Double episode written by Lucy Gannon
It was Colin's 70th birthday party at the Rovers, and the night that the truth about Julie's parentage came out in spectacular and dramatic fashion. A drunken Paula Carp revealed in front of a pub full of shocked partygoers that, when she was 14, she'd had a relationship with Colin, who left her pregnant with Julie. This all came as a huge shock to Eileen and to Jason (who'd just spent the night with Julie,who turns out to be his sister - but what actually happened after they went upstairs?), to Julie of course, to Colin, who said he hadn't known that Paula was pregnant - and particularly to Rita, who'd just accepted a marriage proposal from Colin...
All the reactions to this will play out brilliantly in Wednesday's episode, but for tonight the highlight for me was the touching scene between Norris and Rita after Colin had proposed (but before the shock revelations had been revealed). Malcolm Hebden is a brilliant comic actor, but he's not often given a chance to step outside of his bumbling busybody role - but here he was quite heartbreaking as a man who's missed his chance with the woman he loves, but wants nothing more than her happiness. "I hope he's good to you," he said, in a voice all thick with emotion. It was a great scene, and Norris and Rita are a brilliant partnership.
Elsewhere, Peter Barlow prepared the flat for his and Simon's return. He's got some pop-art kinetic wallpaper, possibly to try and fool him into thinking he's drunk when he isn't.
Steve and Becky are friends again, and Becky is, bizarrely, proving to be the best "mum" that Amy has had so far. Becky told Steve that her dad was in and out of prison and people constantly lied to her about it, which is why she couldn't do it to Amy.
Talking of prison, Fiz visited Stape again, and they talked about the subtext of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but the real subtext was Stape's regret that he'd let weakness and vanity make him behave in a way that wasn't really the good man that he is at heart. Like Norris did in the scene with Rita, in this prison scene John was looking at Fiz like she wasn't just the love of his life, but was as essential to him as fresh air.
If only Ken felt that way about Deirdre. But while Ken tried to immerse himself in a book about Agincourt, Deirdre was laughing like a drain over some comedy show on television. Will someone please tell Ken to lighten up?
Comments by email:
"Monday's episodes were among the best I've seen in ages. Even though we knew what Paula was going to say to Julie, it was still moving when it all came spilling out. It was also nice to see more of Betty and Emily - I loved Betty's comments on men! Although it would be nice to see Emily have a bit of romance in her life." [Sue B]
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