With Aggie not being at home for Christmas, Ed suggests the Bailey household should dial down the festivities this year. Sarge is having none of it, and he labels Ed a Scrooge for his lack of seasonal cheer. Ryan Connor is saying his goodbyes before he moves to Glasgow. Well-travelled Peter Barlow acts as a Time Out guide for the Scottish city, recommending places Ryan needs to visit. These include The Horse Shoe Bar, a Victorian gin palace with a record-breaking 104ft-long bar.
David Platt and Maria Connor continue to bicker over which one of them should manage the hair salon. David even trots out his old gripe about Maria binning his stuffed weasel, who was named after the actor Vin Diesel. In his job interview with his grandmother Audrey Roberts, David goes for a nepotistic approach. He uses the 12th Century adage ‘blood is thicker than water’ to argue that he should become the manager. After some deliberation, Audrey decides to double down on the nepotism and appoint herself.
Cassie Plummer tells her mum Evelyn that South Africa has the edge over the UK when it comes to puddings. ‘Give me a tipsy tart, any day,’ says Cassie, referring to the date-flavoured, brandy-drenched dessert that’s also known as Cape brandy pudding. Meanwhile, at No 9, Hope Dobbs is gleefully recounting a violent scene from the 1953 Roald Dahl short story Lamb To The Slaughter. It’s a set text at her school. With her love of all things dark, Hope will probably get an A+. Evelyn yearns for a time when children studied the classics. She says her favourite writer was Winifred Holtby, who was best known for her epic 1936 novel South Riding. Evelyn reveals her identification with the novel’s heroine Sarah Burton – ‘a free-thinking, headstrong, passionate woman’ – although Tyrone Dobbs unfairly suggests she has more in common with Mrs Twit from Dahl’s 1980 novel The Twits. Cassie has a bright idea, and tells Roy Cropper he should buy Evelyn a limited-edition copy of South Riding as a Christmas present. If he can’t find one in time, he could always bake her a tipsy tart.
Coronation Street episode 11141/11142. Originally aired 20th Dec 2023.
