Episode 5752 (7th May 2004)

Plot
Chesney settles in at Les' house. Nick delivers alcohol to the salon flat in preparation of the party. He gives Maria a cheap necklace as a present and she attempts to hide her disappointment. They begin to worry that not enough invites to the party have gone out. Vera and Jack argue about having cauliflower cheese for dinner and Jack makes a quick get-away to the Rovers for a hotpot. Fiz visits Chesney and is annoyed to find him cooking and cleaning for Les while he watches the TV. She worries about Les taking proper care of her brother. Mike gives the factory girls their jobs back and asks them to come in and quickly finish off an order for time and a half. He brings forward the ready date for the factory yet again for Charlie, who promises it will be complete. Maria is not impressed with her party as not many people turn up and those that do include Jack, Audrey and Martin. Karl gets drunk and spends the evening teasing Todd. As Todd ignores him and concentrates his attention on Sarah Karl gets increasingly jealous. Candice sleeps with Tim Marsden who then abruptly leaves. Jack is happy on the karaoke until Vera turns up shouting about his dinner but she ends up joining in the singing. Ashley calls Claire "Max" by mistake resulting in an argument. After shedding some tears she forgives him but doesn't want him to stay the night. Janice and Les celebrate their divorce being final. Janice is proud of him for taking care of Chesney. Steve decides to sell Eileen's house to pay off their debts. As the guests leave the party Karl lets it slip to Katy that Todd is the man in question. Nick proposes to Maria, she is delighted and says yes.

Regular cast

 * Chesney Brown - Sam Aston
 * Les Battersby - Bruce Jones
 * Janice Battersby - Vicky Entwistle
 * Jack Duckworth - William Tarmey
 * Vera Duckworth - Elizabeth Dawn
 * Maria Sutherland - Samia Ghadie
 * Nick Platt - Adam Rickitt
 * Audrey Roberts - Sue Nicholls
 * Betty Williams - Betty Driver
 * Candice Stowe - Nikki Sanderson
 * Martin Platt - Sean Wilson
 * Mike Baldwin - Johnny Briggs
 * Fred Elliott - John Savident
 * Steve McDonald - Simon Gregson
 * Karen McDonald - Suranne Jones
 * Katy Harris - Lucy-Jo Hudson
 * Kirk Sutherland - Andrew Whyment
 * Fiz Brown - Jennie McAlpine
 * Claire Casey - Julia Haworth
 * Tyrone Dobbs - Alan Halsall
 * Jason Grimshaw - Ryan Thomas
 * Charlie Stubbs - Bill Ward
 * Ashley Peacock - Steven Arnold
 * Sarah Platt - Tina O’Brien
 * Todd Grimshaw - Bruno Langley

Guest cast

 * Karl Foster - Chris Finch
 * Tim Marsden - Daniel Pape