The man who gave Derek a lift back from Sandbach services turned up on the Wiltons' doorstep with a suitcase. It was Norris Cole, in his first appearance, inspired by Derek's motivational chat to leave his wife and dumping himself at number 4. Mavis wasn't thrilled, but she let him stay because Derek thought he could be good for his career, and perhaps because Norris reminded her of her former fiancé Carlos. Trica couldn't get a babysitter for her date with Curly so he paid Jack to look after Jamie. Unfortunately Tricia's husband Carl turned up, thought Jack was Tricia's new boyfriend, and belted him. Rita offered Sally a job on Sunday mornings, doing the papers so she could have a lie in, then went even further with the generosity and gave the Websters five grand from the sale of Ted's house. They were understandably surprised.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 16th and 18th March 1994
Curly finally caved and took on Vera at Bettabuy. It was lucky, actually, because she was able to fill in for Ivy, who'd rushed to Sarah-Lou's side when she was taken to hospital. Her appendix had burst and Ivy insisted on being there with her. Unfortunately her vigil meant that there wasn't room for Audrey at the bedside which she wasn't thrilled about. Martin lost his rag with the ward sister as he accused her of caring more about her paperwork than Sarah-Lou's care. He apologised as his stepdaughter recovered, but she told him he'd crossed a line. Norris took Derek (or Dirk, as he forever called him) to a sales conference which turned out to be a pyramid selling scheme called Envirosphere. It seemed to be some kind of weird water and air purification scheme. Derek was taken by it and spent £2000 on its products in the hope of making his millions.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 21st and 23rd March 1994
Alex continued to muck Tanya about, refusing to stay the night, leaving her feeling adrift and unwanted. When Raquel went to Birmingham for a modelling job, Tanya invited Des round, and well, obviously they ended up snogging. Derek and Norris went on a sales blitz in the neighbourhood leaving Mavis mortified, though Derek was more annoyed when Norris did far better at selling than him. Ken complained to Reg about a dripping tap, so he tried to sell the flat to his tenant to get rid of the responsibility, but Ken refused. Reg tried to fix the tap and ended up fiddling with the wrong one. He also annoyed Maureen, as she went round to see an uncommunicative Maud and discovered there'd been a break-in. Understandably, Maureen was very upset, and asked Reg if they could move back in with her; he refused because he's a horrible person. Bernard told Emily he couldn't see her any more because he was far too fond of her and was losing control. She was upset, but let's face it, she's better off without him. It did see the very first meeting of Norris and Emily though as he interrupted Bernard's wet protestations to try and sell her some Envirosphere garbage.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 25th and 28th March 1994
A momentous episode here as, twenty-four years after her first appearance, Ivy made her last showing in Coronation Street. Poor Lynne Perrie had been an alcoholic for a number of years, and consequently erratic in her performances, and her new lips proved to be the last straw for the producers. She was let go from the show, though in her scandalous, bridge-burning autobiography, Lynne claimed it was a mutual decision. She didn't even get a proper send off; in this episode she's helping take care of a recovering Sarah-Louise, and then she never appeared again, with Don later reporting that she'd gone to a religious retreat. It's a bit of a shame because while Ivy was a sour-faced old cow, she was a fantastic character, and she deserved better. Also deserving better was Raquel, as Des snuck out of Tanya's bed and welcomed her back from Birmingham. Tanya was irritated at being used by him and suggested to Alec that he send Des to work elsewhere. Maureen moved out of the flat and back in with Maud as she couldn't bear the thought of leaving her alone. Reg was angry at first, taking his fury out on Percy Sugden's biscuits, before caving and agreeing to move back in with Maud.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 30th March and 2nd April 1994
Curly's romance with Tricia hit the buffers when her husband Carl turned up at Bettabuy wanting to beat him up. Andy lied and said he was in London but Curly panicked and fled his date with Tricia rather than risk getting his face smashed in. The older residents of the Street were experiencing a late flowering of passion. Bernard proposed to Emily, and she accepted, telling Percy he'd have to move out. He went to see Maud and, in the process of dropping some polite compliments, she got the idea that he'd proposed. Reg was thrilled to offload his mother-in-law and urged her to accept, leaving Percy to discover second-hand from Emily that he now had a fiancé. He tried to explain to Maud that it was a mistake but she talked over him and Percy found himself about to gain a second wife. Thank goodness Phyllis isn't around to see all this - she'd scratch Maud's eyes out.
There was also a very depressing subplot about a girl in Sarah-Lou's ward dying and the mum getting all upset with Gail but to be honest it was so miserable I'd rather not think about it. If you've any complaints send them to me on Twitter @merseytart.
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