Wednesday, 4th July 2001

Adele Murray is sitting at the sitcom table in the kitchen, frantically grasping her school tie and with a furried frown of worry on her brow. She's being watched like a hawk by Diane and the Plank. Marty appears in the doorway into the lounge to ask if she's ready, telling her it's time to go to the clinic. After reminding her a second time, she emerges from her reverie and walks slowly toward her father, pausing in the doorway to say good-bye to Diane and her brother. Diane doesn't respond verbally to her; in fact, she makes a point of looking away from the girl, but Plank wishes her a fond (for him) 'Good luck.'

(Question: Why does Adele Murray appear to live in her school uniform? As she obviously wasn't going to school today - and as a GCSE student, she should have broken up - why wear it? She tends to wear this, even during the summer months, as I recall a scene last August between her and Jimmy, when she was wearing the school uniform in August! Yes, yes, yes, Brookside, we KNOW she's a schoolgirl, but we don't need to be constantly reminded by the sight of a mingy school uniform!)

Jacqui Dixon is ironing and Victoria is phaffing about the flat. Jacqui is anxious to know what Victoria's plans for the evening are, - i.e, exactly what time Victoria plans to go out - especially as Jacqui is inviting Max over to play Monopoly - well, not exactly, but she does hope to monopolise his time in a particular way. Victoria is supposed to be meeting friends for the evening, but she isn't sure she wants to go. She feels like staying in, but Jacqui, a bit too frantically, urges her to meet the people; after all, it's been a long time since Victoria's seen them. Eyeing her suspiciously, Victoria hints that Jacqui seems awfully keen to get rid of her, but Jacqui assures her that she isn't. So Victoria suggests that Jacqui join them for the evening.

Jacqui hastily refuses, saying that she'd planned to slop around the flat on her own in her jammies for the evening. Overtly suspicious now, Victoria hints of a hot, passionate evening, but Jacqui assures her she's wrong. So Victoria tells Jacqui that she'll be out of her way for the evening soon.

Something's happened at Bev's - she seems to have staff coming out of her ears and she should be short-staffed, with Quiet Paul having an ear infection and Nikki off in Brussels. But there are FOUR, count'em, FOUR people behind the bar - Rachel, Leanne, Lance and another girl. And Jimmy's around too, for good measure. Rachel is serving and hands Lance an order, asking him if Fred has definitely gone. Lance affirms that he has, but assures Rachel that he, Lance, is bearing up.

Rachel sympathises with him, saying it must be hard as they had been together for years. Lance says the hard thing is just hanging around the bar, it has so many memories; but not to worry, he'll be looking for a new job next week. As he leaves with his order, Rachel asks Leanne if it's true he's leaving. Leanne says not if it has anything to do with her.

At that moment, Bev appears, incongruously wearing sunglasses in the darkened bar. She informs Rachel and Leanne that she wants to be alerted the moment anyone strange or unfamiliar enters the premises. Rachel asks her why she's wearing sunglasses and Bev says it's in order that no one recognise her and disappears into her office. Rachel looks curiously at Leanne, who explains:

'She thinks the Immigration authorities are after her, the silly cow. They aren't at all interested in her now - it's Fred they wanted and he's gone.'

Diane Murray sits disconsolately on the sofa in the Murray living room. Plank enters and sits on the chair opposite her. He opens his mouth to say something and then, thinking better, leaves the room. As he does, Brigid pops her head around the door from the kitchen. She asks Diane if she's all right and comes into join her on the sofa. Surprisingly, Diane isn't exactly thinking about Adele, but about her own IVF treatment. She tells Brigid that, by this time next week, she could be pregnant too. Brigid asks her when the implants were put in and Diane says they were done last Tuesday. The consultant told her that she mustn't stress herself out over anything, but - Diane admits, with a tinge of bitterness in her voice - it's been nothing but Adele, Adele, Adele for the past few days, that she hadn't had time to concentrate on her own problem.

Brigid remarks that it's very cruel of Adele to put Diane through all this; but Diane says she can forgive Adele. The girl is only a child. Taking the unspoken hint, Brigid acknowledges that it is really Marty with whom Diane is annoyed. Diane confirms that he's taken Adele to the clinic today. Brigid is a bit shocked, thinking that the abortion is going to be done there and then. Diane explains that Adele has to see a doctor first and then a counsellor.

'A counsellor?' scoffs Brigid. 'For what? To deal with the guilt?'

Diane continues telling her mother that she had consulted her magic 'book' about Adele's baby. Did Brigid realise that at thirteen weeks the baby was 8 centimetres long? It was fully formed and could suck. It could hear Adele crying and the Murrays arguing. She was certain Adele didn't realise any of this. Brigid commiserates, saying that if only Adele would agree to have the baby, the entire family would pitch in to help the girl with raising the child. Diane can't believe that Marty would condone this - her words: 'They know how much this baby means to me.' (Is THAT your agenda, Diane? To use Adele as a surrogate, after the way you condemned Jacqui Dixon?)

Meantime, Marty and Adele arrive at the clinic and are parking the car. Adele has been crying. Marty asks her if she's sure she's OK and wants to go through with this. Adele assures him that she is. They enter the clinic and check in at reception.

Seated in the waiting area, Adele suddenly turns to her father and asks him if she's doing the right thing. Marty sighs and tells her that he's asked himself that question a thousand times since finding out she was pregnant. Adele is trying to get him to reassure her that she is, indeed, doing the right thing; but Marty tells her only she can answer that question.

Adele asks him what would happen if she did change her mind and decided to have the baby. Marty tells her, realistically, that she would be a single mother, with no money and no place of her own to live ... Not only that, but her baby would be black. Adele is shocked and tells him that's a racist sentiment and that people could get done for racism these days. She wouldn't care if the baby was black. Marty tells her that colour doesn't bother him - he felt the same way about her pregnancy before he knew that Leo Johnson was the father; but there ARE some people who would make a comment and who wouldn't approve of the fact that she was a single mother with a black child. And Adele should realise this and be prepared to take all sorts of comments when various and sundry people look into the pram and see a black baby. It wouldn't be easy at the best of times, and Marty wants to be certain that she was capable of dealing with that.

At that moment, Adele's appointment is called. Marty asks her if she wants him to come with her, but Adele says she wants to face this alone. Marty is unable to hold back his tears as he tells his daughter that he loves her and he's proud of her, as she squares her shoulders and goes to meet the doctor.

Jimmy Corkhill sits at a table in the Bar by the window and Jackie approaches. He's been expecting her. In fact, he's ordered them both a pot of tea and some custard cream biscuits. Jackie tells him that, when she heard he wanted to see her today, she made arrangements for Lindsey to fill in her shift at the garage. Jimmy wants to talk about arrangements for William, as they didn't get around to that the other day.

Upstairs, the other Jacqui - Dixon, that is - is hurriedly getting ready for her date with Max when he buzzes her. He's there and ready. Slightly peeved, Jacqui reminds him that she told him to be there at 7PM, but tells him to walk up slowly to give her enough time to finish getting ready.

Mike Dixon comes into the bar to see Rachel, who's serving. His dad presented him with a letter earlier that day from the loan company. Mike and Rachel are behind with their payments. The company want two months' payments by the end of the week. Rachel is worried, but promises Mike that when she gets a break, the two will sit down and try to sort this out.

Leanne, meanwhile, is badgering Lance about his plans. He surely can't be serious about leaving. Lance tells his sister that he couldn't abide working for 'that woman' another minute. She's just like all the rest of the people who look down their nose at gays. Leanne tries to explain to him that Bev probably didn't mean what she said, but Lance disagrees. Leanne asks him if he's really sat down and spoken to Bev about what she said; her brother is forced to admit that he hasn't. Bev urges him to have a word with Bev - for goodness sake, he has nothing to lose, especially if it would mean that he didn't have to go swanning off looking for another job.

Taking her advice, Lance approaches Bev's office. Bev is sitting inside, rocking nervously from side to side in her chair. When she hears the buzzer on her door, she switches on the CCTV in her office. Seeing that her visitor is Lance, she makes a wry face and opens the door. He enters. She asks if he'll sit down, but Lance would rather stand. She asks him what he wants. He says, 'A word'.

He begins by berating her - she's used him, all these months he felt that she was someone different and in the end, it turns out that she's like all the rest of the bigoted people in the world with definite ideas about gay people. Bev can't hide her shock.

Is he saying that he's going to throw aside her friendship just because of an off-the-cuff remark she made?

And Lance feels used? Excuse me, she says, but Bev was the one who agreed to have a baby for a gay couple and Bev was the one who agreed to marry Lance's boyfriend so he could remain in the country and now Bev was the one left facing the possibility of a seven-year jail stretch - did Lance ever think of that scenario. Of course, he didn't, says Bev. He's just mooning about mourning the loss of Fred.

Lance tells Bev that the Immigration authorities won't be at all interested in her. It was Fred whom they wanted and now he has gone. Bev is sceptical, reminding Lance that, for all they knew, Fred could be working in a chippy in Norris Green. Bev was the one facing a loss and Lance couldn't give a toss about that.

Lance says he wants to quit the bar - actually, he wants Friday to be his last day. Bev says that's fine with her, and Lance leaves in a huff.

Max arrives upstairs, laden with wine and Belgian chocolates for Jacqui. She jokes that he's trying to wine and dine her. She's not used to receiving gifts from her beaux - mostly they tend to want to give her something akin to a smack around the face. (Not fair to Nathan, this remark). Max sits down on the sofa. Jacqui admits she didn't know how he'd want to spend the evening, so she took the liberty of getting a video. Snap! Max has done the same. Jacqui's is a video of a film that got awful reviews, but her chief reason for choosing the video was that it featured Matthew Perry. Max has never heard of him, but Jacqui reminds him that he's 'the funny one from Friends'. Obviously, Max doesn't watch Friends and he makes a remark about 'all of them being funny on Friends'. Max has chosen The Big Lebowski by the Coen Brothers, a critically acclaimed film, but one which would appeal to a limited arts-oriented audience. Jacqui's never heard of the Coens. What are they in? She wants to know. Max tells her they are the premier film-makers of their generation. Actually, they made their mark in the Nineties, and are still doing so, but their films, good though they are, are oriented towards critical, rather than commercial success. Max tells her that The Big Lebowski is about bowling. Jacqui looks at him in disbelief.

The look on her face prompts another fit of doubts on Max's part about their age difference. Jacqui wonders aloud if the real reason Max is having doubts is that he doesn't think she's his type. Max sits down beside her again, assuring her that she is his type, she's exquisite, why even now he wants to grab her and ...

He just doesn't want a fling to spoil a deep friendship. Jacqui makes him promise that if she sincerely tells him that their age gap makes no difference to her, he'll stop worrying about it. Max agrees.

Adele and Marty Murray return home. The Plank opens the door on the way out, stopping only to ask his sister if she's all right. Diane is still seated on the sofa and eyes them wordlessly as they enter. Brigid enters in full swing, immediately berating Marty with questions about where the two have been, did they realise what time it was, everyone was worried etc. Marty cuts her short by saying that he and Adele took a walk after the appointment. Was that a crime?

Diane speaks for the first time to tell him that the school had called for him. Apparently he was wanted this evening, something about setting up the chairs et al for a PTA meeting. Marty grumbles about the school telling him about these things at the last minute. Diane says the school had told him about the evening duty last week. Marty excuses himself and says he'll have to go over to the school now to sort things out. Brigid is incredulous. What exactly did he expect her to do with the nice tea she'd cooked for him. Marty tells her to stick it ... In the oven.

He pauses to assure Adele that he would return shortly and leaves.

Mike and Rachel are seated at a table in Bev's Bar. Rachel is adding up their budget. Even without paying two weeks' rent to Ron and Anthea, if they paid their loan, they would be over 200 quid in the red. Mike jokes that Rachel will have to start lap-dancing. Rachel complains that all of this is due to the fact that Mike said not to make the loan repayment last month, to pay double this month. Mike reminds Rachel that he did that because Rachel told him Beth needed new clothes. But, Rachel protests, she is growing. Something will have to be done.

Jimmy and Jackie are having the first civilised chat they've had in months. Between them, they've decided that each of them will have William for four nights, alternating weekends. Jimmy asks Jackie about William's fourth birthday, which is Sunday. He's asked William, who says he wants to spend his special day with both of his parents, together. Jimmy suggests that he, Jackie, Lindsey, Kylie and William do something as a family - perhaps go for a burger or go to the fair. Jackie likes that. In fact, she tells Jimmy that she actually likes him, now. Jimmy asks if she wants seconds on the tea, his shout, and gets up to renew the order.

As he rises, he tells her that he's beginning to like her again too. Does she know why? Does she realise why the two are beginning to be friends again? It's because, he informs her, that this is the beginning of the end. The divorce is going to happen, so they are forced to act like civilised people for the sake of their son; and they've discovered they can actually be mates. Jackie, realising this, can hardly hold back her tears. Her marriage is really over.

Lance and Leanne sit at another table. Leanne asks Lance if he's spoken to Bev. Lance says he has and he's succinctly told her where to go. He's not about to stick around that Bar any longer than he has to. In fact, he's leaving on Friday and mentions something to Leanne about a collection for him.

Adele Murray sits beside Diane on the sofa. Diane asks how she is and Adele admits that the appointment was awful. Brigid sits down and callously begins her share of the Third Degree. Did she see the doctor? Did she see a counsellor? Did they arrange a date? Just when, exactly, was the happy event to occur?

Diane has the temerity to actually shut Brigid up, and Adele continues. They told her she'd have to undergo a general anaesthetic, which seems to be her major fear. Diane seizes upon this fear. If only Adele would just look at her 'book' and read what the baby was like now. Adele assures her that she's been looking at that magic 'book' ever since she realised she was pregnant. Diane hits home. The baby is fully formed. Brigid makes a sign with her hand, indicating how big the baby is now. Does the girl realise that THEY plan to RIP HER BABY FROM HER BODY whereas if she had the baby, they'd all chip in and help her raise it, the baby would have so much love ... How can she think of killing a perfectly formed baby ... Adele is sobbing by now and collapses on Diane's shoulder, saying she doesn't want an abortion. Diane and Brigid exchange triumphant looks.

Jacqui and Max lie in the afterglow of their love-making. Unlike other 'ordinary' girls, Jacqui's make-up is immaculate and she hasn't go a hair out of place. But she's satisfied. She tells Max that his performance isn't bad for a 'pensioner'. Max jokes that he could teach her a few tricks or two, and anyway he was a long way from 65, although in ten years' time, he'd be 55 (So Max has aged ANOTHER year in one day ... Current age: 45)!

As they cuddle again, Max muses about keeping their affair a secret; Jacqui opts for only telling people when they are ready for people to know. At that moment, the sound of a key in the door is heard and Victoria enters noisily. Without knocking she barges into Jacqui's bedroom, wittering about bringing her home a kebab (when Jacqui's already had one). As she opens the door, Jacqui and Max draw the covers up around them protectively. Victoria, supremely embarrassed, apologises profusely and leaves. Both she and Jacqui make faces of extreme embarrassment.

Marty Murray returns from the school to be confronted by his wife and his mother-in-law, both looking like the cat who ate the cream. Diane smugly informs him that Adele has decided not to have the abortion. Marty is aghast and asks Adele if that's really her decision. Adele admits AGAIN, that she doesn't like the idea of having a general anaesthetic, but Marty tries reassuring her that it's only a simple operation and she would only be unconscious a matter of minutes.

Diane interjects. It isn't just that. It's the fact that she doesn't want to think about killing her baby. Marty understands exactly what has happened in his absence and looks contemptuously at Diane and Brigid, calling them the Witches of Eastwick. 'It's NOT a baby,' he reiterates.

Diane wants to know what it is, a mass of cells? Was it a mass of cells they flushed down the toilet at the New Year, was it a mass of cells they cry themselves to sleep about every night? Was it a mass of cells that she had implanted inside her last week?

Marty tells them they had no right hounding Adele the way they did when the girl had already made her mind up for the best. Diane shrieks at him that Adele is NOT having the abortion and there would be no further discussion about it.