Eight forgotten Coronation Street storylines that writers 'abandoned' but viewers loved

Coronation Street is known as Britain's best-loved soap - and yet some of the juiciest storylines have vanished without trace, leaving ITV viewers itching to know how they would have ended. Some are desperate to see David Platt (played by Jack P Shepherd) and his partner Shona (Julia Goulding) adopt the much longed for baby they'd discussed, but the story seems to have faded into obscurity.

After being shot on Christmas Day way back in 2019, Shona suffered a traumatic injury and was placed in a coma - and when she woke up, she was unable to even recognise the former love of her life. Touchingly, she and David rebuilt their relationship as her memory slowly returned, and the nation was rooting for them as they hoped she'd recover sufficiently to raise a child - but now that she has, the story has disappeared. Corrie fans have not forgotten, with one pointing out on Reddit that Max Turner (Harry McDermott) is now an adult, removing the purpose for Shona legally adopting him, while another wrote: "I personally hope David and Shona do have a baby at some stage. It would be nice for a baby to be born under happy circumstances for once and not because of an affair."

One story that definitely won't come to fruition is Craig (Colson Smith) embarking on a weight loss journey, as the actor's character was brutally murdered over the spring.

"He had asked for a weight loss storyline to tie in with his own [real life one] which [producers] agreed [to] but [it] got cancelled due to Covid," one fan lamented, while another chimed in: "I do wonder what storylines they planned but we'll never know about due to Covid."

Meanwhile, Leanne (Jane Danson) got brainwashed by a sinister cult, which saw her learn the truth after younger pal Amy (Elle Mulvaney) transferred money to the leader and never saw a penny back.

"I'm sorry that they didn't make more of the Institute's storyline. How did Leanne get over it, does she still feel lost? I expected her to really feel it when Fake Oliver [an AI version of her son who died as a toddler due to mitrochondrial disease] was taken away. Does Nick still worry about her? It just left no hand print at all," lamented one fan.

"The year or two before Covid, one of the writers came up with an idea of a pandemic-like disease hitting Weatherfield but was abandoned as they thought it was too far fetched. Turns out Corrie were actually predicting the future!" recalled another.

Another fan was disappointed by the abrupt end to a plot involving coercive control victim Yasmeen (Shelley King), arguing: "The house fire that brought Geoff, Yasmeen and their granddaughter onto the roof only for Geoff to fall off the roof to his death. Once he fell they were back in the house and no mention of the fire or damage. That is when I went back to Classic Corrie."

Meanwhile, it's been nearly two decades, but some fans still haven't forgotten the aborted 2007 storyline which would see Ashley and Claire Peacock's son Freddie kidnapped.

"There was going to be a long running storyline... However two weeks before it was to begin, Madeline McCann went missing so they scrapped the storyline and changed it so Freddie was found in the park the next day," one noted.

Someone else wanted to see an elaboration on Toyah (Georgia Taylor) and her buried stillborn baby, who was conceived due to a sexual assault before its remains were discovered in the carpark decades later - but others disliked it being dredged up, suggesting it "undermined her [subsequent] fertility journey".