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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Being disgusted at the stupidity and irresponsibility of Coronation Street!

57 replies

Bex268 · 30/04/2021 11:50

Peter Barlow is already on the transplant list.

How is this sensible to broadcast in a country where we have too many people suffering from alcoholism?!

If anyone had suffered from this or knows someone who does (or did and they’re now victim to it and died), you’ll know it’s not as simple as coronation street is portraying it. You need to be sober for six months before even being considered for a transplant.

If he had end stage liver disease, things would be a lot more dyer for him than they appear.

Anyone watching this who has personal experience of alcoholism may feel like me, devastated at how easy it’s all appearing when in reality it’s such a long hard process that often ends in death.

I just want them to get this right and serve as a reminder to people that alcoholism as a disease kills too often and it’s not a quick fix. Why can’t they just portray it accurately?

I’m probably repeating myself but I’m so disappointed in them.

OP posts:

SmidgenofaPigeon · 30/04/2021 13:24

Are saying you wouldn’t be able to have spontaneous sex on your elderly dad’s living room carpet if you had end stage liver failure

ancientgran · 30/04/2021 13:24

@notapizzaeater

I actually googled how long the wait is for a liver transplant after the episode and was surprised how low it was. Obv not the 48 hours like in the show - adults 135 days, children 73 days.

It's the luck of the draw though isn't it. They look for a match so you might be the lucky winner in 48 hours or you might wait a year or more or you might die waiting.

Going by my luck on the lottery I wouldn't be banking on 48 hrs. If anyone wants to know the six numbers that definitely won't come up just let me know.

Lubiluxe · 30/04/2021 13:26

I'm sorry that you've experienced this in the past op but equally I don't think anyone would take what they see in a soap opera as the truth tbh! For example, every birth seems to take about 5 mins 🤣 very unrealistic!
It's a fiction programme that is there for entertainment. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs a little reality check!

pigsDOfly · 30/04/2021 13:32

I don't watch it. But it's a soap opera so is there to essentially entertain, it's not a representation of real life.

Showing how long things like transplants, and other major operations can take to access in real life would mean they would have to carry the story along for months and months, which wouldn't work for a storyline.

The plot needs to move forward at a certain pace to keep an audience entertained engaged. 'Real life' is not what soap operas are about.

AmyDudley · 30/04/2021 13:37

I rather agree with you OP. I know soaps are not supposed to be realistic, but I expect a certain level of research to be done especially when dealing with a sensitive issue.

They do tend to garner publicity and make a big thing out of having a illness or situation as a storyline (such as cancer or DV or miscarriage or suicide or eating disorders etc) and they promote themselves as raising awareness of certain conditions. You don't raise awareness or give any insight if you are wildly inaccurate (obviously a bit of artistic license is OK).

I don't know anything about liver transplant and alcoholism, but I would guess getting a transplant within days is very very uncommon. And it gives a false impression. And I can see as such how it would be upsetting and insulting to someone who has experienced it.

Tal45 · 30/04/2021 13:56

I guess the issue is that quite often they make a big thing about tackling serious issues and how much research the actors do into it etc so then people expect things to be portrayed realistically and may believe what they see, forgetting it's just a soap opera.

newnortherner111 · 30/04/2021 14:00

To use a real-life example and apologies if anyone is offended, the late Brian Clough had a liver transplant and tests revealed Mr Clough had not drunk alcohol in at least six months.

OP is not being unreasonable, not because Coronation Street is fictitious, but because too many people invest so much in soap operas that they almost treat it as if it were real life. If they met William Roache I bet they would say hello Ken, for example.

motherloaded · 30/04/2021 14:03

I've never watched it, but I am guessing periods/ child birth/ adoption possibly? basically everything is very far from "realistic". It's a soap opera...

SmidgenofaPigeon · 30/04/2021 14:05

I think Leanne gave birth in a lift, and she may have still had her tights on.

CathbadtheDruid · 30/04/2021 14:10

[quote MissyB1]@WeeWillyWanky OP’s point was alcoholics have to be alcohol free for at least six months.[/quote]
I know that. Hence my use of the word "ludicrous"

swimlittlefishy · 30/04/2021 14:12

In fact I like the fact that we are moving away from the, "What a lovely way to go" view of alcoholism

Did anyone ever have that thought to move away from? I seriously doubt it

Yesmate · 30/04/2021 14:13

I think if people are taking their education from soaps then they only have themselves to blame when the facts are incorrect. An alcoholic, or family of an alcoholic, isn’t suddenly going to make changes because of how quickly a transplant was available for Peter Barlow. It’s a programme, not an educational documentary.

Spidey66 · 30/04/2021 14:21

I've been saying this on the Corrie thread.

I think EE did it better with Phil Mitchell who also had a transplant due to alcohol related liver failure. At least there, they showed how he had to be alcohol free for a long period before he was considered for it. I dont think Corrie is realistic or sending out a good message that you can fuck up your liver and the NHS will just sort it.

AbsentmindedWoman · 30/04/2021 14:28

It generally annoys me how wildly wrong tv get it when it comes to a whole pile of medical issues, both mental and physical.

Though I remember at the time Eastenders was praised for its portrayal of postpartum psychosis with Stacey? Anyone remember this? I have no experience of it, so don't know how accurate it was.

Spidey66 · 30/04/2021 14:30

I do think OP has valid points. Yes soaps are fiction, but they have really tackled serious subjects like mental illness, HIV/AIDS, DV, cancer, homosexuality (I'm going back to the 80s when there were characters like Colin on EE at a time when people wouldnt shake a gay man's hand for fear of contracting AIDS) and most of the time yes theyve been sensitively done and well researched. There are people out there who can learn from them.

Spidey66 · 30/04/2021 14:31

@AbsentmindedWoman

It generally annoys me how wildly wrong tv get it when it comes to a whole pile of medical issues, both mental and physical.

Though I remember at the time Eastenders was praised for its portrayal of postpartum psychosis with Stacey? Anyone remember this? I have no experience of it, so don't know how accurate it was.

This is an example where they got it right imo. It was well done and Lacey Turner was fantastic.

Laiste · 30/04/2021 14:40

@WeeWillyWanky

He's only been on the transplant list for a couple of days but has now been told that there is a liver available. Utterly ludicrous. The storylines in Corrie have been growing more and more unrealistic so I wouldn't be too surprised if Ken Barlow performs the operation in the back of a taxi.

LOL

MrsPinkingtonSmythe · 30/04/2021 14:51

I agree to a certain extent but they have an artistic licence. It's like Nicks head injury that's disappeared. Tracy's kidney? transplant has not been mentioned for years
I do think if they are covering these stories they should do more research and take a more responsible stance though
I'm sorry for anyone going through this

Moondust001 · 30/04/2021 14:53

it’s fiction based on the everyday struggles of ‘normal’ working class people in Britain

I think you are missing the point. It is as much based on the everyday struggles of "normal" working class people in Britain, as your GP is a time traveller from Gallifrey. Fiction is not real. Storylines are condensed, sensationalised, and just plain made up. "Normal" working class life is not, in fact, all that interesting. To be fair, neither is most life all that interesting. A day by day, blow by blow account of anyone's life consists largely of doing routine things that everyone else does and it truly not all that fascinating.

LakieLady · 30/04/2021 14:59

@PuppyMonkey

TBF the fact that half the street has already had a transplant of some description doesn’t help in the realism stakes.

I'd completely forgotten about Carla's kidney transplant!

They should change their surname to Spare-Part.

I can't work out what's more unrealistic, Peter Barlow getting a donor liver after waiting just 48 hours, or almost everyone in one street managing to find work on the street where they live. And even Craig Tinker, who could presumably be on the beat anywhere in the city, always seems to be hanging around the street.

kellykapowskiismyidol · 30/04/2021 15:02

I agree to a certain extent too. When soaps deal with things like domestic violence, suicide, racism, knife crime and so on they are praised for representing these issues to an accurate standard and encouraging people who suffer from such things to speak out. Aiden's male suicide storyline for example had a big impact on men seeking help for mental health issues I believe.
So I think it's a little problematic to say that there is no depiction of reality at all. Or that wider issues shouldn't be dealt with with a bit of responsibility or research.
Having said that I wouldn't be expect everything to be totally factual or realistic or it would just be boring...
But maybe they should stick to the sensationalism with affairs or fish wives fighting in the street rather than matters of addiction and health.

ColonelNobbyNobbs · 30/04/2021 15:06

I agree with you OP and with the PP who said other posters are being contrary. I actually stopped watching Corrie as few months ago because it had gotten so ridiculous so I’m not following Peter’s story - however I think soaps have a responsibility to portray these types of storylines realistically and sensitively.

GreyhoundG1rl · 30/04/2021 15:27

@Bex268

But it’s meant to be a representation of what life is like.

I don't think soaps ever claim to represent real life. They're dramas.

SonnyWinds · 30/04/2021 15:32

You could take this with EVERY single storyline. Adoption isn't like it is in soaps, affairs aren't like that, getting fired isn't like that, being sued isn't like that, going to prison isn't like that, being deported isn't like that, cancer treatments aren't like that, setting up a business isn't like that etc etc etc. It's fictional, it's not real. You've just found a storyline you know the reality of and you're angry the show isn't realistic - news flash, none of the other storylines are realistic either but you haven't been through them so you don't realise.
If they made the show like real life then it would be just as dull as real life - and no one would watch it.

lightand · 30/04/2021 15:38

But they have a bit of responsibility too @GreyhoundG1rl

Difficult for viewers, when one day Corrie are is trying to be "realistic" with expert advice, for medical storylines.
And yet, another medical storyline only seems to have been given a cursory glance towards medical realism.

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