Season Eighteen Episode Guide

The storylines:

While Tranmere Rovers are keen to recruit Growler, things go much less well for his sisters, as Katie is being bullied at school, and Sammy turns to drink after a joyride results in some deaths and Owen needing a wheelchair. Elsewhere, Paul and Annabelle consider fostering abused child Louise, Sue gives birth to Danny, and Gordon and Rod’s new jobs doesn’t always go quite as smoothly as they might have hoped. While Caroline is wooed by James, Michael also has conflicts at work, and with his father over his choice of girlfriend, with whom he considers moving to America. Harry finds a new lodger, Mick, as Ralph does move to America with his new fiancee Lana. Cheryl walks out on Jonathan, and Doreen also disappears forever, leaving Billy with Sheila. Not too pleased about this, Tracy also decides to leave, with Barry…….but maybe she will be back?

The dates:

There are very few clear indications in this season: it is nearly the start of autumn in episode 718; it is Wednesday in episode 740; it is December, and Christmas in a fortnight or so, in episode 743; it is Christmas Day in episode 749; and it is Boxing Day in episode 750. The date on a cheque recently written by Jonathan in episode 719 is 10th September 1989.

Name-checks:

Lucrecia Borgia (710); Hitler (710); “Worzel Gummidge” (713); Mickey Mouse (714); Elvis Presley (714); Sherlock Holmes (715); Joni Mitchell (720); Casanova (723); Tom Jones (724); John Travolta (724); “Captain Birdseye” (724), Shirley Temple (724);”Crimewatch” (725); “Romeo and Juliet” (726); “Neighbours” (726); Abraham and Mrs Lincoln (726); Wild Bill Hickock (730); John Wayne (730); Erasure (733); Kenny Dalglish (734); “Blue Peter” (737); Les Dawson (738); “The Man From Atlantis” (738); Stanley Matthews and Billy Liddle, footballers (740); “Batman” (741); “Rambo” (742); Oscar Wilde (745); “One Man And His Dog” (747); Picasso (748); Dick Turpin (748); the Queen (749, 750); and “King Kong” (751).

Locations:

All of the action is set in or near Liverpool, except that the joyriders are seen on various roads, mainly near Rainford (and, ultimately, in a field) on the way to Wigan in episode 727; and there are scenes at, and in, a bottling plant in Chester in episode 739, which Gordon is seen revisiting under cover of darkness in episode 744.

Births:

One – Daniel John Sullivan is born in episode 718, and he is 2 months old in episode 733. Louise was 14 on 21st July, a couple of weeks ago (710); she was born in 1975 (715); and is still 14 in episode 711. We are also told that Terry is nearly 30 (710); Hattie is 8 going on 80 (713); Simon is 12 months old (713); Caroline was 17 five years ago (713); Gary is 16 (715); Jonathan is nearly 30 (720); Sheila is 49 (740). Mick’s son is 5 and his daughter is 2 (711); Sammy, Ronnie and Nisha are all 16 (728); Owen is 18 (728); Kav is/was 19 (728); Tony is/was 18 (728); Paul’s birthday is this week (733); Claire is 5 (738), then 4 (741, 746); Jessica is 6 (742, 750); Cheryl will be 30 in four or five years (743); and Barry is 11 years older than Tracy (751).

Marriages:

None. Sheila implies that she and Bobby were married for 30 years (746), and Mick says he broke up with his wife just before Christmas (711); but there are no other indications of when, or for how long, anyone else might have been married.

Deaths:

Three – Rod accidentally turns Mrs Smart’s goldfish into an ex-goldfish by putting it in hot water in episode 721; and we learn in episode 728 that when the car in which they were joyriding crashed, both Tony (Anthony Hampson, 18 ) and Kav (Francis Kavanagh, 19) were killed. The following unseen characters who are no longer alive are also mentioned: Lana’s husband Carter (710, 723, 727), who died in Scotland eighteen months ago (709); Mei Lin, Michael’s wife (713, 714, 721, 722, 733, 737); Stephen’s wife, who died 5 years ago (713); Frank’s father, who died when he was 8, and his mother (718 ); Big Bill Higgins, a fireman who was as strong as an ox and died six months after taking early retirement and emigrating to Australia (727); Paul’s father (737); and Mr Trevor’s wife Megan, who died nine months ago (741).

Toilet visits:

Alison (712); Barry (713); Mick (713); Katie (718); Kirsty (732); Lenny (738); Mr Trevor (741); Chrissy (747); and Sinbad (750).

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

Mick’s two kids (710, 711, 716) and ex-wife (711); Terry’s mum, who died when he was young (711); and Owen’s mum and dad (740).

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

Mona (709, 710, 713, 714, 721, 722, 723, 728, 729, 741); Gerald Fallon (709, 710, 713, 714, 721, 723, 727, 728, 729, 741); Kevin (709, 716, 747, 748); Lucy (710, 711, 712, 714, 715, 728, 740, 741, 743); Tim (710, 721); Edna (711, 719, 720, 729); Grace (711, 729); Ray (711, 712), who has had a heart attack (711); Brian Lawrence (711, 723, 728 ); Debbie (713, 745, 746, 748 ); Jamie (714, 750); Damon (715, 717); Teresa (716); Karen (717); Bobby (717, 740, 746); [Tom] Osbourne (719); Madge (722, 727, 728); Mrs Batra, Nisha’s mum (724, 742); Dave Lacey (732); Laura (732, 745); Pete (734); Chris (741, 745); Nisha’s dad (736, 742); Anthony (739); Eileen (743, 749); Geoff and Katie’s Grandad (741, 744, 749); Martin (746); Arthur (747); Betty (747); and Sally (747, 748 ).

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

Rob, Hattie’s father (710, 712, 721, 725, 734); Roger, a possible stand-in for Michael (712); Dr Bryant, a colleague of Michael (712); Lee Kwong, Stephen’s chef (712); Mr Ying, Amy’s father (712, 713); Jed, one of Lana’s sons, and his kids (713); Amy’s brother (713); Mei Lin’s parents (714); Peter, who Doreen has been seeing (714); Louise’s mum (715, 733); Maureen, Lenny’s wife, their three daughters, her brothers Michael and Mark, and her parents (718); Jessica’s grandpa and grandma in Hong Kong (718); Jonathan’s nephew (719); Mrs Williams, child minder (721); Lana’s boys (722); Mr Lippon, Rick’s boss (722); Luigi, in Sammy’s photos (723); Kav’s brother (724); Tony’s sister, who is Sammy’s age (724); Richard, a contact of Paul (725); Jimmy Holt, escaped prisoner (725); Sam Meade. who could blow Alison’s American job (725); Tommo’s mum (725); Chloe, an older friend of Hattie (726); Big Bill Higgins’s daughter and the Australian doctor she married (727); Kav’s cousin (727); Jim, a boss or mate of Frank (728); Detective Inspector Boyd, and his daughter-in-law Tina (728); Mrs Black at Chadwick House (728); Mrs Walton, who teaches Sammy General Studies (729); Lana’s friend Rocky, who owns a bar and has a small plane (729); Jackie Mac, a driver, and his wife who is nine months pregnant (731); Alison’s parents (734); Miss Francis, Louise’s teacher (735); Owen’s aunt and uncle (735); Caroline’s uncle (735, 736); Llewellyn, one of Jonathan’s new clients (735); Ellie, who got the low-paid job of care assistant at the deaf school (736); Mrs Chung, who Michael considers asking to look after Jessica, and her grandchildren (736); Marcel, wine-taster (738); Carmel, Katie’s friend (738); Alan, who used to be the treasurer of the sports club (738); Miss Donovan, teacher (739); Judith’s parents (740); Gerald’s son (741); Janet, Michael’s practice manager (741); Penny, a patient (741); Mr McCormack, who had a colostomy a year ago (741); Mrs Moss, Jessica’s teacher (741); Bumper’s 8-year-old sister (742); James’s father, who he worked for in Hong Kong (742); Mr Stevens, detective (744); Jacky Thompson, a contact of Billy (744); Mr Stevenson, patient (745); Rita Bailey, Terry and Barry’s strip-poker partner (746); Mary Fisher and Susanna Clayton in Katie’s class, and their form tutor Mrs Grey (747); Sally’s mother in Colchester (747); Denny, Jack’s mate (749); Mary, Mikey’s wife/woman (750); Mary Feeney, who was once bitten by Bagga (751).

Goofs:

Harry’s second and third words seem to be the wrong way round in episode 722: “I even haven’t got a bed to sleep in”.

Michael misses out the word “at” in episode 726: “It puts me a disadvantage”.

Barry adds an extra “n” to the sixth word in episode 750: “I don’t know what you never saw in him.”.

Trivia:

Caroline answers the phone with the last four digits “9443” (742). Michael, who is her only brother (737), trained for six years (748), and received a Mini from his father for his 21st birthday present (733). Jessica’s Chinese name is Tam Hing (713). Alison is right-handed (725). Dr John Holmes is Michael’s senior partner (739), and there are three others, including practice manager Janet (741). Amy is a qualified accountant (712), her father is one of the finest surgeons in Hong Kong (712), and her brother is.also a doctor (713).

Annabelle has never been to America (709). The bottling plant Gordon visits in Chester, which supplied bad wine to client “Jolyon’s” (740) is Croces & Sons (739). Judith has a flat in Sefton Park (740). Gary and Louise are seen playing monopoly (739). Louise, who is left-handed (727), has never been abroad (712). Her father is a hopeless gardener (712) and broke a leg five years ago (715); and her mum left eight years ago (715).

The course Sheila is doing is “The Age of Enlightenment” (738). The pub she is working at is “The Queen’s Arms” (742). Barry sucked his thumb until he was 10 (719). Nikki lives in Manor Green (715). Mrs Smart is Rod’s chief inspector’s mother-in-law (721). Rod catches a thief of McConnell Fresh Scottish Salmon from J.C & W Balfour Ltd (722). Mr Trevor’s shop is called “Woollybacks” (741, 742). Katie was born early, whereas Geoff only arrived after two false alarms (717). The firm “Timberwise”, telephone number 051 647 9097, deal with the dry rot (719). Mr Jenkins is right-handed (747).

Harry, who hears on a radio news broadcast that the Christmas tree was stolen from outside a factory in Prescot (750), has known Ralph, who is Church of England (729), since he was 14 (722). Lana, a Baptist (729), has lived in Las Vegas for 22 years, and was previously from Bakersfield, California (709). She has three bathrooms (723), and books all about the Lake District by Rogue Harries and Judith Parris (713). Mick split from his wife just before Christmas (711). He lives in Scarab Street (711), then finds a flat off Bickerstaff Road (719). His mother brought up his family, and he was present at the births of both his children (711).

Although Terry covers the name printed on Jonathan’s cheque with his thumb, all the other details of Jonathan’s account are momentarily visible – it is with the Liverpool, Aintree Branch of Barclays, at 499 Rice Lane, Liverpool L9 8AR, and is account number 20-50-62 50734268 (719). Cheryl, who is right-handed (743) goes with Jonathan to the UCI Westbrook 10, in Warrington, to see one of the ten films on offer there: “Batman”, “The Abyss”, “Sex, Lies And Video”, “Young Einstein”, “Dead Poets Society”, “K9”, “Cookie”, “Eric The Viking”, “Star Trek 5” or “Lethal Weapon 2” (729).

“Blink-and-you-miss it” moment:

Almost a year before making the first of more than a thousand appearances as Jacqui Dixon/Farnham, Alexandra Fletcher appears fleetingly in a non-speaking role as a pupil passing by in episode 747.

The end-of-season cliffhanger:

Billy tries to persuade Tracy not to leave with Barry, but she is determined to go, and, as soon as there is space for their car to pass the lorry taking the children and their Christmas tree back, they are away. After looking on in disappointment, Billy walks away – as does Harry, who realises that he still has all the jam butties he was going to give to the children.