Jackie McGregor: Debbie driven demented by Corrie scriptwriters –TV soap operas in crisis

Debbie, aged 57, is set to develop dementia.

I’ve watched Corrie since childhood, but this storyline will finish me as a viewer.

After nursing full-time, both my dementia-stricken parents, the thought of watching even a fictional character’s decline into this terrifying disease as a form of entertainment, is unimaginable for me.

Viewers will also be subjected to Kevin Webster’s testicular cancer diagnosis, this and his sister Debbie’s dementia decline, will be long running and heartbreaking according to Corrie sources.

Dementia is something that many people feel uneasy about, particularly women of a certain age, as menopausal brain fog can cause some to suspect they have the beginnings of early-onset dementia.

The Alzheimer’s Society estimates that there are over 22,000 people with dementia in Northern Ireland. This number is expected to increase to nearly 43,000 by 2040

UK soaps are in crisis and facing many challenges including budget cuts, streaming competition and plummeting viewing figures. Compared to viewing figures in 2019 Corrie and Emmerdale have lost around 38 percent of their audience, EastEnders lost approximately 36 percent.

Viewing habits have changed. My teen son and his pals view no TV, instead they watch streaming services like YouTube.

My age group (50s+) are the target audience for soaps, yet they continue to run depressing, health-based storylines that many of their viewers have experienced, are living through, or are afraid of happening to them. Most viewers don’t want to watch this content.

Several years ago, I stopped watching EastEnders due to the grim storylines and constant shouting.

Read online forums and soap based social media comments and the consensus is, soaps are too depressing. Viewers yearn for the glory days of the Deirdre/Ken/Mike love triangle. I’m all for a bit of drama, but I don’t consider watching the slow disease-induced death of a character, entertainment.

Actor Sue Devaney, who plays Debbie, was reportedly deeply shocked to find herself being axed. Personally, I would have preferred the culling of loathsome Leanne, wooden Maria, perpetually weeping Lauren, or Max of the monk haircut.

TV soaps claim they run these storylines to raise awareness. Storylines are now diversity and issue driven to generate headlines and awards. These awards usually go to the soap with the most depressing health/death related storyline, a recent example being the agonisingly long-running MND story of Paul from Corrie last year.

Dementia is a heart-breaking disease which won’t make easy viewing, I for one will be switching off. Methinks if soap bosses continue with these increasingly depressing storylines they’ll be ringing in their own death knell.

Rumour has it the dementia storyline will conclude with the death of Debbie’s character within the year. If Corrie’s scriptwriters’ aim is to raise awareness of dementia, I fear they are purely raising alarm. People can live for years while suffering from dementia and no two cases are the same. If you’ve seen one person with dementia, you’ve seen one person with dementia.