After taking Roy Cropper’s dog Freddie for a walk, Lauren Bolton wonders why small dogs like Freddie are keen to pick fights with bruising mutts. Roy thinks Freddie has a Napoleon complex, which makes him try to compensate for his lack of stature by being overly aggressive. Historians now believe that Napoleon Bonaparte was around the average height for a French man in the early 19th Century, yet he’s still used as a classic example of small man syndrome. Later, Roy’s also on hand to impart more knowledge when Steve McDonald describes Street Cars’ rivals Go Lucky as a flock of vultures. ‘Strictly speaking, it’s a kettle of vultures. If they’re in flight,’ says Roy. ‘Unless they’re sitting in trees, then it’s a committee. Then if they’re eating, it’s a wake,’ adds catering’s collective-noun cognoscente.
Following on from Roy’s educational speech, we also learn where George Shuttleworth hides his pink wafers. That isn’t a euphemism; George secretes biscuits inside the box of a model Stuka dive bomber to stop Mary Taylor scoffing them all. The German World War Two plane was known for the Jericho Trumpet sirens it employed to generate fear and panic. Even without sirens, Mary has been known to have the same effect.
Coronation Street episode 11091/11092. Originally aired 23rd Oct 2023.
