The Platts continued to struggle to deal with Sarah-Lou's pregnancy as a social worker appeared to evaluate the family. She seemed all sweetness and light but Martin resented her, worrying that she'd assume he was the father because he was the nasty stepdad (a very dark implication that was casually thrown into conversation). It did make him wonder if he'd neglected Sarah-Lou by having an affair with Rebecca. Duggie had taken Patricia Farnham Debs out on a date but when she hinted that she was available for a second he cut her dead. He confessed to her that it was his first time out after the death of his wife and apologised for his unpleasantness. Gwen continued to bury her head in the sand about her debt and refused to let Jim help. He sat her down and forced her to list all her debtors. It brought home to her just what a mess she was in. Alma's sort-of boyfriend, Bob, came round to Audrey's to help her with her council work. He tried it on with her and Audrey chucked him out - then fretted about how she would tell her best friend.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 1st and 3rd March 2000
Jim found a solution to Gwen's money problems: he asked her to move in with him. She was shocked but refused because she thought it was too soon. Also, it was not exactly the most romantic reason. Gail suggested they should put Sarah-Lou's baby up for adoption, but Martin wasn't keen. Sarah confided in Candice that she was pregnant, but broke down at her ruined life. Gail came up with a new way to solve the problem - they could go to Canada, let Sarah-Lou have the baby, then pretend the baby was hers! Audrey told Alma about Bob's pass, but she thought she was stirring things up, and refused to believe her. Alma told Bob and he suggested she should move out because Audrey was clearly an unpleasant liar. In her glamorous new Kabin - it certainly looks better then that it does now - Rita sold copies of the Gazette with Ken's story about the Victorian-era murder. Maxine found it all creepy, and wondered if there'd been many murders in Coronation Street. Give it a couple of years Max and you'll be added to the statistics.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 5th and 6th March 2000
Linda wanted new challenges at Underworld, so Mike gave her a supposedly impossible assignment. He asked her to get a deal off notoriously tough businesswoman Helen Cooper. She put in hours of research and work and managed to come away with a massive order. Mike was impressed. Martin told Gail that her Canada plan was ludicrous. However, when Sarah-Lou became upset at telling everyone about the baby, she became determined to make things easy for her by taking the responsibility away. She also told them who the father was - a lad in her class called Neil Fearns. Duggie told Audrey that Bob was on the take but when she passed the info on to Alma she wouldn't listen. She didn't realise that Bob had been arrested.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 8th and 10th March 2000
Ken's queries had uncovered that the murderer, Bernard Cartwright, had a grandson... Fred Elliott. Blanche soon spread the info around the Street and when it got back to Fred he threatened to sue Ken. He got Curly to withdraw the financial support for Ken's book, but then real-life took over and brought the story into the present day: a body was found in the Victoria Street development. Ken was thrilled, thinking the long-lost Mrs Cartwright had finally turned up. One of the builders on the site, meanwhile, was taken with Hayley, and she enjoyed flirting with him. Les intervened to tell the builder that Hayley was trans because he is awful. Disgusted he railed at her and Roy in the cafe, calling them perverts, until Jim turfed him out. Alma learned that Bob had been arrested and was furious with Audrey that she hadn't told her. Audrey rightly pointed out that she wouldn't have believed her and the two made up. Gail contacted Stephen to travel to Canada, with Martin pleased at the idea of doing without her for a few months so he could see Rebecca. Unfortunately, David returned home to tell them that the other boys had been saying his sister was pregnant. It seemed the cat was out of the bag.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 12th and 13th March 2000
Gail decided they'd all be best off leaving Weatherfield for good and starting a new life in Canada. They broke the news to Audrey who lost her temper, calling Sarah-Lou the town tart. Audrey was hurt that her granddaughter was ruining her life the same way she had. She regretted it the next day and apologised, offering all the support they needed. Meanwhile the kids at the school shouted insults at Sarah-Lou in the corridor. Linda thought her big deal would mean she could stop working on the machines but Mike said she'd have to stay there until he found a replacement. She went on a go-slow, so he suggested she plan their wedding to cheer her up. Fred's new notoriety brought a load of rubberneckers to the butcher's counter so he exchanged gossip for meat products. At the building site, however, the police made a new revelation. The body wasn't a hundred years old - it was a recently murdered man.
MONDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 15th and 17th March 2000
Geena pretended to Les that she was blessed with psychic powers but he kept harassing her for racing tips. She picked names at random, but when he kept losing money, Janice asked her to stop. She told Les that her vision decreed a woman should place the bet, so he gave Janice the money instead and she pocketed it. The police did the rounds of the Street, looking for info on the murder victim. Norris was thrilled, as was Fred, now that he knew the body was nothing to do with his granddad. Audrey spoke to Gail and said she didn't want Sarah-Lou to put the baby up for adoption, remembering how she'd felt when she'd let Stephen go. Mike admitted to Linda he wanted her to give up working completely when she became Mrs Baldwin. She refused, but it may be that she was in a mood because of his choice of best man: Mark.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 19th and 20th March 2000
Sally was all excited about taking on one of the new shop units to be a hardware store with Danny. He was less than thrilled, and when they talked about it, he admitted it was because he was scared of the commitment. She suggested that he move in with her at number 13. Blanche gossipped in the Rovers, saying that Gail was pregnant, and Alison admitted she'd seen her in the ante-natal clinic. Audrey came in and misunderstood what they were talking about and started defending Sarah-Louise. It was soon all over the Street and Blanche delighted in telling Martin and Gail when they came in the pub. A new girl started at Underworld, Bobbi, meaning Linda could move into the sales position she wanted. She didn't succeed at her first call, however, and cried on Mark's shoulder. He confessed that he couldn't stop thinking about her - and she said the same about him. They nipped to a hotel for an hour of shenanigans.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 22nd and 24th March 2000
Duggie took Debs out for the evening and they went back to his. The house was covered in pictures of his late wife, however, which ruined the atmosphere, and while they had a bit of a snog that was all. Debs realised she'd have to play it cool. Mark told Linda that she was only working as a sales rep because she was sleeping with the boss. She realised it was because he was jealous. She told him they'd have to end things so they didn't hurt Mike. The police uncovered the identity of the murder victim and went to see Natalie. She was horrified as they told her they believed the corpse was her son, Tony. Elsewhere, Curly joined a singles club, Gwen lied that she'd won two grand on the bingo to cover that she'd taken out a loan, and Rebecca got Martin a mobile phone so they could talk dirty to one another.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 26th and 27th March 2000
There was a crisis in the salon: Maxine spotted a mouse. She overreacted of course while Audrey worried that it'd wreck trade. She hired Pat the odd job man to catch them and she promised him a fiver per mouse. The police confirmed that the body was Tony. He'd been beaten to death with a baseball bat and while Natalie was upset, there was a part of her that thought he'd got what he deserved. His criminal antics had resulted in Des's death and she could never forgive him for that. Gwen admitted to Janice that she had a very good reason not to move in with Jim - she didn't love him.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 29th and 31st March 2000
Gail received a visitor in the cafe - Neil Fearns' dad. He offered to help with the baby but Gail turned him down. She said that Neil at least should keep his childhood. Sarah-Lou was chuffed that she wouldn't be stuck with Neil for the rest of her life. Pat uncovered ten mice in the salon and demanded fifty quid. Audrey paid up even though she knew it was a scam, but Tyrone twigged how the con worked. He approached Pat and borrowed his mice to try and pull the same trick in the Kabin, but Rita realised what was going on and chucked him out. Audrey cornered Pat and demanded her money back. Loan sharks visited Gwen and told her the debt had been sold on to some very dodgy folks. She suddenly decided that moving in with Jim was a very good idea indeed and he happily took her in, not realising she'd fled her house under cover of darkness. It did mean that Steve would have to move out. Natalie had hit the bottle to try and cover up her feelings. She bellowed at the patrons in the pub for their fake sympathy, knowing they were happy to see Tony gone. Duggie gave her a shoulder to cry on and agreed to help her with the funeral arrangements.
I've been trying to decide who the most boring character in Classic Corrie is at the moment. For a long time it was Vinny, then Geena came in to steal his thunder, but Gwen's money problems are bringing her right to the front of the queue. Let me know what you think on Twitter @merseytart.
Classic Corrie is on ITV3 weekday afternoons and is also on the ITV Hub.
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