Saturday December 21st 2002

Following his arrest Marty was being held at a remand centre and was unaware that Anthony had run away, so while Steve and Jan were looking forward to visiting him, they were undecided as to whether to tell Marty about his disappearance.
Meanwhile Anthony desperately wanted to help his dad, and was racked with guilt over Imelda's death and Marty being wrongly accused of her murder. Finally as he sat beside a river, tormented by these thoughts, he saw a policewoman and decided to confess. After listening to what he had to say, the police believed his version of events which resulted in Marty being released without charge and Anthony arrested.

Although Marty was relieved to home for Christmas he was even more worried about what would happen to Anthony. His concern was shared by Jan who offered Marty her support, and as Christmas got underway they find themselves drawn together and ended up sharing a kiss.

On the Parade, the rivalry between Ron and Christy continued. Ron had a few tricks up his sleeve to outdo his adversary and decided to dress up as Santa. Unfortunately Christy had already set up his own grotto, and before long the season of goodwill was forgotten as the two started fighting over who was the best man for the job.
The Farnham's found themselves with a full house after Ron invited Bev, Josh, Mike, Rachel and Beth to join them for Christmas dinner, with a tearful Brigid being a late arrival. The Christmas cheer soon evaporated when Max discovered that while had he been paying Ron to do the Restaurant's laundry, he had been tapping into his electric to run his machines.

Also on Brookside this week Tim was intent on getting revenge on Terry, and despite Jimmy's earlier advice, headed off to Manchester to find Terry.
There was a strained atmosphere over at the Gordons as Debbie still refused to accept that Alan may not return, while Sean missed out on seeing Luke.
Nisha was also feeling a little dejected when she heard about Gary's holiday.