Coronation Street's Jodie Ramsey is hurting my favourite soap couple, she's going way too far... and I love her to bits. That's the controversial take from freelance soaps reporter Jon Boam, who argues the character should remain on the cobbles permanently.
Jodie's sole purpose was to blow up her half-sister Shona's (Julia Goulding) marriage to David Platt (Jack P Shepherd). So twisted is her obsession with Shona that she concocted a plan to make her look like a terrible mum and partner in order to take her place within the family.
A familiar trope with a modern twist
If this story sounds familiar, it's because it is. The film is called Single White Female, released in 1992, and soaps have been ripping it off ever since. The bunny-boiler trope hasn't aged well, especially in an era where mental health concerns are paramount. There's something about villainising a desperate, damaged woman with a warped perception of reality that feels a tad dated.
Coronation Street has been very wise not to specify exactly what is wrong with Jodie. The moment soaps give a character a specific mental health problem, they have a duty to portray it authentically and sensitively. They are bound by the specific causes, symptoms and triggers of that particular illness. Simply put, a heightened gothic story turns into a grounded issue story.
Why Jodie deserves redemption
On a street inhabited by domestic abusers like Theo Silverton (James Cartwright), and child predators like Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon), Jodie is a breath of fresh air. She's wild, she's unpredictable. Fans may hate that she's going to such appalling lengths to split up Shona and David, but that doesn't stop them tuning in every week to see what the pound shop Glenn Close gets up to next.
When she deliberately risked harming baby Harper by adding boiling water to her bath, fans soured on the story. Between that, hiding a gun in the house and trying to make Shona think she's hearing voices, many of Corrie's more vocal viewers had enough. Suddenly Jodie wasn't just a villain. She was a monster.
The classic 'broken bird' archetype
But Boam points out that other fan-favourite characters have done terrible things. Tracy Barlow once spiked Roy Cropper (David Nielson) with the date rape drug for a bet. Sienna from Hollyoaks destroyed Darren (Ashley Taylor-Dawson) and Nancy Osborne's (Jessica Fox) marriage by pretending to be pregnant with an affair baby. Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) sold her own son for money. Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) is a domestic abuser. All of these characters are fan faves.
What do they have in common? Vulnerability. If there's one thing viewers love more than a sinner, it's a reformed sinner. Jodie has that: the troubled childhood with an abusive, unstable dad, the half sister she idolised only to run away from home, the complicated cocktail of bitterness, jealousy and worship. Jodie is the classic 'broken bird' archetype.
With the ultimate showdown between the Ramsey sisters imminent, some Corrie fans may get their wish. Jodie might not survive the shooting about to explode onto the cobbles, which Boam still thinks would be a tremendous shame. The performance from newcomer Olivia Frances-Brown has been spell-binding, portraying Jodie with menace, charm, wit and tragedy. She's also given Shona and David enough plot hooks to fill a year's worth of storyboards. After a relatively quiet period, the Platts are back on the map thanks to Jodie.
