Bye Bye Becky, Goodbye

Becky Granger McDonald flew out of Weatherfield and Manchester last night in high style after wreaking havoc on the lives of Tracy and Steve McDonald. She cleared her name of the wrongful charges that she pushed Tracy down a flight of stairs causing a miscarraige and it looks like she's found love and a family of her own. Perfect!

Becky has always been one of my favourite characters. Not from day one, when she was pretty much a lowlife, making Kelly Crabtree's life hell. She left for awhile and when they brought her back, they put her under the wing of Roy and Hayley Cropper and it was golden from then on.

Becky came from a very rough  home life filled with neglect, abuse, years in and out of care and then survived on the streets as best she could. She was fierce and wild, drinking, drugs, sex, you name it. She was in and out of prison but she stood up for herself, too, when she was wronged. That big bald police officer discovered that to his career's expense. She had no confidence in herself and had no idea what love was or how anyone could ever love her when she hated herself.

Little by little, with the faith that Roy and Hayley found in her, she began to believe in herself. It took a long time, though. She had lots of setbacks and when she felt threatened, she would lash out violently. Time and again, though, Roy and Hayley would gently point her in the right direction. Little by Little she made a life for herself but it never seemed to be enough.

She nearly married Jason Grimshaw and it seemed like they would be a pretty good couple. But then came Steve McDonald, her white knight. He lied for her in court, saving her from another stint of time inside even though she really did do the crime. It ruined his relationship with Michelle but it turns out, he found himself massively attracted to this loose cannon, good time girl after the misery that was Michelle's life was dragging him down. It's not surprise, Becky was just like his last wife, Karen and not that far from his sparky mother, Liz. Seems like Steve often gravitates to the same type of woman.

Becky even managed to make some friends over the years, something else she didn't really have before. Not real, true friends. And the friends she did make, she defended with staunch loyalty. Roy and Hayley became like parents to her and she would brook no criticism of them. She would even face down Roy's mother and if anyone dared hurt Hayles, watch out. Hayley discovered she'd fathered a son when she was Harold but the son, Christian, didn't want to know her and he'd pushed her and bruised her. Becky returned the punishment in spades.

Claire Peacock, not the sort of person you would think Becky would have anything in common with at all, turned out to be a really good mate, especially when Becky first got pregnant and Claire was fully supportive when Becky herself miscarried. Becky was one of the instigators in helping Claire skip the country so she wouldn't be arrested for assault on Tracy Barlow (it was accidental but Tracy was pressing charges anyway).

Even her on again off again war with Liz had it's kind and gentle moments. Liz was there for Becky when she miscarried and Becky was kind to Liz after Jim was arrested for bank robbery. It was tenuous, but Becky knew when to back off and be giving. Becky and her sister Kylie even found a peace between them, putting their painful past behind them.

Steve really seemed to be exactly what Becky needed. His faith and love really made Becky bloom. She drove him mad, sometimes, because she still had that self destructive button that would go off when least expected, and it took them two tries to get wed but they made it in the end. Love's young dream didn't last long. The wars between Becky and Steve's mother, Liz, sparked off. The mother of Steve's daughter, Tracy, though she was in prison at first, caused as much trouble as she could and even more when she was let out. Becky suffered two miscarraiges and the subsequent adoption quest ended badly when her long lost sister bitterly gave a horrid reference.

Oh yes, Kylie, her sister came into the picture with a dear little boy Max who would prove to be Becky and Steve's final undoing. Becky, once she got her head around being a mother, was heartbroken that she couldn't carry a child and latched onto little Max, nominally to save him from being raised in care since Kylie had not been able to cope herself. She fell in love with the wee boy and did anything and everything she could to keep him, including giving in to Kylie's demands for money even though it put Steve in deep debt, even though Steve's father Jim decided to rob a bank to get the money to buy the pub which would help Steve out of that debt and ended up in jail, even though Becky stole cash from the Alahan's in the aftermath and wreckage from the tram crash to pay Kylie off one more time.

With Kylie's new husband David Platt making noises about wanting Max back for Kylie, and Tracy causing as much trouble as she could, blackmailing them because she knew about the payments, Steve broke. He called Social Services, thinking the truth, once out, would set them free and when they saw Max was being well cared for, nothing would change. How wrong could he be. When Becky lost Max to the Social, she lashed out with a sledghammer, thinking Tracy Barlow was behind the call. Finding out it was her husband? That was the end. The ultimate betrayal.

After that, even though both sides softened eventually, both sides apologized (at different times), they just couldn't make their way back together, especially once Steve turned to Tracy for temporary comfort and ended up getting her pregnant, another knife in Becky's heart.

Tracy miscarried but as "luck" would have it, she fell down the stairs at Becky's flat just a few days later, feeling wobbly and dizzy after an argument. She took full advantage, blamed Becky and Steve believed her. More betrayal. Becky couldn't understand how Steve could believe it. Everyone else believed it too, and that had more to do with her volatile past than their love for the tragic victim. It must have been a difficult choice, who to believe? Becky, who had caused a lot of damage and broken a few hearts, or a convicted liar and bitch?

Tracy, though she's a nightmare, was a lifelong resident of the community where Becky is not and it seemed most of the neighbours closed rants. Most, but not all. Kyle and Becky had made up their differences and with a little help from her friends, and Tracy's enemies, Becky cleared her name and threw Tracy's lies in Steve's face after he married Tracy.

Becky leaves Weatherfield in triumph, looking to the stars in hope for a bright future and I hope she gets it. She seems to know she's worthy of being loved, she has a lot more confidence in herself these days though you know the party girl is still close to the surface. Getting to be a step-mom to little Billy, son of the gorgeous Danny is going to be the making of her. She'll get to be a mom, something she wants with all her heart. Billy won't fill the Max-shaped hole but she knows Max is going to be ok with his mum and David now and Billy will make his own space in her heart as will delicious Danny.

Becky had to leave with her head up. I would have hated for her to leave with her name besmirched, her head hung low, without hope, tail between her legs. Katherine Kelly, the wonderful Katherine Kelly who played Becky, wanted to leave Coronation Street. She's spoken about how they would probably not have split up Steve and Becky if she hadn't wanted to go but she gave them plenty of notice to work up a good storyline, rather than slap something together half-hazardly.

Katherine Kelly is an amazing actress and she'll go far. She had chemistry with everyone she worked with and, for me, made Becky entirely believable. I know some people gave her stick for overacting, and they didn't like that Becky was always screeching and going off the rails, loud and violently, but I always felt that was entirely within character for Becky. Everyone has their own opinion but my place on Team Becky has never wavered.

Thoughts on Becky and Nick

I'm still a Becky fan no matter that a lot of people are getting sick of her. This week was a great Becky week for me. I really thought the whole scenario and storyline of her working at the Bistro, having a fling with Nick and winding up Steve and Kylie and David was great! It didn't last an eternity or get dragged out farther than it should have been. It was just right.

The Bistro seemed like an odd fit and as we know and as Becky finally admitted, she's not a cocktails and tapas kind of girl. She also had to face demons in the personae of Kylie, David and Steve through the week, all of which tested her and found her failing her patience exam. Kylie and David in particular made a point of rubbing Becky's face in it letting her know that they were going to get Max back. There are so many great restaurants in the Greater Manchester area they could have gone to to celebrate but no.... they went to the Bistro. Of course that's because there has to be more conflict in the storyline. It would have been pretty dull had they just gone out to the Chinese at the precinct or something.

I felt bad for Becky. Yes, she's somewhat the author of her own misfortune. Steve might have called Social Services on her but she was out of control.

Then there was Nick. They almost made a good couple. Odd but oddly not so bad but her volatility would soon have him running for the hills had they managed to stick together. He's right, with all her baggage along with her rocky relationship with his sister-in-law, and the fact that she's on a massive rebound, it just isn't working. I have to say, though, I thoroughly enjoyed Gail's and then Kylie's reactions seeing Becky there in the morning. Gail was horrified! I'm glad she brought up his tryst with Tracy. So often they forget these things happened. And Nick might accuse David of being the family weasel but he's just as capable of using people to wind up others as well. He certainly enjoyed his mother's discomfort every bit as much. Odd to see Gai defend Kylie after all this time, though.

There were some nice scenes on the last of the episodes with the two of them talking. I can't stand Nick, he's just as weaselly as David and he can manipulate and lie with the best of them. He's arrogant much of the time, too, but this week he was almost sympathetic. I think Nick could be a good friend to Becky. She needs friends besides Roy and Hayley.

And of course Steve's date from hell was hysterical. You know without asking that this gorgeous woman was going to turn out to be the lowest form of tacky they could dredge up. Brilliant stuff! And that moon-faced ginger kid! First of all, he really looked like he could have been her son. Second of all, Steve said he dated her once 10 years ago, that kid had to have been 10 or 12. But aside from that, what a perfect casting choice and he was scarily and hysterically perfect, staring at Steve, slurping his drink and not saying a word. He had me creeped out and laughing all at the same time, watching him! 

Corrie's "big" week - Yay or Nay?

There's been a lot of negative comments about the Street lately but for the most part, I don't agree with them. This week has seen the culmination of two major storylines with the inevitable slide down the slope to the end of another one. In all cases, the acting has been excellent and I have nothing but praise for the performers. In most cases, the writing has been good, too, even with a few plot holes but nothing really that I can't overlook.

Let's get the one negative out of the way first. Graeme and Xin have been limping along this week. They've been filler in between the other two major storylines and it's been dull, dull, dull. Torn between two lovers has been Graeme's theme this week and I just don't care. No criticisms to the actors but they're so much better than this drivel but the whole storyline has been an epic fail all along, all in the name of an exit storyine for the wonderful Craig Gazey who was wonderful as the quirky Graeme, double act to first, David and then, Ashley.

There. That's that done and dusted.

On to Fiz and John. I've enjoyed this storyline and all it's twists and turns from the start even if I've loathed and detested the character of John and hated what he's done to Fiz. All the emotional blackmail, the manipulating, the selfish obsessive single mindedness he laid on her infuriated me, as it was supposed to. The story and the actors kept me rivetted to the screen. This week has been a fantastic denouement. The digging up of the body was horrific. The van accident looked a bit lame but didn't you think John reading Paradise Lost in the loft was a touch of genius?

Stape babbling on about them being able to run away, insisting he had a plan but never really explaining it because, of course, he didn't really have one. He was just in the throes of madness and desperation, completely out of control. Oh, Sally Webster is never going to let anyone forget she was right about him all along! I hope she's a bit more sensitive to Fiz, though.

The kidnapping of the Hoyles and Chesney might have seemed hokey and people have pointed out that though he did seem to manage to visit once a day to feed them and let them have "comfort breaks" that wouldn't be nearly enough. Point taken but I'm willing to overlook that. You would have thought that Chesney would have been able to break through the door eventually or, even though the room was soundproofed, one of the neighbours would have heard the banging on the basement door at least. Surely it wouldn't have been a steel door?

That aside, of course we knew Chesney would get out in time to stop Katy from terminating the pregnancy, that's just a soap standard plot. Having that bubbling in the background the first few days added to the urgency. I can understand Owen's horror finding out his 16 year old daughter was pregnant and, Owen being Owen, isn't going to be the most sensitive Dad about it all. Emotional and sick, Katy would be likely to lose a bit of faith in Chesney with her father insisting that Ches ran off on her. Young love won out in the end. Is that a good thing? Time will tell.

Then we come to the final confrontation at the hospital. I wondered why Fiz took so long to ring the nurse's buzzer! But then Fiz wouldn't have heard the full confession. She did ring it, finally, but it took her long enough! The stupid thing was there should have been police all over that hospital and some stationed out front of her door. John never should have got in the room much less get out of it!

That aside, didn't Graeme Hawley play a blinder! That last scene on the roof was spellbinding! It was already obvious that he wouldn't die. There was a point to mentioning earlier in the week that he had his passport with him but the thing is, there would be no use. If he tried to run and leave the country, the minute he tried to use it, he'd be caught. I still wish John had died. It feels like unfinished business that he is out there somewhere. Fiz can never really move on with her life and she'll be looking over her shoulder always.

Lastly, we've got the crisis in McDonald Mansions. The truth burst out of the closet about Kylie selling Max to Steve and Becky and the Social Services investigation was put into motion by Steve himself, not the usual suspects, David or Tracy though Becky doesn't know that. Steve had had enough of it all, he'd reached the end of his rope, financially and emotionally and called up the Social after night of drinking. David has been obsessed with getting Max back for Kylie for weeks and she's been trying to cover the fact that A. she isn't being bullied by Steve and Becky B. she blackmailed them for the money and C. She doesn't really want Max back. She says he's better where he is and though she says she wants him back, it feels more like she's saying it because that's what David wants to hear. It doesn't seem to me that her heart's really in it.

I don't think Kylie ever really bonded with Max. The circumstances of her childhood, with abuse and neglect, didn't really give her any idea of what a parent should be like and though it didn't sound like she was pregnant from her abuser, she certainly was a wild child and probably got pregnant after a drunken night out with someone she probably barely knew. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense why David is suddenly all fired up about being a step-dad but you may remember how gutted he was when Tina aborted his baby. Maybe it goes back to that, and maybe David really does want to be a dad.

He didn't even blink, hardly, when he found out Kylie got money for Max but he still doesn't *really* know the truth about his grasping wife. Will he? Will it bother him? Maybe not, considering what he's been like in the past. He would probably understand where she was coming from and she could probably convince him well enough that she was in no fit state to be logical anyway.

Now Max has been taken away while they investigate the problem. That's another apparent plot hole. It doesn't seem like they would do that normally if Max is in no danger but Becky trying to take Max back from the foster family certainly didn't help matters. Katherine Kelly has been playing a blinder this week. Up to tonight, she's been quiet, tense, anxious but has held it in. Finding out someone turned them in, with all the jealousy she's had over Tracy, flipped the switch. And let's face it, Tracy could easily have been the one that anonymously tipped off the Social even if, this time, she didn't do it. Becky thought she did, though, and that was all it took.

When Karen snapped over Tracy, she burned a car and Tracy thought she'd killed Amy. Becky took a sledgehammer to the Barlow house though not to Tracy herself. Are we spotting a pattern? Tracy likes to wind up her so-called rivals for Steve and it always lands her with a backlash far worse than she expected. Tracy didn't cause this outburst, mind you, but because she'd spent so much time blackmailing and emotionally throwing the red rag in front of the Becky Bull, it was Becky's natural conclusion and after a slow burn and a confrontation with Kylie, who rightly pointed out she would never have deliberately caused Max to go into care, she was off with a sledgehammer.

Ken should have called the police the minute that glass broke. David had a great time recording it for evidence. oh heck, Becky, don't break the Barlow table! That's original props, that is! But Steve was too late confessing to save the table.

I can understand Becky leaving him no matter what Steve tried to say to justify it.  I can  understand why he got to the end of his rope and really, it's better that it's all out in the open. Tracy can't hold it over their heads anymore which can't be a bad thing. But why did the Barlows NOT have Becky charged for the damage? (or maybe they will next week and if not, they better take it out of Steve's hide!)

Aside from the Graeme and Xin filler, and a few plot holes, It's a big Yay from me. I'm used to soaps and plot holes and you need to suspend disbelief to some extent for storylines like this. They kept me interested, they kept me coming back every night to see how it would all come out. I was most interested in the Stapegate story, with the McDonald's coming in as runner up.

Judging from a lot of comments this week that I've read on t'other blog, there will be a lot of negativity but surely there are a lot of kudos out there too?

Bye Bye Becky

Yes, another post about Becky McDonald and Katherine Kelly!

I've never been shy about my support for both the character and the actor. A lot of people think Becky is over used and pushed into every storyline. They don't like her histrionics and they don't like her "me me me" attitude. I think because I like Katherine Kelly so much, I don't notice that it's "All Becky All the time" like some people do. I'm just as glad because I enjoy watching the character.

Now we've heard that Katherine Kelly is leaving the show by the end of the year or early next year. I"m gutted that she's leaving but I'm also not really all that surprised. Becky's been a loose cannon at the best of times and she's been spiraling into self destruct mode more and more, especially since Kylie showed up with Max and she persuaded Steve to get the money together to pay Kylie for custody. You just knew that was going to come back and bite her in the ass and it has, several times already. She's now got her worst enemy, Tracy, keeping her and Steve in line with threats of revealing her secret. Becky is being backed into a corner.

She's been dragging Steve down more and more. He's ended up covering for her, lying for her, putting himself in debt for her, and he's close to losing the pub and Streetcars, all because of her. The war with Tracy looks to be going the same way that Karen's war with Tracy went. Tracy pushed and pushed until Karen went over the edge and it looks like she's going to do the same thing to Becky. I reckon this marraige is going to end the same way, with Steve getting fed up finally and throwing her out, wondering why this keeps happening to him! Well, if you *will* keep marrying the same type of woman, exciting though she might be, you're just asking for trouble.

I just hope Tracy doesn't get her claws into Steve. I really *really* don't want them to end up together, and I don't care if it's for Amy. It's wrong, wrong, wrong but that isn't going to make Tracy stop trying. For her, Steve is the prize.


How will Becky leave? What will be her end-story? It's apparently going to be put in motion soon and carry out through the rest of the year, so says ITV. They say Becky will lose Max when Social Services finds out she bought him from her sister. We don't know yet who grassed her but she's going to think it's Tracy and is going to go on a rampage against Tracy. (see above). It could also be David, Kylie or even Gail if she finds out about the payments. Dev and Sunita know, too, as does Lloyd, Liz and Jim. That's a lot of places for it to leak out.

It's not all over yet between Becky and Kylie, either. They're either cut each other to pieces or maybe they'll make their peace before Becky leaves. I have a feeling that Kylie and David will end up with Max and maybe she'll grow up a bit and settle down. Or not. But she might. A bit. Being a dad might be just what David needs. 

Oooh, I just had a thought! Another way Tracy could get the upper hand in Steve's life... Tracy still has that money that Blanche left her (presumably). I bet she's going to invest in the Rovers! I don't imagine she's got enough money to completely clear his debts but she's got enough to keep him from sinking and it gives her more of a hold! Watch this space! Don't you think it's a possibility?

I love speculating!

In defence of Becky

Over a year ago, I wondered if the character of Becky McDonald was over-exposed. It's been a long year of ups and downs for Becky and since the tram crash and her moment of blind panic when she looted the corner shop, a lot of people would probably be answering that question with a resounding YES!

Over on the Coronation Street Blog, people are posting about being bored with the character and calls for Steve to divorce her. But others, continue to think Becky's brilliant. A lot of the comments on those and other posts indicate that the majority of blog readers are sick to the eye teeth and don't want any more Becky. Most agree, though, that it's nothing to do with the performance of the wonderful Katherine Kelly who is a top class actor!

Personally, I think Becky's a loose cannon and she always has been and though yes, perhaps the character is over-used, but I still like Becky. I like her layers, I like her fierceness, her propensity to lash out when feeling threatened, her tender heart and loyalty to the ones she loves.

Right now, she's been backed into a tiny, wee spot between that rock and that hard place and it's way down in a hole that she's pretty much dug for herself due to her overwhelming need for a child. Her sister, even more of a trashy slag that Becky ever was, sold her son to Becky for cold, hard, cash and came back for more. Kylie might have some love for her son but clearly does not have the maturity to be a mother and no interest in trying at the moment. She's had as rough an upbringing as Becky and this could have been Becky herself if she'd got pregnant as a teen. Becky has finally got some stability in her life where Kylie may or may not get it from David but she's only just beginning to get there.

Becky took on the little boy and was desperate to keep him, not just for herself, but save him from her sister's lack of parental skills and interest. She didn't want Max to grow up shifted from foster home to foster home, with nobody really showing him the love he needed and deserved. She has made major mistakes, obviously, in giving in to her sister's demands and it was unfortunate that Tracy managed to find out part of the truth, enough to yank Amy away from the stable home she knew.

Now the McDonalds are nearly bankrupt. Liz is finally back and poking and instigating. She never really liked Becky and is grabbing this opportunity to put a wedge between them. Steve has always been a bit of a mummy's boy and Liz plays on that. Becky's latest rampage was the result of Liz's unrelentless insults and contempt. I'm not saying Liz doesn't have a right to dislike Becky and feel she's not right for Steve, but she didn't have a right to push Becky hoping that Steve might choose his mother over his wife.

I can understand Steve being angry with Becky, I can understand his frustration. He loves Becky but she's as much of a liability as Karen was and he finally told Karen to leave because he couldn't take it anymore. Becky is lurching towards that very same end. Can Becky come back from this? Can Steve forgive her and can they patch things up? With Kylie living across the road, will Becky be able to breathe easy at all? Are we seeing the edge of the abyss?

I for one have never tired of Becky, no matter whether she is off or on the rails and it's all mainly due to the exemplary talents of Kate Kelly. I get frustrated that she continues to shoot herself in the foot, I get angry that Steve can never seem to stand up to his mother or Tracy and call their bluff but I love that he, so far, manages to stay with Becky even when he's really pissed. I resent Liz for interfering. Where does she have the right? She might be the licensee but she couldn't be bothered to show any interest in the pub for months, then comes back and orders everyone around like Queen Bee.

So if I am continually engaged in the character and what's happening to her, I say that I still love Becky and I'm rooting for her!

No baby for Becky

Today, the Daily Star says that Becky will have two back to back miscarraiges due to an abnormality in her womb and will never be able to carry a baby full term. You know that will send Becky into a tailspin of insecurity and low self esteem, blaming her rough past habits of drink and drugs as the reason. I heard she may even leave Steve again so he can find a "proper" wife so we'll have a few heart to heart talks between them where he again shows his love and support. And he does love her and he will stick by her. She still has such a hard time believing she's left her old life behind. It will all be very dramatic and sad. But you know what? I'm glad that Steve and Becky aren't going to have a baby in their life.

Why? Well, obviously I'm not pleased poor Becky has to go through two miscarraiges. That's tragic for anyone including her. But I think for the dynamics of the show, it wouldn't work if Becky were to become a settled down yummy mummy. We already have Claire for that role, thank you very much. As much as I'm sure Becky would make a good mother and that it would be amusing to see her trying to cope with sleepless nights and hormones, I also think Becky is best as a stepmother to Amy. With Tracy returning to the canvas, there will sure to be conflicts there over parenting Amy. Becky is a far better mother to Amy than Tracy was but is not the biological mother so I imagine spineless Steve will be bending to Tracy's will and leaving Becky in the middle. I can see it all in my mind. Becky fuming both literally (smoking fags like a steam engine) and figuratively while Steve doesn't back her up with parenting decisions because Tracy decides to stir the pot, gurning maniacally.

What might really work well, instead of a baby, is if Becky and Steve adopt an older child, one with troubles and that comes from a rough background, similar to Becky's herself. I would like to see her take on a waif, and instill in her the faith that Roy and Hayley showed in her. Paying it forward and all that. Yes, it would mean yet another tearaway kid on the street but it would end up eventually with the child blossoming after being horribly misunderstood or falsely blamed for some awful incident. I think it would have to be a girl because we've had way too many tearaway boys. What do you think?

State of the Street - January

Kevin might be staying with Sally now that he knows where his priorities lie, but Molly got fed up with Tyrone and left him after she found out he wasn't going to take a job and move away. Only Tyrone figured she must be having an affair and jumped to the wrong conclusion and thought it was Dev. How on earth he would think that, I don't know but after all, this *is* Tyrone, not the sharpest tool in the box. Didn't you feel sorry for him though? He loves the bones of Molly but his loyalty to Kevin kept him from taking that job offer once he found out that Sally was ill. Really, though, Molly probably made the right choice. There's no point staying in a marraige when she couldn't have been happy or she wouldn't have had an affair only 6 months into it.

And Sally's prognosis is good and she's only got to have radio therapy. I guess it would have been too long and drawn out of they'd had to show her go through Chemotherapy. I gotta say I am as impressed as I knew I would be about how Corrie has been handling this storyline. They've really shown how it affects everyone around the person who's got cancer. Sally was one of the lucky ones. And it also seemed to take Rosie down a peg too, and she backed out of a boob job that would have been far superfluous to requirements anyway.

I felt so sorry for Tyrone. Does Molly really not love him? She thinks so. She's desperate to get Kevin back but he has seen the light and realized he really does want his wife and family. She begs, she manipulates, but he still rejects her and she might start to realize that Kevin probably was just using her, a crush, an infatuation. But it did my heart good to see that Kevin was forced to support Tyrone, listen to him cry on his shoulder, even return his wife's wedding ring and that is karma coming round to bite him on the arse well and proper. And I relish every uncomfortable moment he's going through after what he did to his best friend and business partner. Pam and Bill both know and now they know each other knows. If Molly and Tyrone are going to get back together eventually, they'll be the ones that engineer it.

More Grandad wars... Ken went off the deep end when he found out that George wanted to pay for private education for Simon. Ken figures it's bad for Simon, who won't have a happy life if he's brought up in a posh school. Deirdre was just more concerned about the smart uniform. Peter was very forthright at the planning meeting which George probably already had sewn up anyway, much to Ken's chagrin. I loved Deirdre's rant at Ken after the hearing. She knows darn well it's got more to do with the rivalry between Ken and George and he should have been supporting Peter rather than pushing him right at George. Maybe Ken's give up the battle because as much as he disapproves of the bar and the private school, he seems to be backing down a bit.

Then there's Gail and Joe, the newly minted McIntyres. El Desperado is in debt up to his eyeballs and illegally so. Surely he could go to the police once he'd paid off the loan shark who keeps coming back and threatening his family? He's scammed money out of Ted. He tried to get money out of Peter and an advance out of Bill. He gleefully accepted Gail's decision to sell the house (and yes, David, she *can* just sell the house you grew up in. Except, he hasn't really grown up has he? Most lads his age would be pleased to be able to move out on their own.) He even eyed up the charity collection jar in the pub! I really thought she was finally standing up to him when she told him she wasn't going to sell the house and Joe gave her insult after insult. I always knew he had a temper and and this just proved it. But no. One apology and one sob story and she took him back. No wonder she's a jinx with men, she has Doormat stamped on her arse! Next up, a life insurance scam by forging Gail's name on a crumpled up form. And obviously making one payment and then pretending to drown immediately after will not make the life insurance company suspicious. Or not.

Yay! Mary's back to be a carbuncle on Norris's backside. She seems a bit more obsessed than she was before she left. I feel a bunny boiler coming on, don't you? It's nice to see Mary back anyway. And it's nice to see Sunita back and with the fiance out of the picture, can a reunion between Dev and Sunita be far behind? Dev is all worked up and Sunita just thinks they'll mess it up again. But really, it wasn't all messed up until she found out he kept the fact of his other children from her.

And there's Becky and Steve's upset. Becky doesn't want kids because she's had a horrible childhood and doesn't want to feel tied down. She's also scared of pregnancy as well. There was a scene with her taking a test on New Year's we found out at the end of the month it's positive. She's been smoking and drinking all month. For as much as she didn't want a baby though, she didn't go get a terminatin behind Steve's back. He'd have never known. So somewhere, she did want a baby and probably not just because she knew he did, too. Probably the fear is stronger and so she pushed Steve away. And because she says she won't have kids just when Steve thinks he might like to have more, Steve goes off the deep end in a major sulk. That makes her dig her heels in and one's almost as bad as the other though i think he's pushing harder than she is. He keeps upping the stakes, with expensive gold clubs and a motorbike (don't you need a bike license for those?) and pushing Kelly in Becky's face.

But Becky's mom died and though there wasn't much of a relationship, it still gets you right in the heart when you lose a parent. I think what really bothered Becky is how little her mother had to her name and how she ended up, and it seems to make her think how she could very well have ended up the same way if she hadn't fought to get a life. It hurts that Steve just doesn't take any notice that something is wrong. He really thought that winding her up would make her come running back instead of pushing her away. Finding out about her mother's death was nearly the death of the marraige but you knew that wasn't going to happen, didn't you?

Is Becky Granger McDonald over-exposed?

Having decided that Michelle Connor as a character has been ruined by over exposure and naff storylines, next up under the examining light is the character of Becky Granger McDonald. Becky is a very different person when compared to Michelle. We never really knew a whole lot about Michelle's past other than her relationship with Dean who died in a car crash. He was apparently the love of her life and the father of Ryan... er... Alex (enough about that, you get the picture!) We know she was a sometime band singer and barmaid. We know she's got an Irish heritage though it seems like she and her brothers may have been brought up in Manchester, judging from their accents, but we really don't know a lot about how her personality came to be formed and in any case, Michelle does not come across as a wholly complex character.
Becky is another matter. Becky is very rough. She's a loose cannon, and she's got a criminal record. She first arrived as an ex-cellmate of Kelly Crabtree, someone that Kelly didn't want to know because it reminded her of her own less than stellar background. Kelly had managed to turn her life around but Becky was still the same person and proved it by setting up Kelly to take the fall for her own petty thievery and she went after Lloyd just for good measure. She was untrustworthy and she was a liability, both to other people and to herself.

She left our screens for awhile but resurfaced in a class that Hayley was teaching to help women find their feet after being in prison. Hayley took pity on Becky and brought her home, much to Roy's dismay. Hayley always sees the best in people and just knew there was hope for Becky and she was determined to help Becky find a better life. Becky was touched that Hayley would have any sort of belief in her as nobody ever did before. Slowly, in spite of Becky nearly ruining things by allowing her old boyfriend, Slug, to steal Hayley's car and by setting fire to the cafe while trying to cook a meal to make up for it all, Roy and Hayley both eventually became firm supporters.

Little by little we would hear stories of Becky's childhood and past life on the street. It sounded very much like she had little family support as a kid and fended for herself for most of her life. She fled the family home, had numerous run ins with the police including the corrupt Hooch who tried to take advantage of a teenage Becky. She fought back and it cost him career points. That brought about a lifelong grudge which was almost successful when Hooch bribed Slug to set up Becky on a drugs charge on her (second) wedding day to Steve last year.

With the love and support of the Croppers, Becky started to bloom. She began to have a bit of self confidence. She had people to consider besides herself and her own survival. She wore makeup, she dressed "better" (a debatable point, but better than the old and tattered gear she wore when she was first in the show). Still, she's fiercely independent and often combatative when defending either herself or someone she's come to love. She's still likely to go off the rails without warning, usually when she's been hurt or had a massive blow to her self confidence. Steve's love has brought her both joy and heartache already because he's not a strong person and has let her down a few times. She still doesn't really believe she's a worthy person a lot of the time and her past obviously still haunts her. Why? We don't know, yet. And these are the things we find intriguing about Becky.

We've seen her character develop. We've seen her in love, in lust, in a drunken rampage, and scared. She's not as tough and prickly as she used to be now that she's been living a more civilized lifestyle but she isn't afraid of most people and she's fiercely loyal. The character has had a lot of important storylines over the last year or two and some might say she's in danger of over-exposure, just as Michelle has been. It may be true but it also seems like the storylines that Becky's character gets are very much in character and fill in more gaps in her past that show us how her character was defined and how her character evolves. Michelle's character was never given that. It's difficult not to have a tendency to "over" use the character, especially now that she's a part of a very central family on the Street, the McDonald's. She works in the pub, she's married to Steve and her pseudo-parents are the Croppers.

What you see in Becky is what you get. There are no games, no coyness, no pretense of being anything or anyone that she isn't. She doesn't usually whine and if she does, she shakes herself out of it. She can drink you and all your mates under the table and yet she can be tender and generous to a fault. She isn't patronizing and has little patience for fools and she can spot them from a mile, most of the time. She's not a liar nor a cheat unless she has to save her own skin or that of someone else. She even has her own set of moral values, though some of them may be slightly skewed. She's still trashy and common as muck. She's got very few social skills and would tell you so herself but she is starting to believe that she's a good person, some of the time at least. Yet there's always that shadow that crosses her face when she's hurt, as if she always half-expects to be thrown out with the bins at any time and any and all hurts are probably deserved.

A lot of people find the character over the top and yes, sometimes she is. Still, it's part of Becky's personality and always has been so it's not out of character. Becky is a survivor and though she's softened a bit, she's still strong and can defend herself and her beliefs when she needs to. There's a danger that she will be over used and over exposed but I think most viewers who have liked her so far won't be turned off unless the Powers That Be start to give her ludicrous and ill considered storylines just for the sake of having her on screen. The actress, Katherine Kelly, is also careful not to plaster her face and her business all over the tabloids and that helps avoid some of the over exposure. You occasionally see her in glam photo shoots but mostly she keeps her private life private. Kym Marsh seems to be exactly the opposite and that has contributed to people getting tired of seeing her face and Michelle's all over their screen. Katherine Kelly also has a huge amount of chemistry with her main co-stars, David Neilson, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Simon Gregson and that makes a difference too.

Becky has been on our screens a lot, and will continue to be at least for the near future. Let's hope the writers can continue to handle her storylines intelligently and evolve her character without losing Becky's edge.