July 1997

Wednesday 2 July 1997
The sun rose over the golf course and it looked like Fred had endured something of a night outdoors following his little accident in the previous episode. However rescue was on the way in the form of a woman and her dog. She thought Fred was a bit of weirdo at first but finally agreed to go and fetch and ambulance for him after his pleading became too much.

Meanwhile had also spent the night outdoors in quiet contemplation in his van at Scarborough. Today would be taken up in trying once again to obtain some level of forgiveness from his estranged wife Sally.

Speaking of Sally she was still sticking to her guns as far as Kevin was concerned. She was insistent that her life would now continue without him and that there was truly no way back for their marriage now. Sally's mother Elsie (incidentally a terrible actress) however kept preaching that there might be a way for them to save the marriage as Kevin had never shown any signs of straying before. Sally however was adamant and would not budge on the subject.

Alma was greeted at Firman's with a poster sized version of herself on the wall in the super market. She had become the very first "Employee Of The Month" and as a result her face was famous so to speak. Alma while being flattered didn't take this compliment entirely favourably. She worried it might make people think she was getting favourable treatment from the boss or heaven forbid be his girlfriend. I could see her point though because she hasn't been at Firman's a month. I think it's looking increasingly clearer though that Eric Firman might have the hots for Alma.

As it happened Alma served Ken Barlow on the tills hat day, nothing unusual in that you might think but as they spoke Ken pointed out Dreary's boyfriend buying a bottle of scotch. Shouldn't he have been on a plane at that point though ?

Maureen meanwhile was after Fred Elliott's blood after he unwittingly stood her up the night before. Little did she know that he had in fact spent the night laying prone on golf course with a broken leg. Ashley assured Maureen however that Fred regularly disappeared on drink binges for days at a time.

Kevin finally plucked up courage to see his wife, carrying a pathetically weedy bunch of flowers as a peace offering he knocked on the door. Sally's mother graced the pair of them with an hour's privacy while they could talk. Kevin trod back over old ground begging forgiveness while Sally continued to harbour her rage towards him and denied him any hope of getting back together.

Kevin finally left tail between his legs, which is where he should have kept it in the first place and set off for the long lonely drive to Weatherfield. He didn't notice Rosie his daughter chasing after his van desperately shouting for her Dad. He had hardly made any distance at all when Sally rang him on his mobile accusing him of taking Rosie with him. Kevin denied this and it was clear the girl had got lost, he turned the van round and headed back to help look for her.

Meanwhile Ashley and Maxine were keen to make use of Fred's absence by making use of his house. It was early closing so they headed back to his place for an amorous afternoon. Maxine reckoned things would go better with a bottle of wine so she packed him off to the off license round the corner. In return for his little favour she would do him one by dancing erotically when he got back.

Needless to say Ashley rushed back only to discover his Uncle Fred complete with leg in cast about to enter his home. Ashley tried to stop Fred going inside but it was no use as he wanted to settle down in the comfort of his own home. He opened the door to the living room to see and exotically dancing Maxine gyrating with little more than a robe covering her modesty. With her back to the door and oblivious to the fact Fred was watching she flung it off and turned round giving Fred a sight to make his eyes pop out. He was indeed very grateful for the sight and made that apparent....

Friday 4 July 1997
The episode was taken mainly with Kevin and Sally and their missing daughter Rosie. As we joined them Kevin was back in Scarborough and getting ready to join the search for her. The police had been called and an officer was sat with Sally taking a description of the child. There was a brief few moments of conflict between the parents as they appointed blame for what had happened but soon they put aside their problems to unite in finding Rosie.

In Weatherfield meanwhile Maxine was fleeing chez Elliott fearing she would never be able to show her face in public again following her impromptu strip show the episode before. She was angry and upset despite the fact that Ashley tried to reassure her the incident would go no further.

Fred was in fact feeling more than a bit melancholy tonight as he lay prone on the sofa with his broken leg. He spoke well of Ashley and requested audience with Maureen Holdsworth for a chance to make amends and explain his situation.

Meanwhile in Scarborough the police were out looking for Rosie while Sally paced her mother's house going mad with worry. She eventually could stand it no longer and left the house to search. Kevin was quick to follow despite being told someone should stay behind to wait at the house if she returned.

The two of them picked their way out amongst the long grass above the beach as they searched. Sally was approaching hysteria as she noticed a piece of plastic bag flapping in the wind. It was the same colour as an item of Rosie's clothing and Sally was convinced her daughter was dead. I actually thought Kevin reaction of shock when he saw the bag and thought it was his little girl was quite convincing. It was almost like he couldn't bring himself to go and investigate further and Sally had to do it for him.

As they wandered further Kevin took the opportunity to try and pitch for another chance to save the marriage. The two of them seemed incapable of arguing as they were united in worry and for a moment as they hugged it looked like anything could be possible.

Maureen meanwhile turned up at Fred's, she faced the big man on the sofa and it was clear he was no cheerier for seeing her. He was in reflective mood casting back long looks at his selfish and debauched lifestyle and announced he would like to do something selfless for a change. He reckoned that when he died which he thought was not far away he would leave everything he owned to Maureen. She could do little but stand and gawp in shock at his offer. However little did she know that Ashley was outside the door about to bring tea and biscuits and heard everything his uncle said. He didn't look to happy about this latest revelation in his possible future fortunes.

Alma was being cajoled and coaxed by Curly into continuing her little "ad campaign" for Firman's Freezers. Curly had been briefed to butter up Alma into agreeing to starring in some adverts for the freezer. It was something she cleanly elected to turn down flat as she had no interest in fame and fortune at all.

As this was going on an ill wind blew into Weatherfield in the shape of a new notorious family. This was the much hyped bunch who were now going to take on Don's old place. The two teenage daughters sloped into Firman's looking like a couple of mutant spice girls. Their first act upon entering the shop was to begin shoplifting and defacing Alma's poster.

As they did their shop 'n' steal trip the mother and father of the family were pulling up into the oh so respectable street in an old Ford Cortina estate reminiscent of one of Onslow's wrecks from Keeping Up Appearances. No sooner had the family all got into the house than trouble began as some flowers went missing from Maureen's front window and a drill went missing from the van of Bill and Jim. You've guessed it folks, a real disfunctional family has landed hard on Weatherfield.

While this new bunch were pinching anything not nailed down, Dreary was having something of a confrontation with John the pilot. Ken had revealed earlier that day he had seen John buying Scotch in Firman's Freezers. He was point scoring of course but it prompted doubt in Dreary to the point where she quizzed him on what he had been doing when he should have been flying in from Zurich of all places.

John made up some excuse about swapping shifts and buying the booze at the last minute. He had fibbed because he had told her didn't want her thinking he had forgotten about her. I think it's an outright lie but Dreary swallowed it and he did pass the story off convincingly without breaking a sweat.

Meanwhile Rosie turned up on the beach and the warring Websters went to fetch her. Kevin made another big mistake by promising his daughter that things would be back to normal before long and they would all play happy families again. This incensed Sally further and she vocalised her anger at the dinner table when the kids went to bed. Kevin was then faced with a trip home..alone.

Sunday 6 July 1997
Kevin woke early and alone looking every inch the bachelor, he had slept at the breakfast tabel and the remnants of a curry and some empty beer cans were by his side. As residents learned the truth about what happened namely Bill and Rita more than anyone else it was a case of "let's pick on Kevin". Bill started the chorus by giving Kevin a hard time at the garage. He did this to the extent that Kevin decided to go home as his head was in a whirl through recent events.

Meanwhile the rest of the family from hell were moving into the Street properly. The girls were still looking every inch the Spice Monsters and they were set to terrorize poor Mavis at the Kabin. This happened because Mavis would not serve them cigarettes because they were underage. Seeking back up in an increasingly hostile situation Mavis sought Rita from the back of the shop.

She backed Mavis's decision to not serve the girls and in turn she kicked them out of the Kabin. Both Leanne and Toyah turned nasty and abusive when this happened. They vowed they would return and trouble would come with them.

Des had a quiet heart to heart with Mavis about Derek tonight and vowed to be there for her if she ever needed him or anything from him. It was quite a tearful moment for Mavis as she trawled through the still painful memories of her husbands untimely death.

Rita was the second person to chew Kevin out for his foolish behaviour, she stood in his house screaming that Sally deserved better treatment than she had received at his hands. Kevin was speechless after all what could he say to defend himself.

Fred spoke to Ashley about how he had bequeathed everything to Maureen Holdsworth. He admitted he had acted in haste and now had to figure a way out of the mess he had created for himself. If for no other reason than to placate Ashley who was angry about being thought so little of in the situation.

Emily had gone to see the Battersbys to ask them to keep the music down but Janice and Les informed her that there wasn't a problem with their music as they were just playing it like any teenager would. Meanwhile out on the street Mavis was greeted by Leanne and Toyah who were sat on her wall playing music and smoking they ask Mavis menacingly if this is where she lived, a disturbed Mavis answered and hurried indoors. Percy at that point was walking home and could not help but to storm over and demand they clear off home Leanne and Toyah were unimpressed so Percy went to turn off their loud music himself but was pushed away and told not to touch their stereo, Percy walked away muttering that he had fought in the war.

Natalie called at the garage to see Kevin but he was not there so she asked Chris to get Kevin to contact her At Kevin's house Bill had come to see if Kevin would like to go for a drink at the Rovers, Kevin again started to feel sorry for himself . He wanted Bill to go to Scarborough and put in a good word with Sally Bill had other ideas he was of the opinion that it should be Kevin going to Scarborough and fighting his own battles. Although Bill was understanding of Kevin's plight he did not agree with what he had done and when he told him so Kevin told him to leave which Bill did and walked straight into the pub there he was greeted by a half-cut Les.

Les offered to buy Bill a drink he seemed to think that this was in exchange for the drill that had been stolen the day before and so Bill retreated from the pub in anger. Meanwhile in one of the booths Rita, Mavis ,Emily and Percy who had resorted to drinking to steadying their nerves were comparing notes on the newly installed Battersbys. At the bar Curly was buying Alma drink perhaps this was to soften the unsuspecting model up as he was about to tell her that Eric Firman had hired a professional photographer so that she could be the face of Firman. Alma told Curly to unhire him because she had no intention of posing for any photographs.

Also in the Rovers, Maxine was waiting for Ashley however Steve came over to sit with her instead. She informed him that Fiona was not going to join her there but this did not seem to bother him as he told her that he was no longer interested in Fiona and asked her what she was doing tonight at that point Ashley walked in and whisked a Maxine. Back at Kevin's Bill had called once more to tell Kevin that he would now go to see Sally if it would help, this seemed to put a smile on Kevin's face.

Monday 7 July 1997
The family from hell took on some more prominence tonight as they continued their invasion of all that was common and decent in Coronation Street. The likes of Percy and co were still outraged that their peaceful little haven could be disturbed so thoroughly.

Meanwhile Bill Webster was making his way to Scarborough on his errand of mercy for Kevin. He was there to try and talk to Sally and make her reconsider cutting the ties that bound her to Weatherfield and more importantly Kevin.

Young Ashley had to let Maxine down for a date that night which didn't get her day off to the best of starts. Ashley soon cheered her up when he mentioned that Fred had reconsidered his will and was now leaving the business to him. The little avarice monster that lived in Maxine woke up and began to take an interest. Suddenly it didn't matter that Ashley was letting her down tonight after all the needs of Fred Elliott had suddenly become paramount.

The father of the family from hell, Les turned up in the cafe today and it was here that any suspicions about his dodgy nature were confirmed. He struck up a conversation with Roy Cropper and quickly set about trying to sell him a bunch of paintbrushes that he had acquired. Roy wasn't that interested but when Les returned with a multi purpose drill a little later he was transfixed. Of course he wasn't aware the drill had fallen off the back of Bill's van and as a result £50 later he bought the drill. Gail of course observed all this going on and was not impressed.

Kevin was skulking around at work his mind a million miles away when Natalie turned up offering her sympathy to the pain he was going through thanks to Sally's thoughtless spiriting away of his children. Kevin however was not interested in listening to her. All he cared about was getting his kids back he didn't even seem genuinely interested in Sally anymore, the kids were paramount. As a result of this he told Natalie their affair was over and the partnership would have to be dissolved.

Natalie looked genuinely upset when Kevin broke the news to her, she left the garage and went across to the Kabin to buy something. We never found out just what she was after because Rita cut her dead short and refused to serve her. Once again Rita chewed her out about how she had destroyed a family and how the girls would grow up without a father thanks to her. Natalie tried to defend herself against Rita's verbal lashing but it was no good because she was up against a seasoned professional when it came to slanging matches.

Bill arrived in Scarborough and began his mission to get through to Sally. It was no goof though because Sally was as ever as hard as nails on the subject of Kevin. She held firm and refused to go back to Weatherfield. In fact she informed Bill she was thinking of shifting the girls to a school in Scarborough.

Steve was back on trouble causing form tonight as in Fiona's absence he set his eyes on Maxine. He won her over using flattery and informing that she was not as dense as everyone tried to make out. The two of them shared a drink in Fiona's flat before Steve made a move on her and kissed her. His flattery mixed in with a bottle of wine knocked Maxine's meagre resistance clean over it would seem.

However before things could go too far, Maxine snapped to her sense and she rebuffed Steve's advances. The fact that she had done anything at all with him upset her greatly and her remorse was evident. Slick boy Steve merely laughed at her and called her a tease. He even threatened to have a little word with Ashley. Horrified at this prospect Maxine sobbed at him to keep quiet, would he though ?

While all this was going on Fred had been clearing up the matter of his fool hardy decisions regarding his will with Maureen Holdsworth. She was understanding about the matter and insisted the subject be dropped once and for all.

Meanwhile Bill returned to Weatherfield and broke the news of his visit to Kevin. He explained how he had tried so hard to make her see his point of view but in the end it had all been hopeless. Sally was staying where she was.

Wednesday 9 July 1997
The Battersby Girls were out and about and causing their now usual brand of mayhem for the residents of Coronation Street . The likes of Percy and Emily were the main complainants mentioning how the loud music was keeping them awake at night. They tried to seek the assistance of Ken in an effort to put an end to their misery.

Meanwhile Maxine was counting the cost of her altercation with Steve the night before, she was treading on eggshells with Ashley for fear of him finding about their little upstairs above the salon snog fest of the previous night. Steve of course kept hanging around like a bad smell which made poor Maxine even more nervous. To add to the matter Ashley was being especially nice to Maxine, proving once and for all he doesn't deserve to be treated badly by Max at all.

Speaking of McDonald's Andy finally had something to celebrate tonight as his exam results came through, he kept Liz and Jim hanging on a for the results but they were overjoyed to discover that he had passed and as of now he had got his Bachelor Of Arts degree. Plans for a family celebration were afoot as a result of this good news.

Natalie turned up at the garage pretty much at a loose end now there was no Kevin for her to be with, she tried to keep a hard face in place for appearances sake but she finally broke down in tears while talking to Chris. He took sympathy on her and made her a cup of tea and provided an unlikely sympathetic ear for her to bend. She explained how she had never set out to ruin a marriage and her early intention was to have a bit of fun now she was free and single again. However the best laid plans of mice and men had crumbled to dust and she had committed the mortal sin of falling in love with a married man, and the rest as they say was history.

Chris listened looking every inch the couch psychologist as he stroked his chin and hummed and hahhed through the conversation finally advising her to take the bull by the horns and go and see Kevin to sort out the details of the partnership that would more than likely need to be dissolved now the whole mess had blown up in their faces.

Toyah and Leanne Battersby made more trouble by getting cocky in the corner shop with Maud and Maureen, they were of course on their never ending quest to buy a packet of cigarettes (It sounded odd them asking for twenty ciggies without asking for a brand name, I realise it would have broke advertising taboos if they had said Benson's or some such. It just seemed odd as I am an ex smoker and I would have probably got a vacant stare if I hadn't stated any brand when I used to buy them). Anyway after being rude in the shop they went out to hand Percy and Ken some grief.

Kevin got a call from Sally "Balls Of Steel" Webster tonight stating she would be coming home shortly, Kevin took this as a sign of reconciliation and he was all smiles whilst making a nice meal for his homecoming family. He went as far as to inform Bill that things looked like they might be getting better although Bill advised a level of caution before getting complacent.

The McDonalds were just toasting their success in life before going out for a meal when there was a knock at the door and the Old Bill came to visit. It wasn't to wish Andy well either, they had come to bring Steve in for questioning regarding theft of a case of whisky the night before. It seemed an obvious put up by Steve's arch enemy Alan the police officer fiancee of his ex Fiona.

As it happened Bill was right because Sally's mission for coming home was to basically evict Kevin from his house and send him packing, the last we saw of him was walking despondently down the cobbled streets behind his house and off into the unknown......well maybe not that far :)

Friday 11 July 1997
This heavily hyped episode didn't disappoint in the most part, starting in the cafe with a despairing Kevin sat with his father wondering what he should do to try and win back his wife and family. Bill advised treading cautiously and leaving Sally to settle down before he made any rash decisions and tried to contact her.

As Kevin left for work the morning was about to take a more interesting upturn for Bill. He noticed Roy using a strangely familiar drill to hang a picture on the wall. The light of realisation dawned on Bill as it clicked that the drill was the one stole from his and Jim's van. Bill proved it was his drill by explaining some it's distinguishing features such as a paint splash on the handle and a mark on the casing where Jim had dropped a hammer on it.

Bill was fired up about the matter and stormed round to the Battersby household where he had discovered that Les had been the one who had sold the drill to Roy. He marched into the house with some fire in his belly only to be confronted with a sob story from Janice about how the real guilty party in this family was Toyah who had actually "found" the drill.

We had to listen to Janice explaining about Toyah needing psychological counselling for her stealing tendencies. In others word these two were keen to absolve themselves of any blame while passing it all on to their daughter. Bill foolishly swallowed their story and accepted that Toyah would be kept on a tighter leash for now. However no sooner had he left than these two were laughing in their sleeves at the gullible Webster.

Jim and the rest of McDonald's were still wondering what had become of Steve. He had been kept overnight by the police as they looked for someone to hang a theft of some whisky on. Liz of course saw her son as someone who could do no wrong in the matter whereas Jim and Andy especially were more suspicious as to his actions. The one thing that was letting Steve's situation was his lack of alibi. However there was one person who could help him out of the mire and that was none other than Maxine who as we know was actually with him that night. However as we know it's something she wouldn't want Ashley to know about.

Alma was getting more peeved with the new Firman's advertising situation, not only was her mug plastered all over the store but now they had stuck stickers on her likeness claiming "Alma's Choice : Low Fat Cheese Dumplings". She was becoming a walking billboard and no amount of reassurance from Curly could make her feel better about the situation.

Sally "I Will Survive" Webster was firmly entrenched back in the Street now and was going about getting her life back in order. Her first port of call was the corner shop where she asked Maureen if her job was still open. Maureen could sympathise with Sally's hurt and reassured her she could start back as soon as she wanted. Sally thanked her for this and explained she needed the money to run the house now Kevin was gone.

Sally it has to be noted had become something of a creature of hostility since her return and no one was spared. Rita came simpering over expecting to drop back into conversation with her old friend and benefactor only to be given a reception with a chill factor attached to it. Later on Bill tried to explain to her how Kevin was feeling about the breakup but was given similarly short shrift. Even the house where she lived was now dark and gloomy looking to add to the new improved "dark" Sally.

Roy never a man of violence decided to tackle the Battersby's about how he was now £50 pounds down thanks to Les's dodgy drill deal. He battered on the door for an age before an angry Janice fresh from a verbal sparring with Toyah came to the door and gave him a good shouting at. Roy gained entry though and spoke to Les who looked like turning nasty for a moment until Janice stepped in and pulled a similar stroke to the one she had tried successfully on Bill Webster. Even Toyah seemed gob smacked at her mother's audacity in this situation as Janice describe her own flesh and blood as being a bit off the rails. The Battersby plan worked however and Roy was guided to the door and was left stood despondently on the doorstep. However this wasn't over yet, Roy seemed to have a hidden plan up his sleeve to seek recompense.

As the episode drew to a close we saw the police question Ashley and Maxine about Steve's whereabouts on Monday night. Maxine lied about seeing him and it showed as she looked very jittery just answering a simple set of questions. However the police man didn't seem keen to press the matter further and went off.

Natalie came sweeping into the Street in her red BMW pulling up outside the garage and seeing it closed. She got out of the car and walked across to the Webster household. She knocked on the door and looked around the Street mainly I think to see if anyone was watching. Imagine her face when a hard faced Sally answered the door. Actually to Natalie's credit she didn't fluster at all but merely asked to see Kevin so she could know why the garage had been closed early.

In a very monotonic tone Sally let Natalie know where Kevin was staying and how she could find him there. Natalie thanked Sally and walked away from the door and past the shop. Only it didn't end there because Sally calmly stepped out of her own front door and followed her footsteps casually calling after her. Natalie hearing her name being called turned to face Sally just in time to get a slap that nearly took her bloody head off. Natalie slammed against the doorway of the shop and the episode ended with her looking decidedly dazed (genuine) while Sally walked back indoors with something of a devilish grin on her face.

Sunday 13 July 1997
The Battersby family who are such a prime fixture and fitting of the Street were causing more strife for the residents of the Street tonight. The oldies were well and truly working themselves up into a lather over the loud music and rude behaviour to the point where Percy had began keeping a diary on their dodgy activities.

Meanwhile Les spent the morning pulling the wool over Roy Cropper's eyes by going round to the cafe and giving him some of his money back. Rather than pay the £50 back though he gave Roy a tenner and promised Toyah who had stole the drill would pay a fiver out of her spending money each Saturday. He then went home and told Janice he had stumped up all the money which kept her off his back for a while at least.

Maxine's conscience was being crippled by lying to the police and she came clean to Fiona that she had spent the previous Monday with Steve McDonald meaning that he had not been involved in the theft of some whisky which is what the police had pulled him for. Fiona told Maxine to accompany Alan to the police station and explain the truth. Maxine agreed to do this and dutifully told the truth. After she left Alan gave the green light to let Steve go apparently they could not hold him without charging him for much longer.

Kevin was putting in time at the garage today when Sally called to arrange a time for Daddy to take the children swimming. Not long after Sally had arranged the swimming session and gone home, Natalie turned up eager to speak to Kevin. Unfortunately for Natalie he had no interest in seeing her on account of the fact he wanted to get back with his wife and family. Nothing Natalie could say would change the matter so she left only to bump into Audrey on the way to her car.

Audrey reckoned she looked like a woman who could do with a drink and invited her to the Rovers. In essence knowing Audrey like we do she was digging for a bit of juicy gossip. Hence Natalie sat down with an intent Audrey in the Rovers and spilled the beans about how she felt about all that happened. Natalie explained how she couldn't compete with Sally for the simple reason Sally held all the aces in the form of daughters, a home and all the trappings and trimmings that come with family.

Before coming into the Rovers for a drink that afternoon Percy got a tongue lashing from Leanne Battersby. Mainly because he popped his head over the wall of their back yard and asked if they could turn the music down. Leanne thought he was playing the peeping tom and told him in no uncertain terms to clear off. Toyah quickly suggested blackmailing him to hand over some cash or else report him to the police.

In the Rovers, Ken was counting down his days to retirement asking half jokingly if either Martin or Curly could find gainful employ for him in either of their establishments. Martin reckoned he was old enough to make a good patient but a nursing career was out for him. Ken then went over and read the paper before having a mini pow wow with Percy, Emily and Mavis about their noisy neighbours.

Steve was a free man and walked back into the McDonald household with a headful of probably correct conspiracy theories. Jim wanted to talk about this over a pint in the Rovers and they were soon in the pub with Liz going over what had happened. Steve explained he had not been interviewed properly by the police and the exercise had all seemed like a warning shot being fired to keep him away from Fiona Middleton. Jim didn't seem too taken with this theory but advised him to keep his head down anyway.

Kevin brought the girls back from swimming and tried once again to wheedle his way back into Sally's good books. *Biiiig* mistake there because Sally's heart was still frozen over by what had happened and she was not about to forgive and forget anytime soon if ever. Kevin retorted to her coldness accusing her merely of seeking revenge against him and as a result she would be punishing the children. Whatever Sally's reaction she held her face in a stoic mask and didn't give anything away.

Meanwhile Fiona and Alan were relaxing in the flat when the subject got on to Steve McDonald. Alan casually mentioned he had been released from the station and was a free man. Fiona wanted to ring Maxine and explain that her bout of truth saying had helped an innocent man out of trouble. Alan smiled that usually oily smile and said Maxine's actions would have had little to do with Steve's release. He elaborated by saying Steve was out because they could no longer hold him without charge. He explained they never really had any case for him to answer to anyway. Fiona looked a mite horrified at this while Alan tried to cover himself by explaining it wasn't his case to deal with anyway. As the episode ended you could see Fiona's thoughts relating this incident to her fiancee and more than likely not coming up with favourable opinions of him as a result....

Monday 14 July 1997
As always the Battersbys were at the centre of attention as their own individual brand of noise pollution wrecked havoc with the locals in the Street. Curly and Sam were among the prime sufferers tonight as they had spent the majority of the night in a more or less sleep deprived state. Curly vowed that something had to be done and he was the man to do it.

There were other residents who were having problems tonight as well, one of them being Maxine. She was treading on eggshells around Steve for fear of what he might say to Ashley about their little night of near passion. Luckily for Maxine, Steve kept his mouth shut when all three of them were in the cafe that morning. However things surely had to come to a head before too long.

Eric Firman meanwhile was a happy man tonight, his advertising campaign starring the one and only Alma Baldwin was becoming a roaring success. Thanks to her face being plastered across every Firman's poster in the area certain products which had previously been immovable from the freezers were now moving like wildfire. Alma however still seemed a little bit unsure about where all this appeared to be leading. Curly of course encouraged her and told her this would all be to her benefit.

Leanne Battersby made something of a scene in Roy and Gail's cafe, she was half heartedly looking for a job and ended up talking to Roy who was counting a load of coupons intended to be cashed in to get him a free trip to France. Leanne was trying to cadge herself a free place on this trip made for two and when Roy told her politely where to get off she went mental. She falsely accused him of trying to make a play for her. Luckily the residents who watched this little charade had already got the measure of the Battersby family and knew this little outburst was what you should come to expect by now.

Later that Curly met with some of the locals including Percy and Emily as well as Mavis and Ken Barlow to talk tactics about the Battersby family and how they could somehow get rid of the noise problem they were all suffering with. Finally it was Curly who bit the bullet and went round to speak to Janice.

Curly of course was the measure of courtesy and politeness as he entered the Battersby den, Janice too managed to keep a civil tongue in her head for once as she spoke to him. Curly stated that he needed his sleep and unfortunately the loud music which was being played late at night and into the early hours of the morning was preventing him from getting any. Janice was cordial to him and explained that she would make sure the music was turned off by 9 p.m that night.

Kevin received a visit from Martin tonight and found at least one person in his corner, both were men experienced in having extra marital affairs and Martin was explaining to him what he should expect from Sally in the coming months ahead as any healing process might take place. He advised Kevin not to rush things and let Sally recover from this experience in her own time. Kevin however was sure that he had blown his chances once and for all and that Sally and him as a married couple were over.

The Anti Battersby squad were once more assembled in Curly's front room just before the 9 p.m no sound deadline. As the minutes ticked by nobody actually believed the sound would stop yet just on the stroke of nine the room which had previously been exposed to a backdrop of dance music suddenly went quiet. Curly and co could hardly believe what had happened and were just about to celebrate their good fortune when the music came back on again.....briefly.

The muffled shouts of Janice rose above everything else at that point as she screamed at Leanne and Toyah to kill their stereos. Once again the room was plunged into silence and finally everybody could take a breath and celebrate the new found silence.

The Malletts were having some disagreements while all this was going, Judy had received a date from the hospital with regards to the surgery she was going to require to possibly clear her blocked fallopian tubes. The appointment was not booked till January but already Judy was starting to get cold feet about the subject. The thought of her backing out was something that could be visibly seen to pain Gary after all we know how badly he wants to become a father.

Curly had retired to bed early to catch up on some of his much needed sleep, as he drifted off into the land of nod he was suddenly awoke by the sound of the Battersby's music pounding through his walls again. This time he was taking no nonsense and he leapt out of bed and pulled on a shirt and quick as a flash he was pounding on the door of the Battersby household.

He was greeted again by Janice but this time there was no more Mr Nice Guy, he screamed at her to turn the music off but she calmly stood on the doorstep and told him she only agreed to turn off the music for an hour or so. Thanks to this Curly's rage knew no bounds and screaming nigh on incoherently he sprinted up stairs and the next thing we saw was him at an open window upstairs launching a portable hifi unit out on to the pavement below.

He walked out of the house looking every inch vindicated, that was until Les Battersby turned up. Once he found out what had happened he marched straight up to Curly and grabbed him by the shirt and head butted him. Curly crashed to the ground clutching his head in pain while all the neighbours gathered round and Les and his family went inside.

Maxine and Ashley met up at the salon and it was time for the truth to be told and the cards to be laid out on the table. Ashley demanded to know what had happened on the Monday previous and Maxine was no longer in a position to lie to him. She explained what had happened and about how Steve had wheedled his way into the flat for a drink. Ashley listened and was a touch disbelieving at first but Maxine assured him that she was in love with him and that he had made an honest woman of her.

Unfortunately things didn't go that smoothly for Alan and Fiona as he came home from work to find a real frosty reception from his fiancee. Once again the subject matter came down to Steve McDonald. Fiona reckoned Steve had been victimised because of Alan's jealousy towards him. Alan of course tried to insist this was nonsense but it seemed to be getting him nowhere, as a result he announced he was leaving her. The reason being that he couldn't compete with Steve for her love and affection and as he walked out the door he announced he would not be back.

Wednesday 16 July 1997
Silence was golden for Coronation Street, the question on everyone's lips was where were The Battersby family. The house was strangely deserted and Percy's regular peeks through the windows showed no sign of even slight activity. Curly of course was starting the day with a nice little shiner, as a result he took to wearing a pair of seriously ridiculous sunglasses for work.

Meanwhile Kevin felt like a man who was having his heart torn out as he watched his estranged wife and family going to school today. Now he was feeling the true cost of his mistakes and not even the supportive words of his friend Chris could help him feel any better.

Another miserable face on the Street was that of Fiona Middleton, sat in the salon she was explaining to Maxine how her relationship with Alan was over thanks to his alleged baiting of Steve McDonald. Maxine was aghast at the prospect of her friend putting the kibosh on her marriage plans. However Fiona was adamant that there was no going back now, Alan had walked out and that was that.

Firmans were still running their 'Alma' advertising campaign and it was still reaping benefits. Of course the aforementioned Mrs Baldwin was still edgy about the subject. Almost on cue as if to make matters worse Roy walked in waving a packet of Scampi Dippers which Alma was promoting as the product of the month. He was taken with her advert and actually believed she and Mike sat at home of an evening munching different brands to find a favourite for the shoppers.

Dinner time came and Kevin was propping up the bar in the Rovers, he looked like he was set to drink for England today. Eventually though he had to go back to work to relieve Chris who had been hanging on long enough at the garage. Kevin's first port of call was however where Sally was working at Maureen's shop. Kevin could no longer contain his frustration at being parted from his wife and once again begged her to give him another chance. Sally of course wasn't interested in listening to him and was certainly not impressed at the scene he was making in front of people in the shop. She told him what she had told him before and that was essentially to get lost.

Fiona was keen to cry on someone's shoulder about her predicament with Alan. The person she chose was none other than Jim McDonald a man of at times of understanding and compassion. Fiona sat down and explained what had happened with Alan and how their was to be no wedding now. She explained how she thought that Steve had been put in the frame by Alan and his mates to satiate his own petty jealousies. Jim listened intently and advised Fiona to be careful about what she was potentially throwing away.

Fiona though was sure of what she wanted to do, her fundamental fears were of Alan using his job and position to affect other peoples lives if they didn't suit his own. Just at this point Steve McDonald came home and was overjoyed to discover his ex was now potentially back on the singles market. Jim however was not standing for his son's insensitivities at this time and told him to go to the pub.

Kevin meanwhile was camped outside the garage with a bottle of whisky and a plastic cup. Ken Barlow came by to pick up his car and became an unlikely drinking partner for Kevin. The two almost compared notes on things they had done with their lives. Both had made comparable mistakes whilst within relationships and both had lived to count the costs. Kevin found himself being asked the question "Did he love Natalie". Ken explained that he would need to work that one out for himself before his life could move on.

The Battersby's were back and the peace and quiet of the Street was shattered once more. Les and Toyah had been in Sheffield (although I never saw them) at an auction. While Janice and Leanne were still out and about at a friend's house. Unfortunately trouble was brewing as soon as Les got out of the car. He tried to hand Curly a bill for £200 for the stereo he had smashed. Curly told him where to stick the bill mainly because he had suffered the loss of his glasses thanks to Les head butting him. Thankfully Gary Mallett was on hand to keep things from descending into violence again. The two grudgingly agreed to call the matter quits and say no more about it. About five minutes after that we discovered Toyah had got a new stereo because she cranked the volume up and the nightmare began again....

Kevin had made a few choices in his life thanks to his chat with Ken, one of those choices was to stop trying to get back with Sally. Instead Kevin turned up at Natalie's house and declared that he wanted to be with her from now.

Friday 18 July 1997
Business as usual in the Street for many with Ken taking the long walk to retirement today as he went to school for the last time. The backdrop for the Street was still the pounding music of The Battersby household which had presented another sleepless night for Curly and Sam. Both had long since reached the end of their tether.

Roy meanwhile had collected all the vouchers he needed for a trip to Paris but there was only one problem now. The trip was for two but he alas was unable to find someone to accompany him to the city of romance. Gail jokingly mentioned in passing to Sally that he might ask her to accompany him on the trip.

Speaking of Webster's Kevin was now celebrating his first night back in the arms of Natalie Horrocks. His attempts at wooing back his wife had failed so his attitude had undergone a complete reversal. He now spoke of his wife as someone he despised and who he wouldn't want to be with anyway. Natalie was cautious though was she just someone for Kevin to be with or did he genuinely care for her. Either way she seemed happy to have "her" man back in her house.

Meanwhile the other half of the Webster household was undergoing something of a thaw in her attitude. Thanks partially to Gail's suggestion Sally was considering taking Kevin back. In fact for the first time in ages we saw her smile. She admitted to the family being incomplete without him to be there for the children and to some extent herself.

Alma was another member of the Street pushed to the limit tonight thanks to having her faced plastered across the Firman's chain. Her "promotion" of certain brands of food namely Scampi Dippers backfired on her tonight. Audrey of all people came in to the store claiming the food had made her and Alf uncomfortably ill all night. As a result she wanted a refund and was not budging until she achieved customer satisfaction.

Curly tried to fend Audrey off but he should have known better than to take on the Weatherfield mouth. She merely dug her heels in the more he refused to her terms. In the end Curly dug into the tills and gave Audrey her money back. However even as she left the shop Audrey was crowing to passers by that the food was most definitely past it's sell by date.

Zoe turned up at the arcade again tonight, now seven months pregnant and increasingly desperate. She collared Judy Mallett once again in a bid to get some financial aid. Judy of course had always had a soft spot for Zoe and reckoned she would be better off not trying to get on at the various hostels and homes in the area. She extended her hand to welcome Zoe to stay in her and Gary's house again. However she knew full well that this would cause trouble.

Sally bit her lip and went across to the garage to speak to her husband and see if she could salvage their marriage. What she saw must have blown her heart to pieces. Kevin was in the office with Natalie doing the books, out of the corner of his eye he saw his wife and as a result he bent down and kissed Natalie on the cheek. Sally reeled in shock her eyes filling with tears before turning on heels and running out of the garage and tearfully over to the cafe and her friend Gail.

She explained what she had just seen to a disbelieving Gail, she then composed herself and assured Gail she would be alright so she went home alone. Gail had barely recovered from one shock when she got another, Roy had come up with a solution to the Paris problem. Gail seemed to think he was suggesting that she accompany him on the trip however Roy had another idea. He suggested she go on the trip and take Martin with her on one premise....that he get a postcard.

The war against the Battersby family and their noise assault on Weatherfield took an interesting twist tonight. Sam had obviously been using her head to think of a solution while Curly had been rampaging round the house looking like a cut price "The Shining" Jack Nicholson complete with knife type nutter threatening to kill his neighbours.

She went upstairs looking every inch the plain Jane dressed in track suit with no make up but she came downstairs looking very different. Sporting make up and a low cut blouse and mini skirt she intended to strike at one area of the enemy defences where no man could hit. She trotted off to the Battersby house and knocked on the door until Les answered.

Instantly we saw Sam's ploy was going to get a result, Les's jaw dropped and he went from being a man about to launch a tirade of abuse to putty in Sam's hands. Sam coyly asked Les if he could turn the music off while doing her best to pout for his benefit. Les of course obliged and yelled at Leanne and Toyah to kill their respective stereo and tv's. Sam then thanked him and slinked off back home, mission accomplished.

Of course Janice had seen through the little ploy if Les hadn't and green eyed jealousy kicked in with a vengeance and she made Les wear his dinner down his front as a result. Les didn't care though as long as it wasn't his dinner!

Fiona had endured a terrible day, not hearing from her fiancee Alan had sent her to the brink of tears and she ended the day alone in the back of the salon finishing off her tasks for the day looking every inch someone who had watched the bottom fall out of their world. However she brightened momentarily when she heard a rap at the window. She thought it might be Alan but instead it was her friend and sometime confidante Jim McDonald.

He had come to see if she was alright and while she obviously wasn't she was better for seeing a friendly face. She explained how she hadn't yet heard from Alan and said how she had mixed feelings about the man he was. Basically as a man he was ideal for her but as a police man he was not a nice person at all.

Jim sighed and explained he was hardly the man to give advice on matters of the heart considering how he fouled up so much of his life. Fiona reassured him he had many good qualities including being able to admit he was wrong which was something Alan was incapable of doing. Fiona then thanked Jim for being such a good friend to her whilst Jim told her that Alan's treatment of her had been unforgivable.

As Fiona began to cry she asked Jim to hold and so he put his arms round her and held her tight. He then kissed on the cheeks and dried her tears before stealing a sudden kiss on the lips. Surprisingly Fiona didn't recoil as you might expect but instead responded by lunging into a full blown kiss with this man she had previously only known as a friend.

Sunday 20 July 1997
The early hours of the morning served as the intro for tonight's episode with Jim and Fiona creeping down the stairs of the dimly lit salon following their little tryst. Jim it has to be said looked a little like the cat that got the cream for a few moments. Fiona however looked a little numb and judging what was going through her head at that moment was tough.

Jim offered to stay but Fiona reckoned he had best be off as they had both got an early start in the morning. So Jim wandered back across the cobbled street casting the odd wistful glance behind him as he did. When he got home he had to wake Steve to let him into the house. Of course there was the usual gamut of questions as Jim climbed the stairs with cracks like "anyone we know" coming forth. If Steve did indeed know I doubt he would be so jocular.

As the early hours rolled on an became a more sociable time of day we moved into the Mallett household to find Judy and Gary discussing their new little charge Zoe. The subject was her baby and the fact Judy had got ideas of unofficially adopting the baby. Gary tried to be the voice of reason but Judy's mind was set on the idea. The conversation had to end their though because Zoe came into the room.

The post brought good news for Steve as a letter confirming a divorce settlement came through the letter box. Steve had of course fallen on his feet because his soon to be ex wife Vicky was giving him a pay off to the tune of £15,000. Jim wasn't listening though because he had other things on his mind at the moment. As he walked out of the house he saw Fiona getting into a cab. their eyes met but nothing was said between them at all.

The cab was going to take Fiona to Alan McKenna whom she had tried to ring earlier that day. She had left a message on his friend's answering machine where he was staying. The reason we know this was because we saw Alan listening to the message.

Martin was checking with Roy to make sure he really wanted to give away the trip he had earned with his coupons. Roy thought that Martin was sure he and Gail would get bored in France so he dug out some books on the country to entertain their trip.

Meanwhile Toyah came in trying to win Roy's heartstrings with a sob story about how she would have to resort to prostitution to pay him back the money for the drill. Roy told her not to exaggerate but offered her some work in the cafe while Gail was away. More than likely a move he would come to regret in the near future.

Fiona arrived at Alan's friends house and the two of them stood looking at each other. There was no big loving reunion of any kind just a series of apologies for mistakes made. Fiona of course made no mention of her fling with Jim McDonald. It still looked like these two wouldn't make it to the aisle on their performance tonight. Alan was still cold towards Fiona as he was convinced she was not being straight with him. The two of them parted on bad terms again as result.

Jim meanwhile was looking for Fiona but she was nowhere to be found, instead he spoke to Maxine. He couldn't exactly mention why he was looking for Fiona so he made up some garbled excuse about work before leaving.

The Mallett household once again became a scene of drama as we discovered Zoe could have possibly overheard Judy and Gary's conversation about adopting Zoe's baby. She spoke to Gary first who tried to knock the idea out of the ball park. However she persisted reckoning that they could adopt the baby and become it's parents. When Judy found out about the conversation "negotiation" was about to move a little further. Zoe would sell her child for £2000. Gary looked horrified while Judy looked more than a little hopeful.....

Monday 21 July 1997
Jim was still wondering about his chances with Fiona tonight as another day started in Coronation Street. He desperately wanted to speak to her about what had happened between them the other day. However tracking Fiona down for long enough to strike up a conversation seemed to be proving nigh on impossible to do.

Another subject of greater focus tonight was Zoe and The Malletts and their decision over whether to adopt Zoe's unborn child. Already Judy was more or less dead set on becoming a parent to the child. Gary however had many reservations about the matter. He was being the realistic one in the situation here but for what it was worth he might as well have been banging his head against a brick wall.

Les Battersby was thinking of himself as something of a lothario tonight, his initial meeting with Sam on the doorstep had fired his loins and the odd bit of brain cell into activity. He truly figured he was "in with a chance" as it were. Sam of course was doing her best to leave him under no illusions as to what his chances were, precisely zero.

Meanwhile Toyah Battersby managed to get on the right side of Roy tonight as she got the money out of her father to pay him back for the drill which he had tried to sell to Cropper. As a result it looked increasingly likely that she would be starting work at the cafe in Gail's absence. Although Gail predicted it could end in tears.

Lunch time in the Rovers had Jim once again keeping an eye on Fiona whilst Steve wittered on about how the firm should be thinking about moving on to bigger and better jobs. Bill and Jim tried to explain the practicalities to Steve but he still seemed to have the big ideas of old running round in his head.

Gary came home for a second round of talks with Zoe and Judy, once again the women put forward their case for the "adoption" while poor Gary was pressured even further into a corner. Eventually after they had al talked until they were blue in the face Gary agreed to adopting the child. A very dodgy move in my estimation and something I think Gary was going into against his better judgement.

Janice announced to Les she was going out for a game of bingo with the girls. I couldn't believe she was actually wracked with guilt over leaving her poor husband in the house all alone. Little did she know the rotten sod had a plan up his sleeve. He had told Sam earlier that if she ever thought the music was too loud then she should come and complain about it.

Hence no sooner had Janice got out of earshot then he cranked up the stereo and waited. Sure as anything Sam came round to sound off only to be asked indoors by the insistent Les. Sam guessed his game straight away but before he could try anything on who should return but Janice. Sam quickly left with a disgusted look on her face. Les however said Sam had come to complain about the music, neglecting to mention his plan of seduction. Foolish Janice fell for his story hook line and sinker.

Jim finally got his chance to speak to Fiona at the salon after work, as they sat alone upstairs. Jim voiced his feelings about what had happened and hoped that she had no regrets about their encounter. Fiona looked shell shocked throughout the conversation. Jim continued by saying he hoped that what had happened between them could possibly be the start of something more...perhaps a relationship even.

However Jim's dreams were shattered when Alan could be heard coming up the stairs. Jim saw Alan's entrance as his cue to leave and as he walked downstairs his dreams were shattered because he could hear the sound of their conversation upstairs. It was clear from their words they were getting back together.

As Jim walked across the Street he saw Steve heading across to Fiona's with a bottle of wine. He was another McDonald trying to capitalise on Fiona's supposed single status. Jim advised him to forget the idea and come with him to the pub.

Wednesday 23 July 1997
It was all lovey dovey and hugs and kisses for Fiona and Alan tonight as they celebrated the fact they had spent their first night back together again following their little separation. Fiona was still manifesting some signs of guilt although Alan didn't suspect she had done anything untoward in his absence. However we all know different and it was clearly playing on her mind. She was acting very insecure and looked like someone almost deliberating whether or not to tell her man what she had done.....

Meanwhile it was a big day for Gary as he set off to the bank to try and get a loan for the baby they were hoping to purchase from Zoe. He still looked unsure about what he was doing but anything to keep Judy happy seemed to be the motto of the hour. Zoe of course was merely curious to know when the dosh would be appearing in her sweaty little mitts.

Angie looked like clinching a deal to distribute her garments throughout the north of England. Janice overheard the conversation but swore she would keep quiet providing somebody put a good word in for Leanne when and if there were any jobs at the factory when the extra work started rolling in.

We saw the return of John the "pilot" tonight as he had obviously spent the night with Dreary and was now getting togged up getting ready to go back to work. Dreary suggested that they go on a little trip and make use of his concessionary rates that his job allowed. John looked a trifle edgy at the prospect but reckoned he could swing it if pushed. The truth is out there.... :)

Fiona spent the day in a hyperactive rush trying to get a quickie wedding prepared. A strange turn about of circumstances considering Fiona had always figured on having an elaborate bash. Maxine was suspicious as to her motives and asked if she was pregnant which Fiona of course denied. She claimed she had developed a "why wait" attitude towards the affair. Maxine was unconvinced as to her motives though and didn't look like getting to the bottom of the matter tonight.

(BTW, I knew Maxine was thin but tonight she looked awful, she turned sideways and almost disappeared)

Fiona then told Alan about her plan and he was shell shocked, in fact as the first part of the episode faded out I was sure someone had removed his Duracells. He had no reservation about a quick marriage but as Maxine had done already questioned her motives. However when he was sure Fiona was doing this for the right reasons he was happy to go along with the wedding.

Meanwhile Steve had got his legitimate head on and came to Jim with a proposition. A big job that had been recently been out of their league because of costing could now be on their doorstep. Steve it seemed was prepared to foot the investment bill with his divorce settlement. Jim was gob smacked at his son's generosity, could Steve have turned over a new leaf altogether or perhaps he was still pining for a way to win Fiona back.

Tongues were wagging regarding the presence of Zoe in the Mallett household. One tongue belonging to Audrey was doing the most as well, she took time to quiz the cagey youngster in the cafe and ended up with nothing to satisfy her gossiping curiosity. As a result she made her own conclusions and started blabbing that Zoe's baby had been fathered by Gary Mallett of all people. Nasty and vindictive untruths of course which meant Mavis swallowed it. Thankfully Rita had more sense than to listen to the tales of Audrey Roberts.

Ken was drinking alone in the Rovers to celebrate having two weeks worth of his son Daniel. Dreary joined him and started blabbing about how she and John were going away for a few days break thanks to his globe trotting contacts. Ken was unimpressed by all this and left Dreary and by this time John to finish off a bottle of wine he had started.

Alan and Fiona announced their imminent wedding in the pub which got cheers all round apart from one section of the bar which had Jim (Big Mac), Steve (Small Fries) and Andy (Milkshake) stood at it making a collection of snarly faces.

Friday 25 July 1997
An eventful night in the Street starting with Dreary bidding a tearful farewell to her new boyfriend John the alleged globe trotting pilot. Apparently he was jetting off to Nairobi on one of his regular flights and had to go that day.

There was a few globe trotters in the cast tonight apart from John tonight as Gail and Martin were heading off on their little jaunt to Paris courtesy of Roy Cropper. Andy McDonald was all packed and ready to leave as well as now his studies were finished he was taking time out to see the world and all it had to offer.

Zoe was booked in for a Doctor's appointment tonight with Judy going along to offer moral support. Unfortunately Gary was the only person who was keen on Zoe seeing the Doctor. Judy and Zoe were both edgy about a visit to the Doctor's getting out of hand and the fact that it could compromise their "adoption" of the baby. Thankfully Gary convinced them to see sense and get Zoe and the baby checked out.

Steve was still in the doldrums about the fact that Fiona was marrying Alan in a desperate rush. However he was diverting a good deal of his energy into striking a deal with Bill in investing his money in the business. Webster had reservations about letting Steve put so much capital into the business. He was judging Steve on his previous character rather than giving him a second chance.

Gail and Martin were in high spirits as they walked through Manchester Airport. They were both jokingly trying to learn some French for their little visit to Paris. However Gail had business to attend for her mother at Duty Free first. Who however should pop his head up from behind the counter but none other than..you've guessed it folks, John!

Back in Weatherfield a very edgy Judy was at the Doctors surgery masquerading as Zoe's sister while she was checked out by the resident Doctor. The tests indicated that Zoe's blood pressure was a little on the high side so it was recommended that she go to the Ante Natal Clinic. Judy almost freaked upon hearing this because the questions she had been asked by the Doctor had made her nervous enough as it was. Luckily they would make it through the visit to the clinic without incident.

Steve meanwhile was having a last chance at trying to win Fiona over, he begged a few minutes of her time in private. When he got to see her alone he explained how he felt about her and how he was still madly in love with her. Fiona wasn't impressed by this and was less impressed when Steve began bad mouthing Alan saying that he wasn't good enough for her. In the end Fiona told him to leave.

In fact when it came to McDonalds you might have well fitted a revolving door in Fiona's flat because not long after Steve was gone none other than Jim turned up wanting to pitch his case against Alan. He reckoned Fiona was only rushing the marriage because of what had happened between them during Alan's absence. Fiona swore that wasn't the case and in fact she loved Alan. Jim tried to argue his side but it was pointless because Fiona wasn't going to change her mind about the matter. She made him swear to secrecy and then he left.

Steve meanwhile was by now in the pub with Bill who it would seem had decided to let Steve put his money into the business. Bill wanted to know Steve's motivation for doing this somewhat selfless act. Steve reckoned it was for two reasons. Firstly to learn the ropes from a couple of old hands in the game while being part of a firm involved in big jobs. Secondly it was a chance to pay back his father for all the belief he had maintained in him while he was in jail for his crimes.

Dreary meanwhile was talking to Emily about Nairobi John, she was singing his praises no end and explaining how he made her feel. It looked to Emily like this was the beginning of a serious relationship when the phone rang. Dreary picked up the phone and heard the distant voice of John on the other end of the line. John claimed he was in Nairobi and was ringing as promised. However he was in fact stood in the lounge of Manchester Airport ringing from a pay phone. The cheeky sod even had the gall to imitate the time delay you sometimes get ringing foreign countries. Dreary of course was swallowing this like a fool and as the ludicrous conversation ended John promised to ring when he had five minutes in his schedule. Dreary realised one thing from this conversation though, she was falling in love with this fraudster.

Sunday 27 July 1997
The atmosphere of a lazy Sunday was broken by the Battersby family as Les conducted a table top sale outside Kevin's garage and Mike and Angie's factory unit. As Les set up his array of household junk and bric a brac he attracted confrontation from Kevin straight away. It looked like the two of them might come to blows but Kevin had sense to back down and told Les not to make a regular occurrence such happenings.

Fiona and Alan were getting ready for his parents to come to their house for lunch. Both were expecting the worst from Alan's dad who was essentially prejudiced against Fiona on account of her colour. Alan hoped his mother might have talked some sense into him by now though.

Bill and Jim were accompanied by Steve McDonald to Rita's house to finish off some work they had been doing in her house. Steve was a bit cheesed off at that fact she kept giving them extra little bits and pieces to do. He was only too keen to get on to the big conversion job that he was lining up with Vicky's pay off money.

Alan's parents arrived at the flat for lunch and despite exchanging pleasantries with Fiona the atmosphere quickly plunged several degrees when the plans for their prompt wedding were announced. Alan's dad muttered under his breath while washing the dishes that Fiona was hooking Alan early to make sure she didn't lose him. Even Alan's mum who was usually quite cordial to Fiona was unhappy that their holiday plans would clash with this quickie wedding. Fiona however showed her backbone by refusing to back down to Alan's parents.

Steve was left alone at Rita's doing the repair job while Jim and Bill were called away on an emergency job. He talked to Rita a little about Fiona and she assured him that in time his longing for her would pass and she would be a distant memory to him.

Alec was being surprisingly generous with bar snacks tonight by serving things like peanuts and cocktail sausages as well as black pudding. It was a real master stroke though because Alec was lacing the food with extra salt hence everyone got extra thirsty and as a result drank more.

Des and Angie & Chris had a barbecue, it was a small gathering with Mike Baldwin having a drink with the three of them. Chris demonstrated a degree of incompetence with his cooking. Surely someone as self sufficient as him who had lived in some frankly dodgy conditions in Africa would be able to cook sausages :)

Ken finally got Daniel home with Kevin's help, his car broke down and he had to be towed in to the garage for repairs. To make things worse Daniel was restless and wouldn't go to sleep. Luckily Percy came to the rescue with a record of train journey sounds which hopefully would knock Daniel out.

After Alan's parents had left the house you could fair see an argument brewing from Fiona's side of things. She was going on about how Alan's mother had wanted them to put the brakes on their plans when it wasn't even their business. Alan played along with Fiona for the quiet life but it was clear he was unhappy with the arrangement. In the end Fiona agreed to give Alan the build up to the wedding he wanted but judging by the tears in her eyes she wasn't happy.

Monday 28 July 1997
Fiona wasn't the happiest of people tonight, despite agreeing to setting the wedding back a few months for Alan she was clearly narked about doing so. Alan did his best however to convince her that it would still be the wedding of the century as far as Weatherfield was concerned.

Meanwhile Steve McDonald was slipping back into his wheeling and dealing ways again as he took the day off to go and speak to the man in charge of their upcoming conversion job. He reckoned he would be gone a few hours and hopefully when he came back he should have some good news. Jim warned him not to rock the boat.

Toyah Battersby started work at the cafe in Gail's absence and quickly proved she had all the charm of rotting fish as she served the customers. She was quick to give her opinion on what foods would have been O.K to eat and which were downright dodgy. There was definitely no decorum in the girl at all and I would guess any effort to change her made by Roy would fall flat on it's face.

Ken was having a hard time with Daniel, the child was never in shot for more than a moment without streams of tears running down his face. This was all proving a strain for Ken who was doing his level best to keep his son out of mischief and keep him occupied at the same time.

Whilst Ken was struggling with his son, Kevin was struggling with his wife. He looked at a bank statement which revealed Sally had drawn out £400 over the last few days. Kevin was apoplectic with rage as the news sank in. Natalie tried to explain that with or without his presence the children still needed clothing and feeding. Kevin was determined to settle this matter later that day though.

Jim made a grade A fool of himself tonight as he went to see Fiona on the premise that he was acting on Steve's behalf. He explained that Steve was beside himself thinking about her all the time. Fiona was not stupid though and saw that Jim had come on his own behalf and the feelings he mentioned were those he felt himself.

Fiona was cutting to say the least when she explained to Jim that their one night stand was a big mistake and she could never even entertain the thought of loving him. Jim was hurt but still tried to make his feelings clear. It was no good though because Fiona wasn't interested in listening to him so he left.

John the bul*shi*ing pilot was back from his imaginary run to Nairobi, he impressed gullible Dreary with tales of security delays and boring but beautiful foreign climes. He then made Dreary an offer she couldn't refuse when he asked her if she wanted to stay over at his flat one night in the week.

Steve had a more fruitful day than his father, he had been to speak to the man about the conversion job. He had negotiated a more lucrative deal for them with the option for the house to be their show home on job completion. Bill was happy with all this but Jim was still shell shocked from Fiona's rebuttal earlier that day.

Fiona meanwhile was also in a dark mood following Jim's earlier visit. Alan saw this and asked what was wrong, Fiona thought fast and blamed Steve for her mood explaining how he had asked her to marry him. Alan was angry but Fiona calmed him down, however she suggested they should perhaps move away. I agree and they can take their bloody overacting facial expressions with them :)

Kevin had a slanging match with Sally about the money she had used, she claimed it was for essentials like food and clothes for the kids. Kevin wasn't happy though and claimed that in the morning he would be closing their joint account and she would have to come to him for any money she wanted for the kids.

Wednesday 30 July 1997
The midweek offering of the Street managed to squeeze a lot into it's half hour slot tonight. Starting with Maud Grimes and her new vendetta against Sally Webster. Maud had took a dislike to Sally on account of her being late to work on a number of occasions. She figured that behind that sweet little smile there was a manipulative heart at work. Her feelings towards Sally were hardly likely to be improved when Sally eventually turned up and announced that she would be leaving the employ of the shop. The reason being that she had scrounged a job with Baldwin and Freeman's new enterprise Underworld.

Alan and Fiona meanwhile were still discussing the McDonald family and the associated problems they seemed to be causing. Alan was keen to teach Steve a lesson for "pestering" Fiona, however Fiona wanted to keep things quite and not rock the boat any further. Alan made no promises to keep things cool when he left for work that day.

Ken was having a tough time dealing with Daniel, the little boy was quite frankly tiring him out. As the day began he was planning an agenda of activities that would hopefully drain the boy of energy and give his father a little breathing space.

Des was keen to turn back the clock and get to know Sam better, he was dying to ask her out but found himself too shy to ask. This was much to the amusement of Angie who was watching the great Weatherfield Lothario brought to his knees by another would be conquest.

Sally started work for Mike and Angie as a machinist, however memories were short and many of the staff including Janice Battersby remembered how she had once been management. As a result Janice stirred the waters by claiming she was a "nark" who had been planted in amongst the workers to discover what they were up to and whether or not it was work related or not.

Sally however showed her mettle, in her new tough incarnation she stood up to the girls and explained how she was doing the machining job to pay for her and her children's upkeep. She refused to be drawn by Janice and would not be taking sides.

John The Pilot Without Air Miles was impressing Dreary again tonight, he took her to his house to let her see where he lived. It was a very swanky affair with a lovely spacious garden and John wanted Dreary to believe it was all his. There was a blatant pointer to indicate where he was lying though. Dreary was in the kitchen and asked him to pass her a bottle opener. John reached for a cupboard and pulled only to find it wouldn't budge because it wasn't a cupboard but a false front panel. He quickly opened a real cupboard and passed Dreary the item. There was also a lot of mail addressed to the previous owners of the house and according to John they had never had their mail redirected.

Alan finally caught up with Steve and decided to teach him a lesson, cornering him by the van he slammed him against the side of the vehicle and told him to stop pestering Fiona. Steve managed to wriggle free and land a punch. However Alan quickly took him down and began laying into him, that was until Jim came out to see what was going on. Alan backed off when he saw Jim with an obvious red mist coming down over his eyes and his fist raised in anger. When Fiona discovered Alan had been throwing his weight about and that made her even more keen to move from the area.

Des finally plucked up the courage to ask Sam out and nearly dropped through the floor when she agreed to go out on Friday. The way she agreed was without any hesitation whatsoever and Des was flabbergasted at his little result.

Fred Elliott secretly relieved Maud Grimes of her duties in the shop, he quickly became the loudest person ever to serve behind the counter of the corner shop. His presence did have it's uses though because he helped dissuade Janice Battersby from starting up buying things on credit at the store.

Rita rallied Sally to go and see a solicitor about getting assistance regarding getting money from Kevin. Sally was hesitant but Rita was insistent and said she would call her chap in the morning. It was time to start looking after her well being and that of the children.

John finished the night with a surprise move, he asked Dreary if she would move into the house with him. She would have to learn to live without him for periods of time when he would be abroad. However Dreary was sure she could handle that and was deliriously happy.

Ken was at the end of his tether with Daniel, he was flat out asleep when he awoke to see Daniel playing with a live wall socket. He spoke to Denise and explained that Daniel was missing her and it would probably be best if he brought him home.

 

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