Ryan Connor is being extremely reclusive, so Daniel Osbourne drops by to see how he’s doing. Ryan (in a a T-shirt bearing The Great Wave Off Kanazawa by Japanese artist Hokusai) sarcastically explains that he’s staying indoors because daytime telly is so unmissable. Daniel persuades him to stop avoiding Daisy Midgeley, although when the pair meet up later it’s more awkward than watching current editions of This Morning. Ryan tells her he doesn’t want to talk about his feelings. ‘It’s fine. Only here for the beer,’ replies Daisy, using a phrase that came into being in 1969 as an advertising slogan for Double Diamond pale ale. An earlier ad for the beer claimed ‘Double Diamond works wonders’, so hopefully Daisy’s visit will raise Ryan’s spirits in a similar fashion. They take in some game shows on TV, which is refreshing for Daisy because she says the only game show Daniel ever watches is ‘that impossible one on BBC2 where the questions don’t even make sense’. They connect over their shared dislike of Only Connect and kiss.
Alcohol is a suggested social relaxant at No 1 Coronation Street as well, when Summer Spellman encourages Amy Barlow to go out for a drink. Archdeacon Billy Mayhew would be proud of Summer paraphrasing a line from Corinthians. ‘Let’s drink and make merry,’ she says. At The Rovers, there’s drinking but not much merriment when Brian Packham learns his distant cousin Isabella Benvenuti will be staying for another three weeks. He proposes she takes a trip to Southport, tempting her with the historical titbit that the Merseyside town may have been the inspiration for the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The ensuing chat is like a cross between a history documentary and Tripadvisor, as Brian details how the young Napoleon III lived in Southport in 1838 and later instructed his architect to copy the design of the town’s boulevard in the French capital. Steve McDonald says he prefers Blackpool (‘The Las Vegas of the North,’ replies Brian), while Jenny Connor gives a shout out to Lytham St Annes. Brian also chips in with Morecambe, with its art deco Midland Hotel and showbiz tradition (it was the birthplace of the likes of Eric Morecambe and Thora Hird, as well as being the town where Helen Worth – who plays Corrie’s Gail Rodwell – grew up). At Viaduct Bistro, Amy and Summer are on their night out. They hear I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston and get up to dance. However, Amy is in a dark place after her horrific ordeal with Aaron Sandford. The flaming sambucas don’t work wonders and she’s sick in the street.
Coronation Street episode 10983/84. Originally aired 19th June 2023.
