Coronation Street episode review, Thursday 27 August

Hello, I'm Rachel from That London and I'll be your Thursday reviewer from now until TPTB decide that a Thursday trip to the cobbles is an episode too far. I'm a relative Corrie newbie, having only tuned in fifteen years ago, but I've appeared on the Coronation Street Blog before as guest reviewer of a revival of (my favourite Corrie writer) Jonathan Harvey's play, Beautiful Thing, and as Fan of the Week.

Anyway, enough about me; on with the show....

We start off with Jason and family in the hospital. Tony is stressed by the lack of action from the police and he takes it out on Lloyd in the pub, leading to some sparks flying between Tony and Liz as they argue in the back room. By the end of the ep, Jason has woken up and is starting his recovery, albeit with a swelling on his kidney, presumably where Camp Callum kicked him. Between the claims and counter-claims, the Weatherfield plods must be more confused than ever about whodunnit. Michael suggests that Eileen and Tony "leave it to the police to work it out", but that'd probably mean that Kylie would end up arrested for the attack on Jason.

It's a real pity that Lloyd will soon be departing the Street, as he makes a great pairing with any McDonald, whether it be Steve ("If you ever turn up here in a pink dress or a string of pearls, you and me are finished!") or Liz, as they rekindle their romance over spring rolls from Wong's and The Real Housewives of Cheshire on ITVBe, although I do get the impression that it was her earlier fingering of Tony's shirt that leads Liz to a little light Lloyd petting in the back room.

In fashion news, it's good to see the return of the zig-zag necklace.

Talking of returns, Michelle is back from Ireland with "the Blarney stone and several gallons of Irish stout" in her bag. The Connor clan plus Steve celebrate her return with dinner at the Bistro, the purpose of which seems to be to set up some conflict between Aidan and Robert. Hopefully, Robert will stay in the kitchen from now on, rather than trying to garner praise (or ketchup requests) from the punters.

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Aidan so far; he seems like the poor man's Luke Strong and I'm very unsure about the casting. The most endearing and enduring Corrie actors are those who've come up through the Street's Youth Academy, so to speak, such as Jack P. Shepherd and Alan Halsall, or those who were relatively unknown before Corrie (Katherine Kelly, Suranne Jones, Paula Lane), rather than celebs from other fields. Whilst I have gradually warmed to Kym Marsh, I am unconvinced by stunt casting unless it's for a short term role (I enjoyed Paddy McGuinness last week, but he would have been annoying as a long-term, one-note character), and I'm not quite sure which demographic the producer and casting directors are hoping to attract by casting someone who came to fame ten years ago.

Tim chats to Craig in the cafe about The Karate Kid ("my squeegees are my nunchucks" - maybe they will take over the banter from Steve and Lloyd when the latter departs) and then asks Craig if he wants to come with him to pick up baby Miley, but Craig prefers to clean out Daryl's cage (funnily enough, I was just reading about female rats anogenitally licking their pups, but let's not go there), although really he's phoning Caitlin. Perhaps she will return as a character in her own right sans Dougie?

Finally, Cathy is steamrollered by Mary and Yasmee into teaching art classes at the Community Centre. It's good to see Cathy getting to do something other than annoy Roy with her cutlery combining and toast crumbs. Art triumphs once again.

Thanks for reading, and thank you to Glenda and the gang for giving me the opportunity to review my favourite soap!

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