Cosy crimes and gritty sagas by Corrie Blog editor Glenda, published by Headline. Click pic below!

Friday 31 December 2021

The Week In Classic Corrie

MONDAY - Episode originally broadcast in 1969

Barbara Windsor was doing her exercises on a campground with a lot of men watching.  As she stretched and thrust, it got too much for her skimpy outfit, and her bra flew off in Kenneth Williams' face.  Horrified, he shouted, "matron, take them away!" at Hattie Jacques.

TUESDAY - Episode originally broadcast in 1969

It was the hospital staff party, and Jim Dale got roaring drunk.  When he was confronted by Kenneth Williams, he legged it, and ended up falling on a hospital trolley.  The trolley rolled through the wards then down some stairs and eventually chucked poor Jim through a plate glass window.

WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 24th and 26th November 1999

After that brief Carry On interlude over the Christmas break, we're back with old episodes of Coronation Street from 1999.  Les went to court for his benefit fraud, and his solicitor suggested he should get some character references to prove what a nice guy he was.  Unfortunately everyone in the Street hated his guts.  Mike and Linda went for a business dinner with a work colleague.  The police pulled then over on the way back and a breathalyser revealed that Mike was over the limit.  Freshco's organised a team bonding event which, conveniently, only involved the members of the supermarket staff who lived on Coronation Street.  They were housed in a grim barracks with a domineering Scotsman in charge.  Their first job was to build a bridge over a river and, of course, Fred ended up in the water.  Worse was to come: they were woken at 1:30 am and dumped on the middle of a moor and told to find their own way back for breakfast.  Sharon said goodbye to Rita, begging for her blessing before she went.  Rita refused, but shed a tear as the taxi disappeared into the distance.  And that was the last we ever saw of Sharon Gaskell, and she definitely never came back, ever, promise.


THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 28th and 29th November 1999

Curly's leadership of the Freshco party came under fire as he dragged them across the windswept moor.  Nita lead a mutiny after Fred collapsed with a twisted ankle; Curly advocated leaving him behind but she got them to carry him on a makeshift stretcher.  Her leadership qualities were recognised with an individual award and the interest of James Kitching, the head of Freshco.  Mike received a fine for his drunk driving and lost his licence.  He was forced to take on Mark as his chauffeur, with a promise he could use the Jag as his own personal runaround when Mike didn't need it.  He showed off to Leanne, and because she's pretty easily impressed, she jumped into bed with him - shocking Linda, who discovered them together.  Blanche started work in the Kabin as Rita's assistant and proved to be a glorious pain in the backside, scaring off potential customers and talking smack about the other patrons.  Roy's plans for a community based Millennium celebration hit a snag when he realised how much it would cost.  Audrey gloated over their uselessness, but they got an unlikely saviour in the form of Les Battersby; he agreed to hold a sponsored silence to raise money - and, incidentally, win over potential character witnesses.


FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 1st and 3rd December 1999

Blanche continued to cause havoc at the Kabin as she threatened debtors with a letter so rude Rita recoiled in horror.  She learned that a rep had called but Blanche had sent him away, so, in a strop, she invited him back to flog his Guarana chewing gum.  She soon regretted it when she realised it was Norris Cole, making his first appearance since Derek's funeral and being as gloriously annoying as ever.  He'd divorced Angela and was out on his own - and Rita ended up offering him a job, because even he was preferable to Blanche.  Les began his sponsored silence but was shocked to realise he'd be accompanied by someone at all times to make sure he didn't cheat.  He ended up raising over a hundred quid (though Blanche rightly suggested sponsors should give their money to Emily, not Les).  Gail admitted to Alma that her marriage was in dire straits.  She told her to fight for Martin and stop feeling sorry for herself, so she went to the hospital to surprise Martin with an evening out - only for her to spot him getting into a car with a female nurse.  Elsewhere, James invited Nita out for a drink to discuss her future with Freshco (oh aye), Deirdre's conviction was finally quashed on appeal, and Janice was delighted to learn that Leanne was seeing the boss's son.  Mike, on the other hand, was horrified.


@merseytart is really annoyed that December 1999 is starting on ITV3 just as December 2021 is finishing in the real world.  You could've scheduled that better, ITV.

Classic Corrie is on ITV3 weekday afternoons when Joan Sims is unavailable and is also on the ITV Hub.







All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

1 comment:

CK said...

Great post as always! Happy New Year!

GRITTY SAGAS BY CORRIE BLOG EDITOR GLENDA YOUNG, PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE. CLICK PIC BELOW!

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