Coronation Street

Sometimes their dealing with issues just comes across as box-ticking. As if the production team think "Right, we've done child grooming, people- trafficking, coercive control, post-natal depression......what next...."

Liz is looking fab I agree.

Oh.! I didn't see Coronation Street last night, I must watch it on Catch-up.
It's said that they do lots of research on the serious issues.

Jane10 you've said all of my thoughts..!!

Maybe if we still had the 5 episodes a weeks it would seem lighter. I mean there would be more time for daftness with Kirk and Beth. Mind you I am enjoying Maureen Lipman's role. She's cast in the same mould as previous Corrie battle axes.

I think the problem is that the overload the issues. In the classic episodes, they did deal with serious issues but it would be one that would come up occasionally. They weren't quite as dark when they were dealt with but Rita and Gail certainly seemed to have marriages that involved drama but you watched one with a lot of light stuff happening in the background with characters like Curly and could deal with the bad news before you were hit in the face with the next lot. Now we have the abuse story line, post natal depression and quads which about to be made worse by her vlog, a very young child probably about to die, Aysa's online nakedness, Jack having lost a leg (although that is not really treated as an issue), Gary worried about the daughter of the man he murdered hanging around, David's mental breakdown, a racist manager in the Bistro, a gay footballer being bullied all happening at the same time in a small street. The funny gentle stories don't seem to happen much any more. They can't show life as being as mundane as it is for most people but they used to be drama rather than melodrama.
I still watch them though.

It's interesting to compare the physical appearances with some of the main characters with how they were in the Classic Corrie episodes. I think Ken, Rita and Sally have worn particularly well, but others not so much. Kevin was so young and handsome in the early episodes.

One of them could learn the Polynesian nose flute and then they could do "turns" at concerts and in local pubs.

Liz is looking fabulous whatever she's had done. I'm glad Rula Lenska's out at last. Her and Ken's relationship never rang true.
Interesting that the writer's have given little Oliver mitochondrial disease. Its such a complex condition. Nothing straightforward. Good to shine a light on this condition. With that, post natal depression and domestic abuse Corrie's pretty serious these days. Thank goodness Kirk's taken up Mongolian throat singing!

Rula Lenska is well past her sell by date and sounds as though she has a mouth full of pebbles, trying to keep them in.
And, carrying on being really bitchy, how much work has Liz McDonald had done?
I of course am perfect, but then, not in the public eye.

I would like the character Aggie to be like Mrs Tembe.

A lot of very wooden acting in coronation street. Yasmeen is pretty awful, plus quite a few others.
You’d have thought a high profile show like coronation street could get better quality.

Some good acting but also I’m sorry some really bad acting. I’ve always thought “Gail “. Is a really poor actress especially when she tries do comedy. The new black family i find the footballer lad ok but the others are not great actors. Rula lenska was just ridiculous.

Anyone see the post natal support group episode last Friday? That bit where the young mum talked about trying to cope after the birth of her daughter - it was so powerful and moving, a good bit of writing for once. And what a lovely talented actress - we need more like her!

I am just waiting for the police to find the cameras, before Geoff is allowed back in the house. I hope they don’t drag it out too long.

I agree totally with your post at 10.20 today Doodledog

Granny23

Geoff was holding a carving knife and yelling at Yasmeen, a red mist seemed to descend, she grabbed a wine bottle and hit him, it shattered, when he came at her she thrust it into his neck and he toppled over clutching his throat, leaving her stunned.
I think that was the end, personally I would have let the phone ring!

I cried watching it, knowing that many other woman had been through, or are going through a similar scenario. I know it's easy for me to say, but I wouldn't let any man treat me like that and I would have stamped on it at the outset.

Had me in tears, brought back bad memories, from a similiar type of husband, not quite as bad ,but a lot of similarities
very controlling husband, and same as Geoff,telling me who he had been with, locking me in, taking my purse, even put sleeping pills in my tea,
Second husband wasn't much better, controlling, but not as bad, more physical abuse
I wonder why apparently some people choose the same type of partner
My daughters husband was even worse,tied her up and threatened her with a gun, then took an overdose himself
Luckily for her he hanged himself,after the police got involved and brought her to me

I read that both actors and the producers and director did a lot of research into domestic abuse and because of this storyline there has been a large increase in women (& some men) contacting Women’s Aid and other agencies. They thought that if their partner wasn’t physically violent towards them then it wasn’t abuse.
I worked as a Senior Nurse for Child Protection for many years until I retired and I found watching this really difficult. It will be interesting to see how the police deal with this when Yasmeen is spoken to because she thinks she is to blame for their marriage breaking down. One thing I found so sad was when Geoff made her put that red dress on and she actually went out in it. I recall that behaviour in cases I dealt with in my role, it emphasised just how much weight she’d lost as well. Well acted and portrayed and if it encourages women and men to pick up the phone and ask for help then it’s done what the producers set out to do. Granny23 I would watch the ending on ITV Hub if you have it on your tv.

Thats the very same reason i stopped watching soaps years and years ago.
It`s not entertainment as far as i am concerned.
BUT me and DH love watching Coronation Street from the 80`s`/`90`s, it`s hillarious wathing the Duckworths.

It was an upsetting storyline about what can be real-life problems for some. The actress who plays Yasmeen did an interview on TV earlier in the week, and said she did a lot of research into the subject.

Personally, I think the storyline did go on too long, although I agree that it is necessary to air such difficult topics. However, Coronation Street and other soaps are classed as entertainment, and the emphasis should be on that, seeing someone being reduced to such harsh treatment was far from entertaining.

Can someone tell me what happened at the end of last night's episode. I had a phone call and missed the last five minutes!

I think its important , especially at the moment.

I don’t see why soaps should be light-hearted (or ‘should be’ anything, really). They are great for getting people talking about issues in a ‘safe’ way - as by talking about characters or storylines people can explore topics that might otherwise be difficult to discuss about themselves.

Domestic abuse has risen massively in the lockdown, and can often start with coercive control. Seemingly small put-downs (micro-aggressions) start to undermine the victim’s self-esteem and escalate until they doubt their own reality.

I think Corrie did it well (although the actress over-acted some of it), and if the storyline encourages one person to get out of a similar relationship then it’s worth a bit of uncomfortable viewing for the rest of us.

I used to love emmerdale and coronation street never ever missed an episode. Then suddenly they became not a form of entertainment but made me feel miserable so stopped watching them, I stopped when Hayley had cancer that storyline was deepressing even though it mirrored real life.