Kelly, Janice and Fiz want to have a Christmas party at Underworld but Carla puts the kibosh on the idea. Carla tells Liam to spend the day with Ryan as it's obvious that he's worried about him. Ryan's going stir-crazy in the Rovers. When Liam suggests they go out for the day, Ryan's delighted and under pressure from Liam and Steve, Michelle lets him go. Blanche chats to Jim in the bookies and tells him what a lazy beggar Vernon is. Jim's interested to hear about Liz's new man. Stephen takes David to the café for lunch and offers him a three-month job working for him in Italy helping to set up the new Milan factory. David's thrilled. Liz and Deirdre return from a shopping trip to see Jim and Blanche coming out of the bookies. Vernon watches Liz as she chats to Jim and can't help feeling je