Coronation Street fans shared their delight as it returned to screens on Monday night. The ITV soap had its planned episode last Friday (September 9) cancelled following the news of the Queen's death.
It was announced at around 6.30pm on Thursday, September 8, that Queen Elizabeth II had died peacefully at Balmoral at the age of 96. The statement from Buckingham Palace came hours after they shared that doctors were concerned for the late monarch's health and that she was under medical supervision.
Since then, the TV schedules have been changed and swapped for rolling news coverage and other special programmes paying tribute to Britain's longest-serving monarch. But Coronation Street did returns to screens, showing the episode originally scheduled to air on Friday.
The episode opened with Leanne Battersby trying to get her sister Toyah Habeeb to 'bin off' her meeting with eco-activist Griff and got out with her instead. Leanne has been concerned about the company Toyah has been keeping ahead of her trial for the murder of her husband, Imran, earlier this year.
Viewers were then taken to the hospital where James Bailey found out that his brother Michael was the one who saved his life by performing CPR when he collapsed on the pitch during a friendly game of football between the Rovers Return and the Flying Horse. "Wow, I owe you," the Weatherfield County footballer told his brother before a doctor told him that his cardiac arrest had caused 'not lasting damage; and that he has a pre-existing condition that causes a weakness in the muscle of the heart.
But it was the following scene, between youngsters Hope Stape and Sam Blakeman that caught viewers' attention. The pair were chatting about his friend Jaleena's upcoming party and Sam shared concerns that his crush had 'gone off him' as they hadn't spoke since he started at his secondary school.
"Maybe she's just stopping being a geek. Moving on," Hope replied. They then discussed what he'd be wearing to the party and Hope was horrified when he suggested he'd just got in his school uniform. They were then joined by Liam Connor at the bus stop and Sam worried he was missing 'own clothes day' at school.
But Liam reassured him he was in jeans and a football shirt because he was off on a school trip - to the Pencil Museum. While Liam didn't seem keen about traveling to Keswick on the educational trip, Sam replied: "That's amazing." When Liam asked: "Is it?" Sam said: "Yeah, I love pencils, me. It's a piece of wood with led inside it and you can write with it. Incredible design, really. So simple."
And Sam's comments really made Corrie fans' night - and the wait for their Weatherfield fix 'worth it'. @chippytea_ tweeted: "I've waited DAYS for this ep. And Sam saying "I love pencils, me" made it so worth it. #Corrie." @RyanGSoapKing11 wrote: "Pencil museum #Corrie," alongside a string of crying laughing emojis.
@FreshcoSurvival shared: "Sam's pencil talk made me laugh out loud. So cute #corrie." @ClaireerialC18 added: "Count me in for the pencil museum! I'm with Sam on all this. People with interests are the best kind of people @itvcorrie #corrie."
READ NEXT:
- ITV Coronation Street's Mikey North 'proud' amid Millie Gibson's exit as he shares what's next for her
- ITV Coronation Street's Mikey North says fake life became real as he filmed Millie Gibson's upcoming exit
- ITV Coronation Street's Mikey North teases Gary Windass' demise as he's forced to dig his own grave when Kelly Neelan discovers truth
- ITV Coronation Street's Bill Roache says the Queen made you feel like you were 'the only person in her life'
- Real life of ITV Corrie's Sean Tully actor Antony Cotton including his famous actress mum who appeared in the soap
