Flavour of the Month

There's news over the weekend that Kym Marsh has signed on to Corrie for another year. No big deal, you would think, but the unnamed anonymous "inside" source spoke to the media saying that Michelle, Kym's character, is the very center of Coronation Street and everyone is pleased she's staying on. Um. I would beg to differ there but the thing is, sources like that are usually an agent or publicity spin doctor paid by the actor, at least, that's what I think. For nearly the entire time that Ms. Marsh has been on Coronation Street, we've seen her face plastered in the newspapers, photo shoots, on every red carpet and carpets of all colours. She's very good at getting her name and face out there.

Then you remember that Michelle has been the focus of a great many storylines in the past. For a year or two there, it really did feel like Michelle was the center of the show but it wasn't in a good way. It was overkill and Corrie seems to be doing a lot of that lately. They really over-use a character to the point where most of the fans are truly sick of them and it turns them off the character.

I never had a problem with Michelle at first, she wasn't an actor that would win major acting awards but she wasn't that bad either. But then it started. She was everywhere though not shoved into everyone else's storyline as well, like they did with Stella Price, at least. It culminated in the very ill-conceived (and yes, pun very much intended) storyline about her biological son being switched in the hospital with another. The Ryan/Alex storyline was awful and although it's been completely swept under the rug by the writers, fans remember and wonder why Michelle never contacts her biological son on his birthday and why a stroppy Ryan never screamed "You're not my real mother" back when he and she were feuding.

After that, Michelle took a back seat for awhile and it was All Becky All the Time. Again, overusing the character but for me, in this case, I liked Becky and Katherine Kelly a lot more so it didn't bother me. It was a bone of contention for a lot of fans, however, and Ms. Kelly's face wasn't plastered over the media nearly as much as Ms. Marsh's. This isn't a new phenomenon though.

If you think back to the 1990s, you may recall an actress called Tracy Shaw who played Maxine Heavy Peacock. She was the first media darling that I remember and she was all over the tabloids. There were rumours that she herself was the "anonymous" source for some of the stuff that got into the papers.

Another point that seems to crop up with these women is that, as an actor, their skills are not that strong. Some were/are better than others but most of them, when they decide to leave the show to persue other projects, don't really get very far. It's a testement to their ability, not their popularity, that they make a successful career outside Coronation Street, like Katherine Kelly, Sarah Lancashire (Raquel) and another former favourite of mine, Suranne Jones. The rest spend some time working the media then fade quietly away.

At the moment, Helen Flanagan, who played Rosie Webster, seems to be her own publicity machine and making sure her name, face and body are a staple of the salivating tabloids and social media. She wanted to be famous. She is, but it's for her face and figure, not for all those acting jobs that haven't really appeared yet. She, too, will eventually fade as the flavour of the month turns to a new face.

Some of the women realize their limits and stay with Coronation Street as long as they can. The security is good, whether or not they like to keep their name in the spotlights. Most of them, in fact, keep their private lives private though disappointingly, even the ones that seem the most sincere still end up selling their stories or their wedding/baby pics to one of the glossier magazines. It's that last bit that kind of makes me feel let down. Sometimes, they do have a message to tell, like when Sally Dynevor went through her cancer treatements. Seeing her story in Hello magazine got her message of hope and survival out to a lot of people and that is a good thing. Selling your wedding photos offsets the cost of your big day and that just feels cheap.

I guess I've got off track a bit I hate pandering to the media and the ones that do it the most deserve it the least. I certainly think a lot less of the actors that do it and when the Powers that Be shove a character down our throats in storyline after storyline, especially silly storylines that make no sense, only serve to make us sick of them, not love them more and it's moreso when it's an actor that isn't up to the workload nine times out of ten.

Here's what I think about Corrie lately

Owen has insisted that Tina get a roommate to help her make her rent payments. I don't think he has the right and she certainly should have the right to say no, I can make the rent on my own. And what happened to the money she seemed to have leftover? Maybe that's what she's been using to pay the rent. I like Steph, though, I do. Tina's being very rude to her so far but then we know why. She won't have a convenient place to have clandestine meetings with Peter.

It's a never ending reality check for Tina. Just as she says, it's a truth she doesn't want to hear but she hears it straight from a loved up Carla's lips when she was gushing to Michelle about how romantic her husband is. She won't listen to Liz, the voice of experience. She pretends to her friends that her mate is having a fling with a married man and gets a dose of their disapproval, too. She sort of defends her friend and sort of agrees it'll end in tears. 

She tells him she loves him and he can't say a word. Why does she put up with it? Because every time she tries to back off, he turns on the charm and draws her back in and he will this time, too. He's like most every bloke that's cheating. He wants it both ways and doesn't want his wife to find out because he never had any intentions of leaving her.

The Windass disaster is holding my interest, too. Phelan is a wonderful villain and something Michael and Gemma from Conversation Street podcast said this week had me nodding my head in agreement. When Phelan came out of the shadows, all cocky and ready for revenge was a Jez Quigley moment. I think Phelan is probably what Jez would have been had he lived to middle age.

The Windass family is already imploding in on themselves, blaming each other but especially Gary. Really, though, if Anna hadn't kept secret the fact that Phelan came on to her, none of this would have happened. We know we're seeing the slippery end of this and it's going to roll downhill faster than a plastic toboggan on ice and I speculate that Phelan could very well end up dead. Who might be the culprit? My money's on his wife.

She's a fierce thing and may get to the point where she's just had enough of his manipulation and womanizing. She's great, too, though, isn't she? She's hard as nails, calculating and uncompromising. She is fully aware of her husband's shortcomings and sticks with him, probably for the perks and status she gets in her big home. But there has to be money worries if he's had bankruptcy problems even if he manages to slip out of it with loopholes.

Most people seem to really dislike Maddie and Sophie's storyline because most people seem to dislike Sophie herself. I don't mind her and I don't mind the storyline but what I do find fun to watch is Sally's reactions to it all. I also find Tim's reactions interesting. It seems to me he and Sophie aren't as antagonistic as they were at first and he actually seems quite supportive of her. I think Tim is growing to like Sophie and she might even be warming to him. They could be good allies.

I don't like Tony. I haven't trusted him from the start. No matter how many times he pretends he's just there to get back into Jason's life, I keep siding with Eileen. He's trouble. He's already proved it by sabotaging the new builder and stealing his tools so that Jason could get the job back (and probably worm his way in to helping Jason as well).

I'm not surprised Liz is attracted to him. She even said Tony's a bit rough and we all know that's exactly Liz's type.  Is Eileen jealous? Perhaps a little though I don't think she wants Tony back. I do think perhaps she still fancies him even though she knows all his bad points. And then there's the fact that if he gets involved with Liz, that's more reason Tony has to stick around, upsetting everyone.

There does seem to be a bit of a turn around in the comedy lately. Deirdre playing peacemaker and referee between Eileen and Liz was good. She's right, they're all too long in the tooth to fall out over men! I also laughed at Steve trying to be romantic after Michelle went a bit green over Peter's apparent generosity with Carla. Steve hasn't got a clue about romance, does he? I continue to fail to understand what Michelle sees in Steve and why she continues to stay with him if all she can do is criticize him.

I felt bad for Dev fancying Stella and getting the wrong end of the stick, and ending up making a fool of himself in front of all his friends. I really did think he and Stella would have a fling but i guess that's not going to happen. It looks like Stella is giving Kal the eye and it looks like Kal is giving Leanne the eye. Three guesses how this one is going to come out.

So there you have a few comments I've had running around in my head over the past week or two. I'm actually enjoying the show quite a lot. Even though I hate the Peter and Tina pairing, it's a classic triangle storyline and it's playing out pretty much the way you would expect, with Peter ducking and lying and diving and all the predictable ups and downs that Tina's having as she deals with the reality of being the other woman.

State of the Street - February 2014

Creepfest this month with Pat Phelan sliming all over Anna every chance he gets. Does he really think Anna wants him and is just playing games or is it just him trying to convince himself? Is he really one of those men that thinks they're God's Gift to women and no woman could possibly NOT want him? And of course, since they do, he'd be glad to spread himself around. I suppose his wife is used to it. But here's the thing, even though it's his wife's name on all the contracts, he's got considerable pull and he could pull, all right, the rug right out from under the Windasses. That is, if he's alive. The month ended with him doing a face plant in the dirt after Gary thwacked him with a pipe. But, then, he did disappear and he couldn't have done that unless he managed to drag his sorry behind under his own steam. I don't think this will end well.

But having said that, isn't Pat Phelan a great bad guy? He's really got that abhorrent personality, manipulative, forceful, and he's a total ... to be blunt, asshole. The actor is doing a really good job, I must say. He's very believable. 

Roy went into a tailspin after burying Hayley and disappeared for two weeks. Poor man. You know he can't stand people fussing over him and I reckon that bit of alone time was what he needed. He hasn't dealt well with Hayley's decision to end her life before nature did it for her and that's a hard thing to come to terms with. Now he's got to find a way to make a life for himself alone. Hayley sent a present from beyond the grave, some pieces to a train set and that seems to have sparked his interest, at least, and he's going to immerse himself in train tracks for awhile. Whatever gets you through the night, eh?

Todd has been slowly insinuating himself into Marcus' thoughts and he finally broke through. The flirting and doe-eyed smiles appealed to Marcus' lust and he gave in to his attraction to Todd. Nobody can  understand why Marcus would fall for such a manipulative toady but it happens all the time. People seem to often be attracted to the "bad boy/girl", someone that is nasty or treats them like dirt, that element of danger, sometimes. Todd isn't dangerous, not in that manner but he's certainly got Marcus' number. He felt that Marcus was with Maria more for the little family than anything else and he was determined to rise to the challenge of breaking Marcus and Maria up just because he thought he could. And it looks like it will happen.

Affairs always come out. Marcus is going to be broken all right and he's going to feel like the worst kind of fool when he realizes Todd doesn't love him, he was using him to prove a point. Maria's going to be heartbroken. She's made the wrong choice yet again. Audrey will have puddles of tears to mop up yet again.

Dev's gone into business with Kal but Kal couldn't finance his part of it and brought his father into the mix and that's going to be trouble. Kal's dad, Sharif, is a ruthless businessman in the mold of Mike Baldwin from the old days, I think. Dev is too much of a softie to stand up to him so poor old Jason got the shaft on doing the work for the gym and that's down to his father Tony. Families! Meanwhile, Tony and Liz keep making eyes across the bar. Eileen told her Tony was trouble and that only piqued Liz's interest. You know she likes them bad! (see above)

Dennis has flown the coop after a dip into the music business and an infatuation with Gloria. You can hardly blame him on that score. Rita has been treating him like a child since they married and harping and bitching at him even more since he started his music project. Why not let him do a sideline in a business he has had his fingers in many times over the years? If she'd been more supportive from the start, he might not have fallen for Gloria's charms but now, facing a long and dull future as Rita's pet behind the Kabin counter, he bolted.

There are rumours he may be back and if that's true, I hope she doesn't take him back. He doesn't deserve it, even if just for the way he left her, right out of the blue with only a wave from the car on the way past. That really was cruel and Rita didn't deserve that.

And we come to Peter and Tina. I really have noticed that they're making Peter really look his age, nearly 50. The hairline is receding and they're styling his hair to really show it off. It makes the different between he and Tina look even more pronounced and he looks more like a dirty old man as a result. He is acting like a dog, too, isn't he? He's really playing Tina, smoothly lying to both she and Carla. Tina's falling in love and thinks he is too. No, he's not. He's in lust. He's a Barlow.

I can't help feel that if Ken had been here, huffing and puffing, sighing over Peter's folly, this might not have happened. By the time Ken returns, it'll be too late. It is already, since the deed has already been done. Several times. I wonder if anyone had warned Carla, "If he runs *with* you, he'll run *on* you" because Peter is doing exactly that and I hope Leanne gets to say I Told You So.

Marcus and Todd up a tree

Like the prodigal son, Todd came back. Todd came back in disgrace and he's changed. Not for the better. When we first met Todd Grimshaw, he was a gentle, nice boy without a malicious bone in his body. He tried to do the right thing, make his Mum proud, and do what was expected but it just wasn't in him. He gave it all up for a girl, and then gave all that up for a boy.

Todd realized and accepted he was gay but in the wake of that discovery, his life and that of lover Sarah's was looking like ground zero after the wars. He left for That London to make a new life. Turns out that new life wasn't quite the climb up the ladder of success that he thought it would be. We saw a glimpse of that when he returned with posh Jules in tow. Todd was acting very snobby, trying to be like Jules but Jules took him down a peg or two for disrespecting his family.

Todd and humble apparently had a parting of the ways. He's back in Weatherfield, tail between his legs, having turned into a manipulator and a user. His mum is not proud and can see it as much as it pains her to admit it. He's been using people for jobs, drinks and money and now he seems to be using Marcus. He strung Sean along for a bit before letting him down and started making eyes at Marcus. But we can see that he's not falling for Marcus and indeed, he admitted to Eileen at one point that it was more of a challenge. He didn't think a gay man could have a successful relationship with a woman and seems out to prove it.

Enter Marcus. He's a lovely bloke. He is gay and still insists that is true even though he's fallen in love with Maria though to be honest, it's probably more about the little family package he so badly wanted. Still, it must be working in all aspects of the relationship. She seems happy enough and all loved up. But the clouds are on the horizon and it looks like Maria's about to realize she's chosen wrong yet again.

Todd started off flirting with Marcus and he's continued to make inroads. It seems like Marcus is starting to warm to Todd. Why doesn't he see that Todd is a scheming toady? And why hasn't Eileen warned him yet? She's fully aware that Todd is playing with Marcus.

Todd is a very good looking man. Marcus would have to be blind if he hasn't noticed. And when a good looking man chats you up and it seems like they really fancy you, it's flattering. You may develop a crush, an infatuation, and under those circumstances, you don't usually look at the negative traits. After all, Bad Boys (or Girls, depending on your choice) are always more attractive, right? They have that element of danger, of excitement. I wouldn't really class Todd as a Bad Boy. I'm going to be blunt here. He's just an asshole. But a lot of people are still attracted to assholes as much as or even more often than Bad Boys. Unfortunately true.

I know Todd "confessed" to Sean that he was falling for someone but I don't believe it's true. He's using Sean again, knowing that Sean, as Marcus' ex, doesn't approve of M&M. When Todd lures Marcus away and back to the gay bus and Maria's heart is broken, Marcus is going to lose that family he treasures. Todd will be triumphant and have no further use for Marcus who will be humiliated that he was suckered by Todd into his schemes and Sean will probably be used to engineer the discovery. The scales will fall from the eyes of all concerned and Todd will be the Street "pirhana" (Les Battersby reference, there. Anyone remember that?).

Will that change Todd? Will it 'eck. He'll smugly revel in the chaos he's caused, if the actor is planning on staying. If not, he'll swiftly fade into the night in a black cab in disgrace. At this point, as far as we know, the actor is staying so I wouldn't bet on that second scenario. He will likely stick around to cause more embarassment to his old Mum.

As much as I don't like Todd, I don't mind this storyline. I know it's facilitating Charlie Condou's exit but even if it wasn't, it's a good storyline, I think. Or maybe it's like watching a tram crash. Either way, it's holding my interest. That might be contrary to a lot of viewers but that's ok. To each their own, right? I'm waiting to see the inevitable fallout to see if I'm guessing correctly, and poor Maria, another lousy relationship up the pipes. She's far too naive when it comes to men, isn't she? Kirk will look properly disgusted at Todd and Marcus and Audrey will have her work cut out for her supporting Maria again, mmm???

State of the Street - January 2014

Peter, cold hearted cheating manipulating bastard. Loves and is in love with his wife, but like a dog in heat. Tina is only infatuated no matter what she herself thinks and he knows it. He's  using it, pouring on the charm so that she won't leave town. She tried but she left anyway but I'm sure she'll be back. She can't stay away. Just as well she left before Hayley died so we didn't have to have that distract us from the important stuff.


Hayley went downhill very quickly from New Year and it was so hard to watch. Only the actors themselves and some top notch writing kept me glued to the screen, tears often streaming down my face. Talk about pulling out all the stops! We've been through a month of an amazing story, top notch performances and writing and it isn't over.

At the end of the month. Fiz has discovered the truth of the timing of Hayley's death. I've read that some fans were angry that Fiz made it all about her at first but wouldn't you do the same? Wouldn't you react that way to find out someone that close to you decided to die at their own chosen time and didn't tell you? That's the kind of reaction people have to the suicides of their loved ones and add to that the fact that two people knew and didn't stop her? If you'll pardon the pun, that is a very bitter pill to swallow.

But I loved the scene between Carla and Fiz with Carla gently making Fiz understand and later, Roy explaining Hayley's true motivation. Fiz is coming around to it but Roy is not only angry, he's resentful as hell. We weren't sure he wasn't going to blow the whistle at the funeral but he didn't and he made as touching and as appropriate a speech as he did at their wedding. It doesn't mean he's over it though because he's gone walkabout. I'm surprised he's not been sleepwalking and maybe we'll see a recurrence of it in the weeks to come as he grapples with it.

Some thoughts on the funeral episodes:

As usual, there's always people glaringly missing. This time, it was Liz. Where was she? Neither Todd nor Eva was there. Todd I can understand, but Eva worked with Hayley. I guess David and Kylie kept the salon open and the Price lot kept the Bistro going so that's fair enough. I guess the corner shop was closed during the funeral because everyone else possible that could have been working was somewhere else. The Kabin was clearly closed as was the Garage and factory. No Owen or Gary that I saw. Odd that they wouldn't be there to support Anna. Didn't see Marcus or Maria either but maybe they were working as well. I thought, even though Rob had to keep the shop open, we might have seen a scene somewhere this week where he gave his sister a hug of comfort.

Funeral music. Don't Stop Me Now by Queen? I guess that's appropriate considering she wouldn't let Roy talk her out of taking her own life. But she touched Roy's heart with a Bach violin concerto because he thought it was the perfect duet. Just like them. "Close to You" as a singsong at the wake was heartbreaking. Nice, but just that little bit too much for Roy I think. I think it would have been better, though, to have Chesney as a pallbearer rather than Beth. She didn't quite fit in, for me. And laughed at Sally squabbling about being a bearer but only because she was put at the back. It was nice that Sean was one of them, too. Roy brought his satchel to the service. It seems to be his security blanket, doesn't it?

On with the show...

Kylie also hit rock bottom and when did David grow up? Man, even though he went off the rails last year, he sure pulled himself together after the shock of what happened to Nick. It was clear, as he said, that Kylie couldn't forgive David because she couldn't forgive herself and once she could admit that, it seems like she and David will rebuild their life together. I've really enjoyed this whole storyline in the whole year it's been ongoing. It's not over, because Nick is still dealing with his recovery which I feel has been shown quite well. Leanne's bruises lasted far longer than most bruises on the show and served as a daily reminder to Nick that he's damaged the one he loves the most.

Meanwhile Nick has managed to push Leanne away and is now walking around like a sulky child. It's your bed, mate, you lie in it. He's going to push her right into someone else's bed, I reckon and I figure it's going to be Kal's. I like him. I think he could be good for Leanne, as well. I know you should support your husband/wife through better, worse, sickness and health and she tried but it just wore her out. Gail's going around blaming Leanne and ranting that she should have stuck with Nick no matter what and Nick was only testing her when he said he was leaving. Then she That's not a bluff anyone should try if they don't want to lose and maybe that's exactly what he was doing, going by his miserable sour face after she let him leave. But it's too bad. He asked for it.

And while we're at it, as everyone else is pointing out, if Nick's too volatile to live with Simon, why is it ok for him to be around Max and a baby? Never mind, he's going back to the flat and Gail's even more upset because she's blaming Leanne that Nick is leaving mummy now! Is anyone else getting creeped out?


So Beth, Kirk, Craig and the caged rat are moving in with Chesney and Sinead and sometimes Joseph. Where are they putting everyone? That's a two bedroom house and they do this all the time in the Street, Someone's going to have to sleep on the sofa, and it's going to have to be Craig unless he's kipping in the old outhouse in the back yard. Same thing down the street where Leanne and Simon are moving in with Stella, Gloria and Eva.

Character Study: Nicholas Paul Tilsley

Nicholas, or Nick as we all now know him, is the oldest son and firstborn child of Gail Potter Tilsley Platt Hillman McIntyre, or Gail, to make life easier. Gail married Brian Tilsley, the son of "Saint" Ivy Tilsley (later Brennan) in 1979 and as per usual for soap characters, didn't wait too long to get pregnant. Nick was born on New Year's Eve, 1980 looking into 1981.

The character of Nick has had three heads over the course of his lifetime. Warren Jackson played him from infant to mid teens. Adam Rickett was cast after Nick returned from finishing his schooling in Canada, hoping his pinup good looks would draw in the younger viewers. He stayed a few years, left and returned for a few more before taking off for New Zealand and made a name for himself in a soap there called Shortland Street.  While on Corrie, Adam had a lot to learn about acting and let's just leave it at that. Ben Price is the current Nick, having arrived at Christmas 2009. Coincidentally, Nick Tilsley was born on Dec. 31. Ben Price's birthday is January 1 though he's older than Nick is by 9 years and, to be honest, looks it! Never mind. He's done well as Nick.

Nick was the golden boy, blonde and blue eyed as a child and young adult and the apple of Granny Ivy's eye even if she didn't approve of Gail's motherhood methods. She was apalled when Gail decided to go back to work at the caff and marraige to Brian had many ups and downs though Brian did love his son. During a rocky patch, Gail had an affair with his cousin and about the time she and Brian got back together, she realized she was pregnant and wasn't sure who the father was. When that all came out, Brian left her and took Nick with him, even though the baby, daughter Sarah Louise, was proven to be his. Brian did forgive Gail and they remarried in 1988 but it didn't really go well. After another row, Brian went clubbing and got stabbed to death while trying to stop some thugs from bothering a woman.

At the age of 8, Nick had lost his beloved dad and had a difficult time adjusting.  This was one of the first storylines I remember when I started watching the show in 1989. By the end of that year, Gail had taken up with Martin Platt whom she married. Nick didn't mind Martin and agreed he wouldn't mind being adopted. Granny Ivy was horrified that her precious grandchildren, the last connection to her beloved Brian, would not carry his name. She held it against Gail for the rest of her life.

Nick entered his teenage years with a growth spurt and an attitude problem. He ran away once but came back a few weeks later, broke. He and Martin clashed many times and he seemed to resent Martin's authority when, of course, he wasn't Nick's "real" dad.

When Ivy died, she left her house to Nick on the proviso that he change his name back to Tilsley. Nick felt very entitled, thinking that, at the tender age of 15, he could live in his own house but Gail put her foot down. She did allow him to take back the name Tilsley because he wanted that but she sold the house to Ivy's husband, Don and saved the money for Nick's education. With all the stress and rowing, Gail and Martin's marraige was suffering. When they went to Canada with her new-found brother, Stephen, Nick decided to stay there and go to school. Gail seemed relieved at the distance and Nick seemed to be happy.

About a year later, Nick (now played by Adam Rickett) returned for Don's funeral, having completed his schooling and now was looking forward to some kind of post-secondary college or uni, at least, that's what Gail hoped for. Nick, now nearly grown, handsome and full of hormones, laid eyes on teenage tearaway, Leanne Battersby and fell in love. Leanne would prove to be the love of his life over time but not just yet. The Battersby family were not well liked and thought of as common. Gail was not amused to find that her son had taken up with Leanne but there wasn't much she could do about it. The young couple ran away to Scotland to get married. They kept it secret for a few weeks but it came out as secrets do and Gail was furious that Nick was on his way to ruining his life.

Cue further aggro and tension between mother and son. Never mind. Nick and Leanne settled into married life and lodged at Number 4 with Ashley Peacock. Leanne seemed to take to marraige well and matured while Nick still seemed more self centered.

He nearly got her into a bad situation when he contacted the man in prison who killed his father but pretended he was pretty young Leanne writing so the man would not recognise his name. When released, that man came looking for him and found Leanne but in the end, everyone was safe and by breeching parole, he was back in jail. Nick also did some life modelling at the art college to make extra money and found himself at the hands of a sexy art teacher. He stayed faithful but he flirted just the same and Leanne didn't like it one bit.

The ultimate end came when Leanne found herself pregnant. Nick was adamant that he was not ready to be a father and insisted that she have an abortion. She did, but the marraige broke down anyway. Nick left for Canada to work for his uncle Stephen and Leanne did not go with him.

Nick returned several years later, when his mother married Richard Hillman. He had a fling with Maria Sutherland whom he persuaded to return to Canada with him but  he worked long hours and neglected her so she came back. He didn't return again for another 2 years and soon found himself in a brief fling with Candice, a friend of his sister Sarah and then he took up with Maria again. He worked for Mike Baldwin for a short while, saving the life of his former mother-in-law Janice from a factory fire.

Leanne did her best to break them up because Maria had stolen Leanne's sister's boyfriend but Nick and Maria nearly got married anyway. It was not to be. He took a job in Nottingham without talking to her and she decided he was too selfish and she wanted to stay in Weatherfield. That was that.

In 2009, Nick returned to Weatherfield with a new face (Ben Price). He was almost 30, single and a grown-up business man now. He seems to have developed a somewhat ruthless streak as befits his new image, possibly taking a page out of Mike Baldwin's book, or trying to at least. He decided he wanted to buy into Underworld and when Carla refused, he used machinist Kelly Crabtree to steal information, using bribery and flattery. When he finally gets his hooks into the factory, Carla made him fire Kelly!

About this time, his mother was on trial for murdering her husband, Joe McIntyre. Joe had actually attempted to fake his own death and was accidentally killed but the police weren't buying it. Nick let his brother David talk him into bribing a witness and Nick took the money from Underworld to do it. Not a good move. He and Carla were on the outs but after Tony Gordon burned down the factory and Carla fled to L.A., Nick pulled the machinists together and set up the factory in the premises under the viaduct where ex-wife Leanne had tried to open a bar. Carla returned, took back her factory and there ensued a war with Nick over the staff and business contracts. They eventually settled their differences and Nick took the money and ran.

He ended up buying the bar premises and persuaded Leanne to help him open it as the Bistro. He still had old feelings for her and it turned out, probably due to pre-wedding (to Peter Barlow) jitters, so did she. They launched into an affair that came to a head just before her wedding. Nick was going to tell Peter about the affair but before he could, the Bistro caught fire, exploded and sent a passing tram crashing down over their heads. Peter nearly died and Leanne married him in hospital, much to Nick's anguish.

Nick, selfish as always, decided Peter wasn't good enough for Leanne and started a campaign to lure recovering alcoholic Peter, who was temporarily paralysed, into drinking again, hoping it would push Leanne away for good and back to him. Peter found out about the affair that happened months before and jilted Leanne at the altar when they were going to renew their vows. Nick's glee was short lived though, because Peter and Leanne made up even though Carla was waiting in the wings, just in case.

Nick continued to keep his eye on Leanne but dated hairdresser Natasha for awhile since the one he really wanted was unavailable. Natasha knew Nick was still drawn to Leanne so just when Nick was going to break up with her, she told him she was pregnant. She was but Nick wanted nothing to do with the baby so she had a termination. When Nick had second thoughts about the baby, Natasha pretended she was still pregnant. That lasted a short while until Gail blew the secret out of the water, having snooped in Natasha's medical records. Natasha attempted suicide but Nick found her and got her help in time. He begged forgiveness but knowing he didn't really love her, Natasha walked away.

Nick also had a brief fling with Becky McDonald after her marraige to Steve fell apart, horrifying Gail but Becky and Nick agreed they really would be better off as friends. Still, when Becky found herself drunk and alone on Christmas and caused a fire in her flat, it was Nick that pulled her out, saving her life.

Nick dated Eva Price for awhile but eventually she realized he really wasn't that into her and finally, after Peter and Leanne broke up over his affair with Carla Connor, he got the girl he really wanted.

Leanne seemed to lean back to Nick in rebound and though she insisted she loved Nick, still had a last minute wobble over Peter on her Christmas wedding day to him. Nick, hurt and angry, jilted her but soon forgave her when she professed her feelings for him profusely. They got married and seem to be strong together, now.

>But here's the thing. On that aborted wedding day, Nick and David's wife, Kylie, had a drunken one night stand. Kylie's baby could be Nick's and David has been wreaking havoc taking his revenge on his brother.

In a confrontation, Nick was determined to tell Leanne and everyone else what happened but, panicked, David caused the car nearly to crash. While catching their breath over the near miss, a large truck crashed into them, leaving Nick in a coma. It was a close call and even though most of his physical injuries are healed, he has brain damage that may or may not ever be repaired. He can be surly, stressed and he has trouble holding his temper. He's not himself and Nick is worried he'll hurt Leanne even more than when he lashed out and slapped her on Christmas Day. 

He knows Kylie's baby isn't his and he knows David's part in everything. He can see that Leanne is pulling away from him, though she professes that she still loves him. The disappointment, stress and resentment has added to the personality change caused by the damage. Will Nick pull out of this or will he remain a "bad boy"? I think he will improve over time, gradually but it's going to be an uphill battle for both him and all the people he loves. Whether he will ever forgive David is yet to be known. I'm guessing not.

Nick has always had a selfish streak, most likely because his mother Gail has always treated him like the golden boy who could do no wrong. It's kind of creepy the way she still fawns over him!  Everyone knows Gail can't seem to let go of the apron strings but nobody can really accuse Nick of being a Mama's boy. He respects his mother but is pretty much his own man.

He's been a bit less arrogant in this latest incarnation and his brain injury seems to have humbled him quite a bit. He was never all that close to his sister and brother, mainly due to the age difference and living away from home for much of his adult life but he still felt some degree of loyalty towards them up until now, as far as David is concerned and David has always resented Nick so their relationship will likely  always be difficult.

Whether Nick and Leanne will keep their marraige intact after all the stress remains to be seen. Nick isn't always a very likeable person but he's a good, classic Corrie character.

Thanks to Corriepedia, Corrie.net and several of Daran Little's excellent books.

I'm in floods, me

I've just seen tonight's two episodes, ending with Hayley's death.

All I can say is that it was full of love, pain, dignity and grief. Perfection from David Neilson and Julie Hesmondhalgh. It will break your heart and impress you in equal parts. If they don't win awards for this, there is no justice. That is all.

The year of the Platts

2013 was definitely the Year of the Platts on Coronation Street. What began on Christmas Day, 2012 had repercussions that are still having an impact today, early in 2014. I, for one, have enjoyed the ride!

We began with Kylie and David "on a break" and Nick jilting Leanne at the altar, having discovered that she'd ran after Peter earlier that day. She could possibly be forgiven, as Peter, thinking Carla had left him, made a beeline for the other woman he knew he could charm. Carla came back, Leanne was a distant memory but she didn't know it until she went to Peter to offer to call off her own wedding and saw Carla behind Peter. What to do? Marry Nick anyway and hope he never found out. Fail.

Nick and Kylie had a one night stand to soothe their pain and it all kicked off from there. Nick and Leanne made up and so did Kylie and David but, this is Soap land, and one of the prime Soap Opera Plot Devices states that if you have sex with the wrong person, you will get pregnant. Yep. And ironically, the main reason Kylie and David had temporarily split is because he wanted a baby and she didn't. Now she's up the duff and doesn't know who the daddy is.

Thing is, she'd confessed all to her mother-in-law, which was probably not such a good idea and was then persuaded not to give up the baby like she planned. It might be Nick's but it might be David's. Kylie began walking the tightrope.

David found out and went right off the rails, but since he couldn't face losing Kylie, who should carry equal blame for the fiasco, he directed his rage against Nick, the older brother he'd always resented anyway. He tried to ruin Nick, both in business and in his marraige to Leanne (which had taken place a few weeks after the jilting), all the while playing up to Nick's sympathies and pretending to be the concerned brother. That culminated in a near-fatal car crash when Nick finally figured out David was behind all the tricks and confronted him. David tried to take control of the steering wheel to stop Nick from telling all to the family. They came to a stop in the middle of an intersection and a large truck (lorry) was unable to stop and smashed into them on Nick's side of the car.

I still don't believe that David tried to kill Nick even though everyone else has accused him of that (once the truth finally came out because it always does). But even so, his actions did result in the crash so he was still responsible for Nick's injuries.  Nick survived but is suffering from brain damage which has caused him to have uncontrolled rages and is breaking down his marraige as Leanne struggles to cope.

While Nick recovered, he insisted that David do a paternity test on the little baby girl that Kylie produced. The test was sloppily done, in my opinion with only a sample from David and the baby sent away. Why not one from Kylie and Nick as well? Nick would have been happy to contribute and he could have managed a few strands of Kylie's hair from a hairbrush. Never mind. It turned out that David was the father, much to Nick's disappointment.

When Kylie found out about the test she went ballistic, realizing finally that David had known all along about the paternity issues and that he was behind the hate campaign and accident.  She outed David in front of the family at baby Lily's christening in classic soap style.

The whole family turned against David. The only reluctant friend he had was Tina but even that friendship caused her own relationship to blow up so she pushed David back out again. Rather than see him homeless, Audrey took him in at Gail's request even though Gail wasn't ready to forgive him. Maternal instincts are strong!

Inch by inch, David has been working his way back into his family and job at the salon. He's very, very contrite and remorseful but Nick was having none of it and insisted on the family taking sides. You can't blame him, he feels David has ruined his life. Kylie was angrier and angrier and when she saw that the family was beginning to warm up to David again, albeit reluctantly, it was her turn to go off the rails.

Kylie never had any self confidence. She never thought she was worth having a good life because she was brought up to believe she was less than nothing. She thought having a family of her own, a home, a job, all of that was too good to be true and now she's been made to pay for it. She spiralled downwards into a bottle until she hit bottom. Finally, David and Kylie were able to be honest with each other. Kylie took her share of responsibility for her fling with Nick and she and David have reconciled, much to Nick's dismay.

It's not quite over. Nick is still struggling and he's pushing his beloved Leanne away because he fears he'll hurt her after lashing out and slapping her on Christmas Day. She's just as determined to stand by her man but it looks very much like things will get worse before they get better. I'm glad they're not having Nick experience a miraculous recovery. It's far more realistic and it's continuing to have twists and turns. I have been speculating for the past few weeks that Leanne will have a fling herself, probably with Kal, Nick's new trainer. After many months of worry, stress and anxiety, and add Nick's rejection of her at the moment, and she's ripe for it.

Will Nick and Leanne manage to come out of it happy? It's hard to say. Nick has loved Leanne all his life and surely would want nothing more. If she has a fling, he'd be devastated but would probably blame himself for pushing her to it. We'll get more huffing and puffing from Gail who would certainly believe that Leanne is no better than Gail ever thought she was for hurting her baby boy yet again.

I have enjoyed the storyline, long though it was. All the actors involved were excellent and I felt that even Kylie's weeks of self destruction was completely understandable and far better than just one or two drunken nights with epic hangovers.  I realized that on top of the storyline covering Hayley's terminal illness, Corrie has been rather grim overall of late, but with performances like these, in both storylines, it's Corrie at its best.

State of the Street - December 2013

Coronation Street this month was dominated by the PlattTilsley storyline and watching Hayley's downward progress. There were little things, big things, other things and small things as there always is. There was a wedding and we have been launched into a classic Soap storyline of an affair on the cusp of beginning and we had the ending of another relationship.

Hayley struggled through chemotherapy all month though it wasn't until the end of the month that they started making her look a bit more frail and pale. Not even a word about losing her hair or tossing her cookies and with the kind of cancer she has, it would have been all guns blazing as pancreatic cancer is very aggressive and so would be the treatment.  Her erstwhile son came back looking for her. She finally got to meet her grandchildren but it cost her 5 grand. Christian certainly played all his cards didn't he?

It's been suggested that he sucked Hayley in, even going so far as to borrow two kids but before you buy into that, remember he'd shown her the photos of the kids the first time he showed up and he didn't know she was ill then. I think he returned the second time, even before he knew of her illness, intent on getting cash out of her and using his own children to do it. I don't think we'll see any more of him now. He was as thoroughly contemptible the second time as the first and as he was when we first met him years ago.

Hayley finally got angry and scared and her cheery optimistic facade cracked just after their lovely and memorable last Christmas together. She accused Roy of burying his feelings but she's every bit as guilty of that, whether she's doing it for his sake or her own or both. Phew, that was a difficult episode to watch. This storyline hits so close to the bone for a lot of people, some of whom just cannot watch. It's difficult for me, too, but the performances are the best I've ever seen on Corrie. I can't look away, even with tears running down my face.

It's been very difficult watching Hayley get weaker and watching Roy watching her as well. He knows what she wants to do and he knows he only wants every last minute she can be with him. I'm sure he realizes that she wants that too, but quality of life is a big thing for Hayley. I don't know if she really will take her own life but it's starting to look like she just might. It would be even more controversial than just the discussion of it. We've only got weeks to go so we'll know soon enough.

David and Kylie and Nick and Leanne are in quite a pickle. Finding out that David knew and set out to destroy Nick, putting him in the position where the car accident happened, his lies and betrayal have really hurt her and have sent her in a downward spiral of pain and self pity. Everyone else is finally in a place where they can start to look forward, maybe even forgive David in time though never forgetting. Nobody can beat themselves up more than David is with himself but Kylie can't pull herself out of it, drinking and causing all manner of upset.

She's even spilled all the beans about her fling with Nick and David more or less causing the accident. He might not have caused the crash per se, but he did cause the car to go out of control and come to a halt in a dangerous position in the road in the way of a truck that couldn't stop in time but I still don't think he meant to try to kill Nick. I do feel bad for Kylie in some ways. She's had a very rough life and just when she thought she could be happy, something happens that makes her think it was all too good to be true. She believes that she doesn't deserve to be happy so she's going about proving that she's as bad as everyone else, including she believes she is.

I think she'll reach bottom and maybe then will reach out to David again because she really does love him and he wants her. Meanwhile, Nick and Leanne separated for about five minutes due to Nick trying to spare Leanne the struggle. Poor Nick, he feels so out of control and unable to do anything about it. He's causing Leanne undue stress and so he's finally pushing her away. I keep coming back to the feeling that Leanne is going to have a fling, someone that can make her happy for awhile and since Peter is already occupied with thoughts of Tina, I think it's going to be Kal. That's my prediction.

Peter and Carla's wedding was good fun with the bride getting legless. Carla did look lovely. You would expect that. However, it went downhill from there. Peter couldn't keep his eyes off Tina, not after that kiss in the smoking shelter the night before. How romantic, a smelly grubby back yard under the stars. And by the end of the month, they'd had sex on the sofa and elsewhere while Carla was with her dying friend. Peter seems to be completely unrepentant no matter what he seems to be telling Tina. He's not upset at cheating on Carla, he's more concerned with trying to keep it from her. I can't help thinking that this wouldn't have happened had Ken been around this year. He tends to be Peter's moral compass or at least that little conscience on his shoulder. This won't end well. Carla should remember the last time she married in December. That really ended in a bang with murderer Tony blowing up the factory! 

After all that bullying story with Grace and Faye, we've not seen Faye all month. That really *is* grounded isn't it! Seriously, though, aside from seeing her with the police and being told she's grounded, there have been no repercussions. Have we seen her apologize to Simon? We never found out if Grace was cautioned by the police as well and there has been seemingly no threats or glares from her at school. Faye worried that nobody would speak to her or want to be her friend if she wasn't Grace's friend. Has that happened? Inquiring minds want to know.

We finally met Steve's new friend from school, Andrea. More scowling and arm crossing from Michelle who really isn't very nice at all these days. She's miserable and sour and I really can't see what Steve sees in her. He went for Becky last time he was with Michelle because Becky was a lot more fun. Michelle dragged him down with all her problems then and she's doing the same thing now. 

Brian and Julie have split up as well. That makes me sad. They were a really wonderful couple, really great Corrie characters. Brian isn't particularly likeable but he's not meant to be and he and Julie together were just superb. I always maintained that they were the Mavis and Derek of the new millenium. Brian pompous and Julie wittering but Julie, of course, has much more style and independence than Mavis.

I guess now she and Eileen can be moaning singles together. I do like how their sisterhood has grown. I'm refusing to discuss Todd because I really dislike the personality they've now given him. He was snotty  on his last visit but he's descented into what we like to call a "piece of work" and perilously close to unredemption.

January is going to be sad, with Hayley's death and frustrating with Tina mooning around Peter.

And so it begins

It's the beginning of the end for Julie and Brian. There's no way he can come back into her good graces after his most recent cowardly stunt. He says he didn't want to break her heart by admitting he was taking a job in Wales and by going along with her plan to foster. He says "IF" I was lying... eh? *IF*??? He's always been selfish and cowardly and Julie now knows it and he's broken her heart. The ultimate betrayal was him sabotaging their fostering chance behind her back. That really was the ultimate in underhandedness. He only admitted it when his back was against the wall in the face of her determination to appeal the decision.

We've already seen the beginnings of Peter and Tina. Whether that will continue after the honeymoon or not, whether we'll be in for a full on affair or a lot of angst, doe eyed looks across the bar and "come here, no, go away" over and over remains to be seen. After everything Carla has gone through to finally be happy, it's only inevitable that her world comes crashing down around her ears. She's uttered far too many Phrases of Doom in the past couple of weeks for it to be any other way.

It's the beginning of the end for Marcus and Maria too, if Todd's lascivious look at Marcus' backside is anything to go on. I applaud Corrie for breaking the mold and showing us the unlikely love affair between a gay man and a straight woman. It does happen, probably more often than we might thing but it's not all that common either. It is meant to show us that you really can be surprised by who you fall for. But in the end, Marcus still identifies as gay and it's bound to come between them sooner or later. I just wish it wasn't with the manipulative tosser that Todd has turned into. Todd may fancy Marcus but I wouldn't put it past this version of Todd to chase after Marcus just to stir the pot and break he and Maria up on purpose. With some people, it's more about the chase than about the catch and I think Todd is one of those people.

I'm going way out on a limb here and predicting another beginning, if not an end. With the arrival of the handsome Kal, everyone wants to know which woman he'll get involved with. There were rumours that Liz would get her claws into him but now that we've seen Kal, even just a little, I don't think he'd be lured by Liz in the least. I'm predicting another L-ady. I'm going to point the fickle finger of fate at Leanne Tilsley who is probably ripe for a bit of fun after the uphill battle she's having with damaged husband Nick. Kal will start working with Nick and be around more and I think Nick's tirades are wearing her down, little by little. I never really thought Nick and Leanne were suited this time around anyway. She might be the love of his life but I never felt that he was the love of hers. That honour went to Peter, in my feeling. I think she went to Nick on the rebound from Peter and while she loves Nick, it was more about stability and maybe to make up for hurting him in the past (the affair just before the tram crash when she had the affair with Nick but married Peter on his deathbed).

I can picture Leanne and Kal together and I think they would have a lot of chemistry. She's already proven she can be a good mother so his kids would be in good hands. He's a dad so he'd be good to Simon, too.



And the last beginning of the end is the final few weeks for our beloved Hayley Anne Cropper. So far, chemotherapy hasn't seemed to have had a lot of residual effect, not that we've seen but I do think that they're dressing her in clothes just a little too big, to imply she's losing weight. She's starting to look a bit more tired and pale around the edges. She's planning her funeral and it's all going to be terribly sad for all of us who have come to love her over all these years. Now that her son has popped up again, only to be just as horrible as it was the last time and the first time, she's at least got some sort of closure even if it's not really a peace made between them. More of a resignation.

And in this, the anniversary week of the tram crash three years ago, I do wish someone would have mentioned the fact. Three people died, one of them integral to the street for many years and who might still count quite a few neighbours as his friends. I still miss Ashley Peacock. It would have been nice for Nick, whose life Ashley saved, or Kirk, who worked with him, or some of the other regulars to make a mention of him.