CATCH-UP - Janice's knight in shining armour

I told you that Roger was a good bloke. Janice asked him for the £10,000 to give to Leanne, so she could buy the restaurant without having to sell herself to afford it. Roger was a bit shocked to hear about Leanne's former career, but after a bit of a think he told Janice he would lend her the money, and if she wanted to give it to Leanne that was up to her. Bless him.

A while back, I mentioned the turkey baster which I felt Violet would soon be employing in a non-traditional manner. This prediction moved a little closer to fruition last night when Violet went to her GP to discuss sperm donation. Since hearing this news, Sean has been wandering around with a thoughtful, concerned expression on his face.

Carla discovered that Paul left everything to her - t'factory, t'swish penthouse, t'lot.

And David Platt wound everybody up in t'salon, but employed serious amounts of charm for old ladies who give big tips. He may be the Antichrist, but he's no fool.

Saving the world, one bottle at a time

Corrie's Beverley Callard has become the face of recycling in the north of England. Life mirrors fiction for Bev, who is a landlady in real life as well as in the guise of her alter ego, Liz Macdonald. She says in that exciting journal Materials Recycling Week (what do you mean, you haven't got your subscription yet?), "My family are all keen recyclers and I’m determined that our business will also reflect these values. I’ll be working with the brewery behind my new pub to make sure we recycle all of our glass."

It's nice to see one of the country's most beloved actresses taking a lead in the battle to save the planet. I was also thrilled that the Kaiser Chiefs have made it their business to remind us to not leave our phone chargers plugged in.

CATCH-UP - New leaves

Leanne still fancies the idea of herself as a restaurant owner. Trouble is, Carla doesn't fancy the idea of being her partner any more (wonder why?). Which leaves Leanne with a shortfall of £20,000. Now, how is a girl supposed to come up with that kind of cash in a week? Leanne has her methods, as we know, and apparently the pay is better in London, so she heads off for the coach station. But when the coach comes, Leanne can't bring herself to get on it (I know how she feels. She should have got the train). Janice breathlessly arrives at t'coach station to find Leanne in tears. Janice says she's very glad Leanne isn't going back to her old ways, and they will find a way of getting the money.

Can it be a coincidence that Janice's plumber/love interest Roger is back on the scene? Now, I must confess to a soft spot for Roger, because Andrew Dunn, who plays him, once smiled at me at Kings Cross Station (see what I mean about trains?) and in real life he is a very attractive man. Maybe not quite in the same league as Liam, but then who is?

Elsewhere, it was celebration time in t'Rovers. It was Steve's birthday, and flowers arrived. He assumed they were from Michelle, bless him, but they were actually from his mum. The only card he got was from Sean. Strange how his own twin brother had apparently forgotten his birthday.

And the older residents of the Street gathered to celebrate the life of Blanche. She's not dead - she just fancied having a wake while she was still there to enjoy it. But it rapidly turned into a scene reminiscent of A Christmas Carol, when everybody told Blanche quite what a miserable old bag she was. She instantly decided to turn over a new leaf and went out in the Street dispensing goodwill and bonhomie, giving Chesney 50p to buy ice cream, telling Leanne that "being a sex worker doesn't have the stigma it once had," and generally being very un-Blanche-like. Until she came upon the embodiment of the Youth of Today in the form of Amber. Being ignored in t'shop while Amber sent texts was enough to have Blanche restored to full crabby glory pretty darn quick.

And in the factory, Hayley is failing to maintain any sort of discipline.

And Joanne came back, having been given permission to remain in the country.

CATCH-UP - Frustration

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air, as the song goes.

I did while watching Corrie yesterday. Firstly, at Gail's parenting skills, or lack of. Oh-Day-vid has been sacked by Bill Webster for causing over £300 worth of damage in t'builder's yard. So what is Gail's response? She's not going to let David off, oh no. She's insisting on him working. So it's back to t'salon. FOR PITY'S SAKE, WOMAN! You have spawned the Antichrist and you are sending him to work in a hairdressing salon! That's really showing him who's boss.

My hands also flew up in the air in sheer frustration at how people who are in love have to have obstacles thrown in their way all the time in drama. I know, I know, that's what makes it "drama," but it gets on my nerves. That's why I can't cope with romantic comedy (which is ironic to say the least). Today we had a grief-stricken Michelle telling Steve (who loves her, she loves him, and they are just perfect together) that she needs him but her son doesn't, the son must come first, hence she is taking him to Dublin for the foreseeable. FOR PITY'S SAKE, WOMAN! You deserve some happiness in your life and Steve MacDonald has "I will make Michelle happy" written right through him like a stick of rock.

I know what's going on really. Kym Ryder and Rob James-Collier (you don't think I'd forgotten him already, do you?) have both had some heavy storylines recently and a lot of screen time, so they're both due a holiday. Expect them both to return with a nice tan in a few weeks.

In other news, Claire and Ashley and Our Joshua and Baby Freddie went to stay with Claire's mum for a while, to "clear their heads." Will Casey use their absence to infiltrate Peacock Towers and sew prawns into the curtain linings and other dastardly deeds? We shall have to wait and see.

CATCH-UP - Sacked! Again.

I'm writing this a couple of days later and Friday's episode is something of a hazy memory. Let's think...

Claire found out Casey's address from Steve (who had driven her home after she went round to Peacock Towers t'other day), so she and Ashley went round there and "tackled" Casey. But that Casey is a cunning one, and managed to twist things round so it sounded like it was Claire who was dangerously delusional. And you know it doesn't take a lot to confuse Ashley.

The factory is not running very smoothly without Liam. I don't know why Sally doesn't offer her services - she used to be an administrative whizz when she worked for Lecherous Ian's Luxury Car Dealership. She'd do a far better job than Hayley, anyway.

And talking of people not doing very good jobs, today we had David Platt diligently sawing up timber at t'builder's yard. Problem was, this was £300 worth of roofing timber he was carefully sawing into bite-sized chunks and then placing in a skip. His plan was for Bill Webster to sack him, and Bill Webster duly obliged. Oh-Day-vid!

CATCH-UP - Case(y) for the defence

(Promise I'll stop the Casey puns soon) Casey presents herself at the police station (what's happened to that Scouse police officer who used to work there? I loved his voice). She's entirely innocent, she says. Later on she turns up at Peacock Towers, yelling at Claire for thinking she's capable of such dastardly deeds and for filling the tv and newspapers with her photo. Claire and Ashley make her leave.

Liam spent the episode slumping around the factory looking devilishly handsome in a tragic way. Not once did he smile and reveal the best teeth in the Street. In fact, by the end of it he was so fed up that he asked Lloyd to take him to t'airport. He wanted to go as far away from Weatherfield as humanly possible.

Here's hoping he doesn't stay away long.

In the meantime, I found an interesting interview with Rob James-Collier (several months old but I just found it and it's worth a read). Who knew that he has a Masters degree in marketing? Beauty and brains.

CATCH-UP - Case(y) for the prosecution

Oh frabjous day! Calloo, callay! Liam's back. With his raven-haired sister and raven-haired sister-in-law and raven-haired nephew. Just back from the funeral of Paul, so Liam's not at his smiley best, but give him time. Needless to say, none of them is in the mood to see Leanne.

Eileen has a date with comedian Sean Hughes, only they pretend they don't know it's comedian Sean Hughes off the telly and pretend it's someone called Pat instead. They did this when Sir Ian McKellen and Peter Kay guest-starred, too. Needless to say, Jerry is not in the mood to see Eileen and Pat kissing, and his sentiments are shared by anyone who might be having their tea at the time.

Better news for Claire, the human embodiment of "stress." When, during a routine service, Tyrone discovers a disposable camera that has been hidden under the seat of the Peacock's car, Claire realises that the camera must contain a photo of Casey, as Josh took one of her in t'park. And she's right! The very second the man at the 20 Minute Photo Shop hands back the blurred image, Claire is off to t'cops with it.

Later on, it's shown on TV. Have you seen this woman? the police want to know. And guess who's watching? Casey herself. Ooh-er. Will this drive her to even more desperate actions?

In unrelated news, Bill Webster was somehow persuaded to re-employ David.