Liz awoke after a night with Jim understandably confused over what she wanted. She returned to the Queens to find an angry Colin, who suspected where she'd been, a suspicion confirmed when Jim turned up smugly waving her scarf around. Colin resigned and told Liz he was heading to Chorlton Street Bus Station for a coach to Hartlepool in the hope she'd chase after him. When she didn't arrive he got on the coach and left us all broken-hearted, departing the show except for a couple of guest appearances after Des died in the late 90s. Jim thought he was back in with Liz, but she told him she needed to think about things. One of those things was Amy, who went round to see her and explain she wasn't leading Andy on. Sadly, this was the last appearance of actress Louise Duprey; she suffered a nervous breakdown shortly afterwards and had to be written out of the show. (Amy will be back on Friday, but with a far more famous face...) Emily and Percy went to Olive's wedding, where Percy was disgusted to discover her new husband was a conscientious objector during the war. He caused a scene and stormed off, but Emily stayed, got drunk, and flirted with the vicar, the saucy minx. Tracy snuck out of number 1, leaving a note to say that she was moving in with her 22 year old boyfriend Craig. You can imagine how well that went down with Ken and Deirdre. And Mitzi the Japanese show dog was snatched from Derek when he was out walking her on the tough streets of Weatherfield.
TUESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 4th and 6th October 1993
Percy was jealous of Emily's burgeoning relationship with Bernard the vicar, and started hanging out with Phyllis for a bit of company. She immediately took advantage and got her back to her bungalow in the hope of shenanigans. Jenny Bradley's New Personality confessed that she'd robbed Mitzi off Robert because the unborn pups were worth £500 each. She also suggested Rita should sell the shop flat and move with her into Ted's posh house. Rita twigged she was a heartless gold digger. Alf was excited to be going back to retailing, though he was less pleased to discover Audrey had backed her car into his shop sign and broken it in two. Ken went round to see Tracy and her new boyfriend at their flat. Craig turned out to be sullen and miserable and also that kid Don Brennan belted a few years ago (though he had a different name then). Ken tried to persuade her to be kind to her mum and not to cut her out of her life. Tracy however wanted to stand on her own two feet and didn't want Deirdre nagging in her ear.
WEDNESDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 8th and 11th October 1993
It was a rum old couple of days for Rita as the people around her let her down in different ways. Jenny Bradley's New Personality cooked her a slap up meal then asked for thirty thousand pounds so she could set up her own beauty salon. This reminded Rita of Jenny's dad a little bit too much, so she said no, and Jenny turned on her and spat a load of insults. Reet handed over a cheque for a thousand pounds and sent her off to come back when she's a nice person again. I reckon it'll take, ooh, about twenty-two years. Meanwhile, Alf relaunched the Corner Shop with a few plastic cups of wine and a photographer from the Gazette. He ended up getting squiffy and told Rita he wished he'd married her, and if she gave him the nod, he'd drop Audrey and run off with her. Sally and Kevin celebrated their anniversary by going to a restaurant owned by a garage customer who gave them a free meal. When they got there it turned out be a kebab shop, but the owner laid on some wine and a man with a bağlama to serenade them and it was actually all very sweet. Back at home, Joe brought his wife Hazel round because she was going to collect Jonathan while he went away; Sally wondered if this meant they were back together. And Deirdre went to see Tracy and threatened to drag her back to Coronation Street; Tracy was unimpressed and told her mum to get lost.
THURSDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 13th and 15th October 1993
Do you know, I've been writing these recaps for months, and I still can't get it through my head whether Jonathan is the dad or the little boy? Anyway, Hazel brought - checks Corriepedia - Jonathan round to be looked after by Sally, and confessed she'd never return to her ex - not least because he was madly in love with some woman from the Lake District. Sally realised it was her, and rowed with Joe, but he said he'd just said it to look a bit less pathetic. Emily got closer to Bernard the vicar, bonding over her lost Ernie and helping him when he admitted he was losing his faith. Alf apologised to Rita for his drunken advances - but also admitted he'd meant every word. Deirdre and Ken talked about Tracy. She felt abandoned and useless, but Ken told her to keep going. She was cheered, but less pleased when Tracy agreed to see him once a week, but not Deirdre. When Sarah-Lou saw Derek planting a conifer, he told her a story about it being a magic tree, and buried some chocolate coins for her to discover. Des was watching from next door, and smirked...
FRIDAY - Episodes originally broadcast 18th and 20th October 1993
Liz was horrified to open her post and discover Jim had filed for divorce. She was especially annoyed to discover she was being blamed for her "unreasonable behaviour". Jim talked to Denise about the divorce - in 1993 Coronation Street, twice divorced Den is an expert on the subject, while today that would practically make her a commitment-addict - which caught the attention of Don. Tanya, meanwhile, wasted no time in spreading the news of the divorce round Weatherfield. Derek was somewhat foxed to discover his magic conifer had shrunk. When he caught Sarah-Lou digging around in the ground he shouted and upset her, but he was even more upset when he spotted Des replacing the conifer with a smaller plant after dark. With Louise Duprey permanently out of action, the producers called in a different actress to play Amy for a single scene where she told Andy she was going on holiday. Enter Melanie Brown, later of the Spice Girls, filmed from behind and in darkness with a different actress dubbing her with a Scouse accent. She cuddled Andy and that was the end of the character; a shame, as Louise - who passed away a few years later - was a bright and charming presence.
Derek's magic tree is one of those storylines that is quite good fun right now, but which could very easily outlive its welcome. If @merseytart is still watching the Wiltons whittering over a conifer on Wednesday, he might have to stop watching.
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