Coronation Street fans rage at ‘dogs dinner’ of an episode and fear ITV soap has ‘gone down the pan’
CORONATION Street viewers have slammed an episode as ‘dogs dinner’ and shared fears of the show ‘going down the pan’.
The ITV‘s soap October 2 episode saw major turning points in a long-running storyline.
Fan favourite Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) was laid to rest after succumbing to his long battle with motor neurone disease.
Meanwhile, Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) finally revealed the truth to Billy (Daniel Brocklebank) about the couple’s emotional final phone call.
Not all fans were impressed, as some aired their grievances online.
One wrote on Reddit: “Wednesdays episode felt like a dogs dinner, and that’s saying something…. just feels the writing has gone completely down the pan recently.”
Another penned: “I’m not enjoying the Bernie/Billy scenes at the moment at all.
“Given that Paul would have wanted them to support Billy and would have done/put up with anything for that man (heck, he got baptised just to give him peace of mind) I don’t like how hard Bernie is going to pretend Paul would have ever wanted Billy’s needs questioned.
“It’s ok if she needs things to grieve and process, but Paul always put Billy first and to pretend he’d want anything except Billy to feel even a marginal bit better is really bugging me!
“The only person’s needs he would have put over Billy’s is Summer’s, and she’s being painfully neglected in all of this.”
The viewer added they would be “glad when it’s done”.
While a third commented: “It’s been horrific for months, years even.
“The odd time there’s a little bit of dialogue that you think, oh, this looks interesting, then they shove the old, tired boring storylines that should have ended long ago at us.”
Viewers were left emotional by Paul’s death last month, over a year after first being diagnosed with MND.
In the character’s final moments, he was surrounded by Bernie, Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell) and Summer (Harriet Bibby).
Unfortunately, Billy, who had been out looking for his missing mobile phone, narrowly missed reaching the hospital in time.
Most devastating soap deaths
SOAP viewers are frequently left heartbroken after watching some of their favourite characters bite the dust.
Here is a list of the most devastating deaths that have taken place in soapland over the years.
EASTENDERS
Barry Evans – Evil Janine (Charlie Brooks) lured her trusting fiance to Scotland for a quickie marriage after learning he was dying.
Her plan to inherit Barry’s fortune was thwarted when Barry told her that the doctors had mixed up his medical files.
Furious that she was no longer set for a windfall, she pushed Barry off a cliff after telling him their love was “fake”.
Bradley Branning – Bradley was accused of killing Stacey Slater’s rapist Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) after he punched him twice on the night he died.
He was spotted in the Square by a police woman who chased him up a fire escape.
Bradley lost his balance and tragically plunged to his death.
CORONATION STREET
Tina McIntyre – Tina was getting it on with Peter Barlow – despite him being married to Carla Connor.
When she threatened to reveal the truth, Carla’s brother Rob got into a physical altercation with her.
Tina lost her footing and fell off a balcony – then warned Rob she was going to tell the cops he pushed her.
In a panic, Rob brutally clobbered her over the head with a metal pipe.
Molly Dobbs – Molly was one of the victims in Corrie’s 2010 tram crash, alongside Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold).
Married to Tyrone (Alan Halsall), Molly had been having an affair with Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) in the months before her death.
This resulted in the birth of their son, Jack (Kyran Bowes), who was named after Jack Duckworth.
As fate would have it, Kevin’s wife Sally (Sally Dynevor) was by Molly’s side in her final moments.
Sally was stunned as Molly confessed Kevin was Jack’s father, before dying of her injuries.
Vera Duckworth – Having appeared regularly in Corrie since the 1970s, there was no denying Vera Duckworth was an iconic character.
Alongside her husband Jack, the pair formed one of the soap’s most beloved couples.
Viewers were heartbroken when Vera was killed off in 2008, being discovered having passed away peacefully in her chair.
Liz Dawn, who played Vera, made a brief return two years later for Bill Tarmey’s exit as Jack.
Paul Foreman – Fans were heartbroken when Paul Foreman succumbed to his illness after battling motor neurone disease.
Introduced in 2018 as David Platt’s (Jack P. Shepherd) cellmate, he later embarked on a romance – and marriage – with vicar Billy Mayhew.
The MND storyline was announced in 2023 – with the expectation it would result in the character’s death.
EMMERDALE
Sarah Sugden – After the family got into financial problems, Sarah’s son Andy (Kelvin Fletcher) decided to make some quick cash from an insurance company by setting fire to the Sugden barn.
He didn’t realise his mum was inside the building, and she got trapped in the blaze.
Nine villagers – The shocking 1993 plane crash episode brought in 18 million viewers for Emmerdale.
Mark Hughes was killed by a falling wall, Archie Brooks was burned by jet fuel, Elizabeth Pollard was killed by debris and newcomer Leonard Kempinski died in a car crash caused by the crash.
Five other non-recurring characters from the village also died.
HOLLYOAKS
Carmel McQueen – The talented singer died in shocking scenes when a train crashed into a her family’s car.
Carmel managed to free her cousin Theresa from the rubble – but got stuck in it herself.
Moments later the train exploded and Carmel died in the arms of her family members, promising to be their guardian angel.
Elsewhere, Hope (Isabella Flanagan) and Ruby (Billie Naylor) also got a shock in the episode.
The pair learned that Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) – their respective mother and stepmother – is pregnant.
Although Tyrone tried to conceal this information, Hope quickly called him out as a “horrible liar”.
Coronation Street airs on ITV and is available to watch on ITVX.