Gary Windass shares a major secret with Liam Connor: his favourite sweets are dolly mixtures. Legend has it the multicoloured fondant shapes were named after the daughter of a particularly successful salesman at the confectionery company. At The Kabin, which is probably where Gary satisfies his sweet cravings, Brian Packham demonstrates his own sales skills. He offers Lauren Bolton a free sherbet flying saucer if she decides to buy the magazine she’s reading. Lauren takes the bait, saying the mag (a Corrieverse-only publication called Tell Me) ‘has the world’s maddest stories’, including one about a woman who’s growing another head. Brian reckons such magazines are the modern equivalent of the 19th Century’s ‘so-called freak shows’. Lauren realises she doesn’t have enough money for the mag, but Max Turner offers to buy it for her. Brian continues the dolly theme by calling Lauren and Max ‘a right pair of Dolly Daydreams’, which is an expression that probably originates from the 1897 song Little Dolly Daydream.
Later, at Roy’s Rolls, Brian is talking tattoos with Nina Lucas and Shona Platt. He recalls a childhood visit to Blackpool, when he saw a woman with head-to-toe ink. The focal point of her body art was an Elvis Presley design on her torso. Brian says he would opt for a Neil Diamond tattoo. ‘Who?’ asks Nina. It’s hard to believe she isn’t aware of the man who sings Sweet Caroline, given the song’s ubiquity at almost every national event in recent years. Meanwhile, Sabrina Adetiba makes an effort to befriend Lauren. In the spirit of sharing, Lauren reveals a little about herself, including the fact she likes Bruce Lee films and country music.
Ed and Ronnie Bailey are lending their dad Sarge some money. Ronnie emphasises they want it repaid eventually because neither of them are loaded like the entrepreneur Stephen Bartlett. The Dragons’ Den member has previous on the cobbles. Last year, he tweeted his shock when Shona described him as having ‘the body of a young god’. Maybe she’ll be tempted to have his likeness tattooed on her torso.
Coronation Street episode 11123/11124. Originally aired 29th Nov 2023.
