Plot[]
Part One: Irma is annoyed at having to clean chalk graffiti off the pavement outside the corner shop. Hilda makes Stan complete the census form while Jed and Jim leave him to it to go and investigate a snooker table. Ena looks at "room for rent" notices in the shop window and asks Irma if her shop flat is available. Irma puts her off, saying they use it as a stockroom. Not knowing that Vera has taken her life savings, David and Irma think Ena has enough money to provide for a roof over her head. Stan struggles to complete the census form. Jim buys the table off Jed. Knowing that Jim is good at the game, Jed sets the two up as hustlers, playing in the Rovers. Elsie returns from staying with Dot. Jed cons David into playing billiards against Jim for £5 that night in the pub. Ena asks Elsie if she can rent Dennis's room. Elsie makes a rapid excuse that the room is full of his belongings, depressing Ena. The residents bet on the game. Jim demonstrates his snooker skills on the bar with a broom handle and Brenda jokingly pushes him off - just as the Walkers arrive back from Ireland.
Part Two: Annie is livid when she sees the state of the back room and hears that Brenda is to stay on to teach her how to be friendly to customers. She drags Jack to the brewery to demand an explanation. Irma is angry about the bet. Minnie takes Hilda to task when she overhears her blackguarding Ena. The menfolk make plans to play the snooker match in No.13 but Brenda tells them to carry on the match in the pub. Jed, Jim and Stan are perturbed when David shows that he has more skills at snooker than they reckoned on. Minnie offers to share her bed with Ena and she tearfully accepts. The table is set up in the public. Annie and Jack return and, seeing what's happening, Annie orders him to throw Brenda out or she leaves.
Cast[]
Regular cast[]
- Irma Barlow - Sandra Gough
- Jed Stone - Kenneth Cope
- David Barlow - Alan Rothwell
- Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens
- Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander
- Ena Sharples - Violet Carson
- Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth
- Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix
- Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant
- Annie Walker - Doris Speed
- Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie
Guest cast[]
Places[]
- Coronation Street
- Rovers Return Inn - Public/snug and back room
- 5 Coronation Street - Minnie's bedroom
- 13 Coronation Street - Back room, kitchen and hallway
- Corner Shop
Notes[]
- Long-term scriptwriter and future producer Leslie Duxbury makes his writing debut on the programme with this episode although he had been a storyliner since Episode 530 (10th January 1966).
- Elsie Tanner, Annie and Jack Walker make their first appearance since Episode 551 (23rd March 1966) as Patricia Phoenix, Doris Speed and Arthur Leslie had been on a promotional tour of Australia with executive producer H.V. Kershaw.
- A real-life event is referenced in this episode when UK residents were ordered to take part in a long form/short form census on 24th April 1966: the only time in the history of the process that a five-yearly census was carried out in the UK. Every household was given a short form to complete, while a sample of the population - one in ten households - was given a long form to collect more detailed information. The Ogdens bemoan the fact they have the longer form to complete, with 27 questions.
- TV Times synopsis: Jack and Annie return to a Rover's challenge match
- Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 7,650,000 homes (3rd place).
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