Carla Barlow’s hectic work schedule means she doesn’t have time to enjoy the breakfast that has been lovingly prepared by her husband Peter. Despite his protests, she wolfs down a cup of coffee instead and sets off for Underworld on an empty stomach. ‘Every Minion needs its Gru,’ she says. ‘And that is me.’ On the subject of being despicable, Stephen Reid’s journal may be the key to discovering where he hid the stolen Underworld funds, so Carla is itching to get her hands on the book. She’s looking for a password to access one of Stephen’s files, but the budding Alan Turing doesn’t help matters when she loses her temper with Stephen’s mum Audrey Roberts.
Peter is in a sombre mood in Victoria Gardens – a location that seems to act like a homing beacon for Weatherfield residents who are experiencing dark thoughts. Tim Metcalfe arrives and invites his friend to open up about his problems, but Peter stays tight-lipped. He also politely points out that Tim is no Sigmund Freud. In all likelihood, Freud wouldn’t have advised Peter – as Tim does – to take up fishing as a cure-all. When Daisy Midgeley and Daniel Osbourne almost collide in the street, she tells him she’s planning to join forces with Jenny Connor to buy The Rovers. Daniel snarkily asks if she’s found some magic beans to fund the purchase. Tim has a Plan B therapy to help Peter: a hot tub session. ‘Feel them lovely bubbles against your skin,’ says Tim, as the pair – plus a rubber duck – recline in the garden at Chez Metcalfe. Peter says he feels like a boiled egg, and he thinks Tim sounds like the Dalai Lama. What would Freud make of that?
The Platts are having a soul-baring family gathering at Viaduct Bistro. When it’s time for David Platt to contribute some kind words about his sister Sarah, despite insisting he isn’t ‘one for the whole Oprah routine’, he manages to deliver a heartfelt speech. At 15a Rosamund Street, Peter uses the nautical expression ‘drop the pilot’, which will be familiar to fans of Joan Armatrading (she had a hit with a song of that name in 1983). But it’s unfamiliar to Carla, who jokes: ‘It really is like living with Captain Pugwash recently.’ The expression refers to dismissing someone who’s relied upon, which is probably what Daisy feels like doing when Jenny criticises her dodgy scheme for financing the pub buyout.
Coronation Street episode 11139/11140. Originally aired 18th Dec 2023.
