1988 Episode Guide

The storylines:

After Paul confronts Annabelle over her affair with Brian, they try to patch up their marriage; Chrissy unsuccessfully tries to educate Growler at home; and Sheila and Billy become closer, albeit without Barry’s blessing. Tracy is unfairly dismissed, but able to prove it; while Gordon is fairly dismissed after selling cars for a fraction of their true value. While Jonathan prepares to set himself up in business with Sarah, Frank has more troubles at work, Ralph gets a new dog, Sammy gets a new admirer, and Katie gets a new face. And there are a lot of weddings being planned – Harry’s hopes of marrying Betty come to nothing, but Kirsty and Rod, Mona and Gerald, and Terry and Sue are all still in with a chance of tying the knot, even though Rod is seeing someone else, Mona may not be of sound mind, and Sue is pregnant by another man…

The dates:

In episode 633 it is a year since Damon died, a year since Sue and Terry met, and, based on dialogue from episode 632, it is Monday. In episode 635 it is 12 months since the Rogers family arrived, and in episode 637 Tommo has been in hospital for 12 weeks. In episode 638 it is the middle of winter, and in episode 640 it is 1988, based on Bumper’s observation that Growler is 90 years too late in dating a poster “1898”. It is Christmas Day / Sunday in episodes 644 and 645; and New Year’s Eve, then New Year’s Day, in episode 647. It is 1989 in episodes 649 and 664, and 18th January 1989 in episode 653. In episode 651, the date set for Rod and Kirsty’s wedding is Saturday 15th July, and this is mentioned again in episode 667. In episode 659 it is Ash Wednesday and, later in that episode, it must be 9th February, based on an earlier reference to Ronnie’s birthday. It is Valentine’s Day in episode 660, and it will soon be Mothers’ Day in episode 665. In episode 650 the date of Tracy’s tribunal is set for March 6th at 10.30; in episode 664, it is “next week”; but in episode 666 it is rescheduled for March 15th, which is “a week on Wednesday”. When it finally takes place, in episode 669, the late arrival at work of Tracy and Nikki, seen in episode 642. is said to have occurred on 24th December.

Name-checks:

Sarah Bernhardt (635); “Tarzan” (637); Rick Astley (638 ); Terence Trent D’Arby (638 ); T’Pau (638 ); The Christians (638 ); Count Dracula (639); Mike Tyson (639); Nureyev (644); Neville Chamberlain (644); Lord Lucan (654); Clark Gable (654); “Scarlet” [O’Hara] (654); “Macbeth” (655); Dr Beeching, who closed down a lot of Nottingham railway lines (657); Noah [as in Ark] (658 ); Mao (664); Confucious (664); Greta Garbo (667); and “Miami Vice” (667).

Locations:

All of the action in this season takes place in Liverpool, with the exception of just four scenes in episode 653 which are set in Margaret’s home in Basingstoke, which Sheila and Claire are briefly visiting. It seems unlikely, however, that these scenes were actually recorded in Basingstoke.

Births:

One – Tim Haynes, son of Kevin Cross and Sally Haynes, is born in episode 642, and is “a couple of weeks old” in episode 660. Ronnie celebrates her birthday, which is 9th February / soon (655) and “next week” (657), in episode 659. We are also told that Paul is 13 years older than Annabelle (633), and that Claire is nearly 4 (636), Rod is 20 going on 49 (637), Debbie is 18 (647), Tracy is 18 (643, 651), Growler is 14 (651, 661), Mona is 80 (663) and Barry is 29 (655).

Marriages:

None. It is mentioned, by characters who may well be speaking in “round numbers”, that Paul and Annabelle have been married for 30 years (643); Sheila was married for 30 years (653, 654); and Harry was married for 40 years (653).

Deaths:

Two – Harry and Ralph’s dog Rommel dies in episode 642 after chewing poisonous cuddly seals, and “Worzel” the tramp is found dead by Rod Corkhill in episode 654. The following unseen and never-to-be-seen characters who are no longer alive are also mentioned: Frank’s mother and dad (638 ); the priest’s parents (645); Young Micky’s goldfish (646); and Betty’s late husband Reggie (653, 658 ).

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

Miriam (645, 646); and Auntie Jackie [Corkhill] (652).

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

Damon (633, 643, 644, 645, 646, 653, 654, 657); Bobby (633, 636, 637, 638, 642, 643, 644, 645, 648, 649, 653, 654, 658, 659); Karen (633, 638, 644, 649, 659); Ben [Deburau] (634); Donna (634); Jamie (634, 635, 636, 638, 651, 658 ); Doreen (634, 635, 636, 638, 639, 641, 642, 643, 648, 652, 654, 655); Chris (637, 645, 653, 659, 668, 669); Edna (637, 660); Grace (637, 660); PC Chalkley (639); Sally (642, 660); Avril (645); Pat Hancock (645); Lucy (645, 647, 660, 662); Madge (650, 660); Laura (650); Tony and Matthew [Jefferson] (653); Lucky (656, 658); Sizzler (657); Tom Osbourne (658 ); Maggie at Chrissy’s work (663); Jonathan’s mum (665); and Mr [Peter] Montague (666, 669).

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

Malcolm Clarke, a contact of Brian (634); Janice, Martin’s wife and her mother in Sheffield (634); Jacko, a policeman, and his parents who are in Tenerife (637, 638 ); Joanne (637, 640) and Kelly (637), Gerrard’s models/hairdressers (637); Father Moloney, who used to run a youth club Matty went to (637); Paddy Ryan, who used to knock around with Sheila (637); Woody, a policeman whose stag night was recently (637, 638 ); Ray’s daughter, her couple of kids, her husband who left her after three years and the woman he went off with (638 ); Nisha’s two younger sisters and two brothers (638 ); PC Peters (639); George, a mate of Rod (640); Jeannie, an aunt of Jonathan’s who knits (645); Reynolds, pub owner (646, 647) and his kid, Lee (647); Maggie, an emigrant who Jimmy used to go out with, and her father who had a shop (652); Mrs Ellison’s son Michael (653), who is 16 (652); Maureen MacNamara, who Billy “had” when he was 15 (654); Pete Forrest, a Sheffield railwayman Ralph remembers (657); William, club member (657); Miss Harker, Katie’s teacher (657); Mr Batra’s younger sister, aunt to Nisha and her brothers and sisters (657). Joe Mooney and Fred Tate, domino players (660); Mrs Slattery, Eddie’s wife (662); Teddy’s wife Rosalind (663); Nikki’s mum and dad, both unemployed (663) ; Kirsty’s Aunty Geraldine from Tasmania (664); Kirsty’s mum and dad, and their drinking mates Mr and Mrs Harrison (664); Clive Hopkins, offered a partnership instead of Sarah (664); Mrs Twist’s 16-, 19- and 22-year-old children (665); Gerrard’s wife and two kids (666); and Andrea Starkey, Liza Fields and Gemma Ross, other juniors employed by Gerrard in last 18 months, who all left within a few months (669).

Goofs:

Interrogated by the Superintendent, Rod refers to Tommo as PC “Thomson”, rather than Tomlinson, for a second time in episode 639.

In the same episode, Julia gets something slightly wrong when talking about Billy: “She’s married to my daughter.”.

In episode 642, Barry pronounces Danny Wood’s surname as if the second “o” is a “d”.

The first time Mr Thomas pronounces Gerrard’s surname in episode 651, he says “Holst” instead of “Holt”.

While Nisha’s parents interview Sammy in episode 657, the name a cashier is heard calling from downstairs, and to which her father responds, does not sound anything like “Mr Batra”. In the same episode, her mother’s observation that “There’s seven of us” would suggest that Nisha is one of five siblings, and since she has both “brothers” and “sisters”, there must be two of each. This, unfortunately, contradicts her earlier claim that she shares a bedroom with “three of” her sisters.

She’s not the first, but in episode 659, Annabelle gets two words the wrong way around: “Empire and Commonwealth Club”.

While referring to the firm she works for, a partnership, Sarah describes it as “this company” in episode 664.

The chart that Gordon draws, installs on his ceiling and periodically updates, seems to be different almost every time we see it. Initially, at the end of episode 652, it shows about 12 days at the end of January and the whole of March, but only about 20 days in February. In episode 653, there are only 6 days at the end of January, and he marks an “X” at the fifth last. In episode 656, there are 13 days shown at the end of January, and he marks an “X” at the last of these.

Trivia:

The Collins family moved house a dozen times in the past as Paul was promoted (642). Brian has been in business for 20 years (648 ), and employed Gordon for seven weeks (652). Paul suggests that Gordon, who is right-handed (661), looks for a job at Marshall Motors, another garage near Brian’s (651), The garage he moves to may be called “Central Self Drive”, telephone 051 420 4433 – or, if not, that’s who they got their wall-clock from (659). The telephone number of his customer, Mr Hignall, is 257 9106 (661). Having opened a share account, number 1724301210, with the Birmingham Midshires Building Society, Gordon makes his first deposit on 18/01/89 (653). Eddie Slattery worked at Saffron Polymers (661), and has now been self-employed for three years (662).

Claire has a toy called David (643, 644) and another one called George (659). Debbie got two As and a B in her “A” levels, and has a place at Lancaster University this coming September (644). When he was born, Simon was 3.8kg and 54 cm (644). According to Ralph, Grace lived three years longer than expected (660). Sue joined Jonathan’s firm, Murdoch Gilchrist (668 ), in June when she was 20, and Martin moved to London when she was 25 (633).

According to Rod, the location of the corpse he has found is between Edge Hill and Wavertree Road (654). Elvis and Mavis Davis have a dog (663). Tracy is seen eating Coco Pops (664). Her solictor, Louise, is right-handed (648 ), is seen writing in shorthand (650) and is “sort of” married (666). Gerrard succeeded Mr Tate as the manager of the Elton Road Salon (669).

The firm Frank works for is Huyton Truck Haulage Contractors, Merseyside, telephone 051 480 5888 (649). Chrissy shops at Sainsbury’s (649). Katie likes Rick Astley (638 ); and Sammy used to like Terence Trent D’Arby, but now she prefers T’Pau and the Christians (638 ). Nisha, who was born in the UK (638 ), has two younger sisters and two brothers (638 ) – which would seem to be the whole family, according to her mother (657). Her family lives in a flat (638 ), which is above their shop (657), and her younger brother receives extra coaching (657). Mrs Ellison lives at 37 Windrush Avenue (652).

“Blink-and-you-miss-it” moment:

In episode 636, after initially placing two shredded wheats on his plate, Terry then deliberately adds a third one, as.if determined to disprove a certain advertising campaign.

The end-of-season cliffhanger:

For once, it’s a happy ending! Having won her case at the industrial tribunal, Tracy will receive £1,500 damages and her court costs for unfair dismissal by Gerrard. She thanks Louise, her solicitor, who concurs with Tracy’s view that she was “great”, and they leave the courtroom, together with Nikki, to have lunch – on Tracy.