Coronation Street Sunday 3rd September episode review

Hiya! It’s just Jordan with this week’s Sunday review. That’s a new one, right? Yes, our usual Friday trip to Weatherfield was moved to Sunday evening for something called football. So much happened in the hour-long episode, I’ve hardly any idea where to start.

The horror film drama continued in last night, as Andy’s plight at the hand of evil Phelan dominated much of the episode. Pat has gone to the trouble of finally feeding his hostage, treating him to a chicken Caesar salad. Not that he gets to enjoy it, however. Andy, his health draining rapidly, faints at the sight of the salad. When he comes around, he begs Phelan to take him to a doctor. Surprisingly, he relents but changes his mind at the last minute, calling a trip to the doctors “too risky”. The would-be writer knows that if he does not receive medical help, he will die and Pat coldly leaves him to do so. After all, his long-lost daughter has now bought a flat on the Street and he thinks celebrating with her is more important than keeping Andy alive. It is only when Nicola mentions the death of her parents and how the loss will never leave her, Pat feels a twinge of guilt. Since lying is his second language, he makes an excuse to leave and then gives an Oscar-winning performance to Dr Gaddas at the medical centre to obtain some antibiotics. He arrives back at the one-star Hotel Phelan to find its only guest showing very little signs of life and is left to feed the antibiotics to his delirious victim.

Our Pal Sal is driving her latest hair-brained scheme at full speed. The mare has decided to run for mayor and her campaign is as silly as one would expect from Sally.  After persuading an initially dubious Tim that it is time to revive her political career, she holds an official campaign launch in the Rovers, promising to buy a drink for anyone who attends.  At this ridiculous soiree, to which she has gallantly invited the local press, she evades every question with a fruitfully empty answer, practically changing from Metcalfe to May in the blink of an eye. Among the attendees at the campaign launch is Weatherfield County’s new mascot. After winning a local audition earlier that afternoon, Beth’s Kirky is now the proud wearer of a bee costume. Sally is less than thrilled to have a bee in attendance, but when the journalist begins to take more of an interest in him, she is utterly dismayed. When it is suggested to Kirk that he runs for mayor too, Our Pal Sal almost fainted on the spot.

"You sounded like a real politician then"
"Oh thank you, Fiz"
"You evaded the question beautifully"

"

Another hair-brained scheme is about to take place up in Todd and Billy’s flat. Tracy has sent Amy round to the salon to get a back-to-school trim, but Amy insists on having complicated highlights put in. When David refuses, knowing how much bother he’d get into with Tracy, the stroppy teenager widens her options, seeking help from know-it-all Summer. Together, along with the help of Asha Alahan, they raid the corner shop for household cleaning products such as bleach and baking soda. With Todd having to run out to an emergency at work, Summer opens her dodgy salon in the flat. When Todd comes back he gives them all a telling off and orders Amy to wash her the bleach out of her hair. A piercing scream is heard from the bathroom as a distraught Amy finds Summer’s homemade dye hasn’t quite achieved the blonde highlights she was after; her hair has been frazzled into a startling orange instead! In an attempt to keep all this from Tracy, Todd suggests Amy stays over for the night and then they can sort it before Tracy finds anything out.

However, The Wicked Witch of Weatherfield knows her daughter has been up to something when she asks permission for a sleepover at Summer’s. The self-admitted sneak knows when her daughter is trying to pull a fast one, and marches over to the flat to find out what is going on. She knows Amy doesn’t even really like Summer. Things got even more ridiculous with the use of a hat, which did little more than fuel Tracy’s suspicions further. She boldly rips the hat off and claims she’s going to kill David Platt, until Summer timidly owns up. She goes on a classic Tracy-style rant, labelling the new parents as pathetic, and suggesting to Summer that she puts herself into care.  (On a sidenote, it gave me a daft thrill knowing that the young actress who plays Summer is called Matilda and I made a silly connection to Roald Dahl’s Matilda, who also led her own homemade hair dye mishap!)

"It's flamin' orange!"

Elsewhere, a lovely new friendship is blossoming in the form of Rosie and Gemma. If Rosie is Barbie then Gemma would probably be Sindy and the pair make an unlikely but very entertaining double act. Gemma has confided in Rosie about her growing concerns for Rita. At first, Rosie seems to think she’s fine but that is until she finds a bizarre list in the kitchen cupboard at the flat. Rita has been writing lists of things one would normally remember -  such as “Jenny is going to marry Jonny” and “Norris is allergic to nuts”. Later that evening, Gemma tries to explain her concerns to Rita. They’re both sat watching a soap – the first time I’ve ever known a soap exist within a soap – and Rita is having trouble remembering the name of the woman who always wears big earrings, in what I’m sure was an allusion to Bet Lynch.  Gemma is then baffled to hear Rita recite the intricate details of the storyline; she practically broke the fourth wall with what she said next, uttering what I would call Line of the Year in all of Soapland.

"Alex!"
"Eh?"
"And that's Rachel. Three weeks ago, she went under the wheels of a minibus. Not only that, his brother were driving it! Don't they tell some daft stories?!"

"

An hour-long episode which had a good balance of comedy and drama. The Phelan/Andy scenes are rather sickening to watch but the horror was diluted nicely with the rest of the comedic scenes. And as for Rita’s condition – I am probably in the minority here but I will not be taking part in the #SaveRita campaign. I think, if Barbara Knox wants to leave, then this is the way to do it. Send a fabulous character out on a storyline which will cement her status as one of television’s finest actresses.

As always,

Thanks for reading!

Jordan

Twitter -@JordanLloyd39

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