Hello, it's me again. The strange woman with the email that pops into your inbox. You know, that Coronation Street one from Sunderland. It's been a brilliant week on the Street this week - the dialogue sparkled, the plot lines thickened and the tears flowed. So, without any further ado and with the aid of Patsy Cline on CD and a long cool cranberry juice with soda (crikey, I really should get out more), here we go with this week's Coronation Street update
Eileen's a little tired of Maya taking advantage of having a nephew as a taxi driver by getting free cab rides on demand. She's a star, is Eileen, and makes sure she goes all out to be as unhelpful to Maya as possible. Eileen's not running Streetcars for Maya's benefit, and when she finds out that Maya has publicly criticised the cab firm by calling it "Streetwalkers", she offers cheap fares to Freshco for shoppers to take custom away from the corner shop. However, when Maya finds out, and she does, she isn't best pleased with Vikram. You just can't go round upsetting family like that. But neither should you take advantage of them, Maya dear.
True love starts to run smoothly for Tyrone and Maria after he has a bit of a chat with Monica, telling her she hasn't got to be jealous of Maria: "The love I have for a dog is different to the love I have for a woman". Ah, bless. Anyway, Vera buys Tyrone a new shirt and lets the young 'uns have the front room to themselves for a date. Norris isn't happy about such goings on in the B&B and even less pleased to find Monica, banished from the front room, sleeping on his duvet. Norris and Tyrone have a chat in the Kabin's post office, with Norris telling Tyrone he can't talk to him at work when he's "in the employ of the Queen", to which Tyrone replies: "Rita? She won't mind". So Tyrone and Maria get snuggled on the sofa and cosy up in front of Pulp Fiction, the pair of them are getting on really well, it's lovely. Norris voices his concerns to Vera: "That lad is far too young to be making a fool of himself over a woman". "Oh?" she replies, "So what's a good age to start, then?"
Nat and Vinny get back together this week and it's snogs ahoy in the back room of the Rovers after he tells her: "I miss you more than anything".
Mark and Linda continue with their, er, driving lessons although Linda's getting concerned that Mark seems to be getting serious about her when she doesn't feel the same about him. Anyway, that doesn't stop her from encouraging Mike to go abroad to a sales conference so she and Mark can spend more time practising three point turns. As they have a fondle by the filing cabinet, Hayley bursts in on them, but it doesn't look like she's seen anything too incriminating.
It's Martin's birthday this week and as Gail plans a dinner and party for him, he tells her he has to work: "I forgot it was me birthday", when he's really sneaking off with Rebecca. I can't decide who is more stupid - Martin, for that excuse or Gail for believing him. Anyway, as he's wining and dining Rebecca, maternity mayhem is going on back on the Street as Sarah-Lou goes into labour after being given a talking to by Blanche. Sally drives her to the hospital with Gail as Candice and David stay behind. David tells his sister: "I'll be thinking about yer" and gets looked after by Danny. Try as they do to contact him, Martin can't be found and no-one seems to know where he is - but Sally thinks Rebecca might know something of Martin's whereabouts. She confronts one of Martin's colleagues at the hospital who gives her Rebecca's address and Sally rushes to her flat, grabs Martin out of there and gives a final sneer, hiss and boo at Rebecca: "Why did you have to pick on a man with a wife and kids, eh? How women like you live with themselves I'll never know". Back at the hospital, Sarah Lou gives birth to a girl and Martin arrives in time to cuddle his grand-daughter. But what to call the new arrival? Sarah-Lou wants to call her Britney. Smart move, Sarah Lou, naming your child after a singer who invites men to 'hit me one more time'. I'll take lyrics like that with a pinch of salt when I hear Ronan Keating on stage singing an equivalent 'Come on, our lass, give us a good hiding, pet". I have nothing but contempt for Britney Spears. Thank you, my rant is over. Anyway, it looks like the baby will be called Bethany, which Candice thinks is a name only an old person would choose. Audrey muses that if the baby had been a boy, they could have called it Alfeh.
However, all this baby business is not yet over. Still waiting to give birth is Alison, who goes to visit Sarah Lou in her ward and gives the new baby a cuddle. When Kevin goes in on one of his visits to see Alison, she goes into labour and with much screaming, blood and messy stuff, finally gives birth to a boy they decide to call Jake. As Kevin returns to the street to wet the baby's head with a brandy in the Rovers, he gets a phone call to say there's something wrong with Jake and he's needed urgently at the hospital. He and Alison are distraught when the consultant tells them that Jake has a rare strep infection. "Despite our best efforts" he tells them, "Jake is failing to respond to treatment". It can only mean one thing - Jake can't survive, and his little body is brought to Alison who wants to cuddle him and has to try to say goodbye. In a raw, emotional scene, Kevin and Alison weep uncontrollably over their dead baby's body. And then Coronation Street go and really turn the emotional screw. They roll the credits without the familiar theme. Oh boy. When you watch it, grab a hanky, a brandy and someone's hand.
And that's just about it for this week. And what a great one it's been. Corrie is definitely improving compared to how it's been over the last couple of months.
Glenda ;-)
I love football, me. Euro 2000 is the reason for the delayed update this week as I was watching England play last night and haven't had time to write the update until now. I have to admit to only watching the games with England in them; little Michael Owen, he's a cracker, and the boy Beckham, bless him, thick as tripe but he can kick a ball. Anyway, back to business with the help of Moby on the stereo, and it's been quite a week on the Street with all sorts going on and I'm not quite sure where to start. And so, without any further ado, here we go with this week's Coronation Street update.
Hayley hastens to the hospital with balloons for the babies, unaware that little Jake Webster has died. She's informed by the nurse, then goes in to see Sarah Lou and Gail, sharing the bad news with them both and it's hugs all round. Kev's in despair and doesn't quite know what to do so the nurse tells him to go home for a change of clothes and return to spend the night with Alison. However, he's so distraught he heads straight for Sally's house and completely breaks down. Meanwhile, back at the hospital, it's the middle of the night and Alison gets up and out of bed to visit Sarah Lou and her crying baby. Britney won't stop crying and Sarah Lou is at her wits end, she doesn't know what to do with her, but Alison does. She cuddles the baby and as Sarah Lou falls asleep, Alison takes the baby in her arms and calmly walks of the hospital with her, not realising that she's been captured on the security camera. By the time Kevin returns to the hospital the next morning, Alison is sitting on the red rec, spotted by Tyrone who's out walking Monica. Alison is unaware of what she's doing, and Tyrone is unaware of what's going on, he assumes the baby is little Jake, not Sarah Lou's new daughter. There's a full scale hunt going back on in Weatherfield, with radio bulletins alerting the public to look out for Alison and the baby. Hospital security are alerted and there's some wonderful dialogue, really classic Corrie stuff, when they want to talk to Mr. Webster. "Kevin... me name's Kevin", he sniffles through this tears, wanting them to address him informally, he needs that comfort, any comfort, from anyone. And then the same security man tries to cut through Martin's anger and distress over the missing baby by using his first name: "Don't you Martin me! It's Nurse Platt to you!". Anyway, it's Tyrone who tells Kev where Alison is with the baby and the police eventually find them both, safe, on the high street looking at toys through a shop window. With Tyrone looking on from the sidelines with the police, Kevin approaches Alison to talk to her. She knows she's done wrong, she knows, but all she ever wanted was a baby and all she ever wanted to be was a mum. Kevin coaxes her into handing the baby back to him, and eventually she does. Then, she turns and runs into the road and throws herself under the wheels of a lorry. Poor, poor Kevin. Having lost his child, he's now lost his wife and it's too much for him to bear. Michael Le Vel puts in a fantastic performance as the distraught Kevin, and my eyes pricked with tears almost every time he came on screen. Supported by Sally, "What are ex-wives for?" she says, she gets his shopping in for him, feeds him brandy and sympathy, and helps organise the funeral. Kev just about manages to get through the double burial but breaks down in tears once more after everyone leaves the flat afterwards.
So events on the Street this week have been somewhat overshadowed by the powerful storyline above, yet elsewhere on the Street....
Mark and Linda take advantage of their time together while Mike's abroad at this sale conference and the pair of them go out clubbing - to the same club as Geena and Bobbi. When Geena spots them, Linda asks her to keep quiet but Geena just says: "It's none of my business, right". She's more concerned that Mark is supposed to be going with Leanne, a friend of hers, and has a wistful look on her face the next day when Leanne tells her that Mark has finally finished their relationship.
With Martin's time taken up by the new baby and family events, Rebecca is starting to feel left out of things. She decides she's had enough and goes round to see Martin at home - only to find Sarah Lou and the baby there with Gail rattling on about how supportive Martin has been, how wonderful Martin is, how happy she is that she has Martin for a husband, all that sort of stuff. It's too much for Rebecca and she books herself on a plane to Dubai and out of Martin's life. When Martin finds out what's going on, he races out of the hospital, misses the funeral for Alison and Jake, and gets to the airport in time to catch Rebecca at the check in desk for her flight (in a shot which included people with tea-towels on their heads, in case we needed reminding what Arabs were supposed to look like). Despite talking and crying into their airport cappuccino, Rebecca is determined to leave and off she goes. Auf wiedersehen, pet. Martin, wrecked and distraught is in tears and is pathetic and selfish enough to go back to Gail, crying "She's left me. Rebecca, she's gone". A great scene with shots of Martin crying over losing his heaving Geordie bosom - ironically contrasted with Kevin in tears in the baby's bedroom; real tears for real pain.
Jim gets his loan from the bank and tells Gwen he's now got about thirty foive thoisand poinds in the bank, so he has. And he's also got a joint bank account, so she has. And Gwen's taken a thousand pounds out of it already after she gets another visit from the debt collector - at work this time, in front of everyone. Poor Jim, when he finds out Gwen's taken some of his money, he tells her he wants her to leave. How can he trust someone who takes his money without telling him? Gwen manipulates the situation, telling him that she'd taken the money to pay for their honeymoon as she was hoping they'd soon get wed - and wouldn't you know it, Jim me laddo thinks this is a wonderful idea and before you know it, Vera's spread the word round the Rovers that Jim and Gwen are getting engaged. Jim hugs Gwen close, while the camera pans to her as she pulls that look on her face, you know the one, the look you always hope someone is never pulling when they're given a hug by you.
And that's just about that for this week.
Glenda ;-)
Once again, apologies for the delay in the update this week. Once again, it was caused by the football. There are only two things on TV these days that make me stop what I'm doing and sit down to watch, and that's football and the other thing, you know, that soap thing. The update this week comes with a thank you to a top bloke for his account of Sunday's episode, which I missed as I was sitting on a bridge over the Tyne, at the time. So without any further ado, here we go with this week's update of the soap thing that's not football.
Just a quick reminder then of where we left off last week with Martin in tears in front of Gail, wailing about his affair with Rebecca: "This wasn't some cheap little affair" (oh yes, it was), "I didn't go looking for it to happen" (oh yes, you did) and so on. "Don't do this to me, Martin" whimpers Gail (bit too late for that now pet). (Have I ever used so many brackets in an update paragraph before?) Anyway, if you're expecting, as I was, Gail to pummel Martin's chest with her fists, scream at her cheating husband and throw things, just a cushion would have done, she didn't. She didn't do anything but accept his actions and told him she wants to carry on as if nothing has happened. While it's true that he didn't leave Gail for Rebecca, she assumes this means Martin still loves her and is prepared to give him time to sort himself out and see the error of his ways and all that stuff. "Rebecca's gone," she says, "and I'm still here. The choice is yours Would you like some cheese and toast while you're here?". (Honestly, that's what she said. Cries of 'choke him, choke him' were heard all around the nation, well, in my living room anyway). Things are tense in the Platt household, so say the least, and no one is happy except for Sarah Lou who has decided to call the baby Bethany Britney Asparagus Spears Platt and when she toyed with the idea of calling her Rebecca, Martin dropped the plate he was drying onto the kitchen floor.
Kevin's still in despair and in his confused state he makes a clumsy pass at Sally. She knows what pain he's going through so doesn't make anything of it, but continues to support him as best she can, much to Danny's annoyance. On the Father's Day episode in the UK, Rosie and Sophie present Kevin with a t-shirt with a picture of them both and Kevin on it. When Kevin tells Sally he's off to Germany to stay with his dad for a bit, Danny breathes a huge sigh of relief.
Poor Jim, he's really been taken in by that Gwen one. He's dead happy, so he is, about their upcoming nuptials and even buys an engagement ring. Janice guesses what's really going on with Gwen being so deep in debt and knows she's using Jim as a way out of it. Anyway, Gwen's had enough, she withdraws thirty five grand out of their joint bank account, stuffs it into her handbag and buys a one way ticket to Euston. While she's waiting for her train, she goes shopping with all that money in her bag, which gets stolen while she's faffing about the designer labels. Anyway, the stupid tart returns to Underworld, spinning a story that she's been mugged and had all of Jim's money stolen from her. Meanwhile, as she's pouring out this tale of woe to the girls at the factory, a policeman is talking to Jim telling him that his girlfriend's handbag has been found with the money in it. When Gwen returns to the house, Jim almost strangles her, and who could blame him, but instead he throws her out of the house, right into the gutter. The debt collector calls on Jim later telling him he's responsible for Gwen's outstanding debts and she'll call back at 6pm to pick up any belongings of Gwen's. Jim says he'll be ready for her - and he is. He's piled up all of the furniture Gwen had bought and sets fire to it, right in front of the debt collector and various nosey parkers who had left their drinks in the Rovers to come outside and watch the show.
Pat's nephew, Sam, starts work on the building site for the new health centre on the Street. He's a bit thick is Sam, and I was told in advance to expect him to be a bit sexy but I have to report he's something of a disappointment and definitely not my cup of tea. However, I'm sure more will be revealed (geddit?) next week.
Steve McDonald gets a court order to appear and give evidence at Jez's trial. If he goes, Jez will exact revenge, but he can't not go, can he? Natalie tells him he has to go, he has to give evidence and Jez has to be convicted of the murder of her son. That's alright for Natalie say, it's not her chestnuts in the fire.
Maria and Tyrone get cosy on the sofa in the front room of the B&B, much to the annoyance of Norris, who walks out after Monica gives him a kiss; she's after his sausage. Anyway, Maria wants to know more about Tyrone's family, but he really doesn't want to have to admit the truth so lies that his folks are dead rich and live abroad. Vera is a little surprised, to say the least, when Maria tells Vera what Tyrone has told her. And that's just about that for this week.
Glenda ;-)
It's with red wine, strawberries and Bowie's 'Heroes' on the stereo, loud, that I bring you this week's Coronation Street update.
There's gratuitous shot's of delicious Dev's hairy chest bursting forth from his loosely buttoned shirt this week after he goes to complain to Jim about having a bonfire in the middle of the road. Gary also complains - he's got kids next door and PC Emma calls round to see what's going on. Jim apologises to everyone, but he also says it's done him the power of good, so it has, exorcising the ghost of Gwen.
Karen, a mate of Linda from Wheeler's, starts work at Underworld to replace Gwen. Karen wants to know what's going on between Linda and the boss and isn't surprised to hear that the rest of the Sykes family don't know about the relationship - but that's just how Linda wants to keep it. It's Linda's birthday this week and Mike surprises her with a convertible sports car, lucky cow, while Mark gives her a silver watch, feeling bad that he's unable to compete with his dad's money. Linda's giving Mark the cold shoulder after he gets heavy, telling her he loves her and what not (it's always the what not's of life that are the most exciting, don't you find?). Anyway, Craig turns up, he's a mate of Mark's and tells Mark there's only way out of the situation; he has to leave Linda, leave Weatherfield and leave the whole sorry mess behind him.
Sam the builder is supposed to put a bet on in the bookies for the lads on the building site, but instead he spends it on a steak and pudding dinner in the cafe. Of course, the horse wins (now there's a surprise) so he has to think of a way to repay the £240 prize money. Geena remembers where she's seen Sam before after recognising a tattoo on his arm - he's 'The Masked Python', the stripper she's seen in clubs. Anyway, she offers him a night working in the Rovers: "You need the cash, we need the flesh" and manages to talk Natalie round to holding a ladies night where Sam can strut his stuff. While Blanche thinks the idea's disgusting (but I bet she'll turn up for a look), Betty can't be bothered and says she'll turn up only if there' s nothing good on the telly. "Anyway, he won't show me 'owt I haven't seen before", she muses. The ladies in the Rovers wonder who The Masked Python actually is and when Janice tells Blanche she reckons it's Fred Elliot, Blanche walks out of the Rovers muttering something to Fred about keeping his hands off her sausages.
Tyrone takes Maria out for the day in a car someone's brought into the garage to get fixed. "We can take the dogs to Greenfield Park and they can romp around," says Maria, "And so can we". In the park, Tyrone comes clean about his family, but Maria had already guessed he was lying. On the drive home, Tyrone gets pulled by the police but is let off after Maria steps in to explain who the owner of the car is.
Audrey offers to pay for a picture perfect Platt portrait and you can see Martin and Gail cringe as the photographer urges them to move closer when he tries to get Martin to put his arm around his wife. Martin's had enough and when the photographer tells him to give his wife a kiss, he storms out. Things are getting worse in the Platt household, it's obviously not working out, and Gail confides in Audrey what's going on. Audrey collars Martin and gives him a piece of her mind, but that's nothing compared to the grilling and guilt trip Sarah Lou gives him after Gail tells her what Martin's been up to with Rebecca.
And that's just about that for this week.
Glenda ;-) Read all about Spider, the Armchair Anarchist at Spider's Web
