There was a glorious return of Bet saying "Tenerifey" as she was offered the use of Stella Rigby's holiday apartment. She got Liz to volunteer as relief manager so she could get her time off, and a landlady was born. Jim wasn't happy though. Bet was pretty great all round, refusing to serve Harry Potts after she'd called time and ably dealing with Jack's confusion. He was unsure about solicitor's charges, as he and Vera visited Anita's mum from dinnerladies to see if they were entitled to compensation over Lisa's death. They were told they'd only get insurance money if the driver who hit her was convicted. Jack went to see Des and tried to persuade him to change his statement to tell the police it wasn't an accident and he was driving badly. He refused to perjur himself. Maggie refused to let Mike take Mark away; he was understandably less than thrilled at camping in North France with Ken rather than going to EuroDisney. Meanwhile Reg was horrified to learn Maureen had a housemate: her mother, Maud Grimes.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 31st March and 2nd April 1993
Today's episodes mark the debut of telly legend Russell T Davies on the show as a story associate. He was only here for a couple of weeks, though he wrote the straight to video episode Viva Las Vegas before going off to write Queer as Folk and Doctor Who. Percy met up with the widow of an old Army pal, Olive, sending Phyllis into paroxysms of jealousy. You're too good for him Phyl. Times were hard at the Duckworths as Vera tried to sell her car to pay the electric bill. Des realised how bad their finances were, and considered changing his story, until Ashley the vicar from Emmerdale arrived to apologise for killing Lisa and he realised he couldn't punish an innocent man. Vera told Des that he was punishing Tommy. Vicky brought back an awful posh mate for the Easter holidays, Gabriella, leaving Steve worried he wouldn't get the chance for a bit of one on one time. And Reg went to dinner at Maureen and Maud's, and found she hadn't changed a bit and still hated his guts thirty years later. I know how she feels.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 5th and 7th April 1993
Emily had a case of the wanderlust. She pulled out her walking boots and bought Vera's car so she could go off on expeditions. Mavis demanded she name the car because as Rita said. she suffered from "terminal tweeness". Ashley the vicar was cleared of dangerous driving after Doug and Des gave their statements leaving Vera distraught. On top of that, Sally refused to mind Tommy any more unless Vera paid her childminding fees. Steve conned Andy into going on a double date with him and Vicky and her posh pal, but he was flirting with Amy on the checkouts so he didn't do anything more with her. Bettabuy was hit by an armed robbery. Men with shotguns tried to hold up Jim as he picked up the takings. Andy jumped one of them and ended up getting smacked in the face. He ended up with mild concussion and a stitched lip. Reg had been away at a wine bar with Maureen, and he asked Curly not to tell Head Office he was sloping off while the shop was ransacked.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 9th and 12th April 1993
Reg attempted to win Maud over with an enormous Easter egg, but she told him she was a grown woman, not a child, and handed it back. He donated it to the Rovers, where it was raffled off, and the prize went to... Reg. He handed it over to Phyllis who was delighted. He was actually the second winner; the first was Jim, which immediately got cries of "fix!" since Liz was temporary landlady. It added to his general sense of persecution and emasculation, as he worried about his lack of action during the robbery. (There was a lovely moment where Emily told him he was right, as money can be replaced, drawing on memories of Ernie's death). Vera caused even more havoc than usual. She wanted to see Terry on the Bank Holiday, but missed the bus, so she "borrowed" Emily's car with a spare key she still had in the house. Emily naturally assumed it had been stolen and when the police sorted it out they demanded everyone involved should bring their documents to the station, enraging Jack. He was even angrier when he learned Terry was refusing the five grand compensation because the nasty little beggar reckoned he could get more. Vicky came back from Alec's early, and stayed at the pub, forcing Raquel to intervene to stop her sleeping with Steve, and Angie had to work all day, leaving Neil feeling neglected. And Maggie and Ken's holiday in Brittany was rained off, leaving Mike to gloat.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 14th and 16th April 1993
Jim continued to be on a knife edge, losing his temper with Steve, and it finally boiled over when he caught some lads trying to break into a building site. He went completely over the top and put one of them in hospital. Neil The Hot Builder tried to teach Angie a lesson for neglecting him by going out with the lads; she promptly went out and got drunk with Denise, because she's brilliant. Liz enjoyed running the pub - despite both Vicky and Raquel thinking she'd got ideas above her station - but she'd made a good impression on Mr Willmore at the brewery, so she thought about applying for her own pub. I think that would be a very good idea. Ken's gift of an educational maths toy couldn't compete with the Game Boy Mike gave Mark, leaving Maggie worried that Baldwin would take him away from her. Alma reassured her that would never happen. Maggie decided to finish with Ken because his sniping was getting too much for her.
Neil the Hot Builder's possessive behaviour towards Angie is making it difficult for @merseytart to find him attractive but he's battling through it.
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2 comments:
I found this week's episodes a bit dreary, but worthwhile to see Ken being dumped at the end.
Hurrah! I can't stand Ken Barlow.
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