History YMMV / CoronationStreet

* BrokenBase: The focus on darker storylines has been divisive on the fanbase. While Coronation Street has had its fair share of darker storylines [[note]] from murder, sexual assault, and pedophilia [[/note]] in the past, from 2018 onwards it's brought greater attention to the show [[note]] Bethany's child grooming plotline, Pat Phelan's murders, David's sexual assault, Geoff's abuse of Yasmeen, discrimination, and Griff's white supremacy storyline [[/note]] through controversy and Ofcom complaints. While half the fanbase praises the show for tackling darker subject matters, the other half believes the series is getting involved in topics that it either talks too about or should never have talked about in the first place. Fans enjoyed the series for its slice-of-life format, not because it was trying to enact great social change by representing societal issues in its stories.

* BrokenBase: The focus on darker storylines has been divisive on the fanbase. While Coronation Street has had its fair share of darker storylines [[note]] from murder, sexual assault, and pedophilia [[/note]] in the past, from 2018 onwards it's brought greater attention to the show [[note]] Bethany's child grooming plotline, Pat Phelan's murders, David's sexual assault, Geoff's abuse of Yasmeen, discrimination, and Griff's white supremacy storyline [[/note]] through controversy and Ofcom complaints. While half the fanbase praises the show for tackling darker subject matters, the other half believes the series is getting involved in topics it should never have talked about in the first place because fans enjoyed the series for its slice-of-life format, not because it was trying to enact great social change by representing societal issues in their stories.

** Everyone [[CrapsackWorld lives miserable and empty lives]] and never has any lasting good luck, as rare as it is. [[DysfunctionJunction Relationships between family, friends and lovers never remain stable for long]], due to infidelities, [[KilledOffForReal death]] or {{betrayal|Tropes}} of some other form.]] Residents, ''especially'' returning residents, on the Street out of the blue end up [[TookALevelInJerkass taking several levels in jerkass]]. Others do [[ItsAllAboutMe horribly selfish things]] and [[KarmaHoudini never receive any punishment for it]] and yet still think it's their right to call people out [[{{Hypocrite}} on their behavior]]. Plus, usually there is an occasional true villain in the form of a {{criminal|s}} who really is a bad guy (or girl) instead of just your run-of-the-mill jerk who's more likely to be killed off.

* BrokenBase: The focus on darker storylines has been divisive on the fanbase. While Coronation Street has had its fair share of darker storylines [[note]] from murder, sexual assault, and pedophilia [[/note]] in the past, from 2018 onwards it's brought greater attention to the show [[note]] Bethany's child grooming plotline, Pat Phelan's murders, David's sexual assault, Geoff's abuse of Yasmeen, discrimination, and Griff's white supremacy storyline [[/note]] through controversy and Ofcom complaints. While half the fanbase praises the show for tackling darker subject matters, the other half believes the series is getting involved in topics it should never have talked about in the first place because fans enjoyed the series for its slice-of-life format, not because it was trying to enact great social change by representing social issues in their stories.

* BrokenBase: The focus on darker storylines has been divisive on the fanbase. While Coronation Street has had its fair share of darker storylines from murder, sexual assault, and pedophilia in the past, from 2018 onwards it's brought greater attention to the show due to Bethany's child grooming plotline, Pat Phelan's murders, David's sexual assault, Geoff's abuse of Yasmeen, discrimination, and Griff's white supremacy storyline. While half the fanbase praises the show for tackling darker subject matters, the other half believes the series is getting involved in topics it should never have talked about in the first place because fans enjoyed the series for its slice-of-life format, not because it was trying to enact great social change by representing social issues in their stories.

* BrokenBase: The focus on darker storylines has been divisive on the fanbase; half would call the show brave for tackling the darker subjects and for trying to raise awareness. Whereas, the other half believes the darker themes are unfitting for the series and borderline unrealistic due to the number of tragedies or types of tragedies that befall some of the characters. Most even claim that the show has gotten [[TooBleakStoppedCaring too dark]] as some stories have gotten too drawn out and too miserable for the audience to be invested.

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Come on, you didn't ''really'' believe that [[spoiler: Nick was going to drown in that quicksand, did you?]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Frankie and Jamie's brief affair was unpopular with viewers, so Frankie called it off.

** Sam Blakeman as they show him singing after being locked in a van, knocking out an adult man to save his parents, and writing to Harvey, the drug lord who killed his mother.

* FridgeBrilliance: When Max says that his surname is Turner and that Platt is only his stepdad's name, Griff responds by saying "Turner? Strong name that." This is a very dark and subtle reference to the ''Literature/TheTurnerDiaries'', a controversial book that advocates white supremacy and is famously attributed to real violence and deaths. The perpetrators of the Oklahoma City Bombing, the 1999 London Nail Bombings, and the murder of James Byrd Jr. all made references to the book and had it or pages of it in their possession.

** Leanne Battersby during the Oliver death storyline. While she was being needlessly angry with Sam Blakeman during her grief and Sam was only nine and didn't intend to upset her, she was still grieving her baby and Nick should have known better as he should have taken Sam aside and gently explained what Leanne is going through. To Leanne, she experienced the loss of her baby and was now dealing with a kid who inserted himself into her family without her approval and making the grieving process more difficult than it already is.

** Sam Blakeman, he's either liked for being a nice kid who's trying to smile through his various hardships and for forgiving others for what they've done to him or he's viewed as embarrassing at best or sickenly cheerful at worst due to his response to danger and tragedy. The fact that the series has placed some favoritism on him has caused some discussions as it's extremely unlikely that a kid would sing after being locked in a van and that it is unlikely for a nine-year-old kid to knock out an adult man.

** Sam Blakeman, he's either liked for being a nice kid who's trying to smile through his various hardships and for forgiving others for what they've done to him or he's viewed as embarrassing at best or sickenly cheerful at worst due to his response to danger and tragedy. The fact that the series has placed some favoritism on him has caused some discussions as it's extremely unlikely that a kid would sing after being locked in a van and that's unlikely for a nine-year-old kid to knock out an adult man.

* SpecialEffectFailure: During the infamous scene of David pushing Gail down the stairs, not only was her dramatic fall illogical (down the ''second'' flight of stairs; given her body weight, [[ArtisticLicensePhysics she should have just landed at the bottom of the first landing]]), but over the obviously-a-stunt-double's head-first landing in the living room. Here's the [[http://youtu.be/WAOb-_b9QjQ scene in all its glory.]]

** Non-fatal examples. Teresa and Natasha weren't well-liked but their exits were well received. Teresa realised that Lloyd was growing closer to Cheryl and opted to leave herself, realising their relationship would come to nothing. Her final scene has her waiting for Lloyd to leave before tearfully calling her son Daryl - implying she's going to patch things up with her family. Natasha meanwhile decided to walk around giving numerous people a ReasonYouSuckSpeech - saving Gail Platt for last. She busts Gail for hacking into her medical records, getting her fired from her job. Her line "Back of the net!" was a couple years too early for MemeticMutation status though.

** The original ED married couple, the Ogdens, Stan and Hilda, even 25+ years after his [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim demise]] and her [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere exit.]] In spite of the fact that many fans and even Corrie producers wanted her to return, her actress refused every time, right up until her death, due to her disapproval of the quality of the show in its [[SeasonalRot later years.]]

* IdiotPlot: Seriously, what did you think would happen if you dragged Pat Phelan back to Weatherfield and try to keep him captive, Gary? The entire debacle could have been avoided if Gary had called the police, especially since Phelan is currently ''wanted by the police for four murders.''

** Fiz's reaction to her baby being born with a hole in her heart - "her heart's not big enough to have a hole in it" - was met with universal laughter rather than sadness. Also, her over the top FreakOut reaction to the tram crash and bellowing out "JOHN! JOHN!!" fearing he was a victim and her ScreamingBirth sounded more like she was (badly) singing opera and a nurse displayed right after the delivery that she gave birth to a ''[[MakesAsMuchSenseInContext picture]]'' of Hope.

** Everyone [[CrapsackWorld lives miserable and empty lives]] and never has any lasting good luck, as rare as it is. [[DysfunctionJunction Relationships between family, friends and lovers never remain stable for long]], due to infidelities, [[KilledOffForReal death]] or [[BetrayalTropes betrayal of some other form.]] Residents, ''especially'' returning residents, on the Street out of the blue end up [[TookALevelInJerkass taking several levels in jerkass]]. Others do [[ItsAllAboutMe horribly selfish things]] and [[KarmaHoudini never receive any punishment for it]] and yet still think it's their right to call people out [[{{Hypocrite}} on their behavior.]] Plus, usually there is an occasional true villain in the form of a [[{{Criminals}} criminal]] who really is a bad guy (or girl) instead of just your run-of-the-mill jerk who's more likely to be killed off.

** Similarly, Eileen's father was played by Edward De Souza, of partial Indian ancestry. Although he has played characters who are clearly supposed to be white (he was a regular hero in Film/HammerHorror films), he has often played "exotic" characters, Mrs. Warboys' Portugeuse lover in ''Series/OneFootInTheGrave'', Bond's sheik ex-classmate in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', and is noticeably olive-skinned, compared to blonde Eileen. Ironic considering the fuss about his grandson's father being black.

* AmericansHateTingle: Despite its popularity in Canada (see below), the show is fairly obscure in America as aside from viewers in northern states who could receive a nearby CBC station, no American channel ever really aired the show for any length of time. It aired briefly on Creator/{{PBS}} in the early 70s, the Creator/USANetwork aired it for a short time in the early 80s (when they were desperate for programming), and the part-CBC owned cable net Trio aired it at some point before the CBC sold it to- ironically- USA Networks. It's only really been exposed around here via Creator/{{Hulu}}.
** It wasn't though through not trying in 1972 a speical Establishing Episode was made to introduce US audiences to the characters [[https://coronationstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Establishing_Episode_(US_promotion)#Notes see here]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: Davy Jones of Music/TheMonkees guest starred in a 1960 episode as Ena Sharples' grandson.
* RomanticPlotTumor: Yasmeen and Geoff of the DestructiveRomance variety. Fans were so desperate for their extremely prolonged DomesticAbuse story to end to free up Yasmeen for happier stories that the showrunner resorted to promising fans that it would end towards the end of 2020.

** Natasha spent ages as a side character, aside from a brief fling with Tony. The first time she got any kind of focus was the start of her exit storyline.

* CaptainObviousReveal: Nina's memory loss after Seb Franklin's murder tried to keep the mystery as to who killed Seb but it's pretty obvious from the start that Corey was the one who killed him. Not only is Corey infamous for being a hateable jackass who bullies everyone, he also cheats on Asha and toys with Kelly's feelings of him. The other suspects were extremely unlikely to be the ones who killed him as Corey's gang members were unnamed and had no personality on display, while Asha was nowhere near them at the time of the murder, and Kelly was being manipulated by Corey into keeping quiet.

* DesignatedVillain: Twice:

* UncannyValley: For Tony's stag party, they all wore "Tony" masks - flat unmoving faces with little cutout eyes peering out.

** Maya Sharma quickly entered MagnificentBitch status when she managed to get Sunita arrested on her wedding day - by marrying several other men in her name and busting her for bigamy. Let's not get started on her revenge after getting released from prison.

** From 2017; the show lost a sense of justice as characters are instead killed off instead of being arrested or punished. Since the main villains (i.e. Nathan Curtis, Geoff Metcalf, and Corey to name a few) are designed to just escalate cruelty and make the show as bleak as possible until they get caught. Some of the villains were based on real issues (prostitution rings, men's mental health, male victims of sexual assault, and gaslighting), they don't really explain the issue or explain how to get out of it, they just just show horrible it is until the villain dies or gets arrested. Instead of showing a villain redeeming themselves, they just introduce a new, bigger villain to make the previous villain sympathetic and a lesser evil in comparison, when it doesn't really negate the evils they've done or condone the crimes they've committed.

* AccidentalAesop: Hope's childhood psychopathy storying does ring true in how psychopathy is inherited, the show presents her psychopathy as destined and untreatable since nobody can reach out to her and convince her to stop. The storyline presents the lesson "There's no freedom of choice and you can't control your own destiny if you've inherited a bad card in the game of life. If you're preset to hurt people, you might as well embrace it because you can't change who you are and you can't change or redeem your faults. If you don't want to be a villain or hurt people, too bad because there's no chance for you once you've inherited something beyond your control."

** From 2017; the show lost a sense of justice as characters are instead killed off instead of being arrested or punished. Since the main villains (i.e. Nathan Curtis, Geoff Metcalf, and Corey to name a few) are designed to reflect a social issue (Nathan was to reflect hebephilia, Geoff was to reflect abusive partners, and Corey Brent was based on a real life murderer as his storyline was based on the murder of Sophie Lancaster) but the show doesn't let the characters drive the commentary, it bases the commentary on the character. With the main antagonist, all they do is just escalate cruelty and make the show as bleak as possible until they get caught.
* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: Played with in an episode. Toyah Battersby, an art student, tries to pass off her slovenly stepfather Les' chair, covered in debris such as empty beer cans and old cigarette stubs, as her art project to her tutor. He tells her about an occasion where he had a student who tried to pass off a pile of bricks as his art project, which the tutor didn't buy, and he failed him. He then asks Toyah to explain how her "project" is anything other than a ratty chair covered in rubbish. She improvises a pretentious explanation about how it represents the British working class, which the tutor doesn't buy, until he sees Les for himself, and agrees it ''is'' an accurate representation of him, which causes him to not only give her a high grade, but also recommend her project for an exhibit. It's particularly funny because Toyah ''literally'' threw the whole thing together at the last minute using the first things that came to hand, because she had neglected her project until only moments before the tutor turned up at her house.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Famously the Chairman of Granada felt that the first scripts weren’t good and Harry Elton had to convince him to create the Test Pilot, then the Programme Committee of Granada Television felt the show was a negative joke of the North and that it wouldn't work however Elton had the recording screened for staff of the studio and they filled in Questionnaires of what they liked, then with this only about 13 episodes were planned, there would be a second Test Pilot done then finally it aired on 9th December 1960, Critics still disliked it but the viewers loved it and it's passed the 13 episodes by a bit more now.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Oftentimes, especially within the last two decades. Everyone [[CrapsackWorld lives miserable and empty lives]] and never has any lasting good luck, as rare as it is. [[DysfunctionJunction Relationships between family, friends and lovers never remain stable for long]], due to infidelities, [[KilledOffForReal death]] or [[BetrayalTropes betrayal of some other form.]] Residents, ''especially'' returning residents, on the Street out of the blue end up [[TookALevelInJerkass taking several levels in jerkass]]. Others do [[ItsAllAboutMe horribly selfish things]] and [[KarmaHoudini never receive any punishment for it]] and yet still think it's their right to call people out [[{{Hypocrite}} on their behavior.]] Plus, usually there is an occasional true villain in the form of a [[{{Criminals}} criminal]] who really is a bad guy (or girl) instead of just your run-of-the-mill jerk who's more likely to be killed off. From 2017; the show lost a sense of justice as characters are instead killed off instead of being arrested or punished, in other cases, the villain somehow miraculously manages to survive and prolongs everyone else's suffering and evades the consequences of their actions.