Woke soap plots are turning viewers off – in my day we told stories properly, says Coronation Street’s Charlie Lawson
CORRIE legend Charlie Lawson has blasted the soap for its sh*te woke plots – and said two stars are unhappy with the storylines.
The Northern Irish actor, 64, who played Jim McDonald across a number of stints from 1989 to 2018, believes the late Tony Warren, who created Coronation Street in 1960 and wrote many of the scripts in its heyday, would be disappointed.
It comes after ITV’s flagship soap opera did not appear in the top ten most-watched shows at Christmas, netting around 2.6million viewers and coming 12th.
That was down by almost three-quarters of its audience from the nearly eight million who would have tuned in a decade ago.
Last year it got 2.8million viewers.
The only soap in the top ten was EastEnders on BBC One, with 3.58million tuning in.
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Meanwhile, show regulars are quitting roles in their droves, including Lisa George (Beth Tinker), Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow), Alex Bain (Simon Barlow) and Peter Ash (Paul Foreman).
Tell stories properly In an exclusive interview, Charlie — famous for the “so it is” he used to add to many lines of his dialogue, said: “I do know there are at least two long-term cast members who aren’t happy.
“There is a feeling there are too many episodes and that the production team don’t have time to give the attention to detail they did before.”
He added: “Viewers are getting turned off by too many young storylines.
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“In my day, in the Nineties, we didn’t have any woke issues, we didn’t have any political correctness, we had none of that s**te. We were able to tell stories and tell them properly.
“I suspect now half the meetings that they have upstairs on the sixth floor are about what is politically acceptable, all this stuff that they feel they have to address.
“And the silent majority of TV viewers are not interested in the slightest by all this crap.”
He added: “Where do you go from 2.6million at Christmas? That is a very, very disappointing viewing figure.
“We were getting three or four times that for a single episode on a Monday night in the Nineties.
“I realise watching habits have totally changed, so they have a very difficult uphill struggle.”
Last year viewers moaned that Corrie, the world’s longest-running soap, had become “unwatchable” because of a dramatic shift to its woke storylines, which saw far-right extremists plant a bomb in Weatherfield and characters fret about climate change and sugar intake.
Charlie blames the quality of writing and lack of stalwart characters such as legends Jack and Vera Duckworth, played by the late Liz Dawn and Bill Tarmey.
He said: “If you look at the quality of the writers we had, we had great writers.
“You know, we never worried about ratings because it wasn’t an issue. We were always getting ten to 12million.
“And then Christmas time, like I think the McDonald family got 20million once when there was a domestic violence issue.
“Deirdre Barlow in jail, that was sort of 19million or 20million but the reviews were good. Because the programme was never ever bad. The writing used to be so good that even when Jim McDonald was annoyed, he could be funny. We had Jack and Vera and all these great characters who drove the comedy along.
“There were some great scenes. I remember playing with Bill in the Rovers Return and they were hysterical, just two guys, leaning on the bar getting quietly p*d and talking about life and society and Weatherfield.
“An awful lot of people are saying there’s nothing like that any more — they can’t all be wrong.”
Charlie thinks the cast are now too “scared” to speak up with concerns about storylines.
Recalling how talent Bill Roache, 91, who plays Ken Barlow, Helen Worth, 72, (Gail Platt) and Michael Le Vell, 59, (Kevin Webster) would liaise between cast and producers if they were happy with storylines, he said: “I remember various incidents where there would be a company meeting and the producer would come down and reassure the cast and listen to our comments.
“Our comments mattered in those days. I think people are very scared nowadays. There would be Helen Worth, myself, Bill Roache and Michael Le Vell — we were cast representatives.
“And if we had a meeting, and somebody was not happy about storylines, we were within our rights to call a meeting and go upstairs and say, ‘Listen’ to whoever the producer was.
“I don’t think that happens any more, but actors aren’t stupid.”
Charlie added: “I think certainly the cast members that are mentioned in bad reviews will feel it. No one likes a bad review.”
Recalling his late pal Tony Warren, who died in 2016 aged 79, Charlie said: “Well, knowing Tony as I did, he wouldn’t be a happy bunny.
“The programme has evolved. Whether it is evolved too far . . . ? It would appear to me that that is the case.”
Charlie is hopeful show bosses, including executive producer Kate Oates, will attempt to turn around the soap’s fortunes.
He said: “I suspect the bosses will be trying to address these issues as we speak.
“They will not be backward in coming forward as to how they think it will be resolved.
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“But I wish them all the luck in the world.
“It was a big part of my life and I want them to be getting 12million viewers again, and not two and a half million.”
Amy return
EMILY Atack's aunt Amy Robbins is returning to Coronation Street.
The actress, 52, pictured, is reprising her role as Christina Boyd, who arrived in the soap last year.
She is the neglectful mother of Daisy Midgeley, played by Charlotte Jordan.
Amy, who also appeared in The Royal and Hollyoaks, has signed a six-month contract and will be back in Weatherfield from March.
A source said: “The mother and daughter’s story isn’t finished yet and the family have unfinished business. Amy loved her time on the cobbles and can’t wait to return to filming.”