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Corrie - does 'buffoon Gail' work?
Obviously long-term characters have to adapt each decade in order to keep them fresh and able to tell new stories, but does 'buffoon Gail' work? Is making her a menopausal David Brent and a figure of 'cringe comedy' a good move? It just doesn't seem right to me that all of the solid character work of the past 35 / 40 (!) years would be so suddenly over-turned. Were the seeds always there? I seem to recall Gail as one of the most 'normal' characters in the show - sturdy, friendly and fundamentally defined by common-sense, especially in contrast to Audrey who was more flighty.
An interesting contrast here might be Sally Webster, who also went through a major change around 10 years ago from the mousy woman who always made Kevin beans for tea into a contemporary Hyacinth Bucket. However, this was a triumph and genuinely invigorated the character. I assume that the writers are doing a similar thing with Gail but I just feel that the core of her character is being chipped away too much.
Although I'm not sure whether the character of Gail is one of Corrie's all-time greats, I do think that Helen Worth is an incredible actress, probably their best along with Alison King and Jane Danson. Are her talents being wasted in what is effectively her new role?
An interesting contrast here might be Sally Webster, who also went through a major change around 10 years ago from the mousy woman who always made Kevin beans for tea into a contemporary Hyacinth Bucket. However, this was a triumph and genuinely invigorated the character. I assume that the writers are doing a similar thing with Gail but I just feel that the core of her character is being chipped away too much.
Although I'm not sure whether the character of Gail is one of Corrie's all-time greats, I do think that Helen Worth is an incredible actress, probably their best along with Alison King and Jane Danson. Are her talents being wasted in what is effectively her new role?
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When you think back to e.g. the rows with Eileen over Sarah/Todd/Jason it highlights how low this character has fallen.
Yeah, fiddling National Insurance Numbers.
Us oldies remember Gail and her clashes with Ivy Tilsley. She certainly used to tell Ivy where to get off, in no uncertain terms and she was a lot, lot younger then.
I cannot believe that after the dreadful times the character has been through it hadn't hardened her to life and she would not be such a soppy pushover.
She has always been a bit simpery when a new man appears on the scene but it doesn't last long, usually.
When I think back to the Sarah pregnancy s/l & Richard Hillman era, Gail was a really strong character who was a normal woman to whom a few extraordinary things had happened. Going back further to old episodes I've watched from the early 80s Gail is intelligent, friendly & ambitious but down to earth. In her & Brian's marriage she seems to be the brainy one planning for the future & aiming for Brian to run his own garage.
Now what does she do? Run about simpering over Michael, takes c**p from all her kids & granddaughter, is happy working as a part time cleaner for her son & is a complete moron where men are concerned. If I were Helen Worth I'd be really annoyed at what they'd done to my character. As u say after all these years characters need to evolve in order to stay fresh but why does Gail have to turn into an idiot? Why can't she become a mature student or start her own business? But no I forgot no one in corrieland is allowed to be clever or better them self (expect for Ken). I mean look at Sarah, she's supposed to have been intelligent enough to hold down a senior job in fashion for several years in Milan. Five minutes back in Weatherfield & she's turned into a complete bimbo simpering over a drug dealer.
I agree with Sally's change as well, after having Rosie & Sophie she'd become really boring. She went far too OTT at one point being obsessed with Rosie becoming a success but she seems to have calmed down slightly now. Sally is a comedy character but she still has ambition & displays some intelligence.
Much has already been said of Gail, the majority of which I agree with. On the Audrey topic, I always thought she was at her best as the selfish, flighty, insensitive social-climber that she was. In the early days, it was like Gail took on the 'mother' role, trying to keep the unpredictable Audrey in line. However, they've really softened the latter now and, although she is advancing in years, I think its a shame because Sue Nicholls, for me, does great comedy...but not nearly enough these days.
That's very true Gail and Audrey have had their personalities swapped to some degree. I remember back when Sarah revealed she was pregnant at 13 Gail was the sensible level headed one who supported Sarah while Audrey was the one who reacted badly and kicked off. Imagine if Bethany got pregnant now you just know that Audrey would be the calm rational one and Gail would be the insensitive one who hits the roof.
Audrey was a proper 'flibbertygibbert' in the early days and Gail was the sensible one.
I think I gave up on Gail when she fell for Lewis's patter. I really didn't think any woman could be that stupid over a man she knew was 'dodgy'.
Gail was actually acting like a simpleton with saying the most non-sensical crap
Gail is a complicated character who has been through many different phases over the years. Let's not forget that in her early days in the 70s she was a 'silly' character. In fact, Gail was created as a 'friend to be silly with' for Tricia Hopkins. It was alongside Suzie Birchall and Elsie Tanner that Gail would flourish as a comedy character, featuring in some of the show's most famous comedy moments in the late 70s. Once she got involved with Brian Tilsley in 1979, life changed for Gail and 20 years of drudgery would follow. She still had a laugh in her at times, but Gail was predominantly Corrie's 'drama' character throughout the 80s and 90s.
The Richard Hillman story in the early 2000s shifted things a bit, bringing some real dark humour to the scenes with Gail finding out about Richard's doings. This, for me, was the character reaching its peak. It combined all aspects of Gail's character that we had seen over the years - her loyalty and love for her children and the cementing of her relationship with Audrey. Unfortunately, I think Gail was the biggest casualty of the Richard Hillman storyline.
Ever since, I have lost interest in Gail. I wasn't interested when she got involved with Joe McIntyre ... actually every post-Hillman romance has not interested me in the slightest.
I rate Helen Worth as an actress and she has provided a strong and loyal service to Coronation Street but sadly I don't think that the production team know who Gail is anymore. I feel that this is true of a number of other long-standing characters, particularly some of the women (Deirdre, Liz, Eileen). A couple of times the production team have toyed with edging Gail towards behaving like her mother-in-law Ivy and part of me wishes that this vein would be followed more. She has a strong network of characters around her and is very well-positioned to be involved in many stories. Gail the character just needs some TLC from the production team.
Sally on the other hand is almost a reversal of Gail. Between 1993 and 2002 the character spent a number of years in the 'character wilderness' when nobody really seemed to know who Sally was. However, I defy anyone who says that her upwardly-mobile nature was a recent creation. You can watch clips from the 80s and early 90s and see that Sally has always seen herself as better than the other residents; she just didn't always have the guts to speak out. As she's grown older she's become more fearless in airing her views. Whoever picked up on this earlier character trait in the early 2000s is a genius.
Totally agree.
I agree with all of this. I hate the way Gail flutters her eyelashes and as you've said, pulls stupid faces. It's not coming over as funny, it's ridiculous. She's become a simpering idiot. She's got worse since Michael came along. I wish she'd go on a world wide cruise for 6 months. It's very unlikely she'll be killed off so a cruise will have to do. Either that or she could kill Callum by accident and go to prison for a few months period.
So yes it is sad to see the regression of Gail under recent production teams. I feel the downward spiral began in the mid/late 2000s when the production team at the time were hell-bent on pushing David as the 'evil' problem child wreaking havoc on his family - and as a consequence Gail was weakened to a point that didn't fit her character development up until then.
I can remember an interview with Helen Worth where, when asked why she felt Gail had lasted so long, she said she felt it was because viewers had watched her go through so much and always come out stronger - unfortunately that would hardly apply now.
Both Gail and Sally are women who've run their own businesses at the same time as bringing up kids and realistically at this time in their lives - with grown up children - they could be out there doing interesting jobs successfully. Yet they've been relegated to the status of cleaner and factory seamstress. Since the Phil Collinson era, it seems like ambition in the more mature woman has only been portayed as a source of comedy - snobbery for Sally and misplaced delusions for Gail.
Helen Worth and Sally Dynevor can certainly do the comedy, but it should be mixed with drama - that was always what made the Street's characters rounded.
I miss the days when we used to see Sally and Gail discussing their lives and their families over a cuppa or a drink - scenes like their recent one discussing what to do with the drugs Gail found which are played solely for laughs take so much depth away from the characters.
It's very plot driven so they also have to have characters doing things that are then entirely forgotten about like David's epilepsy, Tracy's kidney transplant or Mike Baldwin's wife who is still missing.
Back to prison. She's already been in. As I recall, same time as Tracy Barlow.
That's how she always acts these days. Been too long in the cast and it shows - she no longer cares.
As I wrote in another thread,
When will Gail ...
... realise that whispering inaudibly does not add anything to the dramatic quality of any scene.
... realise that pulling faces like a geriatric wizened weasel is even worse!
... realise that fluttering eyelashes like a lovesick 14 yr old just doesn't work for a 64 yr old jobbing actress.
Deirdre is also another one that was also believable, she was simply turning into the complete opposite of her mother, probably after years of compensating for her behaviour. And whilst that was going on, she definitely was developing traits of Blanche too.
As for Gail, at times its believable, at times it isn't. Tonight was ridiculous for example, but scenes where she's doing 'normal' things in a comedic way work, e.g. her singing scenes. I also like her character in unintentional comedy scenes when shes putting her foot in it, e.g. when she interrupted the fight between Sally and Anna in the garden to announce that Kylie had given birth. If they made her a little less slapstick, it would come across a lot better and be more relatable to viewers. Everyone knows a 'Sally' and a 'Deirdre', but does anyone really know a 'Gail'?