If necessity is the mother of invention, then was necessity necessarily a hypocrite? Well, if she resided in Brookside Close, there was a fair chance she was, if tonight’s parental views are anything to go by - namely Ron’s and Dire Murray’s views. The more I watch this show, the more I’m convinced that the only person who isn’t really hypocritical is Brigid - and she’s a positive force for all the religious bigots of the world. I tell you, watching Brigid must warm the cockles of the hearts of the sternest member of the IRA or Islamic Jihad.
As the programme begins, Anthea and Ron are having a heavy discussion. It’s one of those rare occasions when they are actually agreeing with one another. Of course, that agreement would have to concern THE TOPIC OF THE MOMENT. THE TOPIC OF THE MOMENT is, actually, Jacqui Dixon’s relationship with Max Farnham. It’s all most of the people on the show are discussing - I mean, it actually was the catalyst in Mick’s leaving (not altogether a bad thing); but it’s certainly relegated Ron’s dilemma firmly all the way into non-league status.
The first words to issue from Ron’s mouth is a solemn vow that no daughter of his will ever marry the dastardly Max Farnham. (Does that include Megan, Ron? Actually, the dialogue in this episode is reminiscent of one of those mid-19th Century melodramas enacted on Mississippi river boats for the entertainment of passengers. One almost expects Max to have a long, twirling mustache).
Anthea tuts an agreement - everything between Max and Jax has happened too fast. Why, they’d only been seeing each other a few weeks!
Still, she admits, there was little Ron could do under the circumstances. Shouting and screaming wouldn’t help the situation. It would just make Jacqui all that more determined to proceed with the relationship, and it would be bad for Ron’s heart. In fact, Anthea advises, the worst thing Ron could do would be to nag the girl Maybe if he just left her alone, the thing would run its course and fizzle out in a few weeks.
Ron is certain that Jacqui is inadvertantly trying to cause him to have a heart attack, if that isn’t all he has on his plate to worry about.
Meanwhile, next door, Maxim has just presented Jacqui with an engagement ring, thus making it official. He’s worried that she won’t like it - is it too flashy, too gaudy? Nope, admits Miss D, it’s DEAD CLASSY (just like Susannah - dead and classy, get it?) Max is also worried that Jacqui might let Ron and his stupid prejudices come between them. Jacqui, happy at being officially engaged again for the third time in a year, assures MAXIMILIAN that she will talk with Ron later in order to try, once again, to talk him around. (MAXIMILIAN, eh? Er, didn’t another fictitious Maximilian kill his first wife and marry a much younger one? And didn’t a REAL Maximilian end up in front of a firing squad in Mexico? Not that I want to give the Brookie writers any ideas, mind you).
And now it’s time for another episode of the Murray sitcom. Brigid is sitting at the sitcom table, labouriously signing a card of some sort, whilst remarking upon Adele’s academic prowess. EIGHT O Levels, fancy that! Diane, standing at the sitcom kitchen counter, reminds Brigid that O Levels are now referred to as GCSE’s. Thus, Adele got eight GCSE’s.
This is lost on Brigid, who’s academically challenged at the best of times. She glances over her shoulder at Diane, asking what she’s making for tea. Diane informs her mother that she’s making shepherd’s pie, and that Brigid’s welcome to stay for tea if she wants. Brigid reminds Diane that Marty will be present - well, he’d have to be, as he lives there - and therefore, Brigid will leave. Diane scoffs at her mother. Surely Brigid can’t continue this feud. What does she plan to do? Go home everytime she visits as soon as Marty puts in an appearance? Brigid stubbornly insists that Marty started their feud. Diane asks again if Brigid would consider staying for tea.
Brigid acquieses, but advises Diane that if Marty says one word, she will leave. After all, muses Brigid petulantly, she shouldn’t have to put up with that sort of thing at her age. She’ll stay ... But only for Diane and the kids. And she returns her attention to the card on the table, as Diane makes a frustrated choking gesture with her hands behind Brigid’s back.
At Hotel Corkhill, Timily stand in the kitchen. The Emily part of Timily is busily concocting a main dish for the evening tea. The Tim part of Timily asks what the dish is and when it will be ready. Emily is making vegetarian chili, and it will be ready at around 5:30, after Nikki has finished her shift at the bar. Tim’s surprised. He didn’t realise that Nikki had been invited around for tea. Emily reminds him that today is the second anniversary of the day Greg and Jason Shadwick were killed.
Diane is still standing at the sitcom counter, when Marty arrives, doing
his best impersonation of the
equivalent of a bantam rooster. Apparently,
he’s been at the school, at some sort of meeting. He whinges at Diane that
the school is being run more like a business and less like a school, all thanks
to ‘that Mr Jones’. (What happened to ‘That Karen One’ Dalton?)
The school, says Marty in disgust, will now be open seven days a week, and within
two years’ time, Marty will be doing shift work. Diane commiserates, especially
since Marty’s on call all the time now anyway - when he’s not skiving,
that is.
Diane remarks that her mother stopped by during the day and will be coming to tea. Marty asks what time ‘the old battle-axe’ is arriving. Simultaneously, Brigid appears around the door from the lounge, announcing that ‘the old battle-axe’ is already here. This is not funny, although it was meant to be. Anyone who laughed at it is mentally challenged.
At the bar, Leanne sits staring at the computer screen, watched from a distance by Mike and Rachel. Leanne calls out to Mike, reckoning that he’s good with computers. (Since when?) She’s trying to send an e-mail, and she can’t get the thing to go. (In other words, her screen’s crashed). Mike walks over, saying he’ll take a look. Leanne quickly slaps a menu in front of the screen, hastily telling Mike that she didn’t want him to take a look, just tell her what to do. Mike assures her that he won’t read her e-mail - of course, it’s to Bev - but he has to see what she’s done in order to rectify the computer. She just wants to close it down.
Just at that moment, Christy enters the bar, carrying a big black binbag. Swiftly hiding the e-mail under a menu propped against the screen, Leanne jumps up to greet him. The have an open snog at the bar, whilst Mike and Rachel make gagging faces in the foreground. Christy announces that he’s starving. Leanne says she’ll tell ‘Billy’ to slap a steak on the grill for him, and shouts to Rachel to go to the kitchen and tell the chef. Christy asks if Leanne’s hungry, but she says she’ll have a Cumberland sausage later (the double entendre is not lost, just sad).
Anyway, Leanne wants to know what’s in the sack. Christy explains that a mate of his has given him some ex-warehouse gear to dispose of - designer jeans, tops etc. Leanne should try some of the outfits on. Whatever she fancies, is hers. Leanne ferrets through some of the garments, grabs a few and disappears. Christy tosses the bag to Mike, telling him to hide it behind the bar; but Mike reminds him that he doesn’t work there anymore.
‘So,’ shrugs Christy, ‘get the little woman to do it’. (Meaning Rachel).
At that instant, Rachel, notices Leanne’s personal effects littered around the computer. She asks Christy to move the items, lest someone inadvertantly spill something on them. Christy removes the menu from the computer screen and notices the e-mail to Bev. It’s informing Bev that she’s the centre of a massive police investigation, that the police want to make an example of her, and that her story is all over the Liverpool Echo.
Nikki Shadwick has arrived at Hotel Corkhill, bearing a bottle of wine for the meal. She stops in the lounge and has a laugh over the huge picture of Cracker, hanging on the wall. She asks where Timily’s room is, and before she can be stopped, she barges into the extension which is the extent of Timily’s domain.
The tiny room is a mess. There are clothes all over the bed, and Emily’s gear hangs on a portable garment hanger in the middle of the room. Nikki is disgusted. Em apologises for the mess. Nikki remarks sarcastically that it’s not exactly the Ritz; but they don’t even have a television. Emily protests that they make their own entertainment. Nikki is concerned. Is this what Emily really wanted - moving from rented room to rented room? Emily tries to deflect the question, by reminding Nikki that the meal is almost ready and that Tim would be in soon.
Christy Murray sits at the computer terminal at the bar. Leanne emerges bedecked in the new gear previously contained in the black bin bag. She asks Rachel for her opinion of the way she looks, dressed in a decolletage wrap around top and tight trousers. Rachel lies unconvincingly, telling Leanne she looks great. Leanne’s enormous ego (almost as wide as her arse) allows her to believe Rachel, and - feeling generous - invites Rachel to partake of the remainder of the bag’s contents. However, Christy, distracts her attention from the catwalk, by calling to her.
She turns to him with a smile on her face, but suddenly the smile disappears as she notices that he’s sitting in front of the computer, and that the computer screen registers the contents of the e-mail that Leanne has just sent to Bev. With the tap of a button, Christy manages to shut the computer down, advising Leanne that he and she need to talk urgently.
It’s time for another segment of the sitcom. Marty is sitting at the sitcom table, along with Adele, whilst Diane still faffs about the sitcom counter. Brigid passes through the room, a basket of laundry in her hands. As she passes the area where Marty is seated, she accidentally on purpose bungs the basket of laundry aside his head, excusing herself sarcastically as she does so. Marty sulks. After Brigid has left the room, Diane remonstrates with him for being childish, and suggests that he and Brigid talk.
Adele, never the one for good timing, takes this opportunity to broach the subject of contact lenses again with her parents. Once again, the Murrays refuse to consider her request. Diane primly points out that Adele has only had her current pair of glasses six months, at the most. Adele sullenly repeats Emily’s dictum that ‘men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses’.
Diane glares at the girl suspiciously. Where did she get that nonsense from, Diane wants to know. Has Steve been radging her? What does she mean? Adele mutters that she didn’t mean anything by the remark, and tells Diane to get off her back.
Diane retorts that Adele can put the notion of contacts right out of her mind this minute. Why, contacts cost hundreds of pounds, especially with Adele’s prescription! (Correction, Diane, me old mate, contacts are considerably less expensive than glasses. Are you as thick as Adele’s purported lenses? When you get glasses, you pay for the thickness of the prescription lense PER EYE. On top of that cost is the cost of the frames. No matter which way you look at it, GLASSES cost hundreds of pounds. Contacts, on average, about £60 - and that’s speaking as one who wears contacts and who, without them, is virtually blind. Get a grip, baby. You just don’t want Adele to be reasonably attractive, nab a man, settle down, marry and ... GET PREGNANT! Bar Katie Rogers, you have got to be vying for ‘Jealous Bitch of the Year’.)
Adele suggests that she pay for her contacts herself. She suggests that Diane and Marty loan her the money for the cost, and she would pay them back weekly from her wages at the garage. (When, exactly, was the last time Adele worked at the garage?) Marty is dismissive. That suggestion meant that Adele would be in hock to her parents until at least 2010. The long and short of it, he informs Adele, is that she wouldn’t be getting contact lenses because they simply didn’t have the money to spare for them.
‘Because of the IVF?’ Queries Adele sarcastically, already knowing the answer.
As if to make amends for the disappointment suffered by the girl, Diane suffuses her with a long, syrupy, falsely maternal hug; but she doesn’t notice the look of bitter resentment on Adele’s face, coupled with the knowledge that the girl has her stepmother sussed for the selfish cow that she is.
Christy, at the bar, is reading the riot act to a repentant Leanne. He simply can’t believe the con she’s been instigating these past weeks - and against Bev, of all people! She actually conned Bev into leaving the city, going God knows where, and poor Bev with a kid and all. Leanne frantically tries to explain the reasons for her actions - it was all for Lance, Lance was about to leave.
Christy is unresponsive. Leanne, he says, has plumbed new depths with this deception. Leanne is worried that he might tell Lance. (She ought to be worried about whether he will tell Bev). Lance doesn’t know. He CAN’T know.
Christy is in a dilemma. He knows what Leanne is up to. Why shouldn’t he tell Lance? Why, for that matter, shouldn’t he e-mail Bev, right now, and tell her what Leanne’s been up to? Leanne is desperate. She needs Christy’s help. If Bev found out, Leanne could be arrested for what she’s done. She begs Christy not to tell. In fact, she tells him she’ll do anything he wants, as long as he doesn’t grass on her to Bev.
Christy says he’ll have to think about what he’s going to do. But wait a moment ... Leanne said she’d do ANYTHING for him?
Well, Leanne admits, hopefully, yes.
As a matter of fact, says Christy, a mate of his has a load of Contintental beer he’s been looking to get shot of for awhile - in other words, smuggled goods. It’s going for a song, if Leanne wants to take on the consignment and sell it behind the bar.
Leanne is uncertain. The bar was bound by contract to sell only beer from the brewery.
Well, in that case, says Christy, he had no alternative but to e-mail Bev.
Hastily, Leanne reckons that selling a few smuggle beers won’t matter. How much did Christy’s mate have? Christy shrugs. A few hundred bottles. Shouldn’t take long to shift that lot, Leanne says. She’ll tell Quiet Paul to make some room in the cellar. And she turns to leave the office.
Oh, and by the way, calls Christy, after her. A few of the lads were stopping by later. They’d be wanting some steaks.
Leanne gulps. How many, exactly?
About six, says Christy. ‘You scratch my back, Leanne, and I’ll scratch yours.’
Leanne glares at him, before leaving the room.
(Er, sorry, but I thought the blurbs mentioned a couple of weeks ago, that Leanne manages to lose the licence on the bar. What happened to this storyline?)
Interlude: Back at the Murray sitcom, Adele sits in her room. Without saying a word, she snaps her glasses frame in half at the nose guard.
Tim, Nikki and Emily are seated at Hotel Corkhill’s finest (and only) table, enjoying the meal Emily has prepared. As she eats, Nikki remarks upon Tim’s current umployed status. No work forthcoming? Emily jumps to his defence, saying that he calls in at the Job Centre every day. (Calls in, yes, but does he actively seek work? I think not.)
Emily tells her sister that it’s only a matter of time before Tim finds work, and then they plan on saving for a deposit on a flat. Well, Nikki replies, you’ll be saving forever then. Tim takes a bit of umbrage at this remark, but Nikki hastens to assure him that she was only joking. Emily notices that Nikki’s wine glass is empty and passes her the bottle to refill it. As she does so, Nikki suggests Emily open another bottle.
Emily reluctantly admits that there’s no more wine after this bottle that Nikki bought. Nikki then suggests that she’ll buy another bottle and sends Tim to the off licence to purchase it. When he’s gone, Emily promises to pay her sister back for the wine. Nikki brushes this remark aside, pointing out that Timily had bought the food for the meal. Anyway, she and Emily have to have a bevvy on this night of all nights, in memory of their father and their brother.
Emily muses about how fast the two years have gone since Greg’s and Jason’s deaths. Jason would be 24 now. And probably married to Trona, says Nikki. Emily remarks that maybe his death was a lucky escape then, but Nikki argues that Trona is really all right. Suddenly Nikki stops the banter and asks Emily how she and Tim are faring?
Emily lies and says things are really great with her and Tim, but Nikki sees through the lie. She informs Emily that recently, in her opinion, Emily has seemed like a totally different person to the sister she knew. Why, Emily should just look at herself. She looked knackered. There were bags under her eyes. (Er, no, there aren’t. WE saw a close-up of Emily and her face was immaculately made up). Emily was always wearing the same old gear now, Nikki continues. What’s going on? She needs to know. Emily lies again, maintaining that everything is fine.
Nikki refuses the bait. So everything in the garden is rosy, she rejoinders. Emily isn’t pregnant, by any chance?
‘Do I look like I got mug (pronounced ‘moog’) written on me fore’ead?’ Emily growls.
Nikk begs her sister to tell her what’s bothering the girl, because Nikki knows something’s not right. Again, she asks what’s wrong.
‘Nuttin’, replies Emily, a little less solidly than before. (Do people, besides Peter Reid, really speak like this in Liverpool?)
But Nikki persists in nagging, wearing Emily down. Nikki reckons there’s a problem with Tim, and asks if he’s in trouble. What’s he done? Please tell her.
Finally, Emily is forced to admit ... That Tim did someone a favour. What? Nikki wants to know.
He ... got someone something that he shouldn’t have, Emily replies cryptically. Nikki looks at her suspiciously.
It looks as though Rachel Dixon’s malaise of tongue disjointed from brain has reached Emily at Hotel Corkhill, because the girl blurts out frantically that Tim was only out to ‘ ‘elp Ron’ ...
Ron? Nikki questions. Ron Dixon? Then suddenly the penny drops for Nikki. Tim was NEVER the one who provided Ron Dixon with the gun he used to shoot Clint? OMIGOD! If that were the case, then Emily was in big trouble. Nikki had to get her sister away from here.
Now it’s time for a health infomercial brought to you by the Murray sitcom. Marty, Diane and Brigid are making an attempt to talk about the Murrays’ second attempt at IVF treatment. Diane calls upstairs for Adele to come down, as their tea is ready. Brigid wants to know what this phase of the treatment entails. Diane tells her that they had to find £1000 to pay for this stage of treatment, but they had little choice. They were due to see the consultant the following day, although the consultant was quick to remind them that their chances of conception were few and far between.
Brigid mutters that she doesn’t know why they are pursuing this measure, and Marty sarcastically remarks that he and Diane are, in effect, masochists and they enjoy the suffering.
Adele enters the kitchen. The worst possible thing has happened, she begins to explain. She’d removed her glasses whilst in her bedroom. They must have fallen on the floor. She didn’t see them and stepped on them.
Jacqui has decided to visit the Dixon home. Finding Ron out, she takes the opportunity to present her case to Anthea. The girl just can’t understand why Ron and everyone else just can’t accept that she and Max were now a serious couple? Anthea reminds her that she’s still in the throes of a very new relationship. In fact, it was only last year that she was saying exactly the same thing about Nathan.
Jacqui admits that Max is ‘old, posh and divorced.’ (Wrong on two out of three counts. Divorced, yes. Old and posh, no.) But she’s seen a different side of Max, especially when he’s with his kids. He worries incessantly if one of them are out of his sight. (What about Thomas and Alice? Does he worry about them too?) Max was kind and gentle, and he made her feel loved. Did anyone have any iota of an idea how lost and lonely Jacqui’s felt since she broke up with Nathan? That was really the only reason she took up with Robbie. She was just moving from guy to guy.
Anthea points out that all of Jacqui’s argument was no basis for a marriage. (Neither is a roof over your head, food in the cupboard and money in the bank, Anthea, your basis). Jacqui reminds Anthea that Max was there for her when Robbie beat her, and he was there for her when Katie binned her. With Max, she felt safe, warm and loved - as though she’d come home. (Virtually, she has ... She’ll only be living next door). Anthea’s reserve looks as though it’s about to be lowered.
Adele holds out her broken frames, split in two over the nose guard. Adele apologises, but she’ll need new glasses now ... Or contact lenses. What a coincidence, Diane remarks sarcastically. Did she do that on purpose? Of course, she did. Adele protests her innocence, as Marty snatches the broken specs from her hands, saying that before they take that route, he’ll mend them, himself.
Having discovered Tim’s part in Clint’s death, Nikki is banging on at a distraught Emily. Did Emily not realise how serious this matter was? In doing this, Tim had become an accessory to a murder. How long before he’s discovered? He’ll go back to prison big time this time - and they’ll throw away the key.
Emily tries to explain to Nikki that Tim’s safe. He’s in the clear. Tim got the gun from Sotto, one of the lads Tim met inside. Ron had already fingered Sotto to the bizzies as the one who provided him with the gun. Nikki storms into Timily’s room and begins to attempt to pack Emily’s things. Emily has to leave, right now, with her. Do a runner. Did Emily not realise that Tim had actually helped Ron Dixon kill a 23 year-old lad? As far as Nikki is concerned, the further away from Tim Emily is, the better.
As all of this is happening, in the background, we hear the slamming of Hotel Corkhill’s front door. Tim has returned from the offy. Hearing the discussion, he enters the room, roughly demanding to know what Emily has told Nikki.
Nikki faces up to Tim, telling him she knows exactly what he’s done. Emily was too good for Tim, and she wasn’t going to stand by and watch her sister go nowhere with a no-mark scally. Tim replies that this whole incident wasn’t about Emily at all, it was more to do with Nikki, herself.
‘You’re just a jealous, man-hating cow, who can’t stand the fact that Emily’s married and happy when you’re not. One thing’s for certain,’ Tim promises, ‘I’ll never make a fool out of Emily the way Jerome Johnson made a fool out of you.’
With that remark, Nikki slaps Tim across the face. She announces that she’s going home and asks if Emily is coming with her. Emily says nothing, but hugs Tim close to her in reply to Nikki’s question. Emily is staying with Tim.
Diane, Marty, Brigid and Adele sit glumly at the sitcom table. Diane rhetorically asks if anyone fancies a cuppa. Brigid and Marty reluctantly agree to have one, but Adele refuses. Diane asks if Adele is going to sit there with a cob on all night.
We see that Marty has mended her glasses with sticky tape. Trying to be helpful, Brigid suggests that Adele colour the tape in to match the glasses, and no one will notice so much. Adele complains that the plaster is cutting into her nose and is painful. She can’t be expected to return to school like this; she’ll be the laughing stock of the sixth form.
Well, Marty remarks ominously, she’ll have to make do with mended glasses, if she would be so silly as to deliberately break them. Again Adele protests her innocence, begging for Diane’s support. But Diane only concurs that breaking her glasses was highly coincidental.
Again, Brigid tries to be helpful. Adele could get free glasses on the NHS. After all, she was still technically a schoolchild. But Adele doesn’t want glasses, the girl objects. She wants contact lenses, and she can’t see why she can’t have them. Michelle has them, and another mate of hers as well. Adele was the only one of her friends that still has glasses and she feels like a geek.
Marty reminds her that she can’t have contact lenses, quite simply because they didn’t have the spare cash with which to pay for them. But Adele insists that SHE will pay for them, out of her wages at the garage.
A third time, Brigid tries to make the peace. She can’t understand. If the girl is willing to pay for the lenses herself, why can’t she have them?
Diane remarks that they were unable to afford contacts for Adele. And Adele finishes for her: She was unable to have contacts, she explains, because her folks couldn’t afford them. And they would never be able to afford them. There would never be any money spare in that household to spend on Adele, or anyone else, because her father was intent upon spending every penny they earned on IVF, so that her stepmother could get pregnant.
Rising from her seat before flouncing off, Adele announces that she’ll have to do without for that reason. She hates living in that house. (Beware, Marty. Your ex-wife is about to appear on your doorstep, methinks).
Ron Dixon is walking across The Parade, when he’s hailed by Max, who wants a word. Ron keeps walking, but Max tries to talk on the run, trying to explain that he wants this misunderstanding between them sorted out. It didn’t much matter to him what Ron thought of him, but Jacqui wanted Ron’s blessing on their upcoming marriage.
Jacqui, Ron replies briefly, could whistle for it. Her marrying Max would be the biggest mistake of her life.
Max upbraids Ron for being pig-headed and not setting aside his prejudices for the sake of his daughter’s happiness.
The truth hitting home, Ron stalks off determinedly, with Max’s sudden apology for his outburst ringing in his ears.
Brigid has left Sitcom House, and Marty and Diane are doing the dishes. Diane informs Marty that Madam is upstairs running a bath, and she promises him that she will go upstairs later and try to smooth things over between them. Marty apologises to Dire about his behaviour around Brigid, citing the fact that the old girl always rubs him the wrong way.
In a rare fit of conscience, Dire turns to Marty and suddenly asks if she’s doing the right thing in going ahead with IVF. IF they proceed with this, it might mean the kids going without certain things. She doesn’t want to be selfish, not if it meant the children would be made to suffer by going without.
Marty encourages her, saying that with the IVF, they have to be seen to be giving it their best shot. But Diane maintains that she doesn’t want the children to have less than other children have because of her. Marty asks if she wants to forget about the IVF, and Diane admits that she’s thinking about it. (Well, she’s actually mentioning it, hoping that Marty will come down on her side and encourage her to go ahead, which is what is happening). Marty compromises by saying that he was willing to wait until they get a prognosis from the consultant the next day, before making a final decision.
Timily lie on their bed at Hotel Corkhill, wrapped in each other’s arms. Tim gently admonishes Emily against the hazards of blabbing about his activities - even to her sister. He muses that, although he gave the gun to Ron, he never thought for a minute, Ron would use it. He thought perhaps the actual possession of it would make Ron feel safer. Looking at Emily, Tim admits that Nikki was right. Tim was an accessory to murder and, as such, could go back to prison. The pair embrace and declare their love for each other.
Ron Dikko returns home from his wanderings, mouthing off as he enters the front door about running into that ‘cradle-snatching Max Farnham’. As he enters his front room, Anthea calmly stops him by remarking that Ron had taken his time about coming home, when ‘here’s Jacqui to see you.’ Ron ignores the girl, asking Anthea if she fancies a cup of tea.
Jacqui rises to the bait of Ron’s blanking her. She demands to know exactly what it is that Ron has against Max. Ron replies that Max is twice Jacqui’s age, and he finds that disgusting. (Remember Bev, Ron?) A man in his late forties with a young girl in her twenties. Jacqui protests that she’s in love with Max.
Jacqui in love? Snorts Ron. Why, the girl had never been in love in her life! Who’s she been in love with? Well, first there was Lord Snooty, and she went right from him to Rocky Marciano, and Max? Why, Max is Hugh Hefner! (This is the best line of the night). Ron reminds Jacqui that he’s lived beside Max Farnham for ten years.
Jacqui argues that Max is kind and thoughtful, but Ron reiterates that the pair haven’t been seeing each other five minutes. Jacqui only thinks she loves him. If she’s so certain, why doesn’t she put everything on hold with Max for about six months, just to see the direction the relationship will take.
Jacqui murmurs that she can’t wait six months to marry Max. She wants Ron to be there to give her away, she confesses.
Ron is horrified. He interprets her haste to the fact that Jacqui must believe that he’ll be put away for murder. He voices the opinion that Jacqui must think he’s bound for prison.
Summary © 2001 Marion Watts
Brookside and all related materials are © Mersey Television 1982-2001