The McDonald family traumas were naturally the talk of the Street. Jim appeared in court and pleaded guilty; he was released on bail on condition that he didn't contact Liz. He didn't actually talk to her but he did loiter in the vicinity drinking vodka, which naturally made her nervous. She told the twins she wasn't going to have him back. Meanwhile Jim carried on drinking in the Rovers like nothing had happened and apparently only Deirdre had a problem with this. Weatherfield's Masons, the Square Dealers, held a ladies night, and Rita attended as a guest of Fred Elliott. The next day he sent Ashley round with some liver as a thank you, and she was forced to ask him to stop sending her raw meat, which sounds like a really unpleasant euphemism; she agreed to go out with him now and then but it wasn't romantic. In the Kabin, Ashley ran into Ken's childminder Kelly, and it turned out they'd been at school together; they had some tea and a chat. A shelf collapsed in the shop, and Maureen called in Bill to fix it. Afterwards she cried on his shoulder in the Rovers about how lonely she was and how much hassle it was having a long-distance marriage. When her car broke down on the way to Lowestoft, Maureen decided that was it, and she wasn't going to visit Reg again. Quite right too.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 25th and 27th March 1996
Mike made an important business decision: he was going to offload the garage to help fund his new sportswear empire. He offered Kevin first refusal and Sally pushed him to go for it. They excitedly started looking into getting a bank loan. However, Josie also heard about the sale, and encouraged Don to think about buying the garage as an investment. That'll end well. Jim continued hanging round the Street, though at least Jack and Gary gave him the silent treatment in the pub, and it spooked Liz. She fled into the Rovers for sanctuary and Jim followed her in there. While Jack barred the way she called the police and reported him for violating his bail conditions. They took him away. Ahead of the court hearing, Andy and Steve went to Liz and asked her to withdraw the complaint, suggesting she give him another chance and not ruin Jim's life, because they're horrible apparently. She refused and Jim ended up in prison.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 29th March and 1st April 1996
DAME IDA CLOUGH IS BACK! She went for a job with Mike Baldwin and he kept her waiting because he doesn't appreciate her brilliance. He finally took her on so long as she promised not to be bolshie. Good luck with that. Meanwhile he pressured Sally into getting Kevin to either buy the garage or pass on it; he didn't realise that Josie and Don were thinking about remortgaging their houses to raise the cash for it. Reg went missing in Lowestoft, faxing his resignation to Eric Firman and sending Maureen a letter that upset her. She refused to tell Maud what was in it and fled to East Anglia. At Maud's urging, Curly went after them to find out what was going on, and he was told by Eric that Reg had run off with another woman. Derek and Mavis went for an allotment and were told that the man in charge was called Mr Hedges. They convinced themselves that it was another of Des's pranks when in fact he'd put in a good word for them, and laughed at his name to his face. They were horrified to discover that he was the real deal and they'd made idiots of themselves.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 3rd and 5th April 1996
Don put in his bid for the garage but Mike refused it, pushing him to pay the asking price. However, he did tell Kevin that there was a rival bid, which knocked the wind out of his sails. Kevin decided he didn't want to be a tycoon after all. The Websters invited Rita round and she offered them the money for the garage; they told her they didn't want it, and she was pleased they were friends again. With no other bids Mike sold the garage to Don. Des pulled a few strings and got the Wiltons another meeting with Mr Hedges, though he made sure to mention gnomes to Derek to make him squirm. They were delighted to get an allotment. Curly drove Maureen all the way back from Lowestoft without telling her about Reg's antics. However, he forgot to warn Raquel, and she dropped the bad news on her. Maureen was understandably traumatised though Maud was sympathetic. You've had a lucky escape, girl.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 8th and 10th April 1996
The lads of the Rovers - plus Roy - went to the Races for the day. There was a horse called Betty's Hot Shot on the slate, so obviously they all put on a bet; when it came in and gave them all a profit they got giddy with excitement and decided to buy the horse. They hadn't realised (a) how much a racehorse costs to run and (b) how their wives and family members would react when they got back. Bill and Martin immediately regretted it and sold their shares to Fred. He realised he was now liable for three times as much of the maintenance costs as everyone else. Andy tried to cop off with Anne, but their evening broke down when she revealed she was on Liz's side against Jim; they argued and she left in a huff. Elsewhere, Maureen told Vera that Reg had dumped her, Sally showed her early status-climbing self by bemoaning Kev's lack of ambition, and Steve and Vicky got an unexpected visitor: Alec Gilroy...
@merseytart is hoping that we're not about to get a repeat of the Tiny storyline and Betty's Hot Shot is going to spend the next two weeks peeing all over the legs of the residents.
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2 comments:
I am very disappointed in Liz’s family and Bill Webster, why can’t they see that Jim is just a nasty drunken bully who will never change.
So much humour in this weeks episodes. I especially liked Raquel doing Maureens's hair, as a treat, and they both ended up with the same hairstyle. It was so subtly handled, no comments being made. That is one of the things I love about Classic Corrie.
Why are there so few Percy Sugdens around in the current stories - there are enough of them around in real life!?
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