Deirdre and Jon turned up at the posh house, ready to start their life together. However, his key didn't work in the lock, and he found a note on the door telling him that his ex-wife had repossessed the house. She reassured him they'd sort things, not knowing that it was all a lie to get round the fact that Jon was merely housesitting. However, since Deirdre had moved back into the bookie's flat, it meant Chris and Angie had nowhere to go. She returned to Des's house, but Chris, who'd never been keen on living with Des in the first place, camped out at the garage while Natalie took Kevin on holiday. Also making plans to move was Mavis, who told Rita she'd decided to sell up and set up a B&B in the Lake District. The two women sobbed their little hearts out in the Kabin and it was horribly affecting - I wonder how many of those tears were real? Rita was sad to see her friend go and came up with a suggestion: she'd go to the Lake District too and they'd run the place together. Judy and Zoe were spending all their time arguing, including in front of the midwife, and so the Mallets decided to give her the £2000 and send her on her way. She agreed to leave but asked if she could perhaps come back to visit Katie; Gary agreed, but Judy wasn't keen. In the meantime Judy told Audrey that Gary was the baby's real father, confident that the news would soon spread round the Street.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 8th and 10th September 1997
Rita and Mavis excitedly made plans for their new life in the Lake District. They told their friends about their plans, leaving Sally heartbroken that everyone seemed to be leaving her, while the Kabin went on the market. Rita went to view a house with Alec and he tried to persuade her to change her mind. Mavis went on a catering course as preparation, but Vera turned up on the same course, much to her horror. She let slip to Mavis that she was learning to cook so that she could replace Betty at the Rovers. Sally was horrified to see Chris sleeping rough in the garage and offered him her sofa. Later, when she worried about her life, he comforted her and reassured her she was still attractive. Oh aye. Leanne tried to persuade Zoe to abscond with the money and the baby but she worried the Mallets would pursue her. She said a tearful farewell to Katie and left an ecstatic Judy and Gary behind. Deirdre gave Ken a quick job, picking up a customer from the airport; when he got to the terminal he spotted Jon in the tie shop. He claimed he was killing time because his flight had been cancelled, then rushed off to phone Deirdre to cover himself.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 12th and 14th September 1997
Can you believe Jim is still pursuing Fiona? It was one night man, get over yourself. He turned up at the flat and harassed her again and she told her for the thousandth time she wasn't interested. Besides, Fiona had something else on her mind: she was pregnant. Samantha went out for a meal with Des and told him she wanted to make a go of their relationship. They went back to number 7, but there was someone waiting for Sam - her ex-husband, Ritchie, played by the great Shaun Dooley. He'd spoken to her mum and discovered that she'd been raped as a teenager, which explained why she'd run off so quickly after their marriage; he wanted to make another go of it. He stayed on the sofa while she got her head together. Meanwhile Des drowned his sorrows with Angie and Curly. Mavis and Rita put in a bid on a house in Carmel. It looked like the move was all systems go so they went to the Rovers to celebrate with champagne.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 15th and 17th September 1997
Ritchie took Des to one side and told him to give it up - Sam was his now. Unfortunately he hadn't agreed this with Samantha, and when he passed out drunk in number 7, she went over to Des and told him he was the one she wanted. They spent the night together which enraged Ritchie and he tried to thump Des. She asked for a divorce and he refused. The Battersby's turned up at Mavis's wanting a viewing, but all they wanted to do was nose round her house and fiddle with her stuff. She became upset but Fred arrived for a viewing and helped see them off. He was taken with the house and made an offer. The news of Fiona's pregnancy rippled through the Street, with Jim doing the maths and wondering if his vasectomy had failed and Steve getting jealous. His girlfriend Rachel clocked his mind was elsewhere and dumped him. Alan meanwhile was confused because he thought Fiona was on the pill. She said that it's not 100% guaranteed but Alan suspected she might have slept with Steve while they'd split up and decided to get his detective mate to harass him again.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 19th and 21st September 1997
Des and Samantha went on holiday and, while they were away, Chris moved back in with Angie. Sally found herself sad to see him go. She persuaded him to let her go with him to feed Natalie's cat. She wrote "WHORE" on Natalie's bathroom mirror and left the taps running, flooding the house. Natalie and Kevin returned to the mess, and though Chris pretended it was a broken pipe, the message on the mirror kind of gave it away. (Incidentally I only know that because Corriepedia told me; ITV3 cut out the dirty word to avoid offending our delicate sensibilities). Steve was arrested for dealing drugs and put in a cell. Alan goaded him but Steve said he wasn't after Fiona now she was having his baby - she was clearly Alan's. Jim went round to Fiona's, angry that Steve was getting caught up in her mess, and she asked him to have a test to make sure his vasectomy had worked. He realised she didn't want the baby if it was his. Too right. Back on the Street, Steve joked that Alan didn't believe the baby was his, and got a punch for his trouble. Fiona told Alan she was sick of his paranoia. And Mavis moved out of number 4 and in with Rita, bidding her home with Derek a fond farewell.
It's all go in Classic Corrie next week, and you'll be on the edge of your seat. Let me know what you think on Twitter @merseytart.
Classic Corrie is on ITV3 weekday afternoons and is also on the ITV Hub.
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1 comment:
Mavis and Derek have always been underrated as a Corrie couple, compared to the likes of Jack and Vera, Hilda and Stan, Bet and Alec etc, possibly because theirs was not a "high drama" relationship. Instead, they portrayed a perfectly matched, slightly odd couple who were fortunate to have found each other. It's a shame that when they were given storylines these were mostly nonsense; missing gnomes and treadmill accidents included.
Thank God Fiona and Alan are taking a pre-wedding honeymoon, that will give us a week's episodes without a Fiona/Jim scene.
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