Coronation Street Weekly Updates

This was another of Corrie’s BIG weeks with an episode every night at the later time of 9pm. Not because the action was post-watershed, but to fit around Britain’s Got Talent . Not a programme I’m a fan of and I hate it when our Corrie gets moved around the schedules like this, so I wasn’t in a good frame of mind as the episodes opened on Monday this week. However, the action has been good, the acting incredible and the drama top class. I’m getting all my gripes out in this first paragraph, so I’ll go on to say I’m no fan of explosions, fires, crashes, deaths and murder whodunnits, not in Coronation Street. Give me an arched eyebrow, a crossed pair of arms and a slice of sarcasm any day over that. In big explosive weeks, as this week has been, details are lost and gaping holes in the action are exposed. You’ll have spotted those too, and so I won’t dwell. You’re probably wondering what on earth it was that I DID like this week? Me too. So let’s go - and without any further ado, here we go with this week’s Coronation Street update.

It’s the day of Steve and Michelle’s wedding and Tracy chooses the date to tell Liz that she’s already said “I Do” to Tony, many times in the back room of Barlow’s Buys. Liz is distraught but keeps her face on and struggles through her son’s wedding ceremony. Tony disappears, he’s nowhere to be seen and Liz gives him a mouthful via phone before collapsing in tears and then throwing stuff in the back room of the pub. When Sean comes in to find out what all the noise is about, he asks Liz if she wants a brandy. “I don’t want a brandy!” she yells at Sean. “I want to smash things!” And smash things she does. Bev Callard, as Liz, has been amazing this week. Forget the fire, the explosion, the deaths, it’s Liz who has provided the drama this week. Carla steps in and buys the other half of the Rovers, thwarting Tracy’s plans for world domination from behind the bar of a backstreet pub. Eric and Eileen come round to console as Liz asks Carla to let little Amy stay over at her flat.

Carla takes Amy up to her flat, she gives Amy her bed and Carla takes the sofa. Tracy breaks into Carla’s flat with Michelle’s keys she’s nicked from her handbag, intent on killing Carla. She lifts a heavy ornament over her head as Carla snores on the sofa but decides not to kill her that way. Has she had a change of heart? She then, strangely, lights a candle and finds a picture of her long lost love Rob. Unaware that Amy is also in the flat, Tracy’s startled when she heard the toilet flush, and she ran out of the flat, leaving the candle burning and burning and burning… and the next thing we know, Victoria Court goes up in flames.

As the fire rages in Carla’s flat, Leanne sees flames from outside and tries to break into Carla’s flat using a fire extinguisher to bash open the door. Overcome by smoke, Carla gets freed but she’s unable to speak to let everyone know that Amy’s inside. Roy uses his first aid skills to help Carla until the ambulance arrives, but oh no! they’re stuck on the ring road. Finally, Carla can breathe enough to whisper one word – Amy! Kal and Leanne rush back into the flat to save Amy’s life – which they do. But by now the whole of Victoria Court is up in flames, with a gas canister on a balcony about to blow too.

Amy, Kal and Leanne can’t get out of the flat as burning bits of Victoria Court fall on their heads and block their exit. Off they head to the flat balcony where the residents of the Street get a ladder from the builders yard. With some coaxing from grandma Liz, Amy finally gets the courage to make her escape. As does Leanne. Kal however, is burned to a crisp and Zeedan has hate blazing in his eyes and blames Leanne squarely for his dad’s death. We’ve known for a long time that the actor who played Kal was leaving the show. I also feel that the character never worked so it’s going to be a rather dull few weeks of funeral and grieving for a character that I’ve never cared about, or for.

Speaking of which, Maddie gets caught up in the blast as the fire takes hold of the builders’ yard. She’s in hospital now, in a bad way. Again, we know the actress is leaving, so things don’t look too good for Maddie. Cue weeks of weeping Webster and sobbing Sophie. I think we can all look forward to that.

Before Maddie was caught up in the blast she’d walked in on Jenny who was planning to do a runner with little Jack. Jenny was disguised in a black wig, calling herself Melanie and calling little Jack by the name of Tom. Maddie realised Jenny wasn’t quite the full shilling and knew what she was up to, she called Sophie on her phone to warn her about Jenny but then she got blasted in the blast. No-one’s the wiser about Jenny, for now.

And finally this week, Kylie returned. She’s been loitering around the corners of Coronation Street. Bethany spots her and tells David. It’ll all kick off next week.

And that was just about that for this week.

This week's writers were Julie Jones (Monday); Chris Fewtrell (Tuesday); Joe Turner (Wednesday); Ellen Taylor (Thursday); Susan Oudot (Friday). Find out more about the Coronation Street writing team at http://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.com/2008/11/exclusive-all-current-corrie-writers.html

Glenda Young
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Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com