IAN HYLAND
on last night’s telly
Coronation Street, ITV: ★★★★
There have been some random front page headlines in the Weatherfield Gazette over the years, but the latest one was pushing it – even for a local paper.
“Top Review For Am-Dram Showcase.”
In the absence of any further
details, I can only assume one of the Corrie production staff was having a sniffy pop at EastEnders after it finally received some praise – for its dramatic wedding episodes – the other week.
Anyway, Corrie itself should expect plenty of top reviews in the coming weeks, thanks mainly to the efforts of Katie McGlynn (Sinead) and Rob Mallard (Daniel). Of course, it could be argued that the storyliners had already done all the hard work for them.
On her wedding day a young mum finds out her cancer has returned and, just days later, instead of enjoying a dream honeymoon she’s visiting hospices.
However, it’s the actor’s job to make it extra gut-wrenching – and they are doing just that.
Katie delivered some particularly hard-hitting speeches last night – not least the one about
Sinead’s fear of death’s “sudden nothingness”. It’s a tough watch, which will only get tougher.
No wonder the writers mixed plenty of light in with the shade.
Evelyn’s gallows humour in the corner shop was a neat touch, and I would happily listen to Bernie calling Chesney “Chutney” all night long.
The biggest laugh though was Sean thinking it was cyclist Lance Armstrong who landed on the moon.
Steady on, Sean. He didn’t take that many steroids.
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It’s a tough watch... no wonder there was light in the shade