RIP #corrie - I've had to stop watching Coronation Street.

And I feel rather as if I've had an amputation. Like I've got rid of a part of my body that was causing me pain.
I must admit that I haven't been a truly consistent watcher of the soap because, strange as it may seem, their have been times when I've had better things to do than sit in front of the television. But I recall watching early episodes in black and white so it has been present in my life over a significant period.
Why have I stopped now? Well I've just got utterly sick of the interminable misery generated by the issue led story lines. And the fact that the producers seem to have lost track of the difference between drama and melodrama.
The latest toing and froing of alcoholic Peter Barlow, his split from the slutty Leanne and the unbelieveable custody battle with his precocious and obnoxious son has been the impetus which finally sent me to the operating theatre to dispose of this annoyance. Not that this story line has been the only one to send me close to the edge in recent months
I was also sick of that fat ginger whinger Fiz and her constantly tearstained face polluting my dinner time. And it was only the hope that she might be jailed for life that kept me going.
Oh if only Corrie had stuck to its original remit of being a humourous reflection of Northern working class.
It seems odd now that in the 60s and in spite of constantly having more than 20 million viewers, Corrie was often criticised for being a far too cosy nostalgic reflection of life in the 50s. But be that as it may I think it essential that a soap has at least one character with whom you can find an empathy.
Here's my little list of characters I've enjoyed down the years:
Ena Sharples, Albert Tatlock, Annie Walker, Hilda Ogden (my all time favourite character), Stan Ogden, Eddie Yeats, Vera Duckworth, Bet Lynch.
And some slightly lesser lights:
Reg Holdsworth, Curly Watts, Jack Duckworth, Mavis Riley, Fred Gee.
My absolute favourite line was delivered by Bet Lynch to Hilda Ogden;
"Did you say something or was that just your corset squeaking?"
I still laugh when I think about it and indeed I use it sometimes myself, though maybe it only amuses me.
I think that Corrie's downhill slide started when Brian Park took over as producer in the late nineties. He sacked a lot of the older cast and promoted the younger cast in issue led story lines.
It's rather strange though that, when I start to think about it, there were issues and melodrama even in its heyday. Certainly I can remember murder, robbery, drunkeness, a train crash and even domestic violence. So perhaps it's me thats changed. But I can also remember a noted television critic once saying that "Coronation Street is a first-class soap opera, superbly scripted and flawlessly performed by a seasoned repertory company."
It is an awfully long time since that was true.