Coronation Street double episode review, Monday 27 January

Such a sad sight – Roy sitting in the darkness of the café in the early morning - the embodiment of a lost soul. Anna does her best with him and listens compassionately as he says, ‘She should be still here now with me. I could have talked her out of it.’ But as Fiz arrives it is clear to her that Anna and Roy abruptly stop talking, which of course makes her highly suspicious. This suspicion takes hold and when Fiz is invited into Carla’s office for Carla to ask her how she is coping,  Fiz tells Carla that when Fiz last saw Hayley it was as if she was saying goodbye, as if Hayley knew that that would be the last time. Carla swerves the thought and emphasises how Hayley is no longer in pain, hoping Fiz will be satisfied by that.

Gail obviously feels that the fault for the breakup of Nick and Leanne’s marriage lies firmly with Leanne. Arriving at work to face Leanne and Stella, Gail doesn’t hold back, telling the mother and daughter that while they are all 'suited and booted' fully made up and ready for the day, poor Nick languishes at home. Leanne, all considered, is very restrained in her comments to her mother-in-law. She points out that it was Nick’s decision, but Gail believes that all Leanne had to do was throw her arms around Nick and tell him how much she loved him. Gloria chips in, to protect Leanne and says that she knows Gail is annoyed, so, ‘go and take it out on the toilet floor.’ At home, Gail asks Nick how a bread and butter pudding would make him feel, to which he replies, ‘About 5,’ which, it must be admitted, is one of Nick’s very best lines. Nick tells her to get a kitten but Gail says she’s allergic to them. Cruelly he tells her, ‘I’m allergic to you.’ 

While on the subject of daughters and protection, how gratifying it was that Amy refused to go with Tracy and preferred to stay with Michelle. Who can blame Michelle for gloating?  ‘She turned out lovely in spite of you,’ spits Michelle.

 Not a good couple of episodes for Gail to say the least. Along with the upset amongst the in-laws and with Nick, Gail shows herself to be a snob when she notices that the Tinkers and Kirk are moving their stuff to Chesney and Sinead’s house. ‘That Beth is from the bottom of the gene pool,’ she tells anyone who will listen.

Tracy has no idea that Amy had been to the doctor until Mary asked Tracy how her ‘little poppet’ is and then pointing out to Tracy how lovely Michelle is with Amy, and how Tracy has no need to worry about wicked stepmother behaviour. Tracy gets no sympathy from her own mother either. Thank goodness the ‘Tracyluv’ days are over and now Deirdre sees her daughter’s character for what it is. Deirdre tells her daughter that Amy will probably get more sympathy from Michelle than she would from Tracy. Bridling at this, Tracy says, ‘I thought mothers were supposed to provide sympathy.’ Slowly and deliberately, Deirdre replies, ‘Yes, that’s right and you’d do well to remember that.’

Maddie is still feeling annoyed that she was ‘tricked’ by Sophie and Sophie works out that it was not a huge, strong man who broke into their house, but it was Maddie. So amusing though to see Sally boasting about her ‘have a go hero’ and to see Tim milking every opportunity, including a night out at the bistro. He will be exposed though, as ‘well pretty’ Sophie and/or Steph/Maddie will somehow reveal the truth and the non-existence of the huge monster who attacked him.

So Kirky, Beth and her son Craig, not forgetting Darryl the rat, are now ensconced at Sinead and Chesney’s and so far the cooking isn’t going so well.- a past meal had been tomato soup, tuna and peas, which doesn’t sound too bad until you learn that they were all served as one. Please Carla, give Beth another go at the factory. 

Stella has her eye on Kal and Kal has his eye on Leanne –intriguing - as is the planned opening of the gym with Kal and Dev as equal partners. Kal tells Leanne not to say sorry as often as she does. A little repartee develops. When Kal books for two in the bistro, Stella asks who the lucky lady is. Clear relief spreads across he face when he says he’ll be dining with Dev.

Fiz is so upset to learn that Hayley took her own life and rails at Roy that he should have stopped her. That must be extremely hard for Roy as he is already in a fury with himself that he was not able or didn’t do enough to stop her. But we know, we witnessed Hayley’s determination and it would have been cruel to stop her. Fiz’s distress is understandable – she wanted to tell Hayley just how much she loved her, and she feels she didn’t have the chance. Carla guessed what Hayley was planning. She sensed it from Hayley’s evening visit to the factory.

Anna of course did know what Hayley planned but it was not her place to reveal it. Whatever people’s views are on the right to die debate, there was no doubt in Hayley’s mind that that was what she wanted. She really didn’t want to prolong her life and instead died at home with her husband beside her. It was a death better than most    

Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook

All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License