Episode 10000 (7th February 2020)

Plot
A parcel has been delivered to the Kabin flat for Rita. As the neighbours go about their daily business, Jenny collects it and brings it to Rita in the Rovers. She’s thrown to find that it’s a funeral urn containing the ashes of the recently deceased Dennis Tanner with a request that she scatter them in Blackpool. Although upset to be given the task, she determines to do it that day. She confides in Jenny that she feels old and alone with the loss of friends such as Mavis, Bet, Norris, Emily and now Dennis. Jenny can see how upset she is. Geoff puts on a chirpy demeanour in front of Tim and makes a special breakfast for Yasmeen. Tim is down about Sally’s knockback. Ken and Claudia make plans for a change in their lives. A tearful Rita turns up at No.1 with the news of Dennis’s death. Roy worries that Nina will leave again. The letter with the ashes says that Dennis died of dementia and Linda is once more living in Canada. Ken can see that Rita wants him to accompany her. A bored Amy turns sixteen. She’s touched to receive a charm bracelet from her godparents Roy and Hayley, the latter having written the card before her death six years ago in preparation for the event. Jenny rings round the neighbours with a plan she has concocted. Invited by Jenny, Carla tells Nina she’s coming with them on a trip to Blackpool. Ken brings Rita into the Rovers where Jenny, Gail, Sally and Sean are gathered as emotional support for her. A luxurious party bus, driven by Jenny’s incontinent friend Disco Des, turns up to collect them for the journey to Blackpool. Audrey, Eileen and Mary also join the party and Eileen makes sure that Yasmeen gets on the bus, which she does with a spending allowance of just £5 for the day from Geoff. Tracy gets herself, Amy and Emma on board and Evelyn also pushes in on the event. The coach sets off with Mary determined to navigate and criticising the long route the driver takes. The passengers enjoy the music and happy atmosphere on board. Rita makes an announcement over the microphone thanking her friends for taking the trouble to come with her and Jenny breaks open the prosecco. Evelyn quickly gets drunk as the party sings to the tracks being played. Ken sees that Rita is distant as she looks at the rings that Dennis gave her. Yasmeen abstains from the alcohol. Eileen questions her about being locked in the magic box and Mary upsets her when she waxes on about the claustrophobia she must have suffered. Upset by an article about Tim’s bigamous marriage she’s seen in the Gazette, Sally refuses to answer his calls. Needing another comfort break, Des calls into a country pub where the travellers take advantage of the bar. Audrey almost spoils the atmosphere when she remembers the torch that Alf always carried for Rita while Ken admits he still misses Deirdre every day. Evelyn winds Nina up and she storms off when her skirt is accidentally ripped. Unhappy with the course that his life has taken, Ken confides in Rita and Audrey that he’s thinking of moving into a retirement home with Claudia. They think he’s making a mistake, but he’s found the events of recent months too much to take. Carla goes after Nina who is determined to hitchhike back home. She tells her to stop feeling sorry for herself and also to stop causing Roy such trouble. Her words cause her to come back to the coach in a far better frame of mind and it sets off once more. It doesn’t get far before Des needs to stop again. After speaking to Geoff, Yasmeen gets him to put Tim on the phone where he tells Sally how much he loves her and how he regrets messing things up. Outside the coach, Des has a heart attack and an ambulance is called. Rita’s had enough the constantly interrupted journey and determines to drive the coach herself. Failing that, she waits at a bus stop for public transport, telling Sally how much she should cherish what she has in Tim. The ambulance arrives and promptly drives over the urn which Rita had left in the road, scattering the ashes everywhere. Mary drives the coach back home, telling a thoughtful Yasmeen how lucky she is to have Geoff to return to. Sean tells Eileen how much she’s hurt him in recent times by her neglect of him. Emma breaks the news to her that in their absence Seb’s moved into the flat with her, leaving Sean’s old room free. Rita’s realised how much she’s surrounded by thoughtful friends. A pleased Nina is included in an invitation to go back to No.1 for cake for Amy’s birthday. Rita gives a delighted Amy her old rings from Dennis, including one that used to belong to Elsie, who she describes as a very special lady. Tim welcomes Sally back with open arms and they are reconciled. Yasmeen cries as Geoff welcomes her back. The adults go to the Rovers where they toast neighbours and friends. Sean moves back into No.11. After hours, Rita remembers voices from the Rovers’ past and cries, telling Jenny how much she means to her. However, she’s determined to move back to her own flat tomorrow. Walking Eccles, Ken decides it’s time to move on himself after eighty years on the street.

Regular cast

 * Ruby Dobbs - Macy Alabi
 * Hope Stape - Isabella Flanagan
 * Mary Cole - Patti Clare
 * Eileen Grimshaw - Sue Cleaver
 * Sean Tully - Antony Cotton
 * Evelyn Plummer - Maureen Lipman
 * Asha Alahan - Tanisha Gorey
 * Jenny Connor - Sally Ann Matthews
 * Gail Rodwell - Helen Worth
 * Sally Metcalfe - Sally Dynevor
 * Rita Tanner - Barbara Knox
 * Geoff Metcalfe - Ian Bartholomew
 * Yasmeen Metcalfe - Shelley King
 * Tim Metcalfe - Joe Duttine
 * Claudia Colby - Rula Lenska
 * Ken Barlow - William Roache
 * Roy Cropper - David Neilson
 * Carla Connor - Alison King
 * Aggie Bailey - Lorna Laidlaw


 * Tracy McDonald - Kate Ford
 * Amy Barlow - Elle Mulvaney
 * Emma Brooker - Alexandra Mardell
 * Liz McDonald - Beverley Callard
 * Audrey Roberts - Sue Nicholls

Guest cast

 * Nina Lucas - Mollie Gallagher
 * Disco Des - John Henshaw

Places

 * Coronation Street
 * Rovers Return Inn - Public
 * 1 Coronation Street - Back room, kitchen and hallway
 * 6 Coronation Street - Downstairs rooms
 * Roy's Rolls
 * Coach
 * Country roads, including the A583
 * Country pub

Notable dialogue
Claudia Colby: "Me in Blackpool? Good Lord, no. Like Vegas for the poor".

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Sean Tully: "When I was your age, a day trip to Blackpool would have been the highlight of my year." Amy Barlow: "Well, lot's changed since they invented the combustion engine."

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Gail Rodwell (wearing black): "I’m a bit surprised that there’s only me and…Carla’s friend come dressed for the occasion." Nina Lucas: "I always dress like this." Evelyn Plummer: "So, it’s just you then really, in’t it?" Gail Rodwell: "Well, I’m just being respectful that we’re laying Rita’s husband to rest. I mean, there are ways of doing these things." Eileen Grimshaw: "She should know…"

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Ken Barlow: "I was born at number 3, Coronation Street and I got as far as next door. That must be some kind of cosmic joke.

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Rita Tanner: "Do you know…I was just thinking of all the people who had this place - Mrs Walker, Bet, Jack and Vera, Hilda singing them daft songs while she were cleanin’, Betty an’ all them hotpots - all of them gone now. All of them, and they all left a little something ‘ere, didn’t they? It’s in these walls - the fabric of the place."