Sally Metcalfe is doing a fitness workout to Donna Summer’s Bad Girls when her husband Tim walks in on her. He suggests joining in, but Sally reminds him that he hates disco. ‘I don’t hate disco,’ he replies. ‘Admittedly, I might be a bit more Tom Petty than Tom Jones.’ When Sally calls attention to the fact that Tom Jones isn’t disco, Tim says: ‘Alright, more Depeche Mode than Donna Summer then.’ After a hot and sweaty session toot-tooting and beep-beeping together to Bad Girls, the pair have the same thought – I Feel Love – and make a beeline for the bedroom.
Over a couple of custard slices and a chocolate eclair, Stu Carpenter informs us that Eliza Woodrow didn’t inherit her musical talent from her mum Bridget. Stu recalls that Bridget used to do a ‘dodgy’ rendition of London’s Burning on the recorder when she was at school. Most likely he’s referring to the nursery rhyme, rather than the song about urban isolation from The Clash’s 1977 debut album, but given the diversity of musical taste revealed on Corrie recently we can’t rule out the possibility that Bridget once fashioned a woodwind version of the punk classic.
A loved-up Sally and Tim go to the Viaduct Bistro. It’s busy, so they end up sharing a table with Aggie and Ed Bailey. A bubbly Sally orders champers from Bistro boss Debbie Webster. ‘Four glasses?’ asks Debbie. ‘Oh, it sounds like something from The Two Ronnies,’ observes Sally. ‘That was candles,’ Debbie clarifies. And it’s goodnight from her.
At the Platts, Gail tries to cheer up her grumpy son David by suggesting they watch Channel Four’s B&B reality show Four In A Bed. Speaking of having visitors, Bernie Winter tells daughter Gemma that her friend Fern Lindon has popped round. Gemma suspects that Fern might be a figment of her mum’s imagination. ‘Your imaginary friend, Fern,’ Gemma teases. ‘Is it Fern Britton? Is it Fearne Cotton?’ When Fern is nowhere to be seen, Bernie says she must have got called away. A mocking Gemma asks: ‘Called away? What do you think it is, Downton Abbey?’ Gemma’s scepticism seems reasonable when she recalls how her mum used to have hallucinations about former Big Breakfast host Gaby Roslin. Don’t do drugs, kids.
Sally is miffed when she finds out about Tim’s secret friendship with Aggie. When he says Aggie makes him laugh, Sally responds cattily: ‘She’s hardly Joan Rivers.’ Strange but true: the legendary US comic mimicked Tina O’Brien, who plays Sarah Barlow, at the 2007 TV BAFTAs.
Coronation Street episode 10769/70. Originally aired 14th Oct 2022.
