Bettabuys continued to be an HR nightmare as the Christmas party swung into action. Elaine got absolutely hammered and crawled all over Curly; he took her up to his hotel room, but she dozed off before they could get down and dirty. She was outraged the next day when Curly suggested they'd been up to no good and slapped him. Meanwhile Maureen and Reg confessed they'd had dalliances while they were broken up, and while she forgave his affair with a woman at head office, Reg was displeased to learn she'd done it with Curly. He pledged to make life difficult for Norman. Deirdre felt like a stranger in her own home as Tracy and Craig got up to no good in the front room and used up all the hot water. She decided to ask him to leave. Denise's stalker continued to make her life a misery. She accused both Tanya and Hanif but they denied it. However, Hanif offered to help her find out who it was via a contact of his. I'm just hoping Neil the Hot Builder comes into the frame and makes a return appearance. And Mavis caused upset by inviting first Percy, then Rita to Christmas dinner; both of them felt patronised and wriggled out of it.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 13th and 15th December 1993
Kevin and Steve went to court for their sentencing; Kev got a fine and Steve got community service and his driving licence suspended. Angry and frustrated, Kevin lost his temper with everyone. Tracy moved out with Craig, bitter and angry, but it brought Ken and Deirdre closer together. Denise told Don that Hanif's mate was going to trace the calls for her; he warned her against it, saying the police might get involved. Alf refused to accept the Pensioner's Christmas Club vouchers issued by Brendan Scott, upsetting Phyllis and Betty, because he's an old tightwad. Percy decided to take up their cause.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 17th and 20th December 1993
Joe swept in to take advantage of the Websters' woes, taking Sally out for lunch and suggesting she left Kevin for him. She told him she loved her husband, but if I'm honest, she didn't seem very certain. Don't do it Sal! The Pensioner's Alliance took their battle to the papers, leaving Alf humiliated - but he still refused to honour the vouchers. Denise got the number of her stalker: it was coming from the Brennans' house. She stormed round and tore a strip off Ivy for making her life hell, only for Don to come downstairs and confess that he was the caller. He said he'd done it so Denise would need and notice him. Ivy sobbed and tried to make him come back to her as her husband and though I don't have much time for the poisonous little troll normally, I have to say: have some self-respect, Ivy. It was a superb scene though, with Lynne Perrie really portraying her desperation and humiliation. Denise meanwhile paid back the money Don had lent her; Ivy went to the salon and told her she didn't need to, but Denise wanted shot of him, and she advised Ivy to do the same thing. Terry was getting released from Strangeways, and the Duckworths were over the moon. He was intercepted by the Hortons on the way out the door though, and they offered him five grand if they got custody of Tommy, plus a stipend until he was 16. He signed a contract agreeing to their terms then went back to Coronation Street as if nothing had happened. What an absolute scumbag.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 22nd and 24th December 1993
Curly decided to honour Brendan Scott's vouchers at Bettabuys, even laying on a bus to get the pensioners there, which got Alf's goat up. He rowed with him in the Street - right in front of a reporter. Tanya told Bet that she'd seen Steve snogging another girl; she took time out from her Christmas party to tell him she knew he was two-timing Vicky. Bet did all this while wearing the campest outfit seen outside of Julian Clary's wardrobe - it was red and glittering and matched with decorations in her hair. Don went to his daughter's for Christmas - supposedly; Ivy discovered he hadn't actually gone there, and told Gail she was worried he was going to kill himself. Ah well, never mind. Terry got a load of compensation for Lisa's death and flashed his cash about. When Des came in, he rubbed it in his face, telling him Lisa didn't die for nothing as he got the money. The Hortons turned up on Christmas Eve to take Tommy, and were shocked to realise Terry hadn't even told Jack and Vera. They went to tell them so they weren't accused of snatching him. Terry told them he didn't really care about Tommy and Vera was too old to look after him. Jack belted him and chucked him out and frankly he deserved a lot worse. Vera was left sobbing, her heart shattered.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 27th and 29th December 1993
Bet and Raquel went into town for the sales, but couldn't get a taxi home. They ended up getting a lift off Charlie, a truck driver with a cowboy hat and pornstache. He subsequently turned up in the Rovers, leaving Raquel all giddy. However it seemed he was more interested in Bet. Vera was heartbroken and distraught and Jack worried that he couldn't get through to her. Des tried to go round and console her but she chucked him out. Don called Bet to check that Ivy was ok; she told him that Denise had told her about his dodgy phone calls and met him in town. (Remember when these two had a thing last week? Yikes). Bet told him to go back to Ivy and forget anything had happened - and to stay away from Denise. Vicky went round to the McDonald's house while Alison was there, and introduced herself as Steve's girlfriend. However, he told Vicky that they should split up, because he was tired of putting his life on hold while she was at school. There wasn't much point though because Alison also finished with him for being so immature.
In sadder news, this was the last we'll see of Deirdre and Phyllis for a long time, as they were both extremely ill and had to take time off. @merseytart will miss them both, but on the plus side, at the rate ITV3 is whizzing through the episodes, they'll probably be back by March.
Classic Corrie is on ITV3 weekdays at 14:50 with a repeat the next morning.
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1 comment:
The good old days when, if Christmas Day wasn't on a usual Corrie day, there was no episode!
Brilliant picture of Ivy!
Spoilers were also not yet a thing back in the early 90s and I remember being quite shocked by the selling Tommy story. Brilliantly acted by all.
Great review as always, thanks.
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