There were wedding bells all over the place, though none of them were very romantic. Jim told Fiona she shouldn't marry Alan and should marry him instead. Get over yourself man. Fiona rightfully told him to get lost. At the Elliott household, there was a nice Sunday lunch for the men and their girlfriends. After the meal Fred proposed to Maureen, but she said she didn't want to marry anyone again, then Ashley went down on one knee during the washing up to propose to Maxine. She said she was too young to get tied down. Ken was upset that Daniel didn't seem to recognise him as his real dad, thinking that Brian, Denise's boyfriend was instead. Don't worry Ken, soon Daniel won't recognise either of you in a line up - this was the last appearance of the character for ten years. He returned him to Scotland but felt there wasn't anything else going on in his life. Sally got a solicitor onto Kevin, saying that if he couldn't agree to maintenance the courts would. He decided to fiddle the garage's accounts so that he could hide how much he earned but, in a rare attack of decency, Natalie refused to help him. Kevin finally agreed to give Sally a reasonable amount of money if she told him what she needed.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 4th and 6th August 1997
Toyah was enjoying herself at home with a couple of boys, drinking booze and playing her music loud. Janice kicked them out but they came back later in search of more beer. They forced themselves on Leanne. Samantha heard the commotion and rescued her, smacking the boys about and chasing them off. She confessed to Des that she'd been raped by her tennis coach as a teenager and the incident had brought it all back. Sally gave Kevin her list of financial needs but he thought it was too much and told her she'd have to get a solicitor to sort it out. He caved in though when he saw how upset she was and how much she needed the money. It looked like they had reached a detente but then Sally dumped the girls on Kevin at the garage. He couldn't take time off work, so Natalie took them, which drove Sally into a fury. Jim and Bill were busy working on a renovation site but Steve attracted the attention of the management company's representative, Rachel. He paraded her in front of Fiona to try and make her jealous.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 8th and 10th August 1997
After talking to Des, Samantha decided to confront her past and went to see her parents in Hale. She also called in on her rapist on the way to get it out of her system - but he'd died the year before. She told Des she wasn't sure if she'd return to Weatherfield. As part of his scheme to make Coronation Street the worst road in town Les bought a battered old car which he worked on in the Street. Mavis was repulsed, while Alec refused to serve him because he was shirtless. However Kevin took one look at it and told Les it would cost a bomb to do it up. He realised he'd bought a lemon. Zoe went to her midwife and they told her it would take a few months to bond with the baby; she replied that it didn't matter since she wouldn't be looking after it. Judy fretted about her blabbing, so Gary suggested that she stay with them for a while after the baby was born to put the authorities off the scent. However Judy worried that if she stuck around she'd become attached to the child.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 11th and 13th August 1997
Leanne was working at the factory as a cleaner, though she was useless at it, mainly because she was dancing around the place singing to the Spice Girls. This was of course incredible. However she then smoked a fag in the bogs and set off the fire alarm so Mike sacked her. Zoe overheard the Malletts discussing how to get rid of her once the baby arrived and she went off in a huff, deciding she wasn't wanted. Gary decided it was good riddance to bad rubbish and they could adopt a baby the proper way but Judy was distraught. Zoe returned eventually - because she had literally nowhere else to go - but she demanded half her money up front. Gary realised that if they gave her a thousand pounds she'd most likely vanish without trace so instead he offered to give her treats and luxuries until she gave birth. And there was a really horrible storyline where the two scrotes who assaulted Leanne returned and robbed the corner shop. They locked the door and tipped Maud out of her wheelchair while they ran amok and it was unbelievably nasty.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 15th and 17th August 1997
The nastiness continued throughout these two episodes as the Battersbys continued to poison the well. Maud was rescued from her ordeal, but Maureen was shaken by how vulnerable she'd looked. On the plus side, Maud acquired a very natty hat to cover her wound. They offered a reward for information leading to the criminals being caught, and Toyah realised it was probably the two boys she was entertaining. Leanne told her that if she grassed them up there'd be trouble. Meanwhile Les took Angie to one side and threatened her for sacking Leanne; she barrelled back to the factory and threatened Janice with the sack as well if she didn't control her wayward husband, because she's ace. Fortunately, Les's old banger got robbed, so there's karma. Martin agreed to have dinner with Natalie and Kevin, much to Gail's horror. She disapproved of Natalie and told her so. After they left Kevin said he'd thought it'd gone well, and Natalie called him stupid and said they'd clearly hated it. Dump her Kev. Unfortunately, Sally nipped over the road to see Gail at the same time, and Audrey told her where she was. (Audrey also sat down with Ken and jabbered on about how well Deirdre was doing now she was on her own, the glorious old gossip). Sally was understandably upset and next day she told Gail she didn't need friends like her. Vera and Jack were planning their ruby wedding anniversary, but to save a few quid, Jack insisted they hold it at the Rovers instead of a posh hotel. Alec demanded they pay the usual hiring fee, so the Duckworths couldn't afford to buy one another presents, which Jack was especially glad about when Angie hinted he should buy Vera some of her dirty underwear. They got their own back by insisting Alec organised the whole do and also that he stayed behind the bar and served during the party. Samantha returned from her parents', feeling a lot better, and Jim insisted on getting an invite to Fiona's wedding, because he really can't let things go.
The best Spice Girl was Posh. Fight me on Twitter @merseytart.
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1 comment:
I miss that Leanne and Toyah, they're so serious now.
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