Coronation Street

He was good in QAF, which launched Antony to "stardom". Haven't really enjoyed him lately in Corrie, although the current old episodes shown on Granada International feature Sean and Violet debating on whether or not to have a baby together. It's a good storyline, but the actor doesn't carry it off too well, IMO.

I wonder what Christmas will be like on the street this year? What with the disaster 3 weeks before

I actually think Corrie has had a pretty good balance of gay characters. I know plenty of camp, queeny gay men like Sean. They do exist. Surely not to allow such characters on screen would be discriminatory in itself.

Equally though, there are plenty of more masculine gay men, like Todd. I also think Corrie should be commended for recognising that not all gay people are young. I think Gail's dad is a brilliant character, and promotes a very positive image of gay men.

Using that logic I think it's about time another plane dropped on Emmerdale.

There's quite a difference between 16 years (plane crash) and 43 years (train crash)

Not to mention the original take on it didn't do it justice, it was the '60's they, Corrie was still filmed inside a studio, the original disaster consisted of a few bangs heard from the Rovers, with everyone running out to find the train crashed

I never know there was a train crash EVER on corrie. where can I found more info on this/

Perhaps I should have chosen my words carefully. Sean comes across as something of a stereotype, and as for Todd and Ted, both were favourite characters of mine. My problem is that good characters like them (especially Ted) are no longer regulars on the programme and we are left with Sean who - and I'm clearly not alone here - is a bit weak as a character. He does provide some light relief, especially at the time he joined the show, but I'm growing weary of the character nowadays. Yes, I know there are gay people out there just like Sean, but he is the Street's only regular gay character, sadly, and does the show no justice. I think it is Emmerdale that recently had a rather masculine young man coming out as gay, which was very interesting from a storyline point of view; many different aspects could be explored - the effect on his family, the gossipers in the village, etc. I know Corrie had more or less the same storyline with Todd back in 2003/4. You mention that it would be 'discriminatory' of them for not recognising that people like Sean exist - for me, it's 'discriminatory' of them not to have a regular gay character who isn't a 'screaming queen' (as somebody on this thread so aptly put it!) and one could say that Sean's demeanour does conform to the stereotype somewhat. Fair enough, some people are like that - but others aren't.



This was in May 1967, and I believe the whole incident took up three or four episodes. A goods train managed to veer straight off the top of the viaduct and into the Street, collapsing the entire viaduct and narrowly missing the Corner Shop and the Glad Tidings Mission Hall. Various people were feared to be under the heavy rubble, including Jack Walker, Lucille Hewitt, Elsie Tanner and Ena Sharples. It turned out that only Ena and a policeman and his girlfriend were underneath. Ena and the policeman survived and were rescued but I think the girlfriend was already dead when rescuers discovered her.

I guess the best thing would be to see it: the first two episodes of the incident are on the Coronation Street 1960s box set released by Network DVD, but I think somebody may have uploaded a bit of it to YouTube.

As for the person who said there were only a few "bang" noises, try watching it: it's a rather dramatic and quite scary sound, actually!

Part of the Crash 1960's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZzAmXUNq2w&feature=PlayList&p=2C28F0E95697338E&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=70

It sounds like a good storyline, can we expect one of the Manchester MetroLink trams to fall off? (one of the old ones anyway)

I do know where you're coming from. And certainly in years gone by, I think it was unhelpful that the only gay people to appear in the media were, as Jim Royle aptly put it, "novelty gays" like John Inman and Larry Grayson.

But I think society has gone beyond that, and with openly gay people in all walks of life and in the media, people are now aware that not every gay person is a screaming queen. If Sean was the only representation of gay people in the media, then I would agree that would be a bad thing. But people don't watch Corrie in isolation to the rest of the world, and so I don't think he does any harm to the general perception of gay people. Certainly no more harm than Dev does to that of Asian people by running a corner shop - arguably a more obvious stereotype.

I know Sean doesn't seem very popular on this forum, and admittedly he does get on my nerves at times. But on the positive side, he's portrayed as someone who integrates well with the local residents and is popular amongst them, which I think sends out a good message of tolerance to the public. What I really like about Sean though, is that he's gay without it being made into a tedious issue. What I do find really dull is gay people always being portrayed as angsty, troubled people for whom being gay is a constant source of turmoil, and whose every storyline has to revolve around their sexuality. I think that's a much more unfair representation of gay people.

A new one is used in the opening credits, but it will most likely be an old one used, either that or a model of a new one

The MEN reports that bets are being taken as to who will be killed off, Ken is 6/1, whereas Rita (who is more likely due to where she lives) is 11/1, they also report that even though we have the big disaster, it does more than just wipe a few people out, different strands of stories will all tie together as the street descends into chaos

EDIT: On a different note, can anyone tell me how the Corner Shop changed from Blue and Red (2005) to the colours it has now in 2010

I wonder if they'll use a strategy similar to what they did with Britain's Got Talent, probably putting the episodes at 9pm in between I'm a Celeb evictions at 8pm/9.30pm.