Coronation Street in 2001

2001 was Coronation Street's forty-second year.

Main characters

Ranking	Character	Played by	Duration	Number of Episodes	Running total	Previous year's ranking
1	Janice Battersby	Vicky Entwistle	Full year except for March	128	608	2
2	Duggie Ferguson	John Bowe	Full year	124	231	11
2	Gail Platt	Helen Worth	Full year	124	2230	1
4	Geena Gregory	Jennifer James	Full year	121	222	12
5	Toyah Battersby	Georgia Taylor	Full year	117	495	13
6	Mike Baldwin	Johnny Briggs	Full year except for May	114	1955	7
7	Dennis Stringer	Charles Dale	Full year	112	164	42
8	Sarah Platt	Tina O'Brien	Full year	108	643	6
9	Roy Cropper	David Neilson	Full year	105	506	20
9	Tyrone Dobbs	Alan Halsall	Full year	105	317	10
11	Peter Barlow	Chris Gascoyne	Full year	101	169	64
11	Sally Webster	Sally Whittaker	Full year	101	1342	29
13	Les Battersby	Bruce Jones	Full year except for March	100	486	19
14	Eileen Grimshaw	Sue Cleaver	Full year	99	131	53
15	Fred Elliott	John Savident	Full year	98	526	21
16	Audrey Roberts	Sue Nicholls	Full year	97	1474	18
17	Ken Barlow	William Roache	Full year	96	3017	16
17	Vera Duckworth	Elizabeth Dawn	Full year	96	1897	13
19	Matt Ramsden	Stephen Beckett	Full year	95	102	67
20	Sam Kingston	Scott Wright	Full year except for October	93	109	63
20	Steve McDonald	Simon Gregson	Full year	93	950	8
20	Rita Sullivan	Barbara Knox	Full year	93	2414	21
23	Ashley Peacock	Steven Arnold	Full year	91	539	35
24	Dev Alahan	Jimmi Harkishin	Full year except for November	90	177	25
25	Karen Phillips/McDonald	Suranne Jones	Full year except for April	88	116	54
25	David Platt	Jack P. Shepherd	Full year	88	511	26
27	Maxine Peacock	Tracy Shaw	Full year	87	578	32
28	Vikram Desai	Chris Bisson	Full year	86	235	24
28	Kevin Webster	Michael Le Vell	Full year	86	1478	32
30	Jason Grimshaw	Ryan Thomas	Full year except for August	85	86	74
31	Deirdre Rachid	Anne Kirkbride	Full year except for July	83	2131	22
32	Hayley Cropper	Julie Hesmondhalgh	Full year except for March, October and November	82	357	15
32	Curly Watts	Kevin Kennedy	Full year	82	1401	29
34	Todd Grimshaw	Bruno Langley	From January	76	76	-
34	Martin Platt	Sean Wilson	Full year	76	1261	4
34	Charlie Ramsden	Clare McGlinn	Full year	76	82	70
37	Shelley Unwin	Sally Lindsay	From May	74	74	-
38	Linda Baldwin	Jacqueline Pirie/Chadwick	Until September	69	329	5
39	Norris Cole	Malcolm Hebden	Full year	68	226	28
39	Jack Duckworth	William Tarmey	Full year except for March	68	1649	37
41	Emma Watts	Angela Lonsdale	Full year	67	124	40
42	Candice Stowe	Nikki Sanderson	Full year except for April	62	117	43
43	Evelyn Sykes/Elliott	Melanie Kilburn	April to May and from August	61	62	74
44	Betty Williams	Betty Driver	Full year	60	2311	39
45	Bobbi Lewis	Naomi Ryan	Full year except for July	59	104	47
46	Fiz Brown	Jennie McAlpine	April and from August	56	56	-
47	Molly Hardcastle	Jacqueline Kington	Full year	55	60	71
47	Maria Sutherland	Samia Smith	Full year except for February	55	96	49
49	Alma Halliwell	Amanda Barrie	Until June	51	1135	44
49	Rosie Webster	Helen Flanagan	Full year except for March and June	51	499	58
51	Sophie Webster	Emma Woodward	Full year except for March and May	50	282	59
52	Sunita Parekh	Shobna Gulati	March to May and from July	49	49	-
53	Blanche Hunt	Maggie Jones	Full year except for April and June	48	221	48
54	Bethany Platt	Amy & Emily Walton	Full year	47	101	41
55	Adam Barlow	Iain De Caestecker	January to April, July and October	45	45	-
56	Emily Bishop	Eileen Derbyshire	Full year	43	2514	45
56	Richard Hillman	Brian Capron	From June	43	43	-
58	Anthony Stephens	John Quayle	Until July	32	67	51
59	Danny Hargreaves	Richard Standing	Until April	31	148	38
60	Edna Miller	Joan Kempson	Until September	29	50	57
61	Kirk Sutherland	Andrew Whyment	January, March, May to June, August to September and November to December	21	22	74
62	Terry Duckworth	Nigel Pivaro	October to December	17	340	71
63	Susan Barlow	Joanna Foster	January and February	8	177	-
64	Liz McDonald	Beverley Callard	January only	7	918	50
65	Spider Nugent	Martin Hancock	November only	6	236	55
66	Mark Redman	Paul Fox	September only	3	154	32
66	Ben Watts	Stephen Collins	December only	3	3	-
68	Andrea Clayton	Caroline O'Neill	November only	1	41	65
68	Paul Clayton	Lee Booth	November only	1	8	67

Production

Issues

The "whodunit" style storyline of Toyah Battersby's rape proves controversial

In its second year under executive producer Jane Macnaught, Coronation Street continued to revolve around blockbuster storylines. As Sarah Platt's teenage pregnancy storyline had been popular, writers created more issue-led plots, including the assault and rape of Toyah Battersby, Alma Halliwell's death by cervical cancer, the abuse of Wayne Hayes by his stepfather Alex Swinton and Sarah Platt being groomed by a pervert on an internet chatroom. Compared with the earlier storyline, reactions to these plots were mixed and none were notably successful in the ratings.

Toyah's rape by an unseen assailant was played as a whodunit, with Toyah's friend Phil Simmonds later being unveiled as the culprit. Though the performance of Georgia Taylor was praised, the decision to frame the storyline around a "whodunit"-style mystery was lambasted, with The Mirror and the Daily Record accusing the programme of trivialising the impact of the rape itself. Due to the storyline airing immediately after EastEnders's popular "Who shot Phil Mitchell?" plot, the storyline was interpreted by critics as an attempt by Coronation Street to hit back with a mystery of its own.

Alma was killed off in June after Amanda Barrie quit the programme, 20 years after her first appearance. The cervical cancer storyline proceeded at a rapid pace, with Alma discovering that she had the terminal illness and passing away six weeks later, the late diagnosis occurring due to the hospital mixing up her smear test results. Despite the on-screen explanation, Barrie disliked the storyline, referring to it as a "cheap ratings ploy" for giving the impression that cancer sufferers had just weeks to live after being diagnosed, although she conceded that the storyline had had the positive effect of encouraging more women to have smear tests.

Cast changes

In March, three months after its 40th anniversary, Coronation Street broadcast its 5000th episode. The hour-long instalment centred on a custody hearing at which Mike Baldwin beat Ken Barlow in obtaining guardianship of Adam Barlow, Mike's son and Ken's grandson. Susan Barlow made her first appearance since 1987 in January (recast with Joanna Foster) for the storyline which saw Mike discover that he had a 12-year-old son and that Susan had lied about having an abortion when they split. So that the fight would be between Ken and Mike, writers killed off Susan in a car crash. Iain De Caestecker played Adam on a recurring basis between 2001 and 2003.

The Grimshaws take over No.11

The empty No.11 was rented out by Steve McDonald to Eileen Grimshaw and her teenage sons Jason and Todd, with Bruno Langley joining the cast as bookish mummy's boy Todd. Daran Little planned Todd as Coronation Street's first gay character, based partially on himself, although his coming out story was held back until 2004. Little - previously the programme's archivist - joined the writing team at the beginning of the year. His successor as archivist was Helen Nugent.

Other newcomers included Brian Capron as financial adviser Richard Hillman, nefarious love interest for Gail Platt, Sally Lindsay as new Rovers barmaid Shelley Unwin, Jennie McAlpine as Fiz Brown, a redheaded foster child who caused havoc for Roy and Hayley Cropper before setting her cap at Tyrone Dobbs, and Shobna Gulati as Sunita Parekh, demure friend of Dev Alahan's trying to escape an arranged marriage.

The Rovers changed hands for the fourth time in as many years as Mike and Fred Elliott sold their shares to Hamilton Griffiths Holdings, only to discover that their partner Duggie Ferguson owned it. Duggie himself auctioned off the Rovers at the end of the year, and it was bought by Fred for his wife Eve to run as landlady. Melanie Kilburn returned as Eve, who married Fred in September.

Aside from Amanda Barrie, Jacqueline Chadwick was the main departee. Chadwick had been due to go on maternity leave, but complications in her pregnancy forced her to leave a few days early. As her exit scenes were yet to be filmed, Chadwick was asked to work on, but the actress refused and so Linda Baldwin's planned last appearance was rewritten so that she was only seen from afar and could be played by an extra. Chadwick did not return after her maternity leave.

Richard Standing made his final appearance as Danny Hargreaves, who walked out on Sally Webster after she confessed, on their wedding day, that she had slept with Kevin a year earlier. John Quayle left the role of Anthony Stephens after one year, with Anthony going to New Zealand on his own after Rita Sullivan turned down his proposal of marriage. Doom-monger Edna Miller died in Duggie Ferguson's bed but, in one of the more unusual instances of an actor playing different characters, actress Joan Kempson re-appeared in the programme as Edna's equally gloomy sister Iris Merry at Edna's funeral.

Julie Hesmondhalgh was absent between September and December as the actress went on maternity leave.

Extra episode

Following a 12% slump in ad revenues, ITV became more dependent on its proven successes. It had already increased Emmerdale's weekly output from three to five episodes the previous year, and mounted a revival of Crossroads in May, which also ran at five episodes per week. In the Spring, the network ordered additional Coronation Street to bring it into line with the other soaps on the channel.

Unlike the introduction of the Friday and Sunday episodes in 1989 and 1996, the existing shooting schedule remained in place, with the only change being an increase in workload. To enable a smooth transition to producing five episodes a week, output was increased gradually over the course of two years, at the end of which the new episode was fixed at 8.30pm (the half-hour gap designed to avoid a clash with that evening's episode of EastEnders). Prior to that, many weeks still contained only four episodes, and many had extended episodes (notably, the aftermath of Toyah's rape was shown in a 70-minute slot, making it the longest episode of the programme to this date). The second half of 2001 featured a run of episodes, broadcast on Thursdays, which were advertised as specials. Many of these featured smaller casts and focused on a single storyline, or were shot totally on location to avoid taking studio time from other episodes. These included a Derbyshire camping holiday with the Platts, Websters and Croppers, Fred and Eve's wedding at which Linda Baldwin went missing, and Mike confronting Alma about her illness in the Lake District.

Removal of Jane Macnaught

In October, after being in charge of Coronation Street for two years, Jane Macnaught was appointed New Dramas producer at Granada, to work under Carolyn Reynolds, leaving Coronation Street without a producer. Reynolds became its executive producer again and took on the day-to-day running of the programme until its new producer, former Emmerdale boss Kieran Roberts, took up the post in December. Despite leaving her position immediately, Macnaught remained credited as executive producer until March 2002.

Viewing figures

Ratings chart for the year

At the end of the year, BARB stopped its practice of recording only aggregated figures for programmes which were repeated in the same week as their initial showing, and so this is the last year where ratings which exclude omnibus repeats are not available.

For the second year in a row, Coronation Street lost over a million viewers compared with the one before. The average was 13.25 million viewers, a 9% fall from 2000's figure. As in that year, every month was down on year-on-year, with the magnitude of the drops fluctuating from month to month from as low as 300,000 viewers in April to 2.5 million viewers in February.

After maintaining a huge presence atop the viewing charts since 1989, Coronation Street saw just three episodes reach number one, the lowest since the late 1980s (when EastEnders had an advantage over Coronation Street due to launching with an omnibus; prior to that, the latest year to have less than ten episodes at number one was 1978).

Episode 5090 on 10th August was shown opposite EastEnders, the first time that regular 30-minute length episodes of the programmes had clashed. The head-to-head occurred when the BBC chose to launch their soap's fourth weekly episode on that date at 8.00pm, where Coronation Street had been previously scheduled due to an hour-long Emmerdale being shown at 7.00pm. Under normal circumstances, due to the large number of people who watched both programmes ITV and the BBC never scheduled them against each other. EastEnders gained 13.98 million viewers against Coronation Street's 8.55 million viewers.

Episodes

#	Ep. No.	Date	Part	Writer	Director	Viewing Figures (With omnibus except where marked #)	Chart Position
1	4960	Monday 1st January		Jo O'Keefe	Philip Wood	16,400,000	4
2	4961	Wednesday 3rd January		Phil Ford	Philip Wood	16,360,000	5
3	4962	Friday 5th January		Peter Whalley	Philip Wood	14,760,000 #	7
4	4963	Sunday 7th January		Peter Mills	Philip Wood	15,450,000 #	6
5	4964	Monday 8th January		Nick Doughty	Colin Cant	16,700,000	4
6	4965	Wednesday 10th January		Susan Wilkins	Colin Cant	15,520,000	5
7	4966	Friday 12th January		Martin Allen	Colin Cant	14,330,000 #	7
8	4967	Sunday 14th January		Mark Wadlow	Colin Cant	14,150,000 #	8
9	4968	Monday 15th January		Peter Mills	David Kester	16,660,000	3
10	4969	Wednesday 17th January		Mariam Vossough	David Kester	15,320,000	5
11	4970	Friday 19th January		David Lane	David Kester	14,480,000 #	6
12	4971	Sunday 21st January		Jo O'Keefe	David Kester	14,440,000 #	7
13	4972	Monday 22nd January		Martin Allen	Noreen Kershaw	16,620,000	3
14	4973	Wednesday 24th January		Phil Ford	Noreen Kershaw	15,600,000	5
15	4974	Friday 26th January		Joe Turner	Noreen Kershaw	14,150,000 #	7
16	4975	Sunday 28th January		Nick Doughty	Noreen Kershaw	14,880,000 #	6
17	4976	Monday 29th January		Joe Turner	John Anderson	16,610,000	4
18	4977	Wednesday 31st January		Peter Whalley	John Anderson	15,370,000	5
19	4978	Friday 2nd February		Wendy Lee	John Anderson	14,230,000 #	7
20	4979	Sunday 4th February		Martin Allen	John Anderson	14,620,000 #	6
21	4980	Monday 5th February		Catherine Hayes	Tony Prescott	16,450,000	4
22	4981	Wednesday 7th February		Phil Ford	Tony Prescott	15,190,000	5
23	4982	Friday 9th February		Peter Mills	Tony Prescott	13,770,000 #	7
24	4983	Sunday 11th February		Mark Wadlow	Tony Prescott	13,830,000 #	6
Due to an error in allocating numbers to commissioned scripts, Episode 4984 was never recorded
25	4985	Monday 12th February		Mark Wadlow	Graham Wetherell	15,280,000	4
26	4986	Wednesday 14th February		Joe Turner	Graham Wetherell	11,940,000	8
27	4987	Friday 16th February		Susan Wilkins	Graham Wetherell	13,230,000 #	6
28	4988	Sunday 18th February		David Lane	Graham Wetherell	14,210,000 #	5
29	4989	Monday 19th February		Julie Gearey	David Kester	15,800,000	4
30	4990	Wednesday 21st February		Martin Allen	David Kester	12,370,000	8
31	4991	Friday 23rd February		Mariam Vossough	David Kester	13,460,000 #	6
32	4992	Sunday 25th February		Peter Whalley	David Kester	14,320,000 #	5
33	4993	Monday 26th February		Jo O'Keefe	Philip Wood	15,710,000	4
34	4994	Wednesday 28th February		Catherine Hayes	Philip Wood	15,050,000	5
35	4995	Friday 2nd March		Nick Doughty	Philip Wood	13,690,000 #	6
36	4996	Sunday 4th March		Peter Mills	Philip Wood	13,530,000 #	7
37	4997	Monday 5th March		Joe Turner	John Anderson	15,230,000	5
38	4998	Wednesday 7th March		Mark Wadlow	John Anderson	10,810,000	9
39	4999	Friday 9th March		Phil Ford	John Anderson	13,750,000 #	6
40	5000	Sunday 11th March		Susan Wilkins	John Anderson	15,460,000 #	4
41	5001	Monday 12th March		Peter Mills	Tony Prescott	15,430,000	4
42	5002	Wednesday 14th March		Catherine Hayes	Tony Prescott	13,640,000	6
43	5003	Friday 16th March		Joe Turner	Tony Prescott	12,130,000 #	8
44	5004	Sunday 18th March		Peter Whalley	Tony Prescott	14,770,000 #	5
45	5005	Monday 19th March		Martin Allen	Graham Wetherell	15,840,000	4
46	5006	Wednesday 21st March		Mariam Vossough	Graham Wetherell	15,730,000	5
47	5007	Friday 23rd March		Jo O'Keefe	Graham Wetherell	13,080,000 #	7
48	5008	Sunday 25th March		Julie Gearey	Graham Wetherell	13,160,000 #	6
49	5009	Monday 26th March		Martin Allen	David Kester	15,150,000	4
50	5010	Wednesday 28th March		Mariam Vossough	David Kester	12,360,000	6
51	5011	Friday 30th March		Nick Doughty	David Kester	12,330,000 #	7
52	5012	Sunday 1st April		Mark Wadlow	David Kester	13,940,000 #	5
53	5013	Monday 2nd April		David Lane	Ian Bevitt	15,220,000	4
54	5014	Wednesday 4th April		Phil Ford	Ian Bevitt	11,710,000	8
55	5015	Friday 6th April		Joe Turner	Ian Bevitt	12,620,000 #	7
56	5016	Sunday 8th April		Martin Allen	Ian Bevitt	13,750,000 #	5
57	5017	Monday 9th April		Daran Little	John Anderson	15,070,000	5
58	5018	Wednesday 11th April		Peter Whalley	John Anderson	13,660,000	6
59	5019	Friday 13th April		David Lane	John Anderson	12,510,000 #	7
60	5020	Sunday 15th April		Julie Gearey	John Anderson	15,410,000 #	4
61	5021	Monday 16th April		Phil Ford	Tony Prescott	14,710,000 #	4
62	5022/3	Friday 20th April		Mark Wadlow Jayne Hollinson	Tony Prescott	14,160,000 #	6
63	5024	Sunday 22nd April		Jo O'Keefe	Tony Prescott	14,520,000 #	5
64	5025	Monday 23rd April		Jo O'Keefe	Graham Wetherell	14,970,000	4
65	5026	Wednesday 25th April		Peter Mills	Graham Wetherell	14,080,000	5
66	5027	Friday 27th April		Joe Turner	Graham Wetherell	12,810,000 #	7
67	5028	Sunday 29th April		Peter Whalley	Graham Wetherell	14,030,000 #	6
68	5029	Monday 30th April		Phil Ford	David Kester	15,160,000	3
69	5030	Wednesday 2nd May		Nick Doughty	David Kester	11,550,000	7
70	5031	Friday 4th May		Catherine Hayes	David Kester	12,440,000 #	5
71	5032	Sunday 6th May		Mariam Vossough	David Kester	12,350,000 #	6
72	5033	Monday 7th May		Phil Ford	Ian Bevitt	13,060,000 #	4
73	5034	Wednesday 9th May		Joe Turner	Ian Bevitt	12,190,000	5
74	5035	Friday 11th May		Mariam Vossough	Ian Bevitt	11,260,000 #	7
75	5036	Sunday 13th May		Jo O'Keefe	Ian Bevitt	13,220,000 #	3
76	5037	Monday 14th May		Daran Little	Anne Ross Muir	15,530,000	2
77	5038	Wednesday 16th May		Peter Mills	Anne Ross Muir	12,300,000	6
78	5039	Friday 18th May		David Lane	Anne Ross Muir	11,420,000 #	7
79	5040	Sunday 20th May		Mark Wadlow	Anne Ross Muir	12,420,000 #	5
80	5041	Monday 21st May		Nick Doughty	Tim Dowd	12,390,000	6
81	5042	Wednesday 23rd May		Catherine Hayes	Tim Dowd	18,140,000	1
82	5043	Friday 25th May		Phil Ford	Tim Dowd	10,710,000 #	7
83	5044	Sunday 27th May		Mark Wadlow	Tim Dowd	12,630,000 #	5
84	5045	Monday 28th May		Joe Turner	Graham Wetherell	11,810,000 #	7
85	5046	Wednesday 30th May		Susan Wilkins	Graham Wetherell	13,350,000	4
86	5047	Friday 1st June		Jayne Hollinson	Graham Wetherell	12,640,000 #	6
87	5048	Sunday 3rd June		Mariam Vossough	Graham Wetherell	13,140,000 #	5
88	5049	Monday 4th June		Jayne Hollinson	David Kester	13,610,000	4
89	5050	Wednesday 6th June		Phil Ford	David Kester	12,420,000	6
90	5051	Friday 8th June		Jo O'Keefe	David Kester	11,760,000 #	7
91	5052	Sunday 10th June		Julie Gearey David Lane	David Kester Tony Prescott	13,470,000 #	5
92	5053	Monday 11th June		Martin Allen	Tony Prescott	14,240,000	4
93	5054	Tuesday 12th June		Peter Whalley	Tony Prescott	13,230,000	8
94	5055	Wednesday 13th June		Peter Whalley	Tony Prescott	14,010,000	6
95	5056	Thursday 14th June		Susan Wilkins	Ian Bevitt	13,100,000 #	9
96	5057	Friday 15th June		Joe Turner	Ian Bevitt	13,810,000 #	7
97	5058	Sunday 17th June		Joe Turner	Ian Bevitt	14,240,000 #	4
98	5059	Monday 18th June		Phil Ford	Anne Ross Muir	14,760,000	1
99	5060	Wednesday 20th June		Mark Wadlow	Anne Ross Muir	13,860,000	5
100	5061	Friday 22nd June		Daran Little	Anne Ross Muir	11,750,000 #	6
101	5062	Sunday 24th June		Julie Gearey	Anne Ross Muir	11,160,000 #	7
102	5063	Monday 25th June		Jayne Hollinson	Colin Cant	12,860,000	4
103	5064	Wednesday 27th June		Jo O'Keefe	Colin Cant	12,630,000	5
104	5065	Friday 29th June		David Lane	Colin Cant	11,380,000 #	6
105	5066	Sunday 1st July		Martin Allen	Colin Cant	11,090,000 #	7
106	5067	Monday 2nd July		Catherine Hayes	Garth Tucker	12,200,000	4
107	5068	Wednesday 4th July		Daran Little	Garth Tucker	12,180,000	5
108	5069	Friday 6th July		David Lane	Garth Tucker	11,460,000 #	7
109	5070	Sunday 8th July		Peter Mills	Garth Tucker	12,030,000 #	6
110	5071	Monday 9th July		Martin Allen	Ian Bevitt	13,410,000	6
111	5072	Wednesday 11th July		Peter Whalley	Ian Bevitt	14,020,000	3
112	5073	Friday 13th July		Susan Wilkins	Ian Bevitt	11,460,000 #	8
113	5074	Sunday 15th July	1	Jayne Hollinson	Tony Prescott	13,350,000 #	7
114	5075	Sunday 15th July	2	Joe Turner	Tony Prescott	13,700,000 #	4
115	5076	Monday 16th July		Joe Turner	David Kester	14,310,000	3
116	5077	Wednesday 18th July		Peter Mills	David Kester	13,630,000	5
117	5078	Friday 20th July		Jo O'Keefe	David Kester	11,730,000 #	6
118	5079	Sunday 22nd July		Daran Little	David Kester	11,680,000 #	7
119	5080	Monday 23rd July		Martin Allen	Anne Ross Muir	13,240,000	1
120	5081	Wednesday 25th July		Phil Ford	Penelope Shales	11,460,000	5
121	5082	Friday 27th July		David Lane	Anne Ross Muir	10,670,000 #	6
122	5083	Sunday 29th July		Peter Whalley	Penelope Shales	10,260,000 #	7
123	5084	Monday 30th July		Mark Wadlow	Anne Ross Muir	12,150,000	4
124	5085	Wednesday 1st August		Phil Ford	Anne Ross Muir Penelope Shales	11,430,000	5
125	5086	Friday 3rd August		Catherine Hayes	Anne Ross Muir Penelope Shales	11,050,000 #	6
126	5087	Sunday 5th August		Joe Turner	Penelope Shales Garth Tucker	10,930,000 #	7
127	5088	Monday 6th August		Mariam Vossough	John Michael Phillips Garth Tucker	13,860,000	5
128	5089	Wednesday 8th August		Jo O'Keefe	John Michael Phillips	11,670,000	7
129	5090	Friday 10th August		Susan Wilkins	John Michael Phillips Garth Tucker	8,550,000 #	13
130	5091	Sunday 12th August		Mark Wadlow	John Michael Phillips Garth Tucker	12,090,000 #	6
131	5092	Monday 13th August		Mark Wadlow	Mervyn Cumming	12,990,000 #	5
132	5093	Wednesday 15th August		Mariam Vossough	Mervyn Cumming	11,740,000 #	6
133	5094	Friday 17th August		Julie Gearey	Mervyn Cumming	11,300,000 #	7
134	5095	Sunday 19th August		Peter Whalley	Mervyn Cumming	11,200,000 #	8
135	5096	Monday 20th August		Daran Little	Colin Cant	12,540,000	5
136	5097	Wednesday 22nd August		Jayne Hollinson	Colin Cant	12,010,000	6
137	5098	Friday 24th August		David Lane	Colin Cant	10,870,000 #	7
138	5099	Sunday 26th August		Joe Turner	Colin Cant	10,700,000 #	8
139	5100	Monday 27th August		Daran Little	Tony Prescott	10,880,000	9
140	5101	Wednesday 29th August		Peter Mills	Tony Prescott	13,060,000	4
141	5102	Friday 31st August		Catherine Hayes	Tony Prescott	11,920,000 #	7
142	5103	Sunday 2nd September		Jayne Hollinson	Tony Prescott	12,440,000 #	5
143	5104	Monday 3rd September	1	Peter Whalley	Anne Ross Muir	13,950,000	4
144	5105	Monday 3rd September	2	Martin Allen	John Anderson	13,940,000	5
145	5106	Wednesday 5th September		Mariam Vossough	John Anderson	12,420,000	9
146	5107	Thursday 6th September		David Lane	Anne Ross Muir	11,840,000	10
147	5108	Friday 7th September		Julie Gearey	Anne Ross Muir	12,880,000 #	7
148	5109	Sunday 9th September		Joe Turner	Tony Prescott	12,580,000 #	8
149	5110	Monday 10th September		David Lane	Alan Wareing	14,020,000	2
150	5111	Wednesday 12th September		Susan Wilkins	Alan Wareing	13,190,000	6
151	5112	Friday 14th September		Mariam Vossough	Alan Wareing	11,780,000	9
152	5113	Sunday 16th September		Jayne Hollinson	Alan Wareing	11,980,000 #	8
153	5114	Monday 17th September		Daran Little	David Kester	13,640,000 #	3
154	5115	Wednesday 19th September		Phil Ford	David Kester	9,490,000	15
155	5116	Thursday 20th September		Jo O'Keefe	David Kester	12,030,000	7
156	5117	Friday 21st September		Peter Whalley	David Kester	11,980,000 #	8
157	5118	Sunday 23rd September		Mark Wadlow	David Kester	13,110,000 #	6
158	5119	Monday 24th September		Mark Wadlow	Colin Cant	13,580,000 #	5
159	5120	Wednesday 26th September		Daran Little	Colin Cant	9,200,000	15
160	5121	Thursday 27th September		Phil Ford	Colin Cant	10,160,000	10
161	5122	Friday 28th September		Phil Ford	Colin Cant	11,410,000 #	7
162	5123	Sunday 30th September		Jayne Hollinson	Colin Cant	11,850,000 #	6
163	5124	Monday 1st October		Catherine Hayes	Ian Bevitt	13,570,000 #	6
164	5125	Wednesday 3rd October		Jo O'Keefe	Ian Bevitt	13,610,000	5
165	5126	Friday 5th October		Peter Mills	Ian Bevitt	12,500,000 #	8
166	5127	Sunday 7th October		David Lane	Ian Bevitt	13,430,000 #	7
167	5128	Monday 8th October		David Lane	Tony Prescott	14,520,000	6
168	5129	Wednesday 10th October		Mariam Vossough	Tony Prescott	9,940,000	11
169	5130	Friday 12th October		Joe Turner	Tony Prescott	11,950,000 #	7
170	5131	Sunday 14th October		Daran Little	Tony Prescott	14,680,000 #	5
171	5132	Monday 15th October		Catherine Hayes	John Anderson	14,120,000 #	5
172	5133	Wednesday 17th October		Jo O'Keefe	John Anderson	10,810,000	10
173	5134	Thursday 18th October		Peter Whalley	John Anderson	12,380,000	7
174	5135	Friday 19th October		Phil Ford	John Anderson	12,340,000 #	8
175	5136	Sunday 21st October		Phil Ford	John Anderson	14,120,000 #	5
176	5137	Monday 22nd October	1	Mark Wadlow	David Kester	14,650,000 #	6
177	5138	Monday 22nd October	2	Mark Wadlow	Ian Bevitt	12,880,000 #	8
178	5139	Wednesday 24th October		Mariam Vossough	David Kester	10,130,000	14
179	5140	Thursday 25th October		Daran Little	Ian Bevitt	13,310,000 #	7
180	5141	Friday 26th October		Phil Ford	David Kester	12,590,000 #	9
181	5142	Sunday 28th October		Jo O'Keefe	David Kester	14,930,000 #	5
182	5143	Monday 29th October		Julie Gearey	Philip Wood	15,330,000	5
183	5144	Wednesday 31st October		David Lane	Philip Wood	11,160,000	9
184	5145	Friday 2nd November		Joe Turner	Philip Wood	13,270,000 #	7
185	5146	Sunday 4th November		Jayne Hollinson	Philip Wood	14,300,000 #	6
186	5147	Monday 5th November		Jayne Hollinson	Tony Prescott	13,990,000 #	7
187	5148	Wednesday 7th November		David Lane	Tony Prescott	14,430,000	6
188	5149	Thursday 8th November		Catherine Hayes	Tony Prescott	12,390,000	10
189	5150	Friday 9th November		Susan Wilkins	Tony Prescott	13,430,000 #	8
190	5151	Sunday 11th November		Mariam Vossough	Tony Prescott	14,950,000 #	5
191	5152	Monday 12th November		Julie Gearey	Colin Cant	14,640,000 #	6
192	5153	Wednesday 14th November		Jo O'Keefe	Colin Cant	14,770,000	4
193	5154	Thursday 15th November		Martin Allen	Colin Cant	12,220,000	8
194	5155	Friday 16th November		Joe Turner	Colin Cant	12,040,000 #	9
195	5156	Sunday 18th November		Peter Whalley	Colin Cant	14,760,000 #	5
196	5157	Monday 19th November		Phil Ford	John Anderson	14,430,000 #	7
197	5158	Wednesday 21st November		Joe Turner	John Anderson	12,440,000	9
198	5159	Thursday 22nd November		Daran Little	John Anderson	11,470,000	11
199	5160	Friday 23rd November		David Lane	John Anderson	13,310,000 #	8
200	5161	Sunday 25th November		Peter Whalley	John Anderson	15,360,000 #	6
201	5162	Monday 26th November		Mark Wadlow	David Kester	15,290,000 #	5
202	5163	Wednesday 28th November		Jayne Hollinson	David Kester	14,350,000	6
203	5164	Thursday 29th November		Mariam Vossough	David Kester	12,880,000	8
204	5165	Friday 30th November		Susan Wilkins	David Kester	12,700,000 #	9
205	5166	Sunday 2nd December		Martin Allen	David Kester	14,200,000 #	7
206	5167	Monday 3rd December		Martin Allen	Chris Jury	15,370,000	4
207	5168	Thursday 6th December		Jo O'Keefe	Chris Jury	12,670,000	7
208	5169	Friday 7th December		Daran Little	Chris Jury	12,500,000 #	8
209	5170	Sunday 9th December		Phil Ford	Chris Jury	14,580,000 #	6
210	5171	Monday 10th December		Catherine Hayes	Philip Wood	15,320,000 #	4
211	5172	Wednesday 12th December		David Lane	Philip Wood	13,440,000	6
212	5173	Thursday 13th December		Susan Wilkins	Philip Wood	11,620,000	9
213	5174	Friday 14th December		Jayne Hollinson	Philip Wood	11,860,000 #	8
214	5175	Sunday 16th December		Peter Whalley	Philip Wood	13,170,000 #	7
215	5176	Monday 17th December		Jayne Hollinson	Tony Prescott	13,620,000 #	5
216	5177	Wednesday 19th December		Martin Allen	Tony Prescott	11,900,000	8
217	5178	Friday 21st December		Daran Little	Tony Prescott	12,250,000 #	7
218	5179	Sunday 23rd December		Phil Ford	Tony Prescott	12,420,000 #	6
219	5180	Monday 24th December		Julie Gearey	Garth Tucker	12,060,000 #	10
220	5181	Tuesday 25th December		David Lane	John Anderson	12,980,000 #	7
221	5182	Wednesday 26th December		Mark Wadlow	John Anderson	11,970,000 #	11
222	5183	Friday 28th December		Joe Turner	Garth Tucker	12,320,000 #	9
223	5184	Sunday 30th December		Peter Whalley	Garth Tucker	12,680,000 #	8
224	5185	Monday 31st December		David Lane	Colin Cant	12,990,000 #	7

Storylines

January

• Sally Webster accepts Danny Hargreaves's proposal of marriage, but only after discussing the matter with Kevin. Her closeness with her ex-husband causes Danny to feel insecure and push Sally into agreeing to sell 13 Coronation Street and move away, though he begrudgingly accepts her condition that they do up the house first. When Sally goes to Newcastle to look after her sister Gina Seddon's children, she leaves Rosie and Sophie in Danny's care. Kevin is furious when Rita Sullivan lets slip about the arrangement, feeling he's being pushed out of the girls' lives.
• Amanda Stephens steps up her attempts to wreck Rita's relationship with her father Anthony, disapproving of them being together when her mother Isabel is ill with Alzheimers'. Anthony refuses to help his daughter when she shows up during a date with Rita claiming to have lost her keys, and is later sent on a wild goose chase when she pretends that Isabel has had a bad night at the care home.
• Ken Barlow tells the police that he was behind the wheel of his car when it crashed, corroborating Peter's lie after having accident in the vehicle while banned from driving. Having gone against his principles, Ken revokes his application to become a magistrate, feeling that he no longer deserves the role.
• Tyrone Dobbs is still refusing to have sex with fiancée Maria Sutherland until they're married. When he reads a letter in a newspaper problems page from a woman complaining that her fiancé won't sleep with her, he accuses Maria of writing it. They briefly call off their engagement but make up it and, after a romantic meal, Maria takes Tyrone's virginity.

Duggie tries to bring more families into the Rovers

• Chaos reigns at the Rovers Return with owners Duggie Ferguson, Mike Baldwin and Fred Elliott drinking the profits and interfering with Liz McDonald's management of the pub. Barmaids Toyah Battersby, Geena Gregory and Betty Williams go on strike when Duggie previews new low-cut staff uniforms, while Jim's transfer to a prison in Leicester gives Liz the perfect excuse to quit the Rovers and move away, leaving the owners to sort out the mess. Linda Baldwin convinces Mike to let her run the pub, and proves her worth by ending the strike, dropping the uniform idea and giving the staff a 10% pay rise. Toyah, lodging at the Rovers isn't happy when Duggie moves in, but she starts to warm to him when she cuts her hand and he takes her to the medical centre. To drum up business, Mike and Duggie trial a scheme to encourage families into the Rovers. The idea is dropped when the children annoy the staff.
• During a row with Ken, Peter reveals that his twin sister Susan has been keeping a secret from him for years. His slip of the tongue compels Susan to come down from Glasgow and reveal the truth: the abortion which ended her marriage to Mike in 1987 didn't happen, and she has a twelve-year-old son called Adam that she's never told him about. Ken agrees to keep the secret in exchange for being able to meet Adam, and forces Deirdre Rachid to go along with it despite her longstanding friendship with Mike. Finding the arrangement distasteful, Deirdre confides in Dev Alahan, who in turn informs Mike, thinking he has a right to know. Mike immediately goes up to Glasgow and confronts Susan, declaring his intention to fight for his rights as Adam's father. He's able to wear Susan down until she agrees to let him meet Adam. Deirdre rows with Dev for breaching her confidence and resigns from the corner shop.
• Kevin sends Sam Kingston to buy a tin of Greasol for the Coronation Street Garage, but Sam buys a cheap tin from his uncle Pat Hegherty instead, which brings him and Maria out in a rash. He eventually owns up to it, but only after Tyrone has accused the pair of having an affair and shouted at Danny for selling a dodgy tub. Arguing with Sam about the Greasol, Tyrone accidentally ruins No.9's new kitchen by putting a hot bowl on the work surface. He apologises to Danny in order to get him to repair the damage, and the kitchen is restored just as Jack and Vera arrive home from their cruise.
• Sarah Platt dumps Glen Middleham when he spreads false rumours that they slept together, leading to teasing from her classmates at Weatherfield Comprehensive. Her English teacher Charlie Ramsden warns Gail and Martin that her grades are slipping.
• Alex Swinton, abusive stepfather of Wayne Hayes, apologises to Roy and Hayley Cropper for his his heavy-handedness on Christmas Day and extracts £60 from them supposedly for new trainers for Wayne. When he returns asking for more money, Roy stands up to him and ejects him from Roy's Rolls. Wayne later runs away from the children's home and shows up at the Croppers' door, feeling safe with them, but Roy convinces him to return. Meanwhile, the Croppers face the fostering panel and are successful in their application to become foster parents, but are disappointed when another couple are picked to foster Wayne.
• Karen Phillips spurns Peter to go out with Vikram Desai. She and Steve McDonald also develop a flirtation.
• Steve rent out his parents' empty house to Eileen Grimshaw and her teenage sons Jason and Todd. Eileen invites her partner Dennis Stringer to move in too, but he isn't keen as the boys haven't made him feel welcome. He eventually agrees and makes curry to break the ice with the lads. Meanwhile, Eileen gets into a spat with Charlie when she refuses to help Todd with his essay outside school hours. For Todd's sake, she calls a truce and invites the Ramsdens to her house-warming party, where Charlie shows Matt up by getting very drunk.
• Determined to get pregnant, Maxine Peacock sends Ashley for tests to make sure he isn't deficient in anything and demands he take time off work to have sex when she demands it.
• Curly and Emma Watts return from their honeymoon.
• Les Battersby passes his taxi-driving test in order to work for Street Cars. Steve and Vik make out that they're fully staffed, but when Eileen mentions to Janice that they're desperate for drivers, Steve sheepishly gives him a trial. On his first day, Les takes an attractive fare all the way to Prestwick, resulting in him spending the night in his car and being in the doghouse with Janice upon his return home.

February

• Anthony rents No.12 from Alec Gilroy to get out from under Amanda's feet. He attempts to smooth relations with his daughter with a reconciliation dinner, but Amanda brings along her brother Gregory and uncle George Docherty who round on Anthony, accusing him of abandoning his wife for Rita. Fed up with being accused of cheating, Anthony decides to divorce Isabel. Rita doesn't approve and worries when Emily Bishop suggests that Anthony intends to propose.
• Sophie is hurt when a bookcase Danny made at No.13 falls on her. When Matt lets slip about the incident to Kevin, Kevin accuses Danny of being unfit to look after children and punches him in the face. Danny responds by stopping Kevin from seeing the girls, and Sally reluctantly backs him up when she returns from Gina's, telling Kevin he's banned from setting foot in their house.
• Sam decides to return to stripping as The Masked Python to earn more money. He buys an old car at an auction but Kevin forbids him from using the garage to do it up. David Platt, who looks up to Sam, persuades Gail to let Sam use No.8's garage. Gail is interested in their friendship and invites Sam over for tea, which Audrey Roberts gatecrashes, curious as to why Gail is entertaining the young man.
• Todd and Jason tell Dennis that they have takeaways every week to trick him into providing them. Dennis and Eileen turn the tables on the pair by getting a meal they say is baby octopus cooked in its own ink.

Old rivalries resurface as Ken lays his daughter Susan to rest

• Kept in the dark by Mike, Linda learns of Adam's existence through Geena. Mike only tells his wife the truth after she catches him with Susan. She forgives his secrecy and throws her weight behind him in his mission to gain access to Adam. Mike, impatient to meet his son, threatens to take legal advice if Susan doesn't become more agreeable. His ultimatum leads Susan to leave Glasgow with Adam to go into hiding in Ireland. However, while driving through Preston they're involved in a car crash in which Susan is killed, but Adam suffers only cuts and bruises. Accusing Mike of hounding his daughter to death, Ken applies for custody of Adam to ensure that she didn't die in vain. To strengthen his case, he plans a move to Glasgow and proposes to Deirdre, but she refuses to marry for reasons other than love. Mike, believing that Adam belongs with him, shows up at the funeral uninvited and tells the grieving boy that he's his father. Ken is forced to tell Adam who Mike is, but he lets the boy believe that Mike had chosen to ignore him until now. When Deirdre tells Adam otherwise, Adam thaws and starts spending time with Mike. Ken starts Adam at Weatherfield Comprehensive.
• Peter is hit hard by Susan's death and turns to drink.
• Roy and Hayley agree to take in their first foster child, teenager Jackie Mosley, for a few weeks. Having over-prepared for her arrival, they're disappointed when Jackie just wants to go about her life as normal. They bond when the family go ten-pin bowling and Roy amuses Jackie with his book of rules. Jackie leaves the couple chocolates as a thank-you when she's returned to her mother.
• Geena gets Dev to apologise to Deirdre. He persuades her to return to the shop.
• A leak in the cellar in the medical centre results results in a smell permeating the building, and the staff being unable to work. Duggie and Steve blame each other for the structural faults, with Matt eventually reporting Duggie for his shoddy work, causing him to be struck off the council list of approved builders. As Duggie's business partner, Dev loses £10,000 from a cancelled council contract, and angrily bars Steve from the shop.
• Ashley and Maxine have the Ramsdens over for dinner at No.4 in order to get to know them better, but Charlie struggles to make conversation with Maxine and fakes a headache in order to leave early. When they repeat the experience and invite Curly and Emma, Charlie and Emma get on and Maxine is the one feeling left out. She makes an excuse to get out of going to a Weatherfield County football match with the other five.
• Geena holds a "kiss for a pound" charity evening at the Rovers. Dev is jealous as he watches his girlfriend being kissed by all the regulars.
• David sends Gail and Martin Valentine cards from each other in an effort to get them back together. They aren't taken in.
• Sarah and Candice Stowe chat up Todd and Jason, but Sarah's upset when Todd, who she fancies, takes a shine to Candice instead. Candice initially likes Jason but readily agrees to be Todd's girlfriend when he asks, even though she's already going out with Darren Michaels. Worried that Candice is too mature for Todd, Eileen gets Dennis to have a manly chat with him, but Todd refuses to listen as he isn't his father.
• Vik sets Steve up with Bobbi Lewis in order to put him off Karen. They have dinner but Steve blows it by trying to get Bobbi into bed. When Vik's car breaks down causing him to miss his birthday celebration with Karen, Steve entertains her at the flat. Karen tries to kiss Steve but Steve turns her down, refusing to do the dirty on his best mate. Afterwards, Karen tells Vik that Steve was the one who tried it on, and believing her over his friend, Vik tells Steve he wants out of their business partnership. Eileen proves Steve's innocence by leaving the Street Cars radio on while Steve and Karen are arguing in the cab office, allowing Vik to overhear the truth. After being dumped by Vik, Karen apologises to Steve for lying and they end up sharing a kiss.
• Natalie Barnes calls the Rovers to announce the birth of her daughter, Laura. Kevin goes to visit Natalie and the baby, and returns having agreed to be Laura's godfather. Sally is worried that her ex-husband is falling for Natalie again and will get hurt.
• Linda gives her brother Ryan Sykes a job at Underworld to stop him from going to London for work.

March

• Candice is caught out when David mischievously directs Darren to No.11, where his girlfriend is enjoying a date with Todd. Darren dumps Candice for two-timing him, as does Todd, though Todd takes her back when she tells him that he's the one she wants to be with.
• The inquest into the death of Dean Sykes during the Freshco siege returns a verdict of a lawful killing. Back on the street, Ryan recognises Emma as his brother's shooter and begins stalking her, firstly by emptying the rubbish over No.7's back yard, and then by throwing a brick through the front window, frightening her out of her wits. With Curly working away for two weeks, Charlie stays with her for protection. However, she's alone when she returns home to find Ryan lying in wait with a tyre iron. He pins her to the floor and holds the iron to her throat, but she manages to talk him down. Linda agrees to make sure Ryan doesn't come near Emma again in exchange for her not reporting the break-in, and Emma doesn't tell Curly about it when he returns. When he finds out from Matt, he thumps Ryan before agreeing to drop the matter for Emma's sake.
• Ken does his best to meet Adam's needs, but when Mike takes his son to a Manchester United match, he realises he can never compete with Mike's money and starts planning to move to Scotland with the boy. He changes his mind when Deirdre leaves him, angered by his threat to go with or without her. Though they're able to patch things up, Deirdre walks out again when she realises that Ken is only concerned with improving his chances of getting custody. At the hearing, Adam tells the court welfare officer, Tom Bowden, that he'd rather live with Mike, and Mike is granted an interim residence order.
• Dev puts Deirdre up in his flat following her split from Ken. After the hearing, she gives Ken another chance, but when he states his intention to appeal against the judge's decision, she tells Blanche Hunt it's over for good. Geena doesn't like Deirdre being in the flat, but Dev is too polite to ask her to leave. After a cancelled date with Geena, Deirdre cooks Dev his favourite meal. She tries to kiss him, and is humiliated when he reacts with horror. Meanwhile, Alma Halliwell calls on a depressed Ken and cheers him up. When Ken considers a future with Alma, she gets him and Deirdre talking again to dissuade him of the notion, and the pair reconcile.
• Adam moves in with the Baldwins. Mike is disappointed when Adam asks to go back to his old school in Glasgow as a boarder. In the meantime, he transfers his son to Oakhill, the local private school.
• Steve and Karen continue their affair, going public after Vik catches them in a passionate clinch. Vik makes out he isn't bothered, but feeling sorry for him Geena and Eileen set him up with Bobbi.

Norris gets drunk with Anthony and misses his own birthday party

• Emily plans a surprise sixtieth birthday party for Norris at No.7 after her lodger drops hints about it. With the buffet set up and everyone waiting, Anthony is sent out to bring Norris over, but they get drunk in a pub and miss the party.
• Duggie tells Fred and Mike that he wants out of their business partnership, as he is the only one of the three taking an interest in the Rovers. They offer him a paltry £12,000 for his share, leading Duggie to have the pub valued. When he reports that it's a realistic figure, Fred and Mike decide to cut their losses and sell up as well. They've just signed over their shares to Duggie's buyer, Hamilton Griffiths Holdings, when they discover that Duggie is the main investor of the company, and is therefore now the full owner of the Rovers.
• Fred arranges a Weatherfield Sausage Trail between rival butcher shops in the area. As he has his own shop, Ashley enters separately from Fred, guarding his secret recipe from his dad. To spite Duggie, Fred chooses to hold it at the cafe instead of the Rovers.
• David helps Sam get his car ready for its MOT, and when it passes Sam takes David, Sarah and Candice out for a spin as a thank-you to the Platts. When David steals Sarah's diary, he reads a passage about Sam telling Sarah that he befriended the family in order to see her. Sam tells him she's made it up but Martin believes it and goads Sam into a fight at the cafe. Sarah, humiliated by her diary being read, confides in Gail that it didn't happen. Martin gets the cold shoulder from his family for his heavy-handedness, while a disgusted Sam stops coming round.
• Matt takes Edna Miller on to clean the medical centre after their cleaner doesn't show up for work.
• Jason is head-hunted by the UK Athletics Federation after winning a race in Lancaster, inviting him to join their youth squad at their training camp in Lanzarote. He wants to go, but can't afford the £500 fee, and Eileen refuses to let Dennis lend him the money. After Jason raises a paltry £16 washing cars, Dennis gives him £300 towards the trip on the condition that he doesn't tell Eileen.
• Vik and Bobbi go up to the shop flat to canoodle and discover that a mystery woman is living there. Geena assumes Dev is cheating on her, but Dev explains that he's letting one of his employees, Sunita Parekh, hide out there in order to avoid being put on a plane for India for an arranged marriage. Geena is supportive and brings her friends round to the flat for a girly night in, while Dev puts Sunita's parents Suresh and Mena off when they ask after her at the shop, though her brother, Jayesh, isn't so easily convinced.
• Norris is honoured to be appointed enumerator for the National Census.
• Maria and Tyrone start saving for the wedding. Ryan dupes Tyrone and Jason into buying a load of knock-off CD players to sell through the garage.
• Phil Simmonds asks Toyah to be the main witness in his libel case against Duggie, but she refuses to go against her employer.
• Duggie takes Peter on as a barman at the Rovers. Peter helps himself to the whisky on the sly.

April

• Ashley annoys Maxine by prioritising the sausage competition over trying for a baby. His diligence pays off as he comes top in the People's Choice and Critics' Choice categories, but Fred accuses him of entering a vegetarian sausage and forces a re-judge. When it's analysed and found to be pure meat, Fred concedes and Ashley accepts his apology.
• Jayesh forces his way into the shop flat and finds Sunita. After refusing her parents' entreaties to marry Deepak, she's told that she is no longer a member of the family. Dev starts Sunita at the shop and gives her a rent book for the flat.
• Gail finds out from Sarah that Martin saw Rebecca Hopkins at Christmas. He tells her he turned Rebecca down as he couldn't bear to be separated from his children. The couple receive their decree absolutes later in the month.
• Sally and Danny start planning their move, putting their names down for a house in The Willows development. Kevin, upset at the thought of Danny bringing up Rosie and Sophie, turns to drink and makes a pass at Sally, which she rejects. When he goes missing, the police find an abandoned pick-up truck and Sally fears the worst, but he returns safe and sound having spent some time recuperating at Debbie's. On Sally's hen night, Kevin again tries to persuade her to leave Danny, and when she turns him down he shouts about their one-night-stand before his wedding to Alison to all and sundry. Sally is forced to tell Danny about it before someone else does, and while Danny initially decides to marry Sally anyway, he changes his mind as they're about to set off to the registry office. Danny brawls with Kevin in front of the girls before leaving in the wedding car, returning only to tell Sally to buy him out of D & S Hardware. Rita gives Sally £12,000 to pay Danny off and the couple sadly part company.
• Tyrone receives the CD players from Ryan and realises they're duds. When Ryan refuses to refund Tyrone and Jason, Dennis pins him against a wall and scares him into stealing £200 from the factory to give them their money back. Eileen gets the full story out of Dennis when she sees the empty CD boxes at No.11, and swipes the money Jason invested as a penance. Meanwhile, Linda hires Ryan to clean the factory at weekends, letting him finish his shift before revealing that his wages will go towards paying back what he stole.

Toyah is traumatised after her rape

• Toyah catches Peter diluting the whisky at the Rovers but he silences her by threatening her with violence. When weights and measures test the spirits at the pub following a tip-off and find the whisky to be watered down, Duggie sacks Toyah, believing her to have planned the whole thing to get back at him. Meanwhile, Duggie starts holding card schools after hours at the Rovers. Peter and Duggie lose badly in a game which ends just before Toyah returns home from an evening of clubbing with Sam. In the early hours, Jason finds Toyah battered and bloodied in the ginnel, having been raped. A traumatised Toyah is unable to name her attacker, remembering only that he called her name. The police have the men in the street DNA tested, with Peter getting arrested for refusing to provide a sample. His stance leads the neighbours to presume that he raped Toyah, with Duggie having to pull Les off him when he shoves him against a wall. Sick of all the accusing looks, Peter resigns from the Rovers, returning when the DNA evidence clears him. Toyah is scared witless when he bangs on her door with the letter. Charlie helps Toyah through her ordeal by relating her experience of being raped as a student. When Phil calls at No.5, Toyah recognises his voice from the attack and realises he's the rapist. Peter hears her cries from the street, breaks in and subdues Phil. Meanwhile, Mike tells Duggie that he tipped off weights and measures as revenge for him conning him out of the Rovers.
• Curly agrees to manage Audrey's re-election campaign. Audrey helps Jason get to Lanzarote by arranging funding from the council, but when she hands over the cheque, Jason discovers it's only for £35 and goes beserk in front of a photographer. Curly comes to regret helping Audrey as she's preoccupied with a forthcoming business trip to Spain regarding possible twinning with Weatherfield. He's further annoyed when she stays in Spain for a holiday after concluding her business there, leaving him to canvass without her.
• Fred gets chatting to barmaid Evelyn Sykes at the Turk's Head and they start going out. When they have dinner at the Baldwins' flat, Fred finds out that Eve is Linda's mother. He nearly finishes with her due to her relation to Dean Sykes, but decides not to punish her for her son's actions.
• Norris goes to the doctor for pains in his legs and finds out he has varicose veins.
• Vik is put out when Bobbi befriends Sunita and brings her clubbing with them.
• Alma visits her retired friend Frank O'Connor at his new cottage in Shropshire. Whey they share a kiss, Frank invites Alma to live with him, and she agrees to leave Weatherfield.
• Norris delivers the Census forms to the street residents, but nearly forgets to fill out his own in time.
• Mike and Adam return from a holiday in Florida; they've grown closer and Adam now calls Mike "dad", but Mike upsets his son by refusing to let him return to his old school. He gives in when Adam runs away to No.1. Mike and Ken drop Adam off in Glasgow, and seeing that Mike does care for Adam, Ken drops his challenge to the custody order.
• Dennis persuades Sally to take Jason on at the hardware shop.
• Roy and Hayley have their second foster child, Fiona "Fiz" Brown. Fiz makes a big effort by cooking for the Croppers and taking Hayley shopping for trendy clothes but proves untrustworthy, lying about being sick in order to bunk off school. When she accidentally sets the cafe cooker on fire, Roy yells at her, leading Fiz to get back at him by telling social services that he was violent towards her. Fortunately, due to Fiz's history of making false accusations the allegation isn't taken further.
• Matt, Gail and Molly Hardcastle organise rescreening of smear tests in the area after two misdiagnosed cases. Alma is one of the women to receive letters, and goes for a repeat appointment. The results show a growth at the neck of Alma's womb, and she is referred to a radiologist.

May

• Phil is arrested, but denies raping Toyah. He's charged when DNA evidence proves they had sex, however Toyah remains worried that he'll say she consented. Struggling to move on, she takes a year out of college and gets her old job back at the cafe.
• Alma tells Audrey that she might have cancer. With her best friend by her side, Alma has meetings with the radiologist and gynaecologist, who breaks the news that she has cervical cancer. She's told that it's incurable as it has spread so far; if it hadn't been for the cock-up with the smear tests, she could have been treated sooner. As she plans out her final days, Alma cancels her move to Much Wenlock and says goodbye to Frank. She keeps her illness a secret from everyone apart from Audrey; at a surprise goodbye party thrown by Curly, she announces that she's no longer moving, but doesn't say why. Meanwhile, Alma alters her will leaving most of her estate to Audrey on the condition that she renames the salon "Alma's". After her first round of radiotherapy, Alma feels sick and decides not to have any more. Audrey does as much as she can for her, but when Gail sees her mum meeting with Matt about cancer, she thinks Audrey is the one fighting it until Alma puts her right.
• Audrey begins prioritising Alma at the expense of her election campaign. When Curly takes over from Audrey at a campaign meeting and performs much better, Emma persuades him to stand against her. Emily lends a hand, coming up with the slogan "Clean up Weatherfield" for his campaign in reference to his time as a binman. He gets a favourable write-up in the Gazette when, after paying David to deliver election leaflets and finding them dumped in the street, he confronts David with the bag and a photographer assumes they're picking up litter. During a public election debate, Audrey suddenly announces that she no longer wants to be councillor. As her name will still appear on the ballot paper, she backs Curly's campaign to ensure she doesn't win. Curly is victorious with 1,915 votes; in his first acts as councillor, he announces a full public inquiry into the smear test blunder and opens a mini-surgery where constituents can tell him what they want from him.
• David is devastated by the news that Gail and Martin are officially divorced. When he and his mate Simon Green set the washing at No.8 on fire while playing in the garden, Gail and Martin feel responsible. Martin takes David on a half-term holiday in order to spend more time with him.
• As Toyah isn't returning, Duggie trials Edna behind the bar before drafting in Shelley Unwin, a barmaid he knew at the rugby club. Peter takes a shine to her, but when she sees him helping himself to the whisky, she betrays him to Duggie, who marks the optics in order to catch him out and fire him. Geena also struggles with the new recruit, as she spends so much time chatting to customers. Keen to make her mark, Shelley organises a charity drag night at the Rovers, with a pop stars theme. Duggie, Kevin, Sam, Tyrone, Dennis, Vik, Steve, and Norris participate, with the latter winning as Eartha Kitt.
• The Duckworths let Maria stay the night at No.9 now that she and Tyrone are engaged. The betrothed couple make the most of it by over-indulging on sex in Tyrone's bedroom, appearing only at mealtimes. When Vera comments that she likes having Maria around, Tyrone takes it as an invitation for her to move in. Jack and Vera are bewildered when she arrives with her bags, but are too polite to say anything.
• Maxine suspects Evelyn is a gold-digger and rows with her for abandoning her children when the Peacocks have her and Fred over for dinner.
• Jason helps Sally through her break-up by painting out Danny's name on the shop sign, rechristening it "Sally's Hardware". When Kirk Sutherland sees him hugging Sally supportively, he teases him that he has a thing for her.
• Maxine pushes Ashley to buy a new car, as she's sick of travelling in his meat van. Missing the point, he shows up with a two-seater sports car, before swapping it for a family-sized space cruiser. Maxine starts driving lessons in the new car. Meanwhile, the couple go for fertility tests, but Ashley fails to produce a sperm sample as he's too nervous; he has to do it home and rush the sample to the hospital. The tests show that Ashley has a low sperm count.
• Bobbi gives Vik the runaround, letting him take her on expensive dates but refusing to sleep with him. Vik finds out from Karen that Bobbi is getting advice about how to control men from a book, "Venus Mantrap", and dumps her. Bobbi apologises and they make-up with sex.
• Kevin repairs Molly's car. Unable to settle the bill, she arranges to pay in instalments.
• Geena's upset when she finds out that Dev has never mentioned her to his parents. When he stalls her about meeting them, she concludes that he isn't serious about their relationship and finishes with him. Sunita convinces her to give Dev another chance, but when Geena goes to talk things through, she finds Dev making a date with another woman. Dev manages to win Geena round, explaining that he has trouble expressing his feelings. He surprises her with a three-week holiday in Barbados.

Steve and Karen get married for a bet

• Karen wins a bet with Janice and Bobbi that she can get Steve to take her to dinner. The bet turns into a game of double or quits, with Janice and Bobbi upping the stakes first to Karen getting a holiday out of Steve, and then a proposal; having agreed to split the winnings with Karen, Steve sells it by getting down on one knee in the Rovers. Next, with two days' wages riding on it, Karen and Steve agree to marry for real. Steve buys a marriage licence and books a registry office service, but despite the bride and groom going ahead with their hen and stag nights, neither of them expects the other to show up on the day. To everyone's surprise, Steve and Karen marry as planned, admitting that they love each other but were too scared to say it.
• Peter considers leaving Weatherfield after losing his job at the Rovers.
• Emma discovers she's pregnant but doesn't tell Curly.

June

• Steve annoys Karen by opting to remain at the Street Cars flat rather than turf the Grimshaws out of No.11, though Vik refuses to move out. Karen christens her marriage with a dinner party at the flat and hassles Steve about a honeymoon until he books tickets to Miami.
• Emma tells Curly about the baby. They agree to keep it quiet, but Curly can't contain his joy and tells everyone the news in the Rovers. Emma starts to feel more positive about the pregnancy when Maxine's desperation to have a child rubs off on her, but remains worried about it affecting her career. Curly offers to leave Freshco and be a stay-at-home dad.
• Ashley has more tests to find out why he has a low sperm count. The prospect of having an operation scares him, but he goes along with it as he's convinced Maxine will leave him if he doesn't. The Peacocks row when Ashley misses a romantic meal to go drinking with Boris Weaver, and returns to find that Maxine has discussed their fertility problems with Emma. They make up and go to Ireland on holiday.
• Jason takes a compliment from Sally the wrong way and tries to kiss her. When she laughs at him, he's humiliated and quits his job. Later, Dennis finds Jason taking money from Eileen's purse and accidentally catches him on the nose during a struggle. Jason accuses him of doing it on purpose, and when Eileen believes Dennis, the lad storms out and doesn't come home for days. Hiding away at Kirk's, he's furious when Todd fails to pass on a letter from UK Athletics inviting him to train in Budapest until after the offer has expired. Fed up, he returns home and accepts his job back from Sally. Eileen throws an eighteenth birthday party for Jason to make it up to him, though she's livid when he rides his new motorbike from Dennis in the house and Sarah is sick on the carpet. Jason's thrilled when UK Athletics offers him the training again, and he accepts it.
• Shelley confesses to Peter that she shopped him to Duggie. Ken fails to entice Peter to become a teacher.
• The Platts have a party for Bethany's first birthday. Sarah warily accepts a cheque from Neil Fearns's family, while Audrey takes her, Bethany and Gail to London for the weekend.

Alma passes away

• Alma holds a dinner party without Audrey there so that she can have one evening where she feels normal. She follows this up by going away on her own to the Lake District, but Audrey is highly disapproving and and rows with Alma, causing Alma to declare that when she gets back, she's moving out of Grasmere Drive. Worried about her, Audrey tells Mike about her cancer, and he rushes to see her, ignoring a threat from Linda to divorce him if he does. While there, he realises where his heart truly lies and tells Alma that he's going to leave Linda and spent what time she has left together. Alma appreciates his friendship but makes him promise not to give up on his marriage. Back in Weatherfield, Linda rows with Alma for coming between her and Mike. Alma collapses during the argument and is rushed to hospital. Learning that her kidneys have failed and she doesn't have long left, Alma is taken home to die there. She spends her final hours in bed, with her friends round her. Audrey, still in London, returns just as she passes away; afterwards, she's wracked with guilt for not being there at the end. Alma is cremated and, at the wake, a video is played where she says goodbye to each of her friends in turn. One of the mourners there is her cousin, Richard Hillman. Mike and Audrey scatter her ashes at the Lakes.
• Linda pulls off a major deal for Underworld with Harvey Reuben. When Mike goes to see Alma, Linda spites him by closing the factory and sleeping with Harvey. The Baldwins have a blazing row on Mike's return, with Mike slapping Linda when she insinuates that Alma isn't really ill. She tries to make up for it by helping to care for Alma in her final hours, but after his ex-wife's death Mike moves into the spare room. When Harvey cancels the contract, Mike makes three machinists redundant, including Karen and Bobbi, on a last-in, first-out basis. Bobbi gets a reprieve when Les rows with Mike in the Rovers and Mike tells him that Janice will go instead.
• Kevin goes debt-collecting at Molly's flat. He finds her about to kill herself, as she owes thousands of pounds and sees no other way out. Kevin stays there all night to make sure she doesn't go through with it and later writes off her debt to the garage. The pair become friends and have a cinema date at the end of the month.
• Hayley bumps into Sheila and Wayne at the Kabin and has a friendly catch-up over lunch. Wayne attaches himself to the Croppers again, turning up at the cafe and staying the night. Roy and Hayley learn that Alex is still beating him and inform social services, but when Wayne is interviewed along with Sheila and Alex, all three deny that any abuse is taking place. Also, when the Croppers implore Sheila to tell the truth for Wayne's sake, she reports them to social services leading to them being taken off the fostering list. They then try to record a confession from Alex, but he spots the recorder and smashes it. Alex offers to let Roy buy Wayne for £5,000 and he agrees, seeing it as the only way to keep the boy safe. When he confesses to Hayley, she's disapproving but Sheila's endorsement of the deal convinces her that they're all Wayne has got. Wayne moves in, and the couple lie to their neighbours that they're fostering him. To maintain secrecy, after a near-miss in the cafe they tell their social services liaison Peter Hartnell that they're withdrawing from the fostering programme.
• Rita visits Mavis Wilton in Cartmel, leaving Anthony to cover for her at the Kabin. Anthony quickly tires of Norris's pernickety attitude and nearly walks out, but by the time Rita gets back they're getting on like old friends.
• Les hosts the Rovers' bingo "Bonanza" night, at which Janice wins £150. Karen falls out with her when she refuses to split her winnings.
• Candice and Todd get Sarah hooked on internet chatrooms. She first meets 'Weazle', a 17-year-old South African, before befriending 'TJ', chatting about their music tastes.
• Anthony receives a call from Amanda informing him that Isabel has passed away. He feels guilty at the funeral as her family all but accuse him of causing her death with the divorce. Free at last, Anthony accepts an invitation to his niece's wedding in New Zealand and decides to stay with his sister Joan there for three months. He asks Rita to come with him for the holiday of a lifetime.
• Toyah returns to work at the Rovers and starts seeing Sam again, taking things slowly.

July

• Janice belatedly offers Karen half of her bingo winnings and asks for forgiveness. Karen tells her to keep her money and buries the hatchet.
• Jack is going deaf. When he's almost knocked down at a zebra crossing, he makes an appointment at the medical centre to have his ears syringed. He can now hear perfectly, but pretends to Vera that the reverse is true in order to get pampered. Vera finds out she's been lied to when she hears him telling other people that there's nothing wrong with his hearing.
• Rita turns down Anthony's New Zealand invitation. He tries to talk her round by proposing marriage, but she rejects him again and he leaves without her. Rita is sad to realise that she might never love again.
• Steve hides Karen's new passport to make her think she won't be able to go on honeymoon. When Eileen lets her in on the joke, Karen pretends to cancel the holiday to get back at Steve. They both come clean and leave for America.

Sarah is lured to the home of Gary Adams

• Sarah brings Candice along with her to meet her internet boyfriend TJ. Discovering that 'TJ' is really Todd, Candice finishes with him, but he manages to sweet-talk his way back in with her. Sarah continues with the chatrooms, meeting another boy called Gary Adams. She goes to his house to meet him, and is let in by his supposed dad. The man, who is in his thirties, admits that he is actually Gary and Sarah naively stays to chat with him, even hiding in a cupboard when Gail and Martin show up looking for her. Eventually she tries to leave and Gary, desperate to keep her there, locks her in his bedroom. Candice and Todd come to get her and realise something's wrong when Gary tells them she just left only for Todd to catch sight of her through a window. Todd goes in to save Sarah, but is subdued by Gary. Gail then returns with Dennis, who breaks in and beats Gary senseless. Afterwards, Sarah assures her parents and the police that nothing happened. She has a falling out with her mum when Gail reads her e-mails to check who she's talking to, but eventually realises that she's doing it out of love and forgives her for the invasion of privacy. Meanwhile, the neighbours hail Todd and Dennis as heroes, and are collectively furious when Dennis is arrested for assault. He's let off with a caution, and Gary is charged with false imprisonment. Ken subsequently writes an article in the Gazette about the online dangers children face, which Audrey slams for being a thinly-veiled attack on Gail for bad parenting.
• The smear test inquiry ends in the suspension of key personnel. Richard keeps in touch with Audrey, and goes for a meal with her to discuss investment options. Audrey thinks Richard has a crush on her but it becomes apparent that it's Gail he fancies. The pair begin seeing each other, moving their relationship to the bedroom by month's end.
• Returning from Barbados. Geena suggests that she moves into Dev's flat. She raises her expectations when Sunita tells her that Dev has bought a ring; when he produces a jewellery box containing a key to his flat, she half-heartedly accepts it.
• Adam returns from Glasgow as the school year ends. Mike and Linda put on an act of togetherness in front of him, but he isn't fooled. Mike makes a comment to Dev suggesting he wants Linda back, which Dev then tells Linda as fact.
• Toyah continues to see Sam, but won't let him touch her as she's frightened of being intimate with a man. Sam assures her he'll wait until she's ready. Meanwhile, Toyah has a HIV test and gets the all-clear, and Phil's trial date is set. Jim Simmonds delivers a letter from his brother asking Toyah to visit him so that he can apologise for raping her.
• Janice gets a job at Roy's Rolls.
• Matt raises the idea of starting a family with Charlie. The suggestion drags up an old argument about an affair Matt had with Charlie's best mate, which almost ended their marriage. When Charlie tells Matt that she doesn't ever want children, he packs his things and goes to stay at a hotel. Ashley puts him up at No.4 when the Peacocks get back from Ireland, causing friction between Maxine and Charlie.
• Jack inherits a house from his old pigeon racing mate, Jimmy Kelly. The Duckworths are deflated when it turns out to be a shed on Jimmy's allotment, but Jack opts to keep the allotment on so that he can get peace from Vera whenever he wants.
• The garage gets a contract with Weatherfield Windows after Molly recommends them, but their rep Alan Rush gets a £500-a-month backhander out of Kevin in exchange.
• Kevin and Martin decide to take their kids camping in Derbyshire, though Kevin ends up dropping out as the garage is so busy. Sally takes his place, putting Janice in charge at the hardware shop. Sarah at first turns down the holiday, but changes her mind after her chatroom ordeal, with Candice and Todd agreeing to come too. Candice is prevented from going at the last minute by her mother Marion, who considers Sarah a bad influence on her. David invites Wayne, and by extension Roy and Hayley, who all join the group. At the campsite, David sees a man lurking in the woods; it turns out to be the campsite warden, Brian Haverstock, who tells the kids off when they break into an old hut and David locks Wayne inside. David later makes friends with Wayne, keeping his secret that he wets the bed. During a treasure hunt, David falls in the water and Wayne and Roy jump in to save him. Todd enjoys spending time with Sarah and tries to kiss her, but Sarah stops him because of Candice. Sally and Martin similarly find a new fondness for each other, but Sally insists that nothing can happen as it would upset Kevin and Gail too much.
• Alex takes Wayne back from the Croppers for a social services visit. When he's returned, Wayne reveals to Roy and Hayley that it was actually for him to see his grandmother in hospital. Alex tries to get more money out of the couple, but they ignore his demand for £100 extra a week to keep Wayne. Tipped off by Les that Hayley is trans, Alex threatens to tell Wayne unless Roy pays up, though Jason scares him off. The Croppers eventually reveal the truth to Wayne themselves during the camping trip, and he takes it well. Alex turns up at the campsite after tricking Vera into telling him where the Croppers are, and threatens to tell the police when Roy and Hayley refuse to surrender Wayne to him. The couple flee the campsite with Wayne, stealing Martin's car.

August

Hayley and Roy are apprehended by the police after going on the run with Wayne Hayes

• Alex reports Roy and Hayley to the police for abducting a child. When the case makes national news, the Croppers go into hiding to protect Wayne, seeking refuge with Hayley's old friend Ruth Audsley at her farm cottage in Warwickshire. Hearing their side of the story, Ruth agrees to shelter them temporarily. The situation becomes more awkward when Ruth confesses to Hayley that she had strong feelings for Harold. The Croppers decide to take Wayne abroad, so Roy risks going home for their passports. They're about to leave to catch a ferry to Ireland when Hayley persuades Roy that they should turn themselves in instead. Before they can do so, Ruth calls the police and they're taken into custody. Roy and Hayley explain their motives to the police, hoping that Wayne will back them up. However, Alex ensures the boy's silence by telling him that Sheila will be locked up for lying to the police if he reports his abuse. The Croppers are charged and granted bail, but Hayley is remanded in custody when she refuses to accept the condition not to have any contact with Wayne. She's given a rough time by the other inmates at Barnhurst Prison, who know about her past from the papers. Roy, desperate to clear their names, visits Sheila and begs her to tell the police the truth, but she's too scared of Alex to act. After Alex lashes out at her again, Sheila summons up the strength to report him, with Wayne also telling them that he went willingly with the Croppers. As a result, the charges against the couple are dropped and Hayley is released.
• Back in the street, Sally and Martin can't seem to avoid each other, despite their best efforts. They give in to temptation and sleep together at Martin's flat, with Sally hiding in the bedroom when Gail visits the next morning. As they begin a relationship, they realise they must tell Gail, especially when Todd sees them kiss. However, when Gail surprises Sally by telling her she thinks Martin fancies her, they decide to keep quiet and let Gail play matchmaker.
• Matt reconciles with Charlie, choosing to save his marriage at the cost of ever being a father.
• Toyah visits Phil Simmonds to tell him that if he's really sorry for raping her, he'll change his plea to guilty. Phil agrees, but doesn't do so until weeks later, with Toyah torturing herself with the thought of going to trial in the meantime.
• Mike strikes a new deal with Harvey Reuben. With the factory running at full capacity again, he gives Janice and Edna their jobs back and takes Fiz on.
• David learns about Gail's new boyfriend when he catches her and Richard kissing. Taking the news badly, he storms off and spends the rest of the school holidays at Martin's flat. Sarah is more supportive, but is embarrassed by Richard calling round. Richard tries to get round them by buying a new TV.
• Using his allotment to relax, Jack keeps Vera sweet by passing off shop-bought vegetables as ones he's grown himself. The couple spend their 44th wedding anniversary in Jack's potting shed with fish and chip suppers. Jack brokers an agreement to let his neighbour Stan Wagstaff grow potatoes on the allotment and use them to brew Irish moonshine whiskey if he'll share it. The operation comes to an end when Vera sees the whiskey bottles explode in the potting shed.
• It's award season at Newton & Ridley; Betty is honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award, while Duggie, inadvertently rude to the judge after mistaking them for someone else, isn't even shortlisted for Pub Landlord of the Year.
• Kevin breaks the news to Dennis, Sam and Tyrone that they can't have their bonuses as they fell short of the £1,500 required. The trio are disbelieving, especially when they find out that Kevin is taking the girls away to Florida. They quit their jobs in protest, but come back when Kevin comes clean about the bribe he gave Alan Rush.
• Fiz makes a play for Tyrone at the garage but is seen off by Maria.
• Audrey inherits £40,000 from Alma, with small amounts going to Gail and the Croppers. Audrey asks Richard to sort her money out.
• Back from her honeymoon, Karen turns down an offer from Mike to reinstate her at the factory but doesn't tell Steve. Eileen talks Vik and Steve into holding an anniversary party for Street Cars, with Les excluded on the basis that it's just for people who've been there for a year or more. After the party, Eileen drags Vik and the McDonalds to the casino. A bitter Karen rows with Eileen when she loses £100 while the latter wins £200, causing Eileen to vow not to return to work until she gets an apology. Steve replaces Eileen with Karen, but her turn on the switch is an unmitigated disaster and when she resigns after two days on the job, Steve grovels to Eileen and persuades her to return.
• Maxine and Eve start to thaw towards each other when Maxine finds out she still isn't pregnant and Eve consoles her. Meanwhile, Fred goes into the Turk's Head and finds out that Eve hasn't worked there for weeks. Eve confesses that she lost her job, explaining that she didn't tell him earlier as he'll insist on paying for everything. To help her out, Fred persuades Duggie to take Eve on as a barmaid by arranging to pay her wages himself, a deal Duggie takes full advantage of by getting Eve to work more and more hours. Eve finds out about the arrangement when Linda overhears Fred and Duggie discussing it and tells her. Mortified, Eve storms out of the Rovers. Fred chases after her and proposes marriage.
• Sunita tries to make Dev see how lucky he is to be with Geena by going on about all the blokes who fawn over her. Her efforts backfire when Dev finishes with Geena.
• Curly starts suffering from Couvade syndrome - a symptathetic pregnancy. While on a driving lesson, Maxine nearly hits Blanche, but Emma dives in and pushes the pensioner out of the way. Afterwards, Emma suffers some pain and is taken to hospital. She finds out she's having early contractions and that if they don't stop she could lose the baby.
• The Platts are informed that Gary Adams isn't being prosecuted. Sarah become scared to go out in case she runs into him.
• Todd passes nine GCSEs, including two grade As and two A*s.
• Mike's divorce solicitor, Gabrielle Smith, advises him to carry on living with Linda while he moves his money into places where she can't get it. Mike starts being warmer to Linda, giving her hope that their marriage is back on track.

September

• Emma's contractions stop, and the doctor confirms that the baby is healthy. Curly is promoted to area manager of Freshco.
• Duggie takes Eve on at the Rovers properly.
• Peter Hartnell informs the Croppers that their suspension from the fostering programme has been lifted.
• Maria goes on a diet and exercise regime for the wedding and makes Tyrone do the same. Fiz - still after Tyrone - brings him illegal fatty foods at the garage, leading Maria to set her up with Kirk as a distraction. However, when Kirk reports to his sister that Tyrone let Fiz kiss him, she ends her engagement and dumps Tyrone. Tyrone is crestfallen, and blames Fiz for everything as Maria leaves for Spain to detox.
• Gail finds out about Martin and Sally when Rita lets the cat out of the bag, thinking she already knows. After the initial shock, she supports them so as not to lose her friendship with Sally. Sally and Martin tell Kevin, who is bitterly disappointed, having harboured hopes of getting back with Sally. In his anger, he smashes Martin's car window, and later tries to drunkenly grope Molly, causing her to have to fight him off. When he scraps with Martin, Sally threatens to have his access rights to the girls terminated. Blanche upsets Sally by making remarks about her promiscuity, causing her to ask Martin to cool things for a while.

One Sykes marriage begins as another one ends

• Eve accepts Fred's proposal and the ceremony is booked for the following week at a country house in the Dales. Audrey goes there intent on stopping the wedding in order to save Fred from "gold-digger" Eve, but when she arrives she reconsiders and gives Fred her blessing. Eve worries that her husband-to-be is being unfaithful when, having heard from Maxine that he proposed to Audrey last year, she sees Fred with his arm around Audrey. They argue, but Fred convinces her that he was just comforting Audrey as a friend, and the wedding goes ahead. The couple leave for a Venice and Meditteranean cruise honeymoon.
• At the wedding, Mike weakens and sleeps with Linda, but immediately regrets it and tells Linda he wants a divorce. Meanwhile, Mark Redman turns up hoping to make amends with Mike after receiving a letter from his dad telling him about Alma. When he arrives, Linda tries to tempt Mark to resume their affair, but he turns her down flat. A row ensues between Linda and Mike, which ends with Linda absconding in Mike's car. Linda isn't seen or heard from for days but she's presumed to have been at the flat when her passport and jewellery are taken. As Linda is missing, Mike can't get a divorce right away but he clears out his wife's clothes and gives them to Emily for charity; she passes them onto Geena for safekeeping.
• Phil is sentenced to ten years for rape. Toyah doesn't attend the trial, refusing to waste any more of her life on him. She restarts her college course and finally sleeps with Sam, but when Sam becomes too clingy and books a surprise holiday in Ibiza, Toyah feels suffocated and nearly dump him until he agrees to give her space.
• Shelley is asked out by both Peter and Duggie. She goes out with the former and they become an item. Meanwhile, Peter asks Ken for a loan of £43k to buy Skinner's Bookies before before manager Rob Lucas, but Ken refuses to remortgage No.1 to pay for it. When Lucas's £5,000 deposit is stolen from the betting shop, Karen covers for Peter, telling the police that they were in bed together at the time of the robbery. Word quickly spreads about their "affair", forcing Peter to explain to Shelley about the false alibi. Realising that he took the money, she dumps him for being a thief. Karen is upfront about the deal with Steve, and when he becomes a laughing stock for not throwing Karen out, he gets Peter to let him thump him in the Rovers in exchange for not going to the police. With Lucas about to finalise his deal with Sean Skinner, Peter and Steve gamble with the £5k and turn it into £50k, with Peter buying the bookies and paying the McDonalds £2k for their silence.
• Duggie's disturbed when Edna reports that she senses death. While the landlord is attending a rugby club dinner, Edna, Maxine, Janice and Sunita have a lock-in at the Rovers which ends with Edna going upstairs, feeling unwell. Duggie finds her dead in his bed the next day when he goes up for an afternoon rest. Edna's equally miserable sister Iris Merry attends the funeral.
• Karen pushes Steve to sort out a place of their own to live. She's unimpressed when instead of a swanky flat in town, he rents No.12, and spites her husband by inviting Norris and Rita upstairs for drinks, threatening to have them over every night until he gives her what she wants. However, she angers Rita by holding a noisy flat-warming party, with Rita retaliating by playing the radio loudly at 5.00am when she gets up to do the papers.
• Candice lies about her age to get an evening job in a factory.
• Ashley has an operation for varicocele. As he begins another round of tests, Maxine refuses his entreaties to find a sperm donor instead. When he's in hospital, Maxine and Matt have a drunken one-night-stand. Afterwards, they act as normally as possible but Maxine can't handly the secrecy and confesses to Audrey. Audrey covers for Maxine when Ashley confides in her how distant his wife has been lately, and encourages Maxine to forget it ever happened.
• Adopted as a child, Charlie visits her biological mother, Pam Hargreaves, for the first time. She's left distraught when Pam says she doesn't want her in her life. She starts drinking to excess, which her pupils begin to notice. When a pupil writes "Mrs Ramsden is an alky" on the blackboard, among other messages, she accuses Todd of behind behind it, causing him to be excluded for five days; although he knows that the perpetrator is Luke Ashton, Todd refused to name him as he'd be a grass. Charlie is also put on leave to deal with her drink problem. Todd is again accused when Charlie finds graffiti across her front door reading "Rammy's a Drunk."
• Janice is promoted to supervisor at Underworld.
• Dev accidentally crushes Deirdre's glasses at the shop. He makes it up to her by paying for a new pair of designer frames to replace them.
• Duggie refuses a date with Sunita in order to see Shelley. However, when he tries to kiss Shelley, she pulls back and says they're just mates. Making out he's dumped Shelley in order to see Sunita, Duggie is rejected again as Sunita knows that Shelley was the dumper. She relents when he sends her flowers.
• Dev moves all of Geena's things into his flat as his way of inviting her to move in. Geena has her parents Maurice and Gill Gregory over for dinner to meet Dev, but Gill is quietly disapproving of Dev due to his Asian heritage.

October

• Gill becomes more overt in her racism against Dev, and petitions him to end his relationship with Geena. Meanwhile, Geena meets Dev's parents, Ranjiv and Urmila Alahan, with the latter proving difficult to please. The opposition from their families makes Geena consider throwing in the towel, but Dev stops her and pulls out a ring; he asks her to marry him and she agrees. The couple gather the parents at the flat to tell them they're engaged, which leads to a dreadful slanging match and the families falling out.
• Dennis gets Eileen champagne and tickets to Paris for her 40th birthday. To afford it, he calls in Ryan's £200 debt, which Ryan raises by fiddling his expenses at the factory. While Eileen and Dennis have the perfect holiday in France, back in Weatherfield Mike finds out that Ryan ripped him off and sacks him.
• Peter decides to return Lucas's £5k so that Shelley will forgive him. When an attempt to break into Lucas's car to leave the money on the seat fails, Shelley helps out by leaving the cash envelope in Lucas's jacket pocket. However, she puts it in Ken's jacket by mistake, meaning that Peter has to tell him everything to get it back. Peter gives the cash to Lucas by passing it off as a "signing-on fee"; although Lucas isn't fooled for a second, he can't do anything about it. Peter takes over the betting shop, calling it "Barlow's Bookies", and gets back with Shelley.
• Sarah and Candice convince Luke to own up to the graffiti. Charlie meets with his mother at the school and is shocked to find it's her own mother. Pam isn't pleased that Charlie is involved in Luke's life and demands she resign from the school. Meanwhile, Sarah does detention with Luke and agrees to go out with him.
• Candice skives off school to do shifts at the factory. Sarah covers for her and hides her purchases at No.8 when she goes on a shopping spree so that her mum doesn't suspect.
• Duggie continues to see Sunita. She kisses him for the first time.

Police suspect Mike of murdering Linda

• Fred and Eve return from their honeymoon. Eve is concerned that nobody has heard from Linda since the wedding and reports her daughter missing. Hearing from Fred that Linda was rowing with Mike when she was last seen, she suspects him of being behind her disappearance, especially when his car is raised from the River Navan with one of Linda's shoes inside. Ryan tells the police about Linda's affairs in order to show the police that Mike had a motive for murder, and when they search his flat and find Linda's passport, Mike admits he lied about her collecting it, leading to his arrest, though he isn't charged. Jimmy Sykes, another of Linda's brothers, enters Underworld at night and tries to set the office on fire, but is foiled by Dennis. Shaken when he receives a wreath with "Mike Baldwin, RIP" written on a card, and later when someone writes "You're Dead" on his mirror in lipstick, Mike hires a PI to try and find Linda to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Adam is cool towards his dad in light of the allegations, and Fred angers Eve with his unwavering loyalty towards Mike. Fred takes his wife to Mike's flat to hear his side of the story, but it's not enough to convince her.
• Ken helps out a short-staffed Peter at the bookies. Peter worries about his inexperience as a business owner. Roy wins at 33-1 with a horse called "Hayley's Hero".
• Sarah arranges for Audrey to look after the kids so that Gail can go on holiday with Richard. Audrey is worn out running after David and Bethany but gets through it with Martin's help.
• Les and Janice celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary where Janice gives Les Guns N' Roses tickets and Les presents his wife with a deep fat fryer. Janice is hurt that Les only thinks of her as a housewife and pours her heart out to Dennis. She instinctively kisses him before running off, embarassed; afraid of her feelings for him, she later asks Dennis to stay away in future. However, when he rescues her from Jimmy Sykes at the factory, she admits that she's in love with him and the two end up in bed at No.5. They begin an affair, but are unsure if they want to leave Les and Eileen for each other. They're horrified when Les organises a mate's holiday with the two couples.
• Todd tries to convince Candice to sleep with him at No.11 while Eileen is away. Candice says yes but they mutually decide to wait a while as they're both virgins.
• Maria starts a new chapter in her life, starting at the salon in a trial basis and letting Maxine give her a makeover. She gets even with Fiz by washing her rival's hair with frozen water, and then arranging with Bobbi to move into the salon flat, taking a room that was earmarked for Fiz. Meanwhile, Tyrone sees Jason comforting Maria over the death of her dog Brodie and thinks they're together. He tries using Fiz to make her jealous, but when she fails to take the bait, with no better option he starts going out with her for real. Jason passes his motorbike test and goes out with Maria to celebrate.
• Kevin tries to do better when the girls complain about him being grumpy all the time. When Rosie is nearly run over by Jason on his motorbike outside the garage, Martin saves her. Molly helps Kevin realise that he was only looking after Rosie at work as he was too jealous to let Martin have her, and he apologises to Martin.
• Maxine finds out she's pregnant. Distraught at the fact that it's probably Matt's, she confides in Audrey before telling the probable father. The couple realise that they have no choice but to live a lie and pretend that Ashley is the father, and Maxine tells her jubilant husband that they're having a baby. Matt finds the arrangement unbearable and, with Maxine refusing his offer of a private abortion, he starts trying to persuade Charlie to move away from the street.
• Jack and Vera read in the newspaper that Terry is on remand for attempted murder at Brentworth Prison. Expecting Vera to try and visit their estranged son behind his back, Jack follows his wife and confronts her at a B&B in Bradford, though he doesn't stop her from seeing Terry. Terry tells Vera that he was fitted up by the policeman in charge of the case because he slept with his wife. Jack refuses to let Vera use their savings to pay for a defence lawyer.
• Anthony writes to Rita asking her to join him in New Zealand. She responds telling him that it's over.
• Shelley engages hypnotist The Great Orlando at the Rovers for Halloween. Blanche is hypnotised into thinking Norris is Yul Brynner, while Les makes a trance-induced confession to the whole pub that he snogged Janice's sister Janet on his wedding night, causing his humiliated wife to pour a pint over his head and kick him out of No.5.
• Molly's flat is burgled.

November

• Richard buys fireworks from a mate of Les's for the Platts' bonfire. When the fireworks turn out to be damp squibs, the Ramsdens share theirs for a joint display. David and Simon keep the last firework for themselves.
• Mike takes part in an identity parade when a witness says they saw someone suspicious by the River Navan, but isn't picked out. Someone pushes a lit firework through the factory letterbox, but Dennis manages to put the fire out before it takes hold. After David and Simon produce their unused firework to prove that they didn't set it, Jimmy reveals himself to Mike as the sender. Mike agrees to pay Jimmy £1,000 to pretend that he's in touch with Linda, but when Eve dismisses a bouquet of flowers supposedly from her daughter, he refuses to hand over the bribe money. Jimmy brings a heavy with a baseball bat along to the factory to put pressure on Mike, but Eve talks her son down and Mike agrees not to report him to the police in exchange for the Sykes' leaving him alone.
• Gail finds the clothes stashed at No.8, forcing Sarah to confess that they're Candice's. The truth comes out when Gail confronts Candice, despite an attempt by Candice to pin the blame on Sarah. Sarah falls out with Candice.

Janice leaves Les to be with Dennis

• Janice takes Les back, but is miserable knowing that he'll never be the husband she wants. When Les notices how quiet she's been since their reconciliation and tells her how much she means to him, his sensitivity wins her over and she ends the affair but changes her mind when he reverts to the same old Les. Dennis is also struggling with guilt for doing the dirty on Eileen, but similarly decides he can't live without Janice. Toyah finds out when she overhears the couple talking about moving in together, and is thoroughly appalled. The couple agree to get the holiday in Tenerife over with before telling their partners the truth, but as they're waiting for the taxi Janice decides she can't pretend any more and tells Les she doesn't love him anymore and is leaving him for Dennis. Les begs his wife to change her mind, to no avail. Dennis is forced to tell Eileen it's over; she is angry and insulted that he chose Janice over her. Janice and Dennis leave the street together and move into lodgings in Chapman Street, while Toyah remains at No.5 where Les starts to drink too much and slinks into depression. Eileen gets her own back on Janice by going into the factory and punching her on the nose.
• Sunita worries about the age difference between her and Duggie when he shows her up by going along to a club with her, Vik and Bobbi wearing a rugby shirt and sports jacket. At the Rovers' quiz night, she takes him through the back room to finish with him. However, their conversation is picked up by the PA system which Les turns up, allowing everyone in the bar to hear Duggie being dumped.
• Vera hires lawyer Jo Doyle for Terry's case, paying her £3,000 behind Jack's back. At the hearing, Terry fakes stomach cramps to be allowed to go to the toilet, where he escapes. As the police mount a search for Terry, he turns up at No.9 and asks Jack to shelter him. Jack is forced to comply, knowing that Vera would never forgive him if he called the police. He installs Terry in the shed on the allotment, saying nothing to Vera. Terry confesses to past misdeeds in order to convince Jack that on this occasion, he's innocent. Vera questions why Jack is constantly nipping out, and follows him to the shed thinking he's seeing another woman. When she finds him with Terry, Jack tells her the truth. They're forced to take Tyrone into their confidence when he overhears them discussing moving Terry on and thinks they want him to move out. With Tyrone's help, Vera smuggles Terry to No.9 to wash but they're seen by Curly, who gives them twenty-four hours to turn Terry in before he tells Emma everything.
• Kevin invites Molly to move in with him as a mate and she agrees. The arrangement doesn't work as Kevin doesn't give Molly privacy when she brings a date back, causing her to accuse him of being jealous. She gives him his key back before agreeing to give the setup another go. Alone in the flat, they start kissing and decide to become a couple.
• Charlie attends an antenatal class with Emma. They enjoy pretending to be a lesbian couple.
• Jack has a party for his 65th birthday, which Andrea and Paul Clayton attend. When he next goes to work on the crossing, he finds Brenda Kelly already there in uniform; Curly informs him that he's finished with the council as he was in the bookies when they came to review his position. Vera makes the situation worse by rowing with Brenda, warning her to keep her hands off Jack. Jack accepts Duggie's offer to return to the Rovers as potman.
• Vik buys a sports car and makes Steve jealous by taking Karen for a ride in it.
• Fiz starts egging Tyrone on to do outrageous things, with mixed results: she's barred from No.9 when Vera catches her and Tyrone making love in the front room, so the couple use Jack's shed as their love nest, with Terry having to hide while they have sex on the floor. They do a runner from a French restaurant without paying the bill, but Tyrone secretly goes back with the cash. She then convinces Tyrone to joyride in Vik's car, leading to puzzlement when Vik finds Fiz's knickers in the back seat. Meanwhile, Tyrone and Maria return the £1,000 Jack and Vera gave them towards the wedding.
• Norris accosts what he thinks is a burglar going into No.3 but is really a returning Spider Nugent. Spider reveals to Emily his plan to open an organic juice bar in London and asks if she'd like to invest money. After taking fianancial advice from Richard, Emily sells her house to Kellet Holdings as part of a home reversion plan, receiving a £15k lump sum upfront which she gives to Spider, and the rest in monthly instalments, guaranteed for life. Norris thinks she's been conned out of her home and investigates Kellet Holdings, discovering that Richard is listed as a director along with Patricia Hillman, but Emily trusts that Richard has her best interests at heart.
• Toyah is thrilled to be reunited with Spider. He entertains her at No.3 and they spend the night curled up on the sofa together. Worried that Toyah will cast him aside for Spider, Sam warns his rival off, but Spider tells him they're just friends. However, Spider is still in love with Toyah and kisses her, but she pulls away. She turns down his offer to come to London with him as he heads south.
• Alan Rush tells Kevin that he wants his monthly backhander increasing by £100. Karl Harper, who buys the cars from Weatherfield Windows and sells them on, offers Kevin a cut of the profits to start putting the clocks back on the cars, but Kevin refuses. He repeats the offer to Tyrone, who agrees on £200 per car, encouraged by Fiz.

December

• Norris taunts Richard by asking after Patricia Hillman. Richard gets ahead of him by telling Gail that Patricia is his ex-wife, having never mentioned her before. His secrecy causes Gail to question her future with him. Meanwhile, Tony Lawson accuses Richard of theft when Kellet Holdings takes possession of The Ridings, a property owned by his late mother who, like Emily, had signed up to an equity release scheme. Richard whisks Gail off on holiday to Nick Tilsley's in Montreal in order to get away from Tony.
• Tyrone moves Fiz into No.9 when Jack and Vera go to Blackpool for a few days. Dennis catches Fiz sneaking out of the house but keeps their secret. For Tyrone's birthday, Fiz passes off a takeaway dinner from Roy as her own cooking and gives Tyrone a sensual massage but their date is ruined when the police turn up to search the house for Terry.
• Terry flees the street before Curly can tell Emma about him. Emma finds out anyway as Terry phones while she's at No.9, but Curly persuades her not to report Jack and Vera for harbouring him. Terry shows up again while the Duckworths are away, and gets £600 out of Tyrone after he jumps Fiz. Later, Jack is at the allotment giving his son more money when he suffers chest pains, a sign of indigestion which Terry mistakes for a heart attack. Terry risks being caught by driving Jack to the hospital. He's pulled over, recognised and re-arrested by PC Watson, but Vera's faith in her son is restored.
• Ken is head-hunted to give a talk for the Weatherfield Historical Society by its chairperson, Anita Scott. Anita follows it up by interviewing Ken for "What's on in Weatherfield" magazine and inviting him along to a society meeting but when he arrives and brings Roy along, they discover it was a set-up for her to get Ken on his own.
• Sam moves into No.5 temporarily when the pipes burst at his flat. When he goes drinking with Les, undermining her own efforts, Toyah tells him to move out.
• A quarreling Steve and Karen return from visiting Liz in Leicester. When Liz instructs Steve to sell No.11, Karen spites him by informing Eileen. Steve puts the house on the market and makes up with Karen.
• Tyrone splashes out on leather jackets for him and Fiz with his illicit earnings. He panics when he realises that the cars Steve and Vik have purchased for their fleet are vehicles he's previously clocked.
• Maxine passes her driving test. Her pregnancy cravings for meat lead to her breaking her vegetarianism.
• Sarah and Candice make up. On Christmas Day, Todd tries to kiss Sarah but is rejected. Luke has to held back from thumping Todd and later dumps Sarah by text.
• Eve decides she wants to move, as Fred still lives in the house he shared with his first wife. Fred mollifies her by agreeing to let her decorate the house however she wants, but ultimately caves in and they begin house-hunting. The couple move in with the Peacocks while the house is being decorated. Ashley and Maxine regret the invitation when they're kept awake by what they presume is the sound of Fred snoring. Eve is humiliated when Fred clarifies that she's the snorer and he's taken to wearing earplugs.
• Vik realises that Bobbi is angling to move in with him when she starts transferring her stuff into his flat. He takes Sam in as a lodger as a deterrant.
• Les is sacked from Street Cars when he drunkenly argues with Vik that he's fit for work. When he's also let go from the council for skiving, Eileen takes pity on him and persuades Vik to give him another chance. Les mistakes a friendly kiss from Eileen as something more when he drops her off after a night on the town, leaving her house in a panic. His state of mind starts to improve when Leanne writes to say she's visiting at New Year, but Janice can't help but go to him when she sees him struggling with his shopping, causing Dennis to warn him off. Meanwhile, Eileen continues to lash out at Dennis and Janice, telling the former to stay away from Jason and Todd when she finds out that he fixed Jason's bike, and throwing Les's pint over the latter when she gets into an argument with the happy couple in the Rovers. Dennis realises that he and Janice can't continue to work in the street and suggests they make a new start in Sheffield. They agree to move in the New Year and Janice breaks the news to Les, who is devastated; later, when he picks her up in his cab, Les locks her in Sam's flat and begs her to return to him, but she's unwavering and tells him to move on. Her rejection causes Les to hide away at No.5, with Toyah and Sam discovering him in a drunken stupor. A bad Christmas follows as Leanne cancels her visit and Janice tells Les she wants a divorce.
• The factory staff throw a Christmas party. When Sam strips off, the girls argue about the prowess of their men and drag them all out of the Rovers to compare muscles. Vik is mobbed when he refuses to take part.

Deirdre and Dev sleep together

• Dev lies to the Gregorys that he and Geena are going to Madrid for Christmas to get out of spending the day with them. Sunita accidentally reveals the deception to Gill when she drops off Geena's presents at the shop while the couple are supposedly in Spain. Gill confronts them but Dev refuses to tolerate her racism and throws her out, causing Geena to storm off. Meanwhile, a Christmas row at the Barlows' sees Deirdre walk out when Peter blames her for causing Susan's death. She goes to Dev's flat, where after comparing notes about their disastrous Christmases the couple end up in bed together. In the morning, Dev makes up with Geena and tries to forget it ever happened.
• Roy and Hayley receive a visit from Sheila and Wayne in the run-up to Christmas. When the local soup kitchen is closed for the day, the Croppers do Christmas dinners for the homeless at the cafe. However, with a bigger event on elsewhere only one man turns up. The neighbours eat the spare food when the gas goes out on the south side of Coronation Street.
• Matt is struggling to act normally around Maxine and pressures her to set up home with him and the baby.
• Emma goes into labour three weeks early on Boxing Day. Curly and Norris deliver a baby boy on the sofa as they wait for the ambulance. The Wattses honour Norris for his part in the proceedings by giving their son his middle name, Ben.
• Duggie announces to the Rovers staff that he's selling up and buying the lease on the rugby club's bar. Geena and Shelley are equally keen to buy, with Dev and Peter respectively agreeing to put up the cash for them to run the pub. However, Duggie elects to auction the property instead. At the auction, Dev and Peter are outbid by Fred, who buys the Rovers for £76,000. The Elliotts take over on New Year's Eve as Duggie poaches Shelley to work at the rugby club.

Who lives where

Coronation Street

• Rovers Return Inn - Duggie Ferguson (from January onwards). Toyah Battersby (until April).
• 1 Coronation Street - Ken Barlow. Deirdre Rachid (January, and from April onwards). Blanche Hunt. Peter Barlow (April to October).
• 2a Coronation Street - Geena Gregory (until September). Bobbi Lewis. Maria Sutherland (from October onwards).
• 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Norris Cole. Spider Nugent (November only).
• 4 Coronation Street - Ashley and Maxine Peacock. Fred and Eve Elliott (both December only).
• 5 Coronation Street - Les Battersby. Janice Battersby (until November). Dennis Stringer (until January). Toyah Battersby (from April onwards).
• 6 Coronation Street - Matt and Charlie Ramsden.
• 7 Coronation Street - Curly and Emma Watts. Ben Watts (from December onwards).
• 8 Coronation Street - Gail, Sarah, David and Bethany Platt.
• 9 Coronation Street - Jack and Vera Duckworth. Tyrone Dobbs. Maria Sutherland (May to October).
• 10a Coronation Street - Rita Sullivan.
• 11 Coronation Street - Liz McDonald (until January). Eileen, Jason and Todd Grimshaw (all from January onwards). Dennis Stringer (January to November).
• 12 Coronation Street - Anthony Stephens (February to July). Steve and Karen McDonald (both from September onwards).
• 13 Coronation Street - Sally, Rosie and Sophie Webster. Danny Hargreaves (until April).
• Corner Shop flat - Peter Barlow (until March). Sunita Parekh (from March onwards).

Victoria Street

• 14a Victoria Street - Vacant
• 15a Victoria Street - Vikram Desai. Steve McDonald (until September). Karen McDonald (May to September).
• 16a Victoria Street - Roy and Hayley Cropper. Fiz Brown (April only).
• 17 Victoria Street - Kevin Webster. Molly Hardcastle (from November).
• 18a Victoria Street - Martin Platt.
• 19a Victoria Street - Peter Barlow (from October onwards).

Others

• 23a Balaclava Terrace - Sam Kingston.
• Chapman Street - Janice Battersby and Dennis Stringer (both from November onwards).
• 5 Grasmere Drive - Audrey Roberts. Alma Halliwell (until June).
• 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Williams.
• No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike Baldwin. Linda Baldwin (until September). Adam Barlow (February to April and July to October).
• No. 6 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Dev Alahan. Deirdre Rachid (February to March). Geena Gregory (from September onwards).
• 23 Seymour Drive, Oakhill - Fred Elliott (until early December). Eve Elliott (October to early December).

Awards and nominations

BAFTA
Ceremony held on 13th May 2001

• Best Soap and Continuing Drama: Coronation Street (Nominee)

British Soap Awards
Ceremony televised on 30th May 2001

• Best Comedy Performance: Malcolm Hebden (Nominee)
• Best Dramatic Performance: Georgia Taylor (Winner)
• Hero of the Year: Vera Duckworth (Nominee)
• Best Exit: Alison Webster (Winner)
• Best Newcomer: Charles Dale (Nominee)
• Best On-Screen Partnership: Jack and Vera Duckworth (Winner), Roy and Hayley Cropper (Nominee)
• Best Storyline: Mike Baldwin, Linda Baldwin and Mark Redman triangle (Winner)
• Best Single Episode: The Live Episode (Winner)

Inside Soap Awards
Ceremony held on 1st October 2001

• Best Soap: Coronation Street (Nominee)
• Best Young Actor: Jack P. Shepherd (Winner)
• Best Couple: Kevin Kennedy and Angela Lonsdale (Winner)
• Funniest Performance: Malcolm Hebden (Winner)
• Sexiest Female: Tracy Shaw (Winner)

National Television Awards
Ceremony held on 23rd October 2001

• Most Popular Serial Drama - Coronation Street (Nominee)
• Most Popular Newcomer - Scott Wright (Nominee)
• Most Popular Actress - Georgia Taylor (Nominee)

Television and Radio Industries Club ("TRIC") Awards
Ceremony held on 13th March 2001

• TRIC Special Award: Coronation Street