Oh no . it's good I myself are enjoying it more of Late, And looking forward to seeing all the Barlows,

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Oh yeah I know Adrian!! Do enjoy reading your positive comments too!!

I'm just disappointed that so many people seem to be knocking Kym Marsh Fan, a new poster for giving positive comments, not including you in that!!

There is room on the forum for all views & by and large most posters respect that!! I for one am finding KMF's little snippets a breath of fresh air in a sea of general negativity atm!!

Barlows arriving tonight, so this is the first sign of Kate's new characters for t'show.

She will be judged hugely upon how fans take to Daniel and Adam. Peter's return has really worked well and felt quite seamless, so hoping for more of the same here. I'm even confident that Sam Robertson's acting has improved since his last stint, as he was awful back then!

So, we had the first proper exit under Oates air tonight (not really counting Sharif's off-screen exit) with Michael Rodwell succumbing to a heart attack after his final showdown with Phelan. What did folk think?

I liked his exit. And I maybe in the immortality but I felt bad for Michael. Was quite a grim episode.

After what I considered a truly appalling first episode I actually thought Michael's exit was quite fitting, given that his heart has been an issue for most of his time on the show and for Phelan to have murdered him would have made him just another soap cliche!! Phelan came across totally loathsome, which was exactly how it was intended so well done Connor McIntyre for that!!

Now can we please put this bloody 'flats that don't exist' s/l out of it's misery as well asap!!
I have never found it the least bit compelling or believable from the start & lost interest months ago!!

I'm still in judgement on the Barlows, liking Daniel so far, Adam I think they are trying too hard with & making him unlikeable so far!! There isn't room for two completely unlikeable Barlows for me & a Tracy/Adam double act is most certainly NOT what I had in mind when their return was anmounced!! Adam needs his face rearranging a couple of times to bring
him down a peg or two imo!!

I know others will disagree but I am seriously unimpressed with the fact that we have highly emotional & harrowing scenes of Maria being locked up on the Monday & then the whole thing forgotten about completely by the friday, not to be mentioned again for a whole fortnight!! What on earth was the point in taking it to that stage then losing all the impetus gained?? No one on the Street seems to even care that the sweet natured girl who does most of their hair has suddenly been arrested & locked up on a murder charge!!

I'm slightly disappointed that they chose to kill Michael in this way but I believe it was Les Dennis' decision to leave so I guess the options were limited. I do find it's hard to truly judge a storyline until it's over so we'll have to wait and see how things play out with Phelan and whether it gets resolved quickly and satisfactorily or gets dragged out too long or never really gets resolved at all. I'm hoping for the former, naturally.

I agree that Adam's taken a bunch of obnoxious pills while he's been away. I'm also disappointed in the lack of follow-through for Maria. Kirk spoke to her on the phone on Wednesday, at which point I'd almost forgotten about her already, but nothing since. I guess the fact we've had four episodes set on the same day hasn't helped, since there's not been much to report, but is she meant to be having a bail hearing the next day or what? And what's the point of locking her up if we don't see it?

It was great to see the Barlows back in force this week as they rallied around Ken. Cheesy as it was, I actually liked the audacious and cheeky style of Adam returning with the less than subtle nod to Mike. Let's not forget that he was an audacious character himself, so it was actually fitting that Adam's entrance with the flash motor, the cigar and the whiskey paid homage to those elements of his character. Daniel's entrance, as is true to his unassuming and reserved nature, was much more understated and it was great seeing Peter stand up and include him in the clan. Speaking of Peter, I'm loving the direction they've taken him in so far. He's rising to the mantle of now being head of the family and is taking more responsibility, which he never really did before. Being the flawed character that he is, trouble is never far behind, however, and I'm intrigued to know the connection between him and the stranger peering in the windows at No. 1.

Why oh why resurrect Bumbling Brian? I really don't see the point of him without Julie. Sadly, it looks like he's around to stay when he starts lodging with Norris and Sean. I think that Oates sees a lot of the old style Corrie comedy in him a la Reg Holdsworth and Archie Shuttleworth but I think she's seeking out the light-hearted in the wrong places. I'd much rather see an archetypal battleaxe on the cobbles passing judgement on everyone else.

I personally liked Michael's exit and thought it was quite a fitting way for him to go. We again saw more layers to Phelan with the dark anecdote about shooting the rabbit when he was younger and blessing himself when he saw that Michael had finally died. Whilst Michael was never one of my favourite characters, he did enjoy his scenes last night and actually found it quite poignant when he was gasping Gary's name, but he didn't see him as he lay dying.

This week was quite decent (with the exception of the ludicrous Caz and Maria scenes and tedious Brian's return) and I do feel that Oates is making progress. On reflection, it was probably naive of me to think that she would come in and immediately turn the show around. There are still weak points and much work to do, but I feel that it's going in the right direction. I'll definitely be happy once the daft Caz plot is dead and buried as it's the major sticking point for me right now. I'm not a major fan of the McDonald pregnancies either, but I would much rather watch that than endure more ridiculous scenes of glaring police ineptitude and implausible jump-the-shark moments of Caz sneaking around the Street undisguised and nobody spotting her.

I'm worried for Andy now with Phelan after the scene the other night.

So far, Corrie is so much better than Eastenders.

Oliver Farnsworth is crying out for some decent material as Andy. Apart from his entrance storyline where he impersonated Gavin Rodwell and hooked up with Steph, what else has he really done? It's a real shame as he's a very likeable character played by a good actor. I really do hope that he has a hand in Phelan's eventual downfall.

Nice to see that other forum members are beginning to see positive changes in Corrie right now:
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2189959

I would, however, like to see Oates make some bolder moves in terms of cast. With the show going to six episodes per week, we are not going to see a mass cast cull, but there are some characters who have naturally reached their end on the show. Izzy Armstrong is one such character for me, and I can't understand why she's still there.

I really like the new Barlows, especially Daniel.

Of the two new additions to the Barlow family, I definitely prefer Daniel. It's really refreshing to have a quietly spoken, sensitive and well-read male on the Street. It's going to be really interesting to see how he interacts with alpha males like Peter and Adam. It was a stroke of genius making him a younger Ken and I loved the moment the other night when Peter and Tracy looked at one another knowingly after Peter said that Daniel is like the child that Ken always wanted. Whilst he is unassuming and reserved, I still think he is going to be a compelling character and I can't wait to see how he fits in with other residents on the Street. I also think that the revitalised family unit will benefit Tracy's character and make her more rounded.

Nodded my head throughout this post. Absolutely agree. Am delighted that Peter has returned, and having him in scenes with Tracy almost make it appear that Kate Forde can act. Sort of.

The Caz storyline is beyond tedious. Needs to be over and done with ASAP.

Early days yet, IMO, re Kate Oates. I do think she did a lot of good work in Emmerdale. I like some of what happened so far in Corrie, and I like seeing some characters being brought to the fore who were neglected in the previous regime.

Not sure why Brian was brought back. I don't find him an interesting or amusing character. Looking forward to seeing how the Barlows get on. Not to mention how they all fit in that house...

Phelan is a brilliant villain. Long may he reign !

Brian being brought back baffles me. We need to get rid of some deadwood not introduce more of it.

Another positive Corrie thread on here: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2190227

A couple of very strong episodes tonight following on from Friday night's dramatic scenes. I loved all the Phelan scenes and his furious outburst at the wheel of his car reminded me of Kerry Fox's character screaming after discovering that she had been double crossed in 'Shallow Grave'. It's interesting to hear Connor McIntyre saying that the scam plot is very much secondary to what is to come, and how the upcoming months will see a lot more lives affected by him, outside of the ones who have been scammed. Tonight's episodes flowed really as the writing has really tightened up. Oates is doing a great job of balancing storylines and it was great to see other minor storylines like Gemma's Good Samaritan award and Roy's pre-wedding anxiety play out amongst the big hitters of Michael's body being discovered, the Platts in devastation and Phelan getting swindled by Vinny (Ian Kelsey was a great guest star). The new dynamic at the Barlows really has breathed some new life into No 1 and I'm thrilled that it's becoming a focal point on the show once again.

I've enjoyed it for the first time in years the past week (minus the Maria stuff)

Very much a mixed bag for me. I'm really enjoying the new family dynamic in the Barlow household, but the Maria storyline is ludicrous. It's good to see Maria taking centre stage, but the storyline is so full of gaping plot holes.

Thankfully, it looks like it comes to a head next week when . It really has been the glaring bomb from Oates' tenure so far and I hope that her and her team have learned something from this flop of a storyline. Having said that, Samia Ghadie has done her best with the shoddy material that she's been given and she has a believable chemistry with Shayne Ward. It was interesting to see on another thread that the majority of fans want him and Maria to get together, and I'm one of them.

Just watched last night's episodes (I've skipped the rest of last weeks') and I have to say I'd forgotten how much I hated Brian.

Irritating isn't the word!

Agree with you about Brian. It wouldn't surprise me if they put him with Mary.

Is there anyone out that who originally voted "not impressed so far" who'd now change their mind? Fans appear to be heaping praise upon it in the last week or so.

Great week last week. Fantastic decision from Oates to reinstate the Barlows too.

However I still don't trust her not to retcon or change characters. The upcoming sounds abysmal.

Has that been confirmed yet?

It hasn't been confirmed but there were pictures of location shooting so I think it's true.

It's classic Oates though. She has form for it.