Episode Review: Friday 19 December 2025

Welcome.  Christmas fast approaches but tonight Will celebrates his sixteenth birthday in style.  As far as he is concerned it means that he and Megan are legally able to exchange bodily fluids and he books a hotel room (164 at the Chariot Square of course - in the whole of Weatherfield there is only one hotel AND they book rooms just for the morning!) and he passes a key card to Megan for her to join him later.  At the Rovers Ben, Eva and Maggie play down his birthday to his face and then are busy putting up decorations whilst he is making the beast of two backs elsewhere (although they did not displace many of the rose petals).  He does not answer the phone to any of them but Ronnie Bailey had seen him earlier hanging around the hotel so Ben and Ollie hotfoot it over to the hotel and magically find his bedroom door which allows Megan to head into the bathroom before they enter and find how he has marked his special day.  Will leads them to think it is Chloe and Ben sorts a taxi for her back to the station as they take the lad off to his party at the Rovers where they imply he was simply seeking alcohol and not revealing his actual activities to Eva and Maggie.  Megan shaken by the mention of a Chloe wants explanations in the ginnel where she is found, invited to the party and then also to join the Driscoll's Christmas and stay over rather than having a turkey dinner for one in 'ull.  She accepts and so does Daniel who gets invited along as well.  The Driscoll's are looking forward to a wonderful family Christmas in their new home.  Can anyone spot any possible flaws in this dream?

Over a spot of notional cartomancy readings Maggie and Bernie bury the hatchet - it costs Maggie a dirty vodka martini on the house (not even a double - Bernie is slipping) and they agree not to mention their troubled grand off sprungs (Will and Brody) again.  Glenda explains the conversation between them noting that they speak a completely different language to the rest of us - weirdo-ese!

We were talking of Daniel who managed to find Bertie long enough to palm him off on Ken for the day doing some Christmassy arts and crafts and Bertie (unlike Glory who also popped in out of nowhere - are the schools on holiday?) actually managed a few words almost promising to be good for Ken who will no doubt want to teach him the art of the bells..

Dee Dee departed for Singapore.  There was a taxi, a family group plus Glory and Laila made appearances.  The Bailey family is down two more members.  Only four more to go (please).

Carl has lost his phone and we know that James sent him some sort of text message when hammered (when do sportsmen get hammered - oh yes when playing the Ashes).  Carl asks James if he has seen his phone and the latter tells him he needs to find it before Abi sees it.  Carl eventually finds down the back of a sofa and the message is along the lines of meet me at the Hotel and I will make it worth your while - which Abi reads over his shoulder have silently appeared in the background as he dug the phone out.  Carl explains that he is being excluded from Ronnie's stag night as Kev will be going and that James was offering a few drinks to offset his upset (James was offering the full Will booked room package but we will let that slide).  Abi swallows the story hook line and sinker and goes into battle for her man - after all Carl is also Debbie's brother and so is entitled to a night of handcuffing Ronnie to a lamp-post in his under grollies following the axe throwing and stripper as Glenda so delicately explains the stag evening .  Heaven help us.

Christmas preparations are also going well chez Metcalfe where Joanie Michaelis is finding life difficult.  The two girls add decorations to the tree and then go skating with Tim.  However later Fiz comes around with Hope and Ruby but Joanie feels she has a better offer for the evening as she considers Hope Dobbs is a nutter.  The offer is a party at Taylor Benton's who is in the year above Joanie.  Apparently Taylor is so cool she pierced her own nose with a staple gun!  Sally is not prepared to let Joanie go to an unknown person's house for a party and making friends with a staple gun user is not quite what Sally had in mind.  Sally voice slightly raised tells Joanie to like it lump it.  Cue teenage stomping upstairs.  Later Tim just about stops her leaving for the party and she and Sally argue with Joanie calling her a silly cow and that telling Sally she is not her mother before pulling the Christmas tree over.  Sally responds angrily refusing to keep pussyfooting around and tells Joanie to grow up.  Cue running up them stairs.  Tim takes Hope and Ruby for a can with Ty and Fiz stays to get Sally back on the straight and narrow as Fiz helps discuss parenting.  Later Sally sits Joanie down and tells her far more calmly that she is at a crossroads - they can show her the right road or she can take the wrong road - and they would all prefer she takes the right road.  Joanie at least seems to be listening but she has never known stability and boundaries and is bound to struggle.  When Tim returns Sally and Joanie are under a blanket, watching a Christmas film and drinking hot chocolate and for now all appears well. 

Sorry cannot waste tears on Dee Dee.  A theoretically smart lawyer working the back streets of Weatherfield can get a job in Singapore, taken in by an abuser, and trashing her promises to her brother.  Somewhere it all went wrong.  Will used a card to pay for the hotel room - in what name.  Megan knows the trail will cause her all sorts of problems at some point.  I hope Joanie can control herself - but I reckon she needs to learn coping mechanisms - or at least learning to count to ten.  Not sure when or what I will be reviewing next week.  However - it is time to wish my readers a Happy Christmas.

Written by Julie Jones and Chris Fewtrell.  Directed by Kodjo Tsakpo.

Kosmo

@Kosmo100

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Coronation Street Episode Review Friday 13 June 2025

Good evening.  I have returned and will therefore provide a brief update of events on Friday night.  Much centred around the Platt household who were having a house re-warming episode to exorcise Gail and to show off all the new furniture and decorations in the house.  This is mainly a barbecue in the garden but David is keen to show off the new furniture including the table for which an oak tree died and on which Shona is not permitted to place any nibbles when the family start arriving.  Audrey has decided that instead of a family party she is going to a farewell drinks do with her former neighbours in Grasmere Drive, whilst there are ructions when Shona admits to asking Leanne (who cannot make it) as Nick is keen to remind her of the sins which Leanne committed.  They all express views on how they might redecorate their pads - all sound a little outrageous!  

A running sore throughout the episodes is Lou (and her children) who has a run in with Maria in the first two minutes after advising Liam not to get stressed over his chemistry GCSE if he is not going to be a scientist.  Later she observes Audrey put the salon cash takings (really?) in a brown envelope and give them to Shona for banking as David had forgotten to do it.  Shona leaves her phone on the salon counter.  Lou tells Brody that the family need to do more to fit in if living around the Street but he is not bothered, nor will he pick up the girls later so Lou leans on Tim who collapses without much resistance and agrees to look after them.  Joanie and Shanice are watching television quite politely when Sal returns from work.  Tim sells it to Sally as getting some practice in before the social workers appear again.  Sal defers her planned beauty session and comes downstairs moaning about Tim's untidy habits and voices get raised.  The two girls get quite upset.  Eventually peace is restored and we learn about the arguments in the girl's house. Later Tim and Sally start wondering if Lou is a fit mother and that perhaps Lou should not be permitted to collect the girls.  They believe that something must be done.

Along at Carla's flat Lisa is house hunting and staring at remote country cottages whilst Carla has her heart set on a city centre, open floor plan with a roof terrace and a coffee shop less than 2 minutes away.  So this is going to be hard to achieve.  Lisa is quite dismissive of the floor to ceiling windows in these loft places!  Carla suggests Ancoats and apparently you need £0.5m!  Betsy appears from the bedroom and the house hunting computer is rapidly closed.  Betsy makes an excuse that she is seeing Dylan today so cannot go to lunch with her mother.  She is of course lying and with new bestie Lauren the two of them are at the local prison waiting to see Logan Ratcliffe, although he is not so keen to see them it seems.  However Steve is able to tell Lisa at lunchtime in the Rovers that Betsy and Lauren are in prison visiting someone - Highfield.  Logan eventually emerges and effectively plays with her wish to know the truth - asking for money and implying he might know more than he probably does.  Eventually admits he is winding Betsy up.  Betsy returns home and is challenged by Lisa.  After some discussion the great soap lie emerges "no more secrets" and they tell Betsy about buying a house together and that the allegation against Becky were falsified.  They settle down on the sofa and start looking at properties on the interwebby thingy.

Whilst David and Nick argue over the barbecue Lou pops into return Shona's phone and gets invited to stay for a drink, Maria's body language at Lou's arrival is worth a thousand words. Gary arrives a little later with Vin Diesel which David thought had been put in the skip but it was rescued and as Gary has not sold it he donates it back to David.  Gary gets himself a drink and exchanges a few words with Lou which leads to Maria storming across the garden to pick a fight with the woman chatting to her man.  Gary tells her to back off.  Later food is being consumed even if the courgette is completely cremated and Maria spots Lou slipping indoors.  Nick proposes a toast to the Platts - love, peace and harmony.  When Lou comes down from the toilet she is tempted by the salon cash and goes to Shona's bag looks at it and puts it back - Maria comes in and after exchanging words there is a scuffle.  Glass smashes and Lou is lying on the remains of that nice new table.

In the interest of trying to put things right Gary, as the only sober person, takes Lou, who claims she was pushed, to hospital.  He argues with Maria and Shona proves the money is still in her bag.  At the hospital Lou is patched up in no time at all with a couple of stitches and Gary convinces her not to report it to the police after admitting that things are not good between him and Maria at present.  He returns home where he catches David and Maria talking and he gets the hump saying that having heard both sides he reckons that Lou's story is more credible.  Later Maria challenges Gary saying that he fancies her - he tells her she is being ridiculous and later he goes off in a huff.  Lou phones Tim who is talked into letting them have a sleepover - so there is no-one to be able to give an alibi for either Lou or Gary so I think we can all guess what might happen next.  What does happen is that the police come into the Rovers and Maria is arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm against Louise Michaelis.  .

There were some scenes involving George and Todd both pining for Eileen and Theo respectively.  I think they were supposed to be comedic but sad people do not always make for strong comedy.  As ever the Platt family en famille were highly entertaining and long may that continue.

Written by Julie Jones and Mark Wadlow.  Directed by Marcus Lee.

Kosmo

@Kosmo100

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