It's interesting to see the difference between Shannon's death in 1998 and Oliver's death in 2020. The latter went on for months, with helplines and educational moments and characters tearing their hair out in agony. In 1998, Shannon just... dies. There's not even a scene in the hospital. She simply died offscreen of meningitis. Understandably it left the Street in shock, with Fred offering to pay for the funeral, and Judy and Gary crying alone. It even caused Leanne and Gail to bond as they comforted one another. Shannon was angry that people only cared about her now the baby was gone but she was mainly an emotional wreck. Alma was still livid that Deirdre kissed Mike at her release celebration, thinking he did it deliberately to humiliate her. She didn't realise that Deirdre was trapped in a different romantic nightmare as Ken tried to kiss her. She was embarrassed and immediately legged it to stay with Liz. Ken, the arrogant sod, took this as a personal slight. And Jack's efforts to give up smoking were sabotaged by Alec leaving a fag end lying around then catching him puffing away.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 22nd and 24th April 1998
Jim was falling apart. Alone at number 11 he was drinking heavily and not paying the bills. Liz begged Steve to give him a job at the building site to get him back together and eventually he agreed. Jim refused to swallow his pride and instead got Chris's old job in the garage. He went to the building site, hammered, and berated his son. He even tried to hit Steve, but he retaliated - and Jim plunged off the scaffolding. Janice returned from her mum's and Les introduced her to his long-lost son. Of course Janice took this calmly and welcomed him to the family - lol, no, she lost her temper at Les for being a lying scumbag. She was confused by what it meant for the future of their family. Nicky talked to Leanne about Darren, the man who'd killed his dad. He wanted her to write to him and find out when he was being released and she reluctantly agreed. Alma went to see Deirdre and accused her of having an affair with Mike. Deirdre was astonished, and persuaded her that her fears were unfounded - but when Mike offered her a job running the office at Underworld she declined so they'd keep some distance between them.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 26th and 27th April 1998
Some people simply don't help themselves. Ashley got Zoe to help out in the shop to take her mind off things; she immediately robbed from the till so she could go out clubbing with Leanne. She had a great time but her mood was soon crushed when she discovered Judy was pregnant. She was upset and angry and when Emily tried to sympathise Zoe completely lost it and smacked her. Outrageous. Jim was rushed to hospital in a coma. John Stape dressed as a policeman interviewed Steve and he admitted Jim was drunk when he was on the scaffolding. Jack tried to pivot to pipe smoking as part of his new healthy lifestyle but Vera refused to let him smoke it. She confessed she wanted him to take it seriously because she was afraid of losing him. She booked an appointment with a hypnotherapist.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 29th April and 1st May 1998
Gary told Ashley about Zoe attacking Emily and he realised something had to be done. He talked to Martin, who suggested counselling. Ashley told her about it but she refused because of her terrible history with social workers. As a way of moving on he suggested she give Shannon's things to the Malletts, and while she seemed ok with it at first, she ended up setting the pram on fire and screaming in the street. Natalie went to a Wethy County match with Des, as they got closer and closer. Samantha was narky with her when she found out. Jack thought the hypnotherapist - who, I must record, was named Magenta Savannah - was a shyster and rather than taking it seriously he pretended to regress to a past life: "Lusty Jack". He began talking like a pirate and making rude remarks. Vera was confused, but even more confused when he continued with his lecherous character back home. Now in 1998 he pinched Betty's backside and she slapped him, but for some reason ITV3 thought that would offend our delicate sensibilities and cut it out. However Mark Aldridge on Twitter pointed out it was on YouTube, so if you can cope with such unbridled lust, it's available here. And Leanne got a letter from Brian's murderer, which got Nicky all excited. He was getting paroled soon.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 3rd and 4th May 1998
Liz was suspicious that Jim's accident wasn't an accident and that Steve was involved somehow. He admitted to Fiona that he'd pushed him but assured her it wasn't deliberate. Fiona pointed out that when Jim woke up he'd tell everyone the truth anyway. Nicky continued to use Leanne as bait for Darren but she refused to send a picture to the prison as she thought it was leading him on. He went behind her back and wrote a letter with her forged signature on it. When she found out what he'd done she was terrified. Lusty Jack continued to cause havoc at the pub, with the barmaids demanding he stop harassing them, and Vera being genuinely worried about his health. He used it as a tool to skive to the bookies and sit in front of the telly. However, when Roy tried to talk to Lusty Jack about the 18th century he got all his historic facts wrong. Zoe chopped all her hair off and Ashley realised it couldn't go on. He called in a doctor and Zoe was sectioned. Natalie worried that Des was only going out with her to bait Samantha but he said he genuinely cared about her. Samantha meanwhile decided to move out of Natalie's and into Curly's, telling everyone she'd been chucked out, and accusing her of stealing Des. Samantha is a very odd character these days.
Classic Corrie is on ITV3 weekday afternoons and is also on the ITV Hub.
