If something looks too good to be true, that's probably because it is. Alf realised that Derek's cheap car radio was the one stolen out of his car. Steve claimed he didn't know it was hooky but Jim paid Alf back in an attempt to smooth things over. Mavis insisted that Alf report it to the police, but he decided not to as it was Christmas and he didn't want to upset the pregnant Liz. Bet paid off Des the Decorator and hoped that was the end of it all, but he said he'd see her around, which wasn't great as Vicky was coming back for the holidays. Another man who refused to take no for an answer was Mike, whose harassment of Alma continued. She asked Gail to stick around when he was in the cafe because he scared her. This is all very creepy and the worst part is knowing it's going to work. Mike also tried to charm Tracy, dropping hints that she should try and get Ken back together with Deirdre. She asked her mum for a family Christmas and Deirdre reluctantly agreed - not knowing that Ken had booked a holiday in the Cotswolds for him and Alma.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 18th and 20th December 1991
Bet tried to get Alec to return, but he said the cruise needed him, so she called him a pig and slammed the phone down. Alf's car radio was robbed again so Audrey called the police. She told them about Steve McDonald, and Mavis confirmed the name, so he was taken down to the station. He refused to talk so Andy told a distraught Liz the names of his thieving mates instead; she immediately dobbed them in. Steve was called a grass by the little thug that stole the radio, and was charged with handling stolen goods. Ken told Alma he couldn't go on the mini break because he was having Christmas with Deirdre. Tracy mentioned this to Mike and he perked right up. And Percy caused havoc in the grotto by telling children they were ungrateful for presenting him with a Christmas list and not asking for a tangerine and a walnut like wot he had in the good old days.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 25th December 1991
Oh, heck. ITV3 made a right cock up and skipped the episode from the 23rd December. (They also showed the two Christmas Day episodes the wrong way round!). I've had to refer to the venerable Corriepedia to find what happened so I'll try filling in the gaps for you. Apparently Percy was fired, the Platts moved into their new house, and the teenage thugs spray painted Steve McDonald Is A Grass on the doors of Jim's bike shop. More significantly, Vicky saw Bet getting snogged by Des the Decorator. He then turned up at the Rovers, begging for a Christmas dinner, and she let him in. Vicky went off to the McDonalds after dinner, and Des tried his luck with Bet; when she refused, he belted her, much to Vicky's horror when she returned suddenly and witnessed it. Reg snuck into Bettabuys to get provisions for him and Curly's impromptu Christmas dinner, and was promptly arrested for burglary; Curly got him out of trouble by giving the copper a deeply unflattering description and saying he had permission to be there. Mike turned up at Alma's, brandishing a bottle of champagne and professing his love for her. She tried to resist but eventually fell into bed with him. They ignored Ken when he knocked at the door and Mike laughingly told her about his manipulation of Tracy to get Alma on her own; she was disgusted and chucked him out. The McDonalds got an unusual present - a brick through the window - while Des and Angie turned their drunken dinner together into a more intimate affair. The Platts had Christmas dinner with the Brennans and Ivy enjoyed the experience so much she decided not to move. Gail didn't believe that her former mother-in-law had changed her mind and decided they'd have to sell up. If I'm honest Gail's face when she realised she'd just bought a house over the road from Human Sewage Farm Ivy Tilsley was the best part of the whole show.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 27th and 30th December 1991
The teenage thugs pursued Vicky and Steve round a cinema, but they escaped, so the boys took out their frustration on Andy and smacked him about. Jim and Liz not unnaturally blamed Steve for it. He ran off with Vicky to her old house, still standing empty, because she was also feeling under pressure to tell Alec about Bet's "affair". Meanwhile Bet was blaming herself for Des's behaviour. Rita talked her round and took her out to cheer her up. Ken took Alma to the Costwolds for New Year to make up for letting her down at Christmas but, wracked with guilt, she confessed about her dalliance with Mike. Ken packed his bags and left her to it. Curly was in a rotten mood so Angie cheered him by setting him up with her mate. He was convinced it was a joke until his date walked in - a certain Miss Raquel Wolstenhulme...
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 1st and 3rd January 1992
Bet turned up at the Arden house and found a sleeping Steve and Vicky. She dragged them back to the Street but the damage had already been done. A hysterical Liz had to be rushed to hospital, where she gave birth to a girl, Katie. The baby was too premature to survive and died the next day. Liz was distraught, and so was Jim, which makes the whole business with that Australian woman twenty-odd years later all the worse. Vicky confronted Bet about her "affair", so Bet told her the truth, and they made it up. Alma discovered Ken had run off without her. She came back to Weatherfield and went to see him, but when he started ranting about Baldwin, she realised he cared more about his feud than her and she was better off out of it. admitted that her modelling career was on the skids. She'd posed for some sleazy pics, and when her dad saw them, he chucked her out. With nowhere else to go Des Barnes offered her his spare room. This won't end well.
@merseytart thinks Alma deserves better than both Barlow and Baldwin.
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3 comments:
Were Des the decorator and Des Barnes two different characters?
yes, two separate characters. Des Barnes and Des Foster
I got very confused with ITV3 messing up the order of the Christmas Day episodes. Interesting to see Gail move into her new home and it also reinforced how daft the 'return' of the McDonald's dead daughter was recently.
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