State of the Street - August 2012

Ryan. Drugs. Dull. I don't care. But I'm also very glad that the rumour about Sophie getting involved with it wasn't true. Ryan is a liar and a manipulator and a tosser and a toerag and what else can I think of that's unflattering on a family-oriented blog?  He sucks everyone in, even Steve who needs to keep his mother sweet. I hate, hate, hate him! I know, I know, we're not supposed to like him. Good thing, and all.




This surrogacy storyline isn't going to be as straightforward as it seems. It was a nice gesture and in a perfect world, Katy would be an ideal candidate. She's young and healthy and has had a healthy baby already. But it's very expensive and even with Owen pouring poison in Chesney's ear to get him on board on his side, it may all come down to the cash. Owen certainly isn't going to hand over money if Katy's going to be the bio-mom but maybe he might if there was someone else chosen. Hey, maybe Kylie would go for the dough! or Fiz? I bet Beth would do it in a heartbeat. It also occurred to me that there's another young woman on the show in dire need of cash input and it seems I was right. (Spoiler)


Jason and Maria, part 2? I can't see it lasting for some reason. Maybe she's settling for Jason because she can't have Marcus?

Michelle and Steve, part 2? I can't see that either. They never did suit but again, nothing else to do with Steve I guess. It *is* a good storyline having Steve trying to look out for Ryan. It's just too bad he has to be involved with Michelle at the same time. He was moaning about blowing it with Michelle but five minutes ago he was hollering at Tracy that he still loved Becky. Rebound much?

I don't even think it's all about Steve and Michelle, I think it's all about Tracy, yet another go around with Tracy lusting after Steve and Steve lusting after someone else and giving Tracy mixed signals when he KNOWS what she's like! It's pretty clear that the powers that be don't know what else to do with Tracy, as one dimensional as she is. It's old and it's boring. Get rid of her or give her something new to do. And no, making her use Ryan as revenge against Michelle isn't anything different.

The domestic violence storyline has moved along.  It's so painful watching Tyrone blame himself for Kirsty's violence and blaming her hormones. She needs to remember, he's lived with a pregnant woman before and she didn't beat on him.  But it's been done in a very realistic way. After a few more incidents and Tina finding out accidentally, Tyrone and Kirsty argued and she stumbled and got hurt and now Deirdre, at least, thinks that Tyrone is the culprit. Well, that's the usual way of it so that's what people would think by default.

Kirsty left Tyrone but was persuaded back in the end by Tommy himself and Tina finally admitted to Tommy what she knows and Tommy has admitted to Tyrone that he knows after Tyrone injured himself. Tommy, bless'im, assumes Kirsty was at him again and tried to defend his best mate. Tyrone and Tommy are now officially on the outs. It's too bad that Kirsty is managing to push all Tyrone's friends away (though that, too, is a typical move in these situations...isolation), he's going to need all the support he can get. 

This storyline is really, really well acted and thought out, I think. Although it's a grim subject, it's a rivetting storyline. Again, and I can't say this enough, major kudos to Natalie Gumede and Alan Halsall!

What's all this palaver about Karl's debt being Stella's and now it's Sunita's? Karl's debt is Karl's and isn't anyone else's responsibility. If he'd used the pub as surety against something, yes it might be Stella's. If he used a credit card with both their names on, then yes, some of it might be Stella's but the whole debt isn't and it certainly can't be transferred to Sunita but Karl is willing to bend to Stella and he signed his share over to her anyway. Eva getting Karl fired was well out of order, as well. Doesn't matter what he's done, she had no business getting him fired. She lost a boyfriend over it and she should have lost her job. 

It's really clear that Karl doesn't want to be with Sunita and he didn't have anywhere else to go. I don't even think Sunita loves him though she thinks she does. He was a way out of her marraige and it's a crush or infatuation. She's really going to hit bottom hard when it all falls apart. Playing petty games like drinking in the Rovers in front of each other and canoodling with tarts from the cash and carry is just childish. So is taking money from the joint bank account to finance a dodgey business deal. Stop it. Grow up. Get on with things. It's clear Karl and Sunita aren't going to go the distance. Should the two couples reunite? It's a soap, at least one probably will, if not both.

Roy survived Mary's infatuation. He was completely oblivious to it though Anna clocked on what was happening and Hayley went for Mary in a jealous rage. Well, I say rage, it was more like a snit but that's a emotional as Hayley gets. It was a nice storyline, though. Nobody expected that Roy would ever be unfaithful to Hayley and it showed Hayley's insecurities bubbling up. She trusts Roy and trusts their love but clearly still has a frisson of fear that Roy will prefer a "real" woman if she throws herself at him. Sometimes you just can't help yourself when those old insecurities haunt you.

There were some lovely scenes where Mary bared her soul to Hayley, admitting she knows what people think of her and was so happy that Roy didn't see her in the same way, "Scary Mary". Hayley was the one that persuaded her to stay even thought Norris was clearly upset that she might leave. I don't think Norris has any hidden "love" for Mary but I do think he considers her a very good friend.

SurrogaTina?

I have to say I really didn't see this coming though I should have.

I didn't think that Katy would end up carrying a baby for Izzy in the end. I thought it would probably come down to the cash. It's so expensive and neither of the couples has any money. Katy doesn't have a job, Chesney sells dog collars on the market, Gary works with Owen as a builder and Izzy sews knickers. I thought there might be an outside chance that Katy carries the gene for the syndrome that Izzy has and that might come into play but my money was on the cash. So to speak.

Now it seems that Owen does have the cash but he's not willing to part with it to give Katy the opportunity to give her sister a baby but he is willing to donate it so that Izzy can have the baby she wants, just with a different surrogate mother.


Enter Tina McIntyrel

Her boyfriend Tommy owes Tyrone big bucks and he was working several jobs to try to pay him back but he's going to be injured in a car crash and won't be able to work. The debt is hanging over their heads. Owen is offering money to the one woman on the Street who really needs it and it looks like she's going to consider it. Why didn't I see that coming? It does make sense, doesn't it?

Tommy's not going to be too happy, though I reckon he'll come around in the end. Will she be able to get pregnant the first time? That's £7,000 PER SHOT, as it were. Owen isn't made of money.  Will she be able to carry the baby full term? Will we end up with yet ANOTHER sprog on an already crowded cast of under-5s?

Some have said this storyline is very unbelievable. I don't think it is, necessarily. What's wrong with Katy and Izzy, Chesney and Gary exploring the possibility? Family members certainly have gone this route for each other so it's not out of the realms of possibility. Is it probable in this case? Not likely, because, as many have pointed out, none of them have the money, and there are a lot of huge road blocks in the way to make it more difficult.

For once, I'd like to see the storyline play out but not with a happy ending. It's a soap, it's allowed. I don't want things to work out for them. I think there are more than enough little sprogs on the street now. We don't need yet another one. I can understand Tina making this huge decision to help Tommy. He won't be happy with it. Will he find some other way to stop it happening? If she's only doing it for the money, will someone else step up to the plate and lend it to her? Rita's been known to do that for Sally and Kevin, why not Tina, whom she thinks of as a daughter/granddaughter/great-granddaughter?

I still don't think it's going to happen in the end. I'd like for it not to happen in the end.

But I could be wrong.

No more babies on Corrie, please

We're heading into another baby storyline. Izzy recently miscarried and decided she didn't want to risk a pregnancy but Gary really wants a baby. They're about to investigate adoption and were told that because of Gary's criminal record, they will not be qualified.

That's a direct turnaround. Have the writers forgotten that Becky and Steve, both holders of criminal records, were told that it wouldn't necessarily be held against them? They were turned down in the end but there was no particular reason specified and that wasn't it or they'd have never got as far through the process as they did. And I'm pretty sure it was mentioned that Eddie Windas had a record, anyway.

So, ok, they're looking at adoption and then the prospect of surrogacy comes up with Katy offering to carry the baby for them. I say no. And it's got nothing to do with Izzy's health or criminal records or any other objection on screen or off so far. My objection is that there are too many children and babies on Coronation Street at the moment.

There are always a few, so that as the show progresses and the children grow up, there can be a new generation of characters (if the show lasts that long!). But currently we're almost overrun with the little blighters and I think we're more than reached our limit.

Let's examine the current roster, shall we?
School aged kiddies: Max, Asha, Aadi, Simon, Amy, Faye, Craig though the last two are a bit older than the first group, but they're still attending Bessie St. I think, yes?
Babies: Liam, Jack, Joseph, Hope, and Kirsty's pregnant and due soon.

I don't think I remember ever having that many little ones on Corrie, do you? This leads me to believe that I don't think this baby will happen.

As an aside, while writing this, it occurred to me that Leanne could be the next one up the duff, with a baby by Nick which would make up for the one he insisted she get rid of when they were first married. And there's a possibility that Carla could be pregnant when she returns. (Oh gosh I hope not!) Again, I'd object on the above mentioned overpopulated cobbles.

What say you?

State of the Street - July 2012

Marcus and Sean's breakup was so painful to watch. It was very real, wasn't it? Tears, acceptance, pain and heartbreak. No screaming or throwing things or temper tantrums like everyone else has. Well, not at the end, anyway. Sean pushed Marcus to the brink when he confronted him at the hospital but later, when they both knew that it was over and they loved each other but wanted different things, it just broke my heart. Leaning on friends. In real life, of course, Marcus really would probably have left town but I'm glad he's staying around because I really like the character and the actor. Maria's crush really didn't come to much. Audrey pointed it out and it seems to have died off, as they do, I suppose. It would have been interesting to follow it up a bit more though. By the end of the month, Marcus might be seeing Aiden and Sean is still struggling.


Lloyd's back! I'm quite glad to see him. The story that brought him back was a bit silly but I don't care. Seeing Lloyd, Steve and Eileen in the cab office together was worth it! They had a rough start, though, which sunk to childish behaviour and pettiness and subterfuge. But really, though having three cabs sabotaged by Tracy costs a bomb to fix, did Lloyd really start up the company with only three cars? Lloyd and Steve ended up on top of each other on the school playing field after a full body tackle after Lloyd found out. When you hit bottom, there's only one way to go! And yes, they did repair the damage and merged the two companies. Hopefully they kept on the lady drivers and could supply them when asked for one.

Tracy still has hopes of getting Steve back and you'd think after all these years, she'd have figured it out. Steve is often quite nasty to Tracy but with her tenacity, he probably needs to be and yet it doesn't sink in. And Steve sold Number 13 back to Kevin in a matter of minutes. I really can't get over the real estate dealings on the Street. Kevin offered more money to move in straight away but there's procedures! Sometimes it's just so contrived, isn't it? Beth and Tracy have rights as tennants and Tracy's name is on the deed, she must have some say. But no. We have to play the unreality card. I do hope Tracy has a solicitor to ensure she gets her half of the proceeds as much as i hate her, she's legally entitled, I would think, if only as a future divorce settlement. She may not deserve it but they are legally married.

Peter hates Nick. That's a given. He's got good reason to. Over and above Nick having the affair with Leanne there's the stunt Nick pulled, encouraging Peter to drink while he was recovering from the tram crash injuries. That's pretty low. Now he's playing substitude daddy to Simon which *really* rubs Peter the wrong way and doesn't Nick love stirring it and pushing all Peter's buttons? Was it more about his dislike or more about jealousy that Leanne had someone new/old and the fear that Simon would like Nick better? Probably a bit of each. I pretty much love every storyline with these characters, there's so much chemistry and the acting is superb.

It was interesting to see Peter whine about making sacrifices for Simon and how Simon is the most important thing all the while causing more upheaval in the little boy's life. If he hadn't kicked off so much at Nick, Leanne wouldn't have decided to move away. It sent Peter back to the bottle yet again, it sent Carla the other way.

He's finally come around to realizing that Simon really should be the priority but it's too bad he didn't think of that when he was crawling up Carla's skirts. He railed against his father for abandoning him, he pushed Carla away, accusing her of being glad he could lose Simon forever, he even tried to "abduct" Simon himself. For all that Carla has been demonized as the other woman, she managed to persuade him to let Simon go in the end. I did wonder why he didn't tell Simon that he would write and phone him. Now Leanne and Nick can settle in but you notice, she still can't say she loves Nick?

Another couple I really like is Izzy and Gary. Her getting pregnant and his reactions to it were wonderful. The doctor says she should be ok but Owen of course hit the roof, even harder than when Katy got pregnant. This time around he's got even more reason to worry, though he always reacts in the worst way. What parent wouldn't be frantic when a child whose health is precarious wants to do something that could very well jeopardize that health? I think that if anyone is up to a challenge like that, Izzy is. Plenty of people with far more serious disabilities than hers raise children successfully. But sadly, the pregnancy failed. They're one of the better couples on the street so it's nice to see them in a good storyline even if it's a sad one.


A couple i don't like the thought of is Mary and Roy. Mary has clearly got a crush on Roy and is doing everything she can to try to impress him, between learning about things he likes, to hanging around him all the time, giggling. Roy is oblivious of course but Mary just makes me ill to watch. She's so long past her sell-by date that she's rotting. She's not funny anymore and should be got rid of. I don't know why she hasn't been run out of town already. Hayley, while it took awhile, twigged what was up.

The bullying story really didn't go in too deep. Faye was being picked on for being adopted which makes no sense considering how many kids in school have step-mums or dads. Not a lot of difference really. There would be far more reason to bully her if they found out her mother died of a drug overdose, I would have thought.

Two new faces on the cobbles this month, a new brother for Carla, renamed from the fore-mentioned Darren unless there's another brother in the woodpile somewhere and a new face for Ryan Connor. I think i like Rob, though he doesn't seem to be everyone's cup of tea judging from various fan reaction. I like the actor as well though I do think he needs a better haircut. Still, he's been in prison, so you have to cut him slack for that.

NuRyan is being played by a very competent actor as well but the character? He's an obnoxious arrogant oik and seems set to be the new bad boy on the Street to replace David Platt. Why do we need one? Why do we have to have drugs on our Street? It's all too Eastenders if you ask me. I don't like him but then he's not meant to be likeable but I like even less his storyline so far.

Sunita and Dev hit the wall. She manipulated it so that Stella caught her and Karl in a "compromising position", shall we say. Beds changed hands, Karl is living in Number 7 mainly because he's got nowhere else to go. I really think if he did, he'd be elsewhere but she's living in a dream world. Again, yet another couple doesn't really put their kids first yet Sunita gets teary that she's torn their world apart. Well if she'd thought of that first, she wouldn't have done it. I was dreading that scene where Dev would get drunk and pathetic and sad because I really don't rate Jimmi Harkishin's acting but to tell you the truth, he was very good and not cringeworthy at all! One scene out of many, though, doesn't make an Oscar performance.

Corrie's Not Big Week

It wasn't billed as a "Big Week" but this week on Coronation Street was awesome! It was filled with emotional ups and downs, drama and comedy. It was probably the best full week of Corrie I can remember in ages. No explosions, no murders, no hostage situations, no Stella (or very little).


The main focus of the week was the Barlow storyline. There was booze, abduction, arguments, fear, and anger. There was the dragging up of history between Peter and Ken. We had Peter hurling accusations at Carla for tempting him away from Leanne and blaming her for all his problems. Her crush, his turned head.  He was horrible to her, through the booze and disappointment and anger. He then tried to lure Leanne back with a cufflinked shirt and a belly full of booze. He told Leanne he'd never taken her ring off. He didn't. I wondered why Carla never mentioned that.

He went on a bender and I think everyone's heart broke when Simon took one look at him and accused him of being drunk. He lurched around the cobbles, getting into public and private arguments. Nobody plays drunk as well as Chris Gascoyne. He disappeared and they all thought he might have killed himself. Because of a recent tragedy where a young man was found in the canal near Manchester, they edited out any visual and verbal reference to Peter being in the canal as the original story went but it still worked. And now Peter's disappeared with Simon, which was the root of all Peter's angst this week anyway.

Kirsty and Tyrone had another bust up when he was helping Fiz and she thought she might be going into labour. You can see her rage building and her jealousy fuelling it and even she doesn't understand why she's doing it.

With the Windass group, we got a bit of Owen railing at Izzy about being pregnant and the discovery and finish of the bully story. That was a bit of a damp squib really. We've only seen it for a couple of weeks but it's been going on for months? Brian, who is supposed to be the head of the school, was kowtowing to the bully because her grandmother is the chair of the school governors. Did anyone find it ironic that he was bullied by Julie into doing the right thing?  The governor did the right thing as well. She made her granddaughter apologize and that had to be the snarkiest and least heartfelt one I've ever seen! Wasn't the little girl great!? But it's done and dusted now.  Game over. Happily ever after until the next crisis.

Carla's brother has appeared and there's old history, a connection with Michelle and family obligation. He got qualifications while in prison and now he's working at the factory and messing up, flirting with the girls and recovering the lost contract. Michelle told him about Carla's recent troubles with Frank. That isn't even the half of it when you think about what Tony put her through) Rob's a serious flirt, though it was nice to see Eva laugh and smile again. Half the factory girls were giving him the eye as well and he wasn't adverse to giving it back.

One brief scene that struck me: 

Gail about Leanne "She let you down." Nick "No she didn't, it was the other way around!"

It's about frigging time I heard Nick admit that the breakdown of their marraige was his fault!!! Hey may have said it in more or less those words in the past but this seemed more direct even if it was an offhand remark.

Miscellanous good stuff:

Tracy winding up Norris under long suffering Emily's roof. It constantly amazes me how much room these houses seem to have. All of the old side houses only have two bedrooms upstairs, and a small bathroom. Emily's downstairs has a more formal sitting room and the back room has the dining table. Norris has a bedroom. Where's Tracy staying?

Kirk and Marcus were good too, bonding over steak and kidney pie, trifle and bad beer. Kirk hasn't been on our screens in far too long. I think he needs a storyline of his own!


It's so nice to see Tyrone reconnect with old friends like Fiz and with Tina and Tommy. I like it when Corrie shows these easy friendships. They don't do it often enough. These particular ones are meant to fuel Kirsty's insecurities and jealousy. I wonder if they'll persue this if things fall apart with Kirsty and Tyrone?

I hate Mary these days. But the little storyline with Mary and Roy finding a common interest in chess is going to be good although I don't look forward to the inevitable crush Mary is quickly developing on Roy. Roy is not going to notice because he's oblivious to things like that but Hayley sure is and she's already not Mary's biggest fan.

State of the Street - June 2012

Why can't people just have a happy wedding day? Why is there always some problem? At the very least, one of the couple is late, at the worst, and this was the worst, someone is kidnapped. Will someone PLEASE just call the flamin' police! This must be breaking all the laws of storyline decency!

And with the more dire storyline! I liked the Tommy and Terry bits last month but the Rick thug storyline was just as bad this time around as it was last time when Rick was coming after Joe and then Tina for money. If there was any justice, Tina dumped Tommy for good and then took him back and she had to get involved and it (nearly) ruined Rita's wedding day. At least she dumped him again but will it stick? Of course not. It only lasted a few days. In real life, I think it would have been a tough one to forgive. It was bad enough what he did but with Rick, the man she's had prior tragic dealings with due to her father?

The wedding did happen, though and wasn't it lovely?


The custody battle was in full force. Leanne and Peter at each other's throats, Carla actually trying to be the peacemaker. Peter was willing to drag up all of Leanne's dirty past but he's no saint. On top of the alcoholism, and let's face it, he can't seem to keep off the booze for more than a few months at a time, he's got that fire he started while drunk, he confessed to a murder he didn't commit, effectively ready to abandon his child, and there's the whole bigamy thing where Lucy only gave him Simon back because she was dying.


Every time Simon kicks off or is caught stealing or whatever, Peter says he realizes what it's doing to Simon but then Leanne gets his dander up again and he gets stubborn all over again and Simon suffers some more. Was it any wonder Simon decided to drink a bottle of wine he'd found after the example he's been given? Finally, Peter's thick skull has been penetrated. Finally, he listened to Simon, and did the right thing. What powerful scenes they were, too, when he talked to the lad and gave him to Leanne later, collapsing in tears as Simon left. But the the problem is that Leanne let St. Ella pour poison in her ear and she wouldn't let Simon go out with Peter. Talk about being a hypocrite! She can't have it both ways.



I could see that one coming. Nick never lost that soft spot for Leanne. Since it looks like Leanne and Peter aren't going to get back together and Leanne's confidence has really taken a beating, I'm not surprised she reached out to him for comfort, at the very least. She's been the love of his life but I don't think it goes both ways. He's still head over heels but I think she's using him as a consolation prize. Or is it just leftover unclosed issues for her first love? Is she just looking for someone to take care of her? Nick is only too happy to comply.

Well at least that romance has a remote chance of getting somewhere. Possibly. Maria developing a crush on Marcus is understandable but it's a dead end. She knew it down deep but she's lonely and he's lovely. Sean's jealous radar had more to worry about with Marcus' coworker. I don't want to see Marcus and Sean split up because it might mean Marcus would leave the show but Sean's jealousy is going to push Marcus right out the door. It's happened before and it's happening again.


Sunita's lies caught up with her. It's one thing to sneak around and make excuses, but once she got caught with the wad of Karl's gambling proceeds and had to pretend it was hers, she scrambled and excused and bluffed but Dev was suspicious and rightly so. Nothing is going to make that go away now. He's going to be watching her like a hawk. What's her modus operandi? Leave him. Anyone with eyes can see her and Karl giving each other smouldering looks but the only one to catch on was Eva.

But Sunita's plan of camping out at the pub, hoping to persuade Karl to unreject her didn't work. He never loved her and really, I don't think she loves him, she just saw him as a way out of a dead end. That didn't work so she went back to the dead end and sealed her fate by asking Dev to marry her. As heartbroken as he was, and as much as his trust is crushed, he snapped it up and all is forgiven. But is it? You know the affair will be discovered. These things always are. Then we'll be in for some extremely painful emoting as Dev's heart breaks.

Stella has Karl out on his backside, binbags at the ready because xhe thinks the only problem is his gambling. He can't see the problem because after all, he won, didn't he? And he whined that he did it for her. Typical. He really can't see he's got a problem, can he, not if he can go around blaming everyone else for his decisions. But you know, St. Ella will take him back. She always does.

Eva and Nick broke up but let's face it, yet again, Nick had a girlfriend that he wasn't really that into. He was already shying away from her push for committment and her jealousy over Kylie gave him the excuse he needed. Now he's back with Leanne and Eva's feeling very betrayed. I can't really blame her there but that didn't stop Leanne.

Sister or no sister, she was re-bound and determined. I bet she wouldn't have done it had it been Toyah's ex, though. Leanne's going to break Nick's heart and he knows very well she's not in love with him but he'll do anything to be in her life. The fact that it winds up Peter is only a bonus and Peter's insecurities are not going to make it easy.

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.

An Affair to Remember

Pretty much all the feedback on the Karlita (Karl and Sunita) affair is negative. 'Out of character', and 'sleazy' are the kindest things we've heard. It's certainly not been played like a coy 'nudge, nugdge, wink, wink' type affair we've seen in the past or even a fairly straightforward one but with a lower mark on the sleaze scale. Perhaps that's because many of the past affairs involved characters that we liked, characters that had a certain charm and chemistry. This one has none of that. And according to the poll in this post, it's even out-sleazed the Molvin  (Molly and Kevin) affair which, in my books, had reached a new low at that point.

Sunita was always loyal and kind and honest. If she felt hard done by or taken for granted, she'd have confronted Dev, not thrown up her hands and chased after the first man that gave her a cheeky grin. Karl is a newish character and we haven't really seen him in a sympathetic light since he's been here. He's a gambler, he's a bit of a schemer and most definitely feckless. We did hear that he'd cheated on Stella in the past so this is, at least, not a personality transplant for him.

For the past couple of months we've been peering at the screen through our fingers whenever Sunita and Karl have played tonsil hockey with their tongues or plugging our ears and singing "la la la I can't hear you" when one makes blatantly sexual comments to the other like when Sunita suggested she wouldn't wear underwear beneath her Jubilee cossie. How many of you out there were as creeped out about that one as I was? I might have expected that out of Beth or Tracy but not Sunita.

Now we're at the point of the affair where Dev is suspicious. He found the wad of cash that Sunita is keeping for Karl, the gambling win that Karl is hiding from Stella and though he leaped to the wrong conclusion about that, he's putting a lot of other pieces of the puzzle in the right places. All this time she wants to herself, all these friends coming out of the woodwork needing to talk to her including an overnight with one of them. He's sure she's having an affair.

Anyone that's had a cheating spouse has seen all of this before. Once you're suspicious, you watch, listen and try to catch them in a lie. The cheater's reactions are varied but they all try to do a merry dance to try to keep you from finding out the truth. Smoke and mirrors. Fancy footwork. Or, as we in Canada might say with reference to (ice) hockey, stick handling. But those of us watching who've been there recognize the bluff for what it is and it's not pretty. As awful as this storyline is, I have to say from the point of view of a once wronged spouse, it's painfully realistic.

Dev confronted Sunita with his suspicions and she started down that cliched route. First, she pretended not to know what he was talking about. She denied. She put it all down to his overactive imagination. Then, she broke her own phone so as not to have to call or take a call from Karl, pretending it was "Laura". She accused Dev of bullying her. You could tell she was backed into a corner but there was still a way out. Right out the door and into Stella's back room which was obviously the worst place she could be, considering she's doing Stella's fella but she grabbed the first hand hold she could, like someone dangling off a cliff. Doesn't matter that the roots are shallow and she could very easily plummet down onto the rocky shores below.

Even if Dev backs down and Sunita goes home, even if the affair ends with a whimper and they think they're in the clear, it's going to come out. These things always do. Will Sunita go quietly? Will either Dev or Sunita end up in the corner shop flat? Will Stella weld shut the lock on her handbag, the one in which she's already got Karl's 'family jewels' firmly situated. Will there be blood and carnage on the street or forgiveness?