Cheer up Corrie!

I don't know about you but I've found the last couple of weeks a drag on Corrie. The whole Peter/Liane/Nick thing burned itself out despite the fine acting of Chris Gascoyne. This week it's been all Horrible Owen, Becky on one of her increasingly bizarre mood swings, Dev looking teary for a few moments before BELLOWING at inopportune moments, Tyrone wallowing (literally) in a filty pit of misery . . . aghh!

"So what do you think of my supportive brassiere Ty?"

On the plus side I've enjoyed Julie and her barmy bra capers, a selection of Steve's comedy faces and Eddie gasping fag smoke into his cake mix. Also we haven't had to put up with Fiz the Mis for a while. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

Fiz bombed-out . . .

Fiz the frizz . . .

Whatever happened to Fiz Brown? OK, I don't mean literally - we all know what's happened to her over the past few months. No, what I'm getting at is that the essence of Fiz seems to have evaporated. She was always loud, mouthy and a bit rough around the edges but that's what we loved about her. Nowadays all we seem to be presented with is a hand-wringing drudge with a permanent 'woe is me' look. Fiz has a lot on her plate but wouldn't it be good to see her in fine fettle again?

Come back Fiz!

Work for all in Weatherfield!

"Come one, come all!"

I'm starting to believe that Weatherfield is some kind of employment hotspot. There aren't that many people out of work and this week we've seen the hapless Eileen join Carla Connor's band of desperados. Is anyone totally sure what Eileen's role is yet? She seems to wander around with a bit of cloth, offering sardonic asides. Still, they could hardly keep her cooped up in the taxi office forever. Plus it her defection to Underworld means that Cheryl can make the huge jump from lap dancer to phone operator. Give her a year and she'll be sewing knickers rather than taking them off . . .

Away from the Street . . .

"Weatherfield, douze points!"

Other than Corrie, the other great slice of joy in my life is the annual festival of horror that is the Eurovision Song Contest. I've racked my brains and can't really come up with any decent links between the two, apart from Keith Duffy (Ciaran) having performed during the interval at the 1997 contest in Dublin.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious. Perhaps Sandie Shaw once worked in the Corner Shop. Or Katie Boyle pulled pints in the Rovers. Agnetha from ABBA sewed knickers in the factory. If you are able to link Weatherfield and Eurovision, please let me know!

Shobna legs it!



The new corner shop uniform was interesting . . .

 A bit of fun for a Friday! I found this picture tucked away in a folder. It shows the lovely Shobna Gulati at last year's Manchester Pride parade. I reckon if you have a pair of pins like that, then why not show 'em off?

In praise of Mikey North . . .

Gary Windass is fast becoming one of my favourite Corrie characters. Thanks to the excellent Mikey North, Gary has evolved from being a one dimensional thug into a young man plunged into self-doubt. North's performance in the 20 January episode of the Street was emotional and riveting. Here's hoping the storyliners have much more in store for Gary.

It has to be said that North's performance was in marked contrast to that of Ben Price, playing the latest elderly incarnation of Nick Tilsley. Price gave us several of his frequent pained facial expressions, grimaces and standard arm-folding routine. For me, this characterisation just does not work and maybe it's time that the character of Nick was sent on another long vacation to Canada.

John Stape kills Mrs Warboys!

Mrs Warboys - both feet in the grave

It was with a little grim satisfaction that I bore witness to the murder of One Foot in the Grave's Mrs Warboys this week. Victor Meldrew's erstwhile neighbour breathed her last, accompanied by a bowl of Freshco soup, an inhaler plus a rather dodgy photo of her 'son' which was either a thirty year old picture of John Duttine or a doctored snap of John Stape with a stick-on moustache.

However, the episode got me thinking. After disposing of Mrs Warboys, maybe John could also re-visit some other old sitcoms and bump off a selection of supporting characters. How about ...

Nora Batty - John arrives in Holmfirth and mistakenly strangles Nora with her own stockings . . .

"John Stape played havoc with my . . ."

Mrs Slocombe - there's trouble for John when he comes face to face with the blue-rinsed one's pussy and traps it in the lift doors of Grace Brothers . . .

Thelma Ferris - Bob's wife from The Likely Lads comes a cropper when John, slipping out from the bookies for 'five minutes', turns up on Tyneside . . .

Olive - like the back-end of a bus . . .

Olive - more like under the buses than On the Buses as John takes to the wheel of a London routemaster - with devestating consequences.

John's Murderous Adventures in Sitcom Land could just be the ratings winner that ITV1 is looking for. Then again . . .