What an absolutely knockout episode. The best one since Lindsey pulled the gun on Callum, in my opinion. Funny, well-written and well-acted. Matt and Bosco are really developing into an excellent double-act - reminds me of the days of Damon Grant.
This resume could be a longer one than usual, so without further ado, we'll pick it up where we left off yesterday - with Margi having just told Greg that Nikki had been seen with Harvey.
"Give me the car keys. I'm gonna go and find Harvey", bellowed Greg.
Margi refused and instead called the police. She's informed that DS Rose is unavailable and so decides to call Bernie in the hope of getting Harvey's address. Having succeeded, Margi and Greg hot foot it to the Halls of Residence.
Meanwhile, less intense thoughts are occupying the minds of the Close's own resident entrepreneurs who continue their preparations for their assault on "Stonehenge 99".
"Do you, or do you not, want to be mobbed by naked hippy chicks?", Matt asks Bosco.
Having already declared a knocked-off bag of aggregate to be the 'Stones of Shad', today's project involved making Druid staffs from branches hacked from trees in the woods.
"Me Grandad's got some garden stuff, I'll see if he's got a decent saw", said Matt.
"I hope it's got a better set of teeth than he has", replied Bosco. LOL!
Next door in number seven, Lindsey's telling Susannah that she's lined up a meeting with a potential client at four o'clock that afternoon. Susannah had given Katrina the afternoon off (to go to the secret modelling interview) and was worried in case (and knowing full well, probably, in her heart of hearts) Katrina wouldn't be back in time. Lindsey laughed off Susannah's worries saying "One just can't get the staff these days, can one?"
Matt and Bosco's quest for the wood from which they could make the Druid staffs, however, had produced some poor results and the branches (twigs, actually, I think!) which they'd obtained were too small and not straight enough. Matt picks one up and looks at it disappointingly.
"You just can't get the staffs these days", he says dejectedly. LOL!
Bosco is equally unenthused by the motley collection of sticks: "Who in their right mind is gonna pay a penny for junk like this?, he asks.
Matt replies with: "We're not looking for people in their right minds. We're targeting New Age divvies, remember." (!)
Determined to make the best of things, Bosco remembers that his parents are away at the weekend and suggests that Matt comes stay to keep his mind off Luke. [ Hmm, I'm enjoying the antics of these two. . . this sounds promising. . . ]
Susannah found out that Katrina had asked Jessie to babysit for Harry and Emma in her absence, since she (Katrina) expected to be late back from the interview. As you can imagine, Susannah was less than pleased with such an arrangement having been made behind her back and went into one as soon as Katrina walked through the front door. Late for her meeting, Susannah then stormed off to the Club, leaving Katrina close to tears.
At the Club, it was Susannah's turn to be on the receiving end as Lindsey laid into her for missing the meeting. Lindsey accused Susannah of being neither committed nor professional and pointed out that she wasn't the only person with a child to look after. Just wasn't your day, was it Suse?
There's obviously worse to come by the look of things. . . Lindsey was advising Susannah to get the issue of Katrina's hours sorted once and for all, in case Katrina threw in the towel.
Why are there *obviously* problems looming? Because Lindsey said "Katrina seems like a really reliable and conscientious-type person". Oh yeah, well, we'll see. . . It can't be long now, surely. . .
Lindsey had another visitor at the Club: Jimmy who'd called by to offer her a belated house-warming present. He called it an 'Object Dart' (yes, *I* know, but this *is* Jimmy Corkhill we're talking about!). It was an err, um, err, well, a 'thing'. A 'thing' made out of old newspapers. Lindsey thought it was a vase. Apparently it wasn't. I thought it might have been the base unit for a table lamp, but I don't think that it could have been. Lindsey, thanked him anyway, saying it was "dead alright". It was certainly dead!
R'Linds then made the mistake of mentioning the tapestry. Asking him if he'd thought where he was going to display it, Jimmy looked around the restaurant and said that it would go well in there. Yeah, okay, so who's gonna tell Susannah, then?
Greg and Margi had made it to the university halls of residence and eventually found Harvey's flat. Greg kicks down the door and barges in, whilst Margi again calls the police, this time from Greg's mobile.
Harvey *is* in the flat, but he's on his own. Greg pushes him out of the way. Margi finds a handful of drawings in the bedroom. Recoiling in horror, she realises that each one is a picture of Nikki. Greg (being Greg) realises that he finally has an opportunity to hit someone and slaps Harvey around the head. Picking up a chair so that he can finish off the job, he's stopped just in time as the bizzies burst in. (They turned up bloody quick. I'mnot quite sure how they did that, if it was in response to Margi's call of about sixty seconds before!)
But anyway, since Nikki wasn't in Harvey's flat and given that he'd done nothing wrong, the police could only warn him to stay away from her: "You've seen for yourself Mr Shadwick has a very short fuse. We can't be around to bail you out every time." In fact, I suspect that Harvey's already very well-aware of Mr S's short fuse from earlier in this story!
Harvey had suggested to Greg that Nikki was probably in the University gym and sure enough that's where they later found her - half-way up the climbing wall. And what total *tits* Greg and Margi made of themselves, screaming at herto get down! But then you can imagine that, if you haven't already seen it, I'm sure!
Back at the Musgrove's residence, Tim had managed to get himself embroiled in Matt and Bosco's antics. Not only that, but he seems to have got himself an invite on the Stonehenge trip too! I must say - I hope we're going to see this excursion in due course!
Having decided that the sticks which they'd obtained from the woods weren't up to the job, the lads had obtained an alternative source of wood from which to make fake staffs - fence posts. And yes, they were nicked from someone's front garden. But not Greg's, for a change. Well, for this time at least. These fence posts, once they can be passed off as staffs will be knocked out to the druids at £20 a time, according to the lad's current plans. They're certainly imaginative. You've got to give them that.
The boys then got a shock. As they were examining their newly acquired fence posts, a police car pulled up. Knowing that the posts were nicked, the boys immediately thought the worst, but the cops were more interested in conducting a search of number eight. Matt, who was the only Mussie in residence at the time, could only watch as they walked inside. Bosco showed concern though and warned Matt that they might nick something! LOL!
DS Rose, meanwhile, had wandered across to the bungalow where Greg accidentally mentioned the pictures for the first time to a distraught Nikki. Obviously, this made her more frightened (not as frightened as Margi looked, though!) and DS Rose promised that they'd supply a personal alarm which Nikki could keep with her at all times. Margi, not to be outdone, promised Nikki a mobile phone.
Back at Harvey's flat, we see Harvey opening a padlocked wardrobe (like you do!). . . to reveal a mountainous collection of drawings and photographs. . . of Nikki. Shades of Mr Moore, here, although I guess that an obsession with Wrexham FC is a tad *more* bizarre!
Boy. I have to say though: is Harvey *thick* or what? Surely, if he's not the rapist then he's simply asking for trouble hoarding such pictures before the trial is over, isn't he? But then, I suppose, he can't help himself. Hey ho! Presumably Greg will find the contents of the wardrobe before long? Looking forward to that already. . .
Summary © 1999 Graeme Selway
Brookside and all related materials are © Mersey Television 1982-2001