Good evening. I thought tonight we would start at the end, as to my mind that was the least interesting story of unfortunate events. After much thought Debbie has decided that the solution to Ryan's problems is Ray Crosby. The daft old bat gets out her spinning wheel and comes up with a long yarn for Ryan to tell the officers of the law involving an unknown and non-descript individual who had threatened Ryan at the behest of Ray to rob the Bistro and that he was coercively controlling poor mindless Ryan. Judging by the look on his face Ryan does not believe the story and certainly does not think that Nick and Leanne will swallow it, let alone PC Tinker; on reflection the latter probably will believe it hook, line and stinker.
Elsewhere on the Street "Love" is in the air with Jenny telling Daisy that she has decided to tell Leo that she loves him. However there is suddenly a mystery around Leo, firstly he arrives back at the Rovers in the middle of the night wearing a suit; later Daniel and Paul (who are working on his current job) become aware of a rumour that today is his last day on the job and then he summons Jenny to the Bistro for a surprise meal and a large bunch of flowers! Daisy brings Jenny up to date on all of these unfortunate events before Jenny heads out on the date and so "fewmin" is Jenny that she is not taken in for one minute and as she points out the bigger the bunch the bigger the deed! Nick has trouble finding the Canadian red wine which Leo has ordered. Oh, Canada! Leo eventually manages to get a word in edgeways. The reason he has not booked the Xmas flights to Las Vegas is that he will be working at his new job in Toronto and wants Jenny to move with him (word of advice Jenny, it is so cold in winter, they built the shops underground). And he was doing an online interview in the middle of night wearing a suit!
Talking of "Love" in the air the Metcalfes are managing a smooch and a cuddle. Aggie has also found the perfect solution to Tim's fears and gives him a book containing stories of the after-life so that it will negate his fears of death. Tim tells a little white lie about the source of the book when Sally catches him reading it. Well, no-one will ever find out, will they?
George has consumed some Tramadol he found in Eileen's cupboard and consequently he is unable to officiate at Mrs Pugh's husband's funeral. Todd ropes in Sean to assist and then out of nowhere having had a falling out with a sous chef and a percussionist direct from the cruise liners is Glenda who is apparently George's sister and was trained by Archie himself in the mysteries of the undertaking business until a life on the ocean waves beckoned. Glenda takes over and rescues the funeral from impending disaster convincing Mrs Pugh that a trumpet in the coffin will not be welcomed by the H&S authorities at the crematorium. At the wake in the Rovers (sandwiches from M&S by the looks of it) Todd, Dean and a mystery dentist, Laurence, discuss the "Wizard of Oz" and as a result there is some confusion between Glenda and Glinda who seems intent on calling Todd "Rod". She seems to have met a wealth of famous people on the various cruise liners and is regaling the boys with stories when George appears back to his normal self with tooth fixed as well. It seems that Sean's abilities are failing as he did not get Laurence's telephone number despite Todd being convinced that he was gay. Apparently Glenda knows what Janette Krankie wears in bed. She also spots that Eyelash is wearing the same perfume as her grandmother!
Largely set in the Bistro we continue with the new development to ensure food does not go to waste. So a lot of ecologically safe flyers are being distributed by Nina who intends to add marketing executive to her cv. Dev is first to read the article on the website which praises Stu to the skies for his initiative and he is not entirely happy about this. Even less so when Stu's ex-wife turns up in the Bistro and tells him that he is not a saint and to stay away from her and their daughter, Bridget. Yasmeen wants to know what is going on and Lucy tells her that Stu is a murderer and does not deserve rehabilitation. Lucy leaves but Yasmeen manages to catch up with her at the tram stop where, reluctantly Lucy reveals the nasty details. Stu came back from the navy a changed man and was in a bad way until he started working in a restaurant. He met a waitress called Charlie Walter and an affair started. Charlie went missing and a few days later a body was found in woodland and it was covered with Stu's DNA. Stu later confessed to the affair and murder as a way of covering up the affair and as a result he went to jail. He now denies to Yasmeen that he committed murder but she cannot accept it and tells him to be gone.
We must formally welcome Jodie Prenger as Glenda Shuttleworth - that Archie was a dark horse as I don't remember him ever mentioning any children! Lucy Woodrow is portrayed by Lynda Rooke who has recently been elected as President of Equity and if you thought she looked familiar this is her fourth appearance on the Street. And Laurence Reeves is played by Robert Shaw Cameron who has previously appeared as an unnamed police officer on the Street!
And the Ryan story is daft; Leo sneaking around could have been stretched out a little longer; I think there will great relief when Tim gets it all going again (please sooner rather than later); I wonder if Jenny is off to do some dancing?; and please can we actually hear all of Glenda's stories? Most of tonight was solid sensible character driven action - even if undoing a murder mystery from 20 years ago is more Silent Witness territory. So by and large it is where the Street does its best work, may it continue!
Written tonight by Jan McVerry and Sam Holdsworth. Directed by Matt Hilton.
Kosmo
Toronto is 5 hours behind Manchester. And that necessitates a middle of the night job interview?
ReplyDeleteLoved all the funeral stuff. Corrie at its best with Wizard of Oz competition, and Jodie Prenger is great. Pity we didn't hear her Ave Maria but maybe she can run a sing-song in the Rovers with Rita?
ReplyDeleteMakes no sense for Tim not to tell Sally about his chats with Aggie. She has helped him more than the counsellor did.
Correction: Lucy think Stu paid for his crime but does not want him to be part of Bridget’s life, or at least Bridget does not want to.
ReplyDeleteTim did have sex with Sally, hence him wearing a dressing gown.