Brookside Soapbox Previously on Brookside

Weeks Commencing December 23rd / 30th 2001

Jimmy was disappointed when Lindsey chose to spend Christmas with Jackie and wasn't looking forward to spending time on his own. Emily was also despondent as she still hadn't heard from Tim and had hoped they would be spending their first Christmas together.
When Nikki invited both Emily and Jimmy round for Christmas dinner it seemed the ideal solution to cheer them both up, and although Jimmy was delighted Emily remained distraught. Despite Jimmy trying to reassure her that Tim was probably just keeping a low profile after doing a job with Christie, Emily set off to question Leanne. At first Leanne claimed Tim did a runner, but later Christie revealed that Tim fell in the river when the van crashed and hadn't been seen since.

Meanwhile Tim had woken up in hospital where the police were waiting to question him. Tim managed to avoid the police by stealing an ambulance and he and Emily were soon reunited. Furious at being left for dead Tim gave Christie a beating before taking the money owed to him.
Later Tim tried to thank his rescuer Martin, but was disappointed to discover Martin wasn't really bothered about him. With his moral at an all time low he realised how few real friends he had, but Emily cheered him up by saying it took bottle top steal the ambulance. His confidence restored Tim vowed to have another attempt at stealing the booze, but this time with Steve's help.

On Christmas Day there was an emotional time at the Dixon's as Mike read out a letter written by Ron. Later Jacqui had a heart to heart with Rachel and admitted she was finding looking after Harry and Emma a lot more demanding than she thought, but was determined to keep this from Max.
Katie meanwhile was missing Clint and decided to visit his grave and Sammy revealed the truth about her troubled marriage.

Jimmy believed he would be better off without drugs, and decided it was time to take control of his life and come off his medication. He later admitted he might have to to resort to locking himself in the extension to avoid the temptation of taking his pills.

The New Year looked bleak for both Christy and Leanne after she was forced to shut Bev's Bar. After all the booze that Christy and Tim stole ended up at the bottom of the river, the gang it belonged to expected Christy to replace it from the stock at Bev's Bar. At first Leanne was reluctant to help him but when she realised how terrified he was, she agreed to hand over all the stock. Leanne hoped to replace all the booze, but the brewery refused to give her any more credit. In the end she had no choice but to close the bar.

There were more problems for the Murray family this fortnight when Anthony decided he had enough of living in fear of Imelda and Paige. After listening to advice from Steve he armed himself with an iron bar to tackle his tormentors. Although he only intended the bar to act as a deterrent, Imelda pushed him too far and Anthony struck out and hit her with it.

Horrified by his actions Anthony was worried about the consequences, but he didn't have long to wait. The arrival of Imelda's brothers on the close spelt trouble for the Murray's. They were out for revenge and it was not long before a fight broke out between Imelda's brothers, the Murrays and several of their neighbours. Anthony was shocked by how much trouble he had caused, and when he heard that Imelda's family may press charges he resolved never to return to school.

Also in Brookside this fortnight Rachel wondered how she would manage without a job now that Bev's Bar had closed, while Sammy tried to secure work as a receptionist at the health club by flirting with Sol.
Brigid refused to accept a peace offering from Jessie.