Season Sixty Seven Episode Guide

The storylines:

There’s doom and gloom on the Close, as several of the residents are held at gunpoint for days, and a helicopter crashes into the Parade – Diane is killed, Alan disappears without trace, and Emily goes into a coma from which she is unlikely to awaken. Nikki finishes with Jerome, and Nisha starts with Gary – but he may be tempted to stay with Gabby when she becomes equally as pregnant as Katie, albeit rather more certain of who the father is. The police become more certain that Marty killed Imelda – but when they arrest and charge him, Anthony finally confesses that he was responsible, and spends Christmas in a remand centre, pending an appearance in court. Ruth and Sean go to family court, both believing that the other’s home is not a suitable environment for Luke – but it doesn’t really help them to resolve their differences. Meanwhile, Rachel and Mike become frustrated with the differences in their lifestyles from those of Max and Jacqui, and resolve to better themselves in 2003, even if this means going heavily into debt again. And while Tim is dividing his time between setting up a nail-bar and planning revenge on Terry the Psycho with Steve, both Adele and Kerry would like to tempt him in their directions…

The dates:

It is 2002 in episode 2772, based on the sign on Ron’s stall; and in episode 2774, goods marked “November 2002” are out-of-date while those marked “January 2003” are fine! Based on earlier and later dialogue, it is Christmas Eve in episode 2777; it is still Christmas Eve / 24.12.02 in episode 2778; and it is Christmas Day in episodes 2779 and 2780. Although it is said to be Josh’s birthday in episode 2781, perhaps his family are celebrating it a day late [or 364 days early – see “Goofs below!] to separate it from Christmas Day, as there are clear indications elsewhere that it is Boxing Day in this episode. Based on dialogue in episodes 2782 and 2783, it is 30th December and New Year’s Eve [then New Year’s Day, right at the end] respectively in these episodes; and, based on dialogue in episodes 2772, 2783, 2784, 2785 and 2786, it is New Year’s Day in episode 2784, it is January 2nd in episode 2785, and it is January 3rd in episode 2786. September is “a long way off” in episode 2788 – when, based on dialogue in episodes 2788 and 2789, it must be a Thursday; and it is the day after, Friday, in episode 2789. Based on the revelation that Muhammed Ali is 61 today in episode 2792, it must then be 17th January 2003.

Name-checks:

Mao Tse Tung (2760); Princess Diana (2760); “Big Brother” and “Big Brother’s Little Brother” (2762); “Spiderman” (2763); Bruce Willis (2767); Elvis [Presley] (2770, 2783); the “Beverley [flamin’] Hillbillies” (2771); Jerry Hall (2771); Mick Jagger (2771); Gordon Brown (2772); Napoleon (2773); Liz Hurley (2773); Liam [Gallagher] and Patsy [Kensit] (2773); “Butch Cassidy” and “Sundance” (2774); Bobby Moore [expression] (2774); “Homer Simpson” (2775); “I Love Lucy” (2775); Kennedy, US president assassinated in 1983 (2775); “Cinders” (2775); Dr Spock (2778); “The Sopranos” / “Tony” (2780, 2791 / 2791); “[James] Bond” / Sean Connery (2780); “The Soup Dragons” (2780); “Happy Mondays” (2780); “Ebenezer” (2780); “Casablanca” (2780); Jason Orange (2782); Michael Jackson (2782); [Kenny] Dalglish (2786); Madonna (2786); George Best (2788); John Lennon (2788); “Galloping Gourmet” (2789); “a Stepford Wife” (2789); and Muhammed Ali (2792).

Locations:

The majority of the action in this season is set in or near Liverpool, although there are scenes set in Manchester (not necessarily recorded there) in episodes 2777, 2789 and 2792.

Births:

None. Katie discovers that she is pregnant in episode 2765, and she is three months pregnant in episode 2775; and Gabby reveals that she is also pregnant in episode 2792. It is Jimmy’s birthday in episode 2762; it is the birthday of both Ron and Josh in episode 2780, although the tenth birthday of Josh is celebrated in episode 2781 [see “Goofs” below”]. It is the 13th birthday of Anthony – who is 12 in episodes 2762, 2769 and 2771 – in episode 2781 [see “Goofs” below]. Diane was born on 30th March 1964, and died aged 38 years, according to her coffin-plate (2772); and we are also told that Jackie is 50 (2760); Nikki is younger than Lindsey (2762); Imelda is [was!] 12 (2772); Tim is over 18 / 22 (2774 / 2775); Ali and Tommo are under 18 (2778); Lizzie is 18 (2783); Ruth gave birth to Luke when she was 19 (2783); Brigid was “about 22” at some point in the 1950’s (2787); Luke is 4, according to Dan (2786) / 5, according to Debbie (2788); and Alex is 28 (2788).

Marriages:

None. It is Debbie and Alan’s 25th wedding anniversary “next week” in episode 2767, and they have been married for 25 years in episode 2792; and Tracy says she got married on a beach in Antigua in episode 2785 – in presumably her second marriage, as we were previously told that her first took place in Australia. Gloria, an unseen friend of Ruth, Dan and Sean, is to marry an equally unseen friend, Tony, on January 3rd (2772), and Dan and Ruth are seen getting ready to go to the reception in episode 2786; and the unseen Paul, a member of Lizzie’s family, has split from his equally unseen wife (2778).

Deaths:

Two – it is confirmed in episode 2766 that Diane Murray was the unlucky resident who was fatally hit by a falling helicopter in episode 2764, in an accident that also claimed the life of the helicopter pilot, whose hands were briefly seen at the controls just before it happened. It also emerges in episodes 2767, 2768 and 2769 that the co-pilot, heard calling for help but not actually seen on-screen, was killed at the same time – both men were apparently “young dads with families” (2769). Diane’s coffin-plate records that she was 38 years old when she died on 15th November 2002 [see “Goofs” below] (2772); we are reminded that Tony Dixon was 14 when he died (2767); and three unseen, never-to-be-seen dead characters are mentioned: Sean’s father, who died at Christmas (2772), Diane’s grandmother / Brigid’s mother (2777 / 2790); and Jan’s father (2780, 2786).

Toilet visits:

Scott (2759); Tim (2760); Anthony (2761); Jan (2761); Ali (2770); Brigid (2781); Marty (2782); an unnamed mate of Mozza (2789, against a wall), and Gary (2791, audibly). Leanne needs to go in episode 2776, but Max refuses to let her use the facilities at the bar; and Ron is “bursting” in episode 2784, but Rachel and Mike are busy having a heart-to-heart in the bathroom.

Characters mentioned, so far unseen, but who will be appearing later:

None!

Gone but not forgotten – seen previously and still mentioned occasionally, but not reappearing in this season:

Jackie (2760); Helen (2760, 2761, 2762); Kylie / Kyles (2762 / 2785); Wills (2762, 2775); Sinbad (2764, 2781); Jason / Jase (2766, 2774, 2780); Ray / Ray Hilton (2767 / 2771); Clint (2767); Tony Dixon / Tony (2767 / 2768); Owen (2768, 2771, 2773); Rubie (2768); Lou / Louise (2768, 2781 / 2773, 2783); Joanne (2769); Dexter (2770, 2791); Mrs Plummer (2791); Nisha’s mother (2772) and father (2772, 2773, 2777, 2783, 2784, 2785, 2788); Bev’s mother (2772); “those Cloughs” / the “Clough lads” / “the Cloughs” (2773 / 2774 / 2777, 2786) – including Paul; Lance’s mother (2777); “the Clough family” (2778), including Mrs Clough (2783, 2786); Baz (2780, 2783); Sotto (2781, 2782, 2783, 2788); Ruth [Sinbad’s daughter] (2781); Ted [Moran] (2783); and Snowy [Steve’s mate] (2788).

And those that are also mentioned, but are destined to remain unseen forever:

Shane’s wife, Jackie (2760, 2762, 2764); Lizzie’s family / mother / father / brother / Paul / his ex- wife (2760 / 2761 / 2771, 2774 / 2773 / 2778 / 2774, 2778); Franny, another robber (2762); Ravi / Nisha’s brother (2764, 2777, 2783 / 2785); Celia, Brigid’s friend who has a cottage in the Lakes (2767); Nisha’s sister (2767, 2783, 2788); Chris from Bootle, and “Fat Fella Ken”, possible fathers of Katie’s baby (2768); Kerry’s father (2769); Mr Mitchell (2770) and Mr Goddard (2788), patients; Maggie of the General [Hospital], a contact of Katie (2770); Julie, looking after the salon (2771); Nic’s father (2771); Richard, Sammy’s estranged husband (2771, 2773); Gloria and Tony, engaged mates of Ruth, Dan and Sean (2772); Sean’s mother (2772, 2778, 2781, 2792); Jennifer Black, missing pupil (2773); Randy Rob, a driver (2774); Nic’s father (2777); Dan’s mother (2778); Ruth’s grandmother (2778); Jan’s uncle Mick (2780); Linda, who ran the windsurfing society at university, and John Stilgoe in West Derby, mates of Dan (2781); “Pirate Pete”, the entertainer at Sharon’s kids’ party (2782); Tommo’s mother (2783); Baz’s mother (2783); Mrs Moran / Sheena (2783); Ian, a disc-jockey and Kerry’s ex-boyfriend (2787); Bluey Jackson, whose car Tim plans to steal (2787); Stanley McKenna, Brigid’s husband (2787); Sally, in a story about elephants that Debbie reads to Luke (2789); and Mrs Johnson, Luke’s teacher (2789).

Goofs:

In episode 2761, Ruth either replaces “We’re” with “It’s”, or adds an “off” – “It’s better off all round if we just carry on.”; at one point in episode 2767, Jimmy pronounces “Margi” with a soft rather than a hard “g”; and in episode 2768, Anthony and Marty recall how Rubie chewed up one of Anthony’s favourite toys when he was much younger – but Rubie is their current dog, so the animal responsible was surely the family’s previous pet – Minty.

There would only appear to be two precise indications, inconsistent with each other, of the number of days that elapsed between the arrival of the robbers on the Close, revealed to be November 5th in episode 2758, and the helicopter crash. It would seem, however, to be much less than the ten days suggested by the “15th November 2002” appearing as the date of Diane’s death on her coffin-plate in episode 2772, but possibly more than implied by Jan in episode 2777, when she says that Diane died “two days after” walking out on the Murrays.

Jan’s ninth and tenth words arrive in the wrong order in episode 2778: “We wanted to tell you, but the less that people knew the better.”; Anthony’s birthday continues its disturbing trend of arriving slightly earlier every year, moving as it does to Boxing Day in episode 2781; and, in the same episode, Bev and Mike’s recall is somewhat flawed:

Quote:
BEV: Aw, ten years old, eh? Hasn’t time flown?
MIKE: Ten years since the biggest fright of my life.
JOSH: What are you talking about?
BEV: The day you were born.

….which was just over NINE years earlier, on 25th December 1993!

In episode 2785, Sammy seems to be forgetting everyone else in Nisha’s large family when, referring to her father and brother, she tells her that “They’re the only family you’ve got.”.

Trivia:

Ruth dumped Dan for Sean when she was 18 (2783). The collection for Alan at his work raised £63 (2774, 2775), the card found in his locker reads: “TOPAZ STUDIO – BODY PERFECT – RELIEF FROM STRESS – ALL HABITS TREATED. CALL TAMSIN OR SERENA 0151 496 2809” (2790), and the wording of the advertisement in the “Manor Park Reporter” for his job, seen briefly on-screen in episode 2775, is as follows:

TRANSPORT MANAGER – NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION AND LOGISTICS – TO START IMMEDIATELY, SALARY TO BE NEGOTIATED. As part of the senior management team, you will work cross-functionally to achieve cost-effective and accurate deliveries. As a team player, you will require excellent transport and people management skills and the ability to contribute towards the ongoing success of client relationships. Contact KEVIN MALLON, Tele: 01632 960009 Fax: 01632 960000.

Alex owns his own electrical company (2788), and Sharon is the area manager of a mobile phone company (2782). It is her recollection that Rachel was the netball captain at school that leads Rachel to invent a series of lies to improve the impression her friend is given of her life since they last met (2782). Having taken an hour to get as far as leaving infant school at his interview panel for the Leawood Golf Club, Woolton Village, Liverpool 25, whose telephone number is 0151 496 2809 (2792), Max claims that he was a borderline case for grammar school when he sat his “11+”, and went to Crewe Secondary Technical School (2785). The pub at which Terry planned to play pool is the “Angel” (2761); Tim arranges to meet Sotto “down Cork Street”, on which there is a pub called “The Grapes”, and he gate-crashes a party by claiming that he knows “Dave” (2783); Josh hates smokey bacon flavoured crisps (2767); and Jessie reveals that, following their move to Spain, Ray got prickly heat on the second day! (2767). Brigid reveals that the husband she met when she was a nurse, and left after he hit her, is now a retired top surgeon living in Glasgow (2787).

The robbers find the hate-mail sent to Marty in a video case for the film “The Devil’s Own”, whose cover lists its stars as Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt (2761). Marty was charged with being drunk and disorderly on a stag night in Blackpool when he was 18 (2786), and reads a Christmas card to “Diane, Marty and family” from “Roger and Hannah” (2781). He is seen on Coolton Hill Road, L2 on his way to the pool (2770), and is charged with murdering Imelda on 20th March 2002 (2773). Anthony is later charged with murdering Imelda Mary Clough on 19th March 2002 (2786), and the posters of her on the Parade are seen being taken down in episode 2774. The “For Sale” sign bearing the name “Fletcher’s” and the telephone number 0151 629 1876 is also seen being taken down from the property formerly known as “Trona’s Tits” (2784), and Ron plans to open a new shop there called “TP2U”, but struggles to make Jacqui understand his reasoning for the name (2784). Anthony (2766), Debbie (2769, 2788), Dan (2770), Ruth (2770), Jacqui (2772), Gary (2788); Luke (2789) and John (2790) are all right-handed.

“Blink-and-you-miss it” moment:

As “Brookside” has just passed its 20-year anniversary, but is rumoured to face an uncertain future, something Jimmy says in episode 2763 sounds like a subliminal (almost bordering on “liminal”!) appeal to the powers that be:

Quote:
RON: Yeah, we’ve been through a lot together, me and you, haven’t we?
JIMMY: Tell me about it!
RON: Yeah – deaths, fires, fights, houses burning down. Wonder what else could go wrong?
JIMMY: Well, give us another twenty years – and probably twice as much.

The end-of-season cliffhanger:

Kerry is at Emily’s bedside, when Steve drags Tim in and reminds him that she is all he should be thinking about. Steve reveals that Tim was just about to make a big mistake, about which Tim doesn’t want Kerry to know the details. She tells him not to do anything stupid – Emily needs him, and would want him to promise not to do anything that would take him away from her. He promises, and Kerry hugs him: “She’d hold you, she’d put her arms round you and squeeze you close, ask you to say how much you really, really, want it. You won’t do anything stupid, will you, Tim? Because I’d really miss you if I couldn’t see you every day.”. Tim holds her too: “I won’t.”…