June 1996

Monday 3 June 1996
Norris's problems were something of a focal point in the Street tonight as he spent the night sleeping in his car. Waking up on the Wilton's doorstep he sought refuge again in the Wilton household. Somewhat cheekily asking Mavis to do him a spot of breakfast only moments after gaining entry.

His intentions seemed clear in the respect that he was hoping he could take up residence with Derek and Mavis for a while like he did before. However Mavis seemed intent on keeping him out of her house. Unfortunately her will power was not enough as Norris cornered her in the Kabin later and she succumbed to his pleading for sanctuary. Derek's main worry about the situation was the conflict it placed them in as it would appear they were taking "sides".

Andy was also in a predicament tonight as he still faced the ill feeling of his girlfriend's family. He was desperate to prove he was not of the traditional family mould as the rest of his clan was. Anne however made him promise not to go and see them which to her credit he did agree to. However it seemed to Andy that this was a situation that could not wait. He went around to her family's home and decided to make something of a stand for himself.

He explained that while he would not decry his family and that he was not here to talk about their recent problems he was intent to prove he was of a different nature to his brother Steve. Eventually this worked in his favour as he came across well and her family seemed to take a shine to him. Anne was not impressed by the fact that he had broken his promise and called off their relationship straight away.

Speaking of matters McDonald, Fiona was still in something of a quandary over whether to go and Steve in prison or not. Maxine was as always hovering in the background asking such suggestions as to whether she would tell Tony of her visitation if she decided to go. Fiona more or less concluded that she needed to go and see him just to find out what he wanted.

It also looked like Audrey's Canadian son Steven was due to put in an appearance as he was due over on business to see Mike. Audrey was unhappy that the first people to discover this knowledge were The Baldwins which sparked something of Audrey's jealous temperament. Luckily later in the Rovers Gail managed to cool her off.

Maureen was trying to coax a little bit of interest out of Alec in regards to Reg's old flat. He was having little interest in it though as he was more interested in getting Vicky's life sorted out. The Swiss (Yes, folks I got right this time) hotelier school looked like a certainty now. Vicky also explained to Raquel how she and Steve were definitely without a future.

Raquel by now had also spoken with Fiona about setting up a little bit of an aromatherapy sideline in the salon. Fiona was in agreement for Raquel to use the premises on condition that they split the profits 50/50.

Wednesday 5 June 1996
There was the continuation of some of some relevant storylines tonight mainly kicking off with Steve and Fiona. Liz had more or less put Fiona on the spot regarding visiting her ex boyfriend. Thus a somewhat pressurised, yet willing, Fiona was soon to be on the road to visiting the prison where Steve was.

Speaking of the McDonald's and their troubles, Andy was in something of a mass state of depression following his split with Anne Malone. There was of course the usual wise words from everybody, namely Liz for starters. Liz badgered him into going to see her but Andy was proving stubborn and wouldn't budge. The next person to try was the increasingly bolshy Raquel who tried to engineer a meeting between the estranged couple with the aid of Curly. Incidentally the attempt to unite the couple over a drink in the Rovers failed as Anne didn't show.

Norris was still in the Wilton household and as always seemed to be outstaying his welcome. Derek decided to take matters into his own hands and go and check out how the land was lying with Angela. He travelled to Angela and Norris's house and found the residence surprisingly devoid of any presence of Angela. After a while Derek began to get suspicious and rang Mavis complaining there was something of a sinister air about the place. Of course the Wilton's are never a couple to do things by halves and thus later they sat in The Rovers feeling uneasy together.

Fiona travelled to the prison to visit Steve McDonald, when she eventually sat down to talk to him there was a series of uncomfortable pauses followed by Steve pouring out his heart to Fiona. His approach seemed to be highly dependent on the "sob story" approach. Fiona tried to be indifferent but it looks like Steve had re-opened a set of old wounds for her. Steve continued to talk to her and asked her to continue to keep seeing him. After a short while of deliberation Fiona agreed. It would seem that Steve had pushed all the right buttons.

Back at the Salon Raquel's attempts to lure some poor unsuspecting customer into her aromatherapeutic (?) clutches had been met with limited success, until Tony stepped forward and volunteered. Despite constant ribbing from Maxine, Raquel eventually got to grips with Tony and it looked like her rub-downs were doing the trick. Especially when a gob smacked Curly walked in.

Tensions were high between Alma and Audrey, with Gail playing the peacemaker in the Rovers. Audrey was spitting fire and brimstone over her suspicions that Alma was going to make a beeline for Steven when he returned to Weatherfield. Alma tried to deny it but if she was forced to be truthful the attraction she felt for Steven was still there and after Audrey left the Rover's (in a huff) Alma confessed how she was feeling.

Friday 7 June 1996
Vicky was winding down to her exit tonight, and as a result of this she seemed intent to go around making peace with the residents of the street. First with the goodbyes was none other than Dreary who reminded us yet again how she found happiness abroad and the likes and how she should get on with her new life.

There was a surprisingly tactful speech from Jim who also encouraged Vicky to go out and get her life sorted. He admitted that she was the one who had got the rough end of the stick in the whole affair. It must be said that Liz was still somewhat cold and confrontational about their meeting.

She even had time for a brief chat with Fiona, almost like a note comparing exercise on Steve McDonald, with Vicky claiming she had got him completely out of her hair but asking Fiona whether she had done the same

Derek was hatching another one of his conspiracy theories about Angela and Norris much to Mavis's annoyance. As always Derek was taking things over the top with his plans to make a copy of Norris's house key and see if he could discover the truth about what happened to his ex-wife.

Norris's behaviour was more than a little odd and he was doing things which would fuel the suspicion of the likes of Derek. He was helping out on the allotment but he was digging a very large hole. Billy showed an interest but saw nothing untoward. However, then Norris buried something in the hole that the viewer was not privvy to.

There was a little friction building in the Rovers as Raquel was discussing her Aromatherapy with the likes of Gary Mallett and Des Barnes of all people. Curly walked in amidst a barrage of suggestive comments however Raquel soon diffused the situation effectively with the promise of a massage later.

Andy was reconciliated with Anne Malone although he didn't seem that wild to see her and Audrey was in the cafe and from the looks of it spoiling for a fight. However Alma was not around as she was at the Cash and Carry. Percy also discovered that Judy's mother had effectively been using his company as a way of trying for the barmaid's job at the Legion. He looked visibly disappointed when he discovered she hadn't been truly interested in her company after all.

Monday 10 June 1996
The Duckworths were planning a little bit of a redecoration at the Rovers with the help of Nuttall's brewery as backing for the venture. In preparation Jack was sat outside the pub sketching his vision of what the Rovers might look like once his plans were realised. Vera of course had her two penneth to contribute and it looked like any potential garish colour scheme might end up adorning the pub walls.

However by the end of the day it would seem there priorities might be changed because they had a visitor in the shape of long lost son Terry. His entrance was at the Mallet's household still thinking that Jack and Vera lived there. Eventually however he tracked down his parents to the Rovers and showed them the visitor he had brought with him. He had arrived with his son Tommy and although that was a scene of happiness for the Duckworths it was tinged with some anger because Terry was with him. We were reminded how Terry selfishly sold his son away, and that memory obviously cut deep with Jack and Vera.

However Terry proved he could still wrap his mother around his little finger. Using Tommy as the bait he pushed to stay over for the night much to Jack's disapproval. Still with Tommy in tow it meant Vera was effectively putty in his hands. Terry explained how he was now something of a reformed man and had been living up in Sheffield.

The Norris saga rolled on at the Wilton's house as Angela's estranged husband got his feet firmly wedged under the table. In fact he seemed quite handy to have around now he was taking over a good deal of the domestic chores. However it was all driving Mavis to despair what with Norris under her feet and Derek building complex murder theories over the missing Angela. Norris in fact took the time out to prepare Mavis and Derek something of a culinary feast when they got home from their respective jobs. Over dinner though Derek broached the subject of Angela once again. The subject made Norris fair boil over with anger as he sat at the table whinging about the injustice of being married to her whilst waving a knife around in a somewhat worrying manner. Worrying to the overactive imaginations of the Wiltons that is.

Audrey's son Steven was back in town and Mike was keen to have dinner with him. In fact Mike also wanted to drag Alma along to see if he could drum up any further business for her consultancy company. However Alma was still behaving like a love smitten schoolgirl in many respects because she was trying desperately to avoid Steven like the plague. She even went so far as to fake a dental appointment to get out of lunch with him. Only later did she confess to a mildly amused Gail about the scenario. However, later on she couldn't avoid Steven in the pub as he came in with Audrey, a scene which clearly made her uncomfortable.

Raquel was still trying to drum up trade for her Aromatherapy whilst Betty tried to dissuade her from any ideas of massaging any life back in to old Billy Williams. Gary Mallett seems to be showing a lot of interest in starting a family. However, between him and Judy, he seemed to be the more broody one of the pair. Alec also took the opportunity to announce to Rita that he was about to become her next door neighbour.

Wednesday 12 June 1996
Tonight dealt largely with the arrival of Tommy and Terry, and the resultant problems it seemed to be causing. As always Terry had won his mother over completely and Vera was rooting in Terry's corner from the start. Jack meanwhile was something of a more realistic temperament and seemed to be sure Terry had another ulterior motive for his sudden kind behaviour towards his son.

The problems were cemented when Tommy's other grandparents from Blackpool arrived in an effort to take Tommy home with them. It was soon revealed that there had been something of an elaborate agreement going on over the last few years. With Geoff Aughton paying Terry for the privilege of bringing up his grandson.

However thanks to the spiralling ascent in the costs of bringing up a child he had been unable to keep up the payments to Terry and as a result it looked suspiciously like Terry had taken an interest in Tommy's welfare merely to get back at his grand parent's for not paying up.

Terry however insisted this was not the case and stated that despite any offer of money he was going to bring up his son. The Aughtons pleaded and begged with Terry to reconsider and began offering more and more money to get Tommy back. Jack's opinion in the matter was one of barely concealed disgust with his son over his behaviour.

Alma was still having the jitters every time Steven came within a three mile radius. In fact when he came into the cafe to catch up with Gail Alma came all over all flustered and tried as hard as possible to avoid any contact with the object of her desire.

Norris was still the centre of attention when it came to Derek and Mavis. As to be expected Derek was still propagating murder conspiracies and as usual Mavis was taking them on board. In fact I was surprised that Rita gave the two of them as much credence as she did when listening to their ramblings.

Whilst in the Rovers their suspicions were made worse when Billy told them how he saw Norris enthusiastically digging on the allotment a few nights earlier. In a panic The Wiltons shot up to the allotment and began furiously digging at the patch of ground where Norris had been working.

They were interrupted by none other than Norris who implored them to leave well alone and leave what he had put in the ground alone. However at the insistence of the panicked Wilton's Norris was forced to unearth what he had buried. The mystery was solved when Norris revealed all he had buried was none other than Angela's golf clubs. He had buried them because he was sure that they meant more to her than he did.

Amongst the smaller plotlines tonight was the fact that Trish seemed to be taking something of an interest in Trish and the feeling was made quite obviously mutual. Raquel received an apology from Tony over his mickey taking over the aromatherapy. The apology was however prompted mainly by Fiona. Also Mike arranged a night out for Steven with himself and Alma as hosts for the evening with Dreary of all people coming along to make up the numbers.

Friday 14 June 1996
Alma was amongst the predominant storylines tonight, with Mike preparing for the dinner date which had been the focal point of his week so far. Alma of course was still fretting about her infatuation with Steven and was rapidly approaching telling all in an effort to get the matter of her chest.

She took the rather bold step of admitting all to Mike about how she had made a pass at Steven and he had rebuked her. She admitted that what she had felt for Steven was far more than an infatuation. Mike's reaction to all this news was surprisingly casual. He more or less stated he was fully aware of Alma's feelings and said he understood that "at her time of life" she was bound to have feelings for a younger man as dynamic as Steven.

Norris was trying to redeem himself in the eyes of Derek and Mavis following the farce with the missing Angela. After they had discovered that what he had in fact buried was her golf clubs and not, as suspected, Angela herself. In the eyes of the Wiltons, she was still missing and they were still curious as to her whereabouts. However when a phone call to Norris arrived on her mobile it set minds at rest. Angela was enquiring about where her golf clubs were.

Terry was swaggering about in the Rovers, as has become second nature to him recently. In walked Des Barnes who had once been the mortal enemy of Terry as they battled for the affections of Tommy's mother Lisa. There was an uneasy truce between them with Terry insisting the situation with Lisa was all water under the bridge.

Terry's next move was his pursuit of Trish in the Rovers, the two of them sat talking and flirting for that matter between themselves. All was going well in the conversation until Raquel mentioned his girlfriend in Sheffield. Although this didn't seem to put Trish off at all.

The night out on the town for Mike, Alma & Steve and Dreary was progressing more painfully for some rather than others. Whilst Mike was having the time of his life truly in his element playing the businessman entertaining the assemblage. Dreary fitted in surprisingly well by recounting some of her days in local Weatherfield politics. Steven was also enjoying the company of his friends. Alma however was experiencing one of the worst nights going as she sat uncomfortably watching the man of her dreams chatting to her husband.

In fact Mike in general was something of a derogatory piece of work as far as Alma was concerned all night long. Mike even went as far as to drop hints about his previous liaisons with Dreary. The evening ended with Alma feeling more than a little deflated over her husband's lack of interest in her attempt to seduce Steven. She felt as though he was hardly interested in her at all and as a result stormed off.

Monday 17 June 1996
Alma was still harbouring something of a black mood towards Mike following his lack of response to her confessions of lust. She made some relevant points about how low she seemed to figure on his list of priorities in life. However everybody else who she spoke to on the subject seemed to think she had gotten off lightly with Mike's disinterested response.

Gail was trying to encourage peace talks between them, but Alma could do little but simmer over the situation. Even when Mike sent her a lovely bouquet of flowers she didn't melt. Whilst I'm mentioning the Baldwins it would seem that Alma wasn't the only enemy in the vicinity tonight as Don had another axe to grind following the breakdown of some more equipment at the garage.

The crux of it all was Tony was in the midst of a welding job when the MIG welder suddenly packed up. Kevin gave the welder a very thorough look over (sarcasm mode : off) and declared the equipment to be knackered. When Don came back he took the news as only he ever does with a mixture of blind panic and rage. Once again he reminded himself how he had been done by Baldwin when he bought the garage and how he was paying the price for it now.

Percy was out and about delivering food parcels for the elderly with a newcomer to the street. Basically an old battle axe with the ultimate axe to grind so it would seem. For starters she bore grudges against Alf Roberts dating back a good 20 years or so.

Norris had reconciled with Angela judging from we could glean from a conversation in the Rovers. He tried to make his "kiss and make up story" portray him as the man in the driving seat. Derek knew better and revealed how he would more than likely have grovelled his way back into her favour.

The Duckworths were still on uneasy terms thanks to the arrival of their son Terry. Vera was more or less caught by Terry's act of being a reformed man whereas Jack was more than a little cautious nay downright distrusting of his errant son. Terry's constant offer to help out in the Rovers were rebuked by Jack much to Vera's annoyance. We also saw Trish making the biggest beeline seen in Weatherfield for Terry.

Jack was faced with trouble in the Rovers that evening as well from a burly looking customer who appeared not to be too heavily endowed in the intelligence department. He began grumbling about the quality of the beer until Jack gave him a free pint as recompense. The matter progressed until the thug ended up losing his temper and pinning Jack to the bar. In rushed Terry, with his one man army act quickly disarming the thug and chucking him out of the pub in a big show of bravado. It was worth watching just to see Trish melt at the sight of her new-found hero in action.

Jack was grudgingly grateful for the assist and Terry insisted it was nothing, but all the same he went out to check whether the thug had vanished. In truth he met the man in question round the back of the pub and paid him for services rendered. He had set up the assault on his father leaving the viewer wondering what new depths he had plumbed ?

Wednesday 19 June 1996
Alma kicked off the episode with Mike by continuing their little feud which had been running now for a few days. Alma kindly wished Mike to drop dead as he looked for his usual "Have A Nice Day" comment as he left for the office. It was Alma's turn to play the cold fish for once as Mike, looking somewhat hurt, went out the door.

His mood blackened as the day wore on and he began to take out his temper on members of the workforce. Ida was a prime target as Mike tore into the quality of her workmanship. Josie ever defensive came rushing to the rescue of the common worker. She began laying down some home truths about Mike's working practises, such as the fact that he was expecting too much from the machinist's who were in his employ.

Josie's outburst was, strictly speaking, out of order and Mike let her know it when they got back to the office. Josie continued her somewhat smart Alec approach so Mike took the bull by the horns and revealed he had stitched her and Don up with the garage. Slowly the shock dawned on her face and the smug smile began to fade and Josie walked out.

There were no roses around Don's door either as he was still trying his level best to avoid shelling out large sums of money on the garage now that the MIG welder had given up the ghost. Kevin and Tony were unable to continue their work and fearing that Don was dragging his heels in getting them some new equipment decided to opt for a go slow working day. When Don found out that Josie had quit at Baldwin's he predictably hit the roof.

Terry continued his emotional blackmail games of his parents as he told Vera he was getting ready to head back to Sheffield with young Tommy. You could fair see Vera's heart-strings being tugged by the situation as she mollycoddled young Tommy. Jack was digging his heels in though despite the hurt it was causing his family by refusing to welcome Terry back to the Duckworth fold.

The more the situation dragged on the more distressed Vera became at the prospect of losing her grandson yet again. Terry meanwhile was acting the very picture of a saint as he worked his wicked ways with people. Even going as far as refusing the advances of the rampant Trish when he was in the Rovers.

Eventually Jack was forced to cave in under the pressure he was being placed under by Vera and he agreed to welcome Terry to stay with them by making him pull his weight in the pub.

Alma's day ended by discovering on the local gossip grapevine that Mike had been wandering around like a bear with a sore head and that he had even gone as far as to "sack" Josie. So Alma went to see Mike to make the peace and from the look of the situation and the exchanging of gifts between them a truce was called.

Roy was working back in the cafe in Alma's absence and he was giving everyone the benefit of his views on marriage. Much to amusement of others all around him.

Friday 21 June 1996
Josie came clean to Don about the discrepancy in the asking price for what was once Baldwin's garage. This obviously made a somewhat glum Don even worse as his mood darkened yet again over the prospect of running the garage in it's current state.

Tony wasn't in for work either with Fiona explaining he had something of a dodgy stomach through something he eat. Josie saw straight through the ruse though and soon realised that Tony was in fact off secretly job hunting although she said nothing about it. Obviously she must have understood the potential predicament he was in regarding his job.

It was the day of the inspection at Mike's factory and things couldn't have been worse for Mike. As Steven made his way around the factory he saw examples of the workmanship from Mike's forces. He was definitely unimpressed by what he saw and told Mike rightly how he felt about what was coming off the production lines. The quantity was there but the quality alas was not and as a result he could not pass the order through to his parent company for approval.

The ramifications of Mike's bad day were soon felt especially on the shop floor as we bore witness to after the working day was ended. Trish wandered into the Rover's in one of her usual bad moods. There she voiced her negative opinions about Baldwin in the pub including her fears for her job. All this was in earshot of Steven Reid who had already had a bellyfull of Baldwin's business practises throughout the day.

Alma tracked down Mike at the factory where he was busily rearranging the schedules of getting more workers to reproduce the bad lines of stuff for them. He explained how the procedure of getting in extra staff was going to cost him dearly could it be worrying times ahead for him?

Terry was fishing for clues as to how much money his parents had left following their windfall. He was disappointed to learn they had put all their eggs in one basket with The Rovers, which might make him rethink his strategy of doing some evil deeds a little bit. Nevertheless he continued to play the good son role to perfection by helping out behind the bar with Jack and Vera.

He was called on to bail Trish out of the pub when she got too drunk and abusive against Steven later that evening. He did the chivalrous thing and walked her home and helped her get into her flat when she realised she had lost her key. Once again she made an advance towards Terry who initially rebuked her but soon came round to the idea when given time to think about it. Luckily Jamie was out of the way because he was sleeping over at Dreary's house.

Monday 24 June 1996
Negative vibes a plenty in the Street tonight as Terry began stirring up matters locally in his usual vindictive form. He began by trying on an idle bit of chat up on Raquel despite the fact he was quite aware she was married to his one time "best mucker" Curly. Anyway in short he came on as subtle as a brick through a window and was given short shrift by an annoyed Raquel.

Meanwhile Alma was fretting over Mike's business worries because of his Kay-Beck order being kicked back by Stephen Reid. Alma was of the belief that Stephen was rejecting the order on the grounds of her failed attempt at a romantic liaison with him. Despite promising to stay out of contact with Reid, Alma was unable to stop herself from calling him to clear up the matter.

Stephen called by at the cafe later that day to talk to Alma. He seemed somewhat annoyed at the fact that he had been called away from business in order to sort out what was an essentially personal matter. Stephen confirmed to Alma that the only reason he had a problem with Mike was because of the order and not because of her.

Liz spent the day trying to collar the attentions of Fiona with regard to a prison visitation for Steve. It was an especially poignant time for the errant McDonald sibling as his birthday was coming up and, as Liz was so keen to tell everyone, Steve was at a very low ebb at this moment in time. Fiona deliberated on a decision but at the end of the day she refused to go and see Steve choosing instead to send a letter via Liz.

Liz didn't take this very well, choosing to act out something of a major sulking session in the Rovers for Fiona's benefit. It seemed the intention was there to make Fiona feel bad about not seeing Steve and it worked because it darkened her mood completely.

In fact we saw how angry Fiona had become when Raquel walked into the Rovers with a few plans for expanding her aromatherapy jobs. Her idea involved putting together a poster advertising her services. However to say it was an amateur effort was being kind and when Fiona saw the poster she accused Raquel of being tacky. Raquel as a result quit at the salon.

Terry meanwhile had been stirring things at the Rovers to an even greater extent. Vera wanted to go and play bingo but her going out meant that the Rovers was going to be short staffed for the night. Terry had suggested that Raquel was not the most natural choice for a barmaid because she was not as flexible to the pub's needs as she should be.

With this little seed ably planted in Vera's mind she ignited and vented her annoyance on Raquel and Curly, with Terry quietly smirking in the background. Jack tried desperately to placate the situation to no avail because Vera was in full flow now and Raquel proved that when given the opportunity she could climb on a high horse of her own. Anyway following the argument Raquel quit/was given the push at the Rovers and from the looks of things was not being made welcome to return on a social scale either.

All because Terry couldn't get his own way !

Don and Josie were hitting the ultimate rough patch as Don suffered the taunts of Mike at the Kabin. He returned home to simmer gently and begin building a temper that he could direct at Josie when she returned home. Josie was trying to keep the peace as much as possible with Don, but he was his usual panicky self when it came to the financial dire straits the garage was placing them in. As a result of this he went hyper ballistic and as a result Josie walked out and left him.

Terry meanwhile was out and about and now at Trish's house. She had stashed Jamie away at a friend's house (surprise, surprise) whilst she got glammed up for the arrival of Terry. When he arrived he didn't seem keen on going out at all. More interested it seemed in getting Trish into bed was more on the agenda. However when the show kept cutting back and forth to them I got the idea that Terry had failed in the sack department because Trish was massaging Terry's shoulders and telling him "it was O.K". Maybe it was just me, but that's the impression that I got from the scene.

Anyway to cap matters off Trish also began taking the little fling she was having with Terry rather seriously rather quickly. It was made worse by the fact that Terry even claimed he was now "chucking" his girlfriend in Sheffield. She made Terry an offer that he could move into her flat if he wanted to. Terry began showing alarm bell signs as he quickly changed the subject to that of ordering a take away.

Wednesday 26 June 1996
More of a darkening mood tonight as Terry's plans became evident. To the casual onlooker Terry had stated his intentions as going to Sheffield to see his girlfriend and to let her get used to Tommy. Vera of course was her usual understanding self when it came to Tommy and Terry, where as Jack was quick to begin thinking of ulterior motives. What we did witness at this stage was the fact that there had been some communication between Terry and Tommy's other grandparents the Aughtons.

Don and Josie seemed to be sealing their split permanently as Josie came back to collect the rest of her belongings. Don was his usual bitter self in fact if anything he was delivering more than his usual payload of venom as he continued to blame everyone bar himself for his misfortunes. He vowed that he would pay her back the money that she had invested in the garage.

It was the McDonald brothers birthday but the only sibling celebrating in view was Andy. Steve of course was enjoying his little stay in prison. Andy along with Jim and Liz went to visit him. They all came to the conclusion that he was looking worse and worse each time they visited. Steve left a message for Fiona that he hoped she would visit him soon. As for Liz and Jim the time had come for them to discuss divorce which made Jim very bitter as he gave Liz everything in the house as his "settlement".

Raquel was planning her new career in Aromatherapy now she was away from the Rovers. Curly was somewhat in the dark as to her plans as she seemed to be moving faster than he had hoped. When he got home from work that evening she had already nominated to turn the spare room into her salon. She had also placed ads in the local paper and altered the answering machine message to promote her new venture.

Terry meanwhile had set off to "Sheffield", or in reality he was now in Blackpool, getting ready to negotiate a deal with the Aughtons in order to make himself rich and get Tommy off his hands permanently. There was some bartering between Geoff and Terry with Duckworth being knocked down in price time and again, but eventually settling on £10,000, with Geoff writing him a cheque there and then.

Friday 28 June 1996
It was the proverbial Judgement Day for Mike Baldwin as he prepared for Stephen Reid's next visit to check out the new revised order for sweatshirts for Kay-beck. The nerves were obviously there as Alma asked if Mike was O.K. He responded that he would be fine once today was out of the way.

Jack started the day in fine form in the cafe with a miserable Don Brennan. Jack wolfed down a fry up whilst passing compliments to Alma, Don's mood became more and more bitter. He told Jack of Josie's rapid departure from his life and even though Jack was jovial about his predicament Don was as ever sombre and darkly reflective of his situation.

Vera received a visitor at the Rovers in the shape of none other than Mrs. Horton. There was some confusion about the situation as both seemed unaware of what the other knew. Mrs. Horton had come to console Vera thinking she knew Tommy had been sold to the Horton family. Vera however thought that Mrs. Horton was aware of Terry "going to Sheffield".

The two conversed like old friends until the penny slowly began to drop. Poor Vera tried her best to maintain some of her composure although despite all her best efforts she could not hold back her tears. Finally she renounced Terry as her son and ordered Betty to dump his photograph in the bin.

Jack of course had known the probable outcome of the situation right from the offset so it came as no great surprise to him when he learned the truth. He consoled Vera and came out with one of the best lines I've heard in ages when he was talking to Vera about their change in fortunes and what it had cost them. He turned to Vera and said words to the effect of "We were given a waste of space layabout son, so God repaid us...he gave us a pub". That for me was priceless Jack material dragging humour from the most tragic consequences. From that point onwards Jack claimed that he had no son. He disowned him completely and even Vera took steps to change her will.

Baldwin was now facing the arrival of Stephen Reid who was ready to inspect his new batch of wares. Mike escorted Stephen round the factory. When the inspection was complete Mike was relieved to hear the quality was up to scratch but Steve didn't hang around to celebrate with Mike and the newly arrived Alma, who had turned up with a pre-emptive bottle of champagne.

Raquel had lured back her first customer to the house, It was none other than Judy Mallett. She was subjected to the perils of lavender oils and bird-song tapes in the name of relaxation. Although looking at the procedure it was Raquel who was getting more relaxation from the process than Judy.

Curly returned from work only to find he had no run of his own home. He was forced to sit on the stairs until Raquel's session was completed and when it was completed there was something of an argument. Gone it would appear is the simple, sweet Raquel of old. She's been replaced with a definite harder edged character. Raquel stated that she didn't like the way Curly seemed to expect his dinner on the table and expect Raquel to play the happy home maker all time. There was a brief argument but it seemed diffused quickly.

Kevin was livid as he had not been paid his wages for his weeks work. Don was initially nowhere to be found but when he did turn up he claimed that he couldn't lay out any money due to the fact that "Josie was away" and he couldn't release cheques without her.

 

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