I know I said no updates but I had to share this

As you know, William Roache is touring Canada, giving a talk on his experiences as Ken Barlow in Coronation. Today in his travels, he took some time to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It turns out Harper wrote a letter to the cast during the show’s 50th anniversary and counts himself among the Canadian fan base (so perhaps in the next federal budget he won’t be too hard on the CBC if he wants to keep watching the show).

But now I’m at that awkward moment when I realize that I have something in common with Stephen Harper. I may have to rethink my life.

Open Thread for the Week Ending March 16

Flaming couches, missing Dennis, gambling problems, missing wedding deposits, and goodbye to Cheryl, Russ, and Chris and more importantly, goodbye to dear old Schmeical.

No update this week as company’s coming to town but feel free to comment below.

And Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Update for the Week Ending March 9, 2012

Well, folks this was the week that Lloyd finally figured out that Chris had actually recovered from his tumour. What he didn’t expect was for Chris to gloatingly tell Lloyd that he and Cheryl were back together. This led to much weeping and bro-hugging from Steve.

Chesney had the worst week of his life this week. First, his incarcerated sister made him arrange the funeral of her murderous, lying late husband. Second, the Weatherfield Council sent them an eviction notice on super fancy letterhead. Thirdly, poor Schmeichel got cancer of the liver so Chesney spent what little money they had on tests. And when Owen lent them money to cover the rent, he almost spent that too. But he was left with the decision: does he take the chance that an operation will save Schmeichel or does he simply end his suffering then and there, and continue to have a home for Katy and his baby-to-be. It looks like Chesney will be making yet another tough decision.

Also, writers? Kirk knows dogs. It’s the one thing he does know. He could have been more knowledgeable to help Chesney with this.

I do know one thing: Monday is going to be a full ice cream tub kind of day.

And John’s funeral was this week. Sally went and ruined it on the grounds that he didn’t deserve a proper funeral but then she regretted later to Frank.

“I know what it’s like,” he told her. “Once you start it’s hard to stop. And by that, I mean, ruining your enemy’s funeral and not, in any way, rape.”

Frank almost managed to bring down Underworld but Michelle and Ciaran returned from their working cruise. In about 5 minutes, Michelle managed to poach back most of the workers from Underworld, take over the factory (with Nick’s help), send Carla off to LA to visit friends, and get Ciaran to plan their wedding.

Rosie sold her story to the tabs with Jeff supplying the background family dirt for local colour. And poor Emily Bishop had to read the lurid details at Sophie’s party. This got him dumped quickly by Sally, and this time for good.

Brian’s a UFO searcher and spent one cold night on the red rec searching for signs of life in the skies but a suddenly very fertile and broody Julie had him searching for other things.

In her pants.

I mean they were having sex al fresco.

Brian must love this song. #corriecanada youtube.com/watch?v=JWVshk…—
Corrie Canuck (@Corrie_Canuck) March 10, 2012

Gary and Izzy bonded over a ceremony for Remembrance Day at the cenotaph.

Owen and Anna are still going strong but Whispering Faye still hates Owen and his stupid, whiny, pregnant, broke daughter.

Paul’s wife is getting worse. Now she’s getting violent and prone to wandering off. Eileen’s being a saint but it’s a burden for anyone to bear.

Boy that girl on Heartland loves those horses. #cbc #corriecanada—
Corrie Canuck (@Corrie_Canuck) March 09, 2012

In other news, Jim, Andy, Claire, and Ashley appeared on Canada AM this week as part of their Canadian tour. You can see the interview at this link here.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Update for The Week Ending March 2nd, 2012. Now with Added Live Tweeting Highlights

The most recent episode takes us to four months and four days behind the current UK schedule.

Fizz: "I thought he was in Canada!" Prosecutor: "THERE IS NO SUCH PLACE AS 'CANADA'!!!" #corrielinesidliketohear #corriecanada—
Corrie Canuck (@Corrie_Canuck) March 02, 2012

This week on Corrie, Fizz’s trial happened and all her friends and family attended for support. And Mary, for the entertainment.

“Three murder charges,” she reckoned. “Oh, she might beat one, maybe two. But all three? Oh, that is highly unlikely.”

As it turns out, she was right. After faltering in the cross examination, the jury found Fizz not guilty of the murder of Charlotte Hoyle and Joy Fishwick but was found guilty of the murder of Colin Fishwick.

John would have been so much better if he'd never seen Fiz. Now he's got a beard. #corriebymaresdad—
Mare (@marelewell) March 01, 2012

But John Stape, using the alias “Mr. Chips” returned (you could tell he was coming back because two different characters used his name in the same episode) to set things right. And by “set things right” he meant kidnap Rosie Webster and spend the next day getting her to memorize the bizarre series of events that led to Fizz being sent down. When Kevin and Jason burst into the flat to rescue Rosie, Stape takes off with Kevin close behind in hot pursuit. He doesn’t make it to the court when he crashes his car into a truck.

Oh, forget the the charts with Rosie, John. Just use the finger puppets. #corriecanada—
Corrie Canuck (@Corrie_Canuck) March 02, 2012

In hospital, Fizz is brought in and a confession is finally taped. On his deathbed, Fizz says she forgives him (I think she was being kind to him in his final moments or was just overcome with grief) and he asks that Fizz be sure to read to Hope every day, which she does and yes, it’s good advice. Then he dies. Will it be enough to save Fizz? We shall see.

It's one thing to fake cancer to get your gf back, but breaking Lloyd's prized Stax records glass? Chris, you've crossed a line.—
Corrie Canuck (@Corrie_Canuck) March 01, 2012

Chris’ tumour is getting better, but he’s still levering it to manipulate Cheryl back into his arms, and it works so Lloyd is on his way to Dumpsville.

Eileen’s new fella Paul is, as we expected, married. Unfortunately, his wife is suffering early onset Alzheimer’s. Paul is attempting to move on with his wife as, in his mind, the woman he married is no longer there. As the population ages, this is becoming more of an issue with few easy answers so it’s interesting that Corrie is tackling it.

Rosie attempted to split Sally and Jeff up by seducing him, except he didn’t want to know. Desperate, she dumps his coffee in his lap just as Sally walks in. She buys the scene and sacks Jeff for about 15 minutes until Honest Sophie tell her the truth.

While Sian was in Paris with her mum, Sophie and Amber hit a few clubs. Amber got Sophie a little tipsy and when a bloke started chatting them, Amber kissed Sophie to get rid of him (a tactic which can backfire, by the way). This leaves Sophie with all kind of confused feelings about Amber. When she confesses it to Sunita, she puts her straight: Amber is a game player. Pay her no mind. The kiss wasn’t a real thing.

It's official: Sophie Webster's life has become a Tegan & Sara song. #corriecanada #notunfaithfulbutillstray youtu.be/U8KAU9vWGgc—
Corrie Canuck (@Corrie_Canuck) February 29, 2012

Sophie interprets this as “Propose to Sian!” and Sian accepts. Less accepting are Sally and Kevin on grounds that they are way too young.

Sophie, like most people, is in her 1st real relationship. And, like most, she's about to arse it right up. #corriecanada—
Corrie Canuck (@Corrie_Canuck) March 01, 2012

And Frank decides to open his own factory by promising to fulfill Sally’s life-long dream of a being an assistant manager. Kirk, Izzy, and Julie are the few Underworlders with scruples so they stay put, even if it means being out of work before Christmas.

And Sylvia won a cruise with an idea she stole from Mary and she’s not sorry, nope, not one bit.

Davy Jones, aka Colin Lomax, has died

Davy Jones has died. For Coronation Street fans he’ll always be known as Colin Lomax, grandson of Ena Sharples during the show’s early days. The character returned in 1972 but was played by another actor as Davy was off in California romancing the underaged Marcia Brady.

Here’s some music from a television show that he was involved in that clearly wasn’t as well known as his work on Corrie.

Wow.

That was not the best showcase for their singing abilities. Groovy shirt on Davy, though.

Update for the week ending February 24, 2012

Four months, eight days behind…

This song was on the jukebox this week (Kirsty Maccoll wrote it but this version has a video).

It’s the week of Eileen’s 50th birthday and Rosie has helped her with her dating profile. Rosie pointed out that you never reveal your real age, your job, or anything else truthful. So she took Eileen’s head shot and had it photoshopped. By she didn’t have Eileen erase her full name from the profile so expect lots of new stalkers, Eileen!

Eileen does get a date and arranges to meet him at her house (mistake #2 – In a café, Eileen! In a café!). What she doesn’t know is that her friends at the factory chipped in for a banner reading “Happy 50th Birthday Eileen!” which was flung across the factory’s balcony.

In her rush to get the banner down, she gets her head stuck in the balcony railings. Her date, realizing she’s some working class stiff who’s 50, not 40, storms off. Fortunately, Eileen is rescued by the fireman, Paul, who tried to save Molly during the tram crash. He has a little more luck this time, as does Eileen, who scores a date with him.

It does seem to be going well but when she goes to his house to return a wallet, he’s quite cagey and brushes her off quickly. He later apologizes and says his brother’s wife had left him and he’s in a right state.

But later, Marcus sees Paul shopping with another woman at Frescho’s. What is going on there?

Tracy, feeling unwell, is taken to the hospital to see if the baby is alright. Baby? Make that babies as the nurse informs her there were two heartbeats on the ultrasound. So it’s either twins, or she’s carrying a Time Lord (yes, I used that joke on Twitter but it’s mine so I can repeat it if I like).

Well, this got Steve all loved up or something so suddenly he decides he and Tracy belong together after all so after a declaration of love by the canal, Steve makes his feelings known and Tracy unfurls George W. Bush’s “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner over the door at Number 1.

And Becky cried in Hayley’s arms.

Ken turned 72 this week, making him as old as me mum. For his birthday, Deirdre put her mad pottery skillz to work to create a peanuts dish because as we’ve all seen, Ken is constantly eating peanuts.

“See, Ken,” she tells him. “I made the first dish a number 7…”

“And then you made a number two!” adds Tracy.

And then I spit out me tea.

Damnit, Tracy! Stop making me like you!

It’s a good thing Carla agreed to go to counselling because she’s going to need all she can get now that Frank Foster is out on bail. Fortunately, he can’t work at the factory. Unfortunately, his mother, who does not like Carla, not one little bit, can. I always thought after Paul, Tony, and Frank that Carla’s next business partner should be a woman. This isn’t what I had in mind.

Stella also confided to Carla that she, too, was raped and will be there if ever she wants to talk.

Frank, via his mummy, decided as he owned half the business, took half the assets. And that meant lay-offs. The unlucky ones included the most recently hired Becky and Eileen, and Sally. Carla reckoned due to her comfortable circumstances (grown kids, Kevin’s scratch card money), she could sweat it out.

“I’m just trying to be fair,” Carla says.

“Fair? Was it fair when I got cancer? Was it fair when my husband had a child with another woman? I used to look up to you. More fool me.”

Sian’s off to France with her mum so Amber has taken Sophie under her wing. They even went to a gay bar, leaving Sian a touch jealous and Sophie wondering why Amber seemed so comfortable there. I don’t know which team Sophie is on but if she is gay, it would be great, if only to make Dev’s head explode.

In other news, Tommy is clearly into Tina who is clearly into Dr. Carter.

Chris is recovering from his cancer but he’s not about to let Cheryl know that, not while there is a way he can pity his way back into her heart. While Lloyd watches helplessly. I don’t know if it’s going to work but he did ask Tracy when she was going to be done with her Mission Accomplished banner.

Breaking News: British Isles Show Canceled

Every year in Toronto, thousands gather to celebrate all things British (and Irish) at the annual British Isles Show. The show features vendors selling British TV, movies, food, and the big draw: an annual appearance by one of the cast of Coronation Street.

That is, except this year. It’s been canceled.

It’s a disappointment for sure, but to be honest, the quality had declined in recent years. You had vendors with little to do with show (like travel agents) showing up and Johnny LaRue-esque announcers making racist jokes over a too loud PA system. And next month we’ll have William Roache, as well as the actors who played Claire and Ashley Peacock, and Andy and Jim Macdonald doing appearances independently of the show and for a lot of people, they were the only reason to go. And from what I’ve seen, the venues the actors are using are probably better than a loud, crowded convention centre.

We’ll have to see if it comes back next year.

Coronation Street Weekly Updates on Amazon

For years, Glenda Young, one of the original UK-based Corrie bloggers has been writing weekly summaries of Coronation Street since 1995. If you’re a Kindle user, those summaries are now available for your device by clicking here.

I love the Corrie updates as they’ve always provided some great back-story to the current storylines. As I’ve only been watching the show for ten years, sometimes I need that extra historical context.

I’m also currently trying to get my three year old son into the show with little luck. However he does insist I read him entry on Schmeichel in this book, which my wife got for Christmas. So you know, baby steps.

Update for the Week Ending February 17

Corrie Catch-Up: We are now four months and two weeks behind the current episodes.

This week saw the aftermath of Carla’s ordeal at the hands of Frank Foster, Frank’s arrest, and Carla’s decision to seek counselling for her trauma. No fancy wedding reception at the bistro, then.Frank played the jilted lover to all involved and even managed to goad Peter into giving him a good smack into his consistently expressionless face with his gross "I gave ‘er what she wanted" comment. Peter’s reaction to Carla’s ordeal has Leanne wondering if Carla’s love isn’t so unrequited at all. It is, but Peter is walking a thin line here between being caring friend and being something more. After being arrested in the Rovers, where all break-ups, proposals, wedding receptions, baby deliveries, deaths, and arrests occur, everyone knows what Frank is charged with and he is later denied bail.

Kevin and Sally got back together for one night but when Kevin started celebrating a bit too soon, Sally threw him back on his ear. Rosie’s back with a new, short n’ spikey haircut. Ever since Annie Lennox in the Eurythmics back in the day, I’ve had a fondness for the short n’ spikey look on gals so I approve. Rosie had a modeling appearance that went awry on the Lorraine Kelly Show (The UK equivalent to Marilyn Denis, I think). The video of the dust-up went viral in Corrieworld but I think that, and some other Rosie-related stuff, is happening off-screen so it’s hard for us in Canada to find out what that was about. Bill and Auntie Pam are engaged. Hearing of Kevin’s good fortune (seriously, this man does not experience consequences), Pam gives him a piece of her mind. Now, I do sympathize with her as Molly was like a daughter to her and seeing Kevin, living back at the house, with their son, and 200K richer, must sting. Still, she rows with him so loudly that poor Bill has a heart attack.No more fry-ups for you, then!

Tyrone’s new gal Kirsty is a super jealous, quick tempered piece of work. And she’s a cop. "Faaaanntastic!" thinks Tina.

After soaking themselves trying to fix Anna’s pipes, Anna and Owen head upstairs for a bit of plumbing of their own. The next day Anna freaks out and avoids Owen, explaining later that Eddie was her first and only partner. For his part, Owen explains that he doesn’t do dating very well either but they agree to keep seeing each other. I also have a theory that back in the day, Eddie Windass had some appeal but started to let himself go in bad way as soon as he was married. Anna stuck around to make sure her son didn’t end up in jail and to mitigate Uncle Len’s influence and because Eddie made awesome cakes. It’s the only thing that makes sense.