Natalie was tired of having the Duckworths around but they had nowhere to go. They suggested renting Des's old house off her. However, when Vera lost her temper with Natalie, she told them they could whistle for number 6, and they could get out of the Rovers right now. Alison and Kevin booked a holiday at Center Parcs and the girls excitedly told their mum all about it. Sally was shocked, firstly that he had a girlfriend, and secondly that he was taking her kids with him. Leanne and Nicky set off for their holiday in Canada, leaving Rita without an assistant for three weeks. She rang around in desperation but nobody seemed to be available.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 22nd and 24th January 1999
The Duckworths packed up and left the Rovers, bringing an era to an end. To be honest, the Duckies were never as much fun as serious publicans - it was harder for Jack to be a layabout for a start. He went looking for accomodation and found a space at the Park Road B&B, run by national treasure Meg Johnson as Fred Gee's widow Eunice. She took a fancy to Jack, and was disappointed to discover he was married - but when she realised his wife was her old mucker Vera she perked up. Sally warned Alison off, but she said it was none of her business, and they went off on holiday together. Sally realised she needed a nice house if she was going to get custody of Sophie and Rosie. She swallowed her pride and rented number 6 off Natalie. Blanche was making life tough for Deirdre, nagging away, and she asked her when she was finally going to leave. Blanche accused her of trying to get rid of her and Deirdre was forced to ask her to stick around. Natalie got a load of cheap beer that was on the turn and the locals got absolutely smashed. Jackie and Les particularly enjoyed themselves. Sharon helped out Rita in the shop and asked after Brian with Gail. She was mortified to be told he was long dead and she was married to Martin now.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 25th and 27th January 1999
Blanche began her plot to Parent Trap Ken and Deirdre. She told him Deirdre regretted their divorce and, intrigued, he asked her out for a drink. However, Deirdre was more frightened than aroused, and told him how happy she was on her own. Sharon helped Sally move into number 6. She lost her temper when she saw Alison trying to buy the girls sweets, and fretted that she was losing them. Eunice happened to mention she wanted to retire to Spain. Vera realised she'd want to sell the B&B, and convinced Jack it'd be a gold mine. However they'd need some extra money so she was forced to take up the vacant cleaner position at the Rovers. Martin got a job as an assistant manager at a care home. The most interesting part of it though was one of the care assistants - a tiny Ralf Little, fresh from the first series of The Royle Family and not quite famous yet.
THURSDAY - Episode originally broadcast 29th January 1999
Fred decided to flog the corner shop, and agreed to sell it to Ravi Desai, played in a bizarrely camp fashion by character actor Saeed Jaffrey. He didn't realise that Ravi was Nita's dad. Linda, who'd gone to school with Nita, filled in Ashley, and he was shocked. Ken tried to give Deirdre some flowers and she chucked them in the street. She told Blanche to stop interfering with her and Ken, but it made Blanche burst into tears and she backed down. Natalie flirted with a man in the pub and Rita was surprised to learn that he was Sharon's fiance Ian. Natalie's been single for about three months, so it's no surprise she's mad keen to be a trollop again.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 31st January and 1st February 1999
Jack heard that the steward at Mike's golf course had died. He persuaded Vera that they should apply for the position, but she fretted that she wasn't posh enough. Hayley was voted in as social secretary at the factory - though Roy thought they were taking advantage of her - and she started organising a disco for Valentine's Day. Les offered to be DJ, describing himself as an aficionado of 70s music. Fred was disgusted to learn Nita was a spy and persuaded Audrey to pretend there was going to be a new housing estate built on the Red Rec where she could overhear. He then withdrew the shop from sale, but Nita told Ravi to offer more money because of the potential new customers. Fred took the offer, but when he gave Maud a bottle of sherry as redundancy, she grassed him up to Ravi.
MONDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 3rd and 5th February 1999
Natalie went to court to see Des's killers get sent down, and was confronted by his brother Colin, who still blamed Tony. She admitted she'd shopped her own son to the police and they declared a truce. They went for a drink, then another drink, then obviously they ended up sleeping together because Natalie really can't keep her knickers from falling round her ankles. She regretted it next morning, but not enough to stop her from flirting with Sharon's fiance Ian again. Sally and Kevin went to court to get custody of the girls but refused to agree to mediation. The court was forced to appoint Welfare Officers to evaluate the case, and Kevin ended up bawling at Sally in the street, making Alison feel awkward. Jack and Vera were interviewed for the job at the golf course but Mike was on the panel, which threw them, and they couldn't bluff their way through. Their lack of experience at hosting functions meant they didn't get it, though Mike was gleeful that the common as muck Duckies wouldn't be sullying his posh course. Wind your neck in, Baldwin, you're a Cockney spiv, not the Aga Khan.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 7th and 8th February 1999
Ding-ding-ding! New character alert! Nita took over the Corner Shop and showed it to her brother, failed accountant Vikram Desai. This did, however, mean that Maud was out on her ear, and she sadly realised she would never work again. Martin was disgusted by the lack of interest his manager at the care home had in his charges, as he put profit over their welfare. He told Gail about it and she basically said, whatever, so long as you get paid, who cares. Charming. Instead he went to Audrey and asked her to get the Council in to inspect the premises. However, Fred told her the owner was a Square Dealer (oh no, not them again) and warned her against interfering. Roy was disappearing in his best clothes to go for long walks. Hayley fretted about what he was doing and followed him, only to see him meeting a woman. If I tell you that he was worried about his dancing at the Valentine's Disco I think you can guess where this storyline is headed...
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 10th and 12th February 1999
...and sure enough, when confronted, Roy admitted he was taking dancing lessons so he didn't let Hayley down. However, he was too shy to show her his skills, so she convinced herself he was definitely playing away. She followed him to his dance teacher's and he was upset that she didn't trust him. Nita relaunched the shop with wine and coffee, though Ravi wasn't impressed. She had plenty of ideas for the shop, starting with selling newspapers - leaving Rita horrified. Fred advised Gerald, the owner of the dodgy care home, that the council had received an anonymous complaint. He confronted the staff, making clear that he knew Martin was the one responsible, and leaving Martin feeling betrayed by Audrey. She told him she knew nothing about it. Sharon came down with flu, meaning she couldn't go away with Ian. He immediately took advantage of a free night to take Natalie out, because they are a pair of awful tarts. Sally and Kevin were interviewed by the Welfare Officer about custody of Sophie and Rosie. Neither of them came out of it well - Sally had to admit to her disastrous relationship with Greg and her short lease on number 6, while Kevin had to clarify how exactly he could run his own business single-handed while caring for two small children.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 14th and 16th February 1999
Happy Valentine's Day! At the Flying Horse, Hayley hosted a 1970s disco, with Les as the DJ. Janice and Jackie both turned up as Debbie Harry (although everyone referred to her as "Blondie", which was annoying), and Les gave Jackie the prize for Best Costume. However, she promptly tried to rob his prized Buddy Holly record. When he tried to frisk her, Janice thought he was feeling her up, and smashed the single as revenge. Lorraine turned up with Steve as her date, but he was far more interested in Linda, and went off with her. To console herself Lorraine went home with Ashley, but she still fancied Steve, and ended up screaming at Linda in the Rovers. Does any of this make Lorraine even slightly interesting? No. Hayley was still upset that Roy was refusing to talk to her because she didn't trust him. Alma intervened and said he might lose her if he wasn't careful. Roy arrived at the disco with a gift: his grandmother's engagement ring. He proposed marriage and Hayley accepted, though Martin unpleasantly thought they were kidding themselves and Les laid into them for being weirdos. He really is vile. On the plus side, Gail stood up for them, declaring that she thought they were doing the right thing and Hayley was a woman. Gail Platt: Trans Activist of three decades standing. Elsewhere, Valentine's cards were causing ructions, as Tyrone sent Toyah one, much to her disgust, and Ken and Deirdre both received one. Blanche had sent them, to try and get them back together, but they ended up going to the disco and dancing the tango, so maybe it worked...
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 17th and 19th February 1999
The leccy board turned up at number 5 to cut off the powers. Janice realised Les had lied to her when he'd said he paid the bills. She realised, about three hundred years after the rest of us, that Les was a waste of space. Deirdre and Ken laughed over Blanche's shenanigans, but went out for a meal anyway. Ian admitted to Natalie that he was engaged but said he'd break it off for her. Chinny reckon. Rita asked Sharon to stay on at the Kabin as manageress while she went to stay with Mavis. This was bad news for Leanne, who returned from Canada to learn she was right down the pecking order in the shop. Seeing Leanne and Sharon together brought back traumatic memories of that awful gangster storyline; I half expected her to whip out her taser. Nicky also announced that Stephen was getting married, and he wanted Audrey and Gail to be there for the wedding. Gail had one job to do before she left, however. It was the last day of the old cafe and she said goodbye with Alma and Roy and a glass of champagne. The set - and its bright orange tiles - had been a part of the show for more than twenty years; from the next episode, it'll be the familiar Roy's Rolls on Victoria Street.
Over in Emmerdale, Nita is now the stepmother of Vikram. That must've been a weird reunion. It makes @merseytart's odd family feel quite normal.
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3 comments:
I really don’t Sally in these episodes. She thinks she is always in the right. She said she didn’t want the girls living with ‘complete stranger’ Alison yet she took the girls from their cosy house, bedrooms and toys to live in a poky flat with a bad tempered, disinterested man they barely knew.
Steve mcdonald seems like a different character in these old episodes, so cocky, wonder what vickram would think of the middle age idiot hes become now
Sorry, should be don’t like Sally.
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