User blog comment:Matthew Robinson 1982/Directing Corrie in the '80s/@comment-3154982-20161122142717

Hi again Matthew. Thanks for giving such a detailed response to my earlier comments. I suppose that by the time you returned in 1982 it was working like a well oiled machine. I find it very interesting that you feel the programme was lacking lustre at this point. I'm a big fan of the programme's early decades,but not an uncritical fan. However this was an era that I felt was full of spark onscreen. There were certainly issues with aspects of the programme a few years down the line- certainly from 1985 onwards,which was the period after many of the show's biggest characters had left. That later period was also the time when the show was being compared unfavourably with the new and vibrant shows like Eastenders and Brookside. I see that you actually directed a pair of episodes in the Spring of 1985,shortly after you directed the early episodes of Eastenders. That must have been an interesting experience. Have you ever considered writing a book on your experience working on British soaps? There cant be many people who have worked on so many,and in different capacities over quite a lengthy period. Going back to your diary entries from 1982,it's interesting to note what civilised hours everyone seemed to work back then. I suppose that everybody knew their job very well,so it was a bit like the aforementioned well oiled machine. I think that Bill Podmore started working on Brass in 1982,and Mervyn Watson became the producer later that year with Bill remaining Executive Producer. He wrote an interesting book about his time producing the programme. Thanks again for sharing those diary entries and for the follow up comments.