The Wedding of Mary and Norris

A bit of background: Norris entered a contest to win an around-the-world trip so that Mary could have a chance to visit her son Jude in South Africa but the contest was a very old fashioned Mr. and Mrs. competition. Honestly, in this day and age! But don't get me started on that.

He entered it as if he and Mary were wed and when she found out, she was flattered and touched but they decided perhaps they should get married for real to make sure they wouldn't get disqualified. It would, of course, be a marriage of convenience. Lo and behold, when Jude found out via the Alahan twins, he decided to bring his wife and child to England to attend the wedding! Oops! Now both Mary and Norris are feeling even bigger frauds than they already were but rather than call it off and admit why they were doing it, they went ahead with it, though it was Mary's decision. Norris went along because she said it was what she wanted, regardless of the illogical reasoning.

So here we are, on the happy day.

Bethany did Mary's hair and makeup and she looked lovely. There's a bitter taste to it, though and Mary does admit to Bethany that she's a bit ashamed at having to lie to her son.

Norris is fussing over his tie. He, too, knows the wedding is a sham of course but he's going through with it because it's what Mary wants.

Worryingly, Rita, although surrounded by a fancy frock and a gift, doesn't seem to realize that she hasn't even put on her face yet. She makes herself comfy on the sofa with a magazine and completely forgets the wedding! She does show up later at the reception, though still seems a bit vague.

The bride is crowned and ready and even Tracy was sweet to her, fixing her head dress. Norris did have to be nudged to admit out loud that she looked lovely! Jude's wife has already had her suspicions that something's not right and that doesn't help.

At the registry office, Jude tells Mary he'd like to find out more about his father's family. Oh dear.

Norris stumbles through is vows but Mary sails through hers. Rings are exchanged and our favourite Registrar pronounces them married! Norris shakes Mary's hand but then leans in to pretend-kiss her cheek so that Mary has the opportunity to let him know what Jude plans. Needless to say, she's upset about it.

Still, Norris manages to look somewhat like a happy groom though Mary looks more brittle than genuinely happy.

The reception is at the Rovers, of course, complete with three tier cake which, for such a small wedding, seems a bit overkill. Norris attempts to talk to Jude about Mary being upset about him finding his father but he doesn't get too far.

Angie takes little George into the back room to change his nappie and Gemma comes in. Before long, Gemma's mouth has pulled a big skeleton out of the closet, more or less telling Angie that Jude's conception was due to a not-very-nice experience. Mary walks in. There's going to be some major 'splaining to do here.

 Mary tells Angie, along with some help from Gemma, not really getting to the nitty gritty for ages until it's quite obvious. It was rape. Angie is horrified.

 But even worse, Jude was outside the door and heard it all. He left the pub but did come back later, still in shock to find out he was the product of rape. That has to do your head in.

 Norris explained how difficult it was for Mary to tell him the truth

 But Mary told him the most important things, that she didn't want to give him up, her mother took him from her and that she loved him as the only good thing that came from the incident. She lied because she didn't want him to have to deal with it.

 But it comes down to it, he does love his mother and he doesn't hold the lies against her. He understands and hugs her warmly to prove it.

 Later in the pub, they are all amused when Mary finally tells them the last piece of the puzzle. She doesn't want any more lies and admits, to Norris' relief, that they married because of the contest.

The icing on the wedding cake is this...Jude has decided that they should move back to Manchester. No, he didn't consult his wife. No, it doesn't look like she thinks it's such a great idea to uproot the family from their current home and jobs. You just know she's going to hold this against Mary, don't you?

An unusual wedding, to be sure. And this marriage may actually last longer than some recent ones we've seen that were actually meant to be "forever" and lasted no longer than the reception! I'd really like Norris and Mary to develop their friendship-love into something a bit deeper but I also wouldn't be surprised if they stayed married, stayed best friends and either shared the house or lived separately.

Jude seems like a very nice man. I think Angie might be a great character. She's smart, loyal and I think can defend her family fiercely, as can Mary. They may clash, I fear but Mary now has Norris in her corner. This could be gold. What say you?


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

Characters I "Love to Hate"

Brian Packham as back on Coronation Street and many fans are rejoicing. For me, it's a mixed bag of joy and dread. You see, I never liked Brian. He's a buffoon. He's selfish, greedy and boorish. He's an intellectual snob, even more so than Ken Barlow.  One scene that stands out in my mind was Brian, staying at Ken's, helped himself to Ken's kimono without asking. It never seemed to occur to him that he should have. Borrowing a shirt or a jumper would have been bad enough, but a dressing gown is a rather intimate garment and it made me cringe with disgust that he would think nothing of rooting through Ken's closet or laundry and doing it.

This week, we saw him apparently investigating the Bistro for Environmental Health but in reality, was just after a free meal. Never mind that the complaint would have been logged and his superiors would be looking for a proper report. Never mind that not only was he angling for a free meal, he managed to down THREE bowls of mussels. I'm surprised he didn't insist Robert hand him cash to get out of the investigation. If I was Robert, I'd be reporting him.

Brian is very much cut from a similar cloth to Derek Wilton and I never liked him either.

Both men had a nicer side, a softer side. They both loved and were loved. Derek and Mavis were soul mates even though he exasperated her many times (and probably, vice versa!). Julie and Brian seemed like a good couple and were very much in love but apparently, they did not go the distance. Soul mates they weren't in the end.  Both men were a bit hapless and not very good at what they did in spite of them both thinking quite highly of themselves and their abilities.

Another current character I never liked is Norris Cole who's a sanctimonious, gossipy and at times thoroughly nasty little man.  He, too, can pull his heart out of the cold storage now and then and be kind to someone when you least expect it but for the most part, I don't know why he has any friends at all.  When he was first on the show in the 90s he was a spiteful and arrogant piece of work. He's softened a little in his old age but he still has his backside firmly on that high horse.

The fourth current character that evokes a strong negative response in me is Pat Phelan. There is very little soft side to him, and I think there's a stone swinging in his chest where his heart should be. He's opportunistic, greedy, ambitious, controlling and he's a bully. He's a classic Corrie villain.

I would describe my feelings for Brian, Derek and Norris as "I really don't like them".  But I very much enjoy Pat Phelan as a character.  I really enjoy watching him. He's so bad, he's good! I don't know what the difference is unless it's the villain aspect. Villains are always more interesting.

The thing is, I like/liked to hate all four characters. This comes down to two things. The writing is usually great and the actors themselves are highly skilled. I think all four men put in top performances and that contributes to the "like to hate" syndrome. I have to admit, Norris is a bit of a struggle at times and I don't find him as funny as most people I know (though he does get in a great line now and then) but Brian and Derek can always make me laugh and Pat Phelan keeps me glued to the screen.  (going with the present tense here, even though Derek Wilton and his portrayer are no longer with us) The actors all have impeccable timing whether it's for comedy or drama.

There have been a lot of characters over the years that I've not liked much. What brings a viewer to like or dislike a character, and note, I said "character" not "actor", is generally subjective. The character is usually written specifically *to* be dislikeable or to have dislikeable characteristics but the viewer doesn't always agree. What one person finds dislikeable about, say, Brian Packham, someone else will find funny or intriguing.

Other "love to hate" characters over the years have included Cilla Battersby Brown,  Nessa, Reg Holdsworth, Nick Tilsley and Tracy Barlow.  I confess I really disliked Kate Ford in her first few years playing Tracy, but she's settled in and come a long way. The perceived skill of the actor makes a huge difference for me in whether I like to dislike a character or whether I really, really find them off-putting. There have been many over the years that I felt couldn't act their way out of a paper bag but I'm going to refrain from naming names.

Characters that you like to hate are usually interesting, intriguing, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes both. Maybe they're a bit exaggerated but others might be very understated.  I think that once an actor proves their acting chops and makes a character their own, the writers can really play to their strengths which makes them so much more watchable. Apparently, the writing team had a ball writing for Maggie Jones who played Blanche Hunt due to her amazing delivery of those acerbic lines we all remember.

The writing and acting skill really do combine to make a character great, whether it be a hateful piece of work, a comedy stalwart, or an adored sweetheart of the Street.  When the character is all over the place, when their personalities are unfathomably transplanted, when it seems like the writers and producers don't know what to do with them, they stop being watchable and enter that dreaded realm of the forgettable. (Katie Armstrong, anyone?)

I'm all for Love to Hate characters that give us the comedy gold or the tension that has us on the edge of our seats.  Kudos to the actors behind the facades who bring the characters to life, creating the unforgettable.




Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

Nodding to Coronation Street history

We are being treated with another nod to the great history of this great show that we all love. Another character from the distant past is returning, played by the same actor and it's a wonderful thing! Everyone knows the name of Elsie Tanner and everyone remembers or remembers hearing about her wild child, Dennis.

Dennis Tanner, when we met him in episode one, was only a few weeks out of Borstal, a juvenile prison. He was a young man that had got into trouble. He wore his hair a little long, liked a leather jacket and had a slight air of danger about him but he was a pussycat really. He had big dreams and not always the means to make them happen successfully. He was the often the bane of his mother's life but everyone seemed to like the scallywag anyway.

There was always a rivalry between Dennis and neighbour Ken Barlow. The boys would have grown up together though Dennis was a couple of years younger, more the age of David Barlow. Ken was studious and smart, and he went to university. No doubt Dennis felt that his mother compared him unfavourably to Kenneth and Dennis did seem to have a chip on his shoulder about it all. I think Ken pretty much ignored Dennis as much as possible and did seem to look down on him. But then, Ken looked down on pretty much everyone in his working class world, somewhere he never thought he really belonged but couldn't quite seem to leave.

Emily Bishop knew Dennis. She was older than him by 13 years and an "old maid" or spinster. Women were supposed to be married and raising a family by the time they were Emily's age but Emily was not fortunate enough to find that life for herself. These days, most young women are discouraged from marrying too young and encouraged to establish some sort of career for themselves first. Indeed, women can decide not to marry and are not thought to be strange. But those were different times.

Although Emily seemed to have a crush on Leonard Swindly and even proposed to him in the leap year of 1964, she realized neither of them truly loved each other and backed out. She seemed to regard Dennis as a naughty schoolboy but I also think she might have harboured a little crush on the "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" Dennis, the type of feeling where you look at a younger man, sigh and wish you were 10 years younger that maybe, just maybe, they might notice you.

Dennis knew Rita Littlewood, too. She was a club singer and exotic dancer and he was into managing entertainers though wasn't her manager. She, too, was about 10 years older than him but in her initial appearance, seen above from 1964, was said to be just a friend. She returned in 1972 as a regular character, several years after Dennis left in 1968. We never really knew how well she knew him but they were comfortable with each other so likely were "mates".

Jump forward, now, to 2011. We're about to encounter Dennis Tanner again, still played by the original actor, Philip Lowrie. Over the years, we would hear the occaisional remark from his mother, Elsie. We know he was in jail at one point for scamming senior citizens. He left the show with a new bride, Jenny, but very likely that didn't last. Rita is set to encounter him and will remember him and apparently Norris is not going to like this intrusion into his safe little life one little bit.

That brings me to my next point.

It seems to me that Norris has turned into Percy Sugden. Norris has very high regard for his landlady and good friend, Emily and we know he's harboured romantic unrequited feelings for his coworker Rita. She gently turned down his marraige proposal several years ago. Any time either of them makes friends or becomes close to another man, Norris feels threatened just as Percy did with his place in Emily's life. He seems to think his place in their lives is about to be usurped and decides that the offending man is only trying to scam one of his friends and is not genuine. Emily's friendship with Ed Jackson from her church did turn out badly when he revealed he was the one that killed her beloved Ernest though was trying to repent for his sin. I wouldn't say Norris had anything to crow about though he did anyway but Emily was barely able to forgive Ed.

Norris' half brother, Ramsey was the biggest threat. Emily fell in love with him and this, on top of the resentment Norris already felt towards the man he felt contributed to their mother's death, had him apopletic with insecurity and rage. Ramsay was genuine in his feelings for Emily and that probably scared Norris even more.

Jed Stone, another long time ago character, landed a temporary bed with Emily, too and Norris was highly suspicious. It wasn't really a problem with Jed, though, it was his contact with Tony Gordon that caused the problems and brought trouble to the house of Bishop. Ray Langton took advantage of Mrs. Bishop's good nature (in Norris' opinion)

He was right about Richard Hillman, however. Richard's financial scheme to fund Emily money and gain control of her house after her death is not an uncommon or illegal practice but when he tried to kill her to get his hands on it, well that most certainly is!  He's even felt that way about Spider Nugent, Emily's nephew and wasn't too happy when young Graeme was offered lodgings with Emily nor did he wholly approve of Tina staying with Rita and was proved right the second time when it was revealed that Tina and Graeme had staged their breakup to engineer an immigration scam.

I hate it when Norris is proven right! ;)

Now, Dennis is returning. An old friend of both Rita and Emily. Are we taking bets that perennial landlady Emily will offer Dennis the spare room much as she did Jed Stone? Are we wondering if Charmer Dennis might turn his affections to flame haired Rita? Norris is sure to get a case of the wobblies and go around moaning portents of doom, like he does. I dislike Norris, who's a jumped up, nosy, annoying  little berk, but this storyline will bring the veteran actors into the forefront and that's never a bad thing. I'll be interested to see Ken lording it over Dennis or Dennis snarking at Ken for his perfect life and the fact that he's still living one door down from the house where he was born. Dennis might have fallen on rough times but he'll have put in a lot more adventure into his life, no doubt. I'm looking forward to hearing the fate of Elsie, long dead, I'm guessing, but having lived the rest of her life, happy in the Portuguese sun with Bill Gregory.

With 50 years of history to draw in, it's wonderful when they remark on a character long gone or an incident that happened in the past. I've really enjoyed the short lived returns of past characters like these and it's especially nice when they're played by the original actors (there's a great blog post here about recasting characters). The more this happens and is well received, maybe the more we'll see pop up on our screens. Corrie uses the sensational storylines and the younger set to try to attract new viewers, but they need to show the long time fans appreciation too, and this is just the ticket! Balance the high drama by featuring the veteran actors who can be just as popular with the younger set as the teens. It makes everyone happy!

Mad Mary

We all know that Mary is obsessed with Norris. We all know the reality of their little sojourn in the Dales. She very definitely sabotaged the motor home and she very definitely ripped out the phone from the wall so it wouldn't work. She broke his glasses which made him vulnerable and she brought a wedding dress with her. I don't know if she thought he'd run away with her. In her fantasies, she certainly did. She is an expert at twisting words to her own ends.

We didn't see her interviews with the police after Norris had her arrested for kidnapping him. It seems her mother is still alive and therein lies a big clue to Mary's state of mind. It sounds very much like Mary's mother is a very dominating woman and has spent years destroying Mary's self confidence. As much as she often does seem confident, in spite of her mother, it also seems evident that her mother is like a thorn in her side, a rock in her shoe, and she is a damaged woman.

I absolutely love the character, though. She was just odd at first and now we're getting more layers and seeing that she really is a bit bonkers. Patti Clare plays her with just the right touch. She's not putting the "crazy" in, she's playing it straight, a woman with vulnerabilities and years of trying to shed the millstone that is her dependent, dominant mother and whose hobby has turned into an obsession, a way of escaping her dreary life.

It was wonderful when Mary got to go on the road in the motorhome. She probably felt the free-est she's ever felt with no responsibilities and could go where she wanted when she wanted. I wonder if it was her responsibilities to her mother that finally brought her back or was it the call of Cupid? She seemed edgier and more "stalkerish" when she got back. Maybe having all that freedom gave her a sense of determination which, she hoped, would come to fruition on the moors of Yorkshire. Yet we still saw that her mother continued to harangue her by phone while she was away.

Now that she's off the hook, legally, she's coming around again, hanging out trying to insinuate herself into Norris' life, most recently attending Gail's trial with him. Norris is horrified and terrified and is sure that she won't leave him alone. And you know that? I think he's right. I think there's going to be more to this story, don't you?

Norris Cole, Flavour of the Month

Now, I've made no secret of the fact that I really don't like Norris Cole however, I do think his portrayer, Malcom Hebden, is superb! Over the last few years, it seemed like The Powers That Be (TPTB) have picked an actor and have featured them in storyline after storyline, good or bad. I don't know if that's because the actor's agent or publicist was very, very good or if the producers were cashing in on the popularity of the character or trying to make the character popular to bring in the punters. Perhaps a combination of all three! We've seen the characters of Michelle, Sean and Becky be spotlighted in recent days. All of them are young and likely to bring in their age group, which is what ITV wants. Bring them in young and maybe you'll keep them for life.

This year, though we have seen an awful lot of Becky, we've also seen a new trend and I like it a lot! The most recent character to receive a lot of focus is none other than Norris Cole! Think about it...competition madness leading to the storyline with Mary, then Ramsay, his long lost brother shows up. We're about to see Norris possibly become the new owner of the Kabin and ITV has announced that Mary Taylor is returning in the New Year! Two more Norris stories! For one of the more senior members of the cast to get so many front-burner storylines all in one year is unusual when you think back on Corrie over the last decade. They're lucky if they get one every few years! Yet this year, not only have we seen Norris in the forefront, we've also seen Ken Barlow, and Rita as well, in shiny storylines of their very own. You might say, "What about Emily?" She, too has had a good storyline but that's been part of Norris' which was the main focus of the long lost brother.
And that's the other good thing about featuring Norris. It also brings in other senior members into the forefront and that's never a bad thing *and* it's about flaming time! The older members of the cast have so much experience and so much talent and the younger actors can learn a lot from them.

Usually, when a storyline centres on an older person, they have their storyline and that's it for the rest of the year (or two!) and that seems to be the case with Ken Barlow and probably Jack Duckworth now he's going to be moving out of the street (while the actor is easing back on his workload). That's not going to change much but we can look forward to Blanche having a possible romance in the near future. That makes four romances in one year for four senior cast members! (Ken, Rita, Emily and now Blanche) That's got to be a first!

As much as Norris annoys the pants off me and gets right up my nose, I applaud Granada for bringing some focus back on the older generation. I get tired of seeing the under 30s all the time. One can only take so much of Rosie screeching and prancing and showing her cleavage all over the place. It gets tiresome to see David scowling and grimacing and skulking in corners. If I see Michelle flouncing around and sticking her new chest into scenes continually, i'm going to heave. Don't even get me started on all the fake tans and big shiny hoop earrings and pushup bras...and that's just Liz McDonald! ;) Just kidding, i love Liz!

Yes, we see a lot of Steve and Becky but I still love them. Always will like Gail Platt storylines because Helen Worth is an absolute star and I adore watching Sally's nose get higher and higher into the air.

That's beside the point, though. It seems like Norris Cole is this year's Corrie "Flavour of the Month" and that's actually not a bad thing on the whole.

Norris Flamin' Cole!

If you're a fan of Norris Cole you aren't going to like this. I have never liked the character of Norris. Ever. Not this time around and definitely not the last time around when he was first introduced, rescuing a stranded Derek from a motorway rest stop. He was obnoxious then and he's obnoxious now. He was even more obnoxious than Derek and that's saying something. He may have mistook Derek's name at first but surely he would have learned otherwise but he insisted on calling Derek "Dirk". Probably did it because it annoyed Derek so much, I figure. Now, granted, Derek was easy to wind up as Des Barnes had already figured out. Norris was also behind the gnome-napping which was probably the ultimate wind up ever!

I didn't like Norris, partly because of his looks. He physically repulsed me. I do apologize to Malcom Hebden for that, he can't help it, but his hairstyle and pursed lips and thick rimmed glasses just gave me the willies. To be fair, since he's now older and grayer, his looks have softened and he doesn't creep me out anymore. Norris was never meant to be likeable that first time around. He was arrogant, sneaky and annoying. There really wasn't anything about him that was remotely comical. He was a foil for Derek and Mavis.

When he returned, jobless, wifeless, a broken man, he was set up to be humbled. A mere shopkeeper after falling from the lofty heights of executive-dom looking down his nose at everyone else. They turned him into a gossipy, nosy "old woman" of a man. He may have a few funny lines or situations now and then but he's petty, picky, nasty, sarcastic, ungenerous, fussy, close minded, judgemental (oh boy, is he judgemental!) and gossipy (and not in a good way). He does have a soft side, he does respect and care greatly for Emily and Rita but that's the extent of it. I rarely find him or the situations he gets in funny though i did find the scene where Mary tries to seduce him and he scrambles out on all fours pretty funny.

But even then, he had a lovely woman who wanted him. He definitely gave her mixed signals when, if he wasn't interested, he should have made it clear from the start. His treatment of his half brother Ramsay has been appalling and atrocious. Carrying a grudge for 50 years, unreasonably so, is unfathomable. Ramsay might have given his birth mother a shock when he returned to find her (and it will become clear that she didn't want to find him either), but it didn't do her in. She didn't die for a year after that so the responsibility can hardly be put at Ramsay's door. Yet, Norris has put the blame squarely on his brother. Ramsay has been trying and trying to appease, suck up and make up for it all but Norris is having none of it.

He's only pleased because Ramsay is leaving but it's going to turn to dust when Ramsay dies suddenly. Will Norris have any regrets? I certainly hope so because he's almost unredeemable after all this bullying. He's also ruined Emily's chances and maybe that's been part of his reasoning. If Ramsay takes "his" place in Emily's life, he'll have to leave Number 3. I think he might have relented and warmed up to his brother if there hadn't been a spark with Emily there. It's not that Norris fancies Em, because he doesn't, but he's very protective of her. I bet he was the same with his mother and resented any intrusions such as long lost sons showing up on her doorstep and threatening to push him out of the way then, too!

edited: I must add, as i meant to in the first place, that i find no fault with Malcom Hebden's portrayal. He's an excellent actor with superb comic timing. He does Norris justice but I just don't like the character.

Norris will never change, regrets or no, and i will never change my opinion of him either.

The State of the Street - May

May's been quite a month for Norris, hasn't it? All along, Mary's been giving him the glad eye and it's been clear to everyone that she fancied the pants off him. It ended badly when she finally tried the ultimate seduction, in a motor home of all places, and it didn't go well at all. Off she drove into the adventure of her life, alone. Norris really doesn't have a traveler's heart, you know? Change and spontenaity, thy names are not "Norris". He has a soft spot for Rita and I think he only wanted to leave because she was involved with Colin which put Norris' nose out of joint. I'll miss Mary. She was absolutely, brilliantly off the wall, especially after her unseen mother died. At one point, she told Emily there were times she could have cheerfully strangled her mother. I wonder.....

And now he probably *really* wishes he'd gone off with Mary since his long lost older half-brother has shown up. Did I hear correctly? Was Ramsay adopted out? Norris said that when Ramsay appeared in his mother's life, that's what sent Mrs. Cole into a tizzy, so much so that she died..... a year later! I think it's not about Norris resenting Ramsay for the death of their mother, I think it's about Norris resenting Ramsay for taking her attention away from him! It's also about that thing about Norris not taking change very well. And it's about to happen all over again as Ramsay becomes friends with Emily and Rita, whom Norris regards as *his* friends and he is not about to take a usurpation lying down.

The fallout from the reveal that Colin fathered Julie and took advantage of a 14 year old Paula took up most of May. On one level, this had a definite "ick" factor, even more than Stape and Rosie's romps. These things happen and don't come out for years, if ever, in a lot of cases. I can picture how it happened, can't you? A young girl, full of hormones, trying out her kitten claws and being flattered by the attentions of a handsome older man. But that older man should have known better. When it call came out, Colin still didn't *really* seem to think he did anything all that wrong because, in his view, Paula was leading him on, his vanity and ego being as large as it ever was. Paula, though it looked to be out of spite, decided to go to the police. But that's exactly what she should do though the stress of it caused Colin to have another stroke and die. I felt sorry that he died but I didn't feel one bit sorry for his situation. I did feel sorry for Eileen having to cope with it all, not just the shock and revelation but the gossip and jokes at her father's expense. They'll all dine out on that one for a long time, I should imagine.

What it's going to do is give us a lot of good storyline between Eileen and Julie. I don't think Paula is going to be a long term character but she and Julie have a lot of stuff to deal with and work through. Julie has always been overly emotional and impulsive, the exact opposite of Eileen. Julie is going to want the storybook family and Eileen is going to put her walls up firmly. On the surface they have nothing in common and each is going to irritate the other to the eye teeth. At least, Julie is irritating Eileen. ("Eidelweiss"! Can't you just see Julie in leiderhosen leaping around a mountain meadow singing Do Re Mi?) Eventually, I'm sure they'll find a way to be sisters but it's going to be a bumpy road. I've really enjoyed the performances, though. Eileen only shows her feelings when alone or with trusted friends. Julie is over the top, to be a strong contrast to Eileen, and she wears her heart on her sleeve, her collar and waves it overhead on a big, bold flag.

Ken bottled it, just like I knew he would. He didn't have the nerve to tell Deirdre to her face and he didn't have the nerve to tell Martha to her face either. He did exactly what Peter said he'd do and run with his tail between his legs. Martha was supposedly his soulmate but he still couldn't bring himself to leave the familiar, just like every other time he'd had an affair.

He tried to justify his actions to Peter by saying his marraige was one of convenience, (but only when it's been convenient for him!). He gave Deirdre the letter and she wasn't really surprised. He didn't think she should know, he just wanted to feel less guilty. Oh, but it's ok, because he chose her over his soul mate. Yeah. *that's* really going to make her feel better! I really enjoyed his confrontations with Peter, I really did. Peter's got his measure and he was right. This whole storyline was absolute top stuff! Now he and Deirdre are at verbal war. I am *so* enjoying seeing Deirdre finally fight back! Best line ever? Ken "and yes.... I need you" Deirdre "But do *I* need you?" I cheered. I really did!

Peter and Luke both fancy Michelle who seems set to run off for a temporary absence. Peter's drinking problem is lurking in the background and what is it about bad boys anyway? Luke Strong is a hero, he's handsome, he's up front and seems honest and upright. Peter has more baggage than Piccadilly Station's Left Luggage. From what I know, Peter's drinking problems aren't over and he's going to realize he can't do it on his own. I'm glad of that, it's far more realistic. Corrie never really has explored alcoholism before. Sometimes people would have a very short term drink problem but then got over it and were able to have booze when they liked thereafter. Ivy Tilsley comes to mind. Leanne was an instant cocaine addict and though successfully kicked it, still finds she's able to have alcohol and not worry about being tempted to drink to excess. Anyway, I look forward to seeing the rest of this play out for Peter but I wish Michelle would fancy Luke instead of Peter. Wait, no I don't. He deserves better! ;o)

Tara really wreaked havoc on poor old Dev, didn't she? And I really think she went way too far, too. Yes Dev should have come clean but he didn't and Poppy, breaking the barmaid code (off with her head!), spilled the beans and Tara started plotting. Her elaborate revenge scheme ended up with little Simon pointing out that the retail Emperor had no clothes on! And if I lived in any of those posh flats, I'd be a bit miffed that this soft-core wall hanging was covering my windows. Dev's not the only resident, Tony lives there and I think Luke does too. There must be a few others. Tara is her mother's daughter, though, and no doubt she got her vindictiveness from Nina. Glad to see the back of her.

Dastardly David's back again. You didn't think his psycho days were over do you? He's nicking Joe's pain pills, probably a good thing considering Joe's growing addiction to them. He's slowly setting up Gary for another round with the cops but David isn't as smart as he thinks he is. It's a soap rule, bad guys always get caught. Eventually.

So when is Tony Gordon going to pay for killing the lovely Liam?