Coronation Street on DVD

ATV Network has two copies to give away, to enter simply email us here with your name and address and two winners will be randomly selected on Monday 9 November 2009.

The plot thickens…

Roy and Hayley receive an invite to Frankie Baldwin’s wedding. She’s getting married in Romania to Dean Fraser, a footballer playing for Transylvania’s finest CFR Cluj. Roy’s not keen on going, until Hayley, giddy with excitement, reveals that Frankie has also asked them to house-sit her lavish villa while she and Dean are on their honeymoon. Roy’s sold on the idea of a holiday in historic Transylvania and agrees.

Roy and Hayley set off for Romania but, thanks to Roy’s penny pinching on the flights, are running to a tight deadline involving several changes. Delays occur and they arrive too late for the wedding. Hayley blames Roy for the fiasco, and they make their way to the villa in stony silence.

The villa’s remote, tucked in the Apuseni mountains and ten miles from the nearest village. It’s truly spectacular – heated swimming pool, Jacuzzi, top of the range gadgets, the works. Expensive artwork adorns the walls, as do various bits of memorabilia from Dean’s football career.

Roy and Hayley have landed on their feet – until a loud and brash middle aged couple poke their heads around the patio doors. Glen (John Henshaw), resplendent in a Blackburn Rovers top, and his wife Verity (Siobhan Finneran) are surprised to find the villa occupied. Glen explains that they are Dean’s aunt and uncle from Blackburn, and were also asked to house-sit while the newlyweds are in Morocco. Glen phones Dean but his nephew is far from apologetic…it was bad enough they missed the wedding without bothering him on his honeymoon. Chastened, Glen asks Dean about local hotels, but there’s only the run down Motel Hagi, next to a flyover and a notoriously porous chemical plant. They’re about to leave but it’s clear Verity is fearful of what awaits at the motel. Hayley feels duty bound to suggest they stay – there’s plenty of room for everyone.

There follows an excruciating evening with Glen easily slipping into the role of host. While Hayley tries to be sociable, Roy is desperately awkward, finding no common ground with their guests. Matters deteriorate when Glen inadvertently picks up Hayley’s mobile with his tongs and barbecues it.

The next day, Roy and Hayley are up early, desperate to get out as Roy rails against the brash, intrusive nature of their unwanted companions. First they try the local bus, only to discover it comes about once a fortnight. Then they find a couple of bikes in the garage, only for Roy’s chain to snap on their way out. Beaten, they return to the villa to the sound of grunting coming from their bedroom…a shamefaced Glen and Verity emerge, adjusting their clothing. Roy’s embarrassment is bordering on painful. 

But the next day Glen offers to take Roy and Hayley wherever they want to go and then pick them up later. Hayley thinks he’s too kind, privately chiding Roy for his petty prejudice against them. Roy suggests they take a look at the village. When they arrive, Glen and Verity head straight for the nearest bar. For the sake of politeness, Hayley insists she and Roy join them for a while. Reacting to a persistent wasp, Glen knocks his pint all over Roy, leaving him with no choice but to borrow one of Glen’s Blackburn tops. The four of them agree to rendezvous later. 

Glen and Verity are delighted they’ll have the villa to themselves. But as Verity tries to drag Glen to the car, he spies some familiar blue and white halved shirts on the bar room television – they’ve got the match on! Before long, both husband and wife are slaughtered. Roy and Hayley return and are horrified to realise that Hayley will have to drive everyone back to the villa. They are subjected to a hazardous rural road populated by farm carts and cars full of boisterous teenagers who overtake as Hayley pootles along in second gear, Roy not daring to look at the precipitous plunges just outside the window. In their drunken state, Glen and Verity make the mistake of shouting abuse at a biker, who then chases them for miles on the treacherous roads.

Next morning a hungover Glen is apologetic. They’ll take Roy and Hayley anywhere they like and they won’t touch a drop. Roy protests their interests are different but after some prompting, admits he’s interested in seeing BranCastle. Roy wearily informs him it’s known to some as Dracula’s Castle, but that’s not why he’s interested. The whole tiresome Dracula business is…right up Glen’s street! Glen is in his element at the tacky market place at the foot of the castle hill, getting his fill of luminous skeletons and novelty capes and fangs. Eager to escape, Roy suggests they head up to the castle, Glen resplendent in a Dracula costume. Once there, he repeatedly embarrasses Roy with his antics. Verity eventually pulls him into line – this is the perfect opportunity for them to give Roy and Hayley the slip. A chase ensues, with Roy and Hayley doggedly hunting them down.

Back at the villa, Roy tells Hayley he can bear it no longer. Meanwhile, down in the village bar, a desperate Verity asks what they have to do to get shut of the Croppers. Glen’s eye catches a poster for a karaoke contest in the bar. Bursting into Roy and Hayley’s room in the middle of the night, Glen and Verity announce they have entered them all into the contest as Abba. Before Roy can protest, Verity produces garish wigs from a carrier bag: they’re going to look the part as well as sound it. Hayley looks on open-mouthed as Roy tells the whopping lie that their heavily pregnant daughter Becky has gone into labour three weeks early and so they must return home. Glen and Verity are full of sympathy and offer to drive them to the airport immediately.

They duly arrive at the airport. But as they hurry towards the terminal, they run straight into Becky. She’s had a row with Steve and thought she’d come out to Romania to surprise them. As they all troop back to the villa, an affronted Glen and Verity say they’ll leave. A shame-faced Roy and Hayley insist they’ll leave instead. An already bikini-clad Becky says no-one’s going anywhere, before jumping into the pool.

While a leering Glen chats to Becky, a penitent Hayley tells Verity they’ll do the karaoke with Becky instead of Roy. It’s a big night in the village bar, and their Waterloo goes down a storm. They win the competition and Becky’s in celebratory mood, insisting she’ll find her own way back to the villa after everyone has turned in for the night. She proves popular at the bar, drinking the locals under the table and making friends with everyone she meets.  

Early next morning, Becky hops off the back of a farm vehicle and staggers in. The group make their way to the Valley of Hell as a final attempt to build bridges. However, high in the mountains, the car breaks down. As Glen battles to fix it, Verity complains of sunstroke. Glen suggests Roy, Hayley and Becky look for help while he grapples with the engine.

Four hours later and the three of them are well and truly lost. It’s starting to look serious when continued walking brings them no nearer to rescue. Suddenly they hear a familiar caterwauling from a hut, the only hint of civilisation on these barren Transylvanian hills. As they get closer, it becomes clear – it’s someone singing. They reach the hut to find a 90-year-old shepherd belting out a song. The moment he sees Becky he flings his arms wide open. It’s not long before a farm vehicle is bumping down the hillside, the trailer packed with sheep, two Croppers and a McDonald.

The group hurry into the village police station, announcing that two people are lost in the mountains. As the police mount a search, Roy, Hayley and Becky return to the villa to await news. Yet when news finally arrives it is more shocking than anyone could have imagined…