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GS: David Douglas (Richard Derrington) Steve Johnson (Daniel Greene) Christopher Hill (Jacob Lloyd) Alison Hill (Keeley Mills)
CID Officer 1 (David Cochran) CID Officer 2 (Paul Johnston) Mandy Connelly (Martine Brown) Peter Stringfellow (as himself)
Matt Webster is on holiday in Spain with his girlfriend Alison and her son Chris when he receives a call from Harchester United telling him that his seat has been reallocated for the rematch between Harchester and Everton, taking place the following day. Matt was not aware the rematch scheduling before going on holiday and manages to get a flight home but only two tickets, leaving an annoyed Alison behind in Spain. Despite a mad rush home, he and Chris end up arriving just as the game has finished. A disappointed Matt then bins his now invalid season ticket.
In Liverpool, Dean Boyle is celebrating his birthday, and will be attending the match with his father Tony, stepmother Karen and his girlfriend Donna, who is also Karen’s sister. They are Everton supporters, and once they arrive at the Dragons’ Lair Tony sends Dean to buy them their tickets. Dean approaches ticket tout Steve who sells him Clyde’s comps given to him by Ryan, meaning the Boyles have to sit with the Harchester fans in the home end. Harchester beat Everton and at the end of the match Phil reads out the winning seat number of the club’s new owner. Donna is sitting in the seat. Upon showing that they have his comps, Clyde steps in and declares that he should be the new owner. The Boyles refuse to back down, so David announces that the matter will be settled in court.
The players are in unrest over recent events, but Stuart assures them that things will be sorted and they should take their holidays. Clyde and his mom decide to launch an appeal to find the tout, much to the discomfort of Ryan, who’s later forced into offering Steve £25K to keep quiet. Meanwhile Donna, angered by Tony’s interference in her relationship with Dean, gets her revenge by going to the papers and revealing that the Boyles are in fact Everton supporters. This revelation worries Dream Inc. and they appoint the formally disgraced Pilar Hernandez as the club’s new Chief Executive, to run things until the ownership battle is over.
Pilar offers Stuart the job of managing Harchester United permanently, to which he accepts; only under the condition that he lets her sell Fletch in order to bring in a new star striker, Luke Davenport. Pilar then burns the contract Phil promised Fletch. While both Clyde and the Boyles launch press conferences defending their claims, Matt is still unaware that he is a part of this, and is hurt when Alison returns home and leaves him, taking Chris with her. However, that weekend he is looking after Chris when he sees Donna’s story in the paper, and the picture of her with seat #61 – his seat. Realising what this could mean, he rushes outside to search the rubbish for his season ticket, which when found confirms what he thought, and he smiles.
Notes:
First appearances of Tony Boyle (Alan Stocks), Karen Boyle (Cheryl Mackie), Dean Boyle (Michael Ryan), Donna Gibb (Jo Goldie), and Matt Webster (James Daffern). Pilar Hernandez (Marem Hernandez) last seen in 6.25: Show Me The Money is a permanent fixture in the series from this episode onwards.
Best Known For: Alan Stocks has 40+ acting credits, which amongst more than ten roles as policemen includes a regular role in “Wire In The Blood", which aired alongside his DT stint in 2003.
Cheryl Mackie played the regular role of Megan Brindley on “Brookside” from 1998-1999, and was one of the many DT alumni in “Days That Shook The World” (2004-05) along with Michael Ryan and James Daffern here.
Michael Ryan appeared in “In His Life: The John Lennon Story” (2000) and had a memorable role on “Hollyoaks” in 2009 as Caleb Ramsey. His film roles include "War Horse" (2011) and "Pan" (2015)
Marem Hernandez (now Hassler) has more than 50 credits, appeared in “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life”, and played the title character Riley Para across several projects (2016-19)
Although she only appears as Clyde’s mom in this episode, Martine Brown played Juliette Benson on “Hollyoaks” from 1995-98, a brief role on "Coronation Street” (2000-01) and the recurring role of Reverend Viv Marchant in "Doctors" from 2013 onwards.
The Best: Donna physically yanking seat #61 from its place. Spain filming, especially as Harchester are not in any European competition this season. The casting for Matt, Alison and Chris, with West Midlands born actors who could pass for being lifelong Harchester residents. The “24” style shots of Matt and Chris making their way to the game whilst showing the Boyles watching Harchester and Everton play at the same time. The A5 road sign showing Harchester and Tamworth are two miles apart. Peter Stringfellow’s delight at Harchester beating Everton. Clyde’s ‘Chairman Clyde’ printed t-shirt. Pilar’s return, with the camera focusing on every distinguished part of her body as she arrives at the club, until the climax when David announces her as the new Chief Executive.
Quotes: [Censored if viewing daytime repeat] Donna (on Marcel): “He’s got nice legs, not a bad arse either.” Dean: “Who? Marcel Sabat-tty boy?” Donna: “He’s never gay! You can tell.” Also a couple of gems from Clyde; (to the Boyles): “This is ridiculous yeah, I’ve just saved this club from relegation and they’re gonna be putting statues up of me!” and “Lads, you can take this from me yeah... all your contracts, are in the bag (to Curtis) apart from yours!”
Foreshadowing: The hatred between Tony and Donna is visible from their first scene, but the reasons behind it will not be revealed until 7.7: A Little Less Conversation. Donna mentioning that she and Dean could “fly to Las Vegas and get married in one of those Elvis chapels” is also a future reference to the same episode. We get the first glimpse of Luke Davenport (Neil Newbon), hinting towards his arrival in the next episode.
Continuity: Nikki is told by two detectives how they have two suspects in custody for Doyle's murder. Pilar tells Stuart that Alan Rothman will not be returning. Danny Rawsthorne is among the pictures of past and present Harchester players on Chris’s bedroom wall. James Daffern was formally Abi Fletcher’s old college mate turned blackmailer Jimmy in 6.4: The Root Of All Evil.
Additional Info: We see Number 23 for the first time in this episode, presently owned by Matt. This episode also marked the first time in DT's history where the opening episode of the new season continued from the same day as the previous season’s finale had ended on, a technique that was continued at the beginning of the show's two following seasons 8.1: Down and 9.1: Phoenix From The Flames. Tony is a self employed builder and runs his own business ‘Boyles Builders’. Matt is a supply teacher and has been a Harchester season ticket holder for eleven years. Despite saying she’d be around until Clyde sorted the ownership mess out, Mrs Connelly is gone by the next episode. Simple: Skin Defence For Men sponsored Dream Team for this season.
Surprise!: The preview of Lynda’s appearance coming in the next episode.
Soundtrack: Athlete: “El Salvador”, Benny Benassi: “Satisfaction”, Electric Six: “Dance Commander” and “Shes White”, Embrace: “Save Me”, Goldfrapp: “Strict Machine”, Groove Armada: “Suntoucher”, Rae & Christian: “Blazing The Crop”, Stereophonics: “I Miss You Now.”
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