Transmission interruption

I know, this is a terrible time to be swanning off on holiday, what with the mystery of who torched Peacock Towers and the ongoing relationship sagas of Ken and Deirdre, Liam and Leanne, Michelle and Steve, Liz and (shudder) Derek and the tiny little spark of romance that I also spotted igniting between Jerry and Eileen t'other day.

But even the most avid Corrie-blogger must indulge in the occasional spell away from the telly, so I'm off on my holidays. In the meantime, if you need a fix of Corrie catch-ups, click on the links on the right. Can't promise they'll be as witty as mine, but what they lack in style they more than make up for in rigour.

CATCH-UP - Life

"Life is a rollercoaster," sang the quaveringly-voiced Irish pop sensation Ronan Keating. Whereas Kiwi tunesmiths Crowded House were of the opinion that it was possible to experience "four seasons in one day."

And this proved to be very much the case with yesterday's double episode of Corrie. We started off thinking that Baby Freddie had gone to join his grandfather and namesake in t'big butcher's shop in the sky, I say gone to join Fred Elliott. Then Ashley was given the confusing and disturbing news that no baby had been found in the house. Poor Claire was beside herself, Ashley was beside Claire and also beside himself, and Eileen didn't know what to think. All she could say was that she'd put Freddie to bed, kissed him, and he was certainly in the cot while that was going on.

Then the news that a baby had been found in a local park. It was alive, it was a boy, but Claire and Ashley were not to get their hopes up - it might not be Freddie. But it was Freddie, and the Peacocks were joyfully reunited. Only the news that the fire had been started deliberately, and the thought that someone had taken Freddie and left him in the park, marred their delight.

Seventies purveyors of puffed up pop tosh 10cc disagreed with Ronan Keating's assessment of life, concluding that "life is a minestrone." And Corrie is very much like a minestrone, in which ingredients are mixed and mingled to make a satisfying and hearty meal. Rather like Betty's hot-pot. Anyways, also in the soup today were Liam and Leanne. Totally loved-up, they are. Liam has gone all gushy and slushy and other things rhyming with ushy, and as such Leanne has decided that she'll still be bold but she'll no longer be a brass. She's given the escort work up, and even handed her work mobile to Janice. Now she only has the problem of trying to keep up with the happy-spending Carla when the money runs out.

I really thought that Fiz would want Kirk back when she heard about his heroic rescue of Claire, and she did look a bit twinkly at him for a second or two, but then she went to meet Drama Teacher (whom I must henceforth call "John," for that is his name) at Roy's Rolls, and told him that she realised she'd never loved Kirk, because she had experienced True Love in her life once before, and it was with John.

Michelle and Steve are also trying to experience true love, but finding time to be alone together is proving tricky.

Wish the same could be said for Steve's mother and her bit of stuff Derek. I really don't want to see him topless ever again.

Prime Suspect

I have a theory about who may be responsible for this fire.

Remember a while back when Blanche was convinced that Charlie Stubbs had been reincarnated as a fly? And I speculated that he wouldn't dare buzz near Tracy's cell in case she ate him with a quick snap of her vice-like jaw, like Renfield in Dracula?

Well, it's my theory that Tracy, having had time to sit in her cell brooding on recentish events, has built up a critical mass of hate-energy. Walls and distance are no match for her boiling anger.

So we can blame Tracy and her evil telekinetic powers for many recent events.

(1) The fire. She was disappointed that months of carefully priming Claire to be star witness at her trial resulted in a lukewarm effort on the day. Her wrath has erupted into flame.

(2) Amy throwing up during Steve and Michelle's first date. This is self-explanatory really - Tracy was bound to be jealous that Steve had found happiness and Amy might possibly be finding a new step-mummy. (I am also crediting her with telepathic powers here, because otherwise she wouldn't have known).

(3) Fiz and Kirk splitting up. Just because she's evil and hates other people being happy.

There are bound to be others, but I'm getting scared of her myself now.

CATCH-UP - Tragedy

The Peacock residence is truly ablaze, Claire is unconscious on the stairs... Who you gonna call? Kirk and Jamie, that's who. En route back from the kebab shop the unlikely heroes spot the fire, kick the door in, and manage to drag Claire outside. Roy and Hayley are on the scene by now, and Roy dials 999. Jerry also turns up and tries to get into the house to rescue baby Freddie, even though Jamie and Kirk tell him the fire is too bad. The fire brigade turn up and make Jerry leave.

Comic relief is provided, as ever, by Blanche. Upon seeing Eileen in her dressing gown running towards the blazing building, Blanche comments that she hopes Eileen doesn't mean to try and go into the house, "not wearing all them synthetics."

In the midst of tragedy, Deirdre's impulse is to go to Ken. At Denise's, she explains to him that she felt she wanted to hold his hand. This really should have been the cue for a tearful reunion, but it escalates into another bout of recrimination and bitterness, and Ken tells Deirdre he wants her to go. He's made a mess of rearing Tracy, and now wants to have a go at doing a better job with Daniel.

Leanne's reaction to the fire is to take refuge under Liam's arm. Sensible woman.

Claire is taken to hospital, and is still unconscious and on a ventilator. The police are trying to track down Ashley. And although some people are still holding out hope, it seems clear that little Freddie couldn't have survived the fire. At the end of the episode, Deirdre puts a teddy by the Peacocks' door, to "keep Freddie company." It's all very, very sad.

CATCH-UP - Fire!

Ashley and Josh have gone away somewhere. Not sure why or where (wasn't listening), but the upshot is that Claire and Baby Freddie are at home alone, and a fire has broken out in t'babby's bedroom.

This plot all seems a bit contrived, and that's because it is - originally Corrie had planned a plot in which Baby Freddie was going to be snatched by that deranged Casey. However, some details of the plot were apparently thought to be too close to the sad events in Portugal surrounding the missing child Madeleine McCann, so a hasty rewrite was called for in case people were offended/upset.

In other news, Dev asked Leanne to find him a property in Spain, and of course she couldn't because prostitutes generally aren't that well up on the property market. So she had to admit that she wasn't a property developer. Liam was looking tense as anything - until Leanne said in fact she was an ex-property developer, having just been sacked. And of course all she needed was an iddle widdle hug from Liam to make her feel better, the poor lamb.

Kirk is still upset about Fiz.

CATCH-UP - Claire flips!

Kirk is miserable because Fiz has dumped him.

Steve and Michelle went for a date (to th'Italian) but for various reasons had to take Amy-the-monobrowed-child with them. Amy had a "tummy upset" so they took her home, then Liz said she'd look after her so Steve and Michelle could spend "quality time" together, but their privacy was invaded by Liam (who was looking astonishingly handsome - he should shave more often) and Ryan.

Claire blew her top over the noise from Darryl's shed, and marched in to confiscate his stereo (David Platt and Rosie Webster were in there - Darryl obviously cut off all ties with former mates when he moved into the Street and has to socialise with anyone within a rough age range). She threatened that if there was any more noise, she'd burn the shed down. Ashley looked worried.

Liam's teeth are best - official

Alison King, who plays Carla, used to be a dental nurse in her pre-cobbles days, and says she can't help herself from appraising the teeth of her co-stars. She's quoted on the website nndb.com as saying, "I'd say Rob James-Collier, who plays Liam Connor, has the best teeth in the Corrie cast. In fact, all the actors who play the Connor family have extremely good teeth."

So another good excuse for a Liam picture! In this one, he's showing his teeth for charity.