Sharing the burden
If you watched Corrie in January it was all about Carla and Tracy. Carla this, Tracy that. Carla booked their wedding in May, so it was tedious thinking (and knowing!) how she'll leave. Tracy would blab during the wedding, NOTHING would go to plan and she left with her tail between her legs.

In fact Blackburn made no secret of the fact he LOVED Carla. She was getting all the powerful storylines, while the rest were fed scraps. There is a better balance now between the leading ladies - Leanne and Maria are showing what they are capable of, as is Michelle and Anna.

Don't get me wrong, Alison King is a great actress and while some aren't in the same league as her, I'd rather give characters a chance than overexpose others.

There's a good mix of characters too........ones you never dreamt of. Anna and Sarah, Gary and Michael, Kirk and Norris, Tracy and Luke.

Roots
They have built up the Barlows. Toyah is returning. I love Gemma's transformation from a gobby mare to an independent, streetwise woman. More importantly, scenes like the one Brian shared with Roy was CLASSIC Corrie............it stayed true to character and it captured my attention. No stunts, no action, just talking over lost time. It was that good I stopped my ironing.

They are working on dialogues............yes, some things are contrived, but Rome wasn't built in a day!! It takes time to get rid of bad practices.

Oates
Kate Oates is not the saviour. She is not a demi-god, messiah, or deliverer rolled into one. I believe Corrie management could do with a good clean top to bottom.

But what she does bring is hope. It was getting extremely stale under Blackburn, given he revealed gossip months in advance. New producers bring new ideas, and it will be interesting to see what she has achieved in a year's time.

So there you are. You are bound to disagree, but I am all ears.

I'm with you on this. For ages I have watched it on catch up and fast forwarded through most of it but now I find I'm doing that a lot less, the story and character interactions are catching my attention and it's worth watching. I hope it carries on, happy days.

The best thing that has happened, in my view, is the return of Peter Barlow. That always helps, I find.

I agree, something attractive about him.

Corrie still has margins of deadwood but I am enjoying a lot more lately, some of the new additions and returns are probably helping.

I do think it's improving and us More Watchable

Loving the positive Corrie threads & agree with everything you've said Mrs L!!

It's infinitely more watchable.

People complain about the Caz/Maria plot but I don't mind it since at least the plot is going in a direction, even if it's not that feasible. It's not as bad as some people make out IMO. There's a lot going on across the show right now.

The Barlows have breathed new life into the show, Toyah's return will do the same. The Phelan plot is watchable as well, and there are plenty of new directions this can go in. Above all I'm loving all the character interaction and nods to the past.

One thing annoying me is Anna, Debbie Rush is overacting pain IMO and her anguished/over-laboured look is quite laborious to watch.

It's still not perfect but it's so much better than it was, and it's only the start. It'll take until next year for us to be fully in to the new reign of KO.

Agree completely with your sentiment about ole Ma Windarse.
I know someone who actually had their leg amputated who didn't make as much of a meal out of it as she's doing.

Of course Anna is totally in her element.
She loves nothing more than to be brimming with self pity and having her hapless, brain dead seemingly, family running rings around her.
She's the most horrible type of a woman who milks every little complaint for all its worth and laps up any consequent bit of sympathy from anyone gullible enough to give it.
The big hard done by poor wee woman who's not being given the attention she rightly deserves who turns vicious rattlesnake with anyone who tackles her over her many, many failings. Such as her ridiculous caring/abusive parenting techniques or her snideness to anyone she thinks has a glimmer of more class than herself.

Horrible, overused, tedious, predictable bore with a persecution complex and zero sense of humour. Watching her is an eternal slog that seems to never end

BIB - Oh, God, yes. You beat me to it. Anna's 'poorly' voice is awful, It drives me to distraction.

Building up the Barlows has got me excited about watching Corrie again. Also, the Platts storylines this year have been incredible as has finally giving the Nazirs some decent screen time and stories.

It doesn't matter what Kate Oates does for the show, she will make damn sure she destroys it all before she leaves, just as she did with Emmerdale.

bib: That's exactly what I think of Tracy Barlow!

I can't disagree with your comments about Anna, though

Absolutely agree about Tracy, Houndie!!

Anna doesn't bother me tbh!!

I have to agree with all you have said Mrs Lynch. It's still early days but there's been a definite improvement of late. I did like Carla but she was flogged to death and in the end I was glad to see the back of her. It's nice to see more of the streets ladies getting a fair crack of the whip.

I've also really enjoyed a lot of the character development we've seen this year - Bethany has been a revelation, after her and Sarah's awful first year back, they are now two of the strongest in the cast. It's been a terrific time for Todd and I've been happy to see Maria at the forefront of the show.

Peter Barlow is one of the best, layered, flawed and real characters Corrie has and I look forward to the return of the Barlows as major players (I love the Platts but they need a break). And we still have Toyah and Rosie, however brief, to look forward to.
There's still a lot of weak links for me; Cathy, Fiz, Anna, Izzy and Sinead are surplus to requirements, for me anyway. But on the whole Corrie is light years ahead now than it was at the start of the year.

It's certainly been improving since September.

Rather than stories just over in the space of a handful of episodes the writers are letting the stories develop, the Phelan storyline, Maria's and David's revenge.

When the storylines are good it will encourage some of the former cast members to to return. Peter is back, Brian is back, Toyah and Rosie back in the New Year.

Onwards and upwards, just need to get rid of soap's most dreadful character, Sean Tulley who brings nothing to the show, and we are on the way to fixing it.

The storyline with Phelan is the only good one they've had in a long time. The rest of it is almost unwatchable it's so bad. Corrie has been in decline for a while now and is miles behind Emmerdale in terms of quality.

Sean Tully could be on his way out. He's been moved to Norris and since



Quite frankly I am surprised we haven't seen more Norris/Sean interaction. If two people were destined not to live together - its them two

Characters that I give a damn about and have improved under Oates

Ken Barlow
Todd Grimshaw
Pat Phelan
Peter Barlow
David Platt
Jenny Bradley
Rita Fairclough/Littlewood/Sullivan

Aw I don't mind Tracey really, she fulfils the role of being a monumental pain in the arse quite nicely, even if she did actually murder someone and get away with it.

At least Tracey isn't perpetually trying to get people to feel sorry for her.
I think long suffering, self pitying Anna has some of the worst character traits on the show.
Can't see that woman ever becoming redeemable.

Are you kidding??
Tracy's always playing the victim & moaning about her lot, and always trying to put the blame for her vile actions on somebody else!!

Anna may be a long way short of perfect but she's a bloody saint by comparison!!

I understand where you're coming from. And yes you are right that Tracy has one Vesuvioid of a chip on her shoulder, but at least she's up front about it pretty much.

Anna is someone who is a hypocrite to the core of her being. A person can be unpleasant and spiteful and dishonest when necessary but who gets furious whenever she's discovered.

I don't think Tracy is actually expecting people to be sympathetic with her, whereas Windass demands it. And if she doesn't get it, she'll get her family to gang up on you.
She's an underhanded, passive aggressive, cry baby, self serving, self made victim who believes she should have special treatment for being such an big martyr. I can't watch her to be honest, I always ff.

Er ok!! I'm not quite sure how to follow that tbh!!

Don't think I'm gonna change your mind on this one am I?!!

Similarly you ain't ever going to change mine about Tracy!! A character who is rotten to the core & because of it I simply can't believe In her 'love' for either her deceased mother or her current crocodile tear sympathy for her father!! Tracy has NO thoughts for anything except what best serves Tracy!!

Wow. What an insightful and positive post. I don't know why people who detest Oates so much bother watching if they're so sure she's shit at her job.

You mean Rita Tanner?!

I'm finding it much more watchable now. It's not perfect, but it's much better than it was.

The only weak link is this Maria and Caz tripe. I suppose you can't have eveurthing though.

Who said anything about detesting her? Who said anything about her being shit at her job?

She was great on Emmerdale until she got her new, shiny job. For her last few months at Emmerdale, she seemed to have gone out of her way to destroy all the good she had done for the show.