Episode 4860 (22 May 2014)

Phil finds a drunk Shirley asleep on the ground by the Arches. She wakes and tells him to go away, but he insists on making her a coffee to sober her up. When Phil questions Shirley about what’s wrong, she tells him that she is just a waste of space; to which he disagrees. Shirley slurs that she’s pushed her family away and lost her son; she’s desperate to tell him that she loves him. Phil tells her that she is going nowhere smelling like a brewery and takes her back to his house to sleep off the booze.

Meanwhile, Linda tries to reassure a concerned Mick that Shirley will be back soon. Mick frets that he’s told Shirley repeatedly that she should never have been responsible for him and Tina when they were growing up – she was too young. Mick feels awful as Stan pointedly dons a scarf to hide the bruises on his neck. Meanwhile, Phil heads to the barbers where Dean is working and tells him that Shirley needs to see him; she knows she’s let him down and wants to apologise. Dean says she didn’t let him down; she abandoned them – therefore he doesn’t think it’s a priority to see her. Phil urges Dean to grow up and be a man.

He asks Dean what he’d do if Shirley apologises - would he see her then? Dean replies ‘maybe’ and Phil leaves the barbers feeling he has a solution. Back at Phil’s, Sharon thinks Shirley obviously can’t stay away from Phil. As the women argue, Sharon tells Shirley that she will do whatever it takes to protect Dennis as he means more to her than anything - she doesn’t expect Shirley to understand as that’s what being a mother is. Upset, Shirley downs wine and rejects a call from Mick. Phil returns and tells Shirley he’s sorted things – Dean just wants an apology. Drunk, Shirley stumbles out of Phil’s house. Phil offers to drive her to Dean, but Shirley heads to The Vic and her son - Mick.

Carol and David witness Max finishing up a conversation with two police officers on his doorstep. They head into Max’s who tells them he is in the clear. Max is desperate to make up with Lauren and Abi and to try and explain what happened. He asks them to come over later that day. Lauren storms in but tells Max she’s just there to pick up some stuff. While there, she shouts at him that the thought of him with Lucy makes her feel sick and accuses him of being a hypocrite for having a problem when she was seeing Jake. Lauren tells Max that she and Abi are staying at Cora’s – she then leaves Max’s house, distressed.

Libby and Denise are in the Beales’ kitchen talking about Libby’s plans to go to Spain for Chelsea’s birthday. Libby suggests Denise goes with her, but Denise is unsure about leaving Ian. DC Summerhayes arrives to see Ian. She says they’ve spoken to Max and nothing’s changed; they are continuing to pursue Jake. Later, Ian tells Denise she’s been fantastic since Lucy’s death and he’s taken her for granted. He wants her to go to Spain, having overheard her and Libby talking. Ian decides it’s best not to go along too – he might not come back. Peter assures Denise he’ll look after Ian. Once Denise and Libby have left, Ian tells Peter he wants to go and see Max – he needs to understand his daughter better. Peter responds that Lucy’s gone and talking to Max isn’t going to bring her back. Peter asks if now’s the time to bring Bobby home but Ian strongly disagrees, saying he’s better off with Jane for now.

Bianca tells David that Carol has cancelled her hen night - he puts it down to her being too tired from the chemo. Carol’s resting on the sofa when David, Sonia, Bianca, Whitney and Liam enter, bringing nibbles, wine and rom com DVDs - if the lady can’t go the hen, the hen goes to the lady! David’s phone rings – it’s Nikki – and Liam answers telling her to leave David alone. Bianca questions who it was and Liam confesses that he David and Nikki saw them together.

Linda’s itching to ask Johnny about his night out but Johnny’s tight lipped – he thought she didn’t want to know details? Linda’s amused when Johnny eventually admits the club was a meat market so he and Whitney went for a kebab.