October 1996

Wednesday 2 October 1996

 

Friday 4 October 1996
Curly deliberated over his fate tonight as the Square Dealer's prepared to set the 49 tasks of punishment for him. There was a problem with that as the special book which contained the rules of the Rectangle was missing. Although all the other items which the Dealership relied upon were all in place and together, the loss of the book however was going to cause problems. Not only were Norris and Fred deliberating their problems, Curly was deliberating his own. Raquel was still disenchanted with Curly's decision to attend the special meeting to await his fate and no matter what he said she wouldn't be convinced.

Raquel was actually preparing for a job interview of her own as she fussed over which outfit to wear. Curly was more supportive of her than she of him. In fact the only words she seemed to have for Curly were negative ones.

Trish meanwhile was having difficulty with Jamie as tonight would be the night he discovered that it was in fact his father had in fact hit Trish and left her with such bruises. However for now he was wallowing in the illusion that his dad would be the all conquering hero when he got out of jail. He was spending a lot of his time with Jack's pigeons much to Vera's puzzlement, as she still can't see what people like about them.

Andy was given something of a patronising gift from his annoying girlfriend Anne in the form of a rent book. She once again preached the logistics of doing things correctly and by the letter and Andy to my surprise simply sat there and took it. Later in the pub he was talking to Sam and she expressed concern about Anne's somewhat nitpicky attitude. Andy was forced to agree, I can't see them lasting too long together in that house.

Jim expressed his apologies to Bill about putting his foot in it with the potential Maureen/Bill romance situation. He went on about how if he could take back what he had said he would, Bill however was very understanding about the situation. Speaking of Maureen she was in the depths of one of her moods. A mixture of distrust for men with a liberal sprinkling of self pity was the order of the day.

Norris and Fred still without a book to get 49 tasks from had to do some quick research to help them through the situation. Norris was lumbered with the task and by the evening he appeared to have got some semblance of an idea of what he was doing. Curly was dutifully sat down before the bench and it was explained to him the 49 tasks. Although thankfully we were spared this, when he got home he had to face something of an ear bashing from Raquel, who told him to stop pandering to the needs of the Dealers and how she felt he was dabbling perchance with things he didn't understand. The upshot of the 49 tasks was in truth there were only 7 and they were all related to the passing of time in some way or another. It really was unclear!

Raquel on the other hand had enjoyed a fruitful day with her being a successful applicant for the job she was trying for. However now she had the job she was thinking of not taking it. Based upon the belief that something better was waiting on the horizon for her.

As for Trish she finally told Jamie the truth about his dad hitting her at the prison, he was understandably upset and ran off into the night after an argument with his mother which resulted in him calling her a liar.

 

Monday 7 October 1996
Tonight centered around the 70th birthday celebrations of Alf, he spent a good deal of the episode pottering around the Street while Audrey weaved her machinations in the background. We had to sit and watch as Alf marvelled at such modern day wonders as the musical birthday card and the likes. Amongst the things he did on his birthday were taking the car in for a service as well as chatting with Maud and Maureen.

There were developments for Jamie as well tonight as he bolted from P.E. lessons at school and headed off towards Strangeways Prison in an effort to see his father. He didn't get far though, as he was soon apprehended and brought back to the school. He was given a stern lecture from Ken about how important it was he realise that school had a responsibility to look after him. Ken decided to bargain with Jamie in the respect that if he was well behaved for the day then Ken would try and talk to Trish to alleviate the arguments he was having at home.

Raquel was sending off job applications galore tonight including one to Manchester United with the idea of being their resident aromatherapist. Curly was horrified at the idea and told her she hoped she didn't expect him to attend the games. Presumably United weren't his team, and Curly reiterated this by saying "when they had kids" they would go and watch the Blues instead. The mention of kids brought a look of horror to Raquel's face. It would seem at this point the two of them are having wildly different ideas about the marriage.

What made things worse was it was the day of one of Curly's "tasks of the rectangle", which was of some annoyance to Raquel. The last thing we saw was Curly leaving with a map of Weatherfield and his strict instructions left courtesy of Fred Elliot and Norris Cole who had been languishing in the Rovers. Poor Curly had been sent on some form of search for seven items around Weatherfield. He also had seven hours to do the task in.

Audrey was preparing a secret party in the Rovers for Alf and was ordering a complete silence on her preparations so Alf didn't discover the truth. He thought they were going to see a show, namely 'Grease', but we would see the results of that later.

Fiona spoke to Alec again, and he mentioned how he had financed some more tapes to expand her repertoire but despite how willing Alec was to help her she still seemed a little hesitant about her new direction.

Ken had the promised talk with Trish, Jamie was present and listened as Ken tried to talk to Trish. It all boiled down to lack of communication between mother and son. Jamie was of the view that Trish never listened to him especially with matters regarding his dad. After Ken went home Trish had her little rant and rave about how she hated people interfering in her business. Jamie however was resolute and insisted Ken might have a point, he wanted to see his dad despite all Trish's wishes. Trish had little option in the matter now and agreed to let Jamie see his Dad.

The party at the Rovers was all set and merely awaiting the guest of honour, under Audrey's instructions everyone was acting normally. Even when Alf walked in nobody batted an eye until they saw what he was wearing. Alf was kitted out in 50's gear complete with greased up hair and waistcoat and red shirt, this was because he thought they were going to see Grease. However he was still pleasantly surprised that his 70th celebrations were in the Rovers after all. What didn't amuse him was the fact that Audrey had spent £800 on a 3 day holiday to a health farm for the two of them.

 

Wednesday 9 October 1996
Raquel's disenchantment with Curly's Square Dealing was on the increase tonight, in fact it was a night for a number of people to be on the warpath, and one of the others was Alf. He feared his wallet was about to have a cardiac arrest due to the damage that Audrey was trying to inflict on it with elaborate birthday gifts. It was the £800 health resort trip that was the real stinger. Alf told Audrey in no uncertain terms to cancel the trip but scheming Audrey had other ideas and was going to be playing for time to avoid cancellation.

It was Ken's birthday tonight and he found a somewhat stinging birthday greeting from class 3B, essentially a quip about his old age and his "bat ears". The headmistress saw this and the two of them joked about it, later she gave him a bottle of wine as birthday present. They also chatted on a more serious note about Jamie Armstrong and the problems he had been experiencing of late.

Raquel went to the Rovers and spoke to Jack about Curly's treatment at the hands of the Rectangle, she wanted to know where the real information which had dropped Curly in the mire had come from and, although Jack was initially very cagey, he eventually revealed Alec as a source. On the other side of the bar in the Rovers an appointment was being made by Andy. He asked his dad to come round to his new house with Anne for a housewarming meal. He had deliberated over who to ask first but had plumped for his dad first because of Liz's work commitments.

Raquel lunched at the cafe and unwittingly found herself dining with none other than Des. They spoke about how far she had come in the time he had known her. Graduating from a homely lass with marriage and children on her mind to one of life's winners. They spoke quite genially until Des mentioned how he still felt sure she and Curly weren't suited. Raquel recoiled a bit at this remark but maintained composure and assured him he was wrong. ( When we saw Des at home later changing his shirt I thought he had lured Raquel back but obviously not.....). Des was still on the receiving end of his new "mother-in-laws" scathing tongue when she called round later that day. Des took it all pretty well though and there was no problem, However Claire has not been entirely honest with Des in every respect as we found out she had kept something about money secret from him, debt perhaps ?

Raquel finally cornered Alec and got him to agree to sort out the mess Curly was lumbered with in the dealership. Alec agreed so he could get the opportunity to knock Fred and Norris down a peg or two and take the wind out of their sails. Curly wasn't happy about this and asked where his old Raquel had gone, only to be replaced by this new version he saw before him. Raquel simply stated she now had drive and confidence which made her who she was now. Before Curly could respond she asked him to leave the Dealers and leave the nonsense behind as much as anything to prove his love for her.

Audrey successfully navigated her way out of Alf's presence for long enough to avoid ringing the health resort and cancelling. Alf was incensed and insisted he would get his own way eventually and get the trip cancelled.

 

Friday 11 October 1996
More unpleasantness for Trish tonight as her estranged husband sent a malicious letter in the post to Trish. Essentially it was something of a knee jerk reaction to his discovery that Trish was carrying a child that wasn't his. He explained in the letter that he doubted that Jamie was his own son as Trish had been carrying on something terrible at the time. Trish was understandably seething about the letter but kept her feelings bottled for Jamie's sake. She didn't show him the letter but then again she hid it in a very obvious place.

The Platts had received a letter from Nicky and they were keen to show it around especially to Audrey who came into the cafe looking for Alma who was enjoying a week off. It turned out she was intending to take Alma with her to the health resort due to Alf being so off the idea.

Raquel was still giving Curly a hard time about his dealings with the Rectangle, she wanted him to quit the dealers for the good of their marriage. Curly agreed to have a word with Alf to tender his resignation later that day, although it seemed he was unhappy about the idea judging his grim countenance.

Jack was speaking to Norris and Fred in the Rovers later that day, he mentioned how Raquel had been speaking to him about Curly and how she felt he was getting a raw deal at the hands of the dealership. Fred looked somewhat indignant but kept tight lipped despite being somewhat inflamed about a dealer's wife blabbing Rectangle business.

Jack had also been something of a confidant to Jamie who had gone back home to read his mother's letter. As a result he began querying his origins and began asking Jack how he could discover if his father was who he said he was. Jack tried not to get too involved in the conversation but informed Trish who consoled her son that his dad was lying. The two of them sat and burned the offending letter that very same night.

Curly meanwhile went to see Alf about his resignation, he was disappointed to see Brother Watts leaving the fold. However he had to agree that the sake of a marriage was more important than staying with the dealership. Curly dejectedly agreed to resign the dealership but you could see that by now it was sticking in his throat to do this.

Maureen was interrogating a hapless Alec in the corner shop over the movements of Joyce, she was trying to find out as much about her "nemesis" as possible. Essentially she had got the wrong idea about Joyce and Bill drinking together in the Rovers the other night. Luckily this was cleared up by Maureen in the Rovers later that night.

Alec spoke to Fiona about her next booking, it didn't seem very illustrious and Fiona's heart was clearly not in it. The idea of being the warm up in a club in Wakefield didn't appeal to her at all. Hopefully Alec will soon get the message and stop throwing money at her.

There was more mysterious chat between Claire and her mum-in-law over her mysterious money that we have been hearing about. It looked to be rather a negative aspect as she dallied over whether Des should be told or not. Claire's mum-in-law voted to speak out but Claire implored her to silence for now on the matter.

Ken was on the receiving end of a visit from his headmistress, she seemed keen as mustard on Ken's company especially over a bottle of wine. Ken discreetly held her at arms length as she used Ken as a shoulder to cry on . We also saw Ashley and Kelly return after a long break as earlier in the day they had dined at Ken's place. Ashley was toying with the idea of moving into Don's as a lodger.

Speaking of Alec he took great delight in clearing Curly's name over the Rectangle business leaving Fred and Norris with egg over the their faces. It seemed a grand apology was in order for these two. So they quickly made their way two the Watts residence with promises of a quick promotion up the rectangle ladder if he stayed. Curly put his foot down and told them he would stay leaving Raquel with an expression that could freeze water.

 

Monday 14 October 1996
Starting off tonight with Bill and Jim fixing their old van and having a discussion about Bill's infatuation with Maureen. Jim was trying to give Bill some pointers about how to make the first move in getting a relationship with Maureen started. Bill's efforts were thwarted by being unable to communicate with his intended thanks to a crowded shop. He was going to have to wait till later before he could tell her how he felt.

Jamie was having troubles of his own as he faced some ribbing from Becky's annoying friend. Thankfully Becky was somewhat more understanding to the fact that Jamie's dad was not in Saudi but in fact he was in prison. Jamie confided how he felt about his recent trouble with his parents, Becky compared her experience with her own father dying in the RAF. It seemed almost as though these two were kindred spirits through their problems.

Raquel and Curly were going through something of a frosty patch as well tonight, the day started off well enough with Raquel going on another one of her job interviews with Curly's full support. However when she got home things took a turn for the worse when Curly got on to the subject of children. The two of them had very different ideas about family and what it entailed. Raquel's priority was without a doubt career first, family later - and nothing was going to move her from this idea. Curly meanwhile despite having faith in his wife was showing doubt in her abilities and didn't want her to drift back into bar work.

This was all changed when Raquel got a phone call saying that there was indeed a job for her following her interview that day. Curly and Raquel then celebrated in the Rovers with a drink, the matter of family was closed for now although I'm sure it will raise it's head again.

Ashley was on the lookout for a place and his first port of call was Don's house, Don had been looking for a lodger and Ashley looked up on himself to fit the bill. Kelly looked around Don's house with disapproving stares. Despite Ashley's enthusiasm Kelly wasn't sure about Don's residence as the place to stay, she reckoned Ashley should think about it. However, persuasive Don was eager to get a paying lodger in and offered to move Ashley's stuff in that day.

Billy Williams was talking in the pub with Des and the subject moved on to Claire and her late husband in the RAF. Billy let his mouth run away with him and began talking about the probable pension that Claire was obtaining from the RAF. The subject surprised Des and he confronted Claire about it later, Claire admitted that she was in fact receiving a pension that she was prepared to give up for Des and her new life with him.

Maureen was finally confronted by Bill who asked her about the possibility of a relationship starting, Maureen was non committal and said she had times when Reg still angered to a great degree. Not to mention the other commitments in her life with the shop and all. She told Bill she would think about and tell him reply when she had perused the idea.

 

Wednesday 16 October 1996
Des was still having thoughts about his relationship with Claire following his discovery of what she stood to lose if they got together. Claire made effort to reassure Des but he couldn't seem to get his head clear on the subject.

Curly and Raquel were once again caught up in the subject of families, Raquel mentioned that although on the surface Curly seemed keen to start a family he was showing little commitment in every area of homemaking apart from conception. Again Raquel seemed more than a little hard on him but of late that has become her way.

Kelly was voicing her opinion on Ashley's new living accommodation, she mentioned how she didn't approve while poor Ken was forced to listen in on the subject. Ken had other problems to deal with as he were to discover later on. He spoke to Sue the headmistress over coffee later that day with regard to backing out of the school conference which was coming up. He explained how Daniel was playing up and he needed to spend more time with him. The conversation rolled on and Ken again seemingly nervous in Sue's presence explained how good life was being to him now that he was single. In fact he reiterated the point to such an extent that he couldn't have hammered it home any better if he had put it above his head in neon lights.

Sue acted deeply embarrassed and claimed getting her hands on Ken had not been her intent. Although she hinted it might have subconsciously passed her mind. Ken satisfied that he was safe hinted that he might go on the conference trip after all. When Ken spoke to Dreary later that night in the pub though she reckoned Sue was showing herself as available if Ken was interested.

Don was on the lookout for some new bedclothes now that Ashley was coming to lodge with him. In fact the prospect of company appeared to have brightened his demeanour no end.

Jamie was in somewhat dour spirits as he showed reluctance in going to school. Later he moped in the cafe while Roy and Gail tried to talk to him about his problems. When Roy mentioned his father it set off a raw nerve in Jamie and he left shortly after.

Des called an emergency meeting with Sean in the Rovers regarding his situation with Claire. There he explained how he felt somewhat on probation in this new relationship while Claire checked him out. Sean could offer no constructive advice at all leaving Des to make up his own mind.

Upon arriving home he spoke with Claire and voiced his feelings on the subject. He mentioned his history and how he always tended to mess things up. He concluded that he only wanted women who were unavailable and that basically now he had Claire she was at risk of losing everything because of his roving nature. So he concluded that it might be better if she pack her stuff and leave...

 

Friday 18 October 1996
There were developments tonight for a few of the cast, especially Bill and Maureen. However to kick things off we saw a less than perfect atmosphere in Des's household. Des was still wanting Claire and Becky out of his residence because of the widow's pension she would lose by remaining with him. It was decided that they would talk about it later that evening when Des was back from work.

Maureen was taking opportunity of the fact that Maud was going to bingo that night and decided to invite Bill round while they had some privacy. Judging by the looks on their faces there would be more on the agenda than simply a meal and a chat .....

Raquel was settling into her new job as an aromatherapist, she was surrounded by a bunch of glamour puss types who on the surface at least seemed to like her. Looking at her in a work environment it was almost like seeing the old Raquel back for a while. Unfortunately she seemed out of her depth somewhat despite the fact that the results she was showing in her job were favourable. The girls at work proceeded to invite Raquel out for a drink after work. Needless to say Raquel readily, if not a tad nervously, agreed.

Don was taking in his new lodger Ashley tonight, he was moving his belongings in with the help of Don and Kelly. Both of them were labouring under the misapprehension that Don was a hard working man who spent most of his nights working the taxis. However the truth was that Don nowadays liked to spend his nights propped in front of the telly with a beer in his hands much to the disappointment of Kelly. She was looking for some time alone with Ashley to give his new place a housewarming.

During the day Jack caught up with Jamie bunking off school and informed him that if he didn't get his act into gear and get back into education then he would not stay true to the promise he had made to breed Jamie a prize pigeon of his own. Jamie was reluctant to go back to school but Jack had won the round this time and admitted defeat.

Raquel finished work and sat drinking with her new friends, it almost looked like she was under judgement from the rest of the staff as they all talked and drank. Curly turned up to the amusement of the staff ("who the hell is that"). All he wanted to do was give her a lift home but Raquel wanted to stay with her new found friends. Curly looked a little hurt but seemed to take it all in his stride.

The evening rolled round and Maureen closed up the shop secure in the knowledge that Maud was out of the way for a few hours at bingo. Bill dutifully turned up smartly dressed and with flowers ready for his evening with Maureen. Back at the house things went well with the two of them reiterating their feelings for each other and then kissing.

However despite best intentions disaster struck with the bingo hall where Maud was heading being closed due to staff illness. Maud was forced to return to the Rovers where she enjoyed a drink with the Platts. When it was time Gail nominated Martin to drive her home and drop her off which Maud gladly accepted.

By this time Bill and Maureen had kissed and decided to take things a little bit further and it was a case of cut to the bedroom. Bill couldn't wait to get his kit off and rarely have I seen a man tear at his tie with such fervour. Maureen was just closing the curtains and getting ready to get sack bound when she looked out of the window and saw Maud pulling up in Martin's car.

It was time for a quick situation reversal as both of them quickly began to get dressed quicker than lightning. Maud saw Bill's van and the bedroom light on and put two and two together, she quickly told a confused Martin to about turn and head back to the Rovers. Thus the little love tryst that had been planned was lost for nothing.

Des turned up at home from the Rovers later than planned and sat and talked with Claire about the future. He said he loved her but still wanted her out so she could safeguard her pension from the RAF. Des also mentioned how he would like to keep on her seeing her but Claire made it clear that if she left the house she would leave him as well.

 

Monday 21 October 1996
Becky had some of the focus in tonight's episode as she contemplated the disintegration of Des and Claire's relationship. Nobody it would seem was prepared to come clean and talk to her about why they were breaking up. In the end she was of the opinion that she was the cause of the split.

The Wiltons began another little banal plotline regarding the decoration of a room in their house. Mavis initially was unwilling to take time out to decorate. However Derek persuaded her to fetch some wallpaper charts and choose some paper in her lunch hour. Doing this fuelled her decorating appetite and all looked well until Derek had to cancel his proposed days off due to a business convention. Cue Mavis going sulky in the pub and the story rolled on .....

Dreary suggested and end to the legal problems besetting Liz and Jim by suggesting she contact a third party mediator. Incidentally when Jim heard about this he was about to start his usual rant - until Bill figured it might be a good idea. Jim feeling he might come out a winner here went for the idea as well.

Raquel and Curly drifted further apart as their happy little world seemed to go a little bit frayed at the edges tonight. Curly longed for the days of shared communication between them while Raquel seemed to grow degrees colder by the episode. Judy Mallett invited them round for a meal and a drink and while Curly wasn't keen Raquel was going to languish the chance to brag off her new career.

Alf seemed to be acting a lot more health conscious tonight by letting Audrey use the car while he walked. The truth was his license had expired now he was 70 and he was worried he would not be granted another one. He confided this in Rita but secreted it from Audrey.

Ken was on his conference trip with the somewhat sexually menacing Sue, he thought he was safe but she was seemingly still interested and it would seem only across the hallway from each other.

Ashley proved to be something of a card player under the tuition of Don as his regular card school fell through. In an effort to keep the numbers up Don taught Ashley on the fly and before long he was a formidable opponent quickly draining his opponents. That lardy loud mouth Kelly was soon screaming down the phone for him to come and pick her up from Ken's though. Thankfully he told her to be patient.

Becky caught Des and Claire arguing and still thinking she was the cause of the split took out her anger on Des. She thought he had never liked her from the start of the relationship.

 

Wednesday 23 October 1996

 

Friday 25 October 1996
Starting off with tension between Bill and Jim on account of Jim's obsessive chattering about Liz and his failed marriage. Bill seemed to be enduring this one topic of conversation wherever he went which caused him to fly off the handle in Alma's cafe. He told Jim the subject was boring and he was fed up of it. In fact it looked so heated it looked like they might come to blows over the subject at one point much to the alarm of a shocked Alma.

Des figured he had found Claire somewhere to live following her moving out of his place. He had enquired about the flat above the bookies where he worked. It seemed a tad to convenient for Des in Claire's books, and also the fact that the place looked a mess didn't do Claire or Becky for that matter any favours.

Sue was the cause for concern for Ken when she appeared to have slipped and fell in her hotel bathroom. This caused an immediate panic for Ken as the ambulance was called. This would have been a simple matter if not for the fact that Norris Cole spied most of this shenanigans as he prepared for his early morning jog.

Instantly he jumped to the conclusion that Ken had spent the night with Sue and the two were something of an item. This was relayed to Derek who in turn had nothing better to do with his time than ring his annoying wife Mavis. She in turn told Rita and a disapproving Emily and so on and so on .....

Jim figured it was time to put an end to the nastiness between him and Liz and opted to pay her some money to settle things. He called a summit in the Rovers and she appeared looking smug and satisfied as Jim handed over a cheque for £500. Needless to say she wasn't happy, and in fact I think saying she was unhappy would be an understatement. She sucked in a deep breath and shouted "No" at the top of her voice, before storming out of the Rovers.

Ken had returned from the conference and confided in Dreary what had happened. She saw the funny side and they both mentioned how lucky it was that events had transpired away from Weatherfield and that nobody would ever find out what had happened. Of course by this time this was thoroughly untrue.

Alf of course was fancying himself as a sponsored walker and was letting everyone know how much he was walking in general. Ashley insisted on putting his foot down with Kelly which resulted in a door slamming in his face.

 

Monday 28 October 1996
Kelly and Ashley were at loggerheads still despite the fact they were missing each other like crazy. Kelly blamed Don's influence for Ashley's recent behaviour whilst Ashley thought Kelly being too overbearing. It caused him some problems at work as he was messing up the deliveries. Fred decided he should take the masterful romantic approach to Kelly to win her back. Which briefly worked until Kelly made a comment about Don "Peg Leg" Brennan. Ashley took offence and the two of them split up again.

Raquel and Curly grizzled over the subject of a family again with Curly dropping heavy and somewhat pressuring hints about wanting a child. Raquel's career determination remained foremost in her mind though but even when she prepared a lovely meal for them at the end of the working day to calm somewhat disturbed waters there was still tension in the air between them.

Des moved Claire into the flat above the bookies on the basis that she would still be spending more of her time with Des at his house. Claire was determined to make an effort to live there to make the place look at least homelike. Speaking of bookies, Sean was making moves on Sam although at this point she was playing hard to get methinks.

Sue came over to apologise to Ken about the conference debacle and mentioned she would be away from school for a few days to recuperate. Both were thankful that nobody was ever going to know about the mishaps. However they didn't take into account Mavis and Derek and Norris's little gossip monitoring network.

Jim made yet another attempt to placate Liz over money matters, he wanted a meeting to sort things out which Liz was prepared to attend on the terms that Andy be the mediator. Andy was reluctant but came along to watch anyway as the two of them settled on a £1,000 as a final settlement between them. This concluded business between them and seemingly closed all doors in their lives off.

 

Wednesday 30 October 1996
A likeable episode which had it's feet firmly planted in comedy, kicking off with Alf. As we know Alf has been dallying about going for a medical examination over the last few weeks with regard to getting his driving license renewed.

So off he went to the doctors without telling anybody about it at all. At his GP's we met Alfs' Doctor, who in himself was a bit of a scene stealer with his wonderfully dry approach. As Alf tried to be his jovial genial self the Doctor who had endured something of a long shift merely sat there with an unimpressed glassy stare firmly in place.

Eventually after Alf had tested the Doctor's patience to breaking point with his witless banter they finally got round to the business in hand of giving Alf a medical and it would appear he was satisfactory.

However things were to go a little less than smoothly from here on, Alf bumped into Emily in the car park. Alf was still endeavouring to keep his appointment secret but found himself waiting to give Emily a lift back to the Street. Whilst looking for a fresh car parking space Alf accidentally left his car in reverse and slammed into his Doctor's car. As you can guess the already short fused looking Doc was none too pleased.

Ashley took an impressive front role tonight as he avidly listened to wise old Don's tales of how to control women. Ashley sat listening only occasionally dropping in the odd one liner. In fact Don was rather unintentionally funny. Also it seemed that during the course of the episode every scene with Ashley featured him with a can of beer in his hand. It must be said that Ashley and Don do actually work now they have had time to gel. Ashley even found time to impart his new found wisdom on the subject of relationships on Sam as he drank yet another pint.

Raquel snootily wandered around the Street only occasionally coming back down to everybody else's level to talk to Maud. In fact Maud offered Raquel a reading of the tea leaves. The reading took place in the back of the shop with Maud unveiling some happiness to come in Raquel's life but not without some pain to come before hand. There would even be a significant event involving parting coming soon. The letters C and Y were also mentioned as relevant to that parting.

Kelly was getting her own pep talk about men from Sally and none less than little Rosie. She was given that old chestnut speech about how men never grow up and are essentially kids at heart.

The big event of the night was the Firman's giving a dinner party which involved Raquel meeting Eric's wife again. Obviously Curly was there as well and along for the ride this was Anne Malone and Andy. Now, although I profess to calling Raquel over her character reboot of late, Curly isn't innocent either. He seems to be showing more of a patronising air which could be down to Raquel's changes but all the same he's not as likeable.

Anyway I found myself wondering whether Raquel would excel in such company or drop back on old habits and botch it. It soon became clear she was going to do the former. She was cool and confident and although Eric's wife tried to disarm her Raquel was equal to the match. Curly tried to fling in some shop talk but Anne ended up making him look silly as he wasn't as up to date on shop information as she was. Andy was along for the ride and was simply sitting back to enjoy the goings on around him.

Raquel mentioned the tea leaves reading earlier that day and Curly immediately thought she had screwed up as he tried to make light of the comment. It turned out that Eric's wife was something of a believer in such matters and this started a conversation between them. They had hit it off well it would seem. However Eric's wife warned of a lifetime of conversation about frozen chickens and the like as Curly spent more time in the supermarket business. Raquel already looking a bit shaky in this marriage looked even more so at the prospect.




Written by Adrian Carter

 

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