Coronation Street is a jewel in Britain’s crown. A national treasure. An institution. But quite frankly at the moment, it’s not going well, is it?
Somehow it’s managing to be baffling, boring and bonkers all at the same time – and not in a good way!
With former Emmerdale boss Kate Brooks about to take over the reins at Coronation Street, we thought we’d give her a wish list of the five ways we reckon she could improve things on the cobbles.
Focus on the Rovers
Once upon a time, the Rovers was the heart of Coronation Street. Characters who wouldn’t usually cross paths exchanged words while waiting for their pints to be pulled. Dramas happened. Friendships were forged. Affairs began. Rovers barmaids were legendary.
Now, despite the lengths Jenny and Daisy went to in order to reopen the iconic boozer, the Rovers is always half empty. We got a glimpse of the old days when Glenda ran her speed dating evening – more of that please.
Jenny was born to be landlady – and Daisy and Glenda are the perfect wingwomen. Forget Speed Daal. Forget the Bistro. The Rovers is where it should be happening.
Slow down
Everything in Corrie happens at breakneck speed, whether it’s Sarah’s whirlwind doomed romance with Damon, Violet’s brief return, or Tracy’s affair with Tommy Orpington. Stories – especially big ones like Roy and Lauren, or Stephen Reid, need time to settle in, to get their hooks into viewers.
Instead our heads are spinning as one plot is done and dusted in one or two episodes and we’re on to the next thing. Yes, we’re all obsessed with our phones and we all have the concentration spans of goldfish nowadays, but even we can concentrate on a storyline for more than a week.
More oldies
Evelyn Plummer (played by Maureen Lipman) is one of the few joys of Coronation Street at the moment. Her staunch devotion to Roy – and Freddie – is perfect. In fact, Roy is also a treat – David Neilson is so good.
There’s no doubting the talent of the younger cast members, but does every storyline have to be focused on them? We love Sam, and Hope, and Asha and Aadi, but let’s see more of the oldies, too!
What about the women?
Coronation Street – every soap in fact – is build on foundations of strong women and strong female friendships and when that’s forgotten, things get very wobbly.
Remember when Gail and Sally were best friends? In fact, remember when Gail was a smart, clever woman and Sal was mayor of Weatherfield instead of being the butt of jokes?
Daisy and Jenny was a great partnership, until the whole stealing thousands of pounds thing. Carla and Maria should be chums. Sarah needs a mate. Where is Fiz? When Abi was talking about meeting Sal in prison recently, she didn’t mention she’s barely spoken to her for months.
Trim the cast
Characters go missing for weeks at a time. What’s happened to Cassie? Where is Kevin? David Platt‘s only ever used for the occasional barbed comment (not that we’re complaining – we like his sassy put downs!).
People disappear for ages and we all know it’s out of sight, out of mind on a soap. If there are too many people in the cast, then trim it down. We’ve got a few people on our list we’d be glad to see the back of…
Read more: Complete Coronation Street cast list 2023 – meet them all here!
Coronation Street usually airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
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