12 December 2007
GREAT TO BE BACK, SO IT IS!
Jim McDonald's return to Coronation Street has been long overdue, and for once I'm actually not speculating nor pondering the plotlines ahead for Charles Lawson, though one can imagine that something isn't quite going to go to plan when Liz and Vernon (a fantastic character) tie the knot in two weeks. I'm just glad the ex-con, ex-Army patriarch with the temper from hell is back.
The McDonalds have always been brilliant. Feisty, argumentative and racked with tensions, they nonetheless maintained the believable end of their edginess and it was a poor decision to axe first Andy (though Nicholas Cochrane's character, as the strongest-willed, was the most disposable) and then Jim. Although both have returned sporadically when plotlines have demanded it (the Blackpool special, Steve's riotous second wedding to Karen) it has fallen on Simon Gregson's shoulders to prove that a McDonald presence on the Street needed to be maintained. Bringing back the character of Jim pays a sly tribute to Gregson's standing on the Street these days as, despite being only 33 in real life and in character, one of the programme's longest-serving continuous characters.
I hope Jim is back to stay, and although he is much more chalk to the rest of the family's cheese, I hope there are plans afoot to bring back Andy too, even beyond any necessary cameo for Cochrane to undertake for the wedding episode. There is a difference with the McDonalds I enjoy.
The McDonalds have always been brilliant. Feisty, argumentative and racked with tensions, they nonetheless maintained the believable end of their edginess and it was a poor decision to axe first Andy (though Nicholas Cochrane's character, as the strongest-willed, was the most disposable) and then Jim. Although both have returned sporadically when plotlines have demanded it (the Blackpool special, Steve's riotous second wedding to Karen) it has fallen on Simon Gregson's shoulders to prove that a McDonald presence on the Street needed to be maintained. Bringing back the character of Jim pays a sly tribute to Gregson's standing on the Street these days as, despite being only 33 in real life and in character, one of the programme's longest-serving continuous characters.
I hope Jim is back to stay, and although he is much more chalk to the rest of the family's cheese, I hope there are plans afoot to bring back Andy too, even beyond any necessary cameo for Cochrane to undertake for the wedding episode. There is a difference with the McDonalds I enjoy.
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well said, sir. well said. The transformation of Steve from law breaking Chav (before Chav's were invented) to comedic character with a conscience for family and friends has been beautifully handled by Gregson who back in the 90s seemed to be the weakest actor of the McDonald family.
# posted by 
: 8:36 AM
: 8:36 AM
I've read that Lawson's return as Jim McDonald will be short-lived (this seems to be obligatory for returning actors - see other recent examples, Neville Buswell and Denise Black), but hopefully this will lead to something more permanent later on.
I remember that the McDonalds weren't always that well-liked with a lot of carping about Lawson's acting ability in the very early 1990s, but my mind was made up during the storyline where he literally shook with pain and rage as he and Liz lost their baby daughter, Katie. His acting was absolutely first class and the scenes were very touching.
Coronation Street without Steve McDonald seems almost inconceivable
I remember that the McDonalds weren't always that well-liked with a lot of carping about Lawson's acting ability in the very early 1990s, but my mind was made up during the storyline where he literally shook with pain and rage as he and Liz lost their baby daughter, Katie. His acting was absolutely first class and the scenes were very touching.
Coronation Street without Steve McDonald seems almost inconceivable
Apparently Nicholas Cochrane now manages Beverley Callard's pub in Cheshire, so I doubt that he will return.
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