What's going on with Adam?

I don't like Adam Barlow. Never did. He was whiny and petulant in his first stint on the street and he's arrogant and sneaky now. I applaud that they've brought him back to flesh out the Barlow clan. It's clear that Adam has some sort of agenda or secret and I look forward to finding out what it is even if Adam will never be a favourite character of mind.

Adam is the son of classic character, Mike Baldwin. Mike was arrogant and a business force to be reckoned with. When he got knocked down, he always managed to come back. He was a womanizer, and he had a cheeky grin, especially when he was winding up a rival, knowing he would have the upper hand. He usually did! Adam is trying to be like his father, I think, but he's a pale imitation. Mike always had the edge of a survivor, having brought himself out of a less than priviledged childhood. Adam is missing that, he's never really wanted for anything and he certainly has an air of entitlement that a lot of spoiled children grow up to have, especially on soaps.

When Mike died, his illegitimate son Danny got his hands on the factory but there was a newer will which divided the factory between Danny, Adam and (I think) Mike's other son, Mark Redman. Not sure about that third heir because he had fallen out with Mark over Mark's affair with Mike's wife, Linda. Leanne was the one that handed Adam the current will in the end and Adam then owned half of Underworld.

However, he and Danny didn't get on and Adam really didn't want to be bothered with the factory. In a fit of pique against Danny, he decided to sell his share but not to Danny. He was approached by Liam Connor who was in the rag trade with his brother Paul who would provide the financial backing. The Connor brothers conspired to undercut Adam's asking price with a bit of deft handling. They managed to get the factory for just over half what Adam wanted but after another row with Danny, Adam (who was legally an adult, not a minor) signed and walked away.

Here he is back on the street. He lived in Canada where he apparently became a lawyer. He was quite ill a few years back and Grandad Ken went to take care of him for nearly a year. Now he's back, recalled to the family compound after Ken's stroke. But there's something off about him. He seems to be broke. Strange state of affairs for someone that was a lawyer, you no doubt think. I know I did. He started off straight away scamming a rental car company when he arranged for his car to be stolen and sold. He conveniently avoids buying Christmas and birthday gifts. And in the past few weeks, he's been intent on claiming his birthright to the factory.

You may be as surprised as I was to hear that. Adam never showed any interest at all in all these years. Ah, but there's the rub. He's after a settlement, not after his share of the factory, claiming he was young and foolish and deliberately ripped off. All of that is true but he was an adult and he made his own mistakes. Did the Connors take advantage of him? Yes but he was stupid, too. He was too anxious to get one over on Danny. Now he blames the current Connors but they had nothing to do with it.

There have been several owners and partners of Underworld in the past 10 years of so, including the ferocious Carla. I can pretty much guarantee that Adam wouldn't be left standing had he been trying to get a settlement out of her! She'd have had him for breakfast. Johnny and Aidan are just as savvy, and with Alya's help, set up Adam for a confrontation and a convenient blackmail scheme. His attempt to steal documents from the company's computer blew up in his face and his bid for cash was shut down triumphantly.

Just as an aside, however, regarding Adam's assumption that he could get his hands on pertinent documents, either via the computer or even the filing system.  Remember, Adam signed off on the factory 10 years ago or more. Would the exact same computer still be running? I think not. Very likely they're on the 3rd or 4th computer since then, what with software upgrades etc. Don't forget, the factory has also had numerous fires which would cause possible meltdowns or at the very least smoke and water damage.  If the paper contracts were stored on site, it's likely they would be ashes if not in a fireproof safe with the digital backups if that was something they had a chance to do before any damage was done.

Whoever the original solicitor was probably has a copy, that's where Adam should have gone. And having said that, why wouldn't they have given Adam a copy of the document he signed back then? Legally there would have been two documents, one for each party to sign.

Ken was right. It was all about money, not his birthright. He sternly disapproved and Uncle Daniel was amused that Adam, the cocky and irritating relative, has got his comeuppance. Adam really hasn't got any smarter has he? Now Adam seems to be honing in on Ken and his will as the next possible avenue to money.

I don't know where this is going and I do wonder why he's so skint.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

Liz McDonald, Landlady Extraordinaire

A lot of episodes lately have reminded me again why Liz McDonald is probably the best and most worthy landlady since Bet Lynch Gilroy. Yes, there, I've said it. We've had quite a few since Bet's stint and a couple of landlords as well but nobody has has had the strength, force and vulnerability that Liz has. Nobody else can order someone out of her pub or bar them like she can. Nobody else  can carry on serving when her heart is breaking, a smile snapped on over a scream. Nobody else has that disastrous sense of style while carrying it off with the confidence of a runway model.

Bet was amazing, she really was. A classic character, a brassy blonde with a heart as big as all outdoors, Bet was strong and determined. If she got knocked down, she got back up again and fought tooth and claw to survive. Nobody messed her about for long and Liz has long been cut of that same cloth. She may be blonde now but she used to be a redhead and has the fiery temper to match. No wonder she and the volatile Jim were such a good match!

In some ways, I think she is even better as landlady than Bet was. Bet always seemed to have this undercurrent, a deep rooted belief that she really didn't deserve to own the pub that was her life. I think she believed, down deep, that it would be taken away from her and indeed, in the end, she wasn't able to manage it properly and she lost it,  unable to buy it from the brewery when they decided to sell it off. Liz loves the pub every bit as much as Bet did but in her case, she "owns" it with a lot more self confidence. Nobody's going to take it from her and she'll see to it. Yes, Tony did wear her down but she'd been knocked sideways over Steve's depression which caused a lot of financial trouble. A mere blip.

Here's a quick run down of the Rovers' management since the departure of Bet Lynch.

After Bet left the pub, we had Vera Duckworth ruling the roost. I loved Vera but she really wasn't landlady material and in the end, made a bit of a mess of things.

Natalie Barnes was a homewrecker. She was the instigator in the affair she had with Kevin Webster and deliberately set out to break he and Sally up. In the end, Kevin's heart just wasn't in it, it was back in Number 13 with Sally. Natalie worked in the pub and later did a deal with Alec Gilroy who had taken the pub on from the Duckworths. I never really liked her as landlady. She always had that air of predatory female about her even if she more or less reformed from the homewrecking business and the female punters never really did settle down and trust Natalie with their confidences.

The Rovers went through a period after that when it was owned and run by men, first a triumvirate of Mike Baldwin, Duggie Fergusson and Fred Elliott. Then Duggie ran the pub until he died and Fred ultimately carried the load for a few years until his demise. Shelly Unwin was mostly the bar manager throughout this
period and she was great. She could have been a worthy successor as classic landlady/manager and filled the stilettos of Bet admirably but she fell to the charms of Charlie Stubbs and later, the bigamist Peter Barlow broke her heart. She didn't last long after that.

Eve Sykes was also in the picture as Fred's wife for a short while during this period. She was more interested in getting her heels behind the bar than she was in Fred himself and she turned out to be a bigamist, too. She never had a chance in the annals of Rovers history.

Thus began a rocky period in the pub's history. Steve bought the Rovers and installed Liz as licensee and landlady. Admittedly, Liz did retreat to Spain a couple of times for lengthy visits (due to actor Bev Callard's health) and because of that we struggled through stints of volatile Becky as Steve's wife, arm folding Michelle Connor who is also currently Steve's wife, and a very unfortunate but relatively brief (two years) sufferance with Stella Price at the helm, first as manager and later, mercifully short lived, as owner.

Steve bought the pub back from Stella with Liz's help and she returned from Spain, ready to take the reins again, sharing the responsibility with Steve and Michelle. In the year or so she's been back, she's gone through two men, both of whom have turned out to be wrong'uns. Tony Stewart who got sucked into Tracy's schemes to own the pub and "show everyone" and then Dan the Brewery Man who has a temper and a history of violence towards women, specifically prostitutes.

But Liz? She told both of them to go to hell and get out of "her" pub (one by phone and one in person). I do love it when Liz shouts that, or "Right! Yer Barred!!", chin out, one hand on hip and the other ready to foist 'em out if they don't go willingly.

At the moment, Tony owns Steve's half of the pub and it is still unclear whether Liz's half transferred to Carla or not. Nothing's been said, and if any papers were signed, they probalby went up in smoke in the fire at Carla's flat. I'm sure this will be addressed sooner or later but if things come out the way they must, Liz will once again be rightful owner of half of the pub and Tony will be barred for life!

Forget me not

With all this angst between Michelle and Ryan lately, I kept expecting him to scream at her "You're Not My Real Mother!!!". Along with everything else he hurled at her in various bust ups, that would probably hurt the most. Because it's true, isn't it?

I've blogged about this before but it bears another outing in this context. This recent situation would be the perfect time to resurrect that whole painfully awful storyline and I suppose that's exactly why they aren't doing it. The powers that be would prefer us to forget that ever happened. We celebrate Ryan's birthday with nary a mention of Alex, and Ryan never seems to have contact with Nick, his biological dad with whom he had started to build a relationship at one time. All that has been swept under the rug.

I know sometimes they come up with storylines that they think will be "gripping" and then realize that they're more of a damp squib, or even judged by the fans as the worst storyline ever. The infamous baby switch was certainly one of those as was Hayley's long lost son, lost again to the mists of time. Another storyline best forgotten.

But the fans remember, unfortunately, and it's irksome at times when it seems as if these things never happened. Are we supposed to just forget? Well, yes, in cases like this, we are.

Of course there are hundreds, nay, thousands of storylines, short and long that are never referred to again. But there are a few that were promoted as major storylines that ran over months and those are the ones I'm thinking about here. 

There was a Post Office in the Kabin and for a couple of years, we saw the little kiosk, in a space across from the cash register. That, too, became a phantom lost to memory and now that the Kabin has been rebuilt post-tram crash, there's no longer a Post Office sign on the the building. It's gone quietly into the rubble, with Rita selling the occasional stamp from a roll she probably gets at the main PO.

Another that I hope has left town with the rest of the Baldwins, never to see the light of day again, is the near-incestuous affair between Frankie Baldwin and her stepson Jamie. It was referred to in an argument between Violet and Jamie in that London special, mind you, but as long as any character involved or related to them is not seen again, we should thankfully be able to delete that from the vaults without worrying about reminders.

There are some storylines we wish we could forget. Some of them have a fallout that will echo for years, like the outcome of the awful Molvin affair. Baby Jack is a constant reminder to Sally of Kevin's betrayal and I'm glad they didn't allow her to take Kevin back and bring that baby up as her own. Now they need to find new partners for both of them, Kevin in particular, I think. Enough of him pining after Sally and begging her to forgive him yet again.

I suppose when a television program has been running as long as Coronation Street has, there's bound to be misfires. Not every storyline is going to appeal to everyone. Not every storyilne is going to work out the way they thought it would. Some couples end up having no chemistry after all. Some awful storylines have major repercussions. Some fade away, best forgotten altogether and written off as an idea that should have been corked along with the whiskey bottle that seems to have inspired it.

My most memorable storylines were the rise and fall of Richard Hillman, the rise and fall of Tony Gordon, Stape-Gate from start to finish, the complex twists with Des, Raquel, Tanya Pooley, Bet and trucker Charlie.

The life of Tommy Duckworth

Now that Terry Duckworth is back in Weatherfield and becoming aquainted with his son, Tommy, let's have a look at Tommy's history.

This is Tommy Duckworth's mother, Lisa Horton on her wedding day to RTerry. Terry brought Lisa home to meet his mum and dad in 1992. Lisa was already pregnant and Terry was going to be charged with GBH. Jack and Vera took Lisa in. Her parents, Jeff and Doreen, lived in Blackpool but didn't approve of Lisa's choice in fellas (would you?) so she preferred not to go home. Terry got sent down for 2 years but they organized a wedding so they could be married before the baby was born.

Here they are on their wedding day. Just before all hell broke loose. You see, Vera thought it was cruel for Terry to be handcuffed to a police officer while he was being married and after, out on the church steps she persuaded them to unlock the handcuffs for a couple of photos. Terry took the opportunity to run, telling Lisa he loved her and off he went.

The police suspected Vera was in collusion with her son but we know she was just as silly, sentimental, soft-hearted woman. Terry was caught eventually and banged up and Lisa stayed in Coronation Street rather than live with her disapproving parents, giving birth to Tommy on September 9, 1992 with Vera by her side.


Awww, wasn't he a cute baby? It wasn't long before things went wrong. Lisa struck up a friendship with neighbour Des Barnes which Vera thought was wrong even though nothing was going on. She let it slip to Tommy who called some mates and had Des beaten up. The penny dropped and Lisa realized what Terry really was like and wanted nothing more to do with him. She and Vera fell out and Lisa took V's beloved grandson home to her parents in Blackpool. Des soon followed her there and told her how he felt about her. She moved back in to his house, much to Vera's horror.

Vera thought it was very wrong of Lisa to take up with another man. She was still married to Terry and Terry was that little baby's dad! 

Sadly, a mere few months later in February 1993, Lisa went out to buy a bottle of wine. But when she ran across the street, a speeding car hit her. Terry was allowed to see her in hospital, cuffed again to a guard of course and rowed with Des over her bedside. She died of her injuries and Terry was carted back to jail. Jack and Vera insisted on taking Tommy home. Vera quit her job at Bettabuys to raise her grandson for Terry until he was released in spite of the financial hardship it caused.

Terry had other ideas. Pretending he thought raising a baby at their age was too much for them, he gave custody to his in-laws, Jeff and Doreen, but the Duckworths found out that the Hortons paid Terry to have Tommy, something they couldn't afford to do. In effect, Terry sold his son to the Hortons. Vera's heart broke and Jack, furious at his son, knocked him over and disowned him.

A few years later, Terry brought Tommy back but only because he tried to get more money out of the Hortons and they weren't having it. It didn't last long. In the end the Hortons paid Terry 10,000 pounds and he signed a custody agreement. They were to raise Tommy until he was 18.

Jack and Vera visited Tommy in Blackpool many times over the years. We saw young Tommy again during one of their visits in 2000. We heard nothing until, in 2011, Tommy turned up on Tyrone Dobbs' doorstep, looking for Jack. He knew Vera had died but he didn't know Jack had as well, because he'd been backpacking around the world and hadn't been in touch with his other grandparents much.

Tommy moved in with Tyrone and Ty took him on at the garage, first as a valet and now he's training Tommy to do some mechanic work. Tommy dated Amber for a little while but he's fancied fellow housemate Tina since he met her. Tina has finally come around and they have found a mutual attraction. They both united in distaste and suspicion over Tyrone's new girlfriend Kirsty who's managed to get them both out of Number 9. They both share Jason's flat over the Kabin, with Jason living there as well for the moment.

Terry is back and Tommy wants to believe the best of his father for the moment. We all know that's going to go badly wrong. Terry will end up getting Tommy into all manner of trouble and will end up betraying him, probably running off with Tommy's inheritance from Granddad Horton. I think Terry's return is meant to cement Tina and Tommy's relationship. I don't expect Terry to be back for long.

Tommy seems a nice enough lad, though still young and a bit immature. Not quite as feckless as Jack was, but he's always up for a scheme or a good time. Tina is gobby and rude and often speaks before she thinks. I wonder if they could be the next version of Jack and Vera? Alas, in this day and age, young actors don't stay with a role for 20 or 30 years like they used to. There's so many more opportunties so very likely we won't be seeing this couple around long term. It's too bad. They seem well suited at the moment. It will be interesting to see how their relationship develops.

Corrie Originals

I was looking up the character name of the recurring character of the detective who's been on Corrie recently in conjunction with the Stapewich mess that Fiz is in.  That's D.C. Redfern, if you're interested. Anyway, I was scrolling down the cast list on Imdb.com and the name of Dennis Tanner slid past my view.

Philip Lowrie plays Dennis and he is also the same actor that played Dennis when Corrie first started in 1960. In fact, he was in the very first episode along with current long standing record-breaking William Roache. Now, I know Mr. Lowrie isn't going to break any records as far as that goes, but isn't it cool that there are now two actors who originated their roles over 50 years ago who are on the current cast list playing the same characters?

There's a third actor, Eileen Derbyshire who has been playing her role for over 50 years as well. She first appeared as Miss Nugent on our screens in January, 1961. That's quite an achievement! In fact, if you watch episode 4 of Coronation Street, you will also spot a woman with Leonard Swindley (see photo right) and he distinctly refers to her as Miss Nugent though it's not the same actor, just a non-speaking extra. So you could argue the case of Miss Nugent being a character in the show even before Eileen Derbyshire played her as a speaking part.

I think that it's wonderful that the original actors have been available to revive old characters such as Dennis Tanner and, a year or so ago, Jed Stone. There aren't too many of them left alive from those early years or who are able to revive the part.

Nodding to Coronation Street history

We are being treated with another nod to the great history of this great show that we all love. Another character from the distant past is returning, played by the same actor and it's a wonderful thing! Everyone knows the name of Elsie Tanner and everyone remembers or remembers hearing about her wild child, Dennis.

Dennis Tanner, when we met him in episode one, was only a few weeks out of Borstal, a juvenile prison. He was a young man that had got into trouble. He wore his hair a little long, liked a leather jacket and had a slight air of danger about him but he was a pussycat really. He had big dreams and not always the means to make them happen successfully. He was the often the bane of his mother's life but everyone seemed to like the scallywag anyway.

There was always a rivalry between Dennis and neighbour Ken Barlow. The boys would have grown up together though Dennis was a couple of years younger, more the age of David Barlow. Ken was studious and smart, and he went to university. No doubt Dennis felt that his mother compared him unfavourably to Kenneth and Dennis did seem to have a chip on his shoulder about it all. I think Ken pretty much ignored Dennis as much as possible and did seem to look down on him. But then, Ken looked down on pretty much everyone in his working class world, somewhere he never thought he really belonged but couldn't quite seem to leave.

Emily Bishop knew Dennis. She was older than him by 13 years and an "old maid" or spinster. Women were supposed to be married and raising a family by the time they were Emily's age but Emily was not fortunate enough to find that life for herself. These days, most young women are discouraged from marrying too young and encouraged to establish some sort of career for themselves first. Indeed, women can decide not to marry and are not thought to be strange. But those were different times.

Although Emily seemed to have a crush on Leonard Swindly and even proposed to him in the leap year of 1964, she realized neither of them truly loved each other and backed out. She seemed to regard Dennis as a naughty schoolboy but I also think she might have harboured a little crush on the "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" Dennis, the type of feeling where you look at a younger man, sigh and wish you were 10 years younger that maybe, just maybe, they might notice you.

Dennis knew Rita Littlewood, too. She was a club singer and exotic dancer and he was into managing entertainers though wasn't her manager. She, too, was about 10 years older than him but in her initial appearance, seen above from 1964, was said to be just a friend. She returned in 1972 as a regular character, several years after Dennis left in 1968. We never really knew how well she knew him but they were comfortable with each other so likely were "mates".

Jump forward, now, to 2011. We're about to encounter Dennis Tanner again, still played by the original actor, Philip Lowrie. Over the years, we would hear the occaisional remark from his mother, Elsie. We know he was in jail at one point for scamming senior citizens. He left the show with a new bride, Jenny, but very likely that didn't last. Rita is set to encounter him and will remember him and apparently Norris is not going to like this intrusion into his safe little life one little bit.

That brings me to my next point.

It seems to me that Norris has turned into Percy Sugden. Norris has very high regard for his landlady and good friend, Emily and we know he's harboured romantic unrequited feelings for his coworker Rita. She gently turned down his marraige proposal several years ago. Any time either of them makes friends or becomes close to another man, Norris feels threatened just as Percy did with his place in Emily's life. He seems to think his place in their lives is about to be usurped and decides that the offending man is only trying to scam one of his friends and is not genuine. Emily's friendship with Ed Jackson from her church did turn out badly when he revealed he was the one that killed her beloved Ernest though was trying to repent for his sin. I wouldn't say Norris had anything to crow about though he did anyway but Emily was barely able to forgive Ed.

Norris' half brother, Ramsey was the biggest threat. Emily fell in love with him and this, on top of the resentment Norris already felt towards the man he felt contributed to their mother's death, had him apopletic with insecurity and rage. Ramsay was genuine in his feelings for Emily and that probably scared Norris even more.

Jed Stone, another long time ago character, landed a temporary bed with Emily, too and Norris was highly suspicious. It wasn't really a problem with Jed, though, it was his contact with Tony Gordon that caused the problems and brought trouble to the house of Bishop. Ray Langton took advantage of Mrs. Bishop's good nature (in Norris' opinion)

He was right about Richard Hillman, however. Richard's financial scheme to fund Emily money and gain control of her house after her death is not an uncommon or illegal practice but when he tried to kill her to get his hands on it, well that most certainly is!  He's even felt that way about Spider Nugent, Emily's nephew and wasn't too happy when young Graeme was offered lodgings with Emily nor did he wholly approve of Tina staying with Rita and was proved right the second time when it was revealed that Tina and Graeme had staged their breakup to engineer an immigration scam.

I hate it when Norris is proven right! ;)

Now, Dennis is returning. An old friend of both Rita and Emily. Are we taking bets that perennial landlady Emily will offer Dennis the spare room much as she did Jed Stone? Are we wondering if Charmer Dennis might turn his affections to flame haired Rita? Norris is sure to get a case of the wobblies and go around moaning portents of doom, like he does. I dislike Norris, who's a jumped up, nosy, annoying  little berk, but this storyline will bring the veteran actors into the forefront and that's never a bad thing. I'll be interested to see Ken lording it over Dennis or Dennis snarking at Ken for his perfect life and the fact that he's still living one door down from the house where he was born. Dennis might have fallen on rough times but he'll have put in a lot more adventure into his life, no doubt. I'm looking forward to hearing the fate of Elsie, long dead, I'm guessing, but having lived the rest of her life, happy in the Portuguese sun with Bill Gregory.

With 50 years of history to draw in, it's wonderful when they remark on a character long gone or an incident that happened in the past. I've really enjoyed the short lived returns of past characters like these and it's especially nice when they're played by the original actors (there's a great blog post here about recasting characters). The more this happens and is well received, maybe the more we'll see pop up on our screens. Corrie uses the sensational storylines and the younger set to try to attract new viewers, but they need to show the long time fans appreciation too, and this is just the ticket! Balance the high drama by featuring the veteran actors who can be just as popular with the younger set as the teens. It makes everyone happy!

Remember the past but forget some of it

A blog post over here asks the readers how they think the new producer of Coronation Street is doing so far. Each new producer brings their own flavour to Coronation Street. Most producers seem to do some really good things and a few plonkers in their term in charge. I have no doubt current boss Phil Collinson will do the same. He's starting off well but really, he's mainly continuing on storylines that were started before he was on board even though his name is now on the screen as producer. The rest of the year will start to see his ideas and creations and that will start telling the tale. One thing he has to do, though, is make sure the rich history is not forgotten. I realize he wants to look forward but you can't just ignore the past, either.

Coronation Street has always been good with references to the past. An old character such as Annie Walker or Hilda Ogden gets a mention now and then. Just the other day, Kevin Webster came out with something that Hilda was famous for but i don't know how many people caught it. He said "The world's your lobster"! I enjoy historical references. That's how people talk, they talk about their pasts and people they knew and things that happened.

I'll be very disappointed if, after the upcoming tram crash, there is no mention of the one in the 1960s. Ken and Emily would certainly remember it. Peter would have only been small but he may remember, too, and any of the other older characters, though not living on Coronation Street should certainly remember reading about a disaster of that proportion in the newspaper (Jack Duckworth, Rita Sullivan, Audrey Roberts, Gail Platt, Deirdre Barlow to name a few long time Weatherfield residents).

One storyline i thought was forgotten was the one where Violet Wilson had Sean's son but they have revived that recently and it was nice to see Sean showing pictures of him with Dylan on a weekend trip to London. Hayley and Roy recently went to Romania to the wedding of former friend and employee Frankie Baldwin (though they missed the wedding). Graeme Proctor pretending to channel the ghost of Fred Elliot was brilliant!

Sometimes, however, there are storylines that are just better off forgotten. Every now and then I hear someone say that it's odd that Michelle's biological son, Alex, is never, ever mentioned. But when that storyline was on, there was nothing but complaints about how badly devised it was, how full of plot holes and people were glad to see the back of it, me included. As much as it's not logical for her never to send a text or mention Alex's birthday in conjunction with Ryan's or for Ryan never to mention he'd seen his biological dad, Nick, it's probably a storyline best forgotten.

Another storyline best forgotten was Hayley's son, Christian. while i thought the storyline, though copied from a Hollywood movie, could have been good and was, in fact, fairly well done at the time, it rewrote history. Hayley told Roy *everything* about her past. It made no sense that she wouldn't have told him that as well at some point. I don't care how they wrote it that the longer she didn't tell him that she'd had sex with her (Harold's) best friend, the harder it would be. It wasn't that big a deal, and even Hayley herself didn't know about the child. But the actress took a year off right at the end of that storyline so it, too, was dropped quickly and permanently. If she hadn't left for awhile, it might have gone on a bit more, with perhaps, an eventual reconciliation even if Christian wasn't to be a regular character. Then Christian would have been a guest at Hayley and Roy's upcoming wedding! Rewriting history annoys me and the end result isn't usually all that successful.

There's going to be another long lost son storyline coming up soon, too. This one involves Ken Barlow and while it does rely on a "Standard Soap Opera Plot", this time around, it kind of makes sense. Consider that Ken Barlow has been putting it around for all of his adult life. There's bound to be an illegitimate child or two, isn't there? Still, did we not see Ken lose his virginity to a librarian? Susan Cunningham, the mother of the new son was his university girlfriend, not a librarian, whose name was Marion Lund according to Corrie.net. Only very, very long time fans may remember that. I only know because i've read it in one of the Daran Little books. So they're rewriting history again. *sigh* But still, it does make sense and seeing William Roach play father and grandfather to his two real life sons might be a bit of a gimmick but i think it is brilliant casting as they do both look like he did in the early 60s. They may not stay as regular characters, most of Ken's children don't after all (Daniel Osborne, anyone? he's as absent as Ferris Bueller!) but chances are good we may get the occasional reference to them. One can only hope.

The worst storyline ever, though (in my not-so-humble opinion), is the infamous "Molvin" affair. Kevin Webster seemed to have a mid-life crisis and flirted with and crushed on cute young Molly, the new wife of Kev's business partner, affable puppy, Tyrone. That part i could understand. Crushes happen and Kevin's wife Sally would test the patience of a saint and it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for her husband to have flights of fancy. That's where it should have stayed. Molly, barely out of her wedding dress, seemed flattered and seemed to decide to milk it for all it was worth, for the excitement. But it was so out of character for Kevin to persue a woman almost young enough to be his daughter, especially after his daughter was so recently involved with a man not that much younger than Kevin himself. Kevin even went to jail for assaulting said man yet here he is lusting after 20-something Molly? I didn't buy it. The pair of them all loved up and lying to their respective spouses was stomach turning.

Then the classic soap opera plot emerged, Molly's pregnant and doesn't know who the father is. Yes, it has far reaching consequences and will take that storyline into the future but why??? Could we not rely on an old cliche like that? Next thing you know, someone will dredge up that other hoary old soap plot device, amnesia (well they did, when Rita had a breakdown during the Alan Bradley thing but it wasn't true amnesia, not really.) How is that story going to end? Will that story ever end? It will to some degree because the actress playing Molly is leaving the show. That leaves Tyrone with a baby that may or may not be his. Soap opera rules dictate that the affair has to come out sometime. What happens when it does is anyone's guess but I can't see how Tyrone and Kevin can continue to work together after that. Maybe both Molly and Tyrone will die in the tram crash. We'll know in a few months.

This is one storyline that i don't think is ever going to end or when it does, isn't going to be dropped and forgotten like the baby switch one. Unfortunately.

Out of sight often means out of mind on a soap but at least Corrie does manage the occasional reference and that's good. But a few suggestions...

We understand that actors aren't usually available to revive characters to attend weddings and funerals that the character would probably normally attend but a card or reference would be nice.

Let's keep the rewriting of history to a minimum, please and at least keep the storylines logical for the characters.

Keep the little everyday scenes about nothing in particular. Life's like that, innit? Keep the throwaway lines and that humour that Corrie is famous for. Keep the great drama as well, because Corrie is good at that too.

Use the older, more experienced actors, don't just focus on the young and beautiful ones. Corrie's been getting better at this as well, after a period of leaving them on the back burner.

Keep bringing us those weird, wonderful and off the wall characters like Graeme Proctor, Mary Turner, and Charlotte. A little mania is good for the soul! Keep other off beat characters and eccentrics such as Roy and Julie and Teresa and Kirk around awhile and use them or you'll lose them!

Keep giving us characters we love to hate, characters that make us wonder what they're going to do next.

Give us pathos, and then a good dose of daft 'ap'orths.

There's a reason Coronation Street has lasted for 50 years. Don't mess with the formula too much or it won't last a whole lot longer! And that would be a real shame!

Coronation Street episode update, Episode 1

A few years ago i wrote a summary of the very first episode of Corrie, broadcast on December 9, 1960. As today is the anniversary, i am reposting it here.

This is a street in the city of Weatherfield, not so far from Manchester. A short, narrow, cobbled street, lined on one side by a factory and Mission Hall. On the opposite side of the street stands 7 smoke-stained dark brick terraced houses, bookended by a pub on one end and a corner shop at the other. We see a group of children chanting a rhyme outside the shop where a middle aged woman is taking in a sign from the pavement and looking up at the name over the door. Elsie Lappin, it says. The woman re-enters the shop and says to another woman who is standing behind the counter, "Now the next thing you've got to do is get a sign writer in. That thing above the door'll have to be changed". The other woman's name is Florence Lindley, or Florrie, as she is preferably known. She has just bought the little shop from Mrs. Lappin and is already changing the look of some of the product displays to entice buyers. She thanks Mrs. Lappin for staying on until she gets settled and is helpfully warned to watch that breadman, he'll try to sell you the world!

What about tick? Mrs. Lappin instructs her she'll have to use her own judgment but watch them Tanners at Number 11. Don't let them go over 10 bob or you won't see them from the end of one week to the next! Taken under advisement. Credit isn't advisable but the customers won't spend as much if you don't give it. A customer arrives, a young dark haired woman in her 20's and is introduced to Florrie as Linda Cheveski, Linda Tanner as was (with a meaningful tone of voice).

We next see the door of Number 11 and inside, Mrs. Elsie Tanner has charged her son Dennis with taking 2 bob out of her purse. Dennis, a handsome man of about 21, slicks back his ducktail hair and defends himself. Elsie is a curvaceous woman in her very early 40's, attractive in an obvious sort of way. Not content at that, she then nags him about getting a job but he's insistent that he's tried and nobody will hire him and she knows why. She can't quite say it but he does, prison. He's just 7 weeks out of Borstal and that's why no one will give him a chance. He shifts the chip that has settled on his shoulder and accuses his mother of preferring to have a son like "Kenneth Bahlow" at Number 3 (said with the utmost contempt, I might add). And what's wrong with him? at least he's got brains and will make something of himself. Elsie sighs and wishes her fractious family were more like the Barlows, at least they aren't rowing all the time. (ah but who knows what goes on behind closed doors?)

We're about to find out. Action shifts to Number 3 Coronation Street where Mrs. Ida Barlow, a tidy woman in her 40's serves up the tea for her husband Frank and her son Kenneth. Kenneth is a somewhat good looking clean cut young man of about 21 or so but he doesn't look best pleased when his mother hands him a bottle of brown sauce to pour on his meal. She thought he always liked it! Used to, he groans with embarrassment and a vague expression of contempt when he sees his father helping himself to the sauce and swilling his food down with cups of tea. His father notices and takes his son to task for looking down on his family with that snooty expression. Mother Barlow tries to steer the conversation elsewhere but it doesn't work. Father Barlow barks that his son thinks they're common, not good enough and keeps needling Kenneth in spite of Ida's protests. Bet he doesn't tell his poncy college friends where his mother works, slogging day after day doing the washing up for the Imperial Hotel. Ken defends himself. Of course he tells them... if they ask. The barrage continues and it sounds like Ken has been sporting a less than acceptable attitude for his father's taste since starting college, with Ken's habit of making condescending comments about how his family eats and lives in the back streets of a working class neighbourhood not going over well at all with his working class father.


Ida wonders where her younger son, David has got to and Ken takes this opportunity to tell his parents that he's going out tonight, meeting a female friend from college...er...at the Imperial Hotel. Oh no you're not, storms his father who forbids it! He's not throwing money back at the awful place his mother has to work so hard for so little wages. The subject appears to be closed, the master of the house has spoken and being the well brought up lad he is, it looks like Ken is going to obey his dad, not liking it one bit. Frank retires to his easy chair with that last cup of tea. Into this tension bounces David who is late because he's had a puncture. Mother fetches David's tea from the oven and heats up gravy while Father helpfully goes to look for the puncture kit. Left alone with his brother, David asks Ken what's up and is told about the Imperial Hotel disaster. David understands how "well" that went over. The brothers are obviously friends as well and there doesn't seem to be any sibling rivalry between the two though it seems to me that Dad favours the younger son over the older.

The next scene establishes that we are about to enter The Rovers Return. Inside, Ken is at the bar, dressed in a sport jacket and tie, hair carefully combed. He orders two ten-packs of cigarettes from the landlady, a small older woman named Annie Walker who runs the pub with her be-spectacled husband Jack. In slouches Dennis Tanner, looking tough in his grotty leather jacket and long hair, very James Dean. He orders a half and decides to order cigarettes as well but he hasn't enough money to pay for them so isn't allowed to have them. No credit, house rules he is informed. He and Ken strike up some semblance of a conversation. They have grown up together but have turned out very differently. Dennis makes a few caustically sarcastic remarks referring to scholarships and colleges. When Mrs. Walker goes to get Ken's change, Ken slides one of the packages across to Dennis, generously. (old times sake perhaps?) Dennis is surprised but doesn't turn him down nor offers to repay him at a later time. He chugs back his beer and leaves, nodding to Ken in a sort of thanks, cracking that it's all government money after all. Annie shakes her head at Ken's generosity and feels sorry for Dennis's mother, Elsie. "Oooh some mother's do 'ave 'em!".

Meanwhile, Elsie is observing her face in the small mirror of a compact, examining the signs of age. "Eh Elsie, just about ready fer the knacker yard" she mournfully exclaims. We hear a rattling from outside and she hollers out the window at some children who have knocked over her bins. Her daughter comes in with the few things she picked up at the corner shop but won't accept money from her mother. It was her that took the two bob from Elsie's purse! She gets a scolding. With the radio playing soft music in the background, the women talk about Dennis and his job finding efforts. The conversation turns to Linda's husband, Ivan. Elsie has guessed that Linda has left her husband and Linda confirms it. She won't really say why other than she is afraid of him when he gets so moody at times and they're always rowing. (sounds like that's a normal occurrence for this family!)

Linda looks in the mirror and wonders if she should go blonde. Elsie has sat down with the newspaper and is only half listening. Linda keeps interrupting her with comments about her marriage and seems to be wanting to tell her mother something but can't quite bring herself to do it. Instead she asks her mother if there's a job going at the department store where her mother works and is told possibly in millinery but it's only temporary until Christmas. Hopefully Linda will have a think by then and be back with her husband.

Back in the shop, the ex and current owners are restocking shelves and chatting about houses. Mrs. Lappin is retiring and buying herself a little bungalow but Mrs. Lindley prefers a house with an upstairs. It doesn't seem right, somehow, not going upstairs to sleep! Elsie decides to brew up and just as she goes into the flat, a stocky older woman with a face like an old bulldog comes in. She introduces herself as Ena Sharples who is caretaker of the Glad Tidings Mission across the street. It's her personal mission to find out all about the new shop owner and she begins, after gleaning Florrie's name, by asking where Florrie worships. Florrie is ambivalent which leads Mrs. Sharples to assume she's C of E and she launches into a narrative about her sister and her husband who turned C of E. Another ambivalently answered question about where she plans to be buried brings another lecture about avoiding the local crematorium whose musical director plays inappropriate hymns. Mrs. Sharples seems to have known of Florrie Lindley because she knows that Florrie was from Esmerelda Street, ("Very Bay Window down there, you'll find it different round here!") that she worked behind the bar at the Farrier for donkey's years, is a widow and has no children ("Better off without them"). In and amongst all this are several requests, commands really, for a packet of baking powder, a bottle of bleach and a half dozen of them fancies "No eclairs!". Ena also warns Florrie about the Tanners at Number 11 and then manages to get a replacement egg from the former owner, claiming the one she had this morning was off. And off she goes, expecting her purchases to go on the slate ("Don't worry, I'm not thinkin' of running away"), leaving the two women laughing. "She's quite morbid, in't she?" observes Florrie.

Back at Number 3, David and his father are wrestling with the bicycle tyre, trying to determine where the puncture is. Frank seems to have a much easier relationship with his younger son than he does his elder. More in common perhaps. Even when Frank gets annoyed at David, it's more of a loving exasperation than it is the defensive position he seems to take with Kenneth. David steps out to hire a pump and Ida picks her way carefully past the parts on the floor, fetches her knitting and sits down. Frank looks at her sheepishly and whines that he can't back down and let Kenneth go to the Imperial now and thinks Ken should learn to live within his own class. He establishes that Ken is over at Number 1 visiting Mr. Tatlock and observes that his older son spends more time over there than at his own home these days. "We've certainly raised a rum 'un".

Inside Number 1, Mr. Albert Tatlock, a short round WW1 veteran is examining his coin collection and making small talk with young Kenneth. He realizes Ken has something on his mind and offers an ear to listen but is told he wouldn't understand. Thank you very much retorts Mr. Tatlock who already knows that Ken was forbidden to pick up his friend, Susan Cunningham, at the Imperial Hotel. Mrs. Barlow told him. He suggests that Ken go into town and collect her and bring her back here. Ken is aghast at that suggestion and couldn't possibly. Why not? Oh, well, (and in a voice dripping with boredom, contempt and snobbery) "Coronation Street"! When challenged, Ken does say that he admits where he comes from when asked but he doesn't fancy bringing Susan round to see it either. After they make a gentle joke at Ena Sharple's expense ("My place of worship is the Rovers Return!") Albert in no uncertain terms tells Kenneth that the college has turned him into a proper stuck up little snob. Ken begins to protest but his mother interrupts at the back door, with the news that Kenneth's friend, Susan has turned up at Number 3 to see him! Ken leaves skid marks on the floor in his haste to get back to do damage control and Ida and Albert share a chuckle.

Back in Number 3, Susan is watching Frank and David on the floor mending the flat tyre and offers her help. David establishes that they know someone in common and are just sharing a handshake when Ken comes in and if it wasn't black and white, i think his face would be beet red with embarrassment.


The credits roll!

Writer - Tony Warren
Director Derek Granger

Elsie Lappin - Maudie Edwards
Florrie Lindley - Betty Alberge
Linda Cheveski - Anne Cunningham
Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix
Dennis Tanner - Philip Lowrie
Kenneth Barlow - William Roache
Frank Barlow - Frank Pemberton
Ida Barlow - Sandra Gough
David Barlow - Alan Rothwell
Annie Walker - Doris Speed
Ena Sharples - Violet Carson
Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth
Susan Cunningham - Patricia Shakesby