It took Jim exactly a week to go from supportive husband to absolute pig, as he accused Liz of sleeping her way to landlady of the Queens. She understandably was furious and in retaliation he went on strike and refused to do any work in the pub. When Tanya admitted she'd made up her allegations about Liz and Willmore, Jim finally said sorry, and admitted he felt emasculated because her name was above the door. Get over yourself man. Liz rightly told him he needed to accept she was a good landlady, and she was getting a career, and reminded him that she'd followed him round as an Army wife. There was a rare rocking montage, as Let's Stick Together blared while, erm, Emily and Percy drove round Manchester. Not exactly The Fast and The Furious is it? They parked up to do some shopping and ended up with a clamped wheel and a forty pound fine. Denise complained to Hanif about the money she owed Neil, and he misinterpreted her, thinking she was after him paying it for her. She stormed out and was picked up by Don, who gave her the money himself. She returned his cheque when she realised he hadn't told Ivy about it. Jonathan was a nightmare child to Sally and she considered getting rid of him, but Joe managed to persuade her to keep him another week.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 9th and 11th June 1993
Mike left his Jaguar and documents with Kevin for a service. Dodgy Doug - now buried under a beard that made him look even more like a tramp than usual - took it to a Mercedes dealer, pretended to be Baldwin, and said he was thinking of trading it in. Jim was still convinced Liz was having it away with Willmore, and when he caught him coming downstairs from the pub flat, he thumped him. Jim was convinced this would mean Liz got sacked and they could go back to normal, but she picked the Queens over him. Sally took on Jonathan full time then embarrassed herself by asking Joe for payment in cash - only for him to reveal he was a tax inspector. Emily paid the fine on her clamping but the injustice got her riled up and she started telling people not to park there. Don explained his non-marriage with Ivy to Denise, and persuaded her to take his money, saying he didn't want anything more from her. She foolishly believed him. And Angie and Alma had a heart to heart over a curry, where Ange admitted she was depressed and felt a failure, but it was an absolute joy to watch.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 14th and 16th June 1993
Andy came back from Sheffield to his parents' broken marriage. When he asked for an explanation, Jim told him his mother was a trollop who was sleeping with her boss. The twins were disgusted he could think such a thing - because nineties Liz McDonald is a virtuous innocent, not a man-eater - and moved out of Coronation Street and into the Queens. Brendan discovered Reg was thinking of buying the Corner Shop. He dallied over giving him his redundancy, so Reg demanded a £5000 reduction in the sale price from Alf. Understandably Alf kicked him out on his ear. Emily continued with her crusade against the clampers, camping out on the forecourt and seeing off drivers, enraging the owner and leaving him to threaten her with the police. Doug fiddled with the Jaguar so Mike couldn't use it, forcing him to go to London on the train and leave the car in the garage.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 18th and 21st June 1993
The glorious Milton Johns as Brendan Scott slid into the Corner Shop and gazumped Reg, offering the asking price. Alf snatched his hand off and left Holdsworth floundering. Curly also realised that if Reg wasn't going anywhere, he wouldn't be manager. Emily wrote to the Gazette about the clampers, worrying Percy, who was concerned her obsession would cause another breakdown. He put £60 in an envelope and told her it was a refund from the clampers. Unfortunately, the Gazette then got in touch about an interview, and Emily gleefully told them she'd won the battle. Doug traded in the Jag for a Mercedes and drove off into the sunset listening to Chris Rea. Mike wandered around broken hearted about his missing car and missing mobile, driving a hired Nissan Micra, and making Alma giggle behind her hand. The garage phoned him to let him know he'd left some gloves in the Jaguar, and when he persuaded them he was the real Mike Baldwin, he went to the police. In a loss to the nation's education system, Tracy Barlow decided not to study for her A-levels. She also told Deirdre she never really liked Doug Murray. You and me both. love, but at least he's gone now.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally 23rd and 25th June 1993
There was a rare glimpse of Emily's front parlour - that's not a euphemism - as she gave an interview to the Gazette over her clamping saga. When the details appeared in the paper, the clamping manager accused her of lying about the refund, and Percy was forced to admit the money came from him. Emily felt humiliated and demanded he pack his bags. Reg received a promotion to Area Manager, but he refused to recommend Curly as his permanent replacement, so he was made temporary manager alongside an Elaine Fenwick. She turned out to be extremely ambitious. The police delivered Mike's Jaguar to the garage. Sergeant Bannen was surprised to meet Kevin, as he was the one who'd dealt with the car when it was crashed by Steve the previous year. Because Steve didn't have a licence, he'd given Kev's name, and Baldwin pressured him into handing in his papers. Now Bannen had met the real Kevin, he was understandably suspicious, and he then discovered Steve was the real culprit. The police told Mike he may be charged with insurance fraud. There's something quite delightful about a tiny plotline coming back to haunt the characters six months later; current writers, take note. On top of that, Doug sent a smug postcard from Germany, so it really wasn't Mike's day. (I must also note that Mike wore his mobile in a kind of holster under his jacket, which I think was meant to give him a gunslinger vibe, but actually made it look like he was wearing a bra).
No, none of those paragraphs in Emily's story actually relate to Emily Bishop. The set dressers of 1993 didn't reckon with @merseytart squinting over YouTube.
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4 comments:
Wonderful review!!
Emily was a badass in her day wasn't she? This was before her tree climbing shenanigans.
Some great Corrie moments in this week's episodes, none of which included Jim McDonald. Milton Johns was excellent but I remember that he wasn't around for very long.
Wonderful review of some great classic episodes. I love the Liz and Jim wars, what a complete chauvinist swine he was! I am retreating more into classic Corrie, and skimming by the current episodes which are a mere shadow of these from 1993. Brilliant nostalgia.
Jim was an absolute chauvinist prat, but I do have some sympathy for him. The twins, or specifically Andy, may have been appalled that he'd think Liz would have an affair but we viewers knew that she had form in that respect. I never truly bought Liz's 'I gave everything up for you' argument either, given that she not only forced him to leave the army, but also refused him the opportunity to work in town as a recruiting sergeant. Robbed of his entire identity, it was only a matter of time before Jim lashed out to assert the stunted, twisted idea of manhood he possessed.
I loved that Let's Stick Together moment between Percy and Emily, so wonderfully random!
And Mike's mobile brick holster was hilarious!
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