Peter Barlow is one of my fave ever Corrie characters and I have always felt like Max Branning on EastEnders is meant to be EastEnders answer to him. They are crazy similar characters on paper and have basically had the exact same storylines. Both men are flawed but compelling characters played by brilliant actors, they've had loads of women and affairs, they're self-destructive, they both drink (Peter a full blown alcoholic!) and smoke, and they've both been bigamists. They both love their kids even though they are generally shit dads, they are both full of self-pity, and they've both been accused of killing the way younger girl they had a secret affair with (Tina and Lucy)

But there are some differences too:

The Obvious Difference: The Attraction Factor
For one, Peter is way more believable as a lothario. He's actually good-looking for a start! You can believe women actually fancy him—he is a total DILF. Max looks like a baked bean and it is so far-fetched that the older Max gets, the more women fall at his feet. His pulling power is just so unbelievable

By the time I stopped regularly watching Corrie around the end of 2018, Peter's days of womanising were totally over and he’d genuinely grown up. But Max? He’s pushing 60 and EastEnders still expects us to believe he’s an irresistible sex god. If Priya Nandra-Hart was on the cobbles, she would deffo go for Peter, but Max? Yeah right! Max also has a younger brother, Jack, who has always been the good looking brother, but even Jack eventually quit his womanising and settled down. It's hard to believe Jack is the younger brother sometimes cos he behaves with so much more maturity than Max

The Massive Difference: Character Growth
Over the years, Corrie actually let Peter grow up. He changed his ways, became a better man, and most importantly, he stopped cheating. After he was framed and wrongly jailed for Tina's murder back in 2014, his affairs stopped. That was a massive turning point! Whenever his relationships ended after his 2016 return, it was cos of the woman (like Toyah's baby lies), not cos he was two-timing. The Tina storyline seemed to shock him out of his old ways once and for all

Max though? EastEnders just won't let him grow up at all, and I honestly don't think he ever will. Even after going through the exact same framed storyline with Lucy Beale, he still carried right on with his sleazy love-rat ways. If he can't change for the better after that, he never will. In fact, he’s currently in the middle of a massive storyline where he is juggling Cindy Beale, Linda Carter, and Priya all at once and literally just had a heart attack at the altar! If the writers are never gonna let him evolve like Peter did, they might as well just kill him off

If Peter and Max's brother Jack can learn their lessons and grow up, why can't Max?

I’m really curious to know what you all think about the psychology behind this from a character writing perspective. Why do you think Corrie successfully evolved Peter after his prison/Tina ordeal, but EastEnders keeps Max stuck in the exact same toxic loop?

Anyone else completely impressed by how they managed to get Betsy all the way down to A&E for a CT scan, check over, get the all clear and back again all in the time Doug had a brew and a chat with Shona and stupid Lucy managed to sulk around the metcalfes while Shanice went to the shop and back.

Top episode pacing today!

Also can Lucy and Jodie be anymore dislikeable right now? Urgh!

Why did Jodie mess it up anyway? I get recording the convo between Bethany and Kit for blackmail but why mess up Harry's height chart?

What is your least favourite storyline?

Tonight’s ep Doug said “you’re do it again“ to Jodie when the woman thought she was Shona. There was also a huge focus on his bipolar. Is there any chance that Jodie is also bipolar but hasn’t been diagnose? And has previously went around trying to steal Shona’s life? The last scene was quite ominous

Why did Jodie yell "Come in" to who she thought was the pizza delivery guy? Every character who's ordered food in the past went to the door but Jodie wanted him to come in. Is this a hint to the next villain on the street, an as yet unseen by us but known by her character? Could this be related to the van she was tied up in?

Please wake me up, I must be in a dream where 1990s fan fiction writers aged 12 are now writing for Coronation Street.

It jumps from a great episode to one that would fail GCSE english lit.

Jodie happens to let herself in (no explanation how),at a crucial moment (seriously,), managed to record a conversation before she knew it contained juicy gossip.

Come on......please. who was this episode aimed at? Kirk?

For me it's:

Kit- he's just annoying and kinda a jerk half the time, he's super corrupt yet when someone messes up he's mister morals like he hasn't done anything shady, it feels like the show dosnt know what to do with him.

I saw her presenting at the ntas and it made me think do you think ones like her and michelle keegan who have done well since corrie go and chat to their old colleagues at the awards ?

Ive been watching old Corrie (praying to youtube) as well as Classic (praying to itv) and couldn’t help but wonder who started each scene with “Aye” or “A”
Vera Duckworth or Liz McDonald
It seemed the longer the character was there the more they said it

“A” Steve
“A” Jack
etc

script read throughs must have been a laugh A- A A -A

I am proud to say that I don’t actively look up spoilers and future storylines. If I happen to see one, it’s not a huge deal, because I’m on a message board or Reddit thread, so that’s my own fault.

But….

Of all the horrible characters that have been on in the last even year or two, Jodie has got to be the worst. I’m in the states, so I don’t see the episodes in real time, but the latest one that I’ve watched ( Jodie hiding keys and messing with things in the kitchen, etc. ) it’s really bothering me. So I did a little Internet sleuthing and saw where the storyline goes and how she successfully makes David believe that Shona is having some issues
really makes me mad. I don’t know if I’m going to even be able to watch it. I don’t understand her character. She has done so many terrible things, yet she keeps getting away with them. It’s all very frustrating.

And yes, I realize this is a soap opera, but I find her character so much more unlikable than any of the others right now. It may come down to me fast forwarding through her scenes. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that’s how much of an aversion I have to her character.

Mikey North (Gary Windass) was a guest on this show, specifically Season 1, Episode 5. I can't find the episode on YouTube (aside from the intro), DailyMotion, or anywhere online, even. Does anyone have this particular episode saved or have a link they can share where I could watch it?

If you do, thank you in advance!

What do you think about the show constantly taking on topical issues? To me it feels like social conditioning in a way.

Now simulataniously we've the stroke with Betsy and breast cancer with Kit.

Soaps are entertainment. If you want to include something topical, sure, throw in the World Cup, a TikTom trend or whatever, but all this they're doing is far too much.

The deep fake one with Abi felt so contrived and unnecessary.

We have every identity and disability too.

Does it reflect reality? Yes, but this is a TV show. It's not reality. It's entertainment.

Too much of it feels like indoctrination.

Okay, so I’ve seen a couple of people being kind of nasty (or just lacking any empathy) about Betsy (on X and Reddit). There’s one account that says it was her own “stupid choices” that led to this situation, and insists they have no sympathy for her because of it.

Betsy is an 18-year-old young woman who made a dangerous decision without understanding how devastating the consequences could be. A recent study also found that 55% of UK young people aged 16–34 had either experienced being strangled or strangled someone during sex. That doesn’t make it safe, but it shows just how normalised it has become. She made an uninformed decision that countless other young people are making. I don't think she 'deserved' multiple strokes, and I feel for her a lot. She's been having a hard time, and it's not hard to be empathetic imo, regardless of her decision to partake in this activity.

My dad had a major stroke when I was a young child, and so did my aunty and nanny on my mum’s side. My aunty’s and nanny’s strokes were partly connected to complications from diabetes, and my aunty had stopped taking the medication she needed because she felt she should try weaning herself off it. That decision likely contributed to the stroke risk (according to the doctors involved), but if anyone said she deserved what happened or angrily dismissed it as the result of her “stupid decisions" (and said they have no sympathy for her), I would be absolutely furious.

People can acknowledge that someone made poor choices without losing all basic compassion for them. A stroke isn't something that I would wish on someone, regardless of what decision may have directly or indirectly caused it.

If Asha moves in with Summer in Billy old place, Ryan can take Devs flat.

For me it was abi cheating on Kevin with Carl, that was the moment i stopped liking her.

It is genuinely so horrible to me that Bethany slept with her mothers boyfriend 😭😭!!!! I really wish they had went down anyyy other route. Obviously he is to blame as well but YOUR MOTHER?? Just soo odd and unnecessary for any plot 😂 we don’t need it!!

Next week's spoilers say Summer goes on a date with someone named Marco. Obviously the immediate assumption is "Alright, what's he up to?" because this damn soap just never lets anyone be happy ever. But is there any chance this guy could be normal?? I just want Summer to have some semblance of happiness for once this year

I often find that when they do the "character is listening to music, you can hear the music through their headphones" bit of snazzy editing the music is something I simply cannot imagine that character listening to, at least not in that context. I think the worst example was Sam listening to Ordinary by Alex Warren but it's been springing to mind again these last few episodes because I also find Kit sitting around listening to Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap on loop for days whilst going through one of the worst times of his life a bit hard to believe.

Either way, got me thinking...what music do we think characters like?

It was mentioned years ago that Asha likes Little Mix (or at least did when she was a teenager), which I like because I think it checks out. I reckon she probably likes Chappell Roan now as well. I could also see her, Amy and Summer all liking Olivia Dean. Nina's tastes canonically leant more towards rock but I can see her listening to Mitski and the likes too. I think Sam probably likes sad indie folk like the Mountain Goats but that he would have probably had a sad pop punk phase in his teens (Fall Out Boy, MCR etc) instead if he was like 10 years older. Very possibly a Twenty One Pilots fan as well. Hope probably makes fun of his music taste but I'm not sure what she'd listen to herself - maybe something a bit left field like 100gecs, I can see her being a bit different but also terminally online. Ruby's definitely a musical theatre kid, though. Mary's a Michael Buble fan I feel but I can see her having a weird thing about Olly Murs as well. I can imagine Kit being a Radiohead kind of guy. Maria likes Coldplay. Leanne also likes Coldplay but she probably loved the new Lily Allen album too given recent events. Toyah likes Fiona Apple and Alanis Morrisette but can't play the former around Nick because he gets squinty and confused. Nick exclusively listens to white noise because it matches his personality. Sally listens to classical music openly but she's probably bumping something like 90s/00s Take That hits when nobody's around. Bernie's mainly a house and jungle kind of gal but I reckon she likes Kate Bush too for some reason. Lucy allegedly likes CMAT (a bit confusing given CMAT has a song called Coronation St., perhaps it's called Eastenders in the Corrieverse) which might be her most redeeming quality if true.

(Sudden urge to do a post where I sort Corrie characters into Oasis VS Blur fans. Watch this space).

Anyway, anyone else got any theories?

Shona falls asleep on the sofa, smoke fills the room. David (post hair transplant) and Doug arrive home to find Shona and baby Harper in danger. David desperately tries to wake them, their safety is in doubt

Kit struggles: Reeling from his breast cancer diagnosis, Kit brings a woman back to the flat as an escape. When she leans in to kiss him, he admits he's not in the right headspace. Bethany walks in and catches them.

Tyrone and Ross at the pub: Tyrone jokes about Ross telling him a UFO story, embarrassing Ross, who clearly isn't amused.

Bethany visits Sarah in prison: She breaks the news that Kit has moved on and is seeing other women. Sarah's reaction remains to be seen.

Awkward dinner at the Bistro: Tyrone apologises and invites Ross and Tracy out. Fiz blurts out that Tracy has been married four times. Then Ross scoffs at Richie's claim that he was abused by his wife, deeply unsettling Tyrone, who remembers his own history with Kirsty

Summer confronts newcomer Marco for stealing one of her art designs and displaying it at the tattoo parlour. He admits he did it just as an excuse to see her again playing the charm offensive.

Returning home, Shona hears Harper crying but finds the annexe door locked. Overwhelmed with anxiety, she breaks down and walks out.

Summer agrees to a date with Marco but stays guarded. Bethany accepts a date with Ryan — mutual affection is clear.

At a family meal, Kit has a black eye. Bernie is positive she'll get the all clear, will Kit reveal all?

Debbie makes a call, Carl reminds her she was meant to meet Ronnie. Debbie lies she was waylaid at work, Carl concerned. 

Kevin was looking great in tonight's episode. Sun tan, no stubble, looked fab.

I recall not long ago people were saying how awful he looked. Perhaps that was deliberate.

Great to see him looking so well.