Deirdre decided to flee the country and headed to Manchester Airport. Ken saw her leave, however, and followed her, managing to persuade her that running away wasn't the answer. He took her back to number 1 and called Alma to tell her that Mike gave her passport to Deirdre to help her escape. Alma wondered why Mike was so keen to help an ex-girlfriend. Gail invited Hayley and Roy to tea and while she was delighted to accept, Roy was less keen. Hayley wondered if he was ashamed of her but he asked her to join him because he wanted to be with her. Spider's girlfriend Log was causing trouble, taking over number 3, and Emily put her foot down and threw away their cannabis. Toyah meanwhile tried to get her revenge on her by sending an anonymous letter to Curly saying Log was the one who poured antifreeze on the prawns. Curly saw right through it though and suggested to Emily that she get Spider to talk her round. Spider told Toyah that they could only be friends, as she was too young for him.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 18th and 20th March 1998
Ken went on one of his escort dates (incidentally, he told Deirdre about his job, and her face was a picture). The job was with Babs, played by comedy legend Brigit Forsyth, but the date went badly: she dropped dead in the toilets. Ken had to pretend to be her boyfriend for the authorities, but things got awkward when her brother turned up, and he finally had to confess he was an escort. Her brother accused him of preying on vulnerable women, giving Ken a crisis of conscience and making him quit the job, but it got even more embarrassing when a reporter tried to talk to him. Des was convinced Samantha was sleeping with Chris, mainly because she was, and came home early to try and catch her out. She'd managed to hide Chris though and slipped him out the back, then played the devoted girlfriend so convincingly Des felt guilty. The next day he told Kevin to stop spreading lies. However, Chris had another woman on his mind: Sally. He went to her and asked her to take him back, but even though she refused, he dumped Samantha. Meanwhile Sally wondered if she was only back with Kevin for the sake of the girls.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 22nd and 23rd March 1998
Spider decided to leave Weatherfield with Log, but soon changed his mind when he found his supposedly vegan girlfriend tucking into a cooked breakfast. He stayed on, much to the delight of Toyah and Emily. The reporter continued to hang around the Street, so Alec gave him an interview, telling him how wonderful his agency was. The actual article was far more salacious though, suggesting the Rovers was a front for a sleazy organisation, and calling Ken a gigolo. Vera was furious that it called the pub a grotty backstreet tavern. Samantha tried to get back with Chris and, when he realised he had no chance with Sally, he caved and agreed to resume their affair. Des, who is really quite pathetic, asked for her forgiveness for thinking she had a bit on the side. The residents gave Deirdre a good luck card as her trial began. Jon pleaded guilty but she pleaded not guilty, what with her not being guilty and everything. Her own barrister suggested she was a gullible fool, but it meant that Jon's wife had difficulty painting her as a threatening character. But when Ken took the stand he was forced to admit that Deirdre begged him to lie and go along with Jon's lies.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 25th and 27th March 1998
When Natalie flamin' Horrocks can take the moral high ground, you know your life is a mess. She took Samantha to one side and told her she was playing with fire, sleeping with Chris. Kevin saw her going into his flat and told Des. He stormed round and found them in bed together. Des chucked Sam out, baffled about why she had betrayed him - yeah, we're all wondering that Des - and Chris decided to move to Coventry. He asked Sally to come with him. She turned him down but still laid into Kevin for telling Des what was going on for no reason other than spite. It was Jon's turn to give evidence, and he said Deirdre manipulated him throughout. The policeman suggested that maybe she should plead guilty, because things looked bad, but she was adamant that she was innocent. Deirdre took the stand, and was pilloried by the awful posh barrister for the prosecution, leaving her an emotional wreck. Even a character testimony from Emily didn't help because the barristers pointed out she'd recently spent several nights up a tree protesting. They were called back into the court: the jury had reached a verdict...
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 29th and 30th March 1998
GUILTY! Jon was let off with a suspended sentence, with the judge suggesting he'd been manipulated by Deirdre's Mata Hari skills. She sobbed as he gave her eighteen months prison time, iconically crying "I didn't do any of it!" She was taken down, where she met her new cellmate, Margi Clarke as Jackie Dobbs. Deirdre was shell-shocked and confused, while her friends and neighbours were stunned. Mike and Ken almost came to blows, again, while Liz told Jon's wife she didn't know how she could sleep at night. Alma was upset by Mike's involvement, and his determination to fight for Deirdre; what she didn't know was that he was paying the barrister's bills out of Underworld's accounts. Emily began her campaign to get Deirdre freed by sticking posters all over the Street, while Ken visited her in prison and told her they had started the appeal. The way this storyline has played out has been brilliant, with months of build up and a real sense of frustration. You can see why the show has returned to the well of "innocent woman locked up for a crime she didn't do" over and over, but it's never been as powerful as it was here, because they've not put in the effort. Kevin confronted Sally about Chris's proposal; he realised that there was a part of her that wanted to go. She couldn't bring herself to admit she loved him. She said she was still with him and the girls - wasn't that enough? Gail talked to her and urged her to think about her future with Kevin. Sally sat him down and said that his affair had changed their relationship - their marriage could never go back to how it was before, and had changed. Meanwhile Chris went off without Samantha and she was left alone in the pub.
The campaign to Free Deirdre Rachid starts here. Join me in the fight on Twitter @merseytart.
Classic Corrie is on ITV3 weekday afternoons and is also on the ITV Hub.
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
Samantha was quite an interesting character when she first joined the show, but as soon as she started going out with Des she was written as such a strangely inconsistent character, it becomes impossible to empathise with her or understand her motivations beyond a tendency to sabotage her relationships when she feels under pressure.
ReplyDelete