This episode was mostly devoted to a tense, dimly-lit two hander as cheating Peter and wronged wife Leanne had a tearful showdown following his courtroom confession of his affair with Carla.
Angry and sad by turns, Leanne - tearful, red-rimmed eyes running with mascara - laid into a cowed Peter with venom over his various affair-concealing lies such as his supposed greyhound viewing activities: "One thing is true - you were going to see a dog." And (having been filled in on the truth by mum Stella) Carla's clandestine Christmas necklace: "She got the bling, I get the booby prize."
Even so, by the end, Leanne surprisingly still hoped they could repair their marriage, but Peter had to admit he could not as he wanted to be with Carla, saying: "I wish with all my heart it had never happened but... we love each other and want to be together."
Angry and sad by turns, Leanne - tearful, red-rimmed eyes running with mascara - laid into a cowed Peter with venom over his various affair-concealing lies such as his supposed greyhound viewing activities: "One thing is true - you were going to see a dog." And (having been filled in on the truth by mum Stella) Carla's clandestine Christmas necklace: "She got the bling, I get the booby prize."
Even so, by the end, Leanne surprisingly still hoped they could repair their marriage, but Peter had to admit he could not as he wanted to be with Carla, saying: "I wish with all my heart it had never happened but... we love each other and want to be together."
In a surprise twist, it was Leanne, telling Peter, finally: "You should have died in that tram crash, done us all a favour... still you'll probably kill yourself with booze now," - who ended off walking out when it might have been assumed she'd throw her errant spouse out. She disappeared into the night in a taxi "to stay with Toyah" as poor little confused Simon was left sadly in the lurch in the street, crying for his stepmum.
Hats off to the writers and to the fine performance of actors Jane Danson and Chris Gascoyne - it was all very raw and believable. I think we will need a renewing dose of Coronation Street humour for the next episode, though!
Follow the Coronation Street Blog on Twitter and Facebook
