CORONATION Street fans have been left questioning ITV soap bosses as they slam the increased focus
on storylines involving newer, younger characters.
The soap dedicates plenty of time to its younger cast, as well as those who have been in Weatherfield for
years.
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However, Corrie fans aren’t impressed with the new, younger characters that are being introduced or the storylines they’re involved in as they say they’re not adding anything to the soap.
A number of viewers have taken particular issue with the amount of screen time Alina Pop (Ruxandra Porojnicu) and Lauren Bolton (Caitlin Fitton) have been getting recently.
Alina recently returned to Weatherfield, having previously left town two years ago after her relationship with Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) fell apart.
Tyrone left Fiz Stape (Jennie McAlpine) to be with Alina, who then got pregnant with their child. But in a terrible twist, a fire set by Fiz’s daughter caused her to lose the baby.
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In the years since Alina’s exit, Tyrone and Fiz rekindled their romance and tied the knot at Christmas in 2022.
Now, Alina’s return has brought back all the drama with Fiz confronting her husband’s ex at the supermarket.
Meanwhile, Lauren has been at the centre of several dramatic storylines in Weatherfield. Everyone believed she had been murdered, but it turned out she was lying low after discovering she was pregnant with Joel Deering’s (Calum Lill) baby.
However, soap fans have found the focus on these characters incredibly boring.
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Taking to X, formerly Twitter, to discuss recent Corrie storylines, one viewer said that ITV bosses aren’t creating interesting enough storylines involving the younger characters to keep viewers entertained.
“As if it wasn’t bad enough having Lauren, Mason, Max, Bobby and the dreadful Betsy, now Alina is back. Do Corrie really hate their viewers that much?” they wrote.
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While another said that Corrie bosses are wasting viewers’ time by bringing Alina back.
“She was pointless the first time, and even more so this time! Nothing against the actress who’s lovely, but Alina is just surplus to requirements,” they commented.
“Imagine going into a story meeting and pitching the return of Alina Pop,” a third cringed.
A fourth viewer piled on: “I still don’t care about Lauren. I don’t want to see teenage kids all the time.”
Most complained about soap storylines
Over the years, all three of the main soaps have featured plots that have had even die-hard fans reaching for their phones and laptops so they can get in touch with Ofcom and complain. Here are just some of the most scandalous…
- EastEnders baby theft: 13,400 Ofcom complaints – Back in 2011, EastEnders was flooded with complaints when Ronnie Branning (RIP) swapped her baby for the dead son of Kat Moon. The storyline drew the most number of objections in the soap’s long history and saw it roundly criticised by campaigners – with 13,400 flying in over the course of the storyline. Some viewers called it “distressing” and “horrific” but Ofcom ruled the scenes were not “unduly disturbing”.
- Emmerdale dog-napping: 550 Ofcom complaints – Back in 2016, Ross Barton and Charity Dingle came up with a plan to steal a dog and hold it ransom – but viewers didn’t like it one bit. The nation’s pet owners rose up, insisting the storyline would encourage copycats (not to mention copydogs). Complaints over two episodes totalled a staggering 550 and soap writers quickly learnt you don’t mess with animal-lovers.
- Coronation Street double murder: 546 Ofcom complaints – Marginally less people complained about a gruesome double murder than objected to a dog-napping plot when Pat Phelan was at the centre of a spate of killings. First he forced Andy Carver to shoot dead Vinny Ashford – and then Pat killed Andy. All the bloodshed back in 2017 proved to be too much for some viewers, who lodged complaints in vast numbers about the “violent scenes”.
They also accused soap bosses of reigniting drama between Fiz and Alina for no reason.
“If I was Fiz, I would have said nothing and I wouldn’t have gone to look for boring Alina in the first place,” they wrote.
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“The only way Fiz and Alina’s supermarket reunion could have been more awkward is if Hope had appeared with a lit match and set the entire car park on fire,” added another.
While a sixth viewer fumed: “The abysmal Alina and her whiny voice calling out for Fiz to leave her alone.”
