Coronation Street Weekly Update, May 10 2010

Greetings fellow Corrie fans. It’s a sad week this week as Blanche Hunt’s funeral takes place, so without any further ado, here we go with this week’s Coronation Street update.

Find out more about the Coronation Street Weekly Updates and why they’ve been written for th’internet since 1995 at http://www.corrieweeklyupdates.btinternet.co.uk/

Ken and Deirdre return from Portugal and get down to the business of burying Blanche. Deirdre’s snapping at Ken for going through Blanche’s things before she feels up to it and when Ken finds an envelope with ‘Open in the event of my death’ on it, in Blanche’s drawer, she feels like Ken’s taking matters into his own hands. But once she’s had a fag, a cuppa and another cry, she apologises to Ken. “I’m sorry for being a right cow,” she says. Well, someone’s got to take after Blanche. Deirdre opens the letter and reads Blanche’s instructions for making her funeral the best it can be. Unfortunately for Deirdre, Blanche’s wish list includes a pipe band and all manner of bizarre and wonderful things. Fortunately for Deirdre, there’s a second list with cheaper options. She thought of everything, that Blanche.

The funeral goes smoothly with May Pen leading the delegation from the 1o’clock club who’ve arrived with high hopes of a good day out with their tartan flasks of hot tea. Norris, Ken, Peter, Dev, Ashley and Roy are Blanche’s pollbearers of choice although Norris tries to get out of the task, blaming his sciatica. Archie Shuttleworth’s on duty, as you’d expect, Deirdre gets through a lot of fags and there’s tears at every turn. As the crowd prepare to go into the church, Audrey arrives and offers Deirdre a valium, just in case. Deirdre declines it, saying she needs to have her wits about her. But when Tracy Barlow arrives, handcuffed to her prison warder, fresh out of jail, Steve turns to Audrey: “Did I hear you say summat about a valium?” he says.

The eulogy’s lovely, with Deirdre doing her best to get through her speech, dedicated to “my mother” through her tears. The Andrew Sisters are belting out on the CD: “Accentuate the Positive” but as the mourners file out after the service, Tracy loses her cool and has a go at Becky over little Amy. As Blanche’s coffin is lowered into the grave, Deirdre declines throwing ashes to ashes, dust to dust and places yellow freesias on her mum’s grave instead. She later takes more cream coloured freesias to Blanche’s room in a vase. And so to the Rovers as the ladies from the 1o’clock club help themselves to free food and stuff sausage rolls into their handbags. Blanche would have been proud. And finally, a toast proposed by Ken to which everyone raises their glass: “To Blanche”.

Elsewhere in the Street, Norris natters on to anyone who’ll listen about his narrow escape from death at Mary’s hands in the country cottage. No-one cares, or wants to know, they think Mary’s perfectly normal. Ah, what little do they know. “Don’t turn me into a stalker” warns Mary to Norris when he tells her to leave him alone.

In the Rovers, Dawn the social worker pays Steve and Becky a visit to assess their suitability for adopting a child. Becky gets a make-under from Claire, wearing dull clothes, combing her hair and putting her bra straps away. It doesn’t fool the social worker and finally the McDonalds come clean about their past life of crime, drugs, time inside and other shenanigans they’ve both been through. So desperate are the agencies for people to adopt, the McDonalds are through to the next ring of the game.

And Eddie and Anna Windass have a visit from their social worker regarding their plan to adopt. They’re hoping for the same friendly social worker as the one who visited Becky and Steve but instead get a hatchet-faced harridan called Hilary. Not even Eddie’s three layer chocolate cheesecake can woo this one, she’s diabetic and refuses the cake. “He’s half-Delia, half-Mick Hucknall,” Anna chirps. But Eddie rises to the challenge and tells Hilary that next time she comes round, he’ll bake her a special diabetic-recipe cake, news which fair puts a smile on her face.

There’s a World Cup footy storyline taking shape. Trevor’s got some tickets but the wives and girlfriends, for it is they, won’t allow his mates to go. So now he’s trying to get some of the local lads to buy the tickets and get a party together to head to South Africa later this year. So far, there’s Steve, Ashley, Peter and Tyrone in for the deal but they’re keeping it quiet from the females for now. “Not a word to the ladies,” Steve advises. What a bunch of wusses.

In the Rovers, Kirk arranges a second date with Izzy. He borrows David Platt’s shirt and sits with sweaty armpits as he chats Izzy up in the pub.

And in other news this week, Sean decides to search for his son, Dylan and pokes Dylan’s mum Violet on facebook.

Coronation Street writers this week were Peter Whalley, Mark Wadlow, Jayne Hollinson and Damon “I buried Blanche Hunt” Rochefort and Chris Fewtrell. Find out more about the Coronation Street writing team.

Glenda Young
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