Kevin and Sally were wracked with guilt about their night together, and he considered chickening out of his wedding to Alison. In the end he went through it and Sally sadly saw him off to his honeymoon. Perhaps the most significant part of all this was the first appearance of Helen Flanagan as Rosie, taking over from Emma Collinge who'd played the part since birth and wanted to concentrate on gymnastics. It should be noted that Helen is great right from the start; this Rosie actually has a personality. Steve palled up with builder Pat Hegharty to take Duggie's contract at the Victoria Street development, but he was forced to go 50/50 on the profits because nobody else would give him the time of day. Rebecca's estranged husband Jerry turned up at number 8 and told Gail that Martin was diddling his wife. She told Martin she knew it was false but obviously he panicked. Amy spread it round the Street that Dev was trying to get her to abort her baby and the locals turned on him. Nita saw her put on a performance when there was a witness and put her in her place. Dev considered disappearing from Weatherfield forever, but Amy turned dramatic, saying he'd never see her again and driving off into the night. (And yes, that's another episode broadcast exactly 22 years later to the day!)
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 26th and 28th January 2000
Gwen had a cold, so she hit the whisky at lunchtime. What's wrong with a Lemsip, eh? This got her drunk, so Mark sent her home. Apparently this was a problem for Jim, for some reason, and he bellowed at Mark. Gwen was mortified. Mark had other things on his mind, i.e. Linda, as she floated round the street fluttering her eyelashes at him. He finally gave in and they had sex, though Mike almost caught them. (Incidentally Mark has a shower in the first episode and is seen post-coital in the second; his shirtlessness is becoming almost as commonplace as Nicky Tilsley's). Leanne fretted about her new best mate Amy who didn't turn up for work. Dev was unconcerned but she reported her disappearance to the police. He soon changed his mind when Tyrone discovered a note in her digs saying she didn't want to live without him. Duggie tried to make amends with Tom but let slip that he'd be around more as landlord of the new shopping parade. Tom didn't want him anywhere near however, so he packed up his stuff and vanished to Leeds. It's funny to see him go, leaving his dad behind; Tom barely existed in the show (and I'm convinced he was originally planned to be Corrie's first gay character, but they chickened out) while Duggie will end up being so important to the programme he'll even end up buying the Rovers.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 30th and 31st January 2000
The Street gave Dev the cold shoulder, thinking he'd driven Amy away - or worse. He tried to ignore it but when the police took him to view a body on the off chance it was her, he began to get seriously concerned. The body wasn't Amy though. Tyrone was trying to read a book in the cafe and Les spotted him. He realised Ty couldn't read and found it hilarious because he is absolute scum. Mark couldn't stand Linda wandering around pushing her heaving breasts at him so he told Mike he was going off travelling again to get away. Mike was upset, not knowing what he'd done wrong, and he tried to persuade him to stay. Mark was adamant however.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 2nd and 4th February 2000
The building site on Victoria Street was a hotbed of activity. Steve spotted that one of the houses had some genuine old fireplaces in them. He ripped them out without telling Dougie and flogged them on the sly. Meanwhile, David climbed into a skip to retrieve his ball and ended up with a cut leg. Steve took him to the hospital, where Martin attended to him, with Rebecca helping out. Martin confessed to her afterwards that he loved seeing the two of them bonding. Mark decided not to leave after Linda promised to stay away. She tried to be nice to his girlfriend Claire to make up for it. Amy returned to Weatherfield, her wrists wrapped in bandages and telling Leanne that she'd lost the baby. Dev demanded to see her and called out her lies, but the locals believed her, not him, and boycotted the shop in protest. Les appeared in court for his benefit fraud hearing and he lied in the dock, saying he was trying to support his pregnant wife. He was given community service and told to pay back the money.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 6th and 7th February 2000
Even though I write a lot about Coronation Street, my heart secretly belongs to Brookside, Channel 4's soap opera that ruled the airwaves from the early 80s until it went absolutely insane in the late 90s and started crashing helicopters and blowing up shops every other week. It means I'm going to seriously struggle with the appearance of Natalie's long sister Debs, played by Gabrielle Glaister. You might know her as Bob from Blackadder but for me she'll always be Patricia Farnham, the Close's resident yuppie, and no unconvincing Northern accent can convince me otherwise. Debs was back in Weatherfield for a while and so Natalie let her stay in number 6 and introduced her to Vinnie. Dev told Amy he wanted to be with her, but it was a ruse; he pulled off her bandages in the Rovers in front of everyone, revealing she had no wounds on her wrists at all. She told the locals they were thick for believing her - particularly Leanne, who she called a coke-head. Elsewhere, Duggie discovered the fireplaces were missing and demanded them back off Steve, Alma got her divorce and reverted to her maiden name, and Les started his community service alongside a tattooed Hells Angel called Dennis Stringer. Remember that name, it'll be important later.
MONDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 9th and 11th February 2000
With Amy gone, the Rovers was short-staffed, so Vinny took on an old mate, Geena. Natalie was angry and reminded him that she was the landlady and he was just an employee. He sulked behind the bar because he is pathetic. Les scrubbed the walls around Coronation Street clean as part of his community service, only to find the graffiti reappeared when he turned his back. His supervisor assumed he was dodging doing any work and threatened to send him back to court. Jim talked to Gwen and they agreed to start going out again. He discovered she was short of cash again, and her phone had been cut off this time, so he loaned her the money to clear her debts. Audrey had been getting visits from a planning officer, Bob, played by Michelle's lecturer boyfriend Geoff from EastEnders. (Yes, I watched a lot of soap operas in the 1980s). Audrey thought he was after her, but it turned out he fancied Alma, and he asked her out, much to Audrey's annoyance. Sarah-Lou was putting on weight for some reason, much to her concern. She started avoiding meals to try and keep it down. Oh, I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 13th and 14th February 2000
The phantom graffiti artist was revealed - it was Tyrone, getting revenge on Les for him for taking the mickey out of his illiteracy. Serves him right. However, Tyrone began to feel bad when he heard Les might go to prison for failing to complete his community service, because he is a nicer man than me. Audrey was in a nark with Alma for going out with Bob, which Alma found hilarious. Valentine's Day brought out the romantic side in the residents, with Ty dropping a card off with Toyah (they should absolutely reunite these two as a couple, they're lovely), Vinnie embarrassing Natalie with a load of balloons and flowers behind the bar, and Rebecca telling Martin she hated being the other woman. Martin said she was the only one he loved, and said he was going to finish things with Gail soon enough - although he admitted they were still having sex. She got in a nark about it because she has no sense of perspective. He ended up confessing his affair to Danny, saying he didn't know what to do.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 16th and 18th February 2000
Look out everyone: Ken's written another book. This one was a history of Weatherfield and, you'll be surprised to hear, nobody wanted to publish it. He decided to self-publish but couldn't get the money together, so Emily suggested he donate the profits to charity to attract sponsors and raise the cash. Fred had a ricked back, and one of his customers, Mrs Mawdsley, told him about her massage business. Fred was delighted by the rub down he got and went back for more. Of course, it was secretly a knocking shop, and of course it was raided by the police, with Fred being dragged out in full view of Tyrone and Monica. Linda organised a party for Mike's birthday, doing her best to make it as classy as possible. (Amusingly, none of the guests seemed to know exactly how old he was). Mark took Leanne instead of Claire, finding her more exciting, but Mike thoroughly disapproved. Gail went through Sarah-Lou's bag and found that she'd skipped her lunch, though she was still putting on weight. She tried to get the day off school because she was feeling weirdly sick in the morning. That's not significant in any way, I'm positive.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 20th and 21st February 2000
Fred stood up in the Rovers and tried to put paid to the gossip by telling everyone the police wouldn't be pressing charges. It was too late - word was already out, and the neighbours were giggling behind their hands. Mark tried it on with Leanne but she told him she didn't want to be his bit on the side. He broke up with Claire for her, which cheered her. Vinnie quit his job at the Rovers in favour of working as a labourer on Duggie's building site. He told Natalie that working and living together was ruining their relationship and this way they'd be happier. Rebecca told Martin she was jealous about his marriage, and he realised he had to make a decision. He told her that he loved her and that night he was going to end things with Gail. He didn't realise that Gail had other things on her mind - she'd taken Sarah-Lou to the doctor's to discuss her possible eating disorder. The doctor confirmed there was something wrong with her: she was pregnant.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 23rd and 25th February 2000
The doctor confirmed she was five months gone to a gobsmacked Gail and Sarah-Lou. She admitted she'd had sex just once so well done Neil Fearns' sperm. She said they'd been hanging out, having a laugh, and then it just happened, which rather makes it sound like he slipped it in when she wasn't paying attention. A broken Gail told Martin about the baby before he could tell her about Rebecca. He realised he couldn't leave now, not when his family needed him. Ken's historical research brought up the fact that Victoria Street used to be called Cartwright Street, much to his confusion. He did some more digging and discovered that the man the street was originally named for had murdered his wife so they changed the name. Jim found Gwen handing money over to a debt collector and, when she interrogated her, she admitted she was up to her eyes in it and had no idea how much she owed. And Leanne and Mark got back together and he invited her to Bruges with him - leaving Mike Baldwin seething.
Throughout all this Thomas Ormson has been getting more and more lines, as the writers expanded David's part to accommodate the new importance of the Platts to the show. Don't get too attached though because he's only got a few episodes left before Jack P Shepherd appears and takes the part on. You can donate to my charity giving support to abandoned Corrie child actors on Twitter @merseytart.
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1 comment:
I was also a fan of early EastEnders and recognised Mrs Mawdsley's actress as having been sister in law of Sue and Ali who owned the café. Deb's odd accent was a puzzle as it was nothing like Natalie's. Gabrielle may as well have carried on speaking a bit posh, and explained that she'd had elocution lessons so she could get jobs on posh ships.
The scenes with Gail and Sarah were brilliant. Oh dear Sarah, just wait till Audrey finds out, not to mention Blanche!
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