Coronation Street is not my favourite soap but I do quite enjoy it. That David Platt storyline is starting to do my head in. Things change so quickly in soapland, why can't this?
I'd like to see them take the David Platt story down the mental health route and really attempt to tackle the issue rather than just passing him off as a pantomime villain.
David turning up at the front door was inspired. One of the few - if not the only - unpredictable moment I've happened upon on Corrie. Genuinely made me jump when he appeared at the door, and his appearance was fantastic - very sinister and creepy
And wonderful crane shots, some of which were quite subtle: like tracking slowly across the canal and Gail and Co coming unexpectedly into shot. The same with cars and car windows with subjects entering into shot, rather than the camera moving to reveal them - it works so well to allow subjects fall into shot rather than fawningly following action 24/7.
I might as well copy what I put in the NTA thread here. Perhaps you will find it interesting Jez as our views on the past year on the Street differ quite massively. Would be intriguing to see your responses to the points I've made.
nok32uk posted:
Oh dear. "Claire and Ashley..this Claire and Ashley..that" Yes they weren't the best of storylines but against EastEnders no competition. Corrie is on top form and has been for years.
Why EastEnders wins? Well its the younger voters, who some STILL believe the show is top television against everything else. But thats EE's market now anyway. Its not the soap I once knew.
Do you even watch EastEnders? I bet you don't.
You're blindly praising Corrie. I watch both, albeit EE not frequently. I have watched it frequently enough in the last year to say that I think it has been much better than C Street overall. It had the very well handled abuse storyline with Ben and Stella, which was acclaimed by organisations and critics alike, it had the Beale family's going ons, it had the arrival of Ronnie and Roxi to shake things up in the Vic.
It had the Stacey/Max affair which - love it or hate it - has had viewers pretty gripped, it had Patrick being attacked and a character-led aftermath, even the Down Syndrome storyline with Honey and Billy was sensitive if slightly dull. I could go on.
There have also been some standout superb, superb episodes including Max and Tanya's two hander, where he told her all about his childhood and the Tanya/Rainie episode with her sister's drug habit coming to the fore in dramatic fashion. Others include the three hander in the pub with the boys with Stella upstairs tormenting Ben; the Beale/Mitchell camping trip with the car accident, Dr. May and Rob trapping Dawn at the cottage, the visit of Phil and Stella to Stella's parents in which we saw a glimpse into her past etc etc
The Branning family is superb and a family much better, with ten times more credibility than Corrie's Mortons. The unit is excellently complex with Max, the family head, being so brilliantly multi-faceted and believable and Tanya being a strong woman. The kids are good actors too. Not only has this family developed but the Beale/Mitchell and the Fox/Wicks units too. New cast members have been great: Diane Parish and Linda Henry to name just two of many.
Corrie fell to a very substandard level of writing and direction this year; the acting has always been fine apart from a few exceptions. Focussing solely on useless storylines and crap filler was its undoing and it NO WAY deserved to win. It focussed solely on the Tracy/Charlie storyline which, while OK at its peak was overall, cack. Like Tracey would actually MURDER someone - she was a bitch, but not a murderer. Ill concieved and stupid. Next, the agonisingly dreadful Claire and Ashley plot, which was dull in the extreme. It was, again, ill concieved - Ashley, the man so hurt by Maxine's adultery, cheating on his wife? pull the other one.
And the worst thing was, there was nothing else going on but idle filler. Only a few episodes shone this year as being of meritable quality and that is the Tracy/Deirdre two-hander, the fire episode and last night's wedding. Production, overall fell with no variety in shots and few night and location scenes.
I was left feeling cheated by the deaths of Fred and Mike, and Paul Connor's death I didn't feel was any good at all. All lacked gravitas. There were endless opportunities for exciting episodes - notably Tracy's conviction and of course the deaths of Fred and Mike.
Turn the clock back to 2002-2004, however, and many, many episodes were absolutely superb: Audrey's house being burned down, Richard battering Emily and killing Maxine in that double episode, the confession episode, Richard's death, Todd and Karl at Canal Street, Steve and Karen's wedding, Karen crashing the Christening, Katy killing her Dad, Karen's exit on Boxing Day - all standout episodes to name but a few! The storylines were immense back then and not once has one come close to the magnificence of the Richard Hillman plot. These days there are few decent plotlines - the Tracy/Charlie storyline dragged on for far too long and we didn't feel it realistic - Tracy was many things, but she wasn't a cold blooded killer. The Shelley/Charlie story was very dull.
Coronation Street was previously acclaimed for its well-written plots and slow-burning storylines which would reach a dramatic climax. Today though, the plots seem to be poorly planned. Some are far too sensationalist, to attract viewers. Changing characters to suit the storylines, they are changing the show into one that is driven by plot. On other occasions, the storylines not only have characters implausibly changing their personalities (like Ashley and Tracey) but it's done in a way that doesn't interest the viewer. We know the storyline was rewritten but the result has been endless weeks of the same old thing with not much to move the story along. Having one story dominate the summer means everything else is little more than filler. So what you have is filler and one long, drawn out, dreadfully dull storyline - is this what Corrie should really be about?
The characters are what make the show, but yet I feel as though there are too many and thus a large percentage of the characters are not developed. The recent influx of new characters including The Morton family (a creation I can only describe as intensely annoying and uninteresting) has left many others who deserve more screen-time, waiting in the wings. I feel your treatment of strong characters like Violet in particular, unacceptable. She is a strong, independent, unique character who has been slowly watered down so that she is now a wet, whingeing and fairly bland character. So much potential wasted. Pairing her up with Sean - a character with as much depth as a paddling pool who may as well be referred to by the characters as Antony - only further proves how the producers feel about the character and actress.
I feel as though certain characters which work very well aren't being used enough. Becky is a fine creation who should be appearing more prominently in the soap, she has been recently with Hayley's story but that's not enough. What about her history? I haven't ignored the achievements - the development of Eileen has been appreciated and the storyline with the wonderful Hayley was quite promising. The development of David into the extremely complex character that he has become has been a pleasure to watch. However this isn't enough, nor does it make up for the crappy year overall which pales in comparison to EastEnders'. I believe that a large cast stifles characters development and thus when handed a storyline, I care little for them. The characters make the show - but I often feel as though I need to know more about some of them than I do.
Plots aside, the episodes are increasingly circular and dull. Where is the structure? Where are the endings, wrapping up what's happened? Where are the witty one liners and the subtle threads that run through episodes? Why can't they stand out in their own right, instead of being the 'latest' part of a dull show? Where is the progression? Where are the episodes set at night, or those set in the early hours? In terms of direction, where are the interesting camera angles and shots? We saw some interesting camerawork in the scene with David on Jason on the roof and even in last night's wedding episode - this shows they have the capabilities but don't bother. Lazy. It's almost like making episodes feel 'special' is not allowed. Where is the substance to episodes, the hook? The mixture of comedy and real drama?
Characters don't really seem to go anywhere fast anymore. We want to see their lives, the little moments that change things forever, we want to watch them grow and live. But we can't and we don't. They live in a timeless bubble.
The lives of many of the characters don't develop. The factory girls are just the factory girls. Every episode involves them coming to work, bitching, going to the pub, and going home. It's part of a general structure that seems to have become the 'norm' at Corrie Towers. Every episode begins in the morning and ends sometime before it gets dark. All the scenes don't really have much going on and the few storylines develop slowly. Not that this is a bad thing but when you have only one storyline surrounded by filler then you find yourself looking at the clock more than once.
EastEnders deserved to win and I'm so glad they did because it will give Corrie the kick up the backside it needs. That is the god-honest truth and I love Corrie and always will - from cradle to grave. I completely concur that EE was dreadful for most of the 2000s so far but the last year has been a total revival.
and in all that commotion they left Bethany at the church
Deirdre turned up as well, first time she's been on for ages, but left Ken at home. For some reason Emily was street bound as well
Not only was she street bound, but her scenes looked like they were shot at another time.
When she waved the car off near the start, she obviously wasn't there at the same time as the rest of the cast then when she was walking along the street after the wedding she didn't say anything at all (was that a look-a-like or a CGI Emily or something?). The bit that really made me laugh was when you saw her arm come in from the left of the screen to throw confetti.
Every scene with Emily made me laugh last night. Didn't anyone watch it before it went out to see how stupid it looked?
Yes but the truth is we would all get used to it eventually. I'm used to it on Holby now, in fact I have grown to like it.
Ah, but do we really "get used to it", or do we just not bother complaining because we know we won't be listened to?
Was watching that Get Me The Producer thing on C4 this morning. A telling quote from the young commissioning editor that was interviewed - "I've always been interested in television, but there was lots about it I didn't like. Now I work in TV I can make the programmes I like, and I hope others will like too". Said it all really.
and in all that commotion they left Bethany at the church
Deirdre turned up as well, first time she's been on for ages, but left Ken at home. For some reason Emily was street bound as well
Not only was she street bound, but her scenes looked like they were shot at another time.
When she waved the car off near the start, she obviously wasn't there at the same time as the rest of the cast then when she was walking along the street after the wedding she didn't say anything at all (was that a look-a-like or a CGI Emily or something?). The bit that really made me laugh was when you saw her arm come in from the left of the screen to throw confetti.
Every scene with Emily made me laugh last night. Didn't anyone watch it before it went out to see how stupid it looked?
She was clearly there when throwing confetti, and it was clearly her arm. And she did say something.
and in all that commotion they left Bethany at the church
Deirdre turned up as well, first time she's been on for ages, but left Ken at home. For some reason Emily was street bound as well
Not only was she street bound, but her scenes looked like they were shot at another time.
When she waved the car off near the start, she obviously wasn't there at the same time as the rest of the cast then when she was walking along the street after the wedding she didn't say anything at all (was that a look-a-like or a CGI Emily or something?). The bit that really made me laugh was when you saw her arm come in from the left of the screen to throw confetti.
Every scene with Emily made me laugh last night. Didn't anyone watch it before it went out to see how stupid it looked?
She was clearly there when throwing confetti, and it was clearly her arm. And she did say something.
What makes you think it was her arm? Why didn't they show her face? Why wasn't she shown on screen at the same time as any other person?
