The Battersbys continued to be absolutely vile, with Leanne accusing Roy of perving at her when he refused to give her a job, and the girls playing their music incessantly. The Street's residents gathered to try and come up with a solution but when negotiations failed Curly stormed in and chucked their stereo out the window. Les responded by headbutting Curly, because the Battersbys are determined to be the very worst at all times. He then tried to invoice him for the broken stereo, but Curly threatened him with an assault charge, so they called it quits. Steve's arrest continued to ripple through the Street, with Ashley upset to find out he'd been with Maxine, though she assured him nothing happened and he was the man for her. Meanwhile Fiona continued to believe Alan had arrested him for no reason at all which drove him out the door. She pretended she was glad because she couldn't trust him but then broke down in the arms of... oh no, Jim. Alma was upset to find she was now the face of Firman's Scampi Dippers, a food she'd never touched in her life, but she was more upset when Audrey turned up and complimented the picture - because the soft focus meant you couldn't see her wrinkles. Elsewhere, Judy decided she wouldn't have an operation to reverse her infertility, the Platts split on gender lines over the Websters' break up, and Kevin gave up on getting Sally back and turned up on Natalie's doorstep.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 18th and 20th July 1997
Money was on everyone's mind. Steve got a letter from Vicky's solicitor, offering him fifteen grand to sign the divorce papers, and he unsurprisingly snapped their hand off. Zoe turned up at the arcade, asking Judy for cash because she was now in a hostel, but instead she took her home with her. Judy floated the idea of the Mallets taking her baby and she agreed - for £2000. Toyah couldn't raise the cash to pay back Roy so he agreed to take her on at the cafe while Gail was on holiday. Audrey demanded compensation from Firman's after she tried the Scampi Dippers and got a dodgy tummy; Curly refused to give her any money so she kicked off. It made Alma realise it was more trouble than it was worth and she tore down her posters. And better get some Gaviscon, because your stomach will be churning with nausea; Jim went round to comfort Fiona over her missing fiance and they ended up going to bed together. Unsurprisingly she regretted it about four minutes after it happened. She avoided him like the plague, which angered him, and ended up going to Alan and begging him to come back to her.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 21st and 23rd July 1997
Gary was understandably uncomfortable about this whole "baby trafficking" scheme but he soon realised that Judy was determined and he wouldn't be able to get any peace unless he agreed. The only problem was, they didn't have the money for Zoe, so he went to the bank manager and took out a loan. However, the neighbours were confused by the Malletts suddenly having a pregnant waif and stray staying with them, and Audrey concluded that it was Gary's secret love child. Quite understandably Jim couldn't get his encounter with the young and very beautiful Fiona out of his mind and insisted on telling her. Luckily for her Alan returned home and he went off in a sulk. Meanwhile Fiona overcompensated with Alan, suggesting that they rush to the registry office and have a quickie wedding. Les wanted the house to himself, and was willing to pay to get rid of the girls; this meant Toyah had the money to pay off Roy and so she could start work in the cafe. Les pumped up the Status Quo to maximum and then, when Samantha came round to complain, he made a clumsy attempt at seducing her. Luckily for him Janice came home and interrupted them before Sam kneed him in his vitals. Steve threw his new found cash around, giving Andy some money to go backpacking in Spain, and investing the rest in the business with Bill and Jim so they could get a larger building job. Jim was unimpressed that his son had ambitions bigger than his abilities.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 25th and 27th July 1997
Manchester Airport became a hive of activity as we reached holiday time. Martin and Gail jetted off to Paris, leaving the kids with Audrey. Andy went to Spain for his backpacking trip. And Deirdre's boyfriend Jon flew his jet to Nairobi - oh wait, no he didn't, because it turned out he's not a pilot after all, but instead he worked in the tie shop in the terminal. An oblivious Deirdre confessed to Emily that she was in love. Steve told Fiona that she shouldn't be rushing into marrying Alan and that he loved her. She told him to get lost, but after Alan's parents visited and expressed disappointment at their quickie wedding, she agreed to postpone it a few months. Bill agreed to let Steve buy into the business, but Steve was disappointed by their small fry jobs like fitting a gas fire in Rita's flat, and thought they should aim for bigger jobs. Judy took Zoe to the doctor for a once over but panicked when she was told that pregnant women should get proper medical care. She realised that if Zoe was under a midwife it'd be harder to rob the baby from under her. There was also a lovely little subplot where Alec put out free snacks on the bar but filled them with salt to make people thirstier. His eternal dodginess is a delight.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 28th and 30th July 1997
Ken, in a rare feat of parenting, was taking care of Daniel for a fortnight. Unfortunately he was in the Terrible Twos, and spent most of the time screaming and having tantrums. Eventually he'd had enough and asked Denise to take him back. Ken Barlow, once again proving he is father of the year. Kevin was disgusted to learn that Sally had withdrawn money for clothes for the girls from their joint account. What a selfish woman she is. He closed the joint account and told her she'd have to come begging to him for cash in future, so she got a job machining at Underworld so she could get some money of her own. Janice was suspicious that Sally - former management - was now on the shop floor again, and that she might be a spy, but Sally stood up for herself and announced she was only there to support her family. (Incidentally Mike has a calendar from The Lady on his office wall, which is plain odd). Jim approached Fiona and asked her to give Steve a chance instead of marrying Alan, but she twigged he was really talking about himself. She told him she was ashamed of what they did (as you should be, Fi) and decided she had to get away. She told Alan they needed to move away from Weatherfield because Steve had confessed his love to her and she didn't want to live over the road from him. Alan promptly threatened Steve, which also annoyed Fiona. In other news, Samantha agreed to a date with Des, Fred enjoyed helping out in the corner shop, and Jon asked Deirdre to move in with him.
Does anyone know if Steve McDonald is Gas Safe registered? I don't think he should be installing new fires if he isn't. If you've got his certification send it to me on Twitter @merseytart. Although I'm sure it doesn't matter and won't be important in about a year's time.
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Jim slept with Fiona?
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean that possibly Emma could be Steve's half sister instead of his daughter?
This was in July 1997, and Fiona left the street in September 1998. Either it is a very long pregnancy in the world, or it is simply Jim is not Emma's father.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is not possible because Fiona had a baby with Alan, called Morgan who was born in 2nd February 1998. And before you ask, there were a paternal test, which reveal that Alan is definitely the father :)
Keep watching, but the short answer is "no" because Emma has an older brother called Morgan.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for clarifying! This was a few years before I started watching (2003).
ReplyDelete