I know a lot of people on here aren't her biggest fan but I have to say I really like Maria. I thought she was great during the Liam/Carla/Tony storyline and proved herself as a capable actress when given the right material. She's been on the show around 15 years now and i'd be disappointed to see her leave. Given the right story I think she's a decent character and I hope she stays for a while to come. 'Prepares for backlash'

Sorry to disappoint you on that one h.m but no backlash from me!! It's just always great to hear positive comments about the lovely Samia/Maria without having to write them myself!! It can feel like a lonely old job being a Maria fan on here sometimes!!
I agree given decent material Samia is one of the better actresses on Corrie as she proved beyond doubt during the 2 year period you mentioned when she had to play intensely emotional scenes every episode sometimes for weeks at a time & did it so convincingly it was heartbreaking to watch at times!!
Previous to that I had always liked the character but tended not to look too far beyond her pretty face & feisty, somewhat tarty but sweet personality to analyse her acting ability!!
Such a shame she has become little more than wallpaper under the current regime as she is capable of so much better than many of the characters who seem tio be current favourites!!

I think Samia will stick around for the simple reason she lives & breathes Corrie & is soobviously happy to be a part of it!! Plus if she's got big storylines then great, if not she gets more time to spend with her daughter, her new fiance & her soon to be little son, best of all worlds!!
Long may she continue to grace the Cobbles with her lovely presence!!

I think she's great

Actress and character much better than what she's had over the years. Fiz's upcoming storyline would be way better if they waited for Samia to return and do it but that storyline is in part being done for the live episode I'm guessing so that can't happen.

I use to absolutely love Maria but over the past few years (around Tony's exit), I've been slowly but surely going off her. I'm so disappointed with the direction of the character and I'm pretty indifferent towards her now.

All the men/break ups are dull and predictable; the actress and character deserves better.

And I think practically every other Corrie fan probably feels the same way, even myself at times, but the old spark is still there when it has chance to show! She was great throughout the Frank Foster stuff & she managed to make the turnaround in her relationship with Carla realistic & feasible but then Michelle came back & it all fizzled to nothing!!
Likewise the lovely chemistry she had with Marcus!! That s/l could have been such an interesting & different love story, breaking boundaries & exploring something completely new in soap terms, but sad fact is the imagination wasn't there from the writers & then producer who was only ever interested in grabbing the big headline then moving on, and again another great opportunity was wasted!!
It has been so frustrating as someone who still genuinely loves & cares about the
character!!

What really peeves me off is when people say Maria is dull, bland etc. But thats normality for you and a bit of realism from Corrie, not everyone leads exciting lives where they burn down buildings, chase revenge etc etc. There are a lot of people like Maria out there who lead normal lives, be a parent, go to work, have a boyfriend.

As for her endless list of blokes, heaps of people have many failed relationships under their belt and are still looking to 'settle down' into their late 30s.

Deadwood character who needs to be axed.

Thats me told

Maria is the reason I stopped watching Corrie - it was when Liam died. I've always found her very irritating and when Liam died and I knew she'd be in it a lot for that storyline I just gave up as I couldn't bear to watch her on screen so much.

This is true and in Maria's case, (though obviously it's down to writers writing for a fictional character) really, of that endless list only once has the breakdown of the relationship been her decision, the second time with Jason!! On every other occasion she has been dumped, cheated on, abandoned, or in the case of both Liam & Tony far worse!!

As for your first parageaph, and I've said this many times before, it's the pure 'normality' of Maria that appeals to me so much!! She reminds me of several girls who I have had lovely friendships with over the years before I settled down!! My role in life at the time was always 'sounding block' for listening to problems about relationships, always in a platonic role, but really fun & rewarding as it meant I got to go out drinking & dancing with some of the most desirsable girls without having the hassle of a relationship, Happy memories!! !! Maria is exactly one of those girls to me which is why I love her!!

Maria (and Jason) is one of my fav younger characters in the show. Samia has acted alongside the shows biggest stars and never disappointed. Maria has grown so much as a character, but is now being wasted.

We don't need her to be at the heart of a story to have a purpose. Maria has a complicated relationship with half the street. Michelle is Liam's aunt but we never see them together anymore. Leanne/Maria/Carla/Tracy all have complicated history that isn't used. Sarah and Maria were best friends once but you wouldn't think that. Maria/Todd/Fiz/Ty were once good friends but now have a difficukt relationship. She is Kirk's sister and Bath's sister-in-law so she could be integrated into that unit. Maria's relationships with Audrey and David are my favourite friendships on the show. She could have been used as a wise words for David during this awful Callum story etc but we never see that.

I'd like to see more of Maria the mother, rather than more relationship drama. I'd like to see more built on her friendships and complicated pasts with people. I'd like to see her continuing to grow as a person, maybe buying her own home again or investing in Liam's future. I'd also like to see her have another baby, maybe with someone unlikely.

Obviously this will all need to be after Samia's maternity now...

Every word of your post is true Chrissy 2005!! As much as I love the character I woild never expect or want her to be shoved at the heart of every story in the way SB has done with Carla & Phil Collinson tried to do with Stella!! As both cases prove, that is counter productive & exhausts the character in question but I would have Maria very much as part of the centre of Street life appearing regularly alongside characters like Michelle, Beth, Carla, Leanne, Liz (who she was flatmates with for a time in 04/05), Sarah & Bethany! There was great pains taken to build a slow burning mutual respect leading to a friendship between her & Carla after the factory siege then the Frank Foster s/l but where is that now? Where was Carla when Maria was having her 'breakdown' last year for instance? It would have been an ideal time to resurrect that friendship & a few emotional scenes between those two, helping Maria through it would have hit the spot far better than shipping her off for 5 weeks & her coming back fully recovered, with absolutely no more said about it!!
I could think of a hundred different things they could do with the character as long as it was properly written and, as you point out no matter which character you put her with, Samia always delivers as an actress & in every case stays true to Maria's character!!
She would be one of the last characters I would axe, bit they desperately need to bring her back to the centre of the show instead of the outer sidelines!!
I also LOVE her scenes with Audrey, David & even to a degree Kylie too!!

I didn't neccessarily mean exhausting the character with storylines, more than we only ever see Maria when she is involved in a story otherwise she disappears for months.

Exactly this yes, she needs to be part of wider Street life instead of just centre of her own little world!!

I don't mind her. She doesn't annoy me and Samia is decent actress. She's just there though. In the salon she's like a glorified extra to chip in with comments about the Platts latest story.

She needs a family. Can't believe after 15 years she's on her own.

Maria like Sean, Dev, Kirk, Jason, Fizz etc all need to go in my opinion. The trouble is none of them would get any work elsewhere as they are relatively poor actors.

I only agree with Sean, Dev and Fiz on that list.

Kirk has never been used to his potential, he has finally found his feet in the past year due to his new family with the Tinkers and suddenly has a lease of life. This is a great unit that has so much potential. I hope the show don't waste it.

Maria is a solid character, played by a solid actress who was once at the heart of the show but has been thrown aside for poorer characters like Anna, Michelle and Callum. A bit of effort and consideration and she could be a central part of the show again, and has potential to be a similar character to Emily or Sally in the future.

Jason is my favorite character in the whole show. His development over the past few years. I hope they don't drag out the Jason and Eva reunion because they make a fantastic couple. Ryan Thomas is a totally underrated actor as well.

I agree their is quite a few weak and tired characters in the show, but some just need direction and a bit of decent writing to work again. Others, like Fiz, need to go.

Maria , I've gone on enough about for the moment
Sean I agree, they have never don anything to progress his character in 11 years & I could happily live without his presence!!
Dev is one of those unfortunate characters like Gail who have changef for the worse & become little more than a joke character thesr days!! When he first arrived he was a ruthless businessman, carinh nothing about whose toes he trod on in the process & wad very similar with the laydeees but he has sadly become a joke!!
Kirk I love because he appeals to my sense of humour!! I can see how he would irritate the crap out of some people!! I have always loved the brother/sister bond between him & Maria and I love him , Beth & Craig as a family unit!!
Jason I have a soft spot for, again becausr he reminds me of a lot of lads I grew up with!! I love him & Eva together & will be extremely disappointed if they don't reunite, marry & settle doen as one of Corrie's 'golden couples'!! The Jason getting dumped stuff has been flogged to death now as you pointed out earlier!!
Fiz, Fiz, Fiz, what do we do with Fiz? I loved to hate her when she was a nasty piece of work growing up, then she met John & settled down & it worked for me as they had chemistry through being chalk & cheese!! I think the prison stuff didn't suit her character at all & since then they seem to have lost their way with her completely!! She just seems too intent in trying to be the 'wise counsel' for everyone & comes across more as a meddler which is irritating to watch, I also have doubts about her & Ty as a long term couple if they are going to try & keep entertaining s/l's for them!! I know they have a biggie coming up but that is a one off & I just don't think they are different enough characters to kerp the entertainment value up long term! Time will tell!!

Agree with these. With the exception of Jason.

[quote=Hound of Love;79005335]Agree with these. With the exception of Jason

I like Jason but I can't see much difference between him and the actor who plays him!

[quote=vaslav37;79005637]
that's just how I feel about samia ghadie. When she was on dancing on ice it was hard to see where maria stopped and samia began. I can't stand her or her acting style which mainly consists of her pulling faces and being sarcastic. She's had the opportunity to shine, she's been given decent story lines she just doesn't deliver. Her nervous breakdowns consist or her pulling her hair back in a pony tail, toning down the make up and crying. And when she's not doing that she's involved with a new man, that's all she ever does. I'm happy that she rarely features, I don't miss her when she's not on screen and she hangs around because it's easy money for very little work. She could quite easily be cut from the show along with Anna, Sophie, Fizz, Izzy, Dev and Liz and I wouldn't miss any of them

[quote=silly sausage;79020979]
Fair enough thar's your opinion & I respect it... but I also completely disagree with it!!

When she is given good material she absolutely does deliver every time imo!! I agree she acts a lot using facial expressions...don't see the problem, one anguished look can say more than several sentences of dialogue & to my mind there's nobody on Corrie uses facial expression more effectively!! I prefer Samia to Alison King in that respect, I'm not saying I think she's a better actress but AK's 'one face fits all scenes' does annoy me!!

As regards what scenes/storylines Samia gets she's at the mercy of what the writers/producer want to do with Maria as a character!!

I wish Samia well with the remainder of her pregnancy & her maternity leave, will look forward to every scene she's in until then & will be happy & delighted to see her return when she feels she's ready!! I will certainly miss her while she's gone!!

The exact same things were said about another soap actress who left her soap earlier this year. She quickly went on to land a role in a critically acclaimed series, so this proves just how wrong people can be.

You just couldn't resist shoehorning her into this thread

Still unlikely to be the next Suranne Jones or Sarah Lancashire though.