A very Corrie Christmas - the 90s

(This post was originally posted by Clinkers (David) on the Coronation Street Blog December 2012, reposted to this blog with permission.)

A decade of illegal raves, Cool Britannia and the death of a Princess. In Weatherfield the Queen of the Rovers bade farewell and we saw the last of Ivy, Des, Mavis and Derek. Memorable years but how memorable were the Christmas celebrations?

Santa must have been in a bad mood in 1990 as he managed to deliver both Rosie Webster and David Platt. Thanks for that. Meanwhile Jack & Vera's dog Boomer eats their turkey and traps them in their bedroom!

1991 was a lonely Christmas for Reg and Curly so they raided Bettabuys for champagne and caviar. Alma decided that she didn't really love Ken - much to Mike's delight. Spoilt little rich girl Vicky suspected Bet of having an affair with Des. Before you ask, that's Des Foster not Des Barnes. The idea of Bet acting the tart for the latter is more unappetising than cold sprouts . . .

Bet threw a Christmas Day lunch for Raquel, Rita, Phyllis and Denise - a kind of low level version of Loose Women. Meanwhile on the Baldwin-Barlow merry-go-round, Ken spent Christmas 1992 with Mike's ex, the sour Maggie.

All hell broke loose at the Duckworth household in 1993 as Terry sold his own son to the Hortons. Jack rewarded him with a punch on the face. Vera sobbed over the presents. Ivy feared that Don may be on the verge of suicide (well, she was a boring woman . . .). At the Rovers, Audrey got drunk at an after hours party and passed out. Lady Mayoress or not - the woman is a lush.

The 1994 rubbish gift award goes to Vera who presented Jack with a packet of fags. Phyllis hunted Percy down with her mistletoe, Deirdre decided to emigrate to Morocco with her young man in the hope of finding a tagine recipe involving marrows and Curly presented Raquel with her own star. Which probably disappeared into a black hole.

By Christmas 1995 the Duckworths were owners of the Rovers and Vera found the festive season exhausting. Andy went out on a date with Maxine, Don bought Josie a bike for Christmas whereas Audrey refused to buy Alf anything. The whacked out Duckworths had soup and a sandwich for Christmas Dinner.

It was another round of fun and joy in 1996 as Don tried to kill himself and rebukes Martin for having saved him. A nation agreed. Vera flirted with Alec behind the bar and delighted in making Jack jealous. An even more repulsive sexual encounter took place - Curly and Maureen! She was driven to it by a tedious Christmas dinner with Percy and Maud.

1997 saw the Battersbys sitting down to their road kill turkey. Toyah refused to eat even a slice. Kevin was allowed across the threshold of number 13 for the day and later Sally agreed to take him back. Natalie took this news badly but Alec, reassuring as ever, told her that she would get over it.

The Battle of the Rovers commenced at Christmas 1998. Alec ruled downstairs while the beleagured Duckworths remained trapped upstairs. Blanche told Deirdre that she wishes she had a daughter to be proud of. Judy gave birth to twins, Leanne had a fit of jealousy over Nick's lovely new jumper and Sally warned Maxine to be careful around Greg, her somewhat camp ex.

It's the end of the decade, 1999, and widower Gary spent Christmas Day with Jack and Vera. He even partook in the annual tradition of thumping Terry. Doreen and Audrey flirted with a Russian sailor (what?) and Natalie invited Kevin, Jim and Curly for a depressing dinner. Ashley bought Maxine a kitten for Christmas - Fred gave the pair of them a house!

Another decade came to pass, seemingly dominated by the Duckworths hitting each other, shouting at each other, gaining a pub and then losing it. Happy days!


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