can be ruled out - they could be having the reception in The Joinery.

Nearest businesses - the Joinery, Streetcars, the corner shop, the Kabin. Nearest houses: the Websters. Who lives in the flat above the shop just now - Tina?

Oops, when googling for who lives where, I just came across a list of who is due to leave, including a spoiler on Wikipedia about Charlotte which had better not be fucking true. Please can we just get rid of Stape now?

Never mind Coronation Street, can we talk about Eastenders' Glenda turning into an uber-GILF and shagging her nephew, the ever-unnattractive Phil Mitchell, after letting Ian Beale think he was going to get his? She is fast becoming my current favourite soap character by a long way - between this and her leaving weed out for Carol Jackson to get stoned on, she is holding the show together. Not even Janine locking Ryan in a fridge, or Rosie Webster generally being amazing, is coming close.

We can. ON THE EASTENDERS THREAD :-)

Yesterday's EastEnders

Ugh, I knew I'd posted on a thread before about Eastenders, I don't know why I thought this had become a de facto soaps thread.

Nice wee article by Grace Dent in the grauniad: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/dec/03/coronation-street

I particularly liked this:

A good rule of thumb in life is to think, "What would Deirdre Barlow do?" then act utterly to the contrary.

Yeah I loved that line, it's a great article.

So, have they done the *thing* yet?

Next week.

Starts Monday.

My death wish list is: Fizz, Kirk, Molly & Tyrone, Izzy, Nick & Leanne, Julie, Pam and Mary

Mine is Stape and Dev. And Nick.

Is the *thing* on Monday, and the live episode on Thursday?

I don't mind John Stape, I think the Colin Fishwick storyline is quite funny if stupid, I think Charlotte is solid gold and think he's great at being a gormless idiot.

Charlotte has a really scary mouth.

I loved Sophie's comment to Rosie the other night "maybe its Santa and he's brought you some clothes that actually fit you"

I think the passing of Maggie Jones has meant they can spread the comedy bitchy lines around more cast members. Sophie is great, they had better fucking not even be thinking of splitting her and Sian up via the medium of crashing trams.

http://www.itv.com/coronationstreet/videos/backstage/50thpreviewspecial/

I am unreasonably excited about the tram crash after watching this.

o0o00h indeed!

Holy shit, that looks proper. So, Ashley, Peter, Simon, Max, Molly, Jack, Sunita, Nick, maybe Ciaran all in danger?...looked like the Peacocks house going up as well?

Not Peter and Simon! One of the greatest double acts in modern Corrie?

I don't mind John Stape, I think the Colin Fishwick storyline is quite funny if stupid, I think Charlotte is solid gold and think he's great at being a gormless idiot.

I have a very, very different opinion of this storyline.

Have rewatched, Jason and Rita also in peril! Internets have revealed three deaths to me (one unrelated to tram). How many are going?

I'm with trishyb on the Stapewick thing. I believe I have mentioned this before.

Rita cannot go. Who will take care of everyone? No, no, too much trauma there.

it would have been good to introduce the trams as part of the weatherfield geography prior to this episode.

I am a bit too excited about this - all the "you better be here when I get back, Clurr" foreshadowing is making me nervous, Corrie is pretty much a member of the family.

I haven't watched this for about three or four years -- is it worth trying to start to watch again?

Probably, all the old characters are still there and still the same

it looks amazing tonight. fantastic lighting.

The trams have been rumbling about for the last few weeks.

This first episode is marvellous stuff. Ken Barlow!

i know, incredible! elsie tanner!

hard to believe it's the first episode let alone the first of its kind of an entire cultural keystone.

I'm really liking this, time to buy that five storey high Complete Corrie DVD boxset and get going.

oh i want to watch episode two now, not the tram crash.

"Are those fancies today's? I'll take half a dozen - and no eclairs. NO eclairs."

I do like that new doctor, continuing the tradition of Matthew Ramsden and local hot doctors.

Rita being rained on by gobstoppers! Nice touch!

Wowzers, that was epic.

that was incredible although the rollercoaster tram driver shot was a bit gratuitous.

but wait, why did the nightclub explode?

I presume related to the gas problems that Ciaran had mentioned about why he was serving sandwiches rather than steak and chips to the stags?

ah ok i missed that bit.

the countdown-collage thing of all the characters was ridiculously exciting!

That was incredible. The tram plunging straight into Molly was terrifying. Not sure I want the irony of Rita being killed by a tram though.

btw, thank FUCK for demise of Charlotte, can we somehow have Stape dying when he presumably tries to burn her body in the fire without anyone noticing?

Yeah, Molly bit was proper frightening.

that one person (sorree don't watch the show with any regularity) running away from the collapsing shop was hella cool.

(was that molly? if so, yeah!)

Yeah, that was Molly.

that was superb.

The bit when John hit her with the hammer and the wreath fell off the door reminded me of Maxine getting murdered by Richard Hillman, which I thought was a nice touch if deliberate.

Sunita presumably squished through the back of the shop. Who lives in the flat over the shop? Presume Peacock house is toast, as will also be the factory (Fishwick body coming out?), the garage and the factory and maybe Gail's house from where it came down over the Kabin?

yeah that was good but bad because it means they are prob keeping john for a future serial killer storyline.

xpost, oh is fishwick in the factory?

Yeah, didn't they put his body in there when they were rebuilding the factory after the fire?

i lost track/interest around that time and stopped watching.

Wise decision.

lol ITV doing news reports on the crash, featuring some terrible acting from her that plays Anna Windass:

http://www.itv.com/coronationstreet/corrieextra/tramcrashnewsflash/tramcrashnewsflashpart1/#intcmp=790903_123_2

My gf is a bit of transport nut and was more concerned throughout the programme that light railway would be seen in a bad light; "But, it is one of the safest forms of travel."

She was very relieved that an explosion caused the rails to break.

haha.

I think I read somewhere that the tram company only agreed to do it if the crash wasn't going to be their fault.

Watching Corrie Come Dine With Me on 4+1 just now. Reg Holdsworth is an odd man. Des Barnes appears to be turning up in drag for the next bit. Would totally go to Kelly's house for dinner, btw.

That was my husband's concern when I told him about it. "Manchester transport aren't going to like this," was his first reaction to news of the impending disaster.

A Gail/Eileen reconciliation is too much! Also Carla & Maria! Too much of the people-who-should-hate-each-other shit here.

Dev's acting!!!

fuck dev's still alive.

am hoping something bad is going to happen to him v. soon.

response time of Weatherfield emergency services pretty poor imo

But there was a big crash on the M62. Not sure why this debilitates the whole of Manchester right enough.

Not looking good for Sunita, is it? Or Max. Or Rita. Also, how many fucking fires can Simon Barlow nearly die in in one year?

lol Mrs V just said that. kid has asbestos lungs

This 50 greatest moments thing is just going to remind me how long I've been watching this thing for. Wendy Crozier!

dev, why are you still alive?

Carla has been fantastic this week. Also loved Mike Barnes from Hollyoaks turning up to rescue Molly.

RIP Ashley, even though I didn't like you very much :-(

he really took his time with that part didn't he? like he wanted as much screen time as poss.

xpost where's the justice?

Is Ashley dead? Corrie is weird in that you can't see why long term actors would want to leave. Steady pay-check etc when you've probably been typecast so much you may never work again. So, presumably the guy that plays Ashley wasn't wanting to be killed off. Bummer for the lad.

So, who do we reckon? Molly's looking a goner. I reckon maybe Ciaran - bit of a look when the doc told him not to go being a hero that makes me think he'll defy him and go and do just that, maybe going back into the Joinery to try to help rescue Nick (it was just Peter who got out, aye?)

xpost Ashley's dead, aye. Roof collapsed on him and voiceover dude said "go over to ITV.com for an interview with Steven Arnold who PLAYED Ashley". And he was axed rather than quit.

Ashley and Molly, yes. Rita maybe? Or maybe they'll decide that's where Max is because he went there before, so they'll pay more attention to the shop.

I think maybe Sunita, which would be doubly awful because (1) Sunita's OK and (2) we'd have to watch Dev's mourning face.

Maybe he'll just piss off and have a particularly miserable round of golf.

anyone else been watching the online extras? The news reports are terrible, but Gary's army diaries are worth a wee watch.

The news report with Anna Windass featured some of the worst "acting" I have ever seen.

Yeah, it's awful. And why would Anna go round the corner for a pint of milk with Dev's shop just across the road anyway? Bah.

Dot in EastEnders just now "I'm just going to stay in and watch Corrie tonight".

wow, really!?

yeah, really. Thought that was a nice touch.

indeed, unheard of, in fact.

Dot Cotton was just repping in the Eastenders launderette. She never misses an episode!

After the Emmerdale plane crash, Mick Johnson in Brookside was reading a newspaper with a front page splash about a plane crash in Yorkshire.

ooh, i think we all saw the need for a blood transfusion for baby Jack when Kev and Ty rocked up at the hospital together (I am typing so I don't have to watch Dev acting)

claire was pretty good there, surprisingly!

She was, yes. Everyone's been pretty good so far, tbh. Except Dev.

xxxpost

Think some of the Emmerdale writers had actually moved across to Brookie, or perhaps vice versa

yes it's kind of hard to believe this is live. everyone v good. apart from the obv.

Don't envy Fiz having to do live labour pain acting for the whole episode.

Hope Stape is a fucking terrible name.

Well, I really rather enjoyed that.

It was very intense.

Some crap (why was Sally not wearing a hard hat, why was she left alone with Molly, how did Stape get back from the hospital so quickly, why did they let Sean do so much emotional stuff), but one fluff that I spotted (paramedic voices when Becky was in the lane) and some genuine emotional acting (Leanne especially).

Peter can't be dead, he's too major a character for his death to be cut over to Tyrone instead.

lols at Charlotte not actually being dead.

That really fucking annoyed me! There was quite a lot to take in, all told though.

No Deirdre, no Liz, no Gail, no Emily, no Michelle (thank fuck!), anyone else not there (apart from the kids)?

Jeez-o, Charlie-Stubbs-bloke's beard on this 50 greatest moments thing...

Tearing up a wee bit at Hilda crying over Stan here :-(

hate that this is chosen by the public, it'll be something really shite at number one, like fecking Tracey killing Charlie or something

This (Blanche at Peter's AA meeting) was proper comedy gold, but best Corrie moment ever? Really!?!

Any other suggestions for no. 1?

it's not even blanche's greatest moment! but she died just recently so <3 from me.

teared up at hilda and also at sally talking about her cancer.

i think i may have said somewhere before but sally dynevor, who plays sally webster, is apparently a lovely person irl. a friend of mine, who ran a theatre group for kids in glasgow, ran into her in manchester and told her about the group and she offered to come up and visit the kids. he brushed it off as "not gonna happen" type thing but she phoned him (not the other way round) and offered her services. she came up to glasgow to run a workshop on her day off and paid for the travel herself (they had no money). my friend says she was wonderful! i always liked sally w. so much after i heard that story.

Hilda when Stan died would have been my number one. That's a lovely story, jed_, and I thought her talking about her real cancer experience tonight was tremendously affecting as well.

Hats off to several actors I don't particularly rate tonight - thought Fiz, Molly and Claire were terrific this evening. Proper real hats off to Jane Danson though.

She is proper good alright. Good thing they got Nick out the way early, he was rubbish.

Hope Stape is a fucking terrible name.

Jesus, isn't it though?

I nearly blew a gasket when a) fecking Mary turned up and b) Charlotte turned out not to be dead. Why can't Corrie writers have the same taste in their own characters as I do?

^ truthbomb. we should totally take over.

How long till Shaun Ryder gets a part off the back of his I'm A Celebrity success?

haha, i told that same story at the top of this thread! i'm bound to tell it here again at some point...

It was nice to hear it again though.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/dec/10/coronation-street-live-episode-review

Guardian also believe Peter Barlow to be dead. I'm not so sure...

wtf @ 'bastard kid'!

Oh, he's joking. Not very well, admittedly...

Jane Danson stood out as particularly amazing in a great episode, finding myself surprised at how eager I am for tonight's episode.

The 50 moments thing was great too - I felt really old watching it and recognising storylines from when I was six years old. I don't know what I would have picked as my best moment, but I thought the Blanche selection was a good choice as, like they said in the programme, it had both the drama and comedy that the show does so well, featuring some great characters.

Jane Danson was great. John Stape's fast becoming one of my favourite characters.

The closing montage with the U2 song was really moving. <3 Roy and Haley giving out soup.

John Stape is brilliant at the 'shit eating grin'.

Feel a bit sorry for Ashley not getting a funeral. Tyrone's breaking my heart here :-(

I'm beginning to feel sorry for Kevin as even his dad is disgusted by him. He's beginning to look as if he's aged a lot over the last 12 months as well. I thought he looked quite frail at the funeral.

The second episode tonight contains a real Corrie highlight.

Oh PLEASE tell me you're not talking about Kevin ending up in the grave? I tweeted to trishyb at the end of the first ep that that was going to happen, it always bloody happens in soap funerals.

I continue to be impressed by how good Claire, Tyrone and Sally have been over the last couple of weeks.

This John Stape plot is to be viewed as a comedy now, right? Charlotte's funeral is going something like a Frasier episode.

Like a REALLY UNFUNNY Frasier episode, maybe.

So the fourth funeral was the taxi driver that was mentioned in the live episode. Meh.
http://entertainment.stv.tv/tv/215703-coronation-streets-fourth-funeral-mystery-cleared-up/

what a swizz.

Serious lapse of judgement in letting Rita sing. And they seem to have developed a serious weakness for sentimental video montages recently....

Tracey-centric episode = NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Eastenders also featured a character singing in the pub - Dot Cotton - and a sentimental video montage piece at the end. No conferring please, script editors...

Video montage at the start of Emmerdale yesterday too.

Bloke who plays Graeme is leaving. It is sort of annoying, yet inevitable, that the good people go elsewhere yet the really crap ones can never ever leave.

Is it wrong to believe in Tyrone & Sally as a believable couple?

graeme leaving is not good for corrie or him tbh. great character, funny and enjoyable to watch in spite of the fact that he's a really crap actor. i can't see him having a career outside corrie unless it's in something bad like 2 pints of lager and crisps, if that's still going?)

Yeah, I worry that he thinks his popularity in being a great character translates into him being great elsewhere (like you, I don't think it will). Very few people leave Corrie to be good elsewhere, I can't think of anyone recently apart from Suranne Jones who have managed it (and I really didn't like Karen McDonald at all, tbh).

yes, even Liam didn't make much of an impact in Downton Abbey although he still might. not that he was a great actor either (although he was good towards the end) but he was widely thought of as a heart-throb.

Very few people leave Corrie to be good elsewhere, I can't think of anyone recently apart from Suranne Jones who have managed it

I guess Joanne Froggat, though she's not really that recent.

she was good in downton abbey.

valerie barlow not that recent either ;)

AARGH MAKE THE STAPE STUFF GO AWAY NOW PLEASE.

Some nice photos here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/gallery/2011/jan/19/coronation-street-photography#/?picture=370782925&index=0

Bad news Stape's back.

But what to make of the current plot lines:

- Becky and Steve planning child abduction

- chancer impersonating long lost grandson for some kind of inheritance - 'our Tommy' (I think)

- transvestite comes in from the cold

- Liz and Jim Macdonald in back together shock

Hoping Kevin gets the last laugh tbh. Sally, Tyrone and Tommy ganging up on him was a bit mean.

Kevin Webster can never suffer enough.

Hands Up - this is a hold up, so it is...

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00239/Jim_main_619x672_239095a.jpg

It was one of the most unearned pieces of drama I've seen on Corrie in a long time. Buying the Rovers from Steve and Becky has been my dream for all of a month! No wonder I'm resorting to desperate measures!

Ah, but getting Elizabeth back's been my dream forever, so it has.

eh okay this is really bad.

Yep. Didn't see last night, but the Graeme/Xin thing and the Stape thing and the Becky/Steve/Tracy/Kylie/David things are all rotten.

ailsa, just wait til you get to sindy from eastenders and the guy from taggart doing terrible manc accents o_O

graeme/xin was like some kind of bad acting face-off

Michelle Collins accent is pretty much unwatchable. Tracy is awful. I usually like Steve but not when he has to deal with emo Becky. Everything that was good about Corrie has gone wrong.

This does not sound good. I like Michelle Collins a lot, though the idea of her and John Michie being fake Mancs sounds awful.

I am hoping that imminent Kat Kelly departure will return Steve to former glories. He's a good character and Becky used to be good, but together they're so rubbish.

Ha, oh god, please stop John Michie talking.

free the weatherfield one t shirt gifted to me by a friend

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/Photo439.jpg

as an (almost) lifelong fan i have to say that i no longer watch. in fact, cannot stand to watch. i only watch emmerdale!

Old style t shirt - it'd be Fiz behind those bars if you were a current viewer.

i saw a trailer with fiz stealing a baby or something. that was enough.

i'm watching on a whole other level now with emmerdale.

Stella is a real annoying landlady and this whole 'look! I'm Leanne's real mum!' thing was every bit as stupid and ridiculous as when it turned out that Eileen and Julie were sisters.

Julie's love life is a storyline that should never be revisited, btw.

Oh, and attempting to turn Roy's mother into a replacement Blanche isn't working.

It's driving me away. The last episode I saw resembled a 'Last of the Summer Wine' spin-off - with Roy's mother as a Nora Batty type character surrounded by weak and helpless men.

Stay tuned, apparently this week gives the gift of SPOILER Tyrone being beaten with a baseball bat.

i'll beat that bitch with a bat.

There are many more characters deserving of a beating with a baseball bat than Ty. Dev for one.

i think i'd watch a tv series that consisted of nothing more than people beating dev with a baseball bat.

I'd beat Kirk first, Dev second.

no, dev has to be first.

Bring Stape back, beat him. Then that brain tumour twerp. Then Dev's daughter. Then Dev.

Look, if you bring Stape back for any reason, it'll be you who gets the bat.

I hate what they've done to Stephanie Cole. At first I liked her undermining of Roy and Hayley and was looking forward to her getting her comeuppance, but this bullshit with the cafe is just annoying me now. Nobody does that. Nobody. Especially not someone of her age who'd be all proper values and customer service about corner cafes. It's nonsense.

Yes, Chris can totally get batted. And Cheryl. And Fiz. And Julie and her stupid Fishwick-related bloke. And yer man from Taggart. And a double batting for Nick.

Might as well put this here:

Coronation Street, 1975 -

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/148.jpg

R.I.P. Betty Driver.

Oh fuck off with the John Stape comeback already. Also Amber deciding she's a lesbian. And hasn't Eileen's new fella's storyline been done already (actually, that might have been Jane in EastEnders, come to think of it...)

When i was watching it the other day I said "if that's John Stape in that car, I'm out." And it is! So that's two and a half hours of my week free for a while anyway. Phew.

Actually, it was that chap Ted that Rita was married to who had the wife with Alzheimers, wasn't it?

Yes, but I think she was got out of the way before funny business commenced. This plotline is closer to Ian 'n' Jane, you're right.

These courtroom scenes are excruciating.

I do like Eileen's new man, he was one of the better things in Hollyoaks when he was in it.

Incidentally, there's no rolling Hollyoaks thread where I can say how much I'm enjoying the serial killer storyline, is there? I particularly like the seven-months-pregnant bride, in full costume, handcuffed and changed in a cellar while waiting for an impromptu caeserean before her death, it makes for a nice bit of tea-time telly.

amazingly this is not a waxwork dummy
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/08/article-2083846-0F5FCEC700000578-516_468x664.jpg

Terrifying.

Corrie is at a point now where I don't know whether my anger and boredom is because the characters are deliberately made like they are, or because the writing is so shit.

Corrie is mostly bad just now, yes. You can tell it's bad when they make Sally's sex life a focal point.

Thought it was mostly great today. Only stopped enjoying it when I realised that come Thursday it's back to endless scenes about that fucking piano/uke playing contest (and I like most of the characters involved in that ffs)

Yes, was completely rooting for Becky all the way through that. So sad to see her leave when Mary and Dev and that still roam the street.

Please tell me Rosie is leaving. She's so terrible! Wasn't she a sensitive genius with a public school scholarship and an emo boyfriend not that long ago? Now she's Amy fucking Childs.

she is...i know this from work even tho not seen corrie in ages. she is amy childs IRL too.

http://i.imgur.com/wsu4I.jpg

Ewww

Ew indeed.

Corrie's quite good just now. Lovely wee gag last night, Stella was mouthing off to Carla about homewreckers not being welcome in her pub, cut to the corner where Leanne (slept with Carla's husband) and Ken (is Ken) were sitting.

If you ignore anything involving the Brian v Kylie food Nazi stuff, and everything involving Dev, it's on good form. Sally, Frank's mum, Carla and Leanne are all playing blinders just now. The Eileen/Paul storyline is ticking along nicely. And Gail is a comedy genius. Who knew?

Carl and Sunita, ewwwww! Ewwww! They're horrible together! He's horrible! She's got horrible dialogue! "I'll always be there for you, I won't let you down." You barely know the guy!

Also, he let her be suspected of stealing. Twice. I know Sunita has a shite taste in men, but I agree - ewwww. If you're going to cheat on Dev, don't just move on to the next worst option.

As if recovering alcoholic Peter would let the landlady who has served him drinks take the moral high ground over him for serving a gambler in his bookies...

Corrie's gone all shit again :-(

Please let this be real.

Sean's bad acting, this ballroom dancing Mary/Roy v Norris/Hayley pish and that rat in the pub fiasco? We're getting to the time of year when they realise everyone's watching football or off their holidays, right?

forgot about this til Han posted it

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/426799_337641946324643_292172242_n.jpg

the man's incorrigible

What is it? He's got a daughter somewhere?

Peter Barlow, NV's daughter, no?

Anyone else struggling to get nu-Ryan as young enough to be Kym Marsh's son?

yeah it's Peter B and our Hannah at some sleb football match thing from a couple of years ago

Anyone else struggling to get nu-Ryan as young enough to be Kym Marsh's son?

Yes! My first reaction was "of course they threw you out of college, you're thirty!"

I almost can't look at the telly during any Sunita/Karl action, any Mary trying to flirt with Roy action, or whenever Dev is on-screen.

It's near unwatchable these days (PS, stop trying to turn Tracy and Beth into a double-act. They are both awful and should be shot into the heart of the sun post-haste)

I don't know, Tracy and Norris have potential as a double act. But yeah, Beth is just Cilla-lite and rubbish with it. I don't know who writes Sunita and Karl's scenes, but the dialogue is so awful it seems to have been beamed in from a U.S. daytime soap (I only know about these from Friends, really, for all my big talk).

Oh God, they are so bad. So bad!

I'm quite liking Mary for the first time ever, she makes a much better double act with Roy than she does with Norris. Her line, "I like a man you can hang your hat on" the other week got a genuine lol from me.

I was just having a think about characters I like and dislike and just realised there are fecking millions of them just now! Could really stand to lose a few, starting with Dev/Sunita/Karl. I assume this is why writers forget things and have things like Gail being all "omg, I suddenly have Simon as a grandson, I have to do granny things with a primary school aged kid, I do not understand this"? What about Max who, y'know, lives in her house?

btw, seriously, is "being related to Carla" the only qualification for running a factory? Been in jail? No experience of anything but being a crap barmaid and singing on cruise ships? No matter.

Bill Tarmy dies

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2012-11-09/coronation-street-star-bill-tarmey-dies/

RIP, Jack.

:-(

Havers 'n' Gail. Disgusting and hilarious.

I am totally creeped out by it. For weeks seeing them together has given the the heebie-jeebies more than the creeping terror of not knowing when Kirsty's going to menk out on Tyrone. And now we have the Sophie/Jenna weirdness to be wronged out by as well (seriously, all Sophie has done is stamp her feet like a moody teenager and go "but Daaaad, whyyyyyy?!? It's so unfaaair!", why would Jenna be attracted to *that*).

http://s13.postimage.org/er1tbgvzb/397685_4468308782842_175197728_n.jpg

Ha :-)

Right, so it's all shit just now, right? But specifically shit: Tyrone has been to the hospital for the treatment of his injuries. Kirsty was referred to anger management counselling by Dr Carter (and never turned up for the sessions). Tommy and Tina have been accusing Kirsty publicly of domestic violence for months. Why the fuck is none of this mentioned at all by anyone, it's all people (mostly the factory girls who she used to be a snotty bitch to - they were all there when she went nuts at her own birthday party for starters) believing Kirsty's side of things over Tyrone who they've all known and liked for years based on absolutely nothing at all.

The degeneration of the genuinely scary domestic violence storyline into a crap love story with no basis in reality is just doing my nut in, even more than why the fuck Jenna would want to go out with whiny Sophie.

Jenna is a reet terrible actress too. I only ever see this now when i'm visiting my maw.

She is, yes.

Also also also, why is Gail having to sell her house? She only has to make loan repayments, she doesn't have to give the £40k back all at once. She should throw David & Kylie out and get Beth, Kirk and Craig to move in as her lodgers instead. And then someone can set the house on fire. Sorted.

AND... David and Kylie couldn't afford to buy football boots for Max just before Christmas and were shamed when Nick bought them for him instead. How are they suddenly able to get a mortgage for about £90k just before Kylie goes off on maternity leave?

I hate this programme, why do I still watch it?

This tortoise storyline is some whole new level of shite.

This is the second time someone on Corrie has lost a beloved pet to the derision of other street residents. Coronation Street hates animals.

The dogs all keep vanishing as well, Maria's lab hasn't been seen for ages and Eccles only turns up when Ken or Deirdre need to overhear something in the wee lane down the back of the houses.

The 'Roy Cropper does card counting' storyline the other week was the absolute nadir.

Oh yes, that was dreadful, and evidently written by someone who has never been in a casino. Sylvia and Karl both seem to kick their gambling addictions pretty quickly, eh?

Has anyone read this?

https://images.bookworld.com.au/images/bau/97818473/9781847326065/0/0/plain/coronation-street-the-complete-saga.jpg

Is it worth getting for cheap on amazon? I feel like I would justv find it frustrating because of all the stuff it would inevitably have to leave out.

I've been searching Tumblr and Livejournal to try and find a site with someone doing a massive project to write up each new episode of Coronation Street in epic novel form as a supplement to the book but it doesn't seem to exist.

There's a lot of Corrie fanfic, most it seems to deal with the Nick/Leanne/Peter/Carla love triangle.

http://www.fanfiction.net/tv/Coronation-Street/

its always in the 99p store/poundland

Some of those fanfics have storylines even duller than the real ones.

"Sophie Webster and Faye Windass share some chips and talk about boys."

I don't know, i think dull corrie plots are usually the best ones. When they start doing stuff about serial killers and explosions and the like is usually when it's at its most intolerable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJLtsp3NQ8M

i mean, everything that happens here is fairly low key and inconsequential, but it's definitely better than the average 2013 episode.

I just had a flick through that episode and at every moment I checked someone was looking at a newspaper.

'I just had a flick through that episode and at every moment I checked someone was looking at a newspaper' = how you can tell this is a good episode.

Coronation Street star Chris Fountain suspended over 'totally unacceptable' secret rap alter-ego The Phantom

And now he's been sacked.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-23761643

http://www.corrie.net/profiles/actors/devaney_sue.html

She has also formed a band called The Dunky Dobbers with former Coronation Street and Emmerdale actress Michelle Holmes and they recorded a record with the band The Art of Noise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Holmes

Michelle Holmes (born Corinne Michelle Cunliffe, 1 January 1967), is an English actress who has appeared in several television serials.
Born in Rochdale, Lancashire, she performed in a pop band called the Dunky Dobbers.

I have not been able to find any more information about The Dunky Dobbers. Were they a real band? Did they record a record with The Art of Noise?

the only google result for "Dunky Dobbers" that isn't quoting one of the articles above seems to a comment on this flickr photo of some marbles and now I'm even more confused

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scansfield/7015177495/

"Until I'm actually on set, I genuinely don't think it will sink in that I'm joining the cast of Coronation Street," she added.

How pragmatic of her!

Shame she's not joining the cast of Coronation Street then, isn't it?

(actress cast to play Bethany Platt is about the same age as Tina O'Brien who plays her mother. Internet not happy about it, so she gets the boot).

Coronation Street is so utterly terrible right now. The only good storyline has Steve's depression (surprisingly well-portrayed given the guff emanating from every other bit of the show), but it seems that it's about to be resolved very quickly by the love of a very irritating and selfish woman.

RIP Anne Kirkbride :-(

http://www.itv.com/coronationstreet/news/anne-kirkbride

Wow, shocking. RIP.

She left the show very suddenly in the middle of a storyline she was very involved in, so figured she was seriously ill, but still quite a shock. Only 60 :-(

Aw man! RIP X

RIP Deirdrie Barlow :(

She was an impeccable performer with superb comedy timing and an immense gift for really heightened drama.

Bill Roache right about something for once.

(actress cast to play Bethany Platt is about the same age as Tina O'Brien who plays her mother. Internet not happy about it, so she gets the boot).

Graham Linehan did retweet a sensible answer to the question of why this is an issue. The actress might pass for 14 now, but in three years time that might no longer be the case.

Yeah. With older actors/actresses playing under their age, it can pass relatively unnoticed (though who believes Nick Tilsley is in his early 30s, or that Ryan was about 20?), but it doesn't really work with grown-ups playing teenagers.

Ryan was ridiculous.
http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2014/09/601870917.gif

Enough with the TV tribs, Televisionland, yeah?

This show is so bad now, and Alison King has just quit.

I hate everyone in it except Tim now.

I stopped watching about three months ago, Carla & Tim (& Sally because of Tim) were the only characters I liked. Glad I quit when I did.

Anything to do with Callum, anything to do with Bethany, and this whole Gavin/Andy bollocks is just about the last straw with me. They seems to have (1) forgotten that Faye has had a baby and (2) missed a huge opportunity for Sarah to get involved as she just rocked up the street after a 10 year absence the week that another girl did exactly what she did and no-one mentioned it or thought Sarah/Gail would be a good source of comfort and advice.

I seem to have forgotten how to construct sentences. See, that's how angry I am at it.

Gail's ridiculous wedding without her mother and her granddaughter (I assume Lily's hiding in a cupboard with Dev's kids and Tyrone's kids and Simon Barlow and Faye & Miley). This whole "we can't tell Michael the truth about Gavin/Andy, it'll kill him, however I'll just jilt him for no reason. Twice."

Sarah and Bethany just show up from Milan with no clothes or possessions, Sarah gets sacked by her own uncle for no reason whatsoever, and all of a sudden they're fully resident and clothed and have joined a gym and whathaveyou with not a thought to nipping back over to Milan to end apartment leases, collect possessions, ask Uncle Steven for a second chance rather than being sacked for not sending one email, nothing. And smart and savvy businesswoman with vast experience of the Italian fashion industry Sarah can't find a job anywhere in Manchester (not even at Carla's factory), no, she has to go and work at the local pub. Not even the one her brother owns either.

Tony seems to now be in possession of the bottomless pit of money previously owned by the Croppers and Steve MacDonald (also really, a man who owns two businesses - three if you count Michelle's "party-planning" business - nearly bankrupted over a paltry £10k?).

Because I am so rock & roll, I am watching last night's Corrie on a Saturday night. This Sally-discovers-a-Banksy-on-the-side-of-her-house is some load of old arse.

Also, this Erica thing, really?

And also, this Jenny Bradley thing's shite an' all. How many times does someone people barely know turn up and acts weird and accusatory and everyone takes their side over the person they've known and loved for years?

Ailsa, you're doing well. I have up a long time ago and when I catch it at my mums I'm in disbelief. I never thought I'd say this but it actually makes eastenders look good. I know Carrie has always had an edge of camp but at this point it's ludicrous. There's no actual reality at all to anything I've seen.

Excuse the autocorrects there.

It's quite sad what's happened to Corrie. I've followed it on and off since the early 80s and I just can't watch it any more.

I wouldn't be surprised if the cast are taking "creative sabbaticals" because of what the show is doing to the characters they've spent years building. It's reminding me of Eastenders a few years ago, so there is hope it can be turned around, but it really is just so bad just now.

Yeah, losing some actual good actors (Alison King, Ian Puleston-Davis, Chris Gascoyne) is surely down to the terrible writing of their characters. Peter's affair with Tina and turning the likeable Rob into a killer (also ruining Tracy again into the bargain) surely a low point.

Haven't watched this in about two years but wait, Jenny Bradley came back? I used to play frisbee with her irl.

Yeah, she's back, dating Kevin and harbouring a DARK SECRET (a badly-written dark secret at that).

I've pretty much given up on watching this now and just follow developments via the indispensable Corriepedia

I follow it by the one line summaries in the Guardian Guide, that's plenty. Enough to know I'm not missing anything.

Still shite. Yesterday's episodes appeared to have been beamed in from another planet with rolling plots involving the Weatherfield County manager getting the sack, everyone buying shite at a jumble sale, and no-one knowing what days their bins went out. Plus Tracy *and* Jenny *and* Todd all mwahahahahahing about being secretly evil. And Calum too probably, but I zone out when he's on now.

And now Shayne Ward is joining as yet another Connor. FFS. That's him, Sarah Harding AND Kym Marsh now - is "TV talent show singing person" now the obvious route to soap acting?

That there live episode was actually quite good, even if I did predict Calum ending up in the conveniently-just-discovered-in-time-for-hiding-a-body-in hole in Gail's garage a fortnight ago. Hats off to Jack Shepherd, Paula Lane and the usually rubbish Tina O'Brien.

It was good in the sense of being seamless and unobviously live. The plotting is far too obvious though, and Gail's absence was really noticeable. Also I was waiting for Todd to try to kiss his brother's dad.

The executive producer has been sacked and it is long overdue, the show is really in a bad place just now. Apparently the cast and crew cheered when the announcement was made. The new producer is the one currently at the helm of Emmerdale, which has been really good in the past few years.

Yeah, it's utter dreck most of the time, but I thought the acting was really good. Perhaps they might like to stop doing six fucking episodes a week so they can concentrate on doing the ones they do properly and refine the storylines and cast down to a manageable level. Having a few storylines they could concentrate on (Platts v Calum, Tim/Sally/Kev, Roy & Cathy) was so much better, and really brought the best out of actors who usually just have a total load of guff to spew out six times a week.

Gail's not done any of the live episodes!

I confess, I was really hoping that Michelle was going to go into the Platt house to look for Sarah and get bumped off by Calum. Which would have been a good unexpected twist, with the bonus of no more Michelle ever again.

I was reading wikipedia page for Alan Igbon, aka the original actor who played Jason's dad in Coronation Street, and found this:

It was announced on 14 March 2016 that Tony would be killed-off and that Igbon would reprise the role after 13 years to film the character's death scenes, which will air in April. Of his return Igbon commented "They wanted to bring back the original Tony and I'm delighted to be going back and filming what are going to be some very tragic episodes of Coronation Street."

this didn't happen, right? who is making Alan Igbon quotes and putting them om wikipedia?

It didn't happen. Tony died off-screen a couple of weeks ago. How did that not get a "[citation required]"?

I really hate Coronation Street these days. I pretty much only watch it just to moan about it on Twitter. They can sack everyone that isn't Tim or Jenny or Mary (who seems to have vanished) or Roy, as far as I'm concerned.

Does anybody watch this anymore? Even my mum has given up on it and she watched it for years

I started following it again recently after lapsing for a year or so, which is probably the longest I've gone without watching it regularly since I was born.

talking of roles being recast, it took me a while to realise that Tracy's boyfriend Robert is meant to be the same Robert she was married to back in the 90s as they are both now played by different actors

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hQMfyd8pv3M/VZffRglQwdI/AAAAAAAAr0s/T9yCuQiYaAA/s1600/wedding.jpg

dying at Nick going for a dramatic moonlight jog while listening to Radiohead

Lol, yes.

Coronation Street is so shit these days, I can barely bring myself to talk about it. Pretty much nothing makes sense, and Tim is the only likeable character in it (I have zero faith that they'll do the grooming storyline properly, since every other storyline is dispensed with as soon as it's wrapped up two weeks max after being introduced).

I see Shona's next in line for the Becky/Tina/Maddie/Kylie/Gemma production line of rough diamonds turned good. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I can't believe Kym Marsh is the star of this show just now

I know. Her character is so awful and I think we're still meant to feel sorry for her, what with her trying to kiss Robert and bullying Steve and being an awful bitch to Eva and hitting a heavily-pregnant Leanne and everything.

Rosie can fuck off an' all.

RIP Vera

So a lady in the nail place just told me I look like Bethany from Corrie to which another lady said ‘who’s that? I will google it’ she then went on to say ‘oh god no you don’t look like that.. she looks dog rough and has a fat head’ 🙃

— Lucy Fallon (@lufallon) February 24, 2018

I'm not saying doctors are all the same, they aren't, but they're never anything like the guy they've cast as Michelle's long lost son.

I do know corrie has worse problems atm,

Ailsa, help me out here. I'm blanking on a few people here:

https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/59ca3325190000505d565a65.jpeg

who is that between Percy Sugden and Martin Platt? Funnily, on the other side of Percy is Gloria Todd who i only got because I was wondering "wtf is Jackie Corkhill from Brookside doing in this picture?" then googled Jackie Corkhill to get to Gloria.

Then who is that to the right of Alf Roberts? I do recognise the face but can't put a name to it. The only one I'm totally nonplussed by is the first guy in the photo with the white/blonde hair. I don't have a clue who he is.

& what was Vera's dark-haired pal called?

I’m stumped by everyone you’re stumped by, and also by the lady directly above Deidre.

I think that's Susan Barlow!

"But what about the poor little twins Ena?"
"Their Peter and their Susan?"
"Off up to Scotland. Coming back after twenty years without so much as a Scottish accent." pic.twitter.com/1WzuVPFNdB

— Victoria Wood QOTD (@VictoriaQOTD) December 9, 2017

Vera's pal was Ida Clough. I have no idea who the other randomers are either.

fucking hell at what's coming next week, Corrie has gone dark

(I won't spoil it directly but Shayne Ward is leaving and it is not by taxi)

It's a good topic, I think, quite an unlikely/unbelievable character to use for it.

They've been hinting towards it for quite some time with Aidan's recent storylines, and Shayne Ward's been playing it surprisingly well. I suspect it's going to tie in with David's storyline as well. Be nice for a bit of continuity if it affected Steve in some way, but it'll probably end up being all about Michelle, like everything is in Corrie these days.

Well, this continues to be utter dreck with a bit of decent stuff hidden away. And, as discussed on the Stenders thread, there is an utterly terrible nonsensical and downright offensive storyline coming up for Jim and Liz which will finally have me giving up.

Aidan's storyline passed over in favour of driving Johnny into a pointless affair, more misery for Bethany (good wee actress, sick of the sight of her tied up and whimpering now?, Phelan aftermath done and dusted in about ten minutes ("so, Anna, you stabbed him? Ok, we'll be in touch", Nicola and Michelle both shot with no ill-effects and I don't think the Bistro where two shootings and a fatal stabbing took place was even closed as a crime scene for a full day, Harvey/Vinnie's mum as comedy character who profited massively from the proceeds of his crime with none of the people ripped off in the flats scam seeming to care), blah blah.

Susie "kidnapped" by her own grandfather leads to a police appeal and a nationwide manhunt after less than 24 hours.

Don't get me started on the shite with Jude and his fake job.

So, if this McDonald storyline is true, that'll be one retconned aborted baby and three hospital mixups all on the same street (I assume Ryan #3 is coming back at some point)

oh, that is bad. so the storlyline is that Jim comes back with Liz's daughter who she thought she had aborted? ffs, that is gross. But also there seems to be another storlyline where the mixed-race girl that works in the salon is supposedly Steve's daughter?

You're not seriously telling me Jim McDonald's back are you?

lol! talk about scraping the barrel!

https://alancook.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/my-elizabeth.jpg

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2353754.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Coronation-Street-Jim-robbery.jpg

http://www.tvthrong.co.uk/files/u1465/jim.jpg

Katie wasn't aborted, she died. She was born prematurely, she couldn't survive, and died at a few days old. Apparently it was a mix-up and she was adopted and went to live in Australia. Not sure how the mix-up came to light or how she was adopted, presumably the parents of the other premature baby that did die just took the wrong baby home unaware their baby died then, um, something something THIS MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL.

There were rumours that Emma might have been the daughter of Fiona Middleton who had slept with both Steve and Jim. But I think that's just because the actress is mixed-race and a hairdresser and looks a teensy bit like Angela Griffin (in that she's mixed race and has curly hair). The Katie McDonald thing has been confirmed and an actress has been cast. It's just awful.

Adam Barlow is the retcon abortion, Ryan and Ali are the existing mixed-up-at-birth pair.