DRW50

He did write the ones like the two-hander though right?

That's interesting. I know some fans have felt the show is now relying too much on Ashdown as many other strong writers like Phelps and Jordan have gone, as there were some views that the most recent "big" episodes he wrote, like the Stax two-hander and the Bianca/Ricky wedding, didn't live up to hype. It might be a good idea for them to give him more input with new characters like they are doing with Vanessa, especially since his favorite, Stacey is leaving. Isn't she his favorite?

William Roache's sons will be joining the cast for a few weeks. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s3/coronation-street/news/a221690/bill-roaches-sons-to-appear-in-corrie.html

These scenes have some very good, more subtle acting from Jessie Wallace, showing the more vulnerable side of Kat, and how her reputation haunts her. She tells Alfie, when they first start dating, about the number of men she's been with. Several days later, he falsely believes she slept with her ex, Anthony, and says as much to her at a fancy dinner, adding that if she hadn't slept with Anthony it would have been someone else. Kat tries to cover up how hurt she is by how he sees her, and thanking him for their time together, leaves the meal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Qx56LD4IY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuAfR3PRcZQ

Ronnie and Roxy are both one-note characters, both very plot-driven, and they heavily rely on plot being churned out constantly, with no real effort to ever flesh them out. Santer or Treadwell Collins or whoever seemed very leery of actually giving any character any depth -- for the past few years it has been that same one note pounded again and again. Ronnie is supposed to be the "serious" one but her stories have become so short-sighted and there seems to be little to do for her because they are running from actually exploring her. Roxy is the "fun" one but fun = SHOUTING EVERY LINE, and this "fun" character has often behaved monstrously, with no real fallout, ever. There are a lot of characters over the past few years who could be easily written out, although I doubt they will be, since the show has managed to sell them as big stars. I do think there's potential for Ronnie, mostly because of Sam Janus, if the show ever makes the effort.

Yeah, York had the Slaters. Berridge had, what, the Millers, and the Ferrieras, and the modern version of the Watts. Harwood brought in new extensions of the Brannings (which was something of a success) and the Wicks (generally a big flop). Santer, how long did he wait until he brought in a new family, I guess it was until late 2007, with the Masoods. And then he basically rewrote the Mitchells to suit his purposes, or someone at the show did. Kirkwood waited 4-5 months to start bringing in the McQueens and the Valentines, didn't he? I guess with so many cast departures he may have the luxury of not waiting as long this time around.

Thanks. I'll have to check that out. Marj looks so stunning. I see they also have an Emmanuele video there under horror, which is...random? Then again, they made that movie 4000 different times, I guess they did become a horror.

Mercy's family is also supposed to show up soon, or at least her grandmother, recast from a bit part on E20.

Yes, they do. Her pose is very interesting. And that skirt used to be on one of my grandmother's end tables.

I thought the actor was OK, although that might have been because he replaced Sonny. I liked some of his moments with Hannah. Of the family I think Danny and the girl who plays Lauren were probably the best actors. She's been in so many bad stories, although I liked her with Gaz, even though Lucy Allan made them both so vile. The stuff with Lauren and Newt always seemed a bit off to me, I mean when the show moved beyond them being only friends, but then it seems like the show gave up on Newt a long time ago. Is Newt still on the show? He doesn't interact with any of the teens.

Yeah, Darren was disgusted with her after she used him to break up Danny and Hannah, the story which went nowhere. Then Darren went on to marry Hannah, and didn't he try to con her out of her money?

I know they filmed these months ago but for episodes that are verging on summer I'm surprised at how suffocated and drab the show feels these days. You go from one dingy setting to another and one depressed person to another. As stupid as this sounds I could barely even get through tonight's episode, it was just so damn drab and so many of the characters looked like they were about to go on a rampage. Some of those closeups of Hayley were scary, the look in her eyes. I was just weirded out for almost every scene. Nick looks so emaciated. I know you have to choose between your body and your face as you age but it's getting to be like Thinner. I wish they would just put Graeme in a different outfit, even if they are trying to hide a weight gain for Craig Gazey (?). Was anyone else hoping the constant leaking in the factory would electrocute Sean? Izzy reminds me so much of someone. I'm not sure who. Amy Irving, perhaps. I wouldn't mind seeing Jason and Carla get together. He was already with her lookalike 4-5 years ago. This stuff with the binman is dumb. I also don't know why he'd keep these tickets secret from Carla.

Darren/Cindy makes sense. Darren/Rhys would be crazy, but then, Darren is like the gayest straight man ever on soaps.

When I read comments about Carol now that's all I see. She's always miserable, doesn't she have anything to do besides worry about Billie. It's the same actor...I use that term loosely. The worst is when those chins start quivering in close-up. This character is pointless. He doesn't have interesting relationships with any of his family and has actually just served to dismantle most of the Branning family relationships and seems to have taken away anything Whitney ever brought as a character.

Carol was really stunning, in a harried mother type of way, back then, especially when she had her fling with David Wicks around 1996. She also used to wear a lot of earrings back then. The more earrings a character wears the more I tend to like them... It's a shame that now people will just remember her as Billie's shouting mother. I'm not even sure why they brought her back.

I don't think Max and Tanya will reunite for a while, if ever, but Jake Wood I think made a comment recently implying Max still loved Tanya, so I wonder if the story will be Max still pining for "Tan," as she does her usual nose in the air routine. Yeah, Stacey didn't have a lot to do with most of her family, outside of Jean, once Santer took over. Santer didn't seem to "do" family -- unless you count the Borg AKA the Mitchells. Seeing that cadre broken up over the past few months has been a nice surprise. I guess part of it is Mo and Charlie aren't exactly thrilling characters, but I still never knew why they didn't do more with Stacey and Sean, not that I was a big fan of Sean's, but a lot of people wanted to know more about them. I wonder if they would have even written for Stacey over the past year if Lacey hadn't told them she was leaving. Stacey had non-stories for most of 2008 and part of 2009. So did Bradley, until Charlie Clements said he was leaving. Such brilliant moments as Callum Monks. She doesn't seem close to Louise. She was close to Ben but she's distancing herself. I think she can't handle realizing how damaged he is, because of what happened to her own kids. I wish the show would explore that more. I think it would be interesting if Shirley decided to stop trying to be a mother, and after an initial slide downhill, finds some sort of peace. I'd love to see a Shirley/Kat friendship. I wouldn't mind seeing her get to know Carol either. Surely they must have some plan for Carol. Kill off Billie. I can see them having her hang around as a psycho, to go after Max. I wouldn't miss her if she left but they must see some plan for her. Perhaps like what Kirkwood had in mind for Lydia on Hollyoaks?

I think a Stax reunion, Max raising what would have been Bradley's son, could work with the proper writing, but it probably would never happen, even if Lacey was staying. Tanya will be back to suck the life out of Max soon enough. You're probably right though. I just hope they can keep their friendship until Stacey leaves, I would hate to see them part on bad terms. Thanks. I've seen Whitney do that cry before so I thought it was genuine. I guess she and Ryan are so distant he probably wouldn't be able to tell when she's putting him on. Do you think they are building up to a Phil/Shirley breakup, or am I deluding myself.

I liked that when Stacey told Max she was knitting cars, and he just kept saying "Yeah..." and then she finally walked out. I'm really loving this Stax friendship, I wish it could last. I'm surprised the show remembered Whitney and Ryan are siblings. That scene where Whitney "cried" to Ryan about Billie made me She looked like she was laughing. Shona seems to only connect with certain scene partners. Billie is utterly worthless. His acting in some of the scenes, especially when Carol and Bianca were talking about him in the Vic, was shocking. The Janine/Ryan stuff was fun but I was a bit surprised at how blase Janine was about a child being seriously injured. Janine isn't a sociopath. I'm glad the show continues to paint Phil as the horrible father that he is, between what he said about Jordan and also his not letting Louise know there's a chance she might not get to stay. Steve McFadden is probably going to miss Cliff Parisi -- Minty is like Phil's less attractive twin brother. I liked Libby putting Lucas in his place. Since she has no reason to cowtow to him she gave him the blast he deserved. She's annoying but sometimes she has a purpose. Girls who are aged well beyond their years need to stick together...

I like Andrew Burt quite a bit as Jack; he really hits the outsider role very well. The cast is very strong. Frazer Hines is a very underrated actor, to go from a role like Jamie McCrimmon to Joe Sugden. He doesn't look the age Joe was supposed to be (didn't they say Joe was like 18 or 19 or am I misremembering) but he still brings youthful energy to the role. I love Annie, especially when she gives people what for, and I love her relationship with her father. She has to treat him as if he's one of her children, as he has that mischievous twinkle in his eye.

It's the end of an era: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/2984176/Corries-famous-cladding-axed.html

What did he do? The episodes I watched were a bit of an adjustment, although that may have been down to the low budget, and the unfortunate blonde wig on one of the main female cast members. I did laugh at all the Home Alone style scenes (people with their hands to their faces). With Dark Shadows, not long ago I watched the episodes where Laura kills poor Dr. Guthrie. It's very cleverly written, because earlier in the episode, she nearly burns him alive in the Collinwood drawing room, but he manages to fight that off. Then he gets in his car to get some papers from his hotel room, and she gets him then. It's a very chilling scene, actually -- they even have stock footage to show his car in ruins. And poor Victoria's so desolate and barely able to react to his death. I think he would have been a very important part of her life if he'd lived. She had many more brain cells around him than she ever did around Burke or Barnabas or Jeff.

It could be a good story if Pat's youngest son showed up in the village and said she had given him away to relatives. He could resent Robert and feud with him if Robert returns to the village. Andy could initially side with him but then see him as damaged and side with Robert.

Not that this has anything to do with anything but I'm surprised they keep Lucas in such tight slacks. Not that I'm complaining, but he fills them out more than sufficiently.

I think they kept Jackie as Jackie, wasn't his being named that back then one of the reasons some suspected Jack was the father? I can't remember. There were three kids, and the show just forgot, or decided to forget, the youngest existed, when they brought Pat, Sandie, and Jackie on. They also forgot about Ruth/Pat's sister, I guess. I kind of like her, and the blacksmith.

I'm not sure. I'd just read on Digital Spy that they were like the two queens of the set. I agree that the atmosphere in the Vic was better when Kat and Alfie were around. I think Nana Moon also helped with that. I know she could be cloying sometimes but I hope they will try to bring in more older characters who were like her, who had energy but were also older and respectable. A lot of the older characters on soaps now act like children, or sulky teenagers. Sometimes I think they may set Phil and Shirley up to run the Vic but I'd rather they not. Frankly I wouldn't mind seeing them split up. Phil has never liked her anyway.