Synopsis
The atmosphere in Walford was thick enough to cut with a knife tonight as the repercussions of Frank's return were being felt by the residents of the square. Frank had not been seen since he left the previous day and as a result Pat was walking on eggshells whilst Ricky was wandering around playing detective trying to find him. It seems everyone had their reasons for wanting to know where Frank was as David whilst putting on the mock concern about the family ethic and how he was worried about the fate of his mother. His true concern was the fate of the business this was made clear as we saw him over the portakabin looking through documents relating to Deals On Wheels which appeared to be concerning rights of ownership. Pat was understandably shocked by events of the last 24 hours and Roy whilst trying his level best to be the supportive partner was doing little good in Pat's eyes. Ricky, meanwhile, had been over to see Kathy and asked her what she knew about Frank's location. She inadvertently told him more than she should and gave him a head start with the hospital in Bristol as a starting point to begin ringing around. He continued his search by phone at home but alas could get no peace there due to the extremely loud music played by Bianca and Tiffany. This of course pushed his temper to the limit and coupled with the fact that Tiffany was trying to wind him up anyway made him blow his top. He continued making his enquiries down at the Arches Garage.
Pauline was putting on a brave face for the rest of the Fowler clan and was determined to go and see Arthur despite the fact that it was Boxing Day. Upon her return she told Mark and Ruth that she had been given special permission to see Arthur and that he had been behaving quietly but had sent his love to them both. The truth of the matter as Pauline revealed to Kathy later was that although she had gone to the prison Arthur had been true to his word and refused to see her. So Pauline had decided to lie to Mark and Ruth for the time being.
It was also the day of Stephen's birthday party which was celebrated with the younger members of the square having a party. Sonia played Happy Birthday on the trumpet showing she had suddenly come on in leaps and bounds compared to her previous attempts at playing the instrument. Robbie of course was still fancying his chances with Ted's daughter.
Another aspect of the Frank saga was the fact that Ricky once again found himself talking to Sam who was more than willing to act as confidante. She revealed how she had missed Frank and had always liked him when he was around. She obvious hadn't seen the new un-improved version. Ricky went home and talked to Bianca about how Tiffany couldn't realistically stay with them for any longer. Bianca although reluctant to let her friend go had to see the reality of the situation and had to agree.
Over at the Vic Ted had been speaking to Ian about giving his son Tony a job at the second chippy he had opened. Tony didn't seem too interested in the job and instead of arranging a time to meet Ian planned to go "eeling" with Robbie.
Roy had by this time returned home to talk some more to Pat but unfortunately the strain of the situation was evident as she ended up snapping at him and the two had a big argument before Roy left the house obviously hurt as during the course of the argument had developed their had been insinuations of Roy not being a "real man". Most of this had been built up the hapless Roy himself though. Pauline went around to Pat's to offer her support in her time of crisis and the two of them ended up in tears following what must have been the lousiest Christmas they had in a long time. Both of them stood exchanging idle chit chat whilst inside both were falling apart and fighting back the tears.
Credits
Main cast
- Wendy Richard as Pauline
- Pam St. Clement as Pat
- Tony Caunter as Roy
- Sid Owen as Ricky
- Gillian Taylforth as Kathy
- Steve McFadden as Phil
- Brian Croucher as Ted
- Barbara Windsor as Peggy
- Danniella Westbrook as Sam
- Michael French as David
- Patsy Palmer as Bianca
- Martine McCutheon as Tiffany
- Shaun Williamson as Barry
- Todd Carty as Mark
- Caroline Paterson as Ruth
- Michelle Collins as Cindy
- Adam Woodyatt as Ian
- Dean Gaffney as Robbie
- Mark Homer as Tony
- Daniela Denby-Ashe as Sarah
- Natalie Cassidy as Sonia
- Alexia Demetriou as Janine
- Jon Peyton Price as Martin
- Stuart Stevens as Steven
- Devon Anderson as Billy
