Coronation Street

"Thank you for your correspondence. We have forwarded your letter to the relevent department."

I'm assuming you're talking about the "Coronation Street" street sign that was electronically added (unconvincingly) to the Rovers and used as a break bumper in at least two episodes. Bizarre, since the Xmas Day episode begins with the camera travelling along the same wall upstairs before landing on front window downstairs, and the sign is nowhere to be seen.

Yes it was horrible - let's hope they don't do that again.

Also can't wait for Sarah to leave so that they'll stop inviting me to visit the website and vote for my favourite "Sarah moment". It's hardly the departure of Bet Lynch, FFS

"I’m disappointed to read that you feel that the high standards of writing, acting and production for which Coronation Street is rightly famed have recently fallen. As you know The Street is the most popular show in British television and with an audience from every background we do on occasion run the risk of upsetting a small proportion of our viewers but this is never intentional. We have always striven to entertain every-one of our viewers therefore it saddens me to read we have recently failed you. I have of course ensured that your comments have reached our Script Editor, Storyliners and Writers and I'm sure they will be taken on-board. I must say I've read the synopsise for the Autumn/Winter season and there are some riveting stories on the way which I'm sure you will find both gripping and entertaining. Once again thank you for your e-mail and I do hope that you will find future stories in Coronation Street more to your taste."

Would it be rude to ask what you put in the letter, i.e. the exact wording?

lol well she has had plenty of memorable moments to choose from. I hope they do something special for when Vera leaves though, she has been with the show over 30 years afterall.

You're all going to call me a loser but I don't care:

"Dear Mr Frost,

We are loyal Coronation Street fans who feel very passionately about the show and have taken the time to write our views to you. We hope you read them and hopefully...respond? We would really appreciate something other than 'Your views have been noted.'

As avid Corrie fans of many, many years, the show always has - and doubtless always will - be a part of our lives. However, recently speaking, we feel the quality of the show has faltered. This year there have been few standout episodes. Of the episodes broadcast this year, we would say the two-hander with Deirdre and Tracy, the death of Charlie and the Peacock fire are the only episodes that we could say were outstanding. We were left feeling cheated by the deaths of Fred and Mike, and Paul Connor's death we 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, you're 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 who has recently cheated on his wife despite having been destroyed years ago when discovering Maxine had cheated on him) but it's done in a way that doesn't interest the view. 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 we 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 we can only describe as annoying and uninteresting) has left many others who deserve more screen-time, waiting in the wings. We feel your treatment of strong characters like Violet in particular, unacceptable. 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 - only further proves how you feel about the character and actress.

On the subject of Sean, we can't help feeling his overexposure is at the expense of other characters on the show. Antony Cotton is not the greatest of actors, and allowing him to have a chat show whilst simultaneously appearing in Corrie cheapens the show somewhat. It blurs the lines which separate the "actor" from the character.

We 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. I haven't ignored your achievements - the development of Eileen has been appreciated and the upcoming storyline with the wonderful Hayley sounds promising. Also the development of David into the extremely complex character that he has become has been a pleasure to watch and we wait with anticipation to see where you take the character next. However, is this enough? We believe that a large cast stifles characters development and thus when handed a storyline, we care little for them. The characters make the show - but we often feel as though we need to know more about some of them than we 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 - this shows you have the capabilities but don't bother. 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.

Episodes need to break out of this mould. Experiment with an episode set in the early hours where some of the residents can't sleep. Maybe an episode set at night (as has been said, these are very rare). Or perhaps a song played over several scenes like the end of the (fantastic) Christmas episode last year. Little things which keep the show fresh. It feels stale now - for the first time, in a long time, we are bored by Coronation Street.

We are not for one second telling you how to do your job, or saying you are inept as producing a long running 5-a-week soap is a tough, unenviable job. But, at the moment, it is a common view the show has gone down in quality!

Thanks."

Well considering I gave up after the second paragraph I'd be surprised if anyone who mattered read it - but hey, as they say if you don't ask, you don't get!



BTW, the Corrie omnibus seems to be back on ITV1 for the next three weeks at least.

That's a pretty good letter - and I don't think you are sad! Much better than Simon Luxto n's letters about testcards or whatever he writes about.

very good Pad,

I'd have mentioned the crap continuity, major things such as rearraining the entire floor plan of the Peacocks before the fire because the camera angles worked better, and basic continuity such as the side window of Fizz's flat suddenly facing the rovers and not the side of the Peacocks house.

hope you get a responce, they are usually very good at replying to viewer comments either by letter or email, even got a phone call once

Yes its a good letter and although I might not agree with you about everything relating to the current state of Corrie I do agree with you about some of your points like what you said about Violet and Sean.

I disagree about Paul Connors death though, i thought it was excellent and ive enjoyed the development of Carla ever since.

I didn't read beyond where you contradicted yourself, Pad, but at least you took the time to put pen to paper.

Not keen on the way you spoke as if you represented a Greek Chorus, though.

Or as we say round here, "Who's we ? Have you got a turd in your pocket?".

The letter was spot on Pad. The response you posted earlier is why I'd never bother to write in - you can see the letter flying straight into the big round filing tray under the desk of the admin person who opened the letter and pressed "send" on the automated reply to "these type of letters"...