March 1998

4360 - Sunday 1 March
It was all good stuff for the viewer but not so hot for poor old Roy Cropper as he discovered his object of affection Hayley was not all she seemed. As we discovered in the previous episode Hayley was indeed born a man but by choice had gone through a series of treatments to make her a woman.

Roy sat gradually getting more and more uncomfortable with the situation as Hayley explained how she had once been called Harry and throughout her life she had felt uncomfortable with her gender. She explained that as time had gone by she had come to a decision to make a change in her life and had elected to go for a series of hormonal treatments which made her body alter significantly.

Roy was still gob smacked as Hayley more or less forced the knowledge on him. She concluded by telling him that she had completed the hormonal treatments but not had the surgery involved in the operation to complete the process.

That news was enough for Roy who was completely taken aback by this news and told Hayley to leave. He was a man of habit who was used to the things in his life which came naturally. Encountering a transsexual was not on the agenda. He bluntly told Hayley it might be better if she left.

The next day saw Spider and Toyah outside Firmans planning their little crusade against the Norwegian prawn selling freezer shop. Curly was undeterred in his sales drive to shift the prawns and even offered two bags for one as an incentive and by the end of the day Firmans had still turned a good profit. Spider however was resilient and planned further action against the supermarket and his now arch nemesis Curly Watts.

Dreary rang Mike to explain a date for the trial was now set for two weeks but she would need somewhere local to live up till that point. Mike volunteered his and Alma's place which she was grateful for but Alma had reservations especially as Mike would be spending a lot of time with his ex girlfriend of sorts.

I couldn't do the review and forget about Sam "I've discovered the Joys Of Sex and now I'll get it with as many blokes as I can" Falsworth. She had been transformed into something of a vamp after her night with carefree Chris and seemed determined to repeat the experience as soon as possible. Chris however seemed keen to play it all a bit cautious and with good reason I think.

The day passed in misery for Roy and everyone around him noticed it. The man was clearly shell shocked by the revelations that had come to light the night before and he seemed a tad unsure he had done the right thing in sending his new friend away in such a hurry.

Meanwhile Rachel, Steve's on and off girlfriend seemed to be a bit upset about his continued dalliances with his "friend" Fiona. He claimed it was platonic and the meetings helped to clear the air but in truth Steve seemed unsure about his future at this time.

The night ended with Sam and Chris planning another hot night on the bedsprings until Des unexpectedly walked into the Rovers back early from his race meeting in Wales. Sam looked like a cat about to lose it's last life as she realised she had almost been caught out but it would seem judging from Des's cheery demeanour she had cheated fate by a whisper....

All in all : Very Good

 

4361 - Monday 2 March
Hath Sam no shame!, She sent Des on his merry and unsuspecting way to another race meeting with a kiss and an "I love you" knowing full well Chris's imprint was still on the bed upstairs. I was sure someone with Des's woman savvy would have suspected that guilty look on her face but I suppose the bookie is blinded with love and affection for the treacherous Miss Falsworth.

Roy was still grouchy as ever in fact I was sure he was getting worse by the hour. He even told Gail to stop being patronising towards him when she started to try bolstering his spirits in the cafe. If only she knew the full story perhaps she would be as shocked as Roy had been only the other night.

The Norwegian prawn saga rolled on with Spider and Toyah aided and assisted by Emily Bishop assembled an eco parade outside Firmans complete with loud blaring whale song to symbolise the cruelty of the Norwegian whaling ships.

Curly tried to ring the police but they told him no crime was being committed at present but to ring back if the protest got out of hand. If it had been left to Toyah that might have been the case as she had the bright idea of sending a home made letter to Firmans claiming that they were prepared to spike the prawns with mercury if they kept selling them. Luckily Spider and Emily intercepted this approach before it got off the starting blocks and no one was going to get hurt as a result.

Steve volunteered to babysit for Fiona to give her a break from baby Morgan. He promised to find her a female sitter with experience with babies and volunteered his girlfriend Rachel for the job. I was surprised to see Rachel take the news so well and equally surprised to see her up to the job as well.

Alma was biting her lip at the prospect of having Dreary in the house especially since Mike had set no time limit on her stay. As you can imagine while Mike remained oblivious to any tensions there were some uncomfortable silences between Alma and Dreary.

It was made by worse by Ken turning up to cause an argument with his ex wife who claimed she would not return to the house of a man who thought she was in fact guilty of the crimes she had been accused of.

We saw the return of the pillock Kevin tonight and he was back to his whining ways as he got jealous of Chris talking to Sally amongst a group of women. Essentially it was all down to the fact that beefcake Chris could talk to women and Kevin had the articulate abilities of a piece of raw sewage when in the company of ladies that people didn't favour his company.

Anyway Chris left the pub early for a quiet night in and didn't bargain on Sam coming round to see him for a quick steamy session. However much to her dismay Chris told her he wanted a quiet night leaving Sam as deflated as a week old party balloon. I must say I admire the man's style not giving into such instincts which might have made weaker men buckle...

All in all : Very Good

 

4362 - Wednesday 4 March
An episode that was packed to the gills with events starting with Dreary's morale sliding down the slippery slope as she faced off her barrister tonight. The whole meeting raked over the embers of her life with John and made her feel worthless and foolish for the mess that her life had become.

Meanwhile Spider was striking a blow for the environment because his whale song tapes and protest leaflets finally convinced Curly to remove the Norwegian prawns from the shelves of Firmans. Spider ended the protest as a result and sloped off to cause eco mischief elsewhere.

However if he had hung around then he might have been there to witness Eric ordering Curly to restock the shelves or else there would be big trouble. Curly found breaking his word to Spider a touch distasteful as his social conscience began to pinch at him.

Des was having a football night in with the lads and discreetly asked Sam if she could clear off for the night. She was more than happy to leave the men to watch a ball being kicked around because if she had her way she and Chris would be getting up to a game of two halves themselves.

Hayley arranged a night out with Alma in the Rovers to explain her predicament with Roy. She came clean about her sexuality and her transformation and was relieved to find an understanding ear from Alma. It was nice to see such a warm and genuine reaction from Alma when she had faced such adversity from Roy over the matter.

The lads enjoyed their night in with some beer and the match in front of the telly. They were going to invite Chris round but apparently when Martin went to fetch him he was....er busy. Martin joked about how he thought there was a woman in the house with him. That in itself generated a suspicious stare from Kevin. However the main buffoon of the night was unsuspecting Des who encouraged Chris to "get stuck in" as it would be the best thing for him.

Mike ended the night telling Alma how they would have to watch Dreary from now on. He had come home in time to see her toying with the idea of suicide and downing a bottle of pills to end her miserable life. Mike had talked her round but her mood was still desolate.

All in all : Very Good

 

4363 - Friday 6 March
It was suicide watch for Dreary tonight as Alma feared her new house guest might try and throw a seven at any point. She confided in Rita so she went round to see if there was anything she could do about Dreary's despondant nature.

Elsewhere Sam and Chris continued their flirtation despite the fact that Des was in close proximity almost all the time. He knew nothing of their little affair and seemed no closer to discovering either. There was a hidden danger here though. Sam showed signs of attachment to the somewhat take it or leave it minded Chris.

Add to this little equation Kevin's jealousy over Sally's one time relationship with Chris and the fact that she classed him as a friend despite all that had happened between them.

Firmans were besieged again by eco nutters Emily and Spider with Toyah along for good measure. Their presence was tolerated for so long until the police insisted they move along and call it a day.

Toyah wasn't prepared to leave this business unfinished so she called on Leanne to provide a distraction in the store while she poured what looked like anti freeze all over the refrigerated stock of prawns which were causing offence.

Steve manoeuvered himself out of his relationship with Rachel on the premise he would woo his way back into Fiona's life. His plans met with dismal failure though because Fiona wasn't prepared to be hurt by him again.

However in conversation with her mother later that day it was clear she was hanging by a thread emotionally. She was torn between letting someone she still cared for out of her life forever or allowing this man who broke her heart into a thousand pieces back and risking the hurt all over again.

The night ended with Dreary alone in Mike's flat and getting a knock at the door. She thought Rita had called back for a scarf she had left on the settee but instead the man at the door was none other than.....

....Jon Lindsay :()

All in all : Very Good

 

4364 - Sunday 8 March
The return of Jon Lindsay saw another twist in the old and grinding saga of Dreary and her potential jail term for crimes she was duped into. Jon came back with yet another one of his preposterous yet strangely plausible tales.

He had scuttled off to Ireland with his real wife and the kids in an effort to stop her doing something stupid to herself and the children. That was his story and he was sticking to it anyway. However what you may ask was his purpose in Weatherfield now he was back.

He told Dreary he had plans for them that involved skipping the country and starting a new life abroad with no fear of recrimination from the forces of justice. Dreary saw this as her way out of her recent troubles and decided she would play a little game with him.

Mike and Alma were out for the night so she was all alone. She would have to use what precious little intellect she had to try and dupe the master of deception into playing things her way. So for starters she told John she had nothing to lose in England so she would accompany him on his little jaunt.

She told him to get her suitcase from the bedroom while she got her belongings from the bathroom. Jon nipped out and Dreary quickly dialled the police and began feeding them her details in a frantic rush. Jon came out of the bedroom though and Dreary was forced to hang up mid call but they should have had enough information to work with.

Elsewhere it was all quiet on the Sunday front really with the potential for a pot boiler of a storyline starting. Kevin and Sally along with Des and Sam were all set for a night out on the tiles. Kevin of course was about as happy with Chris as the choice of babysitter as a man booked on a lower class ticket for the Titanic.

He was eager for any chance he could find to see fault in the young mechanic who only months ago was bedding his wife. He might have been on to something as well as he noted Sam looking longingly into his eyes as she left the house.

Fiona realised that she was hurting quite badly herself after giving Steve McDonald the brush off. Her mother thought her insane for entertaining the idea of going back with a McDonald who had bruised her heart the first time round.

Steve himself meanwhile was in the Rovers and explaining to Gary Mallett that he had fought the good fight to win her back but alas had lost in the end. He explained he would not be trying to win her over again.

Toyah explained to Spider her actions which had written of a freezer load of stock at Firmans. She claimed she had done it all for Spider and before long was off on one of her love lorn diatribes about how she would die for Spider as a test of her love for him. As ever Spider told her to stay alive for the time being as she would be more use to the cause that way.

Back at Mike's place Dreary was stalling Jon with whisky and he seemed to be playing along for good measure as well. However the final twist was yet to come. He announced out of the blue he realised Dreary was stalling him and was in truth waiting for the police to arrive.

Just as he said that he heard a knock at the door and Dreary hysterically told the police to take Jon away. Jon was ice cool and volunteered himself to the boys in blue. His glib tongue was no doubt all set to save him from a similar potential fate to Dreary's.

Dreary ended the night explaining to Mike and Alma what had happened. It wasn't time for celebration yet but they could only hope the crafty Jon had dug himself in too deep...

All in all : Very Good

 

4365 - Monday 9 March
While Curly opened up Firmans to the smell of anti-freeze ruined prawns and greeted another hard day ahead Jon Lindsay languished in custody at the police station.

Make no mistake though his razor sharp talent for lies was being called to the front again and he played his part to perfection weaving a web within a web to confound the authorities. As we watched Jon began painting a picture of Dreary as a manipulative and highly unstable woman who had led him astray from day one.

He explained how she had a penchant for uniforms and had concocted a distorted fantasy about how she viewed him as a pilot and how she liked him to dress the part at first in private before later building him a new public image as a man of the skies.

Meanwhile Fiona's mother did the first decent thing she had done for a while by telling Steve he was still in with a chance with a love lorn Fiona Middleton. He went to see her safe in the knowledge she would be his again and the two kissed and made up. They were truly back on!

The public cracks in the relationship of Des and Sam were showing only Des couldn't see them for the rose tinted glasses he wore to view his beloved through. Kevin observed flirtation between Sam and Chris in the work place but couldn't voice his opinion to Sally without her thinking it was a personal vendetta against her ex boyfriend.

Strangely enough the thought of Chris with Sam seemed to shake Sally a bit as well or was it the double standards that she thought Kevin was displaying with his sympathy for Des. It seemed OK to think Des was hard done to but his affair with Natalie had never provoked such a response had it.

Emily was outraged as she found herself covering for Toyah and Spider as they giggled at the prospect of Curly in deep trouble for the incident at Firmans. She drew the line at such rash actions and could only condone peaceful protest against Firmans and their injustices.

Jon meanwhile was still story building for the police. He was now claiming Dreary was a suicide case who would have killed herself had he not helped her with acting fraudulently to get the mortage papers signed in the name of Ian Jenkins. He claimed to have no knowledge of the credit card and reckoned Dreary had told him she was independently wealthy courtesy of Samir Rashid her late husband.

He topped off the night by implicating Ken in the story as well. At one stage Barlow might have been the only loophole in his fairytale but that was now pulled shut as Jon claimed Dreary had made him party to her lies about Jon and his pilot identity.

All in all : Excellent

 

4366 - Wednesday 11 March
Dare I say it but a touch on the scrappy side compared to Coronation Street of late, still good in general though. Dreary's predicament got worse as she discovered just how effectively Jon had lied to implicate her in the frauds he had committed.

There was also the adding of Ken to the occasion, he only wanted to do the right thing by his ex wife but being forced to tell the truth to the police about keeping a little secret for her and Jon meant he would now be called as a prosecution witness against her. This made matters considerably more complicated for sure.

Thanks to Alma's kindness and compassion she educated Roy in the ways of human kindness. Telling him he ought to treat Hayley with more respect as a person made him rethink his recent harsh attitude towards her. He decided to write her a letter which outlined his feelings and delivered it to her in speech outside Firmans in his own inimitable awkward manner.

News was leaking about Sam and Chris and Sally broke Kevin's confidence by asking Chris what he was playing. It was none of her business and I am sure old feelings were being rekindled in her heart now the hunky mechanic with another woman. Kevin however was angered about what his wife had said though. Clearly a by-product of his own jealousy over the man who had bedded his wife. In fact looking at the Websters there was more cracks in their relationship of late than a piece of crazy paving.

Steve and Fiona were on again for sure but this had restarted the old obsession of Jim McDonald. The sad old sod was back into his stalking mode again and showed signs of becoming a pest as he asked Fiona if she really knew what she was doing with Steve. Uh Oh methinks Jim big nutter alert !

The night ended with a police man officially telling Ken he was required as a witness against Dreary in April. It was looking most dodgy indeed.....

All in all : Still high calibre....but....a touch lower than usual.

 

4367 - Friday 13 March
Eventful could describe tonight's offering as Corrie kicked into a high gear with plenty going on. Toyah's simmering anger began to bubble nicely thanks to the presence of Log. As we know she was Spider's girlfriend who had decided to make herself a semi permanent fixture in the Bishop household.

Meanwhile hope seemed to be fading fast for Dreary as news of Ken's "betrayal" began to leak out. Mike of course took a very dim view of proceedings and began to agree that her chances of getting off were looking very poor indeed.

As Sam and Chris played their little games Kevin's tolerance for them decreased. He eventually snapped and decided it was time to speak to Des and put him in the picture. Unfortunately Des was blinding himself to what was happening and sent Kevin away with harsh words. He thought it was his old friend's personal dislike of Chris which was colouring his viewpoint.

Mike decided to take action to bail Dreary out her impossible situation. He left her a wad of money and Alma's passport and gave her the option of fleeing the country to Spain where she could lie low and perhaps start a new life.

To give her time to think about this he went to the Rovers with Alma where he confronted Ken about his actions and before you knew it a minor scuffle broke out. It was ended quickly by Gary stepping and stopping things getting any more heated than they already were.

Meanwhile Dreary had her bags packed and seemed ready to go...after all what future could she possibly have now in Weatherfield ?

All in all : Very Good

 

4368 - Sunday 15 March
A good deal of Dreary related storyline tonight as Ken tried to go an make peace with her following the recent troubles he seems to have ignited with the police and their enquiries.

However he arrived at her place of residence just in time to see her fleeing for the airport in a taxi to Manchester Airport. Fearing the worst he trailed her in his car and managed to buy some time for them to talk while her plane came in.

Meanwhile Log was becoming something of a pain in the neck for the likes of Toyah and Emily. She was an environmentalist who couldn't care less about her fellow man especially the likes of Curly who seemed destined to come a cropper courtesy of the anti freeze prawn incident. Toyah meanwhile was seen writing a letter to Firmans...could she implicating Log ?

Des was propping up the bar and the beer was doing a seemingly good job of propping up his temper as he eyed Sam across the Rovers. She spent the night outrageously flirting with her piece of beefcake Chris to the extent that even Natalie noticed something was amiss. However there was no resolution to the situation tonight....that would have to wait.

Dreary explained to Ken how she had been planning with Mike's aid to have her flee the country to avoid imprisonment. Ken begged her to reconsider her options because of the possible implications. She eventually agreed to come back with him to Coronation Street and he promised he would speak up for her to his best ability in the witness box.

Mike however tried to put a stop to that only to be pushed away by Ken on his own doorstep. It was all turning sour for him mainly because of the strain all this seemed to be putting on his own marriage of late.

All in all : Good

 

4369 - Monday 16 March
Des's paranoia began to grow tonight as the words of Kevin slowly burned into his brain. Had his missus done the dirty with hunky chunky Chris or was it all just pie in the sky. We of course know Sam had been playing away from home and tonight Des took measure to find out the truth.

He took to following the steps of his girlfriend as she went about her daily business. It all yielded nothing though because on this particular day nothing was going on. Chris however suspected he was rumbled and informed Sam that Des might not be as stupid as he looked. Sam took the news with an air of unerring calm surprisingly enough.

Meanwhile Roy was eager to appease Hayley after being a bit abrupt with her over the subject of going for dinner at Gail and Martin's house. Eager to make amends he rescheduled the meal for over at the cafe with Gail and Martin coming to them for the evening.

Curly started the day receiving Toyah's letter at Firmans. He knew straight away she was the culprit who was trying to land her enemy Log in trouble. He didn't want the business of the anti freeze freezers going any further now either as Firmans had taken the view of closing the matter.

Thus Curly told Emily to try and persuade Spider to speak to Toyah and calm things down a notch. Emily did this and while she was at it she clamped down on a few of the house rules as well. The Bishop household would no longer be a place of Spider and Log's "Moroccan Specials".

Mike finally admitted he might have been hasty in his actions by trying to bundle Dreary off to Spain for a new life. No matter what though I do think this had put a few stresses and strains on his marriage to Alma which would not be as easily patched over as he thought.

The meal at the cafe was something of a starched affair with Roy and Hayley entertaining their guest with aplomb. They were an oddly matched foursome with Roy and Hayley somewhat starched compared to the loose funny guy approach of Martin and the winsome but chinless Gail. Still it all went smoothly enough with Roy only looking pained a few times during the meal.

The night ended with what looked like could be something of a showdown between Des and Sam. There were games being played and it was time for the truth to be revealed....

All in all : Good

 

4370 - Wednesday 18 March
A packed episode tonight kicking off with Dreary and Frankie recruiting their new barrister for the John Lindsay case. He seemed to be a real slick piece of work who would do the business for Dreary when it counted. He had to be sure however that she would be prepared to stand up to the rigours of the court process especially when faced with the likes of Lindsay and his accomplished talent for lies and deceit.

Des told Sam he was being called away to an overnight race meeting at Cheltenham. It was of course one of his blatant ploys to try and catch Sam out but she didn't quite see it. Instead she was more than keen to try and snare Chris and get him in the sack. At first though it seemed Chris was playing hard to get but Sam eventually won him over.

The reason he was playing hard to get was down to the fact that he was still attracted to Sally and told her as much when he went to see her tonight. It was clear she still felt something for him as well but tried rather pathetically to deny it.

Whatever Chris's feelings for Sally he still paid a visit to Sam for the evening while Des was away. However little did they know Des was back in Weatherfield and sat outside deliberating over whether to storm into his own house and break up any little tryst he found.

He watched the bedroom light come on and decided to pick his moment to walk into the house. Luckily Sam heard him and intercepted him before he could come upstairs. It was clear Des was suspicious but Sam fielded his questions without too much hassle. When he asked why there were plates laid out for two she explained that Natalie had been round for something to eat.

That still left the problem of getting Chris out of the car. Sam accomplished that by sending Des out to get his overnight bag from the back of his car. While he did that she bundled Chris out of the back door and on to the garden leaving him clear to make his escape. It was clear from the look on her face she was loving the danger that the situation presented.

Meanwhile Ken was out on another date for the Golden Years agency. His companion tonight was a very nervous looking woman who seemed ill at ease in the situation. Her agitation seemed to increase and she left Ken while she went to powder her nose. After what seemed like an incredibly long time Ken went to check on her only to find she had collapsed and died in the ladies.

This led to all sorts of embarrassing questions for Ken as the police turned up. All Alec could think of though was "had he got paid?"

All in all : Very Good

 

4371 - Friday 20 March
A very rattled Ken found the death of his far from dream date the other night was merely the start of his troubles tonight. He was visited by the poor woman's brother Colin who sympathised with Ken's loss. However he wasn't aware of the circumstances of their little night out.

Eventually Ken could stand the man's simpering no more and explained he wasn't her partner or boyfriend but in fact a glorified but respectable male escort. This horrified Colin who left straight afterwards declaring that the matter should be kept within those four walls. Ken figured that might be the end of his problems and a veil of secrecy over his career would remain.

However before the day was out there was a reporter looking in on him and asking some very probing questions about his recent career choices. Ken kept a dignified silence but if Colin had kept the matter quiet then who had spilled the beans.

Meanwhile no sooner had Liz been chosen as Dreary's character witness than she was suddenly dropped again. Mike had more than a little to do with the decision and when push came to shove she was dropped because of her somewhat flaky history with Frazer Henderson and I think her somewhat tarty dress sense. Mike was concerned that it wouldn't look good in court and it was Dreary who was left with the responsibility of telling her friend as gently as she could she was no longer needed.

Log was shown up as something she wasn't tonight by young Toyah. A bacon sandwich mysteriously disappeared from the cafe while nobody was paying attention and strict vegan eco shaker Log was the prime suspect. It all pointed to her because when Toyah saw her next she had a dribble of brown sauce running down her chin making her look as guilty as hell. Spider of course couldn't believe his little environmental princess would be so guilty of betraying her principles. It fired up a decision from the two of them to move even though leaving Auntie Em would be quite a heartbreaking moment.

Chris was trying to wind his fling with Sam down as gently as possible tonight. It seemed everyone had their suspicions about the two of them getting up to no good together including Natalie. He wanted no further risks being taken as he could see the relationship going nowhere so he broke it off.

Sam's reaction was quite that of a woman scorned. She didn't take the rejection well at all and went as far as nearly making a public scene by banging on Chris's door in frustration. She then made matters worse by taking out her anger on Des the night before by accusing him of jealously spying on her when he was supposed to be away at a race meeting. Surely this was the beginning of the end.......

All in all : Very Good

 

4372 - Sunday 22 March
As recent episodes of Coronation Street go this one was a bit on the slow side. It started off in the Bishop household with Log and Spider planning to leave Weatherfield for pastures new. Spider went out and Log was left in the house with Emily who was cooking a breakfast meant for meat eaters.

Emily then announced her watch had stopped and she was inadvertently late for her occasional job in the charity shop. This left Log in the house alone and with the temptation of meat. Before we knew it she had succumbed to that temptation and was scoffing her way through a fried breakfast.

As she polished off the last morsels in walked Spider who was horrified to see his girlfriend betraying her vegan beliefs and eating the dead flesh of animals. He objected so strongly that the two of them were through and she left the house alone. Needless to say Toyah was overjoyed the man of her dreams was sticking around.

Crazy head Sam was effectively stalking Chris telling him that they needed to be together. No matter what he said she wouldn't take the hint and leave him alone so he ended up giving in and having a sexy afternoon with her if anything just to get her off his back (and presumably on to hers).

This situation wasn't without it's other complications either. Chris went to see Sally to declare his undying love for her and announce he didn't want Sam around him anymore. Sally backed away from the idea but I reckon she was tempted by her ex- bit on the side. As Chris left the house though Kevin was witness to him walking across the road back to the garage. This little episode sent his jealousy into overdrive.

Alec figured he could manipulate the press to do his bidding by getting an interview with the local paper to explain a bit more about Golden Years. Alec thought he was being smart as he told the young reporter about the noble aspirations of his company in the field of battling loneliness in the mature sector. It was clear the reporter was out to do a quick buck hatchet job on Alec, only he didn't realise it yet.

Dreary was all emotional tonight mainly because the court date for her trial had been moved forward to Monday. The whole drama would be unfolding before our eyes sooner than we had expected....

All in all : O.K

 

4373 - Monday 23 March
The Weatherfield local paper was headlining Golden Years tonight in something of hatchet job against Alec and Ken for their involvement in what they portrayed as something of a seedy and sordid dating agency.

However more importantly it was the start of Dreary's trial and it looked like it might not be the usual dragged out affair that soap cases usually offer us. The general pace was fairly quick starting with the likes of Les Batters by and Audrey Roberts getting their popcorn and taking ringside seats in the public gallery.

Dreary of course pleaded "Not Guilty" to her charges of fraud and deception while Jon Lindsay playing it as cool as ever held his hands up and admitted his guilt to an extent. Jon's story was one of a man who had been taken in and bewitched by Dreary who was a woman determined to end the mundane nature of her life and achieve some form of affluence by fair means or foul.

The defence in return painted Dreary as something of a brainless dummy who had been duped by the skillful machinations of a dashing pilot. We saw Ian Jenkins take the stand and watched as the defence did something of a number on him to make him make John look like a completely untrustworthy sort.

While all this was going on Sally and Kevin battled to keep their extremely fragile marriage on the rails. It seemed that Kevin's jealousy was eating away at their relationship and Chris's continued presence wasn't helping matters any as the two of them bickered at the garage. We also saw further evidence that Sam and Chris were definitely on as item.

Back in the court the defence systematically took Jon's wife apart on the stand. Her allegations had painted Dreary as something of a vicious monster but these were discredited easily when there was no evidence that Dreary had done anything against Jon's wife other than try to explain her husband's infidelity.

It was all about to go sour however when Ken took the stand. In his favour he did try and defend Dreary as best he could but when the prosecution began picking at him he was inadvertently making his ex wife look bad. Nothing he could say in the long run would have a defensive effect for her.

All in all : Good

 

4374 - Wednesday 25 March
More or less a double stringer of an episode with the prevalent courtroom drama storyline taking the heading tonight. After dispensing with a few pleasantries it was the turn of Jon Lindsay to take the stand and what a show he would put on.

Right from scratch Lindsay was as convincing and conniving as ever with his polished tales of the manipulative and callous Mrs Rashid. His defence buttered him up and made him look like a thoroughly well almost thoroughly decent sort. Lindsay continued with his stories of Dreary wanting a fantasy pilot as her boyfriend which explained the pilot charade which had gone on for so long.

Meanwhile in the Street things were hotting up for Des and Sam. Natalie was on to Sam and her affair with Chris although Sam still thought she was smarter than the average bear and continue to play dumb for all it was worth.

Meanwhile Kevin decided it was time to twist the knife with Chris after he saw the lovey dovey couple heading off to his flat for a quickie during their respective lunch hours. He casually told a disbelieving Des over a pint where to find his girlfriend and the truth.

In court Dreary's defence started tearing into Jon but he held off any potential damage pretty well. He stumbled briefly when Dreary's barrister questioned him about his marriage proposal to Dreary late last year but it wasn't a serious glitch for an accomplished liar like Jon. On the spot he wove a new and intricate bolt on fib which connected nicely with his other whimsical tales.

He did such a good job that the police reckoned that Dreary might be as well changing her plea to guilty and even the likes of Frankie admitted Jon had done a tidy job in the box.

Des meanwhile decided to check out Kevin's story and two quick kicks to the door later was in Chris's flat and upstairs gazing down on the post coital (I presume) Sam and Chris. He paid Chris for the damage to his door and then walked out rather calmly.

Sam rushed after him begging to explain but what explanation could there possibly be. He called her a freak and told her to get out of his house before he did something rash and with a bundle of clothes to her name she was out of the house and more than likely bedding down at the home of Natalie.

In conversation later with Natalie, Sam couldn't explain her own behaviour she couldn't understand what motivated her to do the things she did. All she knew was her life looked like it was going to be in tatters from now with no prospect of a reconciliation with Des and strangely a lack of enthusiasm for Chris.... a case of after the thrill has gone methinks ?

Speaking of Chris he quit his job and stormed out of the garage but not without a parting shot at Kevin. He reckoned if Sally had anything about her she would be making the right choice in running off with him and not stopping with a deadbeat loser like Kevin. Food for thought and a possible slow ticking time bomb on the Webster marriage ?

The episode ended with Dreary's council of war around her at Ken's house. They were girding their loins for the battle ahead as the next day in court would be Dreary's and the final fight for her freedom would begin...

All in all : Very Good

 

4375 - Friday 28 March
The trial drew to a close and other events in the Street became more and more complicated tonight in an absolute pot boiler of an episode. Chris started out by making plans to leave for his hometown of West Bromwich. He had seen enough of life in Weatherfield and it had obviously left something of a bitter taste in his mouth. It was however something of his own doing.

Natalie learned of this and prompted Sam to make some hasty moves if she wanted her new man in her life. Something Sam was prepared to do no matter how much it hurt Des who was incidentally still being consoled by Angie. Sam tracked Chris to the cafe and effectively tagged herself on to his departure ticket.

In court it was Dreary's night and her defence did a good enough job of making her look as good as possible under the somewhat dodgy circumstances. However as soon as John's people went to work it was like throwing fresh meat to a very hungry dog. The prosecutor went to work on Dreary with machine like efficiency making her look like a complete liar and a clever and manipulative schemer who had manufactured the whole plot.

Even with a strong batting performance from Emily in defence it still didn't look good. Hats off to the old dear though she fended off the prosecution in first rate fashion when he tried to discredit her for the recent tree bound antics she had participated in.

Sally found out about Kevin spilling the beans over the affair to Des. She was disgusted at his tit for tat behaviour and another nail was hammered into the coffin that was their rapidly decaying marriage. Kevin couldn't understand her defence of caddish Chris....unless she still carried a torch for him.

In court the jury was out for the deciding verdict and Dreary clashed in the toilets with John's wife. Dreary was angry and implored the woman to come clean and tell what she knew about the lies her husband had told. She knew something I'm sure but was keeping it all under wraps for her husband's sake. I'm sure the case will end up hinging round her.....

Chris came to say goodbye to Sally and to pledge undying love to her and extend an invite to Sally to come with him to West Brom. Sally looked undecided but before she could decide Kevin came in to see the two of them holding hands together. We would have to wait for the resultant explosion till the next episode.

The night ended in court with Dreary awaiting the verdict. Just as the crucial moment came the credits began to roll......

All in all : Excellent

 

4376 - Sunday 29 March
Tonight the sentence was passed. Both Jon and Dreary stood in the dock guilty as charged but there was to be a whole different story when it came to sentencing. Jon received a suspended sentence of six months which meant he walked away from the court essentially a free man unless he put a foot wrong again.

It wasn't to be that easy for Dreary though there was to be no leniency from the judge as he reeled off the crimes she had committed and in the end she would be serving 18 months inside, sentence would commence immediately.

The news shell shocked everyone who expected Dreary to get off the charges. There was of course scenes from the likes of Ken and Mike who took to squabbling and appointing blame for what had happened. Liz decided to get all threatening with Jon's drippy wife as she left the court but all in all there was little she could do.

Back in Weatherfield there was other troubles going on. The continuing Chris and Sally & Kevin love triangle for starters. Kevin had returned home to see his estranged wife and her ex boyfriend sat rather closely together. He had invited her to start a new life with him back in his home town of West Bromwich.

Sally declined the offer and Chris left the house but this had done yet more damage to the already critically wounded relationship that the Websters were clinging to. Kevin asked his wife if she loved him and in all honesty she couldn't answer. It would seem whatever love they had felt was dead and buried. What would they do about it though ?

Dreary meanwhile was bundled off too prison to begin her sentence. She was very much a duck out of water and the whole process was new to her. She was told to strip and hand in her belongings and did so obviously still in shock. Her protests of innocence began to wear thin very quickly though I must say.

Over dinner Alma had hoped that now the matter was resolved although not in the nicest of ways her and Mike could get back to normal. Mike however refused to let the matter go though and insisted he would appeal against the decision as soon as possible. Alma meanwhile dropped hint that she thought perhaps Dreary might actually be guilty of some crime claiming there was no smoke without fire.

Dreary meanwhile was put in a cell with someone who it was quickly clear had a good deal of experience in prison life (none other than Margie Clarke doing what she does best). She seemed friendly enough but all Dreary could do was pace up and down the cell proclaiming as ever she had done nothing wrong.

In the Street meanwhile Sam was waiting in the Rovers for Chris to turn up and whisk them away to their destiny in West Bromwich. However as the night wore on it became clearer he wasn't going to show. Chris did walk past the Rovers and did consider honouring the meeting but in the end simply walked away from the pub and possibly pastures new....

Dreary meanwhile ended the night at lights out in floods of tears with the old (you've guessed it)"I haven't (sob) done anything wrong routine".

All in all : OK

 

4377 - Monday 30 March
Dreary was mentally shattered after just one night in the big house. As was the norm for her she was proclaiming her innocence more times than a stuck record to the annoyance of her cell mate.

It didn't look good for her by any stretch of the imagination either. Outside Mike was keen to get the legal process rolling and getting an appeal put in to try and get her out. However the nature of the British justice meant that would all take time and lots of it. According to Frankie Stillman Dreary could have served her sentence by the time an appeal went through.

There was another aspect to the case that had not yet being considered as well. It was all turning out to be a rather costly exercise with Mike footing the bill. There was already an interim bill of about £10,000 with more to come in the near future.

Now as we know Mike is a man of not inconsiderable means but this was putting a considerable strain on his financial well being. There was an answer for him though. He decided he would leech the money from his Underworld account. The only problem being that Angie had no knowledge of this at all.

Kevin meanwhile was still sulking like a little child. His worry was that Sally was no longer in love with him. Perhaps that meant that there would be no there to carry him around and make his meals anymore. He confided in Gail (rapidly becoming as nosey and interfering as her mother) and told her he felt he was losing his wife.

There was hints of a rekindling in the romance between Ashley and Maxine. At this point it was just a bit of friendly chat between them in the shop but it seemed clear Ashley's relationship with Zoe was not all it should be and the cracks were starting to appear.

Gail talked to Sally about her fears for the Webster marriage leading Sally to sit down with Kevin and talk to him. After all the sniping there was a hug and a kiss and it seemed as though a miraculous form of marital bliss had come down upon the both of them.

There were a few more obligatory prison scenes with Dreary still refusing to fit in. The old innocence routine was wearing thread bare by now and wasn't made better by the appearance of Ken on a visit. He was forced to tell her just how long the appeal process could take which knocked Dreary's morale even lower than it had been before.

All in all : Not so good, methinks.



Written by Adrian Carter

 

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