Seasonal soaps
This festive season is not working out too joyfully for many of the residents of Coronation Street. But nobody reckoned on the danger, the drama, the dirty deeds of a Christmas and New Year that will have viewers on the edge of their seats
Julie Lordan has the lowdown on all the festive soap drama
Coronation Street
Monday Dec 23, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day & Fri Dec 27, Mon Dec 30, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day
& Fri Jan 3 / Virgin Media One & UTV
Let’s start by getting the fun part of Corrie at Christmas over with: it won’t take long! In fact, there isn’t much to be festive about on the cobbles this year, but it could be a nice Christmas for Emma as she and Seb become a couple. It looked for a while that Emma would once again be second choice in a relationship when Alina Pop, once Seb’s girlfriend, came back on the scene. But the relationship between Seb and Emma is going well, so it looks like next year could be a happy one for Emma. More good news as Jade gets lucky when Fiz and Tyrone invite her to stay for Christmas and she is given a great welcome by Hope. Of course, as viewers know, Fiz and Tyrone could be making a big mistake. It’s David Platt’s birthday on Christmas Day and Shona plans a big surprise for him. She collects the keys to the Winter Wonderland, which Michael Bailey has been responsible for, as the Platts hide presents for David’s treasure hunt. at could all go very badly wrong.
Meanwhile, it’s happy days for Sarah Platt when Adam asks her to marry him. Nick and Sarah unveil the refurbished factory to the sta , but that’s about it in terms of good times this Christmas.
Here comes the drama! It’s a big change from the weddings, births or fun dinners which make up the usual Christmas Day specials. First, with Gemma busy with the quads, Rita, not wanting to be an extra burden, tells Gemma she’s arranged to visit Mavis over Christmas. Rita, as viewers will be able to tell from her sad face, clearly has no plans to go anywhere. Dev drops o a Christmas tree at Rita’s at and she is le to decorate it alone. No spoilers, but Rita really should not have pretended to have company.
Even though it is David’s birthday, and he has just come out of prison as well as being newly married to Shona, not all is festive in the Platt household. For a start, young Max is out of control. His grandmother, Marion, rails at Shona and David for banning Max from seeing her. David is ba ed, explaining Max has been claiming to visit her for weeks. Unrepentant, Max is rude to Shona. What has the brat been up to if he hasn’t been visiting his granny?
In a lovely community tradition, all the families gather either in the Rovers, or this year, in the Winter Wonderland venue. In fact, that’s where most of them head to on Christmas Day. But the celebrations take a sinister turn when the attraction becomes the scene of a dramatic armed siege and it’s not clear if everyone will escape or if it will be the last Christmas for some of Weather eld’s nest. Of course, Gary Windass, who has quickly become a ruthless gangster, is involved. His former associate, Derek Milligan, has revenge on his mind as he goes a er Gary, the man who he believes
has destroyed his life and must be made pay. When Derek discovers the antique ri e Fiz has brought into Gary’s furniture shop, the scene is set for a seasonal showdown that puts the lives of some of our favourites in peril. As Derek points the gun at his target, Gary runs from the Rovers with Derek giving chase. He ees to the Winter Wonderland where he orders everyone to hide. Michael is horri ed as the crowd, including the entire Platt family, run for cover and Maria arrives, looking for her man. Who will make it out alive?
So, not for the rst time, the residents of Weather eld have to come to terms with the dramatic events of Christmas Day. We know that Michelle is not one of the victims, (Kym Marsh, who plays Michelle, has said she will not be killed o when she exits), as, soon a er Christmas Day, she heads to the bistro to hand over the keys to the new owner. But when the mystery buyer turns out to be Ray, Michelle sets about smashing up the place until Carla orders her to stop.
But Michelle’s problems are fairly minor in comparison to what could happen to Gary as it becomes clear to everyone that he is a loan shark and a liar. is is particularly hard for Izzy, who is the mother of his son, Jake, and for Maria, who is pregnant with his baby. Maria’s former boyfriend, Ali, is determined that Gary’s misdemeanours will be revealed and he tells her he went to the police about Gary’s loan shark activities. e residents are le reeling as the true nature of Gary’s work comes out and the real reason why the Christmas Day shooting occurred.
At least they can all look forward to a good New Year’s Eve. Well, possibly not, as Ray tries to sabotage the Rovers New Year’s Eve party. As Jenny puts up a poster in the café advertising the Rovers’ party, Ray enlists his sta to prepare the bistro for their rival launch party and he reveals his plans to make a donation to a cancer charity in memory of Sinead. e girls are impressed at his generosity. Johnny and Jenny confront Ray in the bistro, outraged that he’s going head to head and trying to scupper their party. Not a great start to the new year, but a typical end of the old one – Ray at the helm of the bistro obviously means business, no matter how nasty that has to become.
And Gary continues to make enemies. He probably now feels that he has nothing le to lose, in terms of his reputation among his neighbours, anyway. So, he begins by locking Derek in the furniture shop overnight, determined to make sure he misses his ight to Florida with his kids. And when his ex, and love of his life, Sarah, continues to disrespect him, Gary vindictively increases the rent on the factory, which could close it down. But it shows who is set to become the baddie in 2020 and the reworks will continue long a er the parties have nished.