Coronation Street has had it's ups and downs this year, everyone will certainly agree on that. Sue's posted her highlights of the year today and I thought about doing that as well but instead I'm going to focus on more recent events and look to the future. for me, this December has been outstanding. I started thinking about this after I finished watching the double episode on Friday, December 19 which showcased Peter Barlow's drunken rampages through the Christmas Nativity at Simon's school and his inebriated tirades against his father, accusing Ken of being the worst father while simulataneously swigging from a bottle of booze. Irony, anyone? The episodes showing how his alcoholism was affecting his work relationship with Leanne, his family members including a rarely seen vulnerable Blanche, and how booze is affecting his social interactions by getting thrown out of the school and the bar were really powerful. They are really examining this issue more closely than they ever have in the past and it's about time, too. A show that has a pub as it's heart that has not really delved the depths of drink problem for more than a brief moment or two seems out of touch.
Elsewhere we have the pressure on Tony Gordon increasing. After a sumptuous wedding after which a drunken and belligerent Sally Webster spilled the video pixels to the Widow Connor, revealing that her late husband was caught kissing the Black Widow Connor-newly-married-Missus Gordon, Maria (Samia Smith acting her little socks off) has correctly figured out that Carla and Liam had an affair, Tony knew about it and had Liam killed. Everyone thinks, with plenty of help from Tony, that she's just mad with grief. (I do think we need to see what Ryan's reaction to Maria's ravings is, but he's hardly been seen since the funeral.)
Add Jed Stone to the mix, a substantial thorn in Tony's side, one whom people *will* believe poses a greater threat and had to be silenced. Tony is starting to unravel at the end of a long tightly wrapped storyline. Carla seems to believe his assurances but she's skeptical enough that she will start having suspicions of her own before long, especially since she knows that her affair with Liam really was more than just the one night stand that she's admitted everyone, including Tony. The past hasn't been forgotten either, when Michelle called her on the carpet for dishonouring Paul's memory. An absolutely classic moment had an apparently lifeless Jed Stone packed into a hamper which the unaware staff used as a drinks table for the Christmas party while Tony sweated in the corner was sublime! And with Tony's composure threatened, is Maria going to be the next one to find herself in a morgue? I think probalby not, since she's pregnant and Tony seems to be reluctant to cross that line but you never know!
Jed's not dead, though. Or is he? Tony was seen cleaning out the van. Was he getting rid of crucial evidence that could convict him of another murder?
Even if it did seem to come out of nowhere, Steve and Becky have a growing chemistry and a very big secret. In his usual bumbling style, Steve is trying to let someone else take the responsibility for doing the hard thing and he's trying to push Michelle into breaking up so he doesn't have to do the dirty work. He hasn't really changed much in all these years, has he? Lloyd is the only one that knows their secret but secrets on soaps have a way of oozing out. Liz will find out and blood being thicker than water, her loyalties will be with Steve and she'll keep the secret. For now. But she'll not let Steve take the easy way out either. Liz will have a secret of her own to keep when she and Steve's best friend will realize that they have a strong attraction. It's the stuff of classic soap opera!
The wonderful romance of Molly and Tyrone has hit the skids. Tyrone's antics with con woman Auntie Pam were meant to finance a fairy tale wedding as a surprise. Not everyone has enjoyed Auntie's Antics but I have. Thus, the lies meaning to conceal the plan were of course, uncovered by Molly who was royally pissed, moreso, I think, because she thought Tyrone was having an affair. If that hadn't been part of the logic, I think she might have been more likely to have given Tyrone more of a chance and more readily accepted his apology. Still, we know she'll forgive him eventually and we look forward to the wedding in January (just about at the one-year anniversary of Vera's death, by the way.)
Gail has finally found a nice fella but even he's keeping secrets from her. First the business over the Windasses and now he's keeping his financial woes from her. The road to romance is never a smooth one for Gail. Tina and David are never boring and throwing the neighbours from hell and the divine Graeme into the mix is a touch of genious. Graeme is an enormous asset to Corrie! He's quirky, street smart, unpredictable and sweet. He'll go far, that lad! Putting him in the butcher shop gives him interaction with more of the neighbours, as well, and with David turning 18, they'll be in the pub more and that brings in even more connections and chances to mix with the residents. Having Tina in the Kabin and in the kebab shop does the same thing for her character, no longer just isolated to Gail, David and her father. When you isolate a character, you restrict how much you can do with them and it limits their lifeline on the show. That was one of the main problems with the Mortons. Darryl had David and Jerry had a few friends but that really was the extent of it for a long time. Too long, and the momentum was lost.
The return of a classic character rather than making Tony's eviction to a generic old man was a stroke of genius as well. It allowed them to bring him back to be the thorn in Tony's side and also, be a foil for Norris. Norris' competition obsession seemed to be a short, old-fashioned style Corrie storyline but it's blossomed into a shy, sweet romance and it's about time Norris found a nice woman who's going to treat Norris kindly rather than the rottweiler that was Angela Hawthorne.
We've got a new barmaid and assistant manager which has put Michelle's button nose out of joint, when clearly, her mind's not been on the job all year! I don't know where it's been but it's not been on her vanished biological son Alex nor on her in-house one Ryan who seems to have gone walkabout too. Rosie's kidnapping by John Stape was a bit daft but seeing her blithely selling her story to the tabloids and aiming for glossy-paged celebrity is typical of our shallow Miss Rosie. And her part in revealing to Tony the affair between Carla and Liam via a mobile phone video has resulted in one of the best lines of the year, Carla grabbing her by the scruff of the neck and hissing "I'll make you into a handbag!!!" Marvellous stuff!
So Coronation Street is ending 2008 on a high note for me. Kudos to Kim Crowther for pulled up Corrie's socks and setting it on a straighter course. The road to the 50th anniversary in 2 years' time could very well be paved with gold cobbles. Don't expect perfection, there's bound to be a few potholes, but I think Coronation Street is coming out of a slump and is better than ever!
Join Corrieblog on Facebook for exclusive competitions and gossip
Go to TV Scoop for all the latest TV entertainment news, reviews and gossip
I think Corrie has improved dramatically over the last few months. I have harped on about it for most of the year but the new characters introduced this year have been a significant part of the up turn. Julie, Tina, Joe, Tom, Graeme, Tara, Pam, Minnie, Poppy, the Windasses are all working excellently alongside already established characters.
2009 has high hopes for me. My one criticism would be of 2008 is that some storylines were rushed and simply pointless. This needs to be addressed and not allowed to happen just for the sake of it in the new year. I would also like major storylines spread out across the cast as well.
I just want them to pace stories better, and to make the stories fit the characters. Steve and Becky, Liz and Lloyd, Peter's fatherhood and alcoholism stories, they all seem to have gone by very fast. Meanwhile, Tyrone and Molly have been stuck in limbo for most of the year, and Rosie has been a sad caricature for a year, even with a kidnapping that should have shaken her up for more than a day. Tony should not have become a methodical murderer with no buildup beyond bats and evicting an old man from his home.
Corrie has such a great cast and sometimes the writing is so amazing, some of the individual scenes are so amazing, just superb. I really want to see them stop telling us and start showing us.