Happy New Year! Can you believe it's 1994 already? It seems like only yesterday Hilda was singing Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye. Appropriately enough, the theme of the episodes was "new beginnings". Don returned to Ivy, and begged for forgiveness and a new start. She was unsure but when he went to confession she allowed herself to relax and welcomed him back. Curly held a party at number 7 and invited most of the Street. Des tried it on with Raquel, but she turned him down, treating him mean to keep him keen. Meanwhile Jim walked Liz back to the Queens and ended up staying the night. They agreed to take things slowly. Vera finally, in the face of overwhelming evidence, realised Terry was a wrong 'un, and moved into the "anger" phase of the grief cycle. To try and cut her off from attacking the Hortons, Jack went to see them, and begged for visitation; they told him he'd have to take it up with Terry.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 5th and 7th January 1994
Bettabuy was rocked by redundancy rumours. Ivy stormed into Curly's office and demanded to know the truth; he said they were just rumours, until Reg confirmed that he would have to cut some staff. He drew up a list and Reg was disgusted to see Maureen's name on it, accusing Curly of being vindictive. Des drove the Duckworths to Blackpool to fight for Tommy, only to be surprised when Vera confessed she thought he'd be better off with the Hortons. They agreed to let him stay in Weatherfield during the holidays. Jim got his feet under the table at the Queens but it went awry when Richard Wilmore visited and found him changing the barrel. Since he'd been banned from the pub for belting Wilmore, Liz found herself dragged to the brewery and being told to choose between the pub and her marriage. Don tried to make amends with Denise, sending her a letter and then knocking on her door, but she blanked him. And Bet went on a date with Charlie the trucker, where they bonded over their mutual loneliness.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 10th and 12th January 1994
There are times when Classic Corrie reminds you that the 1990s were another country. In today's episodes, Liz gave up her dream job as a landlady so she could go back to being a wife and mother. I think this was meant to be a triumph of love over adversity, but it was actually quite depressing watching this intelligent woman sacrifice her career so she could serve chips to a grease monkey. Alf overcame a dose of gout to attend a Council meeting, where he was asked to be Lord Mayor of Weatherfield. Audrey was thrilled at the idea of being Lady Mayoress, but less thrilled when he told her he was turning it down because of the shop. However, there was a ray of hope for her, as she discovered Reg was being made redundant from Bettabuys; he'd told Mrs Rogers that if Maureen went, he'd go too, and she'd taken the opportunity to get rid of him. Audrey suggested to him that he use their joint redundancy payouts to buy the shop, as they'd meant to the previous year. Mike was suspicious because he treated Steve like dirt and yet he just took it on the chin. We discovered the real reason; Steve was doing one price on the books, and one price in cash, with a percentage going straight into his pocket. He also had problems with Kevin, who asked for a raise to help pay his fine, but he turned that down flat. And Tanya took on Alma's flat, phoning a mysterious person to inform them that it would be "perfect". Presumably she's pleased to find somewhere to hold her witches' coven.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 14th and 17th January 1994
Mike and Alma rowed over money, as she felt he was spending far too much on Mark's school and his trips, especially since half the money was hers. In a fit of pique she went to the courthouse and paid Kevin's fine to teach Mike a lesson. Unfortunately she forgot to tell Kev, so he was understandably confused when he tried to pay it himself. He told Sally, and she jumped to the conclusion that Joe had paid it because she'd mentioned how much it was worrying her. When Kevin asked why he'd do that she admitted Joe was in love with her. Kevin lost it and belted Joe when he came to pick up Jonathan, telling him to never darken their doors again. Alma confessed she'd paid it to him, and then to Mike, who was upset for a different reason; it turned out he didn't have any money. Finally! I've been wondering where he was getting all his cash from for months. Elsewhere, Alf agreed to sell the shop to Reg and Maureen, Liz moved back into that poky little two up two down with her awful husband and left the Queens behind, and there was a lovely storyline about Bet needing a date for the Licensed Victuallers' Ball. Charlie agreed to go with her, but he was at the other end of the country, so much of the episode was Bet, Liz and Tanya tracking his progress in a road atlas and wondering if he'd make it. He finally arrived, turning up at the Rovers in dirty overalls... which he removed to reveal a tuxedo underneath, like James Bond in Goldfinger. He then literally swept Bet (dressed as a Pearly Queen for some reason) off her feet and it was absolutely delightful.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 19th and 21st January 1994
It was Reg's last day at Bettabuys and Lord Morgan, the exalted leader of the store, visited the Weatherfield branch to see him off. He presented Reg with a voucher for garden furniture and a painting of head office then announced who his replacement would be as area manager - Elaine Fenwick. Curly was less than thrilled, though on the plus side, he made up with Reg and agreed to go to his wedding. Sally was upset that Kevin had belted Joe for no real reason and went to apologise. Joe tried to take advantage of the situation, and told her he'd be waiting for her to come to her senses, but Sally told him to get lost. Even so Kevin was deeply unhappy that Sally hadn't told him about Joe's crush for six months, and wondered if there was more to it she wasn't telling him. She told him she never wanted to see Joe or Jonathan again, so hopefully this whole plotline can finally die. Mike confessed to Alma that he had cashflow problems but that she shouldn't worry about it; she didn't like being left in the dark. Mark overheard, and told Mike he didn't want to go on his ski trip so he wouldn't be a burden; when Maggie heard about it, she refused to let him give up his holiday, and decided to pay for it herself.
1994 means the arrival of Norris, Fred and Samir, but more importantly, it's the arrival of Ivy's New Lips. Get excited with anticipation with @merseytart over on Twitter.
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