The former cop arrives back from Manchester unannounced, almost gets into a fight with Phil, then takes Ronnie’s breath away with an announcement that could ruin her future business plans.
“I don’t want to spoil the surprise,” smiles Samantha Janus, who plays Ronnie. “But Jack probably isn’t going to be the sleeping partner he promised.”
At the start of the week, Ronnie and Roxy rush around organising the opening of their nightspot, which they have named R&R - after their initials.
But the night seems doomed to be a disaster.
Ronnie trips and injures her arm, the club’s electrics and air conditioning break, and new employee Dawn messes up the booze order!
But it all gets sorted and the opening night goes with a swing. Ronnie is basking in her success - until Jack saunters in. What does he want?
Later, Jack takes Tanya into the VIP area, and Phil demands to know what he is doing in there. The two men face off, eye-to-eye, and a feud is born!
Then, after the revellers have gone home, Jack stuns Ronnie with his news.
“Jack said he’d leave the running of the club to Ronnie,” says Samantha. “Now she’s getting more than she bargained for.”
and from the Mirror:
Every soap should have one. And in the ratings war between North and South, that seems to be a deranged and murderous teenager from some sort of dysfunctional family.
With the fantastic success of demonic David Bratt in Corrie, Enders now has Psycho Steven Beale. But his bizarre behaviour is becoming even more over-the-top and unconvincing.
Although he orchestrated that brilliant Is Cindy Alive? campaign, locked step dad Ian in a high-rise flat (hurray!), then accidentally shot and almost killed Jane, it seems his release from the private psychiatric clinic was somewhat premature.
For after inflicting all that fear and loathing on the Beales, Psycho Steven still wonders why he is treated with such contempt.
Turfed out of twins Lucy and Peter’s 14th birthday party on Thursday by Ian, Steven’s revenge is a little excessive. He gets drunk, breaks into the Arches, tips petrol everywhere, takes Stacey hostage and threatens to torch the gaff.
‘It’s a bit extreme, mind you,’ Stace tells him, fearing she’ll go up in flames, too. ‘Your invite doesn’t arrive so you decide to blow up half of Walford.’
Let’s just hope he’s forgotten to buy a box of matches.
Meanwhile the trouble with secret sleeping partners – both physically and in a business sense – is that they have a nasty habit of waking up. And this is one of those occasions.
But then Ronnie Mitchell must have been having a total blonde moment if she ever thought Jack The Lad Branning would leave her to run R&R with just sister Roxy.
Come Monday, he’s moved into a flat in the Square, shipped a pool table and gaming machines into the club and, in what must be a first for a nightclub anywhere in Britain, has decided that R&R opens at 7pm, in direct competition to the Vic.
So an irate Phil, Peggy and Roxy are soon in the office wanting to know what a Mitchell is playing at – and a smarmy Jack is happy to oblige. ‘Me an’ Ronnie,’ he reveals, ‘are in this place together. Partners.’
The sisters are soon pulling out each other’s hair extensions in a vicious catfight, while Phil offers to buy out Jack with ‘a nice little earner’, which he turns down. And then Ronnie moves out of the Vic.
‘It’s a bit weird, innit?’ Jack sneers at Phil. ‘Her preferring a complete stranger over family.’ You’ve met ’em, mate. Can you blame her?
Maybe they should call it the "flames" and not the "arches".
