Bettabuys is less a supermarket, more a den of iniquity, as the two managers continued to be deeply unpleasant humanoids. Curly persisted with his relentless pursuit of Kimberley, despite her repeatedly telling him where to go, and he even went to the length of going to her new boyfriend's building society and shouting at him. Adrian responded by accusing him of being a sex maniac which sounds about right. Meanwhile an aggrieved Vera wrote to Head Office to tell them about the fiddled trolley dash. It lead to the first appearance of the great Milton Johns as Brendan Scott, sliding into Reg's office and letting him know he planned investigating the allegation thoroughly. He also produced a load more complaint letters which lead to Holdsworth's suspension. A solicitor's letter arrived at the Websters' demanding the money for Mr Seymour's car, which of course they couldn't pay, so they tallied up their incomings and outgoings and sent that off in the hope it'd convince him there was no money to be had. Elsewhere, Alf had a twisted ankle after his fall down the stairs, and Mike and Jackie discussed buying a house together.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 4th and 6th February 1991
Alma was upset at the sight of Jackie's house in the paper as it meant she was setting up a new home with Mike. She pretended to be interested in buying it and then, while the camp estate agent was on his enormous mobile phone, she nipped upstairs and slashed their duvet. Mike realised that the assailant was Alma and she apologised and gave him a cheque for the duvet. Jackie ripped it up, though, wanting to put it all behind her, and not wanting to sleep on sheets paid for by Mike's ex. Reg offered Vera her job back if she withdrew her allegations. Meanwhile, Brendan interviewed all the players in the trolley dash, but Curly was distracted by Raquel. She was flirting outrageously with him and he took her to the Rovers, where she made it clear she was willing to do all the things Kimberley wouldn't do; however, when Curly kept going on about his ex she stormed out. (This early version of Raquel is a lot more conniving and sly than the sweet innocent we came to love later on).
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 8th and 11th February 1991
Curly's descent into madness reached its peak as he became convinced that a letter from a 'K, Lancashire' in a women's magazine was Kimberley. The writer complained about her new boyfriend being a sex maniac just like the old one, so a wildly overacting Kevin Kennedy confronted Adrian at his place of work and bellowed. Adrian told him that he and Kimberley had already done it, so Curly did the sensible thing: he stood in the middle of Bettabuys shouting that she was a trollop. Brendan concluded his investigation with a "not proven"; he knew the trolley dash was bent as a nine bob note, but couldn't prove it. It meant Jack and Vera got their jobs back anyway. Mavis was delighted to see an urban fox in her back garden. I get foxes in my garden all the time, Mave, and let me tell you, they're a lot less charming when you've had clear their turd off your path in the morning. She stayed up all night watching for him, and left some bacon out for him to eat, but he was far more interested in a different snack: Jack's pigeons...
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 13th and 15th February 1991
Two way-past-their-sell-by-date storylines were finally resolved today. Sally's mum came over to see the baby and lent them the money to pay off Mr Sullivan, despite Kevin's protests. And Kimberley finally got her transfer to Bolton, meaning Curly might calm the hell down again. It was Jenny's 20th birthday, and Angie organised a party for her, only to have Ms Bradley say she didn't want it because she was spending the evening with Robert. Angie pointed out that married men only went with young girls for one thing, so Jenny gave her her notice. Angry, Angie told Rita all about her adulterous antics, leading to some frosty scenes when Jenny brought him into the Rovers. At number 4, the Wiltons were being overwhelmed by two different problems. With the help of a crane, Des had a battered old boat lowered into his back garden, blocking their light and making Mavis worry about workmen weeing on her daffodils. Meanwhile Jack was on the warpath looking for the fox that killed his pigeons, and he borrowed the devil dog he "bought" at Christmas to chase after it. Derek laid a trail of bacon in the ginnel to try and lure the fox to safety, but the dog caught the scent, and began barking loudly...
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 18th and 20th February 1991
The hunting party clambered round the ginnel and across the Street, ending up in Des's back garden, as they followed the trail of the fleeing Derek. Mavis stopped them getting into her garden with a sharp whack from a saucepan and sent them on their way. Next morning, Jack was a laughing stock as no-one believed there was a fox in the first place. Mavis confessed that she and Derek had been hunt saboteurs but his moment of triumph was short lived as he returned home to find Vera sobbing. Her mother had died, though those of us who remember Amy from her obnoxious appearances earlier in the show will find it difficult to grieve too hard. Angie and Jenny continued to row, though Ange pointed out she paid her rent to Rita so she was going nowhere. Rita herself came round to see Jenny and tried to talk some sense into her over her married lover, but she was dismissive and said she was just trying to have fun before she died. Emily was having similar thoughts, as a couple of hospital visits had left her dwelling on her life, and wondering if she'd ever achieved anything. Phil took a room at the Rovers, much to Deirdre's surprise, and spent the day making covert phone calls on his huge mobile in the bar. Alec began to think he was hiding out from his dodgy mates. It was a suspicion confirmed when a huge Scotsman (played by a pre-Phil Nail Clive Russell) turned up on the doorstep of the pub after hours wanting to speak to Mr Jennings. Alec scampered inside and locked the doors, panicking.
You know how there was a Leonard Swindley sitcom spin-off in the Sixties? @merseytart wishes they'd done the same thing with Reg and Curly and the Bettabuy store. That way he wouldn't have to watch it.
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