I suppose there’s some wisdom in that but for me the answer for whether or not Phelan cares for Eileen is simple: He doesn’t. I think that’s been spelled out in black and white quite well, it’s just not everyone agrees. In that sense, he’s perhaps less three-dimensional than other villains, who all seemed to have people they definitely cared about. With Phelan, all we’ve got is an episode or two of him telling Eileen to go to the doctor about her hearing, against months of him treating her like a slightly annoying meal ticket that he’s clearly going to ditch the moment he no longer needs her. I agree Conor McIntyre is doing a good job, but for me that good job is portraying Phelan as someone who’s just scum and doesn’t care about anyone. He’ll be nice to them or help them out if it’s not too much trouble and he’s got no reason not to, but that’s not the same as caring about them. I’m also struggling to see how the characters are starting to question him. With a very few exceptions who you could count on the fingers of one hand, most of whom have got first hand evidence of his evil side, everyone just seems to accept him without question: Witness the way that everyone who didn’t hate him anyway just shrugged off his involvement in the flat scam. I’d rather have a cycle of villains coming in and their storylines finishing than an endless cyclic of “Phelan does something bad, he gets away with it, Phelan does something else bad, he gets away with it”, which for me is the definition of boring. Running a villain into the ground by dragging their storyline out past its end date (which, frankly, is what’s already happened) just makes everyone involved look bad: The bad guy that he keeps screwing up and failing to get what he wants, the good guys that they keep failing to stop or even recognise the bad guy.

How many times now over the Xmas period have we been subjected to the cheap, mawkish use of incidental music which Miss Oates seems more than fond of?!
It is a cheap, lazy tactic to stir up emotion in the viewers that has no place on Corrie.

Occasionally, incidental music can fit certain scenes brilliantly- when used sparingly. Such examples include Waltzing Matilda being played over the Street party coming to a close and Norris mourning Ramsay; All I Want Is You at the end of Tram Crash Week; Rita singing A Winter's Tale on Christmas Day 2010 and even recently when Silent Sheep's All We Do was used at the end of David's revenge week. The use of it on Christmas Day and in last night's episode, however, felt a little too forced and needlessly stylised.

More the issue for me over the past few weeks has been the breakneck pace at which storylines have been unfolding. Everything is beginning to feel very rushed and unnatural. I know that producers feel the pressure to make make every storyline explosive and dramatic to draw the viewers in, but it's beginning to feel old-hat now. Take Mary's storyline for example: after an initially promising start and some heartrending scenes between her and Norris as she revealed her dark secret, the plot has suddenly now accelerated to the point where Mary has not only found Jude and has bonded with him, but has now packed up and about to emigrate to South Africa with him? It's sadly become nonsensical. There's been no real sense of realism whatsoever here, and it's such a shame given that it's been Mary's first dramatic storyline during her time on the show. I really do hope that this pace is not going to be a permanent feature now on the show, as it will only serve to alienate viewers who have invested in these characters and storylines. 2017 is going to see some very hard-hitting subject matter in the form of Michelle's miscarriage and Bethany's grooming. These sensitive issues deserve a lot more respect than the issue box ticking approach that Blackburn took during his tenure. We need to see the devastating impact that these issues have not just on the characters directly involved, but also on their family members. Crucially, we can't just see these storylines resolved in three to four episodes. Aftermath is more difficult for writers to get right, but they have a duty to portray the all-too-real consequences with the screen time it deserves.

I did think the sad music at the end of the Christmas Eve episode worked, with little Liam & the snow globe but other than that I'm not normally a big fan!!

Happy New Year, everyone! Don't forget that we have Corrie on tonight.

On a completely unrelated note, has anyone else seen from upcoming spoilers that Toyah is going to look for work in the Rovers?! Initially I was impressed to hear that she had been working as a counsellor in her time away from the Street, as it made sense that she would pursue work in this field given the harrowing experience of her rape back in 2001. Toyah went to university and built a career for herself when she left the Street. Why the hell do we have to see her back in the Rovers? It really bugged me when they did that with Sarah when she returned from Milan, and now they appear content to do that with Toyah as well?! Disappointing. I don't understand why we couldn't have seen her take on a counselling role in the community centre? I think that she would work well alongside a strong female character like Yasmeen. Why are the writers always so bloody lazy when it comes to these things?

Amen to that!!! Totally agree!!

Happy New Year Boogie!!

You too, notdebbiedingle! I take it that you'll be heading the new Free the Weatherfield One campaign?😅

Strangely no!!
I have always been of the opinion that Maria should face the consequences for the marriage thing!!
The scenes with Liam on Christmas eve were heartbreaking but I'm still glad she was sent down!!
It gave a satisfactory closure to a s/l that was destined to be consigned to the rubbish dump under Blackburn & for me, once the Caz thing was ended it's given some superb drama!!
I realise others don't agree with me here!!

I really hope that Oates does justice to Michelle's miscarriage storyline. It's a devastating story to tell that will undoubtedly resonate with many couples out there who have suffered such a tragic loss. I have a fear that we'll just see the initial scenes of Steve and Michelle struggling with their loss at the hospital, a smattering of scenes at the Rovers and then see it being used as a springboard for a potential affair between Robert and Michelle. Storyline finished. I really will be annoyed if this is the planned route for this story. A sensitive plot like this needs time to breathe and develop at a believable pace over time. There are so many areas that can be touched upon here: how will this affect Steve and his mental health? Something as devastating as this could easily trigger his depression once again. How will Leanne deal with this? Will her own miscarriage be referred to? Liz suffered a stillbirth back in 1992- will she speak about this? Most importantly, how will Michelle deal with this? Who will she lash out at? Who will she blame? Will she feel a need to maintain a facade for Steve? Tracy suffered a miscarriage with Steve years ago- will this be mentioned? What steps will Michelle take to deal with this? Will we see her in counselling? Corrie have a huge responsibility with this and I am hoping they do it justice.

The only thing that's keeping me remotely interested is Jenny Bradley. I'm not a fan of a scheming, brazen 'hussies', but the actress plays the part well. She's multi-layered and I hope they explore her vulnerable side again.........unlike Tracy, she has more to give and it would be a shame if she turns into a panto bitch.