You didn't *always* want to be a dad, Nick

Everyone has been screaming all week about Nick telling Leanne he always wanted to be a dad, especially when he was the one that used emotional blackmail and pressured her into a termination when they were married.

But let's be fair about this.

They were kids. They weren't even 20 years old. Leanne was 16 when they got married, Nick 17 and the marraige ended just a year or two later. Nick buggered off to Canada and Leanne was left to pick up the pieces of her life.

It's something people say. "I always wanted..." or "I never wanted...." when they don't mean it literally. Not really. But they probably mean "For a long time" and Nick, once he finally grew up and gained a bit of maturity, probably does regret what he did back then, how he handled everything and how much he hurt Leanne. They did revisit some of that when they had an affair before the tram crash.

I'm taking the view that Nick didn't mean it literally and just wanted to make sure Leanne knew that he was willing to take the whole package, she and Simon. It's always been obvious that Leanne is the love of his life. I'm not so sure he's the love of her life. 

Having said that, Leanne really did seem to be talking herself into it. Stella was right about her not having Peter so she's settling for Nick and I think that's really the way it is. The word is "Rebound" and it's classically obvious that's what she's doing. The more Stella scolded her, the more Leanne made up her mind. Nick will take any piece of Leanne that he can get and he's going to get hurt again, sooner or later.

This isn't to say that I think it's a bad storyline because I do like it and it'll throw another wobbler into Peter and Carla's little world, too, because Peter will not like Nick playing daddy with Simon.

Peter does the right thing

For all that Corrie has had a habit of featuring overly sensationalized storylines in recent memory, it still presents us with good, old fashioned soap fodder like this recent custody case over Simon. Regardless of whether you think Leanne, who is not blood related or related by formal adoption, should have Simon, or not, the fact remains that Simon considers her his mother and she's mainly the only mother he has any clear memory of.

The whole divorce was filled with acrimony from start to finish. Carla had been a thorn in Leanne's side for over a year where Peter's concerned and Peter tried and tried but couldn't keep away from Carla. The way the affair came out, with a photo in court, couldn't have been any worse than if Leanne had walked in on them in bed. Because Simon steadfastly refused to give Carla any chance at all, Peter dug in his heels and he thought taking the hard line would have the desired effect.

Of course, it had the exact opposite effect and a little 8  year old boy was torn in bits in the middle of the slanging matches, the rages, the upset. He was forbidden to see his grandparents and his mother and his whole world was in tatters at his little feet. Every time he acted up, every time he cried, i thought for sure that would make Peter realize that he wasn't putting Simon's needs first. He'd say he was but would t hen dig his heels in further after yet another argument.

Carla, surprisingly, has been the most sympathetic character of the trio. She often tried to play peacemaker for Simon's sake, appealing to Peter, Leanne, Ken, anyone that she thought would help the situation even though Simon would reject her over and over. She was the only one that tried for the sake of the child to be reasonable. But her weakness for alcohol was the result it all blew up in the end. She bought the bottle of wine and hid it.

I don't blame Leanne for going for custody. Peter and Carla are on and off the booze regularly. Peter was ready to confess to a murder he didn't commit (after yet another alcoholic blackout) which would have abandoned his child. Peter put Carla first time and again. You have to sacrifice when you've got children and he hadn't got that through his hazy skull.

But finally, Simon reached out and found a bottle of wine (which must have had a screw top on it) and, seeing his father turn to the bottle over and over, thought that was the way to make your troubles disappear. And finally, Peter listened to his son and realized the example he'd shown and did the right thing. He gave Simon to Leanne's care and collapsed in tears in Carla's arms.

The whole storyline was interesting to watch, pretty realistic and true to the characters' personalities. It was painful to see Leanne and Peter taking chunks out of each other, with venom, jealousy, hate, hurt, exasperation and anger. People really do fight that way and there's every emotion under the sun in play. The final week in all of these ups and downs was classic Corrie and it goes to show you what they really can do when they try. Put soapy storylines, real life problems, cracking acting and spot on writing altogether and you get gold.

There's a really good interview with Jane Danson on this storyline here in the Daily Mail. 

Leanne Anneke Battersby Tilsley Barlow

Leanne's life has always seemed to be one bad choice after another, with her lurching from disaster to disaster, and not just in her relationships though they've been the catalyst for a lot of her unpleasant situations. Today's character study looks at Leanne Anneke Battersby.

When first we met the Battersbys, Les, Janice, Leanne and Toyah, they rumbled into Weatherfield with their worldly goods in a clapped out old car and pull-trailer in July 1997. Leanne was 16 and fresh out of school. No A-levels for our Miss, she'd had enough of that and she was ready to get on with her life. The Battersbys as we knew them were a blended family. Les's biological daughter was Leanne and Toyah was Janice's but the two girls had grown up together and were mates as well as sisters. From what we know, Les and Janice had lived together for a few years before they got married, which was shortly before they moved into Number 5 (depending on which source you use, otherwise, they married in 1994...it's a bit murky).

We know that Leanne's mother left her to be raised by Les, and knowing what we do about Les, he probably made a botch job of it before Janice came along. We know that Janice has always been gobby, common and aggressive when she's had to be though she loves her daughter and grew to love Leanne as a daughter as well. She probably did provide some semblance of family stability for Leanne but family life at the Battersbys' is bound to have been fraught with loud arguments fueled by booze. Leanne and Toyah do not seem to have been brought up with a lot of discipline or responsibility and by the time we met them, they pretty much did what they wanted to and when.

Janice wasn't one for letting Leanne off the financial hook, however, and insisted that if she wasn't going to school, she would have to get a job. If Janice is nothing else, she's a worker (when she has to be). She managed to get Leanne a job as cleaner at Underworld but that didn't last long when Leanne was caught having a crafty fag in the Ladies' loo.

Even though the new family started off on the wrong foot, and as much as the residents viewed this family with suspicion, one person decided to take a chance on Leanne. Rita gave her a trial run in the Kabin after Mavis moved away and oddly enough, the two rubbed on quite well together for a time even if Leanne continued on rubbing other neighbours the wrong way, particularly Gail Platt. Leanne wasted no time giving young Nick Tilsley the glad eye and he was more than happy to return it. Gail was horrified that her son was attached to someone from such a common family.

Leanne was happy to wind up Gail and when she and Nick ran off to Scotland to get married, her job was complete. They weren't going to live under the Platt roof for long so eventually they rented a room from Ashley who was living in Number 4 which his "Uncle" Fred had purchased for Maureen, the bride who got away. Ashley was dating Maxine Heavey but runaway Zoe usurped her place. Zoe Tattersal and Leanne had made friends and Leanne is loyal to her friends and family in the "we all stick together" mode of thinking. In fact, it was Leanne that pursuaded Zoe to return and claim her baby from the Mallets.

The marraige didn't really go on that well. Leanne was holding down a job but Nick was going to school and was a bit wet behind the ears (or maybe, he was just a bit wet full stop). He and Leanne went to Canada for a holiday and when they returned, Leanne discovered she was pregnant. Nick insisted he was not ready to be a father and pushed her into having a termination. This irretrievably broke the marraige. Nick scarpered back off to Canada and Leanne took what financial offer she could get from Gail as a divorce settlement.

Single and ready to party, she dated Vikram Desai. Too many late nights and missed mornings at the Kabin meant she and Rita parted ways but she soon got a job in the Rovers behind the bar working for Natalie Horrocks. The party girl continued to have a good time but unfortunately, she soon made friends with cocaine and Jez Quigley. This went badly wrong when he used her for sex when she couldn't pay the piper and eventually, he wanted her to allow his boys to rob the Rovers. She put her foot down and fought back that time but Jez kept coming back. She became friends with Mike Baldwin's son, Mark Redman and finally, in order to escape Jez, she left town with Mark to travel to Amsterdam, just as friends.

Over the next few years, we'd get the occasional mention of her via one of the Battersbys and it seemed like she'd made it all the way to Australia. But in 2004, Les discovered her dressed as a belly dancer in a back street local bar, serving beer. She returned to the street and moved in with Janice. She discovered Nick was back from Canada and dating a local hairdresser, who also happened to be the woman that stole her sister's boyfriend from her. Leanne had just enough ammunition to give them both a hard time (remember that loyalty thing) and after a while, Maria and Nick's relationship showed the strain.

Leanne worked in a variety of jobs including a short term in the corner shop where her flirting with Dev resulted in her getting the sack. Rushing in without thinking, yet again, she decided to sue Dev for sexual harassment. Leanne never did figure out that "scream and leap" was not usually a successful method of planning. She used solicitor Maya Sharma who in turn used Leanne since Maya had a grudge to settle with Dev. The case was lost and Leanne was back to square one which is familiar territory to her.

In another relationship that was due for disaster, she dated Jamie Baldwin though she and Jamie's mother, Frankie, did not get along (too much alike?). She flirted with Danny who then ramped it up and pursued Leanne romantically. They decided to go for it and had an affair. Nothing serious, you understand, it was all just a laugh... until it was discovered. You see, Frankie found out and threw Danny out. Jamie was heartbroken at the betrayal of not only Leanne whom he'd wanted to marry, but of his father as well. Since neither of them had any better ideas, Danny and Leanne moved in together. Neither of them were in love with the other but they did like each other at least.

Unfortunately, Mike Baldwin, Danny's father, had health problems and was suffering from Alzheimer's. Danny and Leanne moved in with Mike and Leanne got the brunt of caring for Mike. Danny had managed to manipulate Mike into making a will giving it all to him, and cutting out his other sons, Mark and Adam but shortly after Mike's death, Leanne discovered a will that post-dated this one and in it, Mike left Adam his fair share. Janice advised her to make a copy of it and let Danny know (but not that the original was still safely with Leanne herself). Another bad choice. Leanne worked with Danny in the factory that he thought was all his now and they got engaged but when Danny thought that Frankie wanted him back, he dumped Leanne. She used the will and blackmailed him. She got half of the money she wanted and gave the will to Adam to do with what he ...er...will. She took the money and ran.

50,000 pounds should have been enough to give her a new start in life but this is Leanne "half baked idea" Battersby. When she returned to Weatherfield in March 2007, she did still have a bit of it left but was adding to it in an more traditional way, as a paid "escort". She thought that was ok since it wasn't as if she was walking the streets. Yet, Janice pointed out, bitterly disappointed in her stepdaughter. It seemed Leanne may have hit rock bottom and was yearning for a bit of respectability, especially since she'd quickly found a handsome new boyfriend in Liam Connor, now owner of Underworld.

She quit the business but Liam's sister-in-law, Carla, proposed that they start up a restaurant, buying out the local Italian. To get her share of the investment, Leanne went back to providing her services but was soon busted by Carla. Because Carla's husband, Paul, was almost one of her customers, Paul stood to lose everything and kidnapped Leanne by stuffing her in the boot of his car. He was drunk at the time and crashed his car. He was killed but Leanne was only shaken up but the secret was out. Shunned by Liam, outcast by most of the neighbours, Leanne was determined to show them all.

She borrowed the rest of the down payment she needed from Janice's new boyfriend, Roger. She hired the Duckies' grandson, Paul, who was a pretty good chef though he was a bit on the dodgy side too. She let him invest in order to pay back Roger and didn't mind that he obtained the money by pretending to be Jack at a bank and using Number 9 as collateral. Paul developed feelings for Leanne but she didn't return them. However, she used them.

The restaurant was not making money and eventually, after a joking suggestion by potential new boyfriend, Dan Mason who was the local bookie, she hinted to Paul that he should burn it all down and they could collect the insurance money and start over. He would do anything for her and he did the deed only to discover that she wasn't returning his affections as she led him to believe. Having nothing to lose, he's going to turn her in but alas, he is the only one that's going to pay for the fire, because it's his word against hers.

She got nothing, though, because the insurance didn't pay out after all. Janice turned on her and threw her out but they made up eventually. She went on nicely with bookie Dan Mason but her involvement in a lottery scam with Janice offended even his somewhat-dented sensibilities and that was over and done with. She was beginning to warm up to newly returned Peter Barlow and fell for his sweet little boy Simon but didn't cope well with  Peter's drinking and she went off to Leeds working. While she was gone, Peter stopped drinking and she's back in his bed once more. Unfortunately, her ex-husband Nick has returned and he still loves her.

Leanne agreed to Nick's proposition that they open up a bar together and The Joinery opened it's doors in November 2010. Along with the opening, Leanne also succumbed to Nick's amorous advances, a throwback to the past it seems. All the old attractions, unresolved feelings and nerves about her upcoming marraige to Peter seemed to have her throw a wobbler and she and Nick had an affair that lasted several weeks. She admitted it to her friend Carla who had fallen in love with Peter herself. Peter gently rejected Carla who continued to subtly push Nick and Leanne together so she could make inroads with Peter.

It all came crashing down, literally. Leanne gave Nick the push once and for all but the tram crash in December 2010 nearly cost Peter his life. Leanne married him in hospital, thinking he might not live and asked Nick to leave her be. She realized she did love Peter and Nick agreed to back down. Peter survived but has not dealt well with paralysis and is drinking again, with Carla egging him on.

Naturally, affairs don't stay secret for long and Peter found out about Leanne and Nick's affair. After he recovered from the crash, he had to learn to walk again and Nick, still determined to have Leanne, schemed to lure Peter back to the bottle. Leanne stuck with Peter though the recovery process was difficult and just before the wedding, Peter found out about the affair when Tracy overheard Carla and Leanne in the ladies' loo. Peter walked down the aisle for the wedding vow renewal they had planned and blasted her at the altar, serving Leanne with divorce papers. In a matter of days, though, Peter was persuaded by Ken to take her back and work through it and they plodded on. But there was more to come.

Leanne's long lost mother, Stella, showed up a few months after the wedding. Leanne was reluctant to say the least, after a lifetime of knowing her mother abandoned her to be raised by Les. After a devastating miscarraige, though, and little by little, Leanne and Stella finally bonded. Good thing, too, because Carla was still shadowing the marraige.

Clearly, Carla's presence is a thorn in Leanne's side. Peter and Carla finally gave in to temptation around the anniversary of the tram crash, something that sent Peter back into the bottle yet again with serious post-traumatic memories. Peter finally left her for Carla when the truth came out at the trial where Frank Foster was accused of raping Carla. Leanne's been on a mission to protect little Simon from Carla and Peter both, considering that while Carla isn't an alcoholic, she does drink too much and Peter's sobriety is not all that stable. Simon has already lost one mother and he wants to be with Leanne, holding a lot of anger inside against his father and Carla both. Leanne is fighting with everything she has in spite of the possibility of her own past being dragged up.

Peter and Leanne did make a good couple but I wonder what's the future going to hold for Leanne?  Leanne's history has her lurching from pillar to post, not seeming to have learned her lesson. She tries to be responsible but she just can't quite get the knack of it. Will Leanne ever put her murky past behind her and become respectible? Will she at least find some success in life, with a family of her own, sagely giving younger women advice gleaned from her own mistakes? In the aftermath of this current custody battle crisis, it looks like Leanne is going to yet again lean on Nick who is more than willing to hold her up. Is Nick the real love of her life or just an unresolved issue from her past?

Leanne isn't one of the savviest characters on the street but she's never been boring.

Defending Peter and Carla...sort of

I've been reading a lot of really negative reaction to the pairing of Peter and Carla and I'm here to defend them. Kind of. I am not a fan of the couple. I really prefer Leanne and Peter together but I don't think this is the worst couple "ever", as I've read some people declare. One person even said it was worse than Kevin and Molly.

At the risk of coming over all Panto, Oh No It Isn't! Nothing could be as cringeworthy as "Molvin". That had to be the most ill-conceived pairing every and that is most definitely pun-intended.

I think Peter and Carla do have a certain chemistry and and I like both characters as well, just not as a romantic couple but you have to have triangles on soaps, it's a stape plot device. We could see this one building up for over a year so at least it didn't feel like it was thrown together. Kevin and Molly should never have been a full blown affair. It would have been understandable if Kevin had developed a middle age crush on a cute young woman but all the rest was repugnant even if it did provide storyline fallout and fodder for another whole year.

Some people don't like Alison King as an actor. I didn't at first but she seems to have relaxed into her character and they've written some vulnerabilities into her character as well. I've long been a fan of Chris Gascoyne and I find he has chemistry with whoever he's on screen with. I do find it a bit out of character that Peter would disappear for 24 hours without letting anyone know he was ok, mainly for Simon's sake but he's an addict and I think he's about to replace booze with Carla.

I don't think they'll end up together long term but this will again create a catalyst for the storylines without which we wouldn't have much to watch, now, would we? With Leanne fighting her corner, and Ken lecturing Peter on his failures and Simon's disappointed little face tugging at our heartstrings, we will ride this one out as we do everything else, waiting for the outcome and fallout.

Why Peter and Carla won't work out

Right. So after that blog post from a few weeks back about who Peter will choose and who he *should* choose, he's now gone after Carla. He loves her, he thinks maybe marrying Leanne was a mistake and is going to leave her.

One of the things he said on Friday night's episode was that he was treating her like he did booze, like a bad thing he had to stay away from. That is it in a nutshell. That's why this isn't going to work in the long run.

Peter is a man of addictions and I think Carla is one of them for him. It may or may not really be love but then he really loves booze too, in a love/hate sort of way. He thinks it makes all his problems go away but really, they only make them worse and that's what is going to happen with Carla, too.

Carla understands him in ways that Leanne doesn't because she's flawed like he is. So is Leanne but it's different. Carla has a drink problem and can identify with Peter's. Pity the writers seem to have forgotten that Leanne was once addicted to cocaine but then, that was only a flash in the pan thing anyway and probably best left in the past.

If I was Leanne's friend, and Simon wasn't involved in the equation, I think I'd tell her to leave him and let him stew in his own boozy juices. Love him she may but he's going to drag her down eventually. But Simon is involved and if he's going to have to watch his father's ups and downs like this, at least he's got Leanne to hold on to and help keep a little normalcy in his life. If she can stick it out, that is. And if she can't, then she might almost have a case for getting custody. Too bad she's not formally adopted Simon yet. I know there was talk about it but I don't think it went any further than that.

You know all this business about Leanne having trouble getting pregnant, already having been assured by the doctor that though it may take a bit longer, it could still very likely happen? Don't you think it's pretty obvious that she's going to get pregnant and quite likely Carla will as well? Standard Plot device. They used it before with Maria when Carla nearly took Liam off her. Maybe that's Weatherfield's cure for infertility, have your fella fall in love with Carla and bob's your uncle!

I really don't think Peter and Carla are suited, not for the long run. I think Peter needs Leanne and Simon a lot more than he realizes. I really don't think this relationship with Carla is going to go the distance but whether he and Leanne will manage to salvage anything is still up in the air.

Peter's choice

Spoilers say Peter Barlow is going to drink again and is going to finally give in to his feelings for Carla.  I know that happy families on soaps are said to be boring and hardly anyone stays married for long. Love triangles are the staple of soaps and with Peter and Carla sniffing around each other for so long, I guess it was inevitable. But it still makes me sad.

I really liked Leanne and Peter and Simon as a family. They've managed to overcome an awful lot and still stick together. They're a far better family than Peter and Carla and Simon would be even if Carla discovers her inner maternal gene. I don't think Simon will take to her easily if it goes so far as to have the three of them move in together. There's no word on the horizon yet what the outcome of this all will be but if and when Leanne finds out about an affair with Carla, will she be able to get past it? Or will she take it as Karma after her fling with Nick?

And does Peter truly love Carla? We know he probably feels she understands him better than Leanne because she, too, has a drinking problem. But then, she's never really completely accepted she's got one and has never stayed sober for very long. She's not a raging drunk, but she does drink too much and she knows it but she doesn't really consider herself an alcoholic, I think.

Carla always seems to me to be the epitome of "The Other Woman" with her dark, exotic and sultry looks. She's not the type you would expect to see in the kitchen with a pinny on, busy baking chocolate chip cookies is she? She always looks more like the glamour girlfriend of a footballer. Leanne, on the other hand, is pretty but less glamourous but does have that homemaker ability.

Both women are strong and both women came from a rough background. Both are flawed and have made some big mistakes in the past but have clawed their way past them to make better lives for themselves. They've loved, lost, loved and lost again. Leanne is softer, less brittle. Carla just might have the edge over Leanne in determination.

What of Peter? Certainly, he's not a strong man. He's definitely got parent issues. He lost his mother when he was a child and his father sent him away to be brought up by his grandparents. It felt like he was abandoned by both parents. He seems to have inherited his father's gene for the lack of ability to resist women and he's carrying a chip on his shoulder the size of the Blackpool tower. He's an alcoholic, one still prone to lapses. He means well, but he doesn't always manage it. He's a screw up and a bit of a nightmare but somehow, I always thought that he and Leanne really fit together.

Carla seems to have touched something inside him. Maybe it's two damaged people reaching out, trying to keep each other from going under. For her, it does seem like she's grown to love him. This is at least the second time she's fallen hard for a man that she shouldn't. The first time, she was with Paul Connor when she fell for his brother and this time, she's gone for Peter who's married. She runs to other men that she doesn't really love (Tony, Frank) when she can't have the ones she really wanted and look how that's turned out? Also, two of her lovers/husbands have died with rumours of a death in store for Frank as well. Should Peter be worried?

Each coupling has their fans. Some do think Peter and Carla are better together than Peter and Leanne but I don't. It makes me sad that the little Barlow family may be split up. I'm also not surprised that Peter will start drinking again, though it's unknown as to whether it will be a long stretch or just a short lapse. Peter being the type of person he is, is more likely to fall off the wagon numerous times. He's weak when it comes to resolve for anything and seems to be able to resist anything except temptation.

Speculation:

If Peter leaves Leanne for Carla, I suppose it will provide storyline ramifications to play out into the future, which is what they need. How will Carla cope with a very unruly Simon who will resent her for ousting Leanne from his life? We'll definitely see little Simon acting out, maybe running away, getting into trouble. Will Leanne fight for Peter? Will she even want to ? Or will the classic soap twist happen all over again, same as when Liam was going to leave Maria for Carla... Will Leanne get pregnant just as the marriage crumbles? Carla may see her nightmare happening all over again. This time, though, maybe Leanne will refuse to take Peter back and raise the baby on her own.

In soaps, it all goes around in circles. There are only so many storylines you can tell but you can tell them each in different ways. People complain about repetitive storylines. Why do they never complain about yet another love triangle? They are the stuff soaps are made of, with standard plots and plot devices. Marriages will always fall to the influence of another woman or man. Babies will be conceived via a fling with someone, usually ill-advised. Alcoholics usually fall off the wagon. Murderers die or go to jail. Long time "villains" (like Mike Baldwin) always have some redeeming qualities. Some people are perpetual losers in love.

Thus, Peter falls off the wagon and is going to have an affair. So it goes.

edited to add: On a very related note, Inside TV has a great interview with Jane Danson and Chris Gascoyne on just this very thing!

It's Grim up North

You don't see Carla crack very often but ripping at clothes and sobbing in Maria's arms this week, the poor woman was in bits. I know the rape storyline was controversial but I think it's been done really well, with a lot of realism and sensitivity. It's made for a fairly dark week on Corrie but I don't think it's been over the top, either. Coronation Street does drama very well and in spite of all the loud and obnoxious headlines you see in the tabloids when the spoilers first come out, the storylines are usually always handled with a much more even hand.

We didn't have to see the actual event to know what happened. We saw the aftermath, the police and doctors and questioning. We saw Frank released pending further inquiries. And we saw Frank push Peter into an assault that would further back up his own claims that Carla and Peter were having an affair and setting him up for this charge. Frank really does believe that Carla and Peter have and are continuing to have an affair, I think, but using that as an excuse to say they were setting him up for a fall is just him justifying his actions, I believe.

Frank was so creepy! He almost immediately had himself convinced he'd done nothing wrong yet you could still see flickers of doubt cross his mind now and then. Down deep he knows what he's done but he's not going to admit it, even to himself. He is determined to take his revenge, mainly on Peter so far. He whispered to Peter that Carla had "it" coming, he then hissed that Carla liked it rough so that's what he gave her, and he got what he wanted. Peter blew his stack and got arrested for laying a beating on Frank.

Meanwhile, Carla has made amends with Maria, the only person that really knows what Frank can be like. Her newly patched up friendship with Leanne is probably not going to stick together, not with accusations and suspicions still very much forefront in Leanne's mind. It's pretty hard to believe in Peter when you know Carla wanted and probably still does want Peter and his actions seem to be a bit more than necessary for a mere mate. Even if Leanne believes that Peter hasn't actually had sex with Carla, she'd be stupid to think he doesn't have feelings for her.  Peter and Leanne's marriage had a big crack in it when he found out about her affair Nick and it's been in a fragile state ever since. Could this break it irreparably?

It seems like Peter does have some feelings for Carla even though I truly believe he does love Leanne and his little family. I think he is attracted to Carla and maybe even loves her a bit. Infatuated, perhaps. It's a very strong pull. Leanne really is his true love but if he can't get Carla out of his head, it's going to go pear shaped and fast. I really hate to see he and Leanne break up because they really are good for each other but on soaps, there can't be a happy relationship for long.

The performances have also been riveting, I think. All four of the actors are really giving it their all. I'm sure it must have been a huge challenge to do. Carla isn't really one of my favourite characters but I have grown to like her over the years. Peter and Leanne are two of my favourites and I always enjoy their storylines. I hope they really show all of the bumps and struggles Carla is going to have getting over this, between the rape itself,  the trial and dealing with Frank (and his harridan mother).

"Confident Carla" is going to take a real knock back and we should see how she manages to get back on her feet again. Will we see the same old Carla after awhile? The one with the brittle shell? Or will she finally reach out and take the support offered and accept new friendships so she won't be so isolated. Having Maria on her side is a good first step.

Over the next weeks we'll see if Frank is actually charged and if he is, I expect we'll see a trial. Maybe Carla will manage to stitch him up or trick him into a mistake that will help her case. He did rape her. He can't get away with it. It's a soap law! But it's not over by a long shot.

Who should Peter choose?

This sort-of triangle has been brewing and bubbling under the surface for a year. Every now and then it breaks the seal and bubbles over. It started off last year around this time when Leanne was busy getting ready to open the Joinery with Nick and Carla's drinking was getting out of hand. Peter was helping and supporting her but in secret, because she didn't want anyone to know. We could see Carla developing feelings for Peter, whether that was a false dependency or not, it was hard to say.

She even made a pass at him, just weeks before he was due to marry Leanne but he gently rejected her. She used her knowlege of Nick and Leanne's affair to try to drive a wedge between them and it's because of her that Nick and Peter were in the office at the club on the night of the tram crash. She'd encouraged Nick to spill the beans to Peter and he'd taken Peter in there for a quiet word just as the explosion and crash trapped them in there.

All the dirty little secrets came out and Leanne has been resentful and defensive about Carla all year. Peter has always been awkward around Carla but has always been faithful to Leanne. Lately, Carla's feelings have simmered over again and we saw Peter and Carla in a smokin' hot kiss in the flat while Leanne was in hospital, having lost her baby. Was Peter really giving in to his inner feelings or was he feeling guilt and pain over the loss and needed someone to reach out to?

Because she can't have Peter, Carla is feeling cornered into marrying Frank, a man she doesn't love, in much the same way as she married Tony Gordon after losing Liam. Now she's got all that guilt over having run over Stella and destroyed the betting shop and she's trying desperately to get Peter to see that he loves her, not Leanne. Is this yet another reaction to knowing she's marrying someone she doesn't love? Does she truly love Peter or is it still that dependency attachment and infatuation?

That's what I believe. I think Carla became infatuated with Peter and is attracted to him but I don't think what she feels is true love. She's always hankered after men that she couldn't have and married the ones she didn't really want as compensation.

Does Peter secretly love Carla? I don't think so. I think he does care for her and I'm sure he is attracted to her but I really think his heart and soulmate is Leanne. When he tries to talk sense to Carla, it seems to me that he isn't really torn between two loves and is staying with Leanne out of a sense of duty or guilt. He loves Leanne and they are a strong couple. Sure, he messes up sometimes as does she but they're good for each other and they're there for each other and they both know it.

I think Peter would have liked to be mates with Carla if Leanne hadn't been so insecure about it, but who could blame her? She knows Carla wanted her husband and she knows Carla still does. Women know these things. Should Peter have told Leanne that Carla was still after him? Probably, but it wouldn't really have helped the situation. It would only serve to push it back into out and out war and when they've all got to live and work and drink on the same Street, it's counter-productive.

So, I think Peter should choose Leanne. There maybe Peter/Carla fans out there, though. Anyone? What's your argument if you are on that side of the fence? (and I refuse to make those silly co-joined names of the couples, k? Just sayin'!)

Peter and Leanne, Together again!

I didn't really think she'd get on that train. I really did believe they wouldn't split up my current favourite couple, Peter and Leanne Barlow. If i'm skeptical, i'd say i knew it would happen because there was nothing in the papers about either one of them leaving the show and Jane Danson wasn't headed for maternity leave or something like that. So, that's one reason.

But I also think they are a fan favourite couple and people really are rooting for them to be together. Is it Simon's devastated little face? Partly. But I, along with a lot of people, really believe Peter and Leanne are good for each other. As we know, they're both flawed and they both mess up big time and sometimes it's hard to forgive that. Leanne's affair might have been less of a betrayal if Nick hadn't stuck the knife in and twisted it a few times, encouraging Peter to drink so that Leanne would leave and go back to her first husband.

Ken was right, and i've always believed it. Nick and Leanne's affair was about the past. Leanne had some pre-wedding wobblies and Nick knew very well which buttons to press. He's as weaselly as he always was, smug, arrogant and up his own arse. And you know what? His father, Brian, was the same way.

This whole week on Corrie was great! The blessing in the church started it all off with Peter blasting Nick and Leanne, his father, Deirdre and Carla from the altar. They all knew and they all kept it from him. Rock... hard place. It always is if you're in that situation. Should he have done it in a church? Maybe not. But he was so profoundly hurt and betrayed that he lashed out in the most public way he could.

Next up, he saw Nick go into the still-unfinished bar under the viaduct which is finished and the trams are now running again. (I hope we'll now get appropriate sound effects from here on in. We didn't get them for nearly 49 years of the show until they planned to have the disaster then oh... do i hear a tram? And it was only in the opening credits as a computer graphic train for a few years but nobody ever took the tram and you never heard it. But I digress...)

Yes. the Joinery. The scene of the disaster where Nick and Ashley saved Peter's life. I also didn't think they'd have Peter kill Nick in cold blood, even if it might be deemed a crime of passion. GBH is GBH and Peter would have the book thrown at him. Heck, he'd probably confess! He sure put a good scare into Nick though. I bet those designer kecks were ruined! I was glued to the screen, i really was. Then when Nick started rubbing Peter's nose in it, i literally hollered at the telly.

Honestly, the balls that boy has to continue to be such a bastard, to continue to twist words and make Peter think Leanne only married him out of pity. Peter almost believed it, i thought, but when Nick gave him back the bottle of whiskey i prayed Peter would throw it at him and he did! Yay! He did inflict some damage on Nick's leg, or i thought he did, but Nick was running the next morning so it must not have been much more than a graze from him falling over.

Peter finally broke down in his father's arms and admitted he "loved" her. But you knew it wasn't past tense. You know he was just so hurt by what she'd done and she knew it was her fault. She didn't think she could face her friends and neighbours day after day and was about to do what Leanne always does, a runner. I thought he'd manage to get her off the train but in the end, she never got on it and they reunited at the train station.

(Never mind that it was the wrong one. Trains from Manchester to London Euston leave from Piccadilly station, and that most certainly wasn't the modern Piccadilly, it was the much older Victoria station. Maybe they couldn't get filming permission for that day in the other one.)

I digress again. So what's next for Peter and Leanne? Will we have to put up with Nick's moaning and moping and petulant face? Will he go to Milan or will he stay and reopen the bar? I'm telling you, I'd not drink there. I think it's jinxed. First it didn't open because Peter got drunk and Leanne realized it wouldn't work. Then it was the site of a huge disaster with fatalities. He'd have been better off changing it into a rival factory or something.

Anyway. Peter and Leanne will probably have a few rough weeks but it will all smooth out soon enough. I'm predicting by this time next year they'll have a little bouncing Barlow either present and accounted for under the Christmas tree or one on the way. Watch this space!