Prepare for controversy. Is Brian Park still a villain or have ten years allowed the ravages that he bestowed on Coronation Street to be at all forgiven? As sentimental as we may want to be about Corrie, we cannot escape the fact that when Brian became producer in 1997 the programme was lagging in the ratings and had become staid with its characters and storylines. Did Brian Park have to take such a tough line with the Street and its characters and reduce it to what some viewers saw as an alien being? Click below read more about Brian "the axeman" Park. [Elsie Tanner]
On his first day in the job, Brian swung his axe for Derek Wilton, Andy McDonald, Don Brennan, Percy Sugden, Bill Webster, Billy Williams and Maureen Holdsworth. So disgusted by the sacking of her co-star, Thelma Barlow promptly quit as Mavis Wilton and the Street lost one of its most enduring comic turns. The Coronation Street writing team was also badly hit when Adele Rose, Barry Hill and Julian Roach all resigned.
Coronation Street swarmed with the young and sexy, mostly thanks to Adam Rickitt's six-pac and blond curtains. Stories focused on drug dealers, religious cults, eco-warriors and the introduction of a transsexual.
It is at this point that our story possibly takes a turn for the better as we look at one of Corrie's most popular characters, Hayley Cropper (Patterson that was). Hayley is Coronation Street in a nutshell. She is character before issue. Person before storyline. Almost as soon as she was introduced in 1998, viewers were attracted to Hayley by her warmth and realism, she was credible. It didn't seem to matter that she was the most issue-laden character that Corrie had ever featured, she was from of the same stock as all the other greats.
Leanne Battersby is now one of the central female characters and Janice Battersby doesn't look likely to be going anywhere soon. Les on the other hand is a character hanging in the balance, but how can a family who were so derided and disliked after their 1997 introduction still remain 10 years on? Surely Mr Park did something right?
What of the storylines that Brian Park brought? Certain characters such as Zoe Tattersall and her involvement with Ashley and the Malletts failed to inspire viewers, but people still happily talk about Emily Bishop scaling a tree on the Red Rec and how could we forget "Free the Weatherfield One!"? One of the Street's strangest ever deaths saw crazy Anne Malone die in a freezer, while Don Brennan's terrorising of Alma gripped viewers. The break down of the Websters marriage, mostly thanks to Natalie Horrocks is extremely memorable, as is the death of Des Barnes.
So, with 10 years of hindsight, was Brian Park really that bad? I disagree with the media frenzy that surrounded his arrival as producer, and his "the axeman cometh" tactics in the early days were certainly uncalled for. What if Mr Park hadn't done the things that he did? Would we still be able to watch Coronation Street? Would ITV still want it? It's all about competition for a commercial channel like ITV and I think that, if anything, Brian Park made people aware that it's perfectly acceptable to try something different every now and then. It may have taken a number of years but Brian Park certainly began the Corrie Renaissance that took root in 2002 with the arrival of Richard Hillman and still fourishes to this day. Everyone has their own opinions on Mr Park but will time ever allow him to be seen as more than just the axeman?
Of course he wasn't bad, people just blame him for changing an old ladies soap into a fresh soap which can be enjoyed by all ages. All the stories he did when he was in charge were great and are still remembered today, he did a very good job. He was much better at handling Corrie than Tony Wood who un-did all the excellent work Carolyn Renolds did in 2004, he ruined Corrie in 2005.
Most of the characters he axed were dead wood anyway except for Derek. Derek and Mavis were a very much missed part of the show. What i don't like about what Brian Parks did to the show was the onset of the now-familiar "sensational, gripping, explosive" storylines. And the focus on all the pretty young things that mostly couldn't act their way out of a paper bag with a couple of exceptions. Cult of Nirab? Bah. The introduction of Hayley would have only been more of the same if it weren't for meticulous research using people who had been through what Hayley had, and if it weren't for the sensitive portrayal by Julie H.
Breaking up the Websters so spectacularly with an very out of character affair by Kevin did work in the long run. I wouldn't say it was a bad storyline, it's pure soap that's what it was though some might argue. We lost some good writers and the loss continued with more excellent writers jumping ship with Jane McNaught at the helm and one or two only returned after she left.
A shameless, talentless self-publicist who thought he was bigger than the show and showed that he never truely understood it.
Compare this egotist to Bill Podmore who came to the programme in 1976 when it was somewhat in the doldrums then. He sacked no-one, hired a few and re-vitalised the rest by ensuring that the scripts were top quality.
Brian Park went on to produce Bad Girls and Footballers Wives - two of the most moronic programmes British Television has ever produced.
Says it all really.
As a viewer who doesn't pay as much attention to the credits as I should, all I can say is that this period of the Street was the silliest and most annoying of its long history. I agree with Tvor that there was a rash of sexy young things whose acting skills were well below that of their fellows, and I am just grateful that more of the strong actors and writers didn't quit at the time.
Compared to all the work Bill Podmore did in his 12 years as Producer, Mervyn Watson did a excellent job but I think he fared better in his second spell as Producer than he did in first in the mid-80's.
I do think he acted too hastily in giving Chris Quinten (Brian Tilsley) and Mark Eden (Alan Bradley) the heeve-ho.
But Brian Park did very well, he was a good Producer but the circumstances surrounding his reign as Producer were were nothing but controversial.
He axed half the cast and forced the show's long-serving writers into retirement.
Now Jane MacNaught's time as Producer was similar to Brian Park's, she really did the damage with storyines such as Jez Quigley's reign of Terror, Jim McDonald's imprisonment for Murdering Jez, Sarah Platt giving birth to a baby and her internet chatroom abduction, Martin Platt's affair with Nurse Rebecca Hopkins, The breakdown of Martin and Gail Platt's marriage, Toyah Battersby's rape, Roy and Hayley Cropper going on the run with their foster child and Alma Baldwin's unsuccessful battle with cervical cancer.
It was left to former Emmerdale Producer Kieran Roberts to restore the street's fortunes.
It's a shame he didn't stay long nor did Tony Wood for that matter.
He was also a good Producer but I think he lost the plot towards the end.
He was replaced by another former Emmerdale Producer. This time it's Steve Frost who currently occupies the Producer's office in Weatherfield
I also think he's a good Producer as well.
Let's see if he stays in charge longer that Kieran Roberts and Tony Wood.