The Magic Rabbits are seen again in episode 845, this time watched by Leo; and their music is heard again, although neither the television pictures, nor Leo who is apparently watching them again, are visible, in episode 878.

Episode 879 ends, like previous Christmas episodes, with an alphabetical listing of the whole year’s team instead of the normal cast list.

The storylines:

This season sees the arrival of two new families, some of whose members would be present on the Close throughout the remaining thirteen years of the series – the Dixons and the Farnhams. While the Dixons have problems with their children’s behaviour, and the Farnhams have problems with their credit rating, their nanny and an ex-wife. it looks as if the new arrivals mostly have problems with each other!

Meanwhile, Frank gets another job; Sue moves back in with Terry; Mick does as he is done unto; and Rod, working undercover, meets his future wife. Jonathan moves to London, and Sheila moves to Basingstoke with Billy and Claire, leaving Barry as the only surviving member of the original cast. But can he survive being deep-frozen after a reckless encounter with some unforgiving business partners?

The dates:

It is Friday in episodes 845, 854 (based on dialogue in episode 850) and 863; it is Monday in episodes 847 and 849; and it is 17th October 1990 in episode 850. It is Saturday, and November, in episode 861, and 14th November 1990 in episode 862. It is the anniversary of Terry and Sue’s first date in episode 875, Christmas Eve in episode 879, and Christmas Day in episode 880.

Name-checks:

The Duke of Edinburgh (835); Einstein (837, 843); “Star Wars” (837); Adolf Hitler (837, 844); the Queen (837, 852), and her father, the King (837); “Alice in Wonderland” (837); Princess Di (838); Arnold Schwarzenegger (838, 841); Gaddafi (838); Charlie Bronson (839); Cinderella / Cinders (840, 872, 876); Robert the Bruce (841); Elvis (843, 845); Jimmy Jacobs (843); Jed Clampett (843, 872); Captain Ahab (843); Peter Stringfellow (843); [Jimmy] Tarbuck (844); “Rocky” (844); Sylvester Stallone (844); Rambo (844, 877); “Lethal Weapon 2” (844); Mel Gibson (844, 857); Ian Rush, footballer (844, 846); The Fonz / Fonzie (845, 859, 865); Marlon Brando (845); John Travolta (845); “Baywatch” (845); “The Sound Of Music” (845); James Dean (845, 846); Picasso (846); John Barnes (846, 851); Bruce Grobelaar (846) and Nicholl, footballers (846); the Clampetts (846, 855, 857, 867); Jethro (846); Morpheus, wizard (847); “Black Beauty” (847); Dick Turpin (848); Tom Jones (850); Guy Fawkes (850, 857, 858); Shirley Valentine (851, 852); “King Kong” (851, 860); Prince Philip (852); Major Peter Dempster (853); Jason Donovan (854); the great “Shanks”, footballer (854); the Bee Gees (855, 862); “Deputy Dawg” (855); Biffer Bacon (857); Sid the Sexist (857); “Lethal Weapon” (857); Henry VIII (858); Charles Dickens (859); Jacques Cousteau (859); Maggie Thatcher (859, 879); “King Kong” (860); “Y”ob Geldof (861); “Ayacoco”, tycoon who runs Chrysler (862); “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (862); Paul McCartney (862); Colin Harvey (862); Prince Charles (862); Nell Gwyn (862); Frank Sinatra (862); Mickey Mouse (862); Archangel Gabriel (862); “Crimewatch” (863); “The ‘A’ Team” (864); “Miami Vice” (864); “Coronation Street” (864, 870, 871, 872, 876); “Neighbours” (864, 869); Cassius Clay (864); Tyson (864); “Tiny Tim” (864); Florence Nightingale (864), “Batman” (864, 865); Sylvester Stallone (864); Michelangelo and Leonardo, hero turtles (864); John F. Kennedy (864); Sugar Ray Leonard (865); Alexei Sayle (865); “Daktari” (866); “Gazza” (866); Billy Butlin (866); Nancy Astor (867); Karl Marx (867); Mother Teresa (867); the Jackson Five (868); “The Wizard of Oz” (869); “Grange Hill” (869); Graham Sharp, Everton footballer (869); “Columbo” (869); Perry Mason (869); [Duncan] Goodhew (869); Sharron Davies (869); Mark Spitz (869); “Home and Away” (870); Mike Baldwin (870); “Little Lord Fauntleroy” (870); Clark Kent (870); The Beatles (870); John Winston Lennon (870); the Quarrymen (870); “Macca” [Paul McCartney] (870); Johnny and the Hurricanes (870); John Charles Julian Lennon (870); Cynthia Lennon (870); Shakespeare (872); Sir Lancelot (872); “This Is Your Life” (872); Al Capone (872); Casanova (873); Kathleen Turner (873); Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (873); James Bond (874); Ebenezer Scrooge (875, 878); De Niro (875); Marco Polo (876); “American Werewolf In London” (876); Kemo Sabe (876); Happy Mondays (877); Sandy Gall (879); Noddy (879); Dion and the Belmonts (879); the Lone Ranger (880); and Quasimodo (880).

Locations:

All of the action in this season is set in Liverpool, except that there are several scenes of Tracy, Nikki, Sam and Aki in Rhodes, Greece, in episodes 849 to 854.

Births:

None. Frankie was born on 11th October 1942, according to his tombstone (837, 838). It is Leo’s birthday in episode 839, and Terry’s in episode 857 when, according to the badge on his card from Sue, he is 30. It is Jimmy’s 35th birthday, 14th November 1990, in episode 862. Ron’s birthday is 25th December (876), and he celebrates it in episode 880. We are also reminded that Barry is 11 years older than Tracy (841), and told that Thomas is 18 months old (845). Barry is 31 (848). Jacqui is 15 (864, 869). Mike is 17 (867); Margaret is 16 (872); and Max grudgingly admits to being 30, although it is possible that he is rounding down a little (872).

Marriages:

None. We are told in episode 841, however, that Max married Patricia in September 1989.

Deaths:

Two. The impression created in episode 833 that Billy has been killed in a pub brawl is continued for the first half of episode 834, as the rest of the family are seen attending a funeral, returning home, and joined by Doreen. However, it emerges later in this episode that it is actually Cousin Don Corkhill who has been buried, after being kicked to death. A verdict of “death by misadventure” is later reached (848). We also find out in episode 846 that there has been a car crash, and in episode 847 it is revealed that it was on Saturday night, and Sue’s mother, Jane Harper, was killed. The following unseen characters who are no longer alive are also mentioned: Frankie (834, 836, 837, 838, 848), who died on 17th July 1975, according to his tombstone (837, 838); Ron’s mother Mabel (866), who died when he was young (849); Frank’s father, who died 36 years ago today (850); Jimmy’s father (851); and Rod’s grandad, Julia’s husband (863).

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

Patricia’s mother, Thomas’s Granny (835, 836, 837, 872) and father (872); Susannah, the first Mrs Farnham (836, 839, 842, 843, 846, 847, 864, 871, 872, 874, 875, 880); Grandad Christie, Josie’s dad (837, 857, 876) and her mum (876); Margaret’s mum (840, 845, 859, 861, 863, 866, 874); Aunty Lou (841, 842, 858, 859, 861); Kieran, Margaret’s old boyfriend (850, 867); Charlie, Maria’s husband (853, 877); Billy Butler, disc jockey (853, 866); Auntie Jackie (863); Diana’s dad (866, 868, 878); Sinbad’s mother (869); Lucinda, Geoffrey’s wife (871, 877); Gina, an old college friend of Chrissy (875); and Jack’s wife (878).

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

Sue’s mother (834, 847, 848, 858, 860, 880); Harry Cross (834, 835, 841, 844, 875, 878); Kevin (835, 836); Cousin Don (834, 836, 837, 848); Anthony (834, 846, 849, 859, 860, 865, 877, 878); Lisa Jenkins (835); Dr Michael Choi (836, 856, 863, 869); Margaret [Jefferson] (837, 838, 839); Damon (838, 839); Jaundrill (838); Paul Collins (838, 846, 848); Tommy McArdle (838); Helen [Jefferson] (839); Matthew [Jefferson] (839); Karen (839); Monty (841); Liam (846, 855); Pete (846); Jenny (847, 849, 850, 881); Kirsty (848, 860); WPC Emma Reid (848); Martin (850, 855); Ms Viv(ienne) Slater (856, 859); Laura (856); Laura’s father (856); the Pope (858, 875); Chrissy’s dad / Katie’s grandad (860, 880); Shelley (861); Cheryl (862); the Chois (865, 867, 869, 875); Caroline (869); Stephen Choi (869); Lenny (875); the Collins (875, 879); and Gerrard (878).

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

Ken Knowles, a mate of Billy’s who Doreen went out with (835); Jen, at Patricia’s office (835); Clare Woodhead, a friend of Siobhan, and her mother, a maths teacher at their school (835); Tony, Josie’s ex-boyfriend (835, 839, 861); Margaret’s father (836, 840, 847, 859, 864, 874, 875); Wayne, one of six friends whose birthday parties Leo has been to (836); Mick’s uncle Charlie (837); Grandad Johnson from Ghana (837); Big Jim Harrison, a friend of Frank (837); Grandma Williams in Cardiff (837); Kevin, son of Josie’s neighbour (837); Richard’s little daughter Zoe (837); Colin, a Round Tabler (839); Margaret’s sister (840); Pat, DD’s sister (843); Brian Finnegan aka “Fat Figgy”, a fat lad who was at school with Mick (844); Sinbad’s auntie Nora (844); Denny Kelly, the Dixons’ previous next-door neighbour (845); David, a former boyfriend of Tracy (846); Timmy, an ex of Nikki (846); Maureen, childminder (849); Sue’s uncle Trevor (849); Ron’s two brothers (849); Siobhan’s dad, “rolling in it” (850);.Togga’s uncle (850); Jimmy Spencer, trainer (850); Paxton, who has written a letter to Jonathan (850); Kieran’s dad, who had a Datsun (850); Nikki’s mother (850); Mrs Bridges aka “Missy Nora”, nurse at Katie’s school (850); Aki’s little sister (851); Aki’s cousin in the police (852); Polly Sparrow, and more kids than she can remember (852); Sue’s father (852); Aki’s uncle (853); Kevin, Nikki’s brother (854); John DeVere, horse owner (855); Maureen Hammond, whose Geography project was much longer than Growler’s (856); Bumper’s father (856); Margaret’s grandad (857, 866); Togga’s father (857); Mr McCormack and Mrs Emms, teachers (859); Sam at Terry’s garage (859); Mrs Maureen Rudd, indiscreet salon customer (859); Mrs Cowley, hair cancellation (861); Kev, a mate of Jimmy (862); Sue’s cousins in Newcastle (862); Dolly’s eldest, and the policeman she married (862); “Sticks”, band member (862, 863); Ken, bookmaker (863); Gus, a slob Jimmy shares a bedsit with (863); Pringle, Rod’s careers teacher (864); Brenda, George and Pilkie, employess (864); Bernie, one of the lunatics who run the Four Star Club (865); Mooney, head waiter (866); Margaret’s uncle Pat (867, 874); Cathy McInnes, a swimming rival of Jacqui (867, 869, 871); Belinda the Bike, at Mike’s school (868); Daley, supermarket boss (868); Leroy, who played the Black King in the school play instead of Leo (868); Margaret’s uncle, who had a fancy woman (869) and divorced his wife in the middle east (875); Sinbad’s father and sister (869); Carl’s gran and grandad (870); Margaret’s grandma (870); Mr Whittle, pharmacist (870); Sylvia, checkout girl (871); Ken, taxi driver (871); Douggie the Dog (872, 876); Forbes, in Mike and Carl’s General Studies class (874); Carl’s nan (875); Joan, an ugly college mate of Chrissy, who had a moustache (875); Gina, one of two of Chrissy’s college mates with the same name (875); Benbo, whose van Jimmy borrows (876); Miss Preston, Katie’s dance teacher (876); the Dearsons, whose party Geoffrey is going to miss (876); Mrs Trent, Cyril’s neighbour (877); Ron’s Aunt Greta (877); Donna, Maria’s daughter / Simon’s sister (877); Siobhan’s mum and dad (879); Ricky’s father (879); and Joseph, Matty’s son (880).

Goofs:

The odds quoted in the radio broadcast Jimmy listens to in episode 852 are inconsistent – the winner is the 4/1 joint favourite, yet the second-placed horse is at 3/1.

The cartoon of the “Scotty Dogs World Tour”, seen in episode 855, appears to spell Frank’s surname with an added D.

Chrissy, who often corrects similar mistakes made by her children, says in episode 860: “My dad bRought the coat.”.

All other mentions of Thomas’s accident refer to a DOOR, but at one point in episode 862, Patricia asks “How the hell did his finger get crushed in a drawer?”.

In episode 866 Diana has a few guesses at Rod’s name, and he doesn’t notice that none of them begin with the “C” on the name-badge he is wearing. He then carelessly reveals his real name to her, even though it is inconsistent with the badge. (Perhaps this is our first clue to the later revelation that Diana cannot read?)

Three of Josie’s words seem to have become jumbled up in episode 868: “There’s nothing more I’d love…”.

Margaret’s second last and third last words are in the wrong order in episode 875: “He thought he could get it done by pulling strings with his friends in Round the Table”.

Matty claims in episode 880 that his real name is Patrick, which contradicts at least two previous encounters with authority figures who, observing protocol and aiming to be strictly accurate, have addressed him as “Matthew…”.

Trivia:

Jimmy, who is left-handed (849), took a driving test once, and failed (863), whereas Billy took it three times and passed (863). Sheila picks up a book by Tom Clancy, which he hasn’t read, from Billy’s hospital bedside (834). Doreen lived on the estate for 35 years (836). She and Billy stayed with Julia, who is Tracy’s oldest living relative (872), for 15 years (863). Tracy, who was one of nine girls who had an abortion on the same morning (834), takes driving lessons with the “Driveway School Of Motoring”, whose telephone number is 269 3404 (865, 866).

While working undercover in Ainsworth’s supermarket (863, 868), Rod’s name badge reads “Mr C. Watts” (864, 867, 868), while Tommo’s is “Mr D. Tracy” (864). Although Rod has been previously referred to as “Rodney” at times, when Diana asks him in episode 866 whether “Rod” is short for “Rodney” or “Roderick”, surprisingly he says it is “just Rod”. Diana’s dad weighs 18 stone (866), and taught her to drive (868). Cousin Don Corkhill was the same age as Frankie when he died (834). Barry is left-handed (848).

DD’s star sign is Virgo (843). She, or someone else in this household, has the book “A Creed For The Third Millennium” by Colleen McCullough (866). Ron’s skip is marked “BARRY, 933 0308” (845, 847, 852, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860), and the lorry which collects it is from “Barry’s Skip Hire, Princes St, Bootle 051 933 0308” (860). Ron, who has no “A” levels (862), and a somewhat less than perfect grasp of written English, based on the notes he leaves for Mike (868), claims – jokingly? – that when he was young he was one of 16 sharing a bed, 15 of whom were bed-wetters (874). He receives a fax from Fertile Freddie’s Fruit Farm and Gorton’s Wholesale: Square Eggs A Speciality (874), and used to have a Ford Anglia – as did Sinbad, whose sister was adopted at the age of 2 (869).

Mike and Sinnott are both in the sixth form (865) at Brookside Comprehensive School, on whose sign the headmaster’s surname is Woodcock (870). Mike is taking “A” levels (849, 862), in Economics, Art, Sociology and General Studies (873). He is in the year below Sammy at school (843) – so she must be in the upper sixth, as is Nisha (840). Carl is also taking General Studies (874), along with French, English and Sociology (873), and implies that the sociology teacher is called Mr Phillips (873). Jacqui, who trains at Courtney Johnston Swimming Baths (874), and doesn’t buy Jason Donovan magazines (854), is in the year below Growler (843).

Patricia collects teapots (864). Max is a chartered surveyor (854, 865, 869, 876, 877) and is not keen on pasta or fish paste (838). He drives a Volvo 480 Turbo (835), and his removalists are E. Halsall & Sons, Removal & Storage, 76-78 Manchester Road, Southport, Merseyside PR9 9BA, 0704 32112 (835), Margaret’s father has a manual job, and an allotment (840). Her mum, whose favourite film is “The Sound Of Music” (845), has a microwave (863). Matty is right-handed (880), and so is Terry (873), who didn’t marry Sue at St Thomas’s, her mother’s church (849). The “for sale” sign at number 9 bears the name “Binenan Estates” and the telephone number 051 259 9106 (873).

Mick picks up three fares, who then beat him up, from the Jackaman pub (861). His telephone number is 259 9232 (836); yet this is also the number which appears on Barry’s fliers for the rave (844)!! Leo is starting at Manor Park Primary School (843). Josie works in a DIY shop (846), and her catalogue account is number JJ256001 (874). Marcia, Josie’s oldest friend (839), was engaged for six months to a lunatic who ran the Four-Star Club (865). Jonathan is from Croydon (853). Frank, who plays “Connect 4” with Growler (853), has had his car for 24 years (837). Katie reveals to Siobhan that she has just had her first period (873).

“Blink-and-you-miss it” moment:

In episode 876, Josie is seen cutting an article about Mick out of the Echo. Appearing on-screen only very briefly, surrounded by stories such as “New by-pass completed”, “Craig’s dream comes true”, “Talks to hit buses” and “Patient safe”, this is what it says:

Daring dad tackles intruder

A local man is being hailed a hero after single-handedly tackling an intruder. Mr Michael Johnson, who lives in Brookside Close, Manor Park, was alarmed to discover a man trying to break into the bedroom of his two young children. Mr Johnson, who has been the recent victim of a vicious assault while driving a taxi, managed to apprehend the intruder and prevented his escape. The incident, which happened last Friday evening, is the latest in a long line of break-ins and thefts in the Manor Park area. Local residents were quick to applaud Mr Johnson’s actions.