Coronation Street

[Sally hands Kevin a leaflet]

Kevin Webster:
"Websters' Auto Centre"?

Sally Seddon:
Yeah, re-branding they call it. All the big firms are doing it. It's all about image these days. Now, the thing about flyers is it's all about the artwork and the larger the print run, the cheaper they are. You can claim it back on tax as an employment expense. I've had 10,000 run.

Kevin Webster:
Sal! We are working flat out to try and get work done and you're wasting money!

Sally Seddon:
Do you know what you sound like? You sound like a parent whose kids go to Weatherfield High, a parent with no ambition. But us, me and you, we are Oak Hill parents...

Kevin Webster:
But what about the lads?

Sally Seddon:
Never mind the lads. We'll take on some new staff, we'll expand, because all that matters is our girls. Our maths genius helped with all this. You've been too busy so I got Rosie to help me. I got three different quotes from three different printers, three different thicknesses of paper, one, two or three colours, and Rosie worked out all the different unit costs for me, so we've all been pulling our weight, which is why I need to talk to you about the apostrophe. Rosie was the one who spotted it, she's so sharp - I should have asked her to do the proof- reading. Anyway, it's only a little mistake and the printer's put it after the 'S' in Websters and now it looks like the auto centre belongs to all of the Websters instead of just you! It's going to cost another 300 quid to get it fixed, but I figure only bright spots like Rosie would notice and she's probably going to be your accountant in a few years' time and with you being so busy I'm going to have to start coming into the office and doing your admin full time, but don't worry Kevin I'm not expecting any wages, 'cos you'll still be in charge of the lads, and you do what you're good at, and I'll do what I'm good at, and Rosie can go to Oak Hill, the apostrophe can stay where it is because in a way it's all fate, isn't it? We will be the Websters' family auto centre!

Sean Tully:
[in a vet's waiting room] Oh, what a lovely parrot!

Parrot:
Sod off!

Rita Littlewood:
[about Norris's secret book] The hero of his novel has got himself caught up in a menage-a-trois!

Emily Nugent:
Oh, really!

Rita Littlewood:
Emily, you do know what a menage-a-trois is?

Emily Nugent:
I most certainly do!

Rita Littlewood:
Oh. Well, the two women involved in this...

Emily Nugent:
Love triangle?

Rita Littlewood:
Yes. Are a mild-mannered church-goer called Emilia...

Emily Nugent:
[subtly shocked] Oh.

Rita Littlewood:
...and a racy, Titian temptress called Reeba.

Emily Nugent:
[suspicious] Oh.

Rita Littlewood:
[reading from the novel] "Norris jumped out of the moped as Emilia and Reeba alighted the side-car... "

Emily Nugent:
That's a big side-car!

Rita Littlewood:
"... and hand in hand, the three of them ran barefoot through Chester Zoo. Atop the souvenir kiosk, Reeba belts out a quick rendition of "Paper Moon", whilst Emilia chose this moment - for some solemn prayer."

Emily Nugent:
It's not really a page-turner, is it?

Rita Littlewood:
You wait till you hear what happens in the meercat enclosure!

Emily Nugent:
I like meercats... I've a tea towel with some on - Norris knows that!

[Blanche, their landlady, is kicking Frankie and Danny out of their house, without notice]

Frankie Baldwin:
You can't do that. It's illegal!

Blanche Hunt:
Then sue me!

[Blanche slams her front door shut and Frankie looks through the letterbox]

Frankie Baldwin:
You cannot not kick us out of our house, you looney!

Danny Baldwin:
Get up, Frankie. She won't hear you - she's as deaf as a post!

Blanche Hunt:
I heard that!

Eileen Grimshaw:
Tracy Barlow! I mean, even her initials are a killer disease!

Steve McDonald:
You tell Karen about the baby, I will make you pay, I will make you suffer.

Rita Littlewood:
Did you ever run away from home?

Norris Cole:
No, I most certainly did not!

Rita Littlewood:
That must have been a great disappointment to your mother!

Danny Baldwin:
Call it a day, before the pink elephants start marching in!

Fred Elliott:
Ta-ra me ducks!

Richard Hillman:
Why can't they leave us alone?

Peter Barlow:
I was drinking to forget.

Shelley Unwin:
Forget what?

Peter Barlow:
I don't know, I've forgotten.

[Dev has just said he'd like to stay at home and take care of Sunita, who is ill, instead of going abroad to marry Maya]

Maya Sharma:
I knew it!

[throws some jars at Dev]

Maya Sharma:
You don't want to get married! You'd rather stay here and nurse poor little Sunita!

[deliberately knocks another load of tins and jars off the shelf]

Maya Sharma:
She's got you wrapped around her little finger!

[knocks more jars of the shelf and then pauses]

Maya Sharma:
If you like her so much,

[throws a large jar of something on the floor and it smashes extremely loudly]

Maya Sharma:
MARRY HER INSTEAD!

Rita Littlewood:
I've seen some hard-faced b*tches in my time but you take the bloody gold medal!

Gail Potter:
[to Richard Hillman] You're Norman Bates with a briefcase.

Charlie Stubbs:
She walked into a door!

Bev Unwin:
Yeah - a door called Charlie.

Mina Parekh:
That's very clever to have a little sewing kit in your bag.

Maya Sharma:
Yes, well, you never know when you might want to stitch someone up.

[Marvin and Ashley square up ahead of their big fight]

Marvin Maddocks:
When the bell starts ringing and the trainer says "Go", I'm telling you, girlie, there's something you ought to know. Your knees are going to tremble, your feet will turn to lead. I'm going to smack your nose into the back of your head.

Blanche Hunt:
Good looks are a curse, Deirdre. You and Kenneth should count yourselves lucky.

[on Christmas Day]

Blanche Hunt:
This turkey is dry enough to choke a camel.

[talking about Liz McDonald]

Blanche Hunt:
Skirt no bigger than a belt, too much eyeliner, and roots as dark as her soul.

[talking about caf? owner Roy Cropper and his transsexual wife Hayley]

Blanche Hunt:
He's a looney and she's a man.

[on hearing that Peter and Leanne want their own bar]

Blanche Hunt:
An alcoholic and an arsonist open a bar? Sounds like the start of a joke.

[at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting]

Blanche Hunt:
I've never heard such self-indulgent whinging in all my life. Is there some correlation between how boring you are and how much you drink?

[talking about Eileen's father, Colin Grimshaw]

Blanche Hunt:
I'd cut off his whatnots wi' a pair of garden shears, me. The rustier the better.

[talking about caf? owner Roy Cropper whom she thinks is a bit simple]

Blanche Hunt:
He looks like he should be crayoning summat.

[talking about Gail]

Blanche Hunt:
Never happy unless she's got someone's hands round her throat.

Blanche Hunt:
[to Tracy] You're remarkably chipper. Trod on a snail?

Blanche Hunt:
[to Ken Barlow] You're going to have to learn to take pleasure in the misfortunes of others, Ken, or you're going to have a very miserable old age.

Vicar:
[attempting to escape from a reporter that has been questioning her] I expect you know today is the feast day for the patron saint of newspaper reporters.

Reporter:
Is it?

Vicar:
Trust me - I'm a vicar.

Kenneth Barlow:
[whole family minus Tracy sees Roy creeping downstairs after Tracy drugged and slept with him] Tea Roy?

Annie Walker:
My idea of heaven is doing a foxtrot on a French-chalked floor, knowing I look right.

Martha Longhurst:
[as Ena chokes on a sixpence in Minnie's Christmas pudding] Should I hit her on the back?

Minnie Caldwell:
No, don't, she might hit you back.

Blanche Hunt:
Mr. Langton?

Ray Langton:
The one and only.

Blanche Hunt:
I'm Deirdre's mother. I've got something for you.

Ray Langton:
Something for me? [Blanche slaps him] What the hell were that for?

Blanche Hunt:
Oh that's just for starters. If you want another one, just try picking on Deirdre again.

Rita:
[shouting at Len] "Tommy Cooper couldn't tell a story as daft as that! Did you listen to what you were saying? Already it's only the first of January and you're the champion liar of 1980!"

[the topic of conversation in the Rovers' Snug is death]

Ena Sharples:
If I had my way, I'd like to go like me mother did.

Martha Longhurst:
Eeh, that were a beautiful ending.

Ena Sharples:
Oh, lovely. She just sat up, broke wind, and died. We all having the same again, girls?

Susan Cunningham:
Don't let's bother about town. What about that funny Victorian pub on the corner?

Jack Duckworth:
[after he sees through Vera's disguise] You're no flamin' widow!

Vera Duckworth:
No, But I will be 10 minutes after I get you home!

Brian Tilsley:
"... isn't it Gail. I mean we really made the best of it didn't we?"

Steve McDonald:
[First lines, to Liz about his and Andy's sleeping arrangements] Mam, Why do we have to have t'back bedroom?

Les Battersby:
[eating a turkey he had run over earlier] This is Champion Turkey, this!

Leanne Battersby:
I can't eat this! Look, it's even got tyre marks on it!

Steve McDonald:
[to Karen] Look, half the street think you're a slag, the other half think you're a nutter. I think you're both!

Shelley Unwin:
Peter. It's Dougie Ferguson... he's been hurt.

Peter Barlow:
Tripped over his ego has he?

Maxine Peacock:
Richard, what the hell are you doing?

Maxine Peacock:
You should've stayed at the party, Maxine!

Karen Phillips:
Try any more stunts like that, and I will be booking your funeral!

Karen Phillips:
[holding up one of her shoes] Don't defend her, Steve, cause I've got one of these for each of you.

Tracy Preston:
You touch me with that, I'll sue for criminal injuries, together with child support from him.

Karen Phillips:
Dead people don't sue!

Steve McDonald:
She means it, Karen. When it comes to screwing money out of people, she does it very well!

Tracy Preston:
As opposed to just screwing people!

[Jason arrives in a builder's outfit while Gail is shouting homophobic abuse to Todd]

Gail Potter:
Oh here's the other one... the rest of The Village People!

Leanne Battersby:
Get a good handful did ya!

Cilla Brown:
[Cilla answers the door to Janice]

Cilla Brown:
You're calling at a very inconvenient time.

Janice Battersby:
Oh, shame. Is Les in?

Cilla Brown:
Anything you have to say to Les, you can say to me.

Janice Battersby:
Er... right. What if I was going to say, 'Les, you're going out with an ugly, evil monster. Bin it!'?

[Liz enters the Barlows' living room wearing a low-cut, short sparkly dress]

Liz McDonald:
Morning, all. What do you think?

Deirdre Rachid:
Oh, I say, you look very glam!

Tracy Barlow:
We don't normally dress for breakfast.

Liz McDonald:
No, this is for me job interview.

Tracy Barlow:
What job?

Blanche Hunt:
Prostitute.

Liz McDonald:
Blanche!

Deirdre Rachid:
Mother!

Blanche Hunt:
You were all thinking it. I just said it out loud.

Jamie Baldwin:
[feeding Warren a hangover cure] Good lad.

Warren Baldwin:
That's disgusting, what's in it?

Jamie Baldwin:
You don't wanna know, believe me.

Frankie Baldwin:
Will it make him better?

Jamie Baldwin:
No, this is stage one - detoxification. This is just the beginning.

Danny Baldwin:
So what happens now?

Jamie Baldwin:
Well, we wait. After ten seconds he *will* be sick.

Warren Baldwin:
[panicked] You what?

Jamie Baldwin:
I mean, how long's it been? Six? Seven? Eight?

[Warren runs towards the stairs]

Frankie Baldwin:
Not on the carpet - upstairs!

Danny Baldwin:
Well, it's good stuff - his legs are working.

Tommy Nelson:
Where you off to now?

Craig Nelson:
The Abyss.

Angela Nelson:
You're going where?

Rosie Webster:
To the Abyss.

Tommy Nelson:
The Abyss?

Craig Nelson:
Yeah, it's a shop.

Angela Nelson:
Oh, it's not a bottomless pit of emptiness, then?

Rosie Webster:
They sell clothes and stuff.

Tommy Nelson:
D'you need bus fare?

Craig Nelson:
No, I've got my Christmas money.

Angela Nelson:
Right, don't be late.

Tommy Nelson:
And don't fall in!

[Angela and Tommy roar with laughter]

Sean Tully:
Think... think. What would Angela Lansbury do in this situation?

Kelly Crabtree:
I treat my body like a temple.

Janice Battersby:
Open to anybody. Day and night.

Cilla Brown:
[after Roy has taken Chesney to the airport] You call the airport and I call the police, Hayley. Now before your lady's done a bing-bong, there'll be armed police swarming all over him!

[Hayley puts the phone down slowly and angrily]

Cilla Brown:
There's a good girlie-boy!

Bev Unwin:
All dolled up, nowhere to go.

[sees a bottle of vodka]

Bev Unwin:
Oh - don't mind if I do.

Emily Nugent:
I'm quite capable of deciding for myself what I can or can not do!

Norris Cole:
Oh well, don't blame me when you're in pot up to your waste!

Emily Nugent:
Oh, stop fussing over me, Norris - you're not my nurse!

[turns to Rita]

Emily Nugent:
Oh, how do you work with this man, all day?

Rita Littlewood:
Well, I've just developed the ability to tune out when he starts wittering.

Emily Nugent:
Oh - can I have lessons?

Norris Cole:
That's the thanks I get, is it? For caring? For running around you for the past week?

Emily Nugent:
Doing what? Lecturing me - no - hectoring me! And the rest of the time you were busy trying to drive away my niece!

Norris Cole:
I think you'll find I was protecting you!

Emily Nugent:
[grits her teeth] Well, if I need protecting, I'll buy a guard dog because I could do with the companionship!

Gail Potter:
[Gail is on Eileen's doorstep arguing about the "torrid affair" she believes is going on between Eileen and the new foot masseur] His car was parked out here all night.

Eileen Grimshaw:
Run along home now, Gail. The curtains won't twitch themselves, you know.

Norris Cole:
[after seeing his ex wife] It were like seeing a vicar in a tracksuit, unnerving.

[at the altar, Shelley has just told the vicar and congregation that she will not marry Charlie]

Charlie Stubbs:
Sorry about this, mate. She's been having a few problems upstairs!

Shelley Unwin:
Yes, I have, and I thought it was me but it's not. It's you, Charlie! I was okay till I met you. Everyone kept telling me you're destroying me, that you go with other women. And I kept denying it and denying it and denying it 'cos I was so scared of losing you. But you *are* destroying me. You do go with other women. I've seen it with my own eyes! And you made me feel it was my fault! You made me feel scared, you made me feel inferior. I can't trust you! I can't marry you!

[she flees the church]

Blanche Hunt:
Do you think they wrote their own vows?

Shelley Unwin:
[Shelley arrives at a pedestrian crossing in her wedding dress, prompting a perplexed look from an old lady] I jilted him! I can do better.

Old Lady:
Good for you, love!

Shelley Unwin:
Yeah, good for me!

Gail Potter:
David's been through the wringer.

Eileen Grimshaw:
Yeah, and Sarah's been through half the lads in Weatherfield.

Gail Potter:
And Todd's been through the other half!

[Violet is recounting Fred and Bev's furtive early-morning goodbye]

Shelley Unwin:
And then he kissed her?

Violet Wilson:
No, she kissed him.

Betty Turpin:
Mouth or cheek?

Violet Wilson:
[Chuckling] Does it really matter?

Betty Turpin:
Does it matter! "Passion meek - on the cheek. Marriage job - on the gob!"

Shelley Unwin:
Oh, Betty, don't say that! How could you?

Betty Turpin:
Well, that's what we used to say.

Violet Wilson:
It was on the cheek.

Shelley Unwin:
Well, I'm still not too happy about it.

Betty Turpin:
With his reputation for proposing, you know, they'll have fixed a date already!

[In the Rovers, Sarah goes to the bar.]

Violet Wilson:
[Pleasantly] Hiya, Sarah, what can I get you?

Sarah Platt:
[Moodily] It's not working, you know.

Violet Wilson:
Are you talking about your brain?

Leanne Battersby:
[the day before Mike's funeral, Ken has entered the pub and given Leanne a dirty look] If that Ken Barlow looks at me like that tomorrow, I'm gonna bop him one.

[Janice pays a visit to the factory the day after flashing her bosom in the pub]

Fiz Brown:
I bet I know why you're back: to have your buttons sewn on!

Leanne Battersby:
Oh, no. She likes the 'let-it-all-hang-out' look.

Kelly Crabtree:
Yeah, see them fellas' eyes poppin' out.

Sally Webster:
[sn*ggering] Yeah, and it's not in appreciation either.

Leanne Battersby:
You can talk. Your chest came flat-packed and you haven't put it together yet!

Sally Webster:
Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Soph.

Sophie Webster:
And that top doesn't suit you but you still wear it.

Sarah Platt:
Me and him are 'so' over.

Gail Platt:
Again? You and him have been on and off more times than the light in Eileen Grimshaw's fridge!

[to Sarah after she's come back to work after being dumped by Jason]

Audrey Potter:
Now don't worry, love. There is always a bright side to every situation.

David Platt:
Yeah, maybe Eileen has a son that we don't know about.

Norris Cole:
You should be at home, studying.

Amber Kalirai:
It's the holidays, though, innit?

Norris Cole:
The brain never takes a holiday.

Amber Kalirai:
Not true! Kirk's has been sat in a deck chair in Blackpool since the late nineties.

Kirk Sutherland:
Hey!

Blanche Hunt:
Ken recently had an affair with an actress. Oh - it wasn't Nicole Kidman or Glenda Jackson - she lives on a tugboat.

Ross:
[an AA meeting]... and with God's help - or whoever it is up there whose keeping an eye on me - that's how it'll be for the rest of my life. And it will be.

Blanche Hunt:
Have you finished?

Ross:
...Yes.

Blanche Hunt:
Can I ask you something?

Howard Lee:
Well we don't ___

Blanche Hunt:
They say that alcohol loosens the tounge. Well you must have took ten-to-the-douzen with drink inside you, or did you get tanked up ___

Deirdre Barlow:
Mother!

Blanche Hunt:
What?

Deirdre Barlow:
Don't be so rude!

Blanche Hunt:
Well I think he needs telling! I've never heard so much self-indulgent whinging in all my life!

Ken Barlow:
Blanche!

Blanche Hunt:
Is there some... correlation between how boring you are and how much you drink?

Peter Barlow:
Blanche, what we normally do at this point, is let other people in the group reflect on what the speaker has just said.

Blanche Hunt:
And what am I doing? Chewing corn for gummy parrots?

Howard Lee:
Ross was just trying to help those here with a drink problem, to see that they're not alone.

Blanche Hunt:
I'm surprised no-one's fallen asleep! I thought my tea tasted funny. What did you lace it with, ProPlus?

Melanie:
I found it very illuminating. Sorry my name's Melanie and I'm an alcoholic. [They all greet her] No I did, I found it really interesting. I always do when you speak.

Blanche Hunt:
You want to get out more - wait 'till you try bingo - you'll hyperventilate.

Blanche Hunt:
[on hearing that Peter and Leanne want their own bar] An alcoholic and an arsonist open a bar? Sounds like the start of a joke.

Blanche Hunt:
[as the Barlows meet George and Eve, Blanche is very drunk] Kids on every corner - lurking and spitting, pavements knee deep in dog-doo, murderers running actories - on it's not like it was around here. There was a time when stupid people, with nowt to steal - could leave the doors open!

Ken Barlow:
You're painting a very negative picture, Blanche.

Deirdre Barlow:
She's a very negative person.

Blanche Hunt:
I'm a realist - I don't live in fairy-land like you do.

Eve Wilson:
Everywhere's got a problem, hasn't it?

George Wilson:
Exactly - there's good and bad everywhere.

Blanche Hunt:
Good and bad in this room! [Points at Deirdre] This one - she were in prison! I nearly died of the shame.

Deirdre Barlow:
Mother! Nobody needs to know that!

Blanche Hunt:
[points at Ken] He's had more affairs than Soft Mick!

Peter Barlow:
I think you've had enough Blanche.

Blanche Hunt:
Oh! Well you certainly have! [points at Peter] And this one 'ere, he's an alcoholic, you know!

Leanne Battersby:
I'll just get you another glass, Blanche, with tea in it.

Blanche Hunt:
Oh! And now I'm being told off by the former prostitue! Oh naughty Blanche! Naughty!

Mary Taylor:
Have a nice day, now!

Norris Cole:
I do wish you wouldn't use Americanisms in the shop.

Mary Taylor:
Hey Audrey!

Carla Connor:
[Robbie rips off some duct tape] Look, if you want money, I can get you whatever you want. Just don't... [Robbie places the duct tape over Carla's mouth, gagging her]

Robbie Sloane:
Sshh. Now, scream. Scream!

Carla Connor:
[Carla screams through her gag, unable to speak]

Robbie Sloane:
Now, I'm going to nip out for two minutes. Don't go away. [Robbie leaves Carla tied to a chair in an empty room. She screams for help through the tape on her mouth]

Robbie Sloane:
[pulling out a gun] Before you ask, yes, it's a real gun. Well, it's a replica, but it works. It's loaded. And I will use it.

Hayley Cropper:
[entering empty factory] Well, where is she?

Carla Connor:
[Carla tries to scream in warning through the tape over her mouth] What...? [Robbie grabs her]

Robbie Sloane:
[Robbie ties Hayley to a chair. She cries loudly] Oh, did I give you a Chinese burn. Shut up. [pushes Carla, who is tied to a chair and gagged with duct tape, in front of Hayley] I said shut up.

Tony Gordon:
Oi! [Carla and Hayley turn to see Tony walking towards them]

Robbie Sloane:
She's howling like a banshee, someone will hear. [Hayley looks at Carla. Carla breathes heavily through her gag, terrified]

Tony Gordon:
Not through these walls. She can scream as loud as she likes. [surveys Carla tied to a chair and gagged] You've done well.

Tony Gordon:
[Tony kneels beside Carla's face. Grabs the side of the duct tape gagging her mouth] This might hurt. [He rips the tape off her skin. She moans in pain] Well, that's at least three layers of fake tan.

Carla Connor:
What do you want?

Tony Gordon:
Well, I didn't come to all this trouble to host a staff meeting.

Hayley Cropper:
Where did you come from? How did you get in?

Tony Gordon:
Don't worry. No one saw me, no one knows I'm here, I'm quite certain we won't be disturbed.

Lloyd Mullaney:
You do get on.

Steve McDonald:
Yeah, just as mates. That's all.

Lloyd Mullaney:
You know what they say - from little acorns...

Steve McDonald:
If Michelle sees this, my little acorns will be in a jar.

Sally Webster:
I saw you earlier cleaning Emily Bishop's windows.

Tim Metcalfe:
We're having an affair.

Tim Metcalfe:
She put the "chest" in Manchester, that's for sure.

Marcus Dent:
There's one thing Julie's got that's bigger than most people's.

Brian Packham:
I know. And I'm going to miss that as well.

Marcus Dent:
I was talking about her heart.

Brian Packham:
Oh. Right.

Roy Cropper:
[to Hayley] You have turned an apology of an existence into a life, fuller and more joyous than I could ever hope.

Hayley Cropper:
Listen to her, Tracy Barlow. Living proof there's no justice in this world. Your mother's ashamed of you. Your daughter barely knows you. Your donor kidney would reject you if it could. But here you are still buzzing around like the queen bee, passing judgment on everyone you meet.

Miss Nugent:
[Watching Blackpool Illuminations from the coach] Oh look Mrs Sharples, Old King Cole!

Ena Sharples:
If that's Old King Cole I'm Huckleberry Hound; if you don't know what you're watching you want to keep your trap shut.

Ken Barlow:
I don't know. Doesn't take much to amuse some people, does it?

Valerie Tatlock:
How d'you mean, Ken?

Ken Barlow:
Well, look at it. Beside the Great British Seaside: masstopia here we come. No wonder some people emigrate.

Valerie Tatlock:
What are you talking about?

Ken Barlow:
Well just think of it. For fifty weeks of the year they work to save up for this. A fortnight in Blackpool: chip shops, stink of onions, lights, some imbecile sideshows, a dirty great concrete fairground and they're happy. Or so they think.

Valerie Tatlock:
Course they're happy, Ken, they wouldn't come otherwise, would they?

Ken Barlow:
No, they don't know any better. They live in dumps like Coronation Street and they think this is paradise.

Valerie Tatlock:
Well what's wrong with it?

Ken Barlow:
Everything - it's overcrowded, overcharged... It's not right, Val, people deserve better than this. Some people work hard, very hard, all the year round and this is what they get at the end of it. If only they could want a bit more.

Valerie Tatlock:
Well it wouldn't do if everyone was alike, would it?

Ken Barlow:
Well that's just what they are in this place, like a lot of sheep.

Valerie Tatlock:
Look Ken, you enjoy yourself going to the theatre and reading and all that. Well other people are different, they enjoy this.

Ken Barlow:
You mean they think they do cos they don't know any better.

Valerie Tatlock:
[deflated] You're not enjoying yourself then?

Ken Barlow:
[Beat as Ken realises what he's been saying] I am. But then I enjoy being with you.

Valerie Tatlock:
Well let's see you smile, then. [He smiles at her; they kiss]

Work gives ones life purpose

This isn’t a sneer it’s a smile with a lid on.