In the space of nine months, we have had;
-Tracy Barlow attacked in her own back garden by Claire Peacock
-Sophie Webster cannon-balling from the church roof and onto a conveniently parked car
-Kevin Webster crushed by a vehicle after Tyrone took his frustrations out on the new hydraulic lift
-Jim McDonald spectacularly failing to rob a building society
-John Stape falling from a hospital roof - he miraculously survived
-Fiz Stape being run over by Owen
-Becky McDonald bulldozing her way through Number 1 after thinking Tracy had reported her to social services
-a riot breaking out in the Rovers Return
-Leanne Battersby tumbling down a flight of stairs and losing her baby in the process
-Carla Conner getting drunk and smashing her car into the bookies, knocking Stella down in the process
I've probably missed something out, but Corrie's over-reliance on stunts and shock plots hasn't done much for me this year. Even more annoying is the fact that we're now finding out every single detail of the storylines via the tabloids - there's a big storyline for Carla coming up, yet I wonder if there's any point in watching when I know every twist and turn in the story. It's the equivalent of an attention-seeking child, who will throw a tantrum if the attention isn't on them and only them.
Another thing that's bothered me about Corrie this year, is that when they're not smashing the sets up, characters just seem to be fighting or being unpleasant towards each other. There seems to be a fight in the Rovers every other week, and they're no longer entertaining to watch. Perhaps they should look back at some of the classic fights on the cobbles, such as Gail and Eileen's 2004 brawl and see if they can restore that kind of magic. Kevin and Sally's split has been awful viewing - for the first few months of the year all we got from them was petty squabbling, which came to head with some embarrassing scenes in which Sally discovered that Kevin had won on a scratch-card. The trials and tribulations of Steve and Becky have also been a chore to watch, although with Becky now moving on from Steve there may be some hope for her yet, as we enter her final few months on the street.
I don't want this to be one big pile of negativity though, as there have been some highlights in Corrie this year. The arrival of Roy's mother, Sylvia, has given the Croppers a good boost, and there were some really good scenes from when she found out about Hayley's past. The Croppers are such a great unit in that it's nigh-on impossible to give them material that doesn't feel forced or contrived, and although Sylvia isn't quite up there with the legend that is Blanche Hunt, she's entertaining enough.
I was skeptical about the bizarre pairing of David and Kylie when I first heard about it, but over the last few weeks I've been won over by them. Paula Lane is proving her worth with some great scenes alongside Helen Worth and Sue Nicholls, although I just hope the writers don't go down the same route with them as they did with Steve and Becky. And despite a truly horrific comeback scene I'm also warming to Tracy Barlow, of all people. Perhaps it helps that she's been put up against the likes of Becky and the truly awful James, who both made Tracy look like Mother Teresa. I'm sure this phase will wear off whenever she decides to go back into OTT panto bitch mode though, but who knows.
Elsewhere, the ongoing troubles with Carla, Frank, Peter and Leanne rumble on...and on...and on...and on. You'd think that with three really capable actors in that mix we would get some fantastic material from them, but sadly there isn't much to praise. It all started coming apart in February, when Peter rumbled Leanne's affair with Nick Tilsley, who is now on the verge of looking older than mum Gail. Peter chose to confront Leanne at the alter during their blessing, and even presented her with divorce papers (as you do). It looked like it was all over for the couple, but after some advice from Ken, Peter managed to catch up with Leanne at the train station and they reunited. Just to give an idea of how ridiculously rushed this plot was - it was only a week between Peter actually finding out about the affair and him and Leanne reuniting at the train station.
So while those two had some time off-screen, Carla got together with new arrival Frank Foster, a man with about as much charisma as an HB pencil. Maria wasn't too happy about this, seeing as Frank had tried it on with her a few months earlier, leaving her terrified and thinking that he'd tried to assault her. Carla didn't take any notice of Maria's warnings - in fact no-one did. You'd think they would've all learned to listen to Maria after what happened with Tony Gordon but, would you believe it, they're all hopeless cases. Carla's also spent the past year trying (and failing) to overcome her drink problem and an obsession with Peter, which culminated in her trying to seduce him. Peter vowed to stay faithful to Leanne, which is odd considering it was Leanne who had the affair. Meanwhile, Cindy from EastEnders new arrival Stella revealed herself to be Leanne's birth mother, in another whirlwind plot, and now we seem to be in a cycle of Leanne getting close to Stella, before pushing her away again and letting her back in - although that's now been put on hold as Stella is on her way to A&E following the events of last night's episode.
Corrie attracted some criticism from the tabloids over the summer months, with most articles attacking Michelle Collins' accent on the show. While I've yet to really warm to Stella as a character, I do feel it's unfair to label her as the sole cause of the show's problems at the moment. Of course, some might argue that she is, while others may say there are no problems with Corrie at all. At this point, the best thing Corrie could do to win me over with Stella is if she could demolish HMP Weatherfield with Fiz trapped inside. That would most certainly be a godsend.
In the third and final part of this round-up I'll look back on the past nine months of Emmerdale, which has seen tears, tantrums and traumas - mostly from Aaron "I like tearsticks" Livesy.
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