6 May 1997

Poor Ashley, the police take him in for questioning after Don told the police that Ashley torched Baldwin's factory. Despite intervention from uncle Fred Elliot and Mike Baldwin, who pays for Ashley to have an appointment with his own solicitor, Ashley gets arrested and taken away to the cop shop. (It's a fit up, guv).

This week saw another regular leave the Street. Trisha Armstrong finally did the right thing for once in her life and went off with her 2 kids to live with Ray Thorpe. It isn't until after they've left that it hits Vera, who sheds a few tears in the back room of the Rovers, wondering if she'll ever see her grandson again.

The Sunliners Chief Executive calls into Alec's travel agency to meet Joyce, the cleaner (Alec still has Joyce on his wages books). Rita calls round to give Alec a piece of her mind and tell him what a scum bag he is for taking a dead person's wages, when the Chief Exec. walks in and mistakes Rita to be Joyce. Quite a comic moment! Rita persuades Alec to give Judy Mallett the overpaid wages for Joyce so that Judy can buy a memorial plaque for her mother. Alec gets called to the Sunliners headquarters in Southampton for lunch with the Director. He's expecting to be told how well his travel agency is doing, but is completely shocked when he's told he's been given the sack (or in nautical terms - sent to the breakers yard) and that Deirdre will take over his post in Sunliners.

Mike and Angie finally agree to do business together, after both of them try playing hard to get but it's obvious that Mike needs Angie just as much as she needs him. Jim and Bill offer to carry out the building alterations in the print shop. Meanwhile, Alma is still drooling over Florida villas, thinking she and Mike are going to spend their retirement in the sunshine. However, Angie tells Jim and Bill about her business partnership with Mike and they just happen to mention it to Audrey in the Rovers, who confronts Alma with it and of course she doesn't know what's going on - Mike hasn't told her.

Fiona's boyfriend Alan gets promoted to Detective Sergeant, the power goes straight to his head and he's drinking and driving all over the place. Sean and Samantha settle down in front of the telly for a quiet night in with a bottle of wine but when Sean tries it on, he won't take 'No!' for an answer and the evening ends with Samantha throwing him out. She won't give him a chance to apologise in the Rovers, and the scene ends quite nasty with Jim McDonald intervening and Sean threatening to punch Jim. Does Sam thank Jim for his assistance? No, she tells him never to interfere in her business again, but then runs out of the pub to apologise to him.

And for the big story of the week... Natalie and Kevin! Ooooh!! Natalie plays it cool this week, and Kevin keeps leaving messages on her answering machine, it's obvious the boy's smitten and Natalie has him where she wants him. On Bank Holiday Monday, Kevin goes out for a meal with Chris and Angie and they later go night-clubbing. Natalie finds out which night-club they're going to, and turns up, much to Kevin's delight. After Chris and Angie leave, Kevin and Natalie stay on for a few extra drinks and with her hand on his leg, Natalie suggests that Kevin goes back to her place, (watch out for the goofiest look you'll ever see on Kevin's face since he had his moustache shaved off). Meanwhile, Rita is baby-sitting at Kevin's house and isn't amused when Kevin returns at 3am instead of the 12 midnight he promised her.

This week's update ends with Kevin having been unfaithful to Sally, and he's left staring at their wedding photograph while little Sophie (or is it Rosie? who knows?) wanders downstairs and asks for a drink of water. Oh, Kevin, what have you gone and done now?


13 May 1997

An unlikely alliance is starting to form in the shape of Samantha and Jim McDonald. After Jim intervened in last week's argument between Samantha and Sean, Samantha invites Jim to her house for dinner to say thank you and to apologise for shouting at him. It's all nudge-nudge wink-wink when Bill gets to hear about Samantha cooking dinner but Samantha won't take any nonsense and sends Jim back to the Rovers once dinner is over. Then, they both go bowling together and seem to get on well together. Who knows what could happen next?

Ashley gets released from prison after spending 2 nights in a prison cell. Proof that Ashley was in a night-club at the time of the fire is found when the surveillance video of the night-club is found at the police station and he's let off with all charges. He wants answers from Don though and visits him in prison, only to have Don ramble on about Ivy, he wonders when Ivy will visit him.. oh dear... The bloke is seriously off his trolley, and gets moved to a mental health hospital, which means he can't be charged with arson and attempted murder, much to Mike Baldwin's disgust.

Gail asks Alma if she wants to work part time in the cafe, and Alma jumps at the chance to spend less time twiddling her thumbs in front of daytime TV. Unfortunately, Roy isn't best pleased that Alma could be working in the cafe again, he feels his position as head chef and bottle washer under threat and tells Gail that he doesn't want to work with Alma. Gail and Roy fall out for a while but soon end up speaking again and Gail gives Alma the bad news. Not one for giving up, Alma goes for an interview in a dress shop but doesn't get the job, then she's wandering around Firman's Freezers and notices that they need staff so she asks Curly about the vacancies and before you can say 'It's not what you know, it's who you know' she gets a new job as a checkout operator. Mike is horrified when he finds out, especially as he's just booked a 2 week holiday in Cyprus for the two of them and now finds out that Alma can't go.

Deirdre is willing to take over as the new manager of Sunliners but Alec is up to his old tricks again. He's managed to fiddle a 10 day holiday in Las Vegas for himself out of Sunliners promotions, Deirdre tells him to get rid of the holiday before she takes over in charge. Alec has a plan, he tells Jack they should raffle the holiday in the Rovers, and that he will ensure Jack and Vera are the winners of the holiday. All the regulars are buying raffle tickets and Jack gets a bit worried about the dodgy deal when Alan McKenna buys a couple of tickets and asks questions about the deal. Profits of the raffle are going to Weatherfield Hospital, when Alec's taken his cut, of course. I can't help thinking that something is going to go terribly wrong.

Natalie and Kevin are wondering what to do with themselves after last week's encounter. Natalie is all for having another full overhaul and service from our favourite mechanic, but Kev is feeling guilty and visits Sally in Scarborough. Mind you, this still doesn't stop him and Natalie from having a long snog on the sofa, and with little Sophie upstairs too.

Maureen (remember her? she hasn't been around for ages, neither has Curly who makes a reappearance this week) is feeling a bit depressed about her love life with Bill, the spark's gone and she wants to brighten things up. Bill's idea of a night out is playing dominoes in the Rovers with Percy Sugden and Maude so Maureen drags him out to a 60's night at Cherelle's night-club.

And finally, what's happening to our own Street Spice Girls Maxine and Fiona this week? Fiona has a moan to Alan that she never sees enough of him, and he offers to move in to the flat above the hair salon with her. Maxine is head over heels in love with Ashley, the fact he's spent a couple of nights in prison seems to have added more mystique to the butcher's nephew and they stay overnight at Don's house, as Ashley still has the house keys. And that's it for this week.


20 May 1997

Just before the Las Vegas raffle is due to be drawn in the Rovers, in walks an old codger who buys the last ticket. Alec pulls out the winning ticket, and guess who wins it.. the old codger, who gets so excited about winning it that he falls to the floor in a dead faint. Everyone assumes he's dead and Jack rushes to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation, bringing him miraculously back to life, and there's cheers all round, Jack is the hero of the hour. However, all is not as it seems. The old codger is none other than one of Alec's old club acts, 'Lazarus the Corpse', and Alec fixes it so that Jack gets the Las Vegas tickets as a token of appreciation for saving the old bloke's life, so Jack and Vera hurriedly pack and set off for 10 days in Las Vegas.

(What on earth they're going to do in Vegas for 10 days is beyond me, I once spent 2 nights there and I've never been the same since. I still blame it on the $10 'all you can eat' buffer I had in Caesar's Palace).

Rita's antennae has been picking up the signals flying around between Natalie and Kevin after they spend another night together, and she storms round to see Natalie, expressing the words that the whole nation wants to shout at Natalie - "Leave him alone and pick on someone your own size!" Natalie of course tells Kevin that Rita has warned her off and Kevin goes to see Rita, begging with her not to tell Sally, and swears that the relationship with Natalie is finished.

Maureen and Bill are still in a bit of a rut with their relationship, and Maureen confides to Curly in the shop that things between them are a bit strained. As she's talking to Curly, in walks Bill so Maureen hastily pushes Curly into the back room of the shop while she deals with Bill. Bill wants to take her away to Blackpool for the night, and won't take no for an answer. Knowing that if Bill sees Curly in the back room, he'll jump to the wrong conclusion, she locks Curly in the shop and sets the burglar alarm, and goes away to Blackpool with Bill for the night. Meanwhile, poor Curly is going mad with boredom, he finds a black and white checked cloth on which he has a game of chess, using spirit bottles as his chess pieces. Every time he gets checkmate he has another drink and ends up quite drunk. The next morning when Maureen and Bill return, Maureen breathes a sigh of relief that she can finally let Curly out of the back room, but as soon as Curly comes out, in walks Bill, who jumps to the wrong conclusion anyway and tells Maureen the relationship is off.

Samantha and Jim go bowling again but she cools off towards him after Judy has a go at her in the bar about leading Jim on. Vera and Jack have left Samantha in charge of the Rovers while they're in Vegas, although Betty wasn't happy that they didn't ask her.

Alma and Mike have gone away on holiday after Mike told Curly to forget that he offered Alma a job, and he told Alma that Curly had agreed for her to have a fortnight off before she starts her new job. Alma isn't going to be best pleased when she finds out Mike has ruined her new job for her before she's even started it. Mike leaves Angie in charge of things at the new factory, where Bill and Jim are working on the alterations. Angie interviews for machinist positions while Mike is away.

Fiona and Alan are playing happy families in the flat, they decorate and buy new furniture, including a double bed. And that's about that for this week.


27 May 1997

The whole Maureen/Bill fiasco is over, and didn't we know it would end in tears? Maureen tells Bill that she slept with Curly at Christmas and at one other time too and Bill storms round to see Curly and thumps him in the face.

Maude wants to know what's going on with her wayward daughter and so Maureen tells her mother all that happened. When Maude sees Curly, she accuses him of ruining Maureen's relationship with Bill and the two of them have an argument in the Rovers, their voices raised just enough for the whole of Weatherfield to hear about Maureen's night of passion with Curly. Confused? You will be. Curly confronts Maureen and tells her he's annoyed that Maude knew about him sleeping with Maureen. It becomes painfully obvious that what Curly refers to as 'just sex, Maureen, it was just sex' meant an awful lot more than that to Maureen. "But we cared about each other..." she whimpers. Another relationship going nowhere gets another crack at the whip this week.

Jim McDonald cooks dinner for Samantha, he makes her a special 'Ulster fry' (whatever that might be - sounds like it involves a lot of lard and fried bread). Jim smoothly chats her up - "What about ya Sammy?" but she tells him under no circumstances does she want a relationship and Jim reluctantly agrees to be 'only friends'.

And for the most weird relationship on the Street right now, Kevin and Natalie get on everyone's nerves once more, with him deciding he doesn't want Sally, then he does, then he wants Natalie, then he doesn't, then he goes to Scarborough with little Rosie while Nasty Natalie chats up Chris in the Rovers. Too confusing for me. Come back soon Sally and give this Natalie a punch round the lug hole for stealing your husband, and then make Kevin suffer for his sins, and I mean, really suffer.

A bit of the 90s comes into the Street this week in the shape of a real life yob who threatens Judy in the arcade. Just when he's giving Judy a hard time and starting to wreck the machines, in walks Gary who comes over all hard man and threatens the lad if he doesn't leave the arcade straight away. Later, the lad comes back to the arcade with his face all bashed and bruised, he tells Judy that Gary beat him up and blackmails her for £200 otherwise he'll go to the police and report Gary. We all know Gary didn't beat this lad up, but Judy won't believe her husband and pays the kid £150 that she was saving to buy her mother's memorial plaque. Judy doesn't want the police involved as Gary has got a past record with the police.

Angie is looking for models for her new line of lingerie. She asks Chris who declines at first but changes his mind after Samantha says she'll model if he will. Fiona declines and although Maxine is keen to model, Angie tells her she only wants models with curves. "I have got curves" whinges Maxine "they're just small ones".

Emily wonders what's happened to the raffle money which Alec had offered to the friends of Weatherfield hospital, the proceeds of the Las Vegas raffle. He finally gives her a cheque for £250 which Emily thinks is very generous, but Rita smells a rat. Rita knows that approx. 200 tickets were sold at £5 each, giving a profit of £1,000. She goes to see Alec and confronts him with this and tells him to put things right with Emily.

Alec calls in to the Rovers and hides an envelope in the back room, pretending that Jack was keeping the extra money and the ticket stubs etc. Of course, when Samantha 'finds' the envelope with the money in it, all is well and Rita has that knowing smile on her face when Alec hands over the rest of the money to Emily.

Both Liz and Jim McDonald seek out Fiona to tell her that Steve McDonald is being released from prison in the next week or so, expecting Fiona to call off her engagement with Alan and go rushing into Steve Mc's arms at the drop of a hat. Fiona plays it cool and pretends she's not bothered that Steve will soon be popping in for a short back and sides, but she's still got feelings for him, whether she says she has or not, and we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

In case any of you haven't heard yet.....

Mavis, Maureen, Andy McDonald and Bill Webster are all leaving the Street later this year. Yes, Mavis is leaving Voice your complaint and start a "We'll miss Mavis" campaign at the official Coronation Street website


Written by Glenda Young


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