State of the Street - December 2016

Here we are at the end of the month and at the end of the year. As always, it's been a year of ups and downs but that's a discussion for another time, maybe. Let's discuss December, shall we?

The Barlows stumbled through the month with some interesting discoveries. Not only has Daniel been on his own since he was 15, but he hasn't seen hide nor flaming red hair of his mother since. Not a word. Nothing. I'm a bit surprised, as it's an unusual thing for a mother to cut her child off like that. I wonder if we'll discover anything more about her disappearance? I really like that Peter has taken Daniel under his wing like a big brother/ father figure.

The other discovery is the identity of Peter's new girlfriend. Right from the start he was disappearing for hours on end and there have been lies about him contacting a friend about a job. But little by little, we've realized it's a new woman. Or is it an old one,figuratively? Nick's always been jealous of Peter and his inner green eyed monster has lashed out once again. He's sure that Peter is after Leanne and not completely sure she's not receptive to the idea. One again, he is in danger of pushing Leanne away with his trust issues. On Christmas, Peter's gift of a tape that Leanne and he spoke about in the car seemed to indicate she was the "love of his life" as the gift tag read but we soon discovered who that really is...Toyah Battersby!

Although I did guess who the identity of the woman would be, it surprised me because Toyah would be well versed in all the personality flaws that Peter has via Leanne over the years but she's having trouble with her husband and is vulnerable and Peter does have charm and a twinkle in his eye. By the end of the month, their secret is out when Simon discovered it via his new drone camera which, by the way, he was using illegally. It's not meant to be a spy/sky cam. Will Peter be able to keep Simon quiet? Probably, for awhile.

There was some confusion when Simon spoke of Leanne going to see Janice although Toyah did not yet Toyah and Nick were visiting Leanne in hospital. I suppose it was a lie they told so Simon wouldn't get upset so it appears they're still treating him like a 6 year old. It's no wonder he acts out.

Nick's jealousy of Peter is really tedious. This isn't new, either. He's been like this even before he had a brain injury so he can't use that as an excuse. The more he lets the green eyed monster take over, the more Leanne is going to feel like he doesn't trust her even though it's Peter that takes most of Nick's suspicions. It can't help but leak over to her, though. Mind you, that fight on Christmas day was brilliant in that Peter did get the better of Nick overall.

Luke and Tracy seem to have an ongoing...something. I wouldn't call it a relationship because it implies committment and that's something Luke particularly keeps saying he doesn't want. Tracy's acting like a booty call is just fine by her but little by little it looks like she would rather have him all to herself. I hope they don't do that. They are very ill suited as far as  a proper relationship does. Even improper. But then, most of us don't want Tracy to be happy. Luke might be a bit of a ladies' man but he's no match for Tracy, who is definitely a cougar with very long claws.

Roy and Cathy didn't get married after all.  They were probably as suited as anyone would be as far as someone that might suit Roy though Cathy did have an impulsive and quirky side that seemed to rub Roy the wrong way at times. I wonder if she's a victim of fans unwilling to let the Roy and Hayley dream go, fans just weren't willing to accept her? Roy seemed determined to follow up on his promise to Hayley to move on with his life but the relationship with Cathy always seemed to move on a bit too quickly for his comfort. It wasn't quite the speed that Ken progressed with Nessa but in a way it wasn't that different, either.

Nessa railroaded Ken who didn't have the ability to say no, thanks, I'm still grieving my wife's death. Cathy kept blundering into Roy's life and he seemed to go along with each step before he was ready for it, ostensibly because Hayley would want him to. She might, but she'd also not want him to rush into anything. Roy does not do well when rushed. It's not in his nature. And perhaps if he waited until he was ready, he'd be a pensioner so it's a fine line. I do think this was too soon, however. Roy was engaged and ready to marry someone else but never took off his old wedding band until mere hours before the wedding.

Cathy finally saw the truth of the situation and called off the wedding, letting Roy out of his promise honourably. The wedding band went straight back on and Cathy has retreated. Roy decided it would be kinder to sell up and move away rather than upset her by his presence.

Another continuity issue, here. Cathy seemed to disappear from the screen after the wedding. Probably went to Scotland with Nessa for a time but we saw her on New Year's Eve in the pub with Roy and other of their friends. It seemed a bit weird.

All we ever knew about Mary's background, aside from a wide variety of quirky stories, is that she has a mother that she seemed to have a very strong love-hate relationship with. Her mother has always been portrayed as a strict woman that never believed in her daughter, never encouraged her and never showed any love or affection for her. We have discovered that a 14 year old Mary was raped by a minister, a family friend, after she babysat his children and she then bore a son whom her mother took from her immediately and gave away.  Her mother was not supportive and only showed disappointment and anger.

The old feelings of longing for her son, feelings she usually kept tucked away out of sight and mind, resurfaced when she saw Ken Barlow's family rally round him after his stroke. In a lovely scene, she told Norris what happened and he decided "What are friends for?" and insisted on helping her find her son. While he has been a good friend, he interfered when she asked him not to and perhaps she would have regretted it, who knows? But he found her son, Jude, and he tracked her down. It all worked out really well which is nice for a change. I was afraid we'd have another rejection similar to when Hayley found her son, Christian, who was an odious git even when she was dying.

But Jude was very nice, and Mary found out she was a grandmother which is a lovely thing for Mary. (Asha and Aadi who?) He invited her to move to South Africa with him and she's all set to go as we end the month. Will she leave for a new life with a perfect stranger? Jude seemed to address Norris' similar concerns. He may very well be on the up and up but it feels like a drastic move to be made so suddenly. In the pub on New Year's Eve, Mary seemed to be expressing disappointment that Norris didn't try to talk her out of it like he did with Emily's trip to Peru last year. I look forward to the episode this coming week where we find out if he does make the effort and whether Mary will go. I'd rather see her go for a visit and come back.

David met a new woman, Shona, in a club and she proceeded to steal his wallet. Next thing you know, we see her in the church with a bottle of booze and Billy takes her under his wing. She's got an ex boyfriend, Nathan, and we start to see him follow her around. He's also the one that carries passed-out Bethany out of the ginnel on Christmas after her diet pill overdose and now they've made friends. Was Shona's introduction mainly to bring Nathan across Bethany's path? What will she mean to David? I do hope they're not throwing him into a new relationship like they did with Ken and Roy both. It just doesn't work and fans really have a hard time with it. Characters need to be left to grieve, not jump in with someone else to soothe their troubled souls.

In an abrupt personality turnaround, Andy attacked Phelan. He blamed Phelan for Michael's death and in his anger and grief, lashed out. Then he attempted to kill Phelan with drugged orange juice and gin.  I just don't buy that Andy has that violent streak in him. Yes, he was willing to scam Michael that he was his son, Gavin, at first but he soon felt guilty and they ended up being quite close sometime after the truth came out. He also robbed the Bistro once before, didn't he? He did seem to be turning himself around and this violence seems out of the norm. It's all because he's got to be under Phelan's control. Phelan needs money and he's using Andy to get it. It won't end well.

I'm enjoying Phelan as a villain but I don't think I'm going to be able to get into this particular storyline. Andy is no match for Phelan. Neither was Michael as far as being no match but for some reason, Michael being close to Phelan's age made it feel a tad more equal. Andy's young enough to be Phelan's son and it almost feels like he's bullying a child. That's how it's felt to me, anyway. Even Todd is more of a match than either Andy or Michael. 

Eileen decided she can't live without him and they're set to get married on January 20. This means if it happens, Eileen is most definitely heading for major heartbreak because somehow, someway and sometime soon all of Phelan's misdeeds are going to come crashing out. Perhaps he'll be killed and we'll have a "Who Killed Phelan" story. There are certainly plenty of suspects. Time will tell.

I hope you all have a happy and successful 2017!

Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

Cathy and Roy's non-Wedding

Someone's getting married this morning and she bounces out of Number 6 with Yasmeen behind her, waving and smiling at everyone she sees as she bounces into the salon to get her hair done.

Someone else is getting married today and he is looking like it's the last think he wants as he peers through the nets at his intended who is full of joy. "I'm Getting Married In the Morning" chirps cheerfully from Cathy's countdown widget, having reached the day. Roy shuts it off with a sigh. He wanders around the flat, picks up the dictaphone from the table and moves it elsewhere, then slowly eases off his wedding ring, the one Hayley gave him. He sets it on one of a pair of wooden Dutch shoes under their photo.

Cathy's a very happy and excited bride. Her maid of honour, sister Nessa, is the traditional BridesmaidZilla offering too much information all the time but Cathy's friends are all very happy for her.

Meanwhile, Fiz is ticked off with Tyrone for falling out with Roy. Alex impresses Roy with the fact that you can indeed have more than one "happiest day of your life" by citing there could be two "highest mountains in the world" if they were the same height. Wise. Two little flower girls are equally the cutest things ever, proving Alex's theory.

The spectre of that dictaphone is hovering, however. Roy has moved it off to one side in the flat but Cathy has a last minute wobble over her vows and goes to find it. We can all see what's coming but it isn't there yet. People start arriving at the church, Sally in her Donna Karan suit, Rita in a bright purple hat, Mary with curled hair and a flower behind her ear and Sinead in a fab plaid coat.

Ty and Brian decide they're going to make up with Roy and come running, Ty still in overalls and Brian in his track suit. Roy accepts their apology.

Cathy finally arrives. She looks very nice in her flowy dress and bolero jacket.

Roy waits inside as people file into the church.  He's still looking like he wants the earth to swallow him up whole.

In a moment alone before heading into the church and down the aisle, Cathy listens again to the vows she recorded but this time she hears Roy say that even if the wedding isn't what he wants, he's going to honour his promise. Uh oh. She visibly deflates as the scales fall from her eyes and perhaps she can now see what was right in front of her all along. She heads to the church anyway instead of running the other way. What's she going to do?

She got up the aisle, looking nervous and distracted. To Roy's credit, he did say she looked nice.

Mary (who also looks very nice) read from Shakespeare. That's different.
 

Tyrone nor Fiz got the chance to do the next reading because Cathy stood up and confronted Roy with what she heard and called off the wedding.

 

She didn't scold Brian and Tyrone for their part in it all but they did look very sorry.

Then it was just the two of them. Roy really wanted to do the right thing and he's very fond of her but it isn't love, is it? They had a very calm discussion about not displaying how you feel, something Roy admits has difficulty with. She is not holding him to his promise and explains they would be better off as good friends.

Again, Roy didn't do what I think she was hoping he'd do. He agreed that her suggestion was the best way forward. I think she wanted him to profess undying love ("whatever that means")  and insist they get married and be happily ever after.

It doesn't work that way with Roy.

Back at the cafe, which was hung with a Congratulations sign courtesy of Alex, Cathy packs some things to move out to Yasmeen's. At last we find out why she wasn't living at her house or letting Alex live there. She mentioned not wanting to throw out her tennants so she's rented it out.

She loves him. Before she leaves, she tells him so. He can only reply "Thank you".

Upstairs, on his own, he puts his wedding ring back on. There will be no new Mrs. Cropper for Roy Cropper. The first Mrs. Cropper still owns his heart.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

The Abandoned Barlow Brothers

Peter Barlow lost his mother to an electrical appliance when he was only a small boy. That's going to affect any child but then his father gave up trying to look after twin children and gave them over to their grandparents who raised them in Scotland. If you watched Corrie through the 70s and early 80s, you will know that Ken rarely visited them and rarely had them back home to visit him. They were mentioned from time to time and I'm sure he sent them birthday cards and Christmas gifts even if it wasn't shown on screen.

Daniel Osbourne's father, Ken Barlow, barely had a look in when he was growing up and his mother went walkabout 6 years ago, with no further sight nor sound. These two men certainly have a lot in common and I think they've kind of bonded over that.

Peter, especially in his Chris Gascoyne incarnation, has shown all the signs of having abandonment issues which have manifested themselves in a fondness for the drink. He's also got his father's "any woman any time" gene and finds it difficult to make a long standing commitment.  He regularly berates his father for dumping him and blames a lot of his failings on his father's non-participation in his life yet has always craved approval from his one remaining parent and yet resented the hell out of him at the same time.

Daniel is very secretive born from having to pretend his mother was not gone while he was too young, really, to be living on his own. Should the authorities have found out, he'd have been taken into care. He obviously had no contact or relationship with his mother's sister (she whose husband Denise had an affair with back in the day) and no other family it seems. He's been on his own for a long time. We don't know if he's got abandonment issues as such but he's bound to when you think of it. We just haven't seen how they've manifested themselves yet.

Children take on so much and learn what they see.  Neither of them ever had a father figure that was ever present in their lives. Peter certainly didn't grow up learning how to be a good father and so has never found it easy being one himself, often at a loss when things get difficult. He grew up seeing or knowing that his father flitted from woman to woman and he mirrored that behaviour. We don't know why his first marriage broke up though he has been known to blame his absences due to being in the navy but I think there's a pretty good chance he had a welcoming bed in every port.


Peter's been a lifelong screw up, or at least as long as he's been an adult from what we know and what we've seen. Just maybe, though, he's starting to take responsibility and grow up. A bit. His father's sudden illness seems to have affected him deeply. It seems like Daniel's reaction has been to  take refuge in books and in his schoolwork and keep his head down.

Daniel was an unplanned child but Ken in his middle age was anxious to do things right this time around. He and Denise were not love's young dream nor were they soul mates in any form. In fact, in the cold harsh reality of the aftermath of the affair, Denise realized she was most definitely unsuited to life with Ken and a baby so she left the baby with Ken initially and walked. Ken tried, he really did but he was a single middle aged man who had no clue how to deal with an infant. He hired a nanny and that helped but he never had the chance to see if he could make a go of this parenting thing. Denise returned and took baby Daniel away, to Scotland because her sister's husband happened to be from that country.


Ken tried to make an effort  at first but gave it up as a lost cause and thus, Daniel really had no memory of him.  Yet another of Ken's children was lost and cut loose from a paternal influence. We next saw Daniel when he was a boy of about 10. Ken and Deirdre were having difficulties and Ken began to think he'd like to make an effort with his son. His son resented Ken's efforts as too little too late and Ken soon gave up again. We would hear Daniel's name on occasion over the intervening years, usually when Tracy or Peter wanted to call Ken's parenting into question.

But Ken apparently had a contact number for Denise in his address book. After he had the stroke, Peter went through the book to contact family and left a message with Denise, or so the dialogue went. Daniel got the message eventually and came to see his father. Before you think this was a plot hole, it's very possible that telephone number was the landline in the flat where Daniel was living. Since he didn't want people to know he was living alone under aged, he would have left the answering machine message on there that his mother recorded.

And where was his mother? Daniel says they weren't getting along, typical teenage stuff and she became more and more agitated and decided to leave. He thought she was coming back but she never did nor did she ever get in contact. It does seem strange. On comment I've seen suggested she could have been bipolar and could have ended up on the streets. That would be an interesting way to take this. Her abandonment had to have been devastating to him.

He's been keeping secrets so long that it's no wonder he's reluctant to open up now. Peter has taken him in hand and has been very supportive. He's a big brother and he's also old enough to be a father figure, really, and Peter seems to really like his little brother. It really seems like there's a weight finally lifting off Daniel's shoulders, relieved to have told the truth and to have someone that he might actually be able to depend on (he doesn't know Peter well yet!) for once in his life.  He was almost in tears when Peter assured him he would be there, as if Peter was a lifeline to a young man near the end of his rope that sorely needed one.

This chemistry between the two brothers who seem to have bonded quickly, able to relate to what the other has been through over their lives is evident. We've long admired Chris Gascoyne's acting abilities and the young man playing Daniel, Rob Mallard, is really showing his acting chops, too.

It will be interesting to see where they take this.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

State of the Street - November 2016

I just realized it's December so this is a tad late. Let's get straight on with things with a wrap up of November's storylines.

So Maria got arrested for Caz's murder, when they don't even have a body. How is that even possible? A bit of blood in the flat and on a pair of scissors and a rug. Caz is looney enough to have stabbed herself enough to get the blood to smear around, I suppose and it's in Maria's flat so there's going to be Maria's DNA everywhere.  But how can you charge someone if there's no body? And when everyone already knows that Caz is a liar and manipulator, why would they instantly assume Maria would do it no matter that Caz put on a winning performance, pretending to be scared of Maria. I suppose we haven't had a "wrongly jailed" character in, oh, maybe 2 or 3 years so it's time for another one. (The last one was Peter on trial for killing Tina, wasn't it?). The plot holes in this storyline are threatening to topple over and crush the set and every episode this continues, they mount up more and more and they continued straight to the end of the storyline.

I'll add in a bit here from the first December episode so that I don't have to keep moaning about this one next month. Kate took one look at one of Maria's credit card statements, those that the police looked at and dismissed and immediately connected a charge for a camera with something Caz had done in the past for a friend. She next immediately assumed said camera was in the flat and that Caz was watching so she pretended to Aidan like she still loved Caz, knowing Caz would come back to the flat which she did using a key that shouldn't have fit anymore but did. Aidan came running at the last second bringing the police seconds after him even though they're attitude towards the amateur detective club was less than respectful. The snotting detective dragged Caz out in cuffs without the least semblence of a thank you or "we're sorry we didn't believe you". Tossers.

Looks like Rita is taking yet another waif under her wing, this time it's Gemma. I rather like that she can see the good in some of these young women who really need a strong positive influence in their lives. Hayley was good at that as well but Rita was at it a long time before Hayley. You may recall she gave Leanne a job when she was a tearaway teen in the late 90s. She was Jenny's foster mother but also a mentor there, and with Tina as well. These young actresses must be thanking all the acting gods there are to be working with a classy veteran like Barbara Knox.

It didn't take Ken long to be sent home from the hospital to recuperate, much as I suspected. He still has to take it easy and needs some rehab but he's obviously well enough to take care of his own personal needs and climb the stairs to his bedroom. Now his house is full of Barlows and sundry relatives. I wondered where they were putting them all. Now that Sonia's been run out of town  on the tails of Sharif who showed his true colours (yellow!) by the avenging Yasmeen, some of them could be lodged in there, I guess.   I wonder why yellow is the colour we assign to cowards?

Adam has grown into the arrogant son you always knew Mike Baldwin would sire even if he never brought Adam up and there weren't many years that he was around. I remember Adam at the last time around as a stubborn, not to bright kid that wanted nothing to do with the factory and then took tantrums after he sold it off to the Connors. Now, he's on the street for about a minute and a half and strolling into Underworld like he owns the place, helping himself to whiskey when that office has changed many hands and has been rebuilt once or twice since Mike sat in it.  How would he possibly know where the bottle was kept?  And when he was in Canada, he was very ill for quite awhile. There's been no mention of it, not every someone to ask how he's been feeling.

Adam is proving to be as much of a "Jack the Lad" as his father and he's already shown that he's on the dodgey side. Is he really a solicitor/lawyer? because he's not acting like one, having the rental car stolen as an insurance scam. He's also taking great pleasure in winding up Daniel who is very opposite in personality and pushing back against Robert who is closer in personality, ostensibly in defence of Tracy.

And Daniel was apparently abandoned by his flighty mother at the age of 15 which would have been a number of years ago now but yet has never said anything to Ken in all this time? We know he's been in touch, not a lot but Daniel has been mentioned from time to time. Personality wise, he seems the most like Ken at this point, bookish and priggish and secretive. He's got something going on but we don't know what it is yet.

Luke and Tracy had a one night stand. I was very afraid it was going to be another actual relationship, cougar that she can be (remember Ryan?) but apparently not. He offered to call her and she said no thanks. But they both very clearly enjoyed the encounter. I can live with a one night stand. Luke is only in his 20s and most single young men will take anything offered on a plate like that and let's face it. Tracy's been lonely since Robert isn't warming her bed.

Anna is slowly recovering and decided not to live with Kevin for the time being. It kind of feels like this storyline is starting to meander a bit. I'm quite surprised that Anna is home so soon, to tell you the truth. I envisioned months of hospitalization with multiple skin graft operations. Did they do the whole thing all in one go? Is that even possible? Will we see Anna go through more operations like it would be in reality? I suppose being in her own flat means she can use the chair lift instead of navigating the steps up into the flat. We saw her with a wheelchair in the flat so that's probably what she's using to come and go.

I like that they've got her fearful of going outside, very self conscious of people staring and of being on the receiving end of pity and well meaning platitudes that only end up feeling shallow to her. She felt safe in the hospital and feels very exposed to the scary world outside. It's something that I think they should explore a bit further, this post traumatic fear she's got.

David seems to have settled right down now. That accident and near miss with Lily was the reality check he needed. It has knocked the rage and anger out of him and he can now get on with his grief in a more natural way. He can be there to help his kids through theirs as well. I hope he gets his backside in gear to adopt Max, though, or Callum's mother could come a-calling, trying to get custody. I keep expecting it but surely a judge would look at the circumstances and not take Max from his family. It would still cause upset and stress but ultimately, it would probably come out in David's favour with perhaps some visitation for Marian. Then it will be completely forgotten as per usual.

Phelan's construction project scam has also come to an end in much the way I envisioned it. Vinny absconded with the dough leaving Phelan as much of a victim as everyone else although he didn't put any of his own cash into the project so he's not out of pocket like the potential home owners are. He can spin the situation to his favour though he still has to field suspicions and the prime accuser, Michael, is dead. Not at Phelan's hand, not directly, but Phelan left him to die after a heart attack.

He as much as killed Michael but since nobody knew the two men saw each other, he's got an "out" for now. I worry about Todd, though, because Todd knew about the scam and participated in it. I think he was hoping to bring Phelan down from the inside but now that he's part of it, he can't do that without implicating himself and Phelan knows it. I expect Phelan will be brought down eventually but I'm really enjoying the character and the actor so I hope he's around for awhile longer.

It was inevitable that Michael die. From spoilers, we knew the actor was leaving the show but even if we didn't, let's face it. Almost all of Gail's husbands are dead. It's becoming a very dark joke. And they were also planning to renew their vows, happy ever after. That cannot be allowed on soaps, with the essence of Doom shadowing all happy couples. Michael's fate was sealed when he and Gail re-proposed and they hugged for joy under the fireworks of Bonfire night.

Sharif's affair with Sonia came out in a very realistic manner. Yasmeen overheard her best friend and husband talking about it and though she tried to keep it in, at the engagement party she lost control and threw it at them in front of all their friends. The anger and pain, the post-mortem discussion she had with her husband, then  hiding her humiliation away from her friends, it all felt so real. I hope we keep Yasmeen in the show and she becomes a pillar of the community, a strong and independent single woman.

Zeedan asked Rana to marry him, almost as a way of making himself feel better. I never bought this couple. He had a crush on her and I always thought she was just toying with him, enjoying the attention but not investing any real emotion in him. They are very different people and her attitude about their shared religion is far less serious than his and that can be a make or break thing. But after Sharif's affair came out, it really affected Zeedan badly which you can very well understand. He's still young enough to worry that all relationships never last if one that he thought was stable could. He split with Rana who was furious and then he couldn't talk her around when his grandmother talked sense to him. It was up to Leanne to persuade her to marry him.

I think that was the wedding day that was planned anyway which was awfully quick after the engagement last month. Yasmeen was seen doing some organizing but not a huge amount. I wonder if it was always going to be a small affair because he only called it off a day or two before the actual date, not really enough time to cancel all the guests and plans but i suppose if you can put it together in weeks, you can tear it down in days. Anyway, the Imam was at the mosque, everyone had pulled together to have things ready, including a dress and all the trimmings for the bride and she did look gorgeous as did Zeedan in his wedding gear. There is now a new Mr. and Mrs. Nazir.

Mind you, the day after the wedding they didn't seem all loved up like you would think they would be. I suppose that might have something to do with spending your wedding night in the same house as your grandmother. Rana's got experience, maybe it was a bit off putting for Zeedan who likely had never had sex before, since he was quite strict with his religious practices. Immediately, he's making noises about babies and she's in panic mode, stealing birth control pills from the clinic when she's probably already taking them, or one would assume she is. Perhaps not, though, since she's been with Zeedan and knew he wouldn't take that step before marrying her.

Anyway, it was a pretty good month over all, the Maria and Caz bits aside. Events in December should be good with Christmas in the offing, much better than last year when we thought it would be little Hope's last one. There are Barlows to argue over the turkey, Platts to get on with things while grieving Michael and Kylie, Roy and Cathy's wedding to look forward to, and lots of secrets to be uncovered.




Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

Characters I "Love to Hate"

Brian Packham as back on Coronation Street and many fans are rejoicing. For me, it's a mixed bag of joy and dread. You see, I never liked Brian. He's a buffoon. He's selfish, greedy and boorish. He's an intellectual snob, even more so than Ken Barlow.  One scene that stands out in my mind was Brian, staying at Ken's, helped himself to Ken's kimono without asking. It never seemed to occur to him that he should have. Borrowing a shirt or a jumper would have been bad enough, but a dressing gown is a rather intimate garment and it made me cringe with disgust that he would think nothing of rooting through Ken's closet or laundry and doing it.

This week, we saw him apparently investigating the Bistro for Environmental Health but in reality, was just after a free meal. Never mind that the complaint would have been logged and his superiors would be looking for a proper report. Never mind that not only was he angling for a free meal, he managed to down THREE bowls of mussels. I'm surprised he didn't insist Robert hand him cash to get out of the investigation. If I was Robert, I'd be reporting him.

Brian is very much cut from a similar cloth to Derek Wilton and I never liked him either.

Both men had a nicer side, a softer side. They both loved and were loved. Derek and Mavis were soul mates even though he exasperated her many times (and probably, vice versa!). Julie and Brian seemed like a good couple and were very much in love but apparently, they did not go the distance. Soul mates they weren't in the end.  Both men were a bit hapless and not very good at what they did in spite of them both thinking quite highly of themselves and their abilities.

Another current character I never liked is Norris Cole who's a sanctimonious, gossipy and at times thoroughly nasty little man.  He, too, can pull his heart out of the cold storage now and then and be kind to someone when you least expect it but for the most part, I don't know why he has any friends at all.  When he was first on the show in the 90s he was a spiteful and arrogant piece of work. He's softened a little in his old age but he still has his backside firmly on that high horse.

The fourth current character that evokes a strong negative response in me is Pat Phelan. There is very little soft side to him, and I think there's a stone swinging in his chest where his heart should be. He's opportunistic, greedy, ambitious, controlling and he's a bully. He's a classic Corrie villain.

I would describe my feelings for Brian, Derek and Norris as "I really don't like them".  But I very much enjoy Pat Phelan as a character.  I really enjoy watching him. He's so bad, he's good! I don't know what the difference is unless it's the villain aspect. Villains are always more interesting.

The thing is, I like/liked to hate all four characters. This comes down to two things. The writing is usually great and the actors themselves are highly skilled. I think all four men put in top performances and that contributes to the "like to hate" syndrome. I have to admit, Norris is a bit of a struggle at times and I don't find him as funny as most people I know (though he does get in a great line now and then) but Brian and Derek can always make me laugh and Pat Phelan keeps me glued to the screen.  (going with the present tense here, even though Derek Wilton and his portrayer are no longer with us) The actors all have impeccable timing whether it's for comedy or drama.

There have been a lot of characters over the years that I've not liked much. What brings a viewer to like or dislike a character, and note, I said "character" not "actor", is generally subjective. The character is usually written specifically *to* be dislikeable or to have dislikeable characteristics but the viewer doesn't always agree. What one person finds dislikeable about, say, Brian Packham, someone else will find funny or intriguing.

Other "love to hate" characters over the years have included Cilla Battersby Brown,  Nessa, Reg Holdsworth, Nick Tilsley and Tracy Barlow.  I confess I really disliked Kate Ford in her first few years playing Tracy, but she's settled in and come a long way. The perceived skill of the actor makes a huge difference for me in whether I like to dislike a character or whether I really, really find them off-putting. There have been many over the years that I felt couldn't act their way out of a paper bag but I'm going to refrain from naming names.

Characters that you like to hate are usually interesting, intriguing, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes both. Maybe they're a bit exaggerated but others might be very understated.  I think that once an actor proves their acting chops and makes a character their own, the writers can really play to their strengths which makes them so much more watchable. Apparently, the writing team had a ball writing for Maggie Jones who played Blanche Hunt due to her amazing delivery of those acerbic lines we all remember.

The writing and acting skill really do combine to make a character great, whether it be a hateful piece of work, a comedy stalwart, or an adored sweetheart of the Street.  When the character is all over the place, when their personalities are unfathomably transplanted, when it seems like the writers and producers don't know what to do with them, they stop being watchable and enter that dreaded realm of the forgettable. (Katie Armstrong, anyone?)

I'm all for Love to Hate characters that give us the comedy gold or the tension that has us on the edge of our seats.  Kudos to the actors behind the facades who bring the characters to life, creating the unforgettable.




Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

Villain du Jour

Pat Phelan is one of the best Corrie villains ever, says I. For me, he ranks right up there with Tony Gordon who is my all time favourite, and edging ahead of Richard Hillman who was second in line. He might even have a slim lead over Tony at the moment. He's slick, sly, sneaky, calculating, and cold. He doesn't lose his temper easily unless really pushed. He bides his time, thinks about what to do, schemes, and turns the tables on people. When he's backed into a corner, challenged, confronted, he keeps his cool for the most part, and always seems to find a way around what looks like inevitable exposure, either by twisting someone's words, blackmail, a plausible explanation (which is, of course, a total lie) or a grand gesture that gets him off the current hook.

Some fans see him as a one dimensional villain, purely over the top Panto and he does have elements of that. He practically twirled his metaphorical moustache over the final confrontation with Michael. I do think he's got layers and I do think he's even beginning to care for Eileen but his ambition and his greed are far too strong for him to really have true love and selfless committment to someone. 

He established his villain credentials early on, the first time he was with Coronation Street, by appealing to Owen's greed and financial straits over a building project. Pat wasn't going to use his own money, was he? He managed to take Owen's cash and reduce him to a minimum wage slave after Gary nearly killed him in a rage over him leering over Anna. Then to top things off, he used Anna's maternal need to protect her chick from assault charges and coerced her into bed as his blackmail payment. We are never quite sure if he would follow through with his threats if these characters would just stand up to him but as it's a soap, they never do and succumb to his blackmail and manipulations, leaving us cringing.


He dropped out of sight suddenly, leaving us all kind of hanging, without any closure. But guess what? He came back! Now down on his luck with a fresh divorce and a wife that pretty much took him for everything he had and then some, he slunk back to Weatherfield and got a job as a minimum wage slave for a local builder. Karma? Maybe. But Phelan isn't one to be kept down for long. He latched onto Jason Grimshaw and knew he was on to a good thing.

He continued to blackmail Anna over their one night stand so that she wouldn't continue to bad mouth him but he pushed her too far and she finally confessed to Kevin who understood and, surprisingly, didn't beat the crap out of Phelan. He seduced Eileen away from the lackluster Michael as a way of getting closer to Jason and his business, isolating her by manipulating both Sean and Todd out the door though Todd came back when Jason was beaten up at the hands of Callum Logan's cronies. Phelan took full advantage of Todd's lie that Jason's father, Tony, killed Callum and managed to drive Jason out of town on the pretense of protecting his family. He thought he could get his hands on Jason's business but Jason left Eileen in charge of the money so he had to step up the game.

Luckily, one of his old mates, Vinny, came to him with a scam. Invest in a project. Renovating an old building and constructing posh flats and taking deposits from people. There was an initial investment for an office set up and a barebones construction start up but there was never any intent on completion and Vinny and Phelan would skip town with the cash. Phelan was all for it and worked on Eileen to invest Jason's inheritance from Tony. She hovered around the project like a pesky fly but he seemed to be able to handle her good intentioned interference but he hadn't counted on Michael Rodwell.

Michael was still around and still constantly suspicious of his old love rival. Michael is very much the stereotypical "loser", a man that is not seen as a strong, macho man. He has a heart condition and he quickly backs down from confrontations but Michael is an honest man and we know he's the better of the two. Michael overheard a conversation he wasn't meant to and tripped into the scam. He was like a dog with a bone, determined to bring Phelan down and he almost did it.

In a final confrontation, Michael had the evidence against Phelan and we watched and waited. Would Phelan actually cross the line and kill Michael? It certainly seemed like he would. Phelan has threatened violence in the past, he's also got a lot of dodgey mates willing to do violence on his behalf for cash in hand. I am never quite sure if he would actually get his hands dirty and do it himself but he seemed to be backed into a corner and there were no witnesses. Luck was again on Phelan's side when Michael had another heart attack and he left Michael to die on the floor of the project offices, much like Richard Hillman left Duggie Fergusson crumpled and broken after a fall over a balcony in another renovation project.

Phelan always seems to have that luck following him. Some use the expression "horseshoe up your backside" to explain the unexplicable tendency for some people to dig themselves out of astonishingly deep holes. My Nan used to say "He could fall into a bucket of poo and come up smelling of roses". Phelan always seems to be able to talk his way out of a thorny situation and make himself look the victim or the good guy. This time is no different. His business partner has had enough of all the aggravation and has scarpered off with all the money, leaving Phelan with nothing but an empty building site for all his trouble. He's been duped just like all the people that have lost their deposit money! But again, he'll be able to claim that he is as much of a victim as the people deprived of their savings.

I think Todd better watch his back and make sure he knows a good solicitor. Todd knew what was going on and helped sell the non-existent flats to unsuspecting punters. I think Todd was hoping to find a way to bring Phelan down himself, from the inside, but it won't look that way if the police get involved and Phelan is very, very good at spinning a plausible story out of the fairy tale.

Connor McIntyre plays Pat Phelan and he's absolutely brilliant at it. As always, the character is much enhanced by the skill of the portrayer and Pat Phelan could have been little more than a pantomime villain in someone else's hands. He wouldn't have lasted as long and he would certainly have fallen from grace and favour by now or with the end of this storyline and found himself behind bars. It could still happen, and it probably will at some point over another scheme if not this one. He might not have killed Michael by his own hand but he left him to die and he scammed peoples' life savings. He's done some pretty nasty things to other, as well and if Phelan is going to be a longer term character, they will have to be careful. After all, it's a soap and he'll have to pay for his misdeeds at some point.

I can't wait to see where this will go.

Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)