Season 9 Episode 9 Episode 365 Sky One Transmission Date: Sunday 11th December 2005 Directed By Stephen Woolfenden

Felix, Gavin, Lynda Scarlett, Eugene Cindi Marlon

GS: Paul Hankin (Leigh Cranston) Marlon Baldon (David Gyasi) Paul Hankin is hot on the Eugene story and plots a piece on how "poor Gavin" was robbed of his deserved million by ‘Football's Bad Boy’ Eugene. Gavin and Cindi fall for Hankin's lie that Lynda cleared it for them to do an interview, and soon he is twisting Gavin's words for a good story. When Scarlett receives a dead mouse in the post, Eugene notices the cover of the paper before yelling at a crowd of gathered journalists how he too was poor when he was seventeen, only unlike Gavin he'd had a much harder life. Gavin is called to the boardroom by Lynda and Felix, fearing they are about to fire him over the story. However, he returns to tell the boys he was given his pro contract. Cindi, believing the club have fired Gavin, spills to Hankin that Eugene should be the one fired after he tried to bribe Gavin into giving him his place in the team! A press conference is called where Hankin hits them with the bill from Gavin and Cindi's night at the Grange, questioning if Gavin hadn't taken Eugene's money how could he afford to pay the bill on youth team wages? When Lynda comes across Cindi she wastes no time in firing her from the Dragonflies. With the FA involved, Lynda adds they could impose bans of three to five matches - all of the Christmas fixtures. She proposes a way around this would be if Eugene gives up the money and donates it to a good cause. He refuses and takes it out on Scarlett, taking a metal club and smashing her car windscreen. Scarlett packs to leave Gene, unable to take his behaviour anymore. Lynda asks Alex how many others in the first team asked youth teamers to fake injuries, and heads to Studs. Danny comes clean, saying he did it for the twins’ futures, and Ryan and most of the team follow, with Lynda asking is this what the boys in Cardiff died for, so a million pounds could sully the game? Eugene goes to Lynda and tells her she can have the money, as Scarlett has left him. Lynda says there is a way they can still hold off the ban, with Eugene announcing he will be giving the money to the people that really need it. Amy walks in with the life-size cut-out of Cass and Scarlett, plus the catalogue they posed for. Cass tells Amy they can't risk Eugene seeing the Christmas marketing display and will have to do another shoot - this time featuring Amy herself as the new model! Lynda tells Eugene that to get Hankin to write a good story about the club for a change she'd like Gene to pose with Steven, the boy needing the operation on his heart. As Gavin signs his professional contract, Steven asks Eugene to sign the catalogue Lynda hands him, and Gene is enraged to see Scarlett on the cover with Casper! As Cass and Amy do the photoshoot, Eugene bursts in and smashes a chair across the room, and Scarlett is called to calm him down. Chloe visits Cindi where she presents her with a cheque for £5,000, saying it's for her to leave Gavin. When Gavin arrives home he presents Cindi with a new dress and expensive necklace for her to wear when he takes her out that evening. Cindi realises it's going to be much harder to break up with Gavin than she thought, and goes to Chloe demanding a bigger paycheque. She tells Chloe that she'll deserve some compensation for breaking up with Gavin, and Chloe is annoyed to hand over a further £5,000. Marlon arrives to see Eugene over Scarlett leaving him. Eugene blames it on the million pounds he won, and Marlon is impressed when Gene pours out the bag of notes in front of him. Alex shows Lynda a cheque the lads wrote to add to the charity fund, clearly all having attacks of the conscience. A message then arrives from the owner apologising for the stunt, which Lynda is pleased to see. Eugene talks to Marlon about how he's basically screwed either way with or without the money. Marlon suggests there could be a way he could have both the love of the fans and the money, and says he knows of people that would relieve Eugene of the money if he asked nicely. Eugene catches Marlon's drift and smiles. Notes: Additional Info: The shared digs Cindi's mom runs as landlady is referred to by Hankin as a "gloomy Midlands terrace”. In the youth team Gavin is on £90 a week, a double pay rise from the £42 Conor McCarthy refered to in 1.55 in 97/98. Cindi is a beauty technician. Forshadowing: The ol' dead mouse in the envelope trick must have been a DT writers favourite - Jason Porter gets the same treatment in 10.31 The Final Whistle Part 1. Cass Clues #3: Cass is gutted to watch Eugene address Scarlett directly saying he was always scared Casper would take her. Knowing the misery the million pound win inflicted on Eugene, the large fonted “I’m sorry” message to Lynda makes sense. Soundtrack: Craig Armstrong: "This Love", Gorillaz: "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead", Whigfield: "Last Christmas" <<SE09 EP08 |  Season 9 Main Page | SE09 EP10>>