The election campaign was hotting up. Deirdre got a glowing interview in the Gazette thanks to the reporter owing Phil a favour. Alf's campaign took a beating when a misprint on his posters alledged he was "The People's Fiend", so he fought back by appearing on local radio. It was all going well until Phil Jennings phoned in with a terrible Welsh accent to share a rumour he'd heard that Alf had a woman on the side. He was actually talking about when Alf dropped Betty from Emmerdale off after the local traders meetings but Audrey didn't believe him. Joss faked the references from elderly stuffed shirts to get Jack and Vera their posh job. Reg agreed to let Raquel model in exchange for a mention of Bettabuys in the programme. This lead to a quite incredible montage of 90s fashion as Angie And Another Amazing Hat presented her creations to the world. One of the male models failed to show up but Curly refused to fill in and fled. Angie's collection went down well anyway.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 29th April and 1st May 1991
Vera panicked about being caught out over the false references and withdrew the Duckworth's application. A policeman turned up a few hours later, and they fretted he was investigating their claim for expenses and confessed everything. In actual fact the lady they'd applied to had been burgled so they were being questioned as a matter of course. The policeman found it all very amusing and a guilt-ridden Vera decided to send the £30 expenses back. Raquel got a photographer's card at the fashion show, making Curly panic she might be persuaded to pose nude. He also fretted to Angie that once she hung out with the beautiful people she'd not look twice at him. Ken put a poster up for Deirdre in his flat window. An infuriated Alf let himself into the flat and tore it down, which Ken rightly pointed out was a violation of his personal space. Alf told him if he carried on publicly supporting Deirdre he'd have to find somewhere new to live - so Ken phoned his old mates at the Gazette and got a story out of it. Alec persuaded Alf to apologise and arranged a photo shoot in the Rovers to show them making up. Unfortunately, in the meantime, Ken had put a new poster in the window and Alf had covered it up with one of his own, so the only picture they got was of Barlow and Roberts having a barney up against the bar.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 3rd and 6th May 1991
It was finally polling day. Deirdre suffered a last minute blow as the picture of Alf and Ken wrestling made the front page of the Gazette. However, Alec had managed to get them to spin it as Councillor's Husband Attacks Rival and mention her holidays in Paris like she was some kind of jet setting gadabout. It cost her votes and Alf was declared the new councillor. It was a pyrrhic victory, however, as everything immediately went wrong. Betty from Emmerdale insisted on being on the podium alongside Audrey, jostling her off the stage and ruining Alf's speech. His victory lap of the Street was immediately undermined by all the residents being furious at the water being turned off. It only affected the terrace side, but it meant Don couldn't wash his taxi and Alec couldn't wash his glasses so they demanded their new elected representative do something about it. All he could manage was informing them it would be gone for a couple of days. This left Vera caught short, as she couldn't flush her loo, and Mavis rather snootily refused to let her use theirs. Meanwhile Alec's glee at getting Deirdre off the Council was immediately undermined by Phil telling Bet he'd given up on plans to reopen the club weeks ago so it had all been for nothing. At number 7, Angie and Curly were drowning their sorrows. Raquel's modelling session had gone so well she now thought she was heading up in the world so she dumped Curly for being from a different world. Angie was depressed because she'd tried to sell her designs to a fashion house, only to find they'd already bought them: someone had ripped them off from the show and flogged them quick. They knocked back a bottle of wine, then some vodka, and obviously this lead to a big old snog.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 8th and 10th April 1991
The Great Weatherfield Drought continued. The Rovers struggled on until Nigel Ridley demanded they close as, without running water, they could violate health and safety. Terrified of losing profits Alec rigged up an elaborate hose mechanism from the posh side but Mavis and Derek refused to let him use their water. Des supplied it instead, in exchange for free beer, and Alec barred the Wiltons in revenge. They parked their car on the hosepipe, blocking it, and Alec was forced to apologise and give them drinks on the house. Alf took the opportunity to gouge the residents by charging 35p for a bottle of water. Joss left the Street since there was no water (and never reappeared - the next we'd hear of him, he'd be dead) and Jack and Vera battled over fetching supplies from the stand pipe. They suffered an even worse disaster when the water came back on; as Vera had been filling the bath when it switched off, the taps turned on of their own accord, and flooded the bathroom. Angie and Curly agreed to be just friends after their ill-advised night of passion. They then got drunk on red wine and snogged again. At Ingram's, Jackie was catching up with all sorts of sneakiness. She fired Human Rancid Haddock Ivy Brennan after she heard her gossiping about the upcoming Baldwin wedding (Ivy fell on her feet though and ended up working in the shop, much to Audrey's horror). Then, at an accountant's meeting, she discovered an entry for "Alcazar Holdings" in the figures. Mike told her it was a shell company for tax purposes. And she stupidly believed him.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 13th and 15th April 1991
I was feeling sorry for the Duckworths with their flooded house. Poor Vera complained that all she'd done all her life was clean up. But then they got the whiff of insurance money, and they immediately tried to find ways to claim more than they were entitled to, and my sympathies dwindled. Vera forced herself on Mavis to have a look at the decor in her house, which annoyed Mave as she was cooking a "parsnip surprise". This was because Derek was... flagging a little, and she'd read in a magazine that parsnips were an aphrodisiac. That's quite enough of that thank you. Deirdre was having money problems and went trawling round for jobs. She tried with a former fellow councillor, but he refused because she'd be "organising creches and strikes." He was wearing a striped shirt and red braces so I think we can safely say he was a Tory. Deirdre refused an offer from Phil and instead got an interview for telesales. Ivy started work in the shop. Audrey immediately took advantage, running off into town and leaving Ivy alone without a dinner break, then lording it over her behind the counter. It'd be grossly unfair if it wasn't happening to Poison Ivy.
Angie is way too good for Curly and @merseytart refuses to hear otherwise.
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2 comments:
I STILL miss Angie!
Deborah McAndrew is now doing rather well as a playwright, theatre director, university lecturer and Chancellor, and she still acts, so no regrets about leaving Corrie. I always wanted her and Curly to make a go of it though.
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