Aadi is moving back into the Alahan household with his dad Dev and sister Asha. Dev is delighted to have his ‘A-Team’ back again. That was just one of the affectionate names he called his kids when they were little, but they now have no recollection of being named after the fictional soldiers of fortune from the 1980s. Aadi and Asha also stare at him blankly while he recalls referring to them, variously, as a popular ice-skating duo (Torvill and Dean), a pair of Sesame Street puppets (Bert and Ernie) and – depending on the unspecified provenance – a couple of cartoon characters/a meal made with cabbage and potatoes (Bubble And Squeek/bubble and squeak).
Cassie Plummer informs her mum Evelyn that the money she took from Terry Fensley has been donated to a dog charity. ‘Who let the dogs out? Me,’ she says, needing to explain to Evelyn that she’s quoting from the song made famous by Baha Men in 2000. Modern-day Robin Hood Cassie stops short at claiming she stole from the rich to give to the paw. Speaking of criminality, Damon Hay is visiting his half-brother Harvey Gaskell in prison. Damon says he was recently listening to the 1968 album At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash. The first track is Folsom Prison Blues, a song that an antagonistic Damon hopes will capture the extent of Harvey’s frustration at being banged up. Not done with his verbal assault, Damon also suggests that a band should do a Cash-style concert in Harvey’s slammer. ‘I think Right Said Fred are still going,’ he says. They are. Even Harvey’s name comes in for a kicking, with Damon comparing it unfavourably to his own ‘cool’ name. ‘Wasn’t there a little showjumper called Harvey back in the day?’ he asks. Yorkshire-born equestrian Harvey Smith was a household name in the Seventies. Famously, he once flicked a v-sign at a panel of showjumping judges. Crim Harvey doesn’t respond with anything so physical in the face of the incessant goading, but he does halt Damon in his tracks (like a horse refusing a fence) when he threateningly tells him to send his love to Sarah Barlow.
Gemma Winter-Brown walks in on her twin Paul Foreman as he’s watching the Kardashians on the telly. He claims the remote is broken and he can’t change the channel, but his excuse falls apart when Gemma manages to do so with ease. Caught bang to rights, Paul laments that he wanted to see a simmering row between Kardashian clan members Kris and Kourtney. At The Corner Shop, Tyrone Dobbs tells Evelyn that his wife Fiz is going on a freebie trip to Italy. Evelyn loses herself in a nostalgic reverie about the 1953 film Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. At Roy’s Rolls, Roy Cropper is also talking about a bygone age. As he serves Nina Lucas an omelette, he reveals he almost made her a haddock-based variant of the dish. It was created circa 1929 and named after the novelist Arnold Bennett.
Joseph Brown is feeling unwell again, so Paul tries to lift his spirits by talking about the latest Mission Impossible film. Joseph hasn’t seen Dead Reckoning, Part One. In fact, he hasn’t seen any of the Tom Cruise action franchise. Meanwhile, Asha helps out Aadi as he collects his belongings and moves back to Dev’s. When she finds a book of cheat codes for video games, Asha wonders if he’ll ever grow out of playing them. Someone who fancies himself as an experienced playa is David Platt. In the process of explaining to his family that Sarah is attracted to Damon’s bad-boy image, David reckons he possessed the same kind of fatal allure when he was single. ‘Hark at Warren Beatty,’ mocks his gran Audrey Roberts. Fun fact: David has been married more times than the legendary Hollywood ladies man.
Coronation Street episode 11164/11165. Originally aired 15th Jan 2024.
