CHARLIE CONDOU - No.233

CORONATION STREET WIN NTA

2012

Above: Antony Cotton, Charlie Condou and Jenny Platt - Coronation Street 2007

Above: Charlie Condou and Jenny Platt 7 Dec 2007

CORONATION STREET WIN NTA

2012

Twitter and Facebook campaign helped Coronation Street to National Television Awards triumph January 27, 2012

Coronation Street's triumph at the National Television Awards surprised many. Despite its enduring popularity, the soap is often overlooked when prizes are handed out. David Henry discovers how Corrie bosses managed to seal victory. The look on Jack P Shepherd’s face said it all. At last year’s National Television Awards the young actor, who plays David Platt in Coronation Street, made no attempt to hide his disappointment when rival show Eastenders was crowned Best Serial Drama. As the result was announced, the cameras caught him shaking his head in disgust. Fast-forward to this week and the tables were turned. At the annual TV awards bash, it was Corrie celebrating and the cast of EastEnders who looked downbeat. Quite a turnaround in 12 months. You might think awards shouldn’t matter, but in the highly competitive world of TV they do – enormously. They create a buzz about a show and drive ratings up as viewers tune in to see what all the fuss is about.

 When Corrie was overlooked last year, it wasn’t just Jack P Shepherd smarting. All the cast and crew were furious. The Street had enjoyed one of its better years. The live tram crash episodes, shown to mark the programme’s 50th anniversary, were thrilling. But it wasn’t enough to secure the Best Serial Drama prize. Team Corrie left the awards party in London feeling an injustice had been done. And it wasn’t for the first time. Traditionally Coronation Street has never enjoyed the recognition it deserves on awards nights, even when the decision is in the hands of the public. Whether it’s due to audience demographics or the fact the National Television Awards are held in London, the Manchester soap has regularly been overlooked. So, producers vowed to do all they could to ensure the show got its moment in the sun this year. Corrie launched an orchestrated campaign to encourage its fans to vote. “These awards are now decided by electronic media,” says executive producer Kieran Roberts. “We consciously chose to engage younger people and the online community to get them to vote for us. “We’ve done a lot of work on our website and on Facebook and Twitter to persuade people to get involved. That’s what you have to do these days. It’s no longer about filling in a form in the back of the TV Times. People vote by clicking a button on their phones and on their computers.” Tasked with drumming up support was the programme’s online and publicity departments. Corrie’s chief publicity manager, Alison Sinclair, says interacting with the audience through social media made a real difference to how many votes they got. She says: “We’ve beefed up our online presence. We now have over a million followers on Facebook. It’s allowed us to engage with people. “That means the fans can see we are real people, so when we ask them to vote for us they are more willing to do it. They can see the hard work we put in. “A lot of the cast are on Twitter, too, so they are able to drum up support by building a relationship with fans as well.” Viewers seeing Sally Dynevor, who plays Sally Webster on The Street, accepting the award on Wednesday night would probably have no idea of the massive effort the programme put into getting their hands on the prize. But isn’t there something a little unseemly about campaigning in such away? “I suppose the British like to pretend we don’t want to win awards,” says Alison. “Well, we do want to win. We’re proud of the show and of what we do. “Winning an award does matter. It’s a reflection of what we are doing and creates a buzz about the show. It’s all about the perception of the brand.” Coronation Street’s cause was helped by a little bit of luck. 

Voting for the awards opened up just as the soap was attracting some of its highest audiences in months. The departure of Becky McDonald (played by award recipient Katherine Kelly) on Monday gave the show a timely ratings boost. “I think that certainly helped with the voting,” says Kieran. “The show is in great shape at the moment.” There’s no denying Corrie is on a roll. Earlier this week more than 12m people saw Becky reveal the truth about Tracy Barlow’s miscarriages. Next week sees the trial of Frank Foster, accused of raping Carla Connor. But some viewers say this has not been a vintage year on The Street. Last summer there was criticism about several storylines and casting decisions. Reports of a ratings dip were exaggerated but, nevertheless, the producers noticed some viewers were dissatisfied. Kieran says: “Yes there were some questions about the direction of the show. There were a few stories people didn’t like and some ideas didn’t work as well on screen as they did on paper. “But I said at the time I had absolute belief in the quality of the show and complete confidence in the people making it. And I think, over time, I’ve been vindicated.” The challenge now is to build on Coronation Street’s momentum. This week, the writers held their story conference and planned what we’ll see on screen right up until early next year. Fans can look forward to seeing how the death of actress Betty Driver is dealt with. She played Rovers barmaid Betty Williams for 42 years until she passed away in October. “I think we’ve come up with a fitting exit for her. It’ll be shown in the spring. It’s important we get that right because she was so loved by the fans and by all of us who work on Coronation Street,” says Kieran. He won’t reveal much about her departure but does say some previous cast members will be returning to remember Betty. “But it will mainly be about her and saying goodbye to her with the right amount of respect and the right tone,” he says. If they can do that, they’re bound to win even more awards.

WATCH IT CONDOU!

GothboyUK: I am sure I just saw a young @Charliecondou and a young @MissDustyO in the same scene in an episode of Gimme Gimme Gimme. Fab!

Charliecondou: @GothboyUK @MissDustyO I would never share the screen with that slut

GothboyUK: OMG - I just got to the @Charliecondou underwear scene. Every gay needs to see that! :P #gimmegimmegimme

Charliecondou: @GothboyUK haha

MissDustyO: @Charliecondou @GothboyUK Watch it Condou ! The Sun have offered me money on you ! LOL xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MissDustyO: @Charliecondou Also congrats on baby no 2 . Lucky baby having u as daddy x

Charliecondou: @MissDustyO ta love xxx

CORONATION STREET WIN NTA

2012