Good evening. Once again my apologies for my extended absence. I did manage to visit the Street and I may well add a report of the Tour (with added Alan Halsall) during the week.
However tonight on t'Street is going to be a difficult update. You no doubt remember the old question do you want the good news or the bad news? For Toyah in her hospital bed this needs to be re-written. Do you want the not-so-good news or the bad news or the very bad news? There is no sugar coating this so let us dive straight in. R'Toyota is not pregnant - the test was a false positive. Why was it a false positive - there is a growth on her ovary which means the blood test gave a false reading - and a growth must be cancer - so a biopsy is needed. The very bad news will come later in this update (and there is a triple dose of that floating around).
Elsewhere Shona is ill - well she isn't, although she takes to her bed - but her absence means that Nina can lay a guilt trip on Roy as she works extra long shifts without a break and insists he puts on the apron of power and returns to the stove. Much of the queue is caused by Kirk wanting mashed black pudding, two sausages and two rashers on brown bread please as he fancies the healthy option, whilst another customer wants sriracha sauce. Roy eventually descends and struggles to get his apron over his head. Evelyn is keen to ensure that the customers do not upset Roy and sits in the corner minding a cold brew for over an hour until Nina convinces her that all is well and Roy is safe in her hands. Later Kirk comes in on the bun run and wants to order a Daniel - he cannot read his own handwriting. Roy volunteers it should be a Danish and in return Kirk says he is glad to see Roy has returned. Roy admits that it feels good to be back. So all is well. And Shona need not come in tomorrow as Roy will cover the shift he assures David as he is enjoying himself for the first time in a long while.
The wedge Kit has created between Bernie and the twins continues to fester and separate flowers are sent for his mother's funeral. Kit does not appreciate the flowers from Bernie. Only Dev as an outsider actually does not see Kit as a fine upstanding gentleman - meanwhile he advises Bernie on negotiating the short term problems. Paul reveals that he has now lost the use of his left arm. Kit returns and thanks the twins for their flowers but pointedly avoids thanking Bernie until Dev makes a point of it and calls him out. Dev stands up for Bernie.
Along at Underworld Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin or as Alison King calls her "Little Opera House" which I shall adopt) is on her first day and is doing well until Kirk decides to tell her that there are 4000 types of potato in Peru. However within seconds she manages to confuse Kirk on fried rice vs chow mein! However being a teenage Opera House her phone is going very few seconds and needs instant attention at all times. "LOH" observes that Fiz is not as dozy as she looks! Carla eventually confiscates the phone. Lisa (Swain) arrives at the end of the day to collect her daughter and Carla hands her the phone - and she notes that Betsy has had messages from JD (and that is not the whiskey - my guess is that it is Joel Deering). Betsy wants to hang out with JD this evening but denies it is a boyfriend and Lisa says not tonight - Betsy's room is a tip and needs attention. "LOH" rolls her eyes very realistically!
Sarah Lou has been walking a tightrope and the safety net is not very strong. DS Swain feels that she needs to answer some questions down at the station under caution about the £10k she paid Nathan as it looks like she was seeking to pervert the course of justice. {Money Laundering Alert - if you try to deposit significant sums of cash in a bank account the bank will ask numerous questions to prove the money is NOT laundered - so how did s shady character like Nathan deposit the money in his account?} To stop the doo-doo enveloping her completely she rats out Gary as the provider of the money to enable Nathan to leave town. Gary is trying to celebrate Lian's birthday when urgent messages from Sarah cause him to think up an excuse to rush outside of Speed Dahl so that she can explain why Swain is coming for him. Needless to say Maria is certain that "something" is going on!
Talking of that bad news for Toyah - part 1 is the card Sam has made for her - with a mixture of Scrabble letters and chemical symbols. Made of course before the bombshells above were delivered.
And in this triple bill of horror for R'Toyota Leanne has spent most of the day fussing about a special meeting at the AltoValent Institute where other members are gathering for a special session. So she leaves to tell Rowan that she needs to be with Toyah - but he changes her mind as the session is so special and completing it will help Leanne support Toyah (and Leanne falls for it). Leanne abandons her sister instead of being with her for the biopsy. This "malware" session consists of a circle of individuals shouting at Leanne (who is blindfolded) about her misguided past as reality coded to Rowan and not shared with anyone - drug addict, cheat, adulteress, liar, filth, dealer, sold your body, arrogant, son conceived in adultery, do anything for money, arsonist, pure evil, manipulate a man with dementia, don't deserve to be a mother, hurting all around her, driving people like her stepson away, Simon hates you as a terrible mother, we see who you really are. Then a repeated chant of "Broken" followed by "say it". This activity is ended by Rowan as Leanne breaks down in tears. Having broken her the assembly then praises her potential future self - once she is "free" - but of course she is not "free" - she is indoctrinated. Later Rowan tells her that she has now advanced to Level Six. Number Six, of course, was The Prisoner and was held captive at Portmeirion (strongly recommended as both a place to visit and a very nice hotel). And Leanne has now been made a complete captive of the Institute. And all this to help Toyah! Neither Toyah or Nick want to hear any of the words emerging from Leanne's mouth when she eventually returns to Victoria Court.
David and Nick have several heart to hearts over Toyah - David suggesting that Nick tells Toyah to lose the baby before the revelations and later in the next bad news for Toyah Nick admits that he may no longer love Leanne as she is a different person and when David asks if he might in love with Toyah Nick admits that he does not know.
Sorry it is a little long this week. There seemed to be a lot going on. What was particularly nice to see was the knicker stitching at the factory - always one of my favourite settings plus LOTS of people in the cafe. Having survived the long long period of covid and the odd person constituting a "rush" in the cafe for there to be lots of people around feels so much better.
Written by Jan McVerry and Ellen Taylor. Directed by Chantelle Kayll.
Kosmo
Why did they tell Sam about the baby so soon? surely you would wait till after the first scan once you knew everything was likely to be ok.
ReplyDeleteHow come Gemma had money to buy flowers from an expensive florist and go to the pub when she’s always moaning about having absolutely no money?