Fans of Coronation Street have hit out at the show on an online forum saying they think it is “dying”.
A user posted a poll on the Digital Spy forum entitled “Honest question: Do you think Corrie is dying/dead?
“Please don’t bite my head off for asking this. I don’t know a single person who thinks this show is good anymore and I see so many negative comments on here about the state of it now.
“I just wonder if people are exaggerating (I’m definitely not) or they really do think Corrie’s best days are gone (yep I do) or well let’s be honest…dead.”
Read more: Coronation Street fans sickened by Rana’s mum’s reaction to her death
They then asked people to vote under the following categories:
“Vote 1st one if you think it’s died but only lately.
“2nd never has died never will.
“3rd is if you think it’s been dead for years.
“4th you don’t know what you think.
“5th you’re too embarrassed to say or have a private opinion on this.
“And 6th you don’t think it’s dead yet but you think it’s on it’s way.”
Viewers were quick to respond and at the time of writing the majority think “it’s not dead yet, but it’s definitely on its way out.”
One wrote: “I think Corrie has been slowly but surely dying since the end of the 2000s. It still has the same name but it is like a totally different show nowadays.
“Also think that with all the old episodes around for people to watch on YouTube or TV everyone will always prefer the past. I definitely will!”
Someone else added: “I think there are definitely cracks and [Kate] Oates did paper over them to a certain extent but they’re still very much there.”
“It’s the shambling zombie of Coronation Street,” said a third. “It can’t die because it’s ITV’s flagship so it’ll always live, but it’s not alive.
While another said: “It has been dying gradually. The last truly golden period of the show was around 2004 though we’ve had memorable moments like Jack’s death.”
Others were happy to point out what they think the show needs to save it. “The soap has to evolve. I think if it were more like ‘The Street’, the drama Jimmy McGovern wrote, twice a week, it would have legs. Six episodes, lack of rehearsals, bogus plots. It’s starting to take its toll,” said someone.
Another agreed: “The quality has definitely dipped. I think a lot of this is down to the amount of episodes per week now. When it was on only two/three times a week everything just felt less rushed, and like all soaps it was a heightened reality but the show is just ridiculous and doesn’t resemble day to day life in any way whatsoever.”
A third was confident Corrie could turn it around: “I think Corrie has gone through lean patches before and then got better again. The big problem is six episodes a week is too many to maintain enough decent storylines, so they fill it out with rubbish.
“Cut back to three or four a week and I think it would improve, but they won’t do that because of the advertising revenue.”
Someone else, who voted “No it will never die” argued: “Not to say it will never end, because it probably will…but I would take what you read here with a grain of salt.
“Any time there are always people who think X soap has become unwatchable, horrible and should end because they no longer like it.
“But soaps go through ups and downs, always have. Sometimes the stories and characters at a given time are less interesting or engaging – it’s almost inevitable. It’s down to personal taste a lot of times as well.”
They continued: “Either way you’ll likely find people who agree with you here – and people tend to enjoy collective complaining more than they do collectively praising things. That being said, it is difficult to imagine in 20 years that there will be a huge crowd of gen y and z sitting down every evening to watch the latest Corrie.”
Read more: Corrie fans outraged at hint of new romance for Kate Connor already
Current storylines include the drama surrounding the factory roof collapse. Nurse Rana Habeeb lost her life in the disaster and viewers have threatened to boycott the soap as it killed off a Muslim lesbian character.
As the dust settles and Kate Connor plans her wife-to-be’s funeral as they should have been celebrating their nuptials, will the fallout see the soap pick up?
Coronation Street continues Wednesday and Friday at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.
Do you think Corrie is ‘dying’? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think.