It was never confirmed and the only news outlet reporting it was the Daily Mail so I have no doubt in my mind at all that it is a massive red herring

A red herring for what?

Maybe it's actually Erica who's decided to search for her long lost son.

Ah. That makes sense.

At least I hope so. Mary being is definitely a retcon too far as you were saying, Sorcha.

Another strong episode tonight IMO, as the fallout from Michael's death and the flat scam continued. That scene with Eileen discovering the truth was brilliantly acted by Sue Cleaver. I know that she divides opinion on here, but I thought she really was a standout tonight. There was also some interesting use of camera tonight and I thought the low angle shot of Todd on the Street was a very fitting end. Once again, I'm looking forward to the next few episodes and it's been quite a while since I've been able to say that. I really do hope that this quality is maintained.

I think it would be more a retcon for Erica to go after a long lost child since she never mentioned it during her miscarriage, then it would be for Mary who has never mentioned much from her past, from past relationships other than her overbearing mother.

Corrie has a lot of form where long lost children are concerned. However times have changed and while Betty and Bet's long lost children in the 1970s was credible, when it comes out of the blue in this day and age it just isn't

Have to say that Daniel is one of the highlights on the show for me right now, and I believe that he'll be integral to the rejuvenation of the Barlow family unit. This is a long lost child plot that actually works for me, but I know where you're coming from. Jenna entering Lloyd's life a few years back was totally superfluous and did little for his character. Ken's discovery back in 2010 that he had fathered a child with Susan Cunningham back in the sixties was another plot that just fizzled away to nothing. I would have liked a reference to Lawrence recently when Peter was contacting members of the family to inform them of Ken's stroke, even if it was just to say that he couldn't get in contact with him. James will understandably remain forever forgotten after he did a runner with all that cash from the charity that Sophie and Sian volunteered for.

Daniel is a wonderful addition to the cast

He is.

The Wednesday episodes are a highlight because it's just 30 minutes and the writers can be as creative as possible.

Todd bluntly telling Eileen the whole thing was a scam was brilliant. Under Blackburn this would've been stretched out.

Yes, I quite often enjoy the standalone Wednesday episodes more for the very reason that there isn't the same pressure as there is on the first episodes we get on Mondays and Fridays to drive towards what can quite often be rushed, ham-fisted cliffhangers. The writers definitely have more freedom to be more character-driven rather than forcing characters into illogical situations in a misguided attempt to generate drama.

I thought that last night's offering was good, but tonight's was even better. I love storytelling that draws many different characters together and that's exactly what we had tonight. Look at who we had in the Rovers tonight directly and indirectly involved in this: Phelan, Eileen, Todd, Billy, Sarah, David, Gary, Rita, Jenny, Yasmeen, Andy, Anna and Kevin. Wonderful. Not only does a story like this draw the affected characters all together, but also allows for some truly excellent character-driven moments. The writing was taut, true to character and realistic, complemented by some brilliant acting. It really does show what the actors can do when they are given material that matches their talent: Tina O'Brien is a perfect example of that, with all of her scenes since the live episode. The atmosphere was suitably tense in the pub and filled with many great moments: Todd struggling to find the words to tell everyone, Phelan making an unexpected entrance, Rita's fire and compassion when speaking about Michael's death, Anna's emotional outburst at Phelan, Todd's expression of hurt, shame and guilt when Sarah spoke of her betrayal etc. Interestingly, it was a much longer scene than usual and was all the better for it. Nothing felt rushed and everyone had a chance to shine. One of the best episodes this year. I really do hope that this is the show on its way back up. If we could get the quality that we've had over the past week on regular basis, then we'll see Corrie back to being No. 1 amongst the soaps.

Shame to see that the amount of you not enjoying the show stands at a pretty sizeable 46%

I think there are still misfires. I liked the way that Phelan’s storyline was developing on Wednesday but two episodes later he’s back living with Eileen as if nothing happened, with no-one suspicious of his role in events except Anna (who was suspiciously already) and Andy. Not that I don’t appreciate them finding a role for Andy but it makes the whole thing seem like a waste of time. The lack of follow-up on Maria all week is another weakness .

A lot of people voted a while ago though, and you can't update your vote.

True, I regret now adding the thread so early on. I reckon if I added it just a few weeks ago (although I'm not even sure if you can do that so long after the thread has been created) the results could be very different to what we're seeing at the moment.

Maybe contact the mods , ask them to close this theeas and make a Part 2 with a new poll?

The quality has shot up since you started the thread.

This week has been one of the best in ages.

Still a bit iffy in parts but definitely on an upward trend.

It was a great week. I found Friday's first episode weaker than all the others, but it was still pretty decent. The ending of Friday's second was interesting: what kind of criminal activity has Adam got himself into? The Barlow scenes were a joy to watch and I can't wait to see all the action unfolding there over the Christmas period.

Thank God the Caz plot has finally finished. It was a disaster from start to finish: Rhea Bailey's struggle in playing a villain, dire writing, jump-the-shark moments of her hanging around the Street and letting herself in and out of Maria's flat in broad daylight without being seen, Kate and the police being portrayed as completely idiotic etc. It was the prime example of a storyline driven by plot that had the intention of being gripping, taut and menacing, but was about enthralling as a Last of the Summer Wine boxset marathon. Viewers and critics really derided it, and rightly so. All we can hope is that the Corrie team have seen the failure of this storyline and learned something from it.

People on here will know that I was initially sceptical about the Mary storyline when I first heard about it. However, I have to admit that I have been impressed with how they've developed it so far. The unspoiled twist of Mary actually giving birth when she was 14 as a result of being raped was a genuinely shocking moment that I never suspected was coming. It really was a powerful revelation and the understated scenes with her revealing the horrible truth to Norris were tenderly written and excellently acted by Patti Clare and Malcolm Hebden. It's not often that we see Norris's more human and compassionate side, but when we do it really is a treat: his genuine loneliness a few months back when Kirk moved back in with Beth, that brilliantly subtle scene of him clearing Betty's Gazette account after she passed away, his devastation when Ramsay died etc. I think seeing this more serious side sparingly is integral to the character remaining fresh.

The Barlows continue to be a real highlight, especially Daniel and Peter. I am, however, disappointed to see Ken's speedy recovery from his stroke. I know is possible in real life, but it still feels like a slight injustice to what the story could have been. That aside, I find Daniel's character enigmatic, multi-layered and refreshingly unique. The same cannot be said for Adam, the lad about town, but the juxtaposition in him and Daniel has a lot of dramatic potential further down the line. Tracy has really benefitted having her family members around her, and she's definitely more credible as a character in the domestic scenes at No. 1 sparring with Peter and co. Even the seemingly trivial scene tonight of Peter finding Tracy's tapes (a real point of amusement on here) was clever and quite self-referential in my opinion.

I am excited about Corrie again and genuinely do think it's improved remarkably when you compare it with this time last year. There's plenty going on, genuinely shocking twists like the one involving Mary last night and the cast rotation has improved so much. Characters like Gail have become strong again and there's a sense of characters' lives becoming intertwined on a much wider scale. I have high hopes for this Christmas and am looking forward to in particular.

I agree boggie woogie, but there is still a long way to go before I feel Corrie can be really must-see essential viewing.

There really needs to be a clear out of some waste of space characters just to refresh the show, and give it time to breath. There are too many cling on characters that do nothing.

Additionally I would like to see Corrie avoid any more stunts, and just focus on kitchen sink drama. Stunts never really work on Corrie when they are forgotten about so quickly.

Only the Tram Crash had lasting impact. All the stunt impacts under Blackburn lasted all of 1 or 2 at a push episodes.

I do agree regarding your point on stunts. As you've rightly said, the tram crash is the only stunt in recent years that's had any kind of lasting impact. Whilst I enjoyed the special week in October and David's vendetta against Clayton, the aftermath of the crash and his role in it has all too conveniently been brushed aside. We didn't even have a scene of him seeing Anna for the first time after the accident. He is responsible for her extensive injuries, yet this hasn't played out on screen. I expected her to rail at him- which would be true to character- but no such scene has materialised.

I think the Mary storyline has worked because of the acting (and possibly because no-one really cared about Mary's back story anyway). That was some good stuff between her and Norris on Wednesday, but as with a lot of storylines the proof will be in how they develop it past the big shock.

The Barlow stuff has been variable. Tracy's still a waste of screen time and has now been joined by Adam, who's played by the same actor but otherwise seems to bear no resemblance to the character he once was, and I can't say I'm interested in his criminal antics which will likely have no real consequence. Daniel has been a bit of a hit though and I liked that they managed to twist what happened with his mother without anyone noticing. I'm slightly bothered by the off-screen character assassination of Denise, but she did abandon Daniel for her new boyfriend when she and Ken split up so I guess it's in character, and we perhaps haven't got the whole story. Also, my fears of Peter seem unfounded and we're getting a character who's trying to step up and be the eldest son of the family and watch out for everyone else while still getting it wrong sometimes, as with forgetting Simon's counselling session. Also glad that they seem to have stopped trying to make out Leanne and Nick are some golden couple and instead remembered that Nick's an enormous twonk.

Unfortunately, they're still trying to force Aidan and Maria, a pairing so random and ridiculous that the actors are having to make up stuff in interviews that's never been shown or mentioned on screen in order to justify it. It doesn't help that all three characters in the triangle are rather unlikable: Eva's irritating, Aidan's a rat and Maria's a snobby hypocrite, and I'm hoping she does get locked up again to give us a break. Won't be though.

One plus is that Alya still hasn't made up with the rest of the Nazirs when I was expecting the show to rush to reinstate the status quo. Long may it continue!

Yes, it has been refreshing to see Alya still being estranged from her family. Far too often on Corrie we see characters accepted back into the family fold far too quickly after some serious misdeeds- the street hardly batting an eyelid when Tracy was released from prison has been one of the many examples we've seen over the years.

I have to say that I loved the organic and natural feel of Wednesday and Thursday's character-driven episodes with Mary's dark revelation, Peter and Leanne reminiscing about their past and Daniel bonding with Peter after his statement to the police about Denise. Compare them to last night's poor offering that saw lots of filler with Cathy and Roy's wedding nonsense and it is quite striking. I really do hope that Oates is planning on keeping Roy by himself after all this palava with the increasingly irritating Cathy. It never really rang true that Roy would enter into another relationship so soon after Hayley's demise. Hayley was his soul mate and no matter how much the writers try, nothing will ever recapture the magic that he and Hayley had. For me, they're up there as iconic couples alongside the likes of Jack and Vera, Steve and Karen, David and Kylie etc.

I was going to post this in another thread (getting ready to be shouted at here) but I wanted to consider the Christmas Day episode in the context of Oates' tenure to date. For me- as stated before- there have been plenty of positives to her reign so far, but I really do think that she misjudged the ingredients that should go into a Corrie Christmas Day special.

Let's start with a few positives. Thankfully, it wasn't the saccharine smaltzfest that was last year's terrible offering. Wisely, the team this year decided to sidestep the clichéd customary tradition of it snowing on Christmas Day (Emmerdale should really have taken note with that one), which was a refreshingly realistic touch. For me, Lucy Fallon has been a revelation this year as Bethany and has quickly become one of the show's current bright spots. The development of her self esteem and body confidence issues throughout the year has been done quite realistically from the initial bullying to being further compounded by Sarah's breakdown, Kylie's sudden and tragic death and now her feelings towards Gary being exposed. It has been one disaster after another for Bethany, and Fallon has played it brilliantly. When Bethany first stepped on to the cobbles she was a brash (and quite frankly tiresome) brat. Over time, we've seen Bethany's vulnerability come to the surface and it's always felt heartbreakingly true. Fallon's performance last night was excellent as we saw Bethany tragically press the self-destruct button once more, this time placing herself unwittingly into the hands of sinister newcomer, Nathan. As we know, this is the beginning of a very dark storyline for Bethany and I am sure that Fallon will continue to do it justice.

Coupled with some excellent acting by Fallon, I really enjoyed seeing Malcolm Hebden getting to explore the more compassionate and humane side to Norris once more, as he implored Mary to forgive him. It's rare that we see this side to his usually arcebic character, and him openly acknowledging this to Roy and Brian really was a quietly powerful and understated moment of self-awareness. He really has been an excellent supporting character in Mary's storyline and Mary forgiving him was one of the few truly heart-warming moments- along with David "speaking" with Kylie for Lily's sake- that we had last night.

And the rest you ask? Well, it really just felt like a disjointed mess of contrived moments and poor writing. For me, a lot of the problem was that there was simply too much going on, which just made everything feel diluted: Sarah discovering Bethany's crush on Gary, Bethany overdosing, Toyah returning, the (sadly predictable) reveal of her being Peter's secret lover, the 5,452nd fight between Peter and Nick, the contrived fight between Sally and Michelle over the present mix-up, Andy and Phelan at the hospital, Eileen setting a wedding date with Phelan, Billy taking in Shona, the introduction of Nathan, Mary's son Jude turning up...phew! It just felt very plot driven last night for the sake of cramming as much drama as possible into the hour. For a start, Toyah's much heralded comeback seemed like a footnote. She has long been regarded as a classic Corrie character, but everything about her as an individual and everything that made Toyah the person that she was just felt secondary to giving her a dramatic entrance, whilst quickly bobbing along to the reveal of her as Peter's secret lover. Don't get me wrong, I am delighted to have an actress of Georgia Taylor's considerable talent back on the cobbles, but it all felt like it was done at a breakneck pace last night. I am not casting judgement on her pairing with Peter yet, so we'll see where they decide to go with that. I really do hope that we get some scenes of her reminiscing about Les and Janice, whilst revisiting her old connections with characters like Ken, Roy and Fiz.

Was that childish and laughable fight between Nick and Peter really necessary? Again, the plot device of the Bros tape seemed too contrived and I don't think revisiting Nick's insecurity and paranoia around Peter being back should have been the focal point of Christmas Day.

The hospital scenes between Phelan and Andy were total filler and did nothing to advance that storyline in any sort of meaningful way. Andy trying to poison him in his hospital bed? Really?

In short, EastEnders got it right this year, and Corrie didn't. Sacrificing a sense of community and family for some contrived, rushed drama amongst small pockets of characters is not the answer.

Duplicated