Corrie weekly update - the one with the Loch Nessa monster

Corrie weekly updates from 1995 - 20 years in 20 e-books
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A visiting order from a jailbird in soapland can only end in tears. And so it begins when Tracy receives a visiting order from Rob who’s banged up in the big house for the murder of  Tina. She dolls herself up and pops to the prison where Rob gives her sweet talk. What he really wants to know is what’s going on at Underworld after he spots a picture in the Weatherfield Gazette and reads about Jonny Connor joining the knicker-stitching gang.  Another visiting order wings its way to Johnny who dons his dapper waistcoat and takes himself to jail.  Rob tells Johnny he knows he knocked up their mam about 9 months before Carla was born and reckons he’s Carla’s dad. Johnny agrees that he had a one-night fling with Carla’s mam in the backseat of a Vauxhall Cavalier (classy!) but defies Rob to show him proof that he’s Carla’s dad. The fact that Johnny goes all shifty and sweaty provides Rob all the proof that he needs. Blackmail is afoot and Johnny heads back to Weatherfield with much on his mind.

It’s Nick and Carla’s engagement party in the Bistro. Carla’s gone all curly-hair and sparkle for the event, a look I much prefer to her straight-hair and blackness.  Johnny finds out that Liz McDonald has got a thing for Errol Flynn in the old Robin Hood film and buys a new green shirt for the party to impress.

“All you need now is a bow and arrow,” muses Carla, clearly cottoning on to Johnny’s plan to woo Liz. And I think it’s a partnership that could work. I like Johnny Connor a lot and I hope Liz will too.  At the party, Carla asks Roy to give her away at her wedding to Nick, and Roy agrees, while Johnny looks on, confused.  The party also provided a platform for the saga of Aidan's missing silk socks to play out, a lovely little touch. The socks, it transpires, are in Spain wth Steve McDonald.

Leanne takes Simon to their counselling session and Robert goes with them, for Simon’s sake. Mind you, Tracy finds out and she’s not best pleased. There’s more disharmony in the Barlow house when Nessa wheedles her way into Ken’s bed and stays overnight. The next morning she rewards Ken for his sexual prowess with a cooked breakfast and compliments him on his timing. I nearly choked on my cocoa.  Tracy is up in arms with Nessa the imposter getting her claws into Ken, but Ken seems content even if no one else is.  Audrey’s still jealous  and when she finds out that Nessa wants her hair done for Carla’s engagement party, she gives Nessa a hairdo from hell.  But never mind Nessa, never mind her hairdo, the Renshaw twins made a reappearance in this scene. Not only that, they spoke too!  In unison!

There was another great scene between Amy and Nessa when Amy warned Nessa not to messa with her grandad, before demanding that Nessa take her out to the Christmas markets and spoil her with goodies. Channelling a potent mix of Tracy and Blanche into young Amy is a dream to watch.

Liz, Erica and Anna get drunk in the Rovers and muse about men. In the back room of the Rovers, with the three of them sat around Liz’s table, talked turned to fellas – and their lack of.  It was a timeless scene, one that could have been done at any point during Corrie’s 55 years with any of its female characters.  It was a lovely scene that I enjoyed a lot and the three of them decide to try a singles night.  Anna’s not got anything to wear so borrows one of Liz’s spangled tops while Liz takes an age to get ready. “It’s a full-time job, being me, you know!” she says.

Released from hospital after being knocked over last week, Sarah goes back to work in the pub.  When she gets stuck into a bag of scampi fries, Todd’s the only one that notices and when Sarah runs out of the pub and takes comfort on Maxine’s bench, Todd follows her out.  He reminds her that she used to eat scampi fries when she was pregnant with Billy, their baby who died.  He’s guessed, of course, that Sarah’s pregnant again and she confides in him about Callum being the dad. Kylie also figures out what’s going on with Sarah’s odd behaviour this week when she rifles through Sarah’s handbag and finds the name of a clinic where Sarah’s booked in to have a termination next week.

And finally this week, Brendan takes Mary to a convention of crop circles and alien abductions. Mary’s in love and giggles like a schoolgirl to Brendan’s whispered admissions of lust. But when Rita overhears him on the phone to someone he’s clearly fond of, she feels she must warn Mary that she fears Brendan’s married. Rita’s words of warning fall on deaf ears when Mary tells Rita that she already knows that Brendan’s wed. She tells Rita to keep her sanctimonious and bitter words to herself.  When Brendan pops round to collect Mary to take her to the convention, they kiss and they cuddle and he tells her: “Oh, stop being so gorgeous!”.  “Stop being so married,” she replies.  Oh Mary, you stupid, stupid, girl.

And that’s just about that for this week.

Remember, you can sign up to get these Corrie weekly updates by email at http://www.corrie.net/updates/weekly/subscribe.htm

This week’s writers were Julie Jones (Monday double); Ben Tagoe (Wednesday); Simon Crowther (Friday double). Find out all about the Coronation Street writing team at http://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.com/2008/11/exclusive-all-current-corrie-writers.html

Glenda Young
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Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com
Website: glendayoungbooks.com



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