Todd Grimshaw jokes with Aggie Bailey that ‘Knock ‘em dead’ is the motto at Shuttleworth’s Funeral Services. The saying came into use in American Vaudeville at the end of the 19th Century. Knocking ‘em dead was also something John Stape was in the habit of doing and his daughter Hope tells Sam Blakeman she’d like to know more about her late dad. Sam lost his mum and he reveals that when he’s missing her he watches their favourite film Finding Nemo. Hope has been doing something similar with a tape of her father talking. The tape gets tangled up and Tyrone Dobbs repairs it, but is shocked when he discovers it contains John’s critique of Little Women.
At Roy’s Rolls, Bernie Winter regales Aaron Sandford and Billy Mayhew about her love of the Egyptians. Aaron says Manchester Museum has a great Egyptology department and Bernie thinks she lived in Egypt during a previous life. We also learn that in her current life Bernie used to practise the ancient art of foot reading (also known as solestry) at festivals and her friend practised nery phuyt (which translates as ‘shepherd of the anus’, although Bernie prefers ‘bum doctor’). Then she smells burning and hopes it isn’t Roy Cropper’s toad in the hole, conjuring up an image we’ll never be able to unsee. Back at No 9, Fiz Dobbs tells Hope that her and John’s special song when they first met was I’ll Be Missing You by Puff Daddy. Fiz might as well be talking about someone from ancient Egypt as far as Hope is concerned because she hasn’t heard of the hip-hop tycoon, not even under his P Diddy moniker.
Coronation Street episode 10852/53. Originally aired 16th Jan 2023.
