All this talk of 'golden ( protected ) characters' , and the numerous threads on ' characters I would like to see leaving' , lead me to think ... if I was in charge, who would I retain and who would I dispense with ?

For me , the following looks good...

In : Norris, Steve, Tracy, Michelle, Carla, Roy, Tyrone, Andy, Jason, Maria, Sally, Tim, Mary, Luke, Steph, Alya, Billy, Jason, Craig, Amy, Sharif, Aadi, Asha.

No strong feeling either way : Ken, Todd, Kirk, Chesney, Lloyd, Leanne, Maddie, Andrea, Callum, Gail, Sarah, David, Audrey, Sophie, Sinead, Emily, Kylie, Eva, Michael, Anna, Gary, Kevin, Sophie.

Definitely out : Sean, Fiz, Liz, Tony, Eileen, Dev, Julie, Faye, Simon , Izzy, Rita, Beth, Bethany, Nick , the rest of the Nazirs ( and their chickens ).

I realise that some of these characters are already due to be leaving ... it's just my opinion.

I haven't included the majority of the 'occasional' child actors.

For me it's a given that if Mr Blackburn was 'out' things would probably improve any way. I fully realise that there are those who will read this and say - thank goodness you aren't in charge !

So ... How would your list read ?

The only ones who I would consider 'golden' or 'protected' would be Ken, Emily and Rita - and I really don't want to see the back of any of them just yet.

These are the ones I'd get rid of:

Callum, Sean, Dev, Andy, Liz (she was amazing at one time - not any longer), Mary (too OTT for my liking now), Anna, Izzy, Maria, Michelle and every last one of the Nazirs. That's all.

Everyone else can stay.

Why do some people think axing characters is always the answer?

Sure, there's a few in every soap where they're just so awful they cannot be fixed, but most characters in soap suffer because of lack of screen time/investment and/or poor writing.

If you have a decent team behind the scenes, then those 'front of house' will work. Liking characters is so subjective that axing those you personally dislike because you can doesn't mean the show would improve. I find it slightly arrogant of producers who come swanning in, axing characters just because they can whilst introducing a handful of newbies who are going to take several months, if not years, to warm to. Why not use the cast you have and improve the writing for them? Especially on Corrie - so many characters with so much history and yet some producers prefer to lose all that history than work with it. It baffles me.

I really dislike Tyrone, whilst I love Leanne. Axing Tyrone and putting Leanne at the forefront doesn't suddenly make the show any better, as not only would many viewers love to see the opposite happen, but also the storylines and the writing for 'day to day' scenes have to be up to scratch. When it comes to axing characters, I'd be extremely cautious if I had the power to do so and make sure the character definitely had nothing left to offer.

I know ultimately threads like this are just a bit of fun and to gauge the popularity of characters but they just seem so redundant to me as it's like asking how long's a piece of string.

Great post, Reserved. Getting the writing just right is the key - and something's been well off-balance for a long while now. I remember being excited when Dennis Tanner's return was announced in 2011. He'd been away since the late 1960s and the writers had the perfect opportunity to create 40 years of backstory. It was a blank canvas - surely any decent writer's dream? So why they did nothing to develop or strengthen his character in the three years he returned for is beyond me. And on the flip side, the very same writers were doing absolutely FANTASTIC things at the time with characters like Roy, Hayley and Sylvia.

...but at the end of the day, threads like these - as you say - are merely a bit of fun. Don't take it too seriously

Thank goodness your not in charge............

I agree with Reserved.

However, the only character ( for me ) who has NEVER worked is Michelle. Kym Marsh couldn't act her way out of a paper bag and she is a complete waste of space.

A lot of the other characters are wasted at the moment imo, but they all have potential to be better. And have been a lot better in the past.

But only if the producers and Story/Scriptwriters pull their socks up.

I would keep the Golden Oldies, Rita, Emily, Ken and Norris; and Roy, Audrey and Mr. Nazir if they don't mind being classed as old. I would like to see the allotment friendship of Mr. Nazir and Roy built on. Mary would stay, but only in small doses.
Before another day dawns on Wetherfield,, Faye and Fayette would be spirited away, never to be mentioned again . The character of Anna , which has been ruined by the writers and by being paired with Faye, would be redeemed, and Owen persuaded to stay; they used to be a believable couple..
I know Dev is leaving, but I would have him stay and give more air time to his twins; in the little we have seen of them, they look like promising young actors.
Sean and Todd would go and I would bring back Marcus, the nice young midwife,. . He would be a better friend for Billy, the vicar.
Beth, Kirkie and Craig would stay; they make a nice family. Craig is one of the best young actors I have seen.
The Rovers is the hub of the community and I am happy to leave the Macdonald's in charge of it. I would like to see a brief visit back from Jim, so I would.
Muddie is leaving, and I would send Sophie off with her.
Bethany has not fitted in to the show, so she needs to go back to Italy, which means Sarah-Lou would have to go as well
The rest of the characters I would keep; they are what you would expect in any community - good, bad and indifferent..

Last night's episodes were really boring. I wish Anna was the one who was leaving.

Whose Anna?

Give Sophie a proper job like a social worker or a policewoman

Glad to see Dev is going

But agree with the general drift on these threads

Anna Windass, vaslav37; estranged wife of the lovely Eddie, former partner of Owen, lover of Pat Phelan, mother of Gary, who developed Post Trauma Syndrome after spending an hour in an army recruiting office, foster mother of some girl who scowls and rolls her eyes for a living, waitress in Roy's cafe and cleaner in The Rovers.

Both me and my daughter said that last night lol

I agree about Liz, what has happened to her? I don't like the way Bev Callard takes ages getting a sentence out sometimes, almost drawling, I find her so boring now, but once upon a time she was brilliant.

Faye is adopted, not fostered.

She used to speak normally, didn't she? Now she spits aggression, has an exaggerated accent (that she somehow picked up in Spain) and looks permanently on the verge of nutting somebody in the head.
I cringe every time she shrieks EH!!!

I don’t particularly want to the see the back of anyone in CS but I do think that many of the characters need some actual development and some time spent on them to make them more likeable, or at least ensure that the viewers are more invested in them.

So many characters have no depth. Sophie, Julie, Mary, Jason, Sarah Lou, Bethany, The Nazirs, Sean are just a few. Their storylines are superficial and I have no emotional connection to them. I feel nothing when I see them, they’re just THERE acting out stories I couldn’t care less about.

I know we can’t deep and effective storyline for all the people ALL the time, but some characters never seem to get an in depth story that is worth investing in. Say what you want about Anna or Sally, but at least they provide us with a talking point, something to debate and disagree on even if it’s just how snobby Sally is. The Carters in EE are the same, love them or hate them, at least we’re talking about them!

Corrie has a huge cast, if they aren’t used properly then I guess they become surplus to requirements. Which is a shame IMO.

Poor Asda and Aldi if the OP was in charge - they''d stay but their dad would be axed

Maybe Mary could look after them

There is a lot of sense being talked on this thread, in particular the post by Reserved!!
The cast are only as good as the storylines & scripts they are being asked to perform & apart from the odd character most of the established cast are making the best of the few decent crumbs they are been fed at the moment!!

However for the benefit of the OP & his/her thread here is my 'three tier' cast listing for if I was producer:-

Top tier, my 'core cast' members:

Audrey, Beth, Carla, Craig, David, Eileen, Emily, Anna, Eva, Faye, Gail, Gary, Jason, Ken, Kirk, Kylie, Leanne, Luke, Maria, Mary, Michelle, Norris, Rita, Roy, Sally &Tim, Steph, Steve, Tyrone, Bethany

Middle tier:- safe from the axe but not core characters

Alya, Amy, Andy, Billy, Chesney, Dev, Jenny, Kevin, Lloyd, Maddie, Michael, Owen, Simon, Sinead, Sharif, Sophie


Bottom tier:- Much work needed to give me a reason not to use the axe!! ( those in brackets too much work needed, my 'axe list' ) :-


Fiz, Izzy, Julie, Liz, Nick, Tony, Todd
(Andrea, Callum, Erica, Kal, Sean, Tracy, Yasmeen, Zeedan)
In other words I would just axe two established characters & six of Blackburn's duffers!

I would bring back just two characters!! Toyah & Marcus

Toyah would be my dream return! I do hope Leanne's upcoming difficulties prompt Toyah to return and help her out.....I can dream I guess!!!!

Further to the above, I've been really kind to Liz & Todd cos I can't stand either but in Liz's case she would be needed for Deirdre's exit s/l !! Todd I'm not so sure but he does seem quite popular so would have a go at doing something with him!!

Likewise Sally as a core character!! Personally I detest her but with Tim I can put up with her & she is so popular it would ne madness if i axed her just cos of my opinion!!

Thanks OP i've really enjoyed that little piece of self indulgence!!

I would probably get rid of Izzy, Sophie, the Nazirs, Dev, Fiz and Callum.

Some characters need a lot of work but don't need the axe, i.e Michelle or Anna.

I'm a big old softy - and would keep Ken, Rita, Norris, Emily, etc.... and keep Mary, Dev (annoying that he is!), Gail and her family (especially Gavin/Andy!) and Callum! ( we all need a bad boy!)
Errm...get rid of Anna? She's been annoying this week!!

I think the main problem with Coronation Street is more that the writers aren't delivering. Of course there will always be the terrible actors like they guys who play Sean Tully and Dev Alahan but if the good quality writing was there, the good actors would carry the show through. The street lacks good drama and even with the big promoted storylines (some of which have been great ideas), the conclusions have been a huge disappointment to me over the last few years and the production has failed to impress. With the live episodes due to be screened later this year, I would have thought we would have some exciting stuff to be getting our teeth into at the moment. With the exception of the Erica and Nick storyline and the Tracy stealing the Rovers storyline, there's not much else happening. Bored with the Gavin stuff, bored with Sean all the time, bored with Eileen dating and bored with everyone else wandering about aimlessly. Where's all the drama and excitement Corrie?

I've though the same about Coronation Street for years. Are the writers sleeping on the job or what? Blackburn should go too. Got a feeling this chance for a live episode is going to be wasted because they can't pull their fingers out. It doesn't help that Blackburn releases every detail about every spoiler he can so that there's no surprises left.

There are far too many Corrie spoilers out there. I never understood why Michelle Keegans exit storyline was made public so far in advance, I assumed they were keeping lots of surprises for the official airing but it was a massive let down. I forgot about there being a live episode coming up. Maybe that will shock the writers into doing some worthwhile work between now and then.

And if anyones listening:

LEAVE ANTHONY COTTON OUT OF IT

Michelle is in dire need of some good writing and a gritty storyline of her own. When the writing is there for Kym, she's actually quite good.