Kat’s irked that Alfie’s spent their last £70 on new stock, but Alfie’s confident he’s found a gap in the market - ice cream. On the Square, Aleks sneers that Alfie can’t provide for his family; he’s stunned to learn of Roxy’s past relationship with Alfie. Tina tastes Alfie’s ice cream and immediately spits it out – it’s duck flavour! As Alfie unearths more weird flavours, Mo reveals Fat Elvis got the ice cream from a gourmet restaurant that went bust. Kat’s unimpressed, but takes a liking to the bacon and egg flavour.
Alfie despairs but, after a talking to from Kat, throws himself into selling; he’s doing a roaring trade when Aleks arrives, insisting Alfie can’t sell without a food licence, and issues him with a fine. Later, Alfie attempts to bribe Aleks to forget the fine, and then bluffs that he’ll expose what he saw on Aleks’ laptop. Enraged, Aleks throws a surprised Alfie out his office. Alfie interrogates Roxy about Aleks; Roxy’s convinced Alfie can’t stand seeing her happy. Alfie begrudgingly pays Aleks’ fine, then attempts to log into his laptop but is caught red-handed by Tamwar. Alfie pleads with Tamwar to help find out what Aleks is hiding. Tamwar initially refuses but later arrives at No 23; he hacked into Aleks’ computer – the person Aleks is talking to in Latvia is his wife...
Bianca despairs over a letter from a loan company demanding £350, which she hurriedly conceals from Carol. Carol’s worried about her consultant’s appointment after she bolted from the last one. Carol suggests she cram in a few weeks’ work at the cafe before her mastectomy but Bianca won’t hear of it. At the hospital, Mr Cavendish discusses Carol’s recuperation period and leaves Carol and Bianca to discuss the option of a double mastectomy to prevent the cancer from returning. Carol worries that with a more extensive surgery she could be laid up for months – the family won’t cope if she’s unable to work - and stubbornly decides to have a single mastectomy.
Later, Liam’s concerned on seeing Bianca in tears; she tries to front she’s fine but eventually shows him the letter from the loan company.
Tosh cooks Tina breakfast before her performance meeting with Ian, worried that if Tina loses her job it could affect their chances of starting a family. Meanwhile, Ian arrives at Billy’s, on Lola’s request, to find a depressed Peter curled on the sofa, having had a dream about Lucy. Ian comforts Peter and suggests cooking lunch – they’ll get through this together. They’re interrupted when Tina rings Ian about her performance review. Irked, Ian heads to the café where he immediately picks faults and impulsively fires Tina. Tina pleads for work at the Vic and beseeches Mick to speak to Ian but Mick can’t help and wonders if Tina’s scared of telling Tosh the truth. Ian arrives back at Billy’s to find a more upbeat Peter bathing Lexi with Lola and heads home, alone. Tosh fumes to learn Tina’s lost her job. Tina rings Aunt Babe - is the job she mentioned still going?
Nancy probes Johnny about Pride and teases him about a hickey on his neck. Linda’s concerned that Shirley’s been AWOL all weekend. Mick’s confident that she’ll be back in time for free drinks at Linda’s birthday party. Linda frets to Dean about Shirley; he insists Shirley’s trying to get attention and convinces Linda she’s not worth worrying about. Meanwhile, Johnny and Nancy hide birthday presents in the oven away from Linda’s prying eyes. Mick enthuses about Linda’s birthday surprise. Linda feigns a headache and heads off for a lay down. Johnny gets a text from Gianluca – ‘I can’t stop thinking about you’. Suddenly, Linda shrieks from upstairs and rushes in brandishing a clown doll. Mick laughs that he’s laid booby traps to stop Linda snooping for her presents and treats Dean to a pint for cheering Linda up.
As Terry helps Alfie with his new stock, Donna flirts with Terry and ropes him into helping her with her own stock. Terry supports Bianca when she confides she’s been to the hospital with Carol, watched by Donna. Later, Terry gets a shock to find Nikki sat in the dark in his flat – the Steves are buying their own place and she’s homeless. Show less