DS Forums

 
 

Coronation Street's Worst Year?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 09-08-2012, 15:10
boogie woogie
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 6,750

Seeing as how EastEnders has one- with some really interesting points may I add- lets think about the worst year on the cobbles.

My vote goes to 2009- absolutely atrocious year under the supposed "leadership" of the dire Kim Crowther, who almost brought the show til its knees until Phil Collinson came along and salavaged the sinking ship. There was no sense of cohesion or logic with a lot of the storylines and many were executed quite badly. Claire's miscarriage for example (which many people have undoubtedly forgotten as it was swept under the carpet pretty quickly) was such an example. In an extreme character change, she insisted upon Ashley having a vacectomy and was quite militant about it. This led to some farcical scenes where Ashley was placed on a sex ban, became extremely frustrated and came close to breaking point with the awful Uncle Umed's (remember him?) new singing doorbell at the corner shop. It sounds ridiculous written down and it was a true catastrophe on-screen.

The main arc throughout the year (lets not even mentioned the ill-advised, plot-driven twaddle that was Molvin) centred on Tony Gordon. While it was one of Crowther's few strengths at Corrie, there were some outlandish plot developments- Tony bribing Maria with a million pounds to leave the Street (bit of a stretch for a backstreet factory owner with a minority stake!), Carla buggering off to America rather than reporting Tony to the police and Maria then getting together with Tony While Alison King's and Samia Ghadie's maternity leaves posed problems with their involvement with the storyline, it could have been handled better.

2009 was littered with so many dud plots:
Peter and Michelle
Luke and Michelle
John Stape inexplicably giving Rosie Webster his inheritance money
The aforementioned Molvin- wrong on so many levels
Steve and Becky's farcical first wedding
Dev cheating on Tara
Janice wanting to become a nurse- what happened to all of that?
Ry-un and Sian getting into trouble for sleeping together
Luke fleeing with all Rosie's money
Fiz's prison wedding to John

We also saw decent characters like Poppy, Minnie, Wiki and Daryl axed. Characters like Natasha were painfully underused- after her fling with Tony Gordon we hardly saw her for the rest of 2009. Characters were given overnight personality transplants- Molly was turned into an adulturous temptress etc.
boogie woogie is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 09-08-2012, 16:07
KornerKabin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 13,706
For me the worst period of recent Corrie history is 2007 - 2008, under the tenure of Steve Frost/November. Althought Frost/November took over in early 2006, 2007 was the year that, in my eyes, things took a nosedive. The bad stuff continued into 2008 and then into 2009 under Kim Crowther.

Not only did he oversee some ridiculous plots, but he also ran with storylines that undermined the very fabric of many of the show's central characters. Most of what happened between 2007 and 2008 has been completely wiped from the minds of every resident of Coronation Street

My big three disaster storylines from this period ...
[LIST][*]Tracy murders Charlie[*]The revelation that Hayley has a son[*]Ryan is revealed not to be Michelle's biological son[/LIST]Other stuff that's either really ridiculous or has been completely forgotten ...

Ridic ...[LIST][*]Joanne the factory worker being deported to Liberia (a serious wtf moment!)[*]Liz and Vernon[*]Addition of Victoria Court to the backlot[*]Claire Peacock's friendship with Casey Carswell, fire at No.4 and Ashley cheating on Claire with Casey[*]The start of Rosie and John Stape's affair[/LIST]Completely forgotten[LIST][*]Anything to do with David Platt[*]Maria's stillborn child[*]The return of Denise Osbourne and her and Ken's son Daniel[*]Jason and Sarah's wedding[*]Anything to do with the Morton family[*]Anything to do with Harry and Dan Mason who bought the bookies[*]Jed Stone's return[*]Anything to do with Tom Kerrigan, the Connors' massively sexy cousin - PHWOAR![*]Dev's relationship with Tara Mandal and affair with her mother, Nina[*]The appearance of Ted Page, Gail's father[*]Paul Connor's existence and death[*]Leanne and Paul Clayton burning down the restaurant[/LIST]
KornerKabin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2012, 11:06
boogie woogie
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 6,750
For me the worst period of recent Corrie history is 2007 - 2008, under the tenure of Steve Frost/November. Althought Frost/November took over in early 2006, 2007 was the year that, in my eyes, things took a nosedive. The bad stuff continued into 2008 and then into 2009 under Kim Crowther.

Not only did he oversee some ridiculous plots, but he also ran with storylines that undermined the very fabric of many of the show's central characters. Most of what happened between 2007 and 2008 has been completely wiped from the minds of every resident of Coronation Street

My big three disaster storylines from this period ...
[LIST][*]Tracy murders Charlie[*]The revelation that Hayley has a son[*]Ryan is revealed not to be Michelle's biological son[/LIST]Other stuff that's either really ridiculous or has been completely forgotten ...

Ridic ...[LIST][*]Joanne the factory worker being deported to Liberia (a serious wtf moment!)[*]Liz and Vernon[*]Addition of Victoria Court to the backlot[*]Claire Peacock's friendship with Casey Carswell, fire at No.4 and Ashley cheating on Claire with Casey[*]The start of Rosie and John Stape's affair[/LIST]Completely forgotten[LIST][*]Anything to do with David Platt[*]Maria's stillborn child[*]The return of Denise Osbourne and her and Ken's son Daniel[*]Jason and Sarah's wedding[*]Anything to do with the Morton family[*]Anything to do with Harry and Dan Mason who bought the bookies[*]Jed Stone's return[*]Anything to do with Tom Kerrigan, the Connors' massively sexy cousin - PHWOAR![*]Dev's relationship with Tara Mandal and affair with her mother, Nina[*]The appearance of Ted Page, Gail's father[*]Paul Connor's existence and death[*]Leanne and Paul Clayton burning down the restaurant[/LIST]
I agree that certain elements of 2007 were ridiculous, namely Hayley's secret son (who's never mentioned now) and the disasterous baby swap (which is also never mentioned- thankfully!).

I was hopeful that Victoria Court would be used a lot more and provide the Street with a new social strata (like the new houses on the "posh" side of the Street did in the late Eighties). I don't recall many scenes in VC at all.
boogie woogie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2012, 11:12
David Wright
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 3,176
The early 90's (say 91 or 92) were awful when the highlight for months was Derek's bloody gnomes.
David Wright is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2012, 11:14
OhWhenTheSaints
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Southampton
Posts: 11,805
I quite liked Liz and Vernon
OhWhenTheSaints is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2012, 11:16
cragsby
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Merseyside
Posts: 292
I quite liked Liz and Vernon
Ditto
cragsby is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2012, 11:32
KornerKabin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 13,706
I agree that certain elements of 2007 were ridiculous, namely Hayley's secret son (who's never mentioned now) and the disasterous baby swap (which is also never mentioned- thankfully!).

I was hopeful that Victoria Court would be used a lot more and provide the Street with a new social strata (like the new houses on the "posh" side of the Street did in the late Eighties). I don't recall many scenes in VC at all.
The development of VC was a useless waste of money for ITV. The idea of the new flats was introduced to kick start Tony Gordon's fall from grace, which was a very realistic reflection of the growing economic crisis at the time. The problem is that they could've done that by filming on location without going to the expense of building a permanent set on the backlot. It just feels like an elephant in the room whenever I see it.

The extra 'social strata' was already in existence at Weatherfield Quays, but for some reason that location was quite quickly phased out following Mike Baldwin's death. I didn't see the problem with having an interior set for the inside of the apartments and going out to do occasional location filming when needed.

Unfortunately the 'fashion' for soaps since EastEnders launched with its gargantuan backlot has been to have as many permanent sets as possible. I'd quite like to see a return to fewer homes and businesses on Coronation Street itself and some new sets that reflect wider Weatherfield.

The set redevelopment in 1989, quite rightly for the time, brought the Kabin and the garage onto Coronation Street itself, but set a precedent for future redevelopment that would leave us with the 'toy town' that we now have.

For me, the biggest mistake was the Victoria Street extension in 2000. That whole part of the set is such bad quality it's embarrassing. Suddenly there was a cab office, a hardware store, a cafe, a butcher's, a builder's yard and a medical centre - how much more stuff could they cram into such a tiny space?! I actually find it visually unbelievable. We used to see residents going away from the street to run errands or meet people - especially when the Kabin, the garage and the cafe were located away from Coronation Street.

I wish that they would develop a smaller set for the infamous precinct that isn't physically connected to the main set. That could be home to the bistro, some other shops, some flats and perhaps even a relocated Roy's Rolls and the kebab shop. It doesn't have to be massive, but it would be a refreshing change and wouldn't make Weatherfield feel as tiny as it does now.

The three shop units on Victoria Street (kebab shop, cafe and butchers) could be changed from commercial to residential premises and would make quite nice period properties. Victoria Court can just vanished as far as I care
KornerKabin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2012, 12:24
David the Wavid
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2,026
The early 90's (say 91 or 92) were awful when the highlight for months was Derek's bloody gnomes.
You've a few years off - the gnomes was 1995/6 (and saying it was a highlight for months is a stretch!)

It's 2009 for me too. Kim Crowther did have her moments as producer but the Tony Gordon story only had one success moment for me and that Liam's death in 2008. After that, it took one illogical turn after another just to string it out through Alison King and Samia Ghadie's maternity leaves.

Then of course there's Molvin. There was no hint of any problems between Kevin and Sally at that point, or Tyrone and Molly. It was like they wanted an affair and put two names in a hat. Their scenes together were nauseating and had lines like "I want to jump your bones", and it was badly plotted with one minute Molly pushing Kevin into an affair, the next minute Molly was accusing Kevin of seducing her, did any of the writers confer? And it was dragged out for an inexcusable length of time - even when they finished the affair, it was bolted onto Sally's cancer story, and continued in the background all through 2010. Phil Collinson made it worthwhile with some great scenes when Sally and Tyrone find out, but they have to paper over a lot of storyline cracks with Kevin saying he and Sally were having problems. The acting wasn't great either with Michael Le Vell looking uncomfortable in his scenes with Molly. I'm wondering if the writers think highly of this story as Karl/Sunita has so many similarities (and is just as bad IMO, but 2012 has other things to redeem it).

Then there's Joe McIntyre and all his (not so) fascinating problems, John Thomson's disastrous turn as Eileen's boyfriend Jesse Chadwick (why does Eileen attract such dull partners? See also: Paul), the not-racist-at-all Uncle Umed, Liz/Lloyd and John Stape returning twice (before his storyline got good).

Part of the problem is the writing isn't interested in characters anymore. It succeeds or fails entirely on how good the plots are. It might occasionally make good television but it's not how I like my Corrie .
David the Wavid is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2012, 12:44
Dr. Linus
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Teenage Wasteland
Posts: 5,933
The real question with the Molvin storyline is where on earth it would/could have gone if Phil Collinson hadn't taken the reigns around the time of Molly's pregnancy.

I think many would agree that the final few months of the storyline (from baby Jack's birth, through Jack Snr's death, to the tram crash and live finale) was actually pretty good. In fact, I thought the final scenes with Molly's death and the live reveal were unforgettable. But it's these few months that really saved the storyline from being an absolute car crash (which incidentally happened during the storyline, anyone remember that? Didn't think so...)

If PC hadn't intervened at exactly the right time I shudder to think how on earth Kim Crowther would have concluded it. Probably with a cancer-stricken Sally starting an affair with Tyrone and finding that Molvin had beaten them to the bedroom, or something equally ridiculous.

Yes, it's storylines like that which made 2009 truly awful, and whoever said that the main problem was plot over character, has hit the nail on the head. Here are just a few plot progressions that made NO sense:

- Maria and Tony - why on Earth would she start a relationship with the man that just a few weeks before, she was (correctly) certain had killed the love of her life? Because it suited the plot and Carla was gone for 9 months, that's why.

- Josh Peacock's near-death experience - I wonder if anyone remembers this little gem? The centre of two episodes, and pretty much never referenced again, much like the street party during which it took place. Included purely to give the Peacocks some screen time and played no role whatsoever in the Peacocks' remaining time on the street.

- Luke Strong - no character features of his own, merely brought in to shake things up and make characters do things. He was a continuous plot device, through the Tony storyline, to the ill-advised Michelle/Peter pairing, to the John Stape saga and Rosie Webster's downfall, culminating in an outlandish on-the-run plot. Can anyone remember anything about him other than his plots?

Say what you like about Phil Collinson, but since he's took over character development (and especially interaction, with interesting pairings like Kylie and Gail, and Tina and Tyrone) has come on leaps and bounds, and usually, it isn't nearly as much about plot these days. Perhaps it's a little too issue-based at the moment, what with a lesbian storyline, domestic violence, transvestism, rape, and addiction featuring in the past year - but at least it's usually true to the characters. 2009 was completely backwards.
Dr. Linus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2012, 13:24
boogie woogie
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 6,750
I quite liked Liz and Vernon
Me too! That affair that she had with Harry Mason (another character who could have been great if used correctly) was ridiculous. Vernon was a great character and I was very sorry to see him leave.

The real question with the Molvin storyline is where on earth it would/could have gone if Phil Collinson hadn't taken the reigns around the time of Molly's pregnancy.

I think many would agree that the final few months of the storyline (from baby Jack's birth, through Jack Snr's death, to the tram crash and live finale) was actually pretty good. In fact, I thought the final scenes with Molly's death and the live reveal were unforgettable. But it's these few months that really saved the storyline from being an absolute car crash (which incidentally happened during the storyline, anyone remember that? Didn't think so...)

If PC hadn't intervened at exactly the right time I shudder to think how on earth Kim Crowther would have concluded it. Probably with a cancer-stricken Sally starting an affair with Tyrone and finding that Molvin had beaten them to the bedroom, or something equally ridiculous.

Yes, it's storylines like that which made 2009 truly awful, and whoever said that the main problem was plot over character, has hit the nail on the head. Here are just a few plot progressions that made NO sense:

- Maria and Tony - why on Earth would she start a relationship with the man that just a few weeks before, she was (correctly) certain had killed the love of her life? Because it suited the plot and Carla was gone for 9 months, that's why.

- Josh Peacock's near-death experience - I wonder if anyone remembers this little gem? The centre of two episodes, and pretty much never referenced again, much like the street party during which it took place. Included purely to give the Peacocks some screen time and played no role whatsoever in the Peacocks' remaining time on the street.

- Luke Strong - no character features of his own, merely brought in to shake things up and make characters do things. He was a continuous plot device, through the Tony storyline, to the ill-advised Michelle/Peter pairing, to the John Stape saga and Rosie Webster's downfall, culminating in an outlandish on-the-run plot. Can anyone remember anything about him other than his plots?

Say what you like about Phil Collinson, but since he's took over character development (and especially interaction, with interesting pairings like Kylie and Gail, and Tina and Tyrone) has come on leaps and bounds, and usually, it isn't nearly as much about plot these days. Perhaps it's a little too issue-based at the moment, what with a lesbian storyline, domestic violence, transvestism, rape, and addiction featuring in the past year - but at least it's usually true to the characters. 2009 was completely backwards.
Phil Collinson rescued the whole storyline during his tenure and making the reveal happen in the midst of the tram crash was a masterstroke.
boogie woogie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2012, 13:30
DavyBoy60
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: East London
Posts: 266
I tend to agree with most of the above and what I find surprising is that CS stayed at or close to the top of the ratings throughout that period. Compare that to the mid-70s when it lost it's way a bit and dropped out of the top-ten completely.
DavyBoy60 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2012, 13:33
cliffy91
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,384
I haven't really enjoyed Corrie since Richard Hillman died,but for me its worst year I can remember was around 09/10. It's not too bad now but it isn't great either
cliffy91 is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2012, 13:53
Foxster Hotpot
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Martin Fowler
Posts: 11,362
I agree 08-09, under the awful movement of Kim Crowther, with Ryan not been Michelle's Son Story, Molvin, The Early part of Stape Story, the god awful Liz and Lloyd and Peter and Michelle and most of all Luke Strong.

The Mortons and Gail's Dad Ted appeared and then just left one by one for no reason when they had potential.
Foxster Hotpot is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2012, 14:03
tj123
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 390
I'd say most of last year and into this year for the worst.

I agree that 2009 was awful from about August onwards with Molvin, Tony and Maria getting together, Becky, Steve and Slug - the wedding and the drugs being planted, Joe Mcintyre's endless problems, Simon's grandson arriving and kidnapping him amidst all that stuff to do with Peter wanting the bar and Ken going against it. Most of this carried on into 2010. In terms of ridiculous storylines I'd say this period just about pips 2007 which itself had some right old classics such as Tracy murdering Charlie, Casey and Ashley, Liam and Carla falling for each other, the babyswap storyline, Liz marrying Vernon, Sean and Violet's baby and her subsequent exit with Jamie... As mentioned above, most of this carried on well into 2008 and of course in late 2006 we also had the Jamie and Frankie affair...

As for last year and this year, I didn't like the Peter and Carla affair from day 1 and then of course there was Frank and then the reveal to Leanne and the aftermath. Also Tracy and Steve was tiring as it was basically a repeat of their problems in 2005, Eileen and Paul and of course Karl and Sunita. Things are looking up though with the Kirsty/Tyrone storyline and it'll be interesting to see what happens when Wendy Crozier returns!

I thought both 2007 and early 2009 had plenty of comedy moments - Steve with Michelle, David Platt provided some dark humour amidst his nastiness (the episode where he wound up Jason pretending to be gay being a prime example), Ken and Martha's affair, Blanche, the Barlow's in the AA meeting to name a few examples... Not really seen this sort of comedy over the last year or so.

A few more bad periods - early 2001 when the Jane McNaught 'issue era' became a little too intense, the farcical summer of 2005 and 1995-97 when the McDonalds dominated the show. A lot of avenues that were explored in this period came to dead ends such as Curly/Raquel, the Duckworths running the Rovers, Derek and the gnomes. Nick running away in 1996 was also a pretty lame plotline really.
tj123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-08-2012, 12:11
boogie woogie
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 6,750
I'd say most of last year and into this year for the worst.

I agree that 2009 was awful from about August onwards with Molvin, Tony and Maria getting together, Becky, Steve and Slug - the wedding and the drugs being planted, Joe Mcintyre's endless problems, Simon's grandson arriving and kidnapping him amidst all that stuff to do with Peter wanting the bar and Ken going against it. Most of this carried on into 2010. In terms of ridiculous storylines I'd say this period just about pips 2007 which itself had some right old classics such as Tracy murdering Charlie, Casey and Ashley, Liam and Carla falling for each other, the babyswap storyline, Liz marrying Vernon, Sean and Violet's baby and her subsequent exit with Jamie... As mentioned above, most of this carried on well into 2008 and of course in late 2006 we also had the Jamie and Frankie affair...

As for last year and this year, I didn't like the Peter and Carla affair from day 1 and then of course there was Frank and then the reveal to Leanne and the aftermath. Also Tracy and Steve was tiring as it was basically a repeat of their problems in 2005, Eileen and Paul and of course Karl and Sunita. Things are looking up though with the Kirsty/Tyrone storyline and it'll be interesting to see what happens when Wendy Crozier returns!

I thought both 2007 and early 2009 had plenty of comedy moments - Steve with Michelle, David Platt provided some dark humour amidst his nastiness (the episode where he wound up Jason pretending to be gay being a prime example), Ken and Martha's affair, Blanche, the Barlow's in the AA meeting to name a few examples... Not really seen this sort of comedy over the last year or so.

A few more bad periods - early 2001 when the Jane McNaught 'issue era' became a little too intense, the farcical summer of 2005 and 1995-97 when the McDonalds dominated the show. A lot of avenues that were explored in this period came to dead ends such as Curly/Raquel, the Duckworths running the Rovers, Derek and the gnomes. Nick running away in 1996 was also a pretty lame plotline really.
Carla and Liam's attraction towards one another was compelling stuff. It was very much character driven and stemmed from when they knew each other as teens. I'll always remember Carla's touching conversation about how they had shared a cigarette together and it was truly believable. Rosie revealing the damning video clip to Tony and inadvertingly triggering the build-up to his demise was gripping stuff. In fact that whole period from around September to November on the show in 2008 was brilliant as storylines crossed paths with one another with many characters involved- the video reveal, Rosie being kidnapped by John, Liam's murder, Janice and Leanne with the lottery scam, Roger and Dan leaving as a result of Leanne and Janice's actions etc. All of these plots intertwined in a brilliantly cohesive way. Unfortunately, it all went down hill from that point and 2009 was catastrophic.

I always liked Liz and Vernon as a couple. They had a believable on-screen chemistry and Steve disappoving of his mother's choice of partner was hilarious.
boogie woogie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2012, 19:16
boogie woogie
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 6,750
I'd say most of last year and into this year for the worst.

I agree that 2009 was awful from about August onwards with Molvin, Tony and Maria getting together, Becky, Steve and Slug - the wedding and the drugs being planted, Joe Mcintyre's endless problems, Simon's grandson arriving and kidnapping him amidst all that stuff to do with Peter wanting the bar and Ken going against it. Most of this carried on into 2010. In terms of ridiculous storylines I'd say this period just about pips 2007 which itself had some right old classics such as Tracy murdering Charlie, Casey and Ashley, Liam and Carla falling for each other, the babyswap storyline, Liz marrying Vernon, Sean and Violet's baby and her subsequent exit with Jamie... As mentioned above, most of this carried on well into 2008 and of course in late 2006 we also had the Jamie and Frankie affair...

As for last year and this year, I didn't like the Peter and Carla affair from day 1 and then of course there was Frank and then the reveal to Leanne and the aftermath. Also Tracy and Steve was tiring as it was basically a repeat of their problems in 2005, Eileen and Paul and of course Karl and Sunita. Things are looking up though with the Kirsty/Tyrone storyline and it'll be interesting to see what happens when Wendy Crozier returns!

I thought both 2007 and early 2009 had plenty of comedy moments - Steve with Michelle, David Platt provided some dark humour amidst his nastiness (the episode where he wound up Jason pretending to be gay being a prime example), Ken and Martha's affair, Blanche, the Barlow's in the AA meeting to name a few examples... Not really seen this sort of comedy over the last year or so.

A few more bad periods - early 2001 when the Jane McNaught 'issue era' became a little too intense, the farcical summer of 2005 and 1995-97 when the McDonalds dominated the show. A lot of avenues that were explored in this period came to dead ends such as Curly/Raquel, the Duckworths running the Rovers, Derek and the gnomes. Nick running away in 1996 was also a pretty lame plotline really.
Have to say that I'm really enjoying Roberta Kerr's reappearance as Wendy (thank God that they managed to get the original actor). Wonder if we'll get any scenes between Wendy and TracyLuv? Viewers have said (I don't know cos it's before my time) that Tracy was actually quite close with Wendy when she was originally seeing Ken. It would be good to, at least, see this being either revisited or referenced. Corrie is a show with a rich history but it frequently ignores its history in order to devise outlandish plot twists- Annie Walker bequething the Rovers to Betty back in 1984 being a prime example.

Back to the thread topic- it'll be interesting to see what 2013 will be like under Stuart Blackburn. I'm really hoping that it'll be a case of "what doesn't work for for one, works for another," e.g. Bryan Kirkwood ballsing up EastEnders but making Hollyoaks unmissable.
boogie woogie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-12-2014, 20:18
NathanJohnson
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 2,608
Nothing changes lol.
NathanJohnson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-12-2014, 20:25
Lucy Lou
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 7,903
Nothing changes lol.
I know

Lets send some positive vibes to Weatherfield and hope for a real good 2015
Lucy Lou is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-12-2014, 20:34
sam_gee
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 11,075
The development of VC was a useless waste of money for ITV. The idea of the new flats was introduced to kick start Tony Gordon's fall from grace, which was a very realistic reflection of the growing economic crisis at the time. The problem is that they could've done that by filming on location without going to the expense of building a permanent set on the backlot. It just feels like an elephant in the room whenever I see it.

The extra 'social strata' was already in existence at Weatherfield Quays, but for some reason that location was quite quickly phased out following Mike Baldwin's death. I didn't see the problem with having an interior set for the inside of the apartments and going out to do occasional location filming when needed.

Unfortunately the 'fashion' for soaps since EastEnders launched with its gargantuan backlot has been to have as many permanent sets as possible. I'd quite like to see a return to fewer homes and businesses on Coronation Street itself and some new sets that reflect wider Weatherfield.

The set redevelopment in 1989, quite rightly for the time, brought the Kabin and the garage onto Coronation Street itself, but set a precedent for future redevelopment that would leave us with the 'toy town' that we now have.

For me, the biggest mistake was the Victoria Street extension in 2000. That whole part of the set is such bad quality it's embarrassing. Suddenly there was a cab office, a hardware store, a cafe, a butcher's, a builder's yard and a medical centre - how much more stuff could they cram into such a tiny space?! I actually find it visually unbelievable. We used to see residents going away from the street to run errands or meet people - especially when the Kabin, the garage and the cafe were located away from Coronation Street.

I wish that they would develop a smaller set for the infamous precinct that isn't physically connected to the main set. That could be home to the bistro, some other shops, some flats and perhaps even a relocated Roy's Rolls and the kebab shop. It doesn't have to be massive, but it would be a refreshing change and wouldn't make Weatherfield feel as tiny as it does now.

The three shop units on Victoria Street (kebab shop, cafe and butchers) could be changed from commercial to residential premises and would make quite nice period properties. Victoria Court can just vanished as far as I care
That's would be really good - a bit like the parade of shops in Brookside. It's ridiculous that nobody ever leaves the cobbles, and all the shops and businesses are in the street. Though I suppose it helps with those scenes where characters have to keep bumping into each other. How could they not?

Now is the worst I can ever remember Corrie being, though I could've just got pickier. Sometimes I can barely be bothered to watch and that's never happened before. It's not just about storylines - the whole show seems sloppily put together, but it seems as long as there are some sensational stories to keep us watching and the occasional good one liner to show Corrie's still got it that it doesn't matter
sam_gee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-12-2014, 20:38
Rixion
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 750
I feel like this year is definitely the worst by far, dud rehashed plots and dud newbies.
Rixion is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-12-2014, 20:40
attitude99
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Alcohol aisle in Tescos *gulp*
Posts: 12,043
'Farcical summer of 2005' - I quite liked that period, it was Battersbys all the way.

As mentioned earlier 2001-2002 became a bit too intense for 'issue led' storylines so ratings were lost apparently.

There was a time a few years ago where Peter & Leanne kept swapping partners every few weeks, that got very tedious & repetitive.
attitude99 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-12-2014, 21:23
notdebbiedingle
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: whitby , n yorks
Posts: 10,143
This year, especially the second half, will go down in history as one of the worst ever for me!! Centred almost entirely around one badly written plot ie Tina's murder & the rest filled in by some of he worst new characters ever introduced (step forward Andrea & the Nazir family)!!!
I can't believe all the negativity on the earlier posts about the Tony Gordon storyline, it was brilliant from start to finish & had me counting the hours to the next episode!! Yes there were weird twists & turns brought about by Ali & Samia's maternity leave but at every turn it was
written & acted to be totally believable!! If only we had writing like that atm!! For those saying
Collinson rescued the show...WHAT?? Yes he was brilliant for the purpose he was brought in,
ie to make the anniversary week spectacular, but then instead of using all that brilliant drama to create storylines for the next year & beyond he brushed the whole thing under the carpet within three weeks for his next big sensation, the ridiculously ill advised release of Tracy Barlow!! Add to that his introduction & obsession with the disastrous Stella & I think Phil Collinson's era is largely best glossed over!!
I agree with the post about Derek & his bloody garden gnomes & I would add to that the dire love triangle with him, Mavis & Victor as a time when Corrie really wasn't good!!
notdebbiedingle is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2014, 21:15
boogie woogie
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 6,750
This year has actually superseded 2009 in terms of shoddiness. Much was promised with the hyped exit of Tina back in the first half of the year but it all just fell flat. The actual block of murder episodes itself were decent enough thanks to the performances of the actors directly involved, but it very quickly buckled. We had Peter placed squarely in the frame in yet another innocent-person-wrongly-accused plot that was derivative, badly written and ill-conceived from beginning to end. The problem was that the whole debacle dragged on for months and months before eventually drawing to an underwhelming conclusion.

The other major arcs like the Windass financial misery could have been very timely and true-to-life but seeing endless scenes of the supposedly destitute clan constantly eating in Roy's and drinking in the Rovers quickly undermined all that. The best part of the whole plot- Pat Phelan- was not used to his full potential and quickly vanished from our screens.

This year we have seen some truly abominable plots- take a bow, Lloyd/ Andrea/ Neil. What the hell was all that twaddle about?! The instalments where we saw the supposedly distraught Neil staging his rooftop protest with Liz bawling like a banshee were truly cringeworthy, terribly written and simply embarrassing.
boogie woogie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2014, 22:11
David the Wavid
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2,026
My memory of it is getting a little frazzled now (and I'm in no hurry to rewatch it) but I'm going to stand by my earlier vote for 2009. 2014 hasn't been a great year in terms of major storylines but that's only ever half the story. There have been enough small character moments, laugh-out-loud gags, and powerful drama to put this year above 2009.

I would challenge anyone who picks a year before 2005!
David the Wavid is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2014, 22:41
notdebbiedingle
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: whitby , n yorks
Posts: 10,143
My memory of it is getting a little frazzled now (and I'm in no hurry to rewatch it) but I'm going to stand by my earlier vote for 2009. 2014 hasn't been a great year in terms of major storylines but that's only ever half the story. There have been enough small character moments, laugh-out-loud gags, and powerful drama to put this year above 2009.

I would challenge anyone who picks a year before 2005!
To be honest 2010 the only good things I can remember were the factory siege & anniversary week
notdebbiedingle is online now   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:32.