Love was in the air, as Reg finally made an honest woman of Maureen. The ladies of the Street turned up for the hen do - even though they thought she was mad - and then the ceremony itself, with Bet arriving in Charlie's truck and Raquel going on the arm of Des - though she spent more time talking to the wedding photographer. At the reception, Reg tried to persuade his new brother-in-law that he should have a turn at looking after Maud. Unfortunately Maud heard them rowing through the Xpelair and went home, upset that she was a burden. The new Mr and Mrs Holdsworth went hunting for her and in the process missed their flight to Paris for the honeymoon. Elsewhere, Kevin donated an unloved painting to Emily's charity fund, not realising it was a wedding present from Percy. Sally demanded he get it back. And Steve's dodgy dealings came to an end as it turned out his cash in hand client was a mate of Mike's. He sacked Steve on the spot, only for the young McDonald to turn up at his flat and offer him a partnership - or alternatively he'd set up his own t-shirt firm and drive Baldwin out of business.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 28th and 31st January 1994
Denise bought the Websters' old painting at the auction for a fiver and took it into the Rovers. It didn't go down well, but it went down even worse with Percy, who recognised it as his wedding present. Denise wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the picture until she discovered it was worth £120 from Nick-nack Paddywack, the Irish-Liverpudlian junk shop opposite the chippy; when Kevin tried to buy it back for £5, to mollify an upset Percy, she agreed to give it to him. Unfortunately Sally then learned it was worth a lot more so they agreed to sell the picture and split the profits with Denise, with a donation to the Royal British Legion on top to try and make Percy happy. (Meanwhile Vera took her tacky dog in and discovered it was worth £45, or £185 if she found its pair). Alma thought Mike was spending too much time fawning over Mark and he accused her of being jealous because she had no kids of her own. She threatened to leave him over it, until he apologised; meanwhile Mark was also sick of Mike's attentions and told him he wanted some space.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 2nd and 4th February 1994
Raquel got a session with Ben the wedding photographer. Des offered to accompany her as a chaperone, but Evil Tanya interfered and told her she'd look daft with a companion. Raquel was worried when Ben asked her to do a special session, but all he wanted her to take off was her make-up. She got upset when Des turned up as she was stripping her paint off and sent him away. In the pub later, she told him he'd embarrassed her, and he confessed he cared about her. Alf wound up the shop - again - and used his last day of discounts to go to the cash and carry and stock up on tinned goods. Audrey had thought he was out getting her a present so she as compensation she demanded he buy her a conservatory. Jack thought he had a dead cert bet, but no money to wager, so he flogged Vera's tacky dog for £25. Unfortunately, Vera then walked past the second-hand shop and thought it was the pair of the one she had at home, so she bought it for £48. When she realised she'd bought her own ornament back she lobbed it at Jack in fury and it smashed. (His horse didn't come in either). Alma went up into the cafe flat to let the meter man in and she realised that even though Tanya was paying her rent, she wasn't actually living there. She immediately concluded Tanya was using it as a knocking shop.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 7th and 9th February 1994
Liz was told by a solicitor that she could take Newton & Ridley to court for making her choose between the pub and her private life. She wasn't keen, not wanting to rake up the past, but Jim insisted because he wanted to get his own back at Richard Willmore. However, Ken took it upon himself to go to the brewery on her behalf, and it turned out Willmore had left the company. His successor gave Liz £2000 compensation. Reg and Maureen started at the Corner Shop though he was a little disappointed at how small his world now was. Maud meanwhile was upset when an offer came in on her home as she didn't want to live in Reg and Maureen's annexe. Mike tried to take on a jobseeker at his t-shirt company for slave wages, but the lad didn't turn up, so Vera filled in - once he'd upped the wages. It was still beneath Baldwin though and he decided to give up the factory unit. Alma tried to have a quiet word with Tanya about the flat but she was told in no uncertain terms to keep her nose out of the flat and her private life.
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 11th and 14th February 1994
It was the start of the McDonald empire as Steve put in a bid to buy the factory off Mike. (It's interesting that the unit is so tiny, not the sprawling multi-level behemoth it's grown into these days). Mike refused on principle, but he agreed to rent it to Steve if he covered all the costs. He also got a haircut to reflect his new powerful position, and also, because it's 1994 and baggy is out and Britpop is in. Reg pulled the ticket for his shop raffle (first prize: that patio set he got from Bettabuy that he couldn't stand). Rita was the winner, and she told him to stuff it, having been burned by the last time she won one of his lotteries. On top of that, Maud got a ramp put in at the shop so she could help out, meaning she'd be with Reg and Maureen 24/7. Tanya's private life continued to raise eyebrows, as Betty clocked she was still living with her dad even though she rented the flat, and a delivery of Valentine's flowers were delivered to the cafe. Alma snuck a look at the card and saw they were from someone called "Alex". Bernard the vicar told Emily that he was going to leave the church as he'd lost his faith, worrying Percy, as he thought he was planning on moving in. Charlie took Bet out to an absolutely awful country and western bar (people with thick Lancashire accents should never say "howdy"), and she was shocked to have her name called out by the compere to get up on stage. It turned out he'd entered her into a Dolly Parton lookalike contest without telling her. Bet was furious and sucked on a lemon the whole time on stage; when she got down she told Charlie she'd felt humiliated and dumped him.
Is it wrong that I like Tanya too much and wish she wasn't having this clearly inappropriate relationship? Very probably. Let me know on Twitter @merseytart.
Classic Corrie is on ITV3 every weekday from 14:50 with a repeat the following morning.
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