Following the everyday life and times of the residents, friends, and enemies who live in a suburban neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city of Liverpool in the north of England.
Heather tries to work from home, but she is continually interrupted. Ralph begins to miss Grace, but also starts to look to the future.
Sheila prepares for a home delivery, and Marie sets off on a long journey to visit George.
Annabelle has to act quickly when her dinner guests arrive early. Stuart has a belated Christmas present for Heather. Bobby and Sheila become parents of a new daughter.
Bobby is determined to sort out the sexual harrassment case. Kate discovers that Pat is selling food to hospital patients.
Kate is in trouble at the hospital. Paul is accused of taking a bribe. Marie and Betty talk to Rick about George.
Sandra finds her first day back on theatre duties depressing. Annabelle's new freezer breaks down.
Sandra's husband unexpectedly turns up on the Close. The new union convenor at PetroChem makes further accusations against Paul.
The twins have a scheme to help Marie with her money problems. Pat writes a song. Damon is offered a job. Annabelle goes out jogging.
Rick Sexton wants to publicise the sacrifices the Jackson twins have made for their family. Marie lobbies a visiting government official.
Paul meets up with Colin Peterson in an attempt to arrange a peace settlement. Sinbad tries to sell cheap watches.
Paul has further problems with the maintenance contract. Damon and Neil start up their bin-liner business. Celia doesn't make Terry and Michelle welcome when they return.
Kate looks after Sheila's baby, allowing Damon and Neil to borrow the pram to carry their bin liners. Ralph goes missing.
Ralph returns to the bungalow, and Marie and Betty travel to Downing Street. Mrs Bancroft has her sights on a certain young man. Sheila is depressed.
Marie is annoyed when she is accused of neglecting her children. Edna and Ralph become hooked on newspaper bingo.
Damon thinks he's in for a good time when he is invited upstairs by Mrs Bancroft. Marie receives more hate-mail. Sheila is annoyed by the amount of influence Janet seems to have on Bobby.
Heather starts a new assignment which leads to something other than business. Marie goes to visit George in prison, but finds that he has absconded.
Heather meets an old flame. Marie is visited by the police. Sheila shows signs of post-natal depression
Sheila confesses to Annabelle that she has started to resent having a new baby. Curzon Communications' chief accountant makes life difficult for Heather.
Terry tells Sheila about a letter he has received from George. Annabelle gets a shock.
Paul has to attend a difficult business meeting instead of accompanying Annabelle to Gordon's school.
Michelle trips the light fantastic with the new dance instructor. Colin is in favour of calling a strike, and Heather meets Tom Curzon. It emerges that Gordon is in France with Lucy.
Mrs Duncan visits Annabelle. Accusations of an unprofessional relationship cause grief.
Annabelle leaves to visit Gordon in France. George has some bad news for Marie. At a disco, Karen and Susi pretend to be French girls.
Bobby proposes a "cooling off" period to Paul. The Grants' baby has a minor accident. A stranger arrives at the Jacksons'.
Marie wakens to find that the visitor has left, taking several of her possessions with him.
Despite playing a prank on Neil, it is Damon who finds himself the April Fool. Heather finds herself back on the Curzon review, and Marie prepares to move out.
Sheila's sister Margaret and her family arrive for the christening ceremony. Karen tries to conceal a love-bite on her neck. Before leaving the Close, Marie gives Sheila a present for the baby.
Heather returns to Curzon's to find the company in a crisis. Edna and Ralph place an accumulator bet on six horses.
Sackings follow when Howard, Joyce and Heather present their review to Tom Curzon, and Harry takes action against Billy Mac. Things get physical between Karen and Andrew.
Damon has to attend a YTS interview. Sandra and Pat consider hiring a kissogram for Kate's birthday. When one man comes to her door, Heather has to hide another one in the kitchen.
Pat sets up a singing telegram service and tries to involve Damon, but Bobby has other plans for him. Tom Curzon invites Heather to spend a weekend with him in Portugal.
The singing telegram turns out to be a few notes short. Harry consults a lawyer.
Sandra is disgusted that Jackie is delivering kissograms as "Fifi The Naughty Night Nurse", and that Kate made the costume. Heather and Tom travel around Portugal - but what lies ahead for them whe...
Sandra discovers that radiographer Jimmy Powell has x-ray eyes. Damon receives a job offer. A pillar box is installed on the Close.
Annabelle employs a cleaner. Pat has words with the radiographer who attacked Sandra. Damon begins his YTS scheme.
Michelle goes dancing with Richard, but later finds out that he's not who he claims to be. When Victor visits the bungalow on Tommy McArdle's behalf, Ralph ends up flat on his back.
Harry is made an offer, but only if he keeps his mouth shot. Michelle has a surprise for Terry. There's some bad news for Pat.
Paul finds himself in a somewhat embarrassing position. Heather has something to celebrate. Ralph makes a decision.
Serious pressure is put on Harry to drop the court case. Michelle and Terry continue to fool each other and themselves.
Bobby thinks it's time to resume sexual relations with Sheila, but he is called away on business. Edna is in for a shock.
Tommy McArdle makes Harry an even more tempting offer. The Grants have a visitor. There is bad news for Terry and Michelle.
Edna refuses to venture out after being mugged. Annabelle makes a worrying discovery. An old friend of Damon's makes a surprise return to the Close.
When Annabelle confronts Carol about the food that is going missing from the freezer, the search for the thief widens. There's a surprise for Edna.
Annabelle discovers that Harry has been giving Edna the same food that has been going missing from her freezer. When Terry arrives late for work, he discovers that the club has been raided. He then...
Terry disturbs Karen's reunion. Paul is asked to be more specific about how he will reward the strike-breakers. The food thief is finally caught in the act.
Terry learns that McArdle has been released. Bobby speaks to his doctor about the possibility of having a vasectomy. Paul believes he may have found a way of ending the strike.
Heather amuses Greg with her attempts to park Tom's car. Bobby tries to arrange to have a vasectomy without Sheila finding out. Karen and David decide to go to see a film that doesn't have scenes o...
Karen sits her last exam, Tom invites Heather to dinner, and Terry makes a statement.
Michelle leaves the Close to live with Marie in Leeds. Sandra plans a holiday in Rimini. Tom discovers that something valuable he left in Heather's car has gone missing.
Sheila becomes suspicious about Bobby's visit to the doctor, and Karen gets a shock when she goes to visit Bobby at work.
Bobby is forced to come clean about his vasectomy when Sheila's stepladders accidentally poke him in the front room. Sinbad buries a television.
Sheila overhears Damon and Karen discussing the stand-off between her and Bobby. Jack wants to impress a new woman and asks Terry a favour. Tom tells Heather there is someone he wants her to meet.
Eileen becomes suspicious of Jack's living arrangements. Bobby and Sheila consider separating. Tom introduces Heather to his father, Jim.
Terry suggests that Sheila should consult a priest. Harry and Ralph decide to go to a car auction.
Tom and Heather discuss their future. Sheila turns to the church for help with her problems.
Heather plans a celebration with Tom but gets a shock when she calls unexpectedly at his office. Sandra returns from her holidy in Rimini, and Neil persuades Damon to go busking.
Neil and Damon plan the seduction of their girlfriends. Heather forces Tom to admit the truth about the girl she saw him with. At the hospital fete, some of the residents get Russell Grant's autogr...
Harry discovers that running a car will be expensive. Tom suggests to Heather that they cancel a date. Neil asks Damon for a divorce. The stranger returns.
Pat, Sandra, and Kate find themselves at the mercy of an unbalanced man with a gun.
Annabelle becomes suspicious after speaking to Kate and hearing about her encounters with Harry and the milkman, but Paul doesn't believe her. Damon and Neil prepare for a seance. The captor become...
The siege continues, and Pat undermines Kate's attempts to end it peacefully.
The Close is evacuated, and the residents monitor the situation as it is reported on television. Harry becomes concerned when Edna goes to the toilet and doesn't come back.
After gunshots ring out, the police move in, but there are only dead bodies to be recovered.
Reporters are swarming around the Close, and Terry accuses Harry of profiteering from the death of one of his tenants.
As a result of the newspaper coverage of the siege, Annabelle and Harry both receive letters from the tax man. Terry and Sandra have to go to London for a funeral.
Ghoulish appetites for a glimpse of the scene of the crime make matters worse. While Harry is arguing with other residents outside, Edna suffers a stroke in the kitchen.
Paul and Annabelle prepare to go on holiday, but first he wants to know why an extra television set has appeared in the house. There is no hospital bed available for Edna. Karen's exam results arrive.
Edna has a relapse and is in a critical condition. Paul and Annabelle prepare to camp out in their back garden, but is their tent waterproof?
Damon and Neil find out that the photo of Karen they entered for a competition has won. Harry's spirits are low, as Edna's condition remains unchanged.
Harry is hopeful that Edna will be able to come home. Sandra is surprised when someone from the Close turns up while she visits her mother in Glasgow.
Harry and his family maintain a vigil at Edna's bedside, but she is not going to wake up. Matty is disappointed when he is unsuccessful at his job interview.
Pat and Sandra return from Glasgow and find Harry in their house, distraught because Edna has died.
There's an unfortunate case of mistaken identity, as the vicar puts his foot in it at Edna's funeral. When Terry returns from the funeral, he discovers that new arrivals the Corkhills have dumped h...
Terry and Pat discover that televisions dug up from the garden don't necessarily work. Billy has a surprise for Doreen - a ready-to-assemble fireplace kit. Jim hears something he shouldn't on Heath...
Sandra is feeling the strain of being the only breadwinner in the house. Heather regrets lying to Jim. Doreen needs help with the building of her fireplace.
Terry and Pat go to the bank. Karen and David play monopoly. Paul sets off for a military reunion dinner but has no intention of arriving there.
Doreen's mother, Julia, reveals a few home truths about Billy's criminal past. Annabelle is startled when she questions Paul over his reunion dinner. Harry sells, then buys again.
Heather is worried when she receives some mysterious phone calls. By chance, a cigarette end found down the toilet ends up in Sandra's meal.
Tom asks Heather to be "Mrs Curzon". Sandra gives Pat three months to make the van-hire business a success. Damon needs plenty of initiative when Karen asks him to change a book he has given her, a...
Billy Corkhill has forgotten about a little electricity job, but it's someone else who is caught red-handed. On Karen's first day at university, her worries turn into outright fear when she meets o...
Billy's new shutters are causing a bit of a stir. Damon and Rod are determined to outdo each other in their displays of support for different football teams.
Rod plans to impress Heather by washing her car, but then the water supply is cut off. Lucy Collins returns to the Close.
The cleaner meets the daughter, but who has more reason to be suspicious? Heather reflects on becoming a free woman again as her divorce from Roger becomes absolute.
It's Lucy's birthday, but she has disappeared again. Damon and Rod make a bet, and Harry agrees to adjudicate.
Karen goes to a party without telling Bobby and Sheila and does something she later regrets on the way home. Heather is not sure how to answer Tom's proposal.
Doreen discovers that Julia has nearly burned her house down. Lucy tells Annabelle her plans. Damon sets about returning the Corkhills' alarm without them knowing.
Heather is confused when Tom refuses to invite his daughter to the wedding. The Corkhills are more confused about what has happened during the night.
Lucy is confident about her job interview but finds that it isn't the walkover that she expected. Julia appears in court.
Jim has a proposal for Tom. Ralph and Harry go on a trip to Blaenau Festiniog. Julia discovers a love letter written by Tracy to a lad at school. Or is it?
Annabelle's homewatch meeting doesn't quite go to plan. Terry and Pat take on an awkward customer.
Heather discovers that Tom has bought her a new house and handed in her resignation. The appearance of Gummy George on the Close results in Paul getting a black eye.
Heather struggles with her preparations for the wedding. Harry and Ralph go to the cemetery to see Edna's grave.
Heather has serious doubts about marrying Tom. Lucy tells Paul and Annabelle that she has a boyfriend. Harry inadvertently causes a fight between Billy and Doreen.
Rod arrives home with a black eye, but finds that it wasn't worth getting. Doreen's turkey fund becomes a little under-done.
Pat and Terry are summoned by their bank manager. Doreen confronts Julia. Heather has a visitor, but does she still have a job?
Lucy invites James home. Pat and Terry meet a potential new customer. Damon starts work in a stately home. Ralph and Harry are bored.
Damon is in a spot of bother at work but won't blow the whistle on the guilty party. Harry and Ralph man the phones.
Damon confesses that he has been suspended. Pamela encourages Karen to crib an essay. Pat and Terry blame Harry for sending them on a wild goose chase.
Sheila takes steps to clear Damon's name. Sandra is not pleased when Harry wakes her up. Karen obtains a second-hand essay to save her some time.
Sinbad tries to interest the residents of the Close in fresh turkey for Christmas. Karen discovers that her tutor originally wrote the essay she handed in to him.
Sinbad introduces Trevor the Turkey to the residents, most of whom decide that it's slightly too fresh for them. Karen is flattered by the weirdest Guy she knows.
Lucy feels trapped as Annabelle sets a date for James's visit. Billy is asked to work over Christmas. Sheila is surprised that Father Christmas knows so much about Claire. Pat, Sandra, and Terry ce...
At Billy's factory, many of the men are made redundant just before Christmas, and it's time for Bobby to take action. An ex-girlfriend of Barry's turns up and has a few surprises for everyone.
Barry discovers that Jane hasn't kicked her habit and confiscates what he finds. There's trouble between Billy and Bobby at the picket line. Joyce turns up at Heather's in need of somewhere to stay.
Bobby and Sheila learn from Barry that the heroin belongs to Jane. Joyce tells Heather she is setting up in business, and invites Heather to join her.