[Spencer]

I gave up on Corrie last year after being an avid viewer for around 40 years in which time I hardly missed an episode. I always considered myself a big committed fan.

But then I suddenly had the realisation I’d been watching purely out of habit for several years, and not because I was enjoying it.

The ludicrous sink hole storyline brought it home to me how, as viewers these days, we’re expected to suspend disbelief to a preposterous level. Implausible, convenient coincidences and gaping plot holes that would have led Crossroads writers to hang their heads in shame are glossed over as everyday occurrences.

The rest of the time, outside of the contrived big-drama (BGT final) weeks, it’s just a tawdry plod-fest of crowbarred issues, and re-jigged ‘you’ll never believe…’ stories lifted from the Metro, all delivered by poorly developed characters I couldn’t care less about.

It’s no longer the programme ‘based on an idea by Tony Warren’ I loved, all about normal people and the drama and humour derived from everyday life. It just feels now it’s all about good-looking, well-dressed, slim, attractive people (plus the token cartoon comedy characters) and lazily relying on drugs, guns and issues instead.

I’m aware I’m probably sounding like a miserable old git looking at the past through rose-tinted specs. And I recognise that, even up until I gave up on it, there were still some golden moments, great performances and some iconic, brilliant characters, but all of that is diluted to homeopathic levels amongst the rest of the pap.

Maybe it’s just a fact of life these days that in such a competitive media landscape, the more gentle, subtle style of Corrie past wouldn’t cut through anymore. My overriding feeling though, is that three hours a week of episodes simply stretches everything too thin.

Either way, i firmly believe Corrie has lost something of its soul over the past few years. And that makes me sad.