Season 1 Episode 55

Episode 55

 

Sky One Transmission Date:

Tuesday 21st April 1998

 

Written By

Currently Unknown 

 

Directed By

Perry Miller

 

GS: Biloo Kapur (Hari Dhillon)  Brian McCarthy (David McBlaine)  Doug Hastings (David Kennedy)

 

Brian McCarthy is on his way, and Conor is frantically trying to make the flat look like humans inhabit it. Warren meanwhile is nursing his black eye and wondering what he'll tell Frank, determined to take revenge on Doug. Frank and Coates discuss the future of the youth team for next season: they'll have half the funding of the YTS scheme with only six trainees, and anymore the club will have to pay for. Coates says they have to make sure Stephanie gives them the funds for the club to attract the best players, but neither are confident she will invest. Coates believes for new talent to come in they're going to have to have a smaller youth team.

 

Brian McCarthy is confused as to why the club allows his son to live in a flat resembling a crack den when he has a contract with the first team. Conor tells his dad he is still a trainee, and was in the first team for five minutes, but his dad wants to go down the club to see Frank and sort out the original deal. Coates wants to get started cutting down the youth team, and after Frank has to reluctantly choose Tommo, he goes to tell him the bad news. Zoe arrives at Stephanie's office, where she reveals to Stephanie how she doesn't want to know what the tests say, as she has accepted Des as her father, being the one who has raised her. Zoe leaves as Biloo enters, having been asked by Lynette to pass Stephanie's post on to her. The letter featuring the test results is in amongst the mail, and Stephanie opens it, but does not reveal what she has read, instead placing it in her safe.

 

Frank sits with Tommo in his office, and tells him today is one of the days where he hates his job, because due to Tommo's football not "meeting the club's requirements" they are going to have to let him go. Tommo is absolutely crushed. Frank is being gentle, and offers to give Tommo the best references, and will fax his details to a contact at Brighton, but when Coates interrupts to hurry Frank up to meet Stephanie, Tommo tells them both he is off now and won't be back. Sean continues to have a bad game, and misses widely during shooting practice. Conor and Warren have noticed something's up with him. Training finishes and the lads wonder where Tommo got to. The lads finish changing and Frank informs the team how the club had to let Tommo go, and they are all stunned. Particularly Sean and Conor who remark on how Tommo was in the first team the other week and was one of their best players.

 

Frank is surprised to find Mr McCarthy waiting in his office for him, and he demands to know why the pro forms Conor was due to receive on his 17th birthday last month haven't materialised. Frank reminds him Ron Atkinson negotiated the terms, but he will make sure Conor gets what he is entitled to, and Brian is aghast to hear that Conor is under review with the rest of the lads in the club deciding whether he has a future with them. Conor makes it clear to his dad there's no guarantee he won't be on his way home at the end of the season, and with what happened to Tommo today every time Frank speaks to the team they all think they will be getting the chop. Conor tells his dad he should be going before he misses his plane. Conor arrives back at the flat, and Warren marches out carrying a can of petrol with a determined look on his face. Conor is about to go after him but the phone rings and to his delight it is Zoe, arranging to meet up with her later.

 

Dean and Sean sit in the canteen, where Sean has to endure Dean wittering on about how he will be taking Natalie on the most exotic honeymoon. Dean notices Sean is miles away, and thinks it must be over a girl which Sean tries to deny. In order to change the subject quickly, Sean asks Dean why the rush to get married, especially after Lucy and Georgina he shouldn’t rush into things. Dean is not impressed with Sean questioning the strength of his relationship with Natalie and storms off. That night, Sean pulls down his suitcase and empties draws of clothes into the case. As Doug locks the burger van up and leaves, Warren makes his move, dousing the trailer with petrol. Conor arrives, making him stop, and tries to reason that Doug is going to know Warren was behind this. In a desperate attempt, Conor tells Warren he will go to the police himself, and when he doesn't stop walking Warren gets worried.

 

Zoe comes into Sean and all he will say is that he's going away for a couple of days. Zoe susses it's over a girl, and Sean is stunned when she correctly guesses Natalie. Warren and Conor now frantically throw buckets of water over the van to wash off the petrol when Conor sees Doug approaching. Conor nudges the petrol can out of Doug's sight, but it falls over unseen, and the remainder trickles out underneath the van. Doug warns Warren off, and lights a cigarette. Conor motions them to leave, and they aren't far when Doug tosses his match and the petrol ignites, spiralling down the trickle until the burger van explodes in a fireball. Warren, Conor, with Doug behind are all knocked off their feet. Warren and Conor make it home in one piece, on a rush over seeing Doug's livelihood destroyed. Conor remembers he is meeting up with Zoe.

 

Zoe tells Sean it's been obvious to her that he has feelings for Natalie, and tries to make him see this isn't going to go away. Soon others will pick up on this other than her. Conor arrives at the house and Des tells him to go right on up to Zoe. With Zoe's support, Sean has made up his mind that he is going to tell Natalie and see if she feels the same way. Conor finds Zoe's room empty, then hears voices from Sean's room. Conor peers through the half open door and hears Zoe say when you love someone you have to let them know, to which Sean replies he’s glad he told her. He then kisses Zoe on the cheek, and Conor has gotten the complete wrong end of the stick. He stands there, in shock.

 

Notes:

 

·          The Best: Stephanie being the only one to learn of Zoe’s parentage, then telling Biloo in an unassuming manner that she doesn't think anyone needs to know! Tommo [Wheeldon Jr], alone in the dressing room after being let go by Frank, looks at his shirt like he is about to change for training. Instead he sits down and hangs his head in his hands. Sean turning to Zoe and asking her to help him with his Natalie dilemma. Daymon Britton always did a great job at playing Sean when troubled.

 

Logic: Frank says he's known Stephanie since she was eighteen. Now, later down the line to explain away his absence in DT80’s, it was said Frank was away at Derby County and Oxford United during December 1979 - May 1986 before re-signing for the Dragon’s. Frank also would have only played with Michael for a very short period in late 1975 before Jacobs' career was ended, and Jacobs wasn’t officially involved with the club again until the early 90's. But it's established that Michael and Stephanie were not together long before Georgina was conceived, which would have been early 1981. The only way I could see Frank knowing Stephanie since the age of 18 was if it was completely unconnected to the club and Michael.

 

·          Quotes: Mr McCarthy christens his son the next Georgie Best.

 

Foreshadowing: Coates informs Frank the FA have accepted their application to convert to a Youth Academy next season.

 

·          Continuity: Zoe tells Stephanie she hopes it is clear that she was never after Mike's money throughout the quest to discover if he was her father.

 

Additional Info: There are six weeks of the season left; Conor tells Warren only six weeks and he could have a pro contract. Frank tells Tommo he still has six weeks left of this season with the club if he wanted it. Conor informs his dad that he is on forty-two pounds fifty a week.

 

·          Surprise!: For Conor anyway... Mr McCarthy reveals how he and Conor's uncle have been down in London and have bought a pub, borrowing twenty five thousand which they plan on paying back with Conor's signing on fee!

 

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