I will start with a disclaimer, this is just my opinion but;

The Sarah and Bethany come back makes me despair, from start to finish their story arc has been a massive SOR. Sarah goes from posh flat in Milan with a job in fashion to pulling pints in the Rovers and having a relationship with a drug dealer who is plotting to get custody of her sister in laws son and her brothers step son. Bethany with a strong Manc accent after years manages to manipulate the move to Weatherfield, which she prefers to Milan, then sets about becoming the streets wild child and drugs mule.
So far I can see no redeeming features of either Sarah or Bethany at the moment.

The whole Hoarder storyline is one huge yawnfest from start to finish. Yet another fine actress wasted by Corrie. She is a miserable harridan, utterly wrong for Roy and the social issues stories are a drag. I am sick of them.

The Nazir's, oh dear, bin em please. They don't work and neither does the SOR with Alya and Gary. What would a bright, beautiful young girl like her see in an ex con who works part time in a cafe that he once tried to burgle. I can't see her family welcoming it and encouraging the marriage either.

Curly Si - the once cute kid, ok he was a bit of a cocky little sod but his one big redeeming feature was the touching relationship with Leanne. Oh how he loved her, his step mum and the one constant in his life, she fought for him, protected him and loved him like a mother. Through everything it worked. Now what have they done? Turned him into a sullen, violent shithead who beats his mother. Again, sick of the "social issues " crap permeating my TV screen.

Turning Carla to a gambling addict in the space of a nano second. Utter bollocks.

The utter boredom that is Chesney and Sinead. Why the heck are they even there? Kick them out and leave us with Beth, Kirkeh and Craig. Ten times better. Beth has breathed life into Kirkeh and given the character some perspective, it works well so I exoect it will be destroyed soon.

Too many characters who serve no visible purpose at all other than filler or to rotate storylines as there are so many episodes. I think we could so easily lose so many of these. Fizz, Tyrone, Sean, Michelle, Dev, Asda, Aldi, Sophie hasn't worked as a character since she was with Sian, she just seems to exist to whine. Anna and Fay, yuk.

The one thing I like at them moment is Sally and Tim. For once they are making the most of a good actor. No doubt the hat will find a way to turn that to dust too.

It is such a shame that Corrie seems to hang onto dross and cannot seem to make the most of some if the really good actors they have been fortunate enough to have had, Sue Johnstone being a prime example.

I really wish the writing would improve, the stories become more character led as they used to be and the next producer be one who "gets it" and gets it right and soon please.

It is sad as a long time viewer to see this decline and even sadder that ITV don't seem to care.

Apologies for the long post and again, I know it is only my opinion.

Totally agree with your post Minnie Ninja. I stopped watching Corrie ages ago but still have the misfortune of seeing bits of it due to other family members in my house still watching even though they don't like it anymore. I think a lot of people are still watching out of habit which is bad as it doesn't give a sign to ITV to do something about this show. I wish more viewers switched off tbh.

The acting is atrocious, the storylines paper thin which don't make sense and the once great and reliable comedy is practically non existent.

I honestly don't care about a single character in the show now, not even Carla or Roy which were two of my favourites.

I have been watching CS since the first episode as a young boy and these days I tend to watch and poke fun and pick holes in the poor plots, dreadful acting and non existent continuity.

I am very close to not watching anymore, but I only do so because of habit.
I certainly don't enjoy any episodes these days and cannot remember when I last did.

Sarah and Bethany:
I agree. A complete let down. They are both atrocious.

Cathy:
I disagree here. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Cathy and Roy. I think they're a potentially interesting coupling.

Nazirs:
Agreed. Can't stand them. Alya's ok, but as you said, what the hell would she see in Gary? Unrealistic partnership, imo.

Simon:
Yep. Used to be quite cute, albeit rather too cocky. Now he's just unbearable.

Carla:
Overnight gambling addict - WTF? I don't get that at all. Stupid, ridiculous s/l.

Chesney & Sinead:
Agree totally. So utterly boring. Can't stand the sight of them. Keep Kirk, Beth and Craig, as you said, but the dullards need to go.

'Fillers':
Dev is painfully poor to watch. Sean is cringeworthy, continually. As is Michelle.
I don't mind Tyrone. Fiz is just about tolerable.

Anna & Fay:
Can't stand either of them. Wish they'd disappear.
Sophie gets on my wick.

Tim & Sally:
I agree - they are great!

Sue Johnstone:
Great actress, crap character, imo. Was glad to see the back of her. What a shame. So much potential poorly written into a naff character.

Corrie needs sorting out! Reading what I've written, I'm not even sure why I continue to watch. Habit, I guess.

This is exactly how I feel about Corrie too. I only enjoy it when it's so crap it's funny. If it's just plain crap I feel quite cheated

I really don't know why I keep watching. Probably in case it gets better

I agree with lots of the replies here. I too feel like I am watching out habit and because other family members watch. I sometimes think we watch just to moan or pick holes in the plots.

I am still loyal though and can't give up just yet because I really want it to improve.

ITV need to sort it out and fast.

A new producer, new writers, a continuity person, ditch the useless characters, character led stories and FFS stop trying to emulate East Enders (it's an entirely different beast) and fresh life might be breathed in.

I mentioned this a couple of months ago. Why do Corrie always play by stereotypes?

Roy is a loner, a private man, but he's not stupid. He has intelligence and values.

Wouldn't it have been nice if the scriptwriters had invented a normal woman for Roy, instead, like you say, this awful battleaxe Cathy, who not only has major issues throwing away used milk cartons but is socially awkward too.

It's as if no woman would be interested in Roy except another of life's failures.

I have nothing against transsexuals but why even was Roy's first and last love interest a sex-changed guy? Played, might I add, by a WOMAN!

It would have been so nice, after Hayley's death, if Roy had met Susan, a 58 year old divorced lady who works in a travel agents. No issues, no social hang-ups.

I could not agree more. Hayley was so upbeat and positive, Cathy is a complete downer.
I would love Roy to be paired off with someone relatively normal, a little quirky perhaps but a positive person.

Excellent post Minnie, completely agree with you on all of it. Without the ridiculous hoarder yawnfest I do think Cathy could have been a great platonic companion for Roy. As it is, a good actress is being utterly wasted.

I think I'd also throw in Nick and his cougar who he isn't remotely interested in but has decided to commit to anyway. And Tracy who has once again got away with a crime, albeit an accidental one. Her ex husband bores me senseless as well.

Sadly I think it can get worse. You can already see cracks with Sally and Tim (I hope this is a short term thing as they really are the best double act around at the moment) and there's more mileage in the Gail vs Eileen fighting over the simpering burglar crap. And of course while Sean remains on the Street there is always potential for the acting standard to sink to a new low.

I agree with most of your OP, especially the bit about Cathy. Most depressing soap character ever.

Whilst I agree that Simon is an ungrateful brat, at least there is some decent acting and it will be interesting to see if Leanne can rebuild her relationship with Simon, plus the storyline is not another romance one for Leanne.

Totally agree with your axe list, none of those characters have done anything interesting in years. All are past their sell by date.

I quite like Bethany, I think she does have potential as she does have a bit of spark about her, just a shame she's involved in this god awful storyline with Callum. \

Fab post.

I might keep Nick as he is relatively normal but the cougar needs to bugger off back to
Cougarville.

Maria needs to go too she is another waste of space character. She must have shagged every bloke in Weatherfield bar Sean. I am sure more interesting hairdressers could be brought in to work at Audreh's.

Sally and Tim are two of the few characters that keep me watching, they work brilliantly and give the show a bit of light relief. Tim is my favourite character at the moment. I just hope the Hat doesn't turn him into a peeping tom with the window cleaning. Lol. Anything is possible

Tracey needs to be brought to justice, she literally gets away with murder. Another character who needs to leave.

Robert Preston could be interesting as a newbie he is played by a good actor.

Jane Danson is one of the better actors and a bit underused.

Totally agree. We wizz through an episode in 10 minutes now as we purposely fast forward any scenes with that awful bag lady they have hooked Roy up with and anything with the bunch of inbreds in the Tinker house. Put her with Roy and you have the biggest buzzkill couple in soap history. Its totally unwatchable at the moment. A complete snoozefest. They could'nt even make Deirdre's funeral emotional or "decent". Its complete rubbish.

Alya and her family have failed miserabley. She is passable on her own but hooking her up with Gary is totally crazy. He's a complete brain dead dullard with no redeeminf features. For gods sake, it was only 5 minutes ago he was breaking into Roys cafe and robbing him. All totally forgotten.

Sinead is half decent on her own but again teaming her up with Chesney and braindead Beth and Kirk is dooming her from the start. Where do you start with the rest of the crap. Sarah, Bethany and Callums acting make Sarah Harding look like Daniel Day Lewis. Watching Les Dennis and awful Eileen get it on makes me want to vomit.

The show is doomed. Simon looks like he is wearing a wig and fake facial hair which is sprouting out of all directions. Remiinds me of this -

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/...20121120162634

This shocked me as I've always liked Dreary, but I didn't feel a thing during her funeral, it was all a bit "meh"

How fast?

Maybe ITV haven't took action due to the contractual obligations with the EP and producer.

Or maybe they've just accepted the golden era is over and now the show is a shadow of it's former self, but still gets millions of viewers which keeps them and the advertisers happy.

Kevin suddenly turning into Sir Alan Sugar is a bit of character stretch. Just a plot device to get Sally interested in him again as in her eyes he is "going places", as opposed to Tim. Never mind that Kevin and Sally have worked better apart for years and Sally with Tim is better than Sally ever was with Kevin.
The awful house that is the Brown/Sutherlands - it's like a half way home cum care in the community for the mentally challenged.
Kathy is dreadful. Completely drags down Roy.
Carla's two minute gambling addiction was hilariously bad.
And as for Callum - that utter cretin is single handily making me want to stop watching completely.
I can't think of any storyline that is interesting/gripping. Maybe Leanne and Simon but that's about it.

I agree with most of what has been said, it's a shambles at the moment. Most of the storylines this year have been dross! Sarah-Lou has been a disaster since returning, Bethany has potential but the Callum story is dragging her down. The worse thing this year, I think, has been Fayes baby story - could have been okay if handled sensitively, but typically just wrapped up in a couple of episodes with Miley being shuttled off to Dads.

I refuse to believe that Alya would be interested in Gary, ditto Eileen and Michael. They've ruined Carla, turning her into a gambler overnight, leading to yet another bailout by a fella at the factory. Yawn.

There are very few positives about the state of the show at the moment - Sally and Tim being one, but that will probably be scuppered soon enough. Jane Danson as Leanne is one of the best soap actresses, I'm sure she will handle her upcoming saga well, just a shame it's a horrible plotline.

Don't think it's ever been this bad 😦
Last edited by BlondeGremlin : 02-08-2015 at 17:28

Clearly not the show it once was I've decided to stop watching a long time ago

What an imaginative thread title, something we've never seen fifty billion gazillion and three hundred and twenty-four timer before.

I think you are right there.

Alot has to do with rehearsals. Theres practically none. That way you get more for your money. The actors learn their lines and then are straight in front of a camera.

Coronation Street is only good for laughing at...

Go back to 3 episodes a week, Monday, weds, fri and focus more on quality not quantity

The cast is too big. The pacing is wrong. Storylines don't get a proper conclusion. The writing is dreadful. I actually thought the show was improving but the last couple of weeks have been dire.

When I miss Corrie for whatever reason I'm not overly bothered. I just watch out of habit and when it's on I've ended up reading snippets from a new book or looking on the internet with Corrie in the background. I missed some last week and couldn't be bothered to watch the weekend omnibus. I might catch up on Monday morning but I'm not that fussed. It's just become so boring! I don't much care for half of the characters. I like Tony and Callum's characters and storylines but even then I know I'm not missing anything exciting if I don't catch an episode. I'm not bothered at all about the Nazirs. Chesney and Sinead are utterly, utterly dull. Fiz and Tyrone are boring and since Kirsty left they have had little in the way of stories that interest me. I can't stand Lloyd and Andrea. Dev and Sean are both played by atrocious actors.
The best characters are Tim and Sally who I love. Sally is so funny! The actress who plays Sally (also called Sally) is brilliant and is currently wasted in an otherwise dull Corrie. I quite like Cathy even though she's unpopular on here. I know two hoarders personally and I know both of them find their homes distressing. One of them ended up setting fire to his flat as he couldn't cope with it any more and literally everything in it was destroyed and lost. Since the fire he has hoarded again and ended up moving out into his boyfriend's home where he can't do it as the other half is tidy. I find this particular issue storyline OK (but not fantastic). Gail is a ridiculous character. Her stupid facial expressions drive me mad as does her simpering voice. She's become nothing but a joke. Mary is pointless and boring. I really dislike The Burglar. He's so boring I drift off when he's onscreen. I'm not bothered about Eileen who isn't remotely interesting. Basically Coronation Street has gone right downhill. Half the cast are played by dire actors and actresses, the writing is hopeless and the people in charge need firing. For a soap that's been on for decades it's very poor. I think it's only history and nostalgia that keeps people watching. If it was a new soap it would probably go the same way as Brookside.

I think it's going to get worse next week. According to the summaries in my paper, ]Sarah

Then later on robert -

I can't believe how much Kevin has changed. He has more bags than Heathrow airport. And that dirty grey beard. Kev now looks about 65.