Coronation Street might be the strongest soap at the moment but that doesn’t mean it can’t learn to make sure it’s as strong as it’s classic heyday.
In particular the ITV soap should learn from itself – and its past.
Here are seven things the current soap could learn from Classic Corrie.
Legendary characters
There was a time with Coronation Street where every character was a carefully constructed piece of realistic genius.
Bet Lynch, Elsie Tanner, Maud Grimes… the list goes on and on.
Until things started to get a little bit sensationalist around 1999.
In fact once Raquel Watts left, she took with her the kind of character that only Corrie could make real – and iconic.
The classic Coronation Street comedy
As much as we love Mary Taylor‘s slightly wacky stories, or Kirk being dim as a personality type, you can’t quite beat a bit of Classic Corrie (trademarked) humour.
Vera Duckworth casually telling a vegetarian that the crank food is on another aisle while working at the supermarket is just comedy you can’t buy these days.
And let’s just bask in the memories of Blanche Hunt.
True villains
But you can’t beat a classic Corrie villain.
And we’re not just talking Richard Hillman, or Alan Bradley here – we mean real Corrie villains.
Mike Baldwin was a hard-nosed businessman who would crush anyone who dared get between what he wanted.
He was the kind of villain who existed without sensationalism, without being a serial killer.
Utterly terrifying and frighteningly relatable.
Realism in Classic Coronation Street
Yes, viewers love spectacle and they love high drama – but they also love realism.
While EastEnders is full of gangsters, Corrie has always been packed to the brim with normal folk going about their lives.
You can imagine the likes of Jack and Vera having a domestic in your pub, or Ken and Mike fighting over Deirdre, or Elsie Tanner ruling over the street with an iron tongue.
That was the strength of Coronation Street – and it should remain so.
Use what you’ve got
A former Coronation Street boss once said that she resisted the temptation to bring back all the icons of soap past because she wanted to leave them in the toybox for future bosses.
And with a cast approaching 80 strong, she had more than enough toys of her own to play with.
In classic Corrie, the actors are all used for their strengths.
There was no dragging back big names in the hope of winning ratings – characters were written for as they were.
And the soap was all the better for it.
No big stunts
Big spectacle in soap has its place.
In Coronation Street it always has – relative to the era.
Who can forget Rita Sullivan fleeing from Alan Bradley and him coming a cropper under a conveniently timed Blackpool tram?
It was a heart-stopping moment, made all the more powerful because it was Rita who was fleeing from him.
Likewise, Deirdre going to prison was far bigger than any of the catastrophes that have befallen the cobbles since.
You can crash a tram into the cobbles, but you can’t beat an old fashion Coronation Street storyline build up…
Remembering the history of Classic Coronation Street
Jenny Connor, Wendy Crozier, Debbie Webster are a few of the characters plucked from Corrie’s past who have slotted right back into the street.
It’s safe to say that Jenny has proven to be one of the best characters to bring back despite her chequered past.
And Debbie has fitted right in as the resident businesswoman of the year (bankrupt edition).
Read more: Coronation Street who’s leaving in 2022?
As for Wendy FLAMIN’ Crozier – it’s a stroke of genius to bring her back into Ken Barlow‘s orbit.
With more than 60 years of characters to mine, the soap is doing the right thing by picking the right classic Coronation Street characters to make comebacks.
There have been mistakes – Bet Lynch, anyone? – but if it picks the character for the character and not for headlines, then it can’t go wrong.
Want more spoilers from Coronation Street? Entertainment Daily has a dedicated Coronation Street spoilers section for you to get your fix before the latest episodes air.
Coronation Street usually airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
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