Hello Elizabeth
“Never work with animals or children,” W. C. Fields said. They always steal the show. Corrie actors might add so too do the words ‘Hello Elizabeth’.
There were many good moments this week. Michelle with some laugh out loud funny lines. Jason’s distress over his unwitting part in Tyrone’s injuries. Tony’s brooding presence at the breakfast table. He worries about the worksite accident and about Liz going to see her volatile ex-husband. He’s also perplexed about the ways women craft a message through make-up and apparel.
War paint in place and a different top on, Liz waits in the prison visitors’ room. Jim files in with the other prisoners, expecting to see Steven. I didn’t even realize I was waiting for it – until he said it. “Hello, Elizabeth”. Delight and memories washed over me at hearing those words that are unique to Jim, and to Liz in relationship to him. (And, oh yes, he noticed the change in lipstick shade.)
Something simple
Something as simple as that manifests what creator Tony Warren said about the appeal of Coronation Street for its audience. It is “something warm, something friendly and something familiar, and they return to it” (Other Worlds pg. 128). Aye, Tony, so they do.
Following soon after that was Jim back in his cell, despondent. In comes Peter, whining for more booze please Jim, I did my part Jim, you owe me. Big Jim is so not in the mood for it. It looks like Peter will end up in hospital, at the receiving end of Jim’s fists. But no, not yet.
Pairing up actors Charles Lawson and Chris Gascoyne is brilliant. I have had trouble with accepting Peter’s sudden and dramatic descent into the DTs. When he first was in prison, he showed no ill effects from alcohol withdrawal at all. Then all of a sudden, he looked he looked like he’d just crawled out of Reefer Madness. Was this written for him because he does drunk and disorderly and desperate so well? When he, and we, met The Landlord it all made sense. That’s why: it gives a reason for Peter and Jim to interact. It worked. The two are absolutely fabulous together.
It’s a nice touch having photos of Jim on the mantel in the Rovers’ back room. If I were Tony, though, I’d add that to my list of things to brood about.
