I completely forgot to write the recap last Sunday, so here's a rundown on the last couple of weeks in mid-90s Weatherfield.
Nicky was still missing and, somewhat bafflingly, the Platts were still looking for him. They discovered he'd got some money out of his bank account so Gail suggested topping it up to keep him going. Martin wasn't convinced. They started putting missing posters up all over town. Gail also lost her temper with Audrey, blaming her for letting him get away. Tricia made up with Jack and Vera, but they were dismayed to find she had a romantic ideal of what Terry was like. They told her all about him selling Tommy to put her off. Mike got a new contract at the factory and put Sally in charge of its implementation, even though she'd only been there five minutes, which got up Ida Clough's nose. (We also got a brief return from his son Mark). The renaming of Coronation Street came back on the agenda, as a councillor mate suggested to Alf that he change which road he wanted named after him - as all the terraces were due to be knocked down to make way for a new ring road. He told Ken he'd changed his mind about Alfred Roberts Place but kept schtum about why.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 9th and 12th August 1996
Derek was in a mood because Mavis didn't make a big fuss of his 60th birthday. He decided to do something to find meaning in his life, and when he heard there was a slot vacant in the Square Dealers (yes, they're back, bad luck), he asked Norris to get him in. Unfortunately Jack also heard of the vacancy and started buttering up Fred. Ida told Mike she should've been put in charge of the factory, but he reminded her she had twenty years of skiving and dodginess on her CV, while Sally could be trusted. She enjoyed being in charge, though it was exhausting, and Kevin of course didn't like her having any ambition. You just wait, Kev. Nicky was still missing; he took some money out of his account in Leeds, so Martin went hunting for him there. No luck. Josie returned to offer her sympathies to Gail, and called on Don on the way out; he was drunk and miserable and ranted at her about the garage. And in "tedious subplot" news, Des went on holiday with his boring girlfriend, Liz handed over the house to Jim, and Gary let Samantha have a go on his motorbike.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 14th and 16th August 1996
We got an unexpected dose of backstory for Roy as he told Gail about his dad who'd walked out on the family. No mention of Sylvia being a nightmare though, and he still can't do the Roy voice properly. Judy heard about Gary giving Sam a ride and so he pretended she wanted to buy the bike to get out of trouble. Judy didn't believe him, and told her to stay away from her husband; Samantha then took advantage of the situation and actually handed over the cash for it, meaning he had to sell up. The police told Gail they had CCTV of Nicky taking money out of his account, but when she looked at the video, it was someone else. Claire's daughter Becky, aka Chesney's sister, sulked about her getting affectionate with Des, and accused her of forgetting her dead Dad. He assured Becky he wasn't trying to take her dad's place rather than pushing her in the canal as would've been correct. Josie returned to talk to Don about the garage while he was sober, and was shocked to learn she'd lost everything. She went to the Websters and told them that the bank would accept a knock down price for the garage, and she'd really rather they bought it so she could get a little bit of money back. They were thrilled at the idea. (That was the last appearance of far-too-good-for-Don Josie, by the way; the next we'd hear she'd married a doctor. Good on you girl).
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 19th and 21st August 1996
A corpse turned up in Stoke and the police asked for Nicky's dental records. Gail insisted on travelling there to see the body herself. They wouldn't let her see the corpse though and she convinced herself it was him. She returned to number 8, shell-shocked, just as Nicky walked through the door. Andy was less than keen to see what a fascist Anne was at Firman's, as she stamped her foot and sacked a bolshie assistant. She put in an offer on a house for them to live in together without consulting him and he told her to stick her job and her home. Alec invited Joyce away to the Lake District for a holiday, though he insisted they were just friends. Kevin told Tony about the garage sale and they decided to buy it as a partnership. He didn't consult with Sally though and the first she heard of it was when they broke out the champagne. On the one hand, yay, good for the Websters. On the other, this means that brazen harpy Natalie Horrocks will soon appear on the horizon...
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 23rd and 26th August 1996
Nicky's return made Gail throw up in the garden, though apparently this was a good thing. He said he wanted a break so he went to London and slept on the streets. Martin lost his temper with him for being such a selfish little brat but Alf intervened and calmed him down. Don was happy to hear Nicky was home, but his happiness lasted about fourteen seconds when he heard that Kevin and Tony had bought the garage. He went round to number 13 and screamed at them, accusing them of stealing the business out from under him because, as I may have mentioned, he's horrible. Alec and Joyce went away to the Lake District together. She thought that it was a dirty weekend, but he confessed he was only after her company, not her body. Des went round to see the parents of Claire's dead husband, where he assured them he wasn't trying to replace their son. Claire was embarrassed to find him there and started rowing with her mother-in-law; however, it seemed to shake her out of his shadow, and she turned up with Becky on Des's doorstep asking to move in. And Anne and Andy made it up and decided to move in together, leaving Jim alone in the house.
MONDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 28th and 30th August 1996
Alec was horrified to learn that Joyce had pounded the facilities in the hotel, making international calls and raiding the minibar, because she thought that Sunliners were paying for the trip and not him. He refused to let her pay anything towards it but she cooked him a meal as payback. Still, Vera saw them returning, and immediately started spreading gossip that they were at it. Claire was anxious about Des not being too cheery, but he was just overwhelmed by suddenly having a family clattering around the house. He enlisted Becky in his ongoing campaign to wind up the Wiltons. Stephen returned to the Street - yawn - and he offered Mike and his new number two Sally Webster another contract. He also offered a free trip to Canada for the Platts to give them a break. Gail and Martin weren't keen though as they didn't want Nicky to think he was being rewarded for his bad behaviour.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 2nd and 4th September 1996
Nicky went round the Street boasting about his top times in London. When Tricia heard how impressed Jamie was by it, she told Nicky to stop filling his head with nonsense, scared that he might run away too. Gail and Martin were upset because he'd not told them anything about his adventures. He finally agreed to talk to them and admitted he'd not been in London at all: he'd actually had two weeks in Torquay. It's quite sweetly innocent really, and underlines the difference between 1996 Corrie and the present day. In 2020 he'd have been a drug addicted rent boy within 48 hours. Becky and Claire made themselves at home, chucking out some of Des's rubbish and putting a poster of Alien up in the kitchen like it was some kind of student digs. One thing they did get rid of was a cannabis plant Des had been growing upstairs. They palmed it off on an oblivious Mavis, convincing her it was a herb. Sally started throwing her weight around at the factory, unleashing a delightful line of sarcasm on Tricia after she arrived late, but she soon found she'd gained the respect of the workers.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 6th and 9th September 1996
A historic episode of Classic Corrie, this one, as Warren Jackson made his final appearance as Nicky Tilsley. He went off to Canada with the rest of the Platts and when he returned a year later he looked like Adam Rickitt. While it was a shame the way the show handled it - Warren thought he was just leaving for a while to do his GCSEs, and only found out he'd been replaced when the tabloids turned up on his doorstep - it was long overdue. Despite having been in the show for fifteen years Warren never actually learned how to act; he was about ten years old before he realised he shouldn't look down the camera. Still, he was a major part of the show from birth, so his last episode is significant. Stephen stuck around in England, taking Deirdre out for a meal and inflaming Alma's jealousy (yes, she's still got a thing about him). Deirdre decided she was too old for Stephen though, and stuck to working in the travel agent's, having to hold the fort while Alec auditioned nightclub acts in the back. He'd been asked to provide a turn for drag act Shirelle's club, but when he couldn't find anyone decent, he settled for Maxine as a singer. And that really is settling. Derek and Mavis got a letter from the local historical society asking if they could send tours round their way, which thrilled them both for different reasons: Mavis because she loved the idea of her home being special, and Derek because he thought it might give him an in with the Square Dealers. Sally was having trouble as a boss, being disrespected by Trisha and having problems asserting her authority while simultaneously being everybody's friend. This was a trait she soon learned to get past. Meanwhile Judy worried that Gary would leave her if she didn't have a baby, and finally agreed to start a family with him. There was one condition: he had to redecorate the house first.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 11th and 13th September 1996
After months on her own, Maureen went on her first date, a lonely heart from the paper. Unfortunately it went terribly. Maud was pleased though, as she'd taken a fancy to Bill Webster, and thought he was ideal for Maureen. She persuaded him to come to the pictures with the two of them. Bill offered to act as a chaperone on Maureen's next blind date, loitering in the background in case the man got fresh. Tricia had her first scan and Vera went along to lend her support, meaning she didn't have to listen to an awful woman in the waiting room who banged on about how having a few fags while you're pregnant does the kiddie no harm. Jack stayed behind the bar whispering secret Square Dealer pledges he'd learned off Alec to Curly. At Shirelle's club, Alec's turns were going down badly. His unicyclist fell off his bike and we got a return appearance from dreadful-slash-amazing psychic mother and daughter act Sun and Shadow. Maxine finally got her go and you've heard Tracy Shaw singing so we'll draw a veil over that. Shirelle did the rounds of the audience and picked on a drunk Fiona, getting her to sing along to Super Trouper and ending up being far more impressive than her mate (though let's be honest, neither of them were exactly Adele). Alec immediately claimed her as one of his acts.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 16th and 18th September 1996
The McDonald divorce was getting ugly. Liz's solicitor made a claim for part of Jim's inheritance in the proceedings and they ended up screaming in the Street. He finally told Bill that to stop her from getting her hands on his wages he'd no longer be working with him. The arguments gave Trisha trauma flashbacks to her marriage to Carl, and she admitted that he was in Strangeways and would soon be paroled. Jamie overheard (he seems to do an awful lot of listening at doors) and he wrote to his dad in prison. Maureen went on her date with Simon the dentist, with Bill watching over them, and she had a marvellous time. Which was bad news for Bill, who'd developed a crush on her. Fiona was uninterested in being a singer, despite Alec's badgering, until Derek cheerfully talked about how she should give up on ambition and stick to being a nobody. She agreed to do Alec's booking and to take vocal coaching from Rita. At Wethy High, Ken was asked to direct the school play, which brought him closer to headmistress Sue Jeffers. She revealed that her husband had left her for another woman. Oh dear, a lonely and vulnerable middle-aged woman; Ken will be all over her in a matter of days.
That was a beast, wasn't it? And they weren't even very exciting episodes. @merseytart is off for a lie down with a cold flannel on his forehead to recover.
Classic Coronation Street is on ITV3 weekdays from 14:50 and is also on the ITV Hub.
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