Steve and Rob’s seething jealousy surfaces both on and off the football field. First, when Steve is drafted in as a last-minute player for the Rovers’ five-a-side squad, he causes no end of chaos during the match and does his damnedest to ensure that Rob is denied goal-scoring opportunities. 

On the sidelines, Stella is goaded by Carole from the Weatherfield Arms: “You never could control your men,” she chides, a reference to both the on-pitch debacle and her history with Stella’s ex Karl.

Later in the week, Steve and Eva begin to fear that their respective partners – Michelle and Rob – are getting up to no good while on a business trip to Sheffield. 

Haring off down the M67 in pursuit, Steve arrives at the hotel to find that Michelle has no intention of straying. Eva, on the other hand, discovers that Rob has cheated on her with a waitress. The results are far from painless for the philandering underwear boss.

The action at the Rovers is centred around the disclosure that Maria is now dating Marcus. The evening begins calmly, but then Mandy makes a fatal mistake: “It’s gonna be a quiet one tonight” she says. “I can feel it in my waters.” 

Whenever anyone has a line like that, you just know there’ll be a fistfight by last orders. First Sean catches Maria and Marcus mid-snog  at the flat and then, once Jason finds out the truth about why Maria has dumped him, he lets fly in the pub. “You love Kylie Minogue and Canal Street. You do not love her!” he yells at Marcus.

Despite Marcus's assurances later that all will be well, Maria’s problems are soon compounded. On an evening out at the Bistro, Marcus fails to correct his boss’s assumption that Maria is just a friend. All of which leaves Maria wondering whether Marcus is really ready to go public with their relationship. 

Meanwhile, Womb Wars reaches another milestone as Tina takes a pregnancy test. Initially, she gets a negative reading, but a second test a day later reveals that she is pregnant. Although Gary and Izzy are ecstatic, Tommy is nonplussed by the turn of events: “I should be the one who’s thrilled. Not them,” he says forlornly. Rita advises that if he continues to bottle up his feelings, then the situation won’t end well.

At the factory, Kirsty is pleased when Michelle and Rob leave her in temporary charge while they head off to a meeting, much to Sally’s chagrin. That evening, Kirsty remarks to Tyrone that the fresh responsibilities were a real fillip: “I really felt like I was doing something useful for the first time since I left the force,” she says. Could this result in a new-found equable demeanour for Ty’s volatile wife?