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Mike Baldwin's alzheimer's storyline |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 16
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Mike Baldwin's alzheimer's storyline
Was this the first time a soap had given a long term character this storyline? Having had one grandparent go through dementia and now another grandparent in the early stages, I say well done Corrie for portraying the illness.
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#2 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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I think so yes in regards to Alzheimer's. At the time it was widely under represented and as such seemed like either 1- the funny old bat/man in the corner or 2- the scary thing no one saw any hope for. Yet we now know that although yes it's horrible and scary and sadly still terminal it's not AS scary with the right treatment as we all thought back then. It's not a case of over night lost hope.
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#3 |
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,407
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Home and Away portrayed Alzheimers with Ross Buckton (Charlie's dad, also married Morag). I remember he killed the guy who raped Charlie when he was suffering.
Though it was nowhere as good as Mike's storyline as Ross was only a recurring character. There were so many twists in Mike's plot which it made it so good, like Danny and Leanne's chase for the will etc but above all it was fabulously portrayed and written with the perfect ending where Mike died in Ken's arms. Defiantly well done to the Corrie team for that. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jul 2015
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I agree and after 30 years service to the show I'm glad Johnny Briggs got a good exit storyline. There were funny/tragic elements to the plot such as Mike getting lost and chatting to a stranger, telling him about his business "Im in women's knickers" LOL, I liked the cast that were around at the time - Danny, Leanne, Jamie, Frankie. Deirdre and Ken were involved too.
Mike was always a charmer, one of life's winners and someone people looked upto, and to see the decline and him so vulnerable, lost, regressed to a childlike persona at times was upsetting viewing. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: whitby , n yorks
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Johnny Briggs was brilliant in that storyline!! Don't know if he won anything for it but he should have done!!
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#6 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
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Quote:
I think so yes in regards to Alzheimer's. At the time it was widely under represented and as such seemed like either 1- the funny old bat/man in the corner or 2- the scary thing no one saw any hope for. Yet we now know that although yes it's horrible and scary and sadly still terminal it's not AS scary with the right treatment as we all thought back then. It's not a case of over night lost hope.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 5,212
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Quote:
Johnny Briggs was brilliant in that storyline!! Don't know if he won anything for it but he should have done!!
Below is my favourite scene from what was a fabulous storyline. So cleverly written and brilliantly acted. This was when Corrie was Corrie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj8x9rYakBI |
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#8 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,649
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Quote:
Was this the first time a soap had given a long term character this storyline? Having had one grandparent go through dementia and now another grandparent in the early stages, I say well done Corrie for portraying the illness.
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#9 |
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 80
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It was a really good storyline - one of the kind we should see some more of. My grandmother had dementia too and it's really underrepresented considering how many people are affected by it (compared to something like cancer which of course also affects millions but there are numerous cancer storylines). It's a heartbreaking, awful disease that's so tough on family as well as the sufferer. Would like to see EE do something on it too. Perhaps that could have been a better storyline for Pat to go out on?
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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Quote:
Was this the first time a soap had given a long term character this storyline? Having had one grandparent go through dementia and now another grandparent in the early stages, I say well done Corrie for portraying the illness.
BUT (honest question, I really don't know) does Alzheimers actually kill you? I don't think so, but could well be wrong. |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Jul 2015
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Quote:
No. Mo Butcher in EE in the 90s.
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#12 |
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Probably the first nationally watched one anyway.
BUT (honest question, I really don't know) does Alzheimers actually kill you? I don't think so, but could well be wrong. |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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I think River City has done one & Corrie did one recently with Eileen bloke's wife.
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#14 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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No generally you regress and start to lose the ability to do anything, and the body starts to shut down. My nan died of pneumonia in the end
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#15 |
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Quote:
Was she a long term character?
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#16 |
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Join Date: Oct 2013
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I think both times Coronation street have done the illness they have been so bad...they just kill people off..Mike Baldwin and the firemans wife...promised a groundbreaking storyline then killed her off.....it just isn't like that....
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#17 |
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I think both times Coronation street have done the illness they have been so bad...they just kill people off..Mike Baldwin and the firemans wife...promised a groundbreaking storyline then killed her off.....it just isn't like that....
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#18 |
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Join Date: Jul 2015
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To be fair I don't think many actors would want to play the story over years and years, it would be too much for them and viewers alike. He wished to leave and so they gave him this exit storyline.
The fireman's wife was a different matter. It was clear she was introduced as a plot device as a character with Alzheimers. Another one which it just reminded me of was Rita's chap Anthony who had a wife with the disease, introduced with Alzheimers. |
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#19 |
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Thank you. So indirectly, it can.
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#20 |
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Join Date: Jul 2015
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Yes she was in it quite a while before she developed it. Think she was meant to be a replacement character for Lou Beale.
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#21 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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Rewatching some of the episodes it's really struck me what an incredible run of performances Johnny Briggs put in towards the end of his time of the show. To see the absolute decline of a character like Mike who had always been impeccably turned out, faster than fast with his tongue and a completely independent man is really quite painful.
Also, watching it back it's surprising some of the smaller details that make Mike's final episode so poignant - silent credits in particular with no theme tune and no continuity announcer. I also still get a feeling of goosebumps when Mike dies and Ken, Rita and Emily slowly gather round. Every element of the story drew so strongly on Mike's history in the show. From him shouting for Alma to still thinking he was having an affair with Deirdre. His mutterings about denim and the original factory were a powerful link back to his first episodes back in the 70s. There was also the scene where he burst into No.5, thinking he still lived there. I don't think that Corrie has drawn on its history in a storyline since Mike's death - which was nearly 10 years ago. Just goes to show how slapdash Corrie is these days. |
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#22 |
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Join Date: Jul 2015
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It's unfortunate they couldn't hold onto the other Baldwins for much longer
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#23 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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Quote:
It's unfortunate they couldn't hold onto the other Baldwins for much longer
![]() The entire Baldwin clan was ruined by Frankie and Jamie 'getting it on'. I'm sure that Debra Stephenson really didn't like the story, which brought about her departure from the show. Jamie hung around for a while but soon left with a whimper. To be honest though, their days were numbered once Danny and Frankie split up. Frankie hated Coronation Street and in spite of seemingly settling down it was quite true to the character that she would soon move away. |
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#24 |
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Join Date: Apr 2012
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Posts: 952
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i clicked on and read this thread cos my mums had alzheimers for 3 years now. i watched the old episodes in the links and the acting from johnny Briggs was great
river city had a storyline with a character with it recently and the decline went on for a while with good and bad days and an eventual heartbreaking episode where he goes into care (more realistic that a heart attack or accident to be fair) it was very well done but is unlikely to get any recognition as its a smaller soap |
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#25 |
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Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: whitby , n yorks
Posts: 10,143
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Quote:
I agree. They were a great ensemble ...even Warren!
![]() The entire Baldwin clan was ruined by Frankie and Jamie 'getting it on'. I'm sure that Debra Stephenson really didn't like the story, which brought about her departure from the show. Jamie hung around for a while but soon left with a whimper. To be honest though, their days were numbered once Danny and Frankie split up. Frankie hated Coronation Street and in spite of seemingly settling down it was quite true to the character that she would soon move away. ![]() Who's awful, creepy idea it was to have Frankie & Jamie start a relationship wanted immediate dismissal!! Bradley Walsh & Debra Steohenson eere superb as Danny & Frankie, two of my all time favourite characters and Jamie was a good foil for them!! Warren, well...,,
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