I recently put a call out for young bloggers to write for us about they things they feel passionate about in Coronation Street. First up to the challenge is Hannah Jordan who has kindly written not one, but two, blog posts for us. First up is her blog post about Carla Connor with her second blog post coming tomorrow. And now, it's over to Hannah..
Since Carla Connor’s return to Coronation Street is imminent. I thought I would take the opportunity to review some of the character’s past storylines, and how the viewers have responded to these.
Portrayed by Alison King, the character of Carla Connor has had an incredible progression over the course of ten years, leading up to her exit in May last year. The fanbase for the character and Alison herself is huge on social media platforms, particularly Twitter, and since confirmation of her return, it’s safe to say predicted theories and excitement for her comeback have built up some brilliant support in preparation.
There is no doubt that Carla’s on-screen relationships, particularly with the characters Nick Tilsley and Peter Barlow, have also made an impact on the viewers. We saw Carla begin an affair with Peter in late 2011, continuing on to its exposure in 2012. The couple battled alcoholism, custody over Peter’s son; Simon, and Carla’s pregnancy and miscarriage, after finding out that she had been cheated on with Tina McIntyre.
Later, Carla had another battle to face when she acquired a gambling addiction, as a result of the guilt following the Victoria Court fire in 2015. Carla soon began a relationship with Nick Tilsley, and the couple instantly had a huge fanbase behind them. However, their relationship was not exactly plain sailing either, when she slept with Robert Preston. The couple wed in May 2016, but shortly after Nick found out the truth, he opted to get the marriage annulled, therefore prompting Alison’s exit from the soap.
Another storyline that has touched and helped many viewers, was Carla’s rape storyline in 2011, following the assault inflicted by Frank Foster. The episode phenomenally raised 800% more calls at the Rape Crisis Helpline as a result of its broadcast and Alison went on to win awards for her work. The praise given by fans on social media was incredible, and has helped many viewers deal with their own real-life similarities.
The communal love for the character has also had an effect on a variety of media platforms, particularly FanFiction.net and WattPad, where enthusiasts can write stories about their favourite fictional characters. Hundreds of stories have been written on these sites about Carla’s character alone, the longest being over one million words in capacity.
On returning to the soap, many interviews and previews have been released, prompting speculation on what Carla’s return storyline may be. There have been hints that perhaps the character is returning in a slightly different light to how she left, with perhaps a more comical and light-hearted element. Alongside this however, fans are willing to know the secret she is carrying, and what this is going to trigger next for the soap queen.
Carla Connor returns to the street on Friday 22nd December, at 7.30pm.
By Guest Blogger Hannah Jordan
Twitter : @DrinksFxiry
YouTube : TheCorrieClub
Fanfiction : TheLyricsAreMyStory
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5 comments:
And don't forget the Carla/Liam/Tony/Maria storyline, one of my all time favorites! I hope we get the strong Carla back too. Carla being picked on by Tracy just didn't work.
I don't like how the latest Carla stories from late 2014 are regarded as high octane and memorable. Blackburn destroyed the character by then that the Carla we knew became utterly unrecognizable! Yes there have been some, repeat some, classic Carla moments since then, however nothing can live up to the epic stories that embroiled Tony Gordon and Frank Foster. Everyone regarding the 'classic' Carla and Tracy are just looking at its retrospectively. What about Carla's animosity between Leanne which ran a couple of years and was brilliantly excxuted with rich back story. Then her feud with Maria which was revisited in 2011 since the Tony Gordon saga.I'm happy that Carla is back with a bang and touching on her true roots as opposed to the vulnerable woman we so suffered since late 2014. Kate, we want the Carla Connor that we saw march into the factory in 2006, not the 'Barlow Bitch' version...
What a brilliant post, thank you! It makes sense that Carla would inspire a wealth of fan fiction. Can you tell us how to find it? Also, thank you for your beautiful writing. It's heartening to read such lucid, grammatical prose - whatever your age:)
I can't wait to see what they have in store for Carla. I just hope they don't renew the feud with Tracey, or at least, if they do, give Carla the upper hand, as it should be.
I don't get the whole idea of Peter and Carla being the love of each other's lives. Liam was always Carla's true love, although many fans and the writers often seem to forget this. If you look back at the episodes in October 2010, Carla latchedo onto Peter purely because she was grieving for Liam.
Peter definitely belongs with Leanne,It was their getting togther that was a turning point for both characters and was a rare moment of character development, and if you look back at them in 2009 - 2010 they were such a happy family unit with Simon. Now that they both have sons from other relationships, it'd be the perfect time for them to get back together.
Althought sadly, the writers have got a baby in store for him and Toyah and it seems like they're gonna put him back with Carla. I thought the whole point of last year's Christmas story and the first half of this year was was to foreshadow these two getting back together again.
Sometimes I get the impression Kate Oates is making it up as she goes along, I had hoped that with her has producer we could have had some long term stories that would span her three year tenure as producer, but it seems I was wrong. It was a shame because this would have been a good opportunity for Peter and Leanne to get back together, but oh well.
I really hope Peter and Carla don't get back together, their relationship was full of hard times and I would find it rather depressing to see these two back together.
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