In the first visit of the week to the Street Monday at 7:30pm, Peter wakes with a hangover and Simon’s fending for himself again, making his own breakfast so he’s not late for school. When Peter then arrives to work late, Michelle can see the state he’s in and fed up with his drinking and being left to run the bookies herself, Michelle tells him to stick his job.

So after another bad day for Peter, when he gets home, he hits the bottle once more telling a worried Simon he doesn’t feel up to reading him a story. As Simon trudges off to bed alone, at the Barlow’s, Deirdre is urging Ken to accept that Peter’s an alcoholic. Ken doesn’t want to listen but his reluctance to acknowledge his son’s problem could have fatal consequences…

Over at the flat, Peter’s drifting off into a drunken sleep. His fingers loosen around his burning cigarette and it drops to the floor.

Elsewhere Tara introduces Dev to her star photographer Justin and tells him she’s commissioned him to do some more pieces. Dev’s inwardly cringing, knowing Justin’s previous pictures were bought by him not a customer, but Tara’s furious with Dev when he tries to curb her enthusiasm.

Maria’s annoyed that her plan to pair Natasha off with Tom failed when Natasha arrives back on the street boasting about spending another fantastic night with Tony. Struggling with her own irrational behaviour, Maria’s then frosty with Tony when he calls by to arrange a business meeting

Kirk tells Julie how he plans to get a job and save up to get them a place of their own but it’s obvious Julie isn’t really interested. Kirk’s disturbed by her attitude but ploughs on regardless.

And finally, Eileen has Paula round for lunch but when Colin interrupts, Paula can’t wait to get away leaving Eileen struggling to understand her friend’s strange behaviour.

At 8.30pm, Peter’s cigarette sets fire to the carpet and soon the flat’s filled with smoke. Simon wakes and phones Deirdre, telling her the flat’s on fire, but as he desperately tries to drag his Dad out, the pair fall. A drunken Peter is on top of Simon trapping him, and as they breath in the lethal fumes, they fall unconscious.

Ken and Deirdre rush to the bookies in a state of panic to see smoke billowing from the flat. Tony and Luke break the door down in a bid to rescue Peter and Simon as Ken blames himself for not recognising how serious Peter’s drink problem has become.

Dev defends Tara while Umed derides her gallery and the amount of money Dev’s wasting on her and it. Minnie then arrives with the three framed photos Dev asked her to buy. Panicking, he tries to hide them but it’s too late as Tara arrives and sees the artwork. She demands to know what Dev’s doing with the photos and he’s forced to tell Tara how he secretly purchased them to cheer her up.

Furious, Tara packs her things and leaves feeling totally humiliated. Dev’s gutted and when he bumps into Prem’s accountant Lisa, he pours his heart out over a drink. Dev’s not moping for long though and with the alcohol pumping through his veins he invites Lisa back to his flat…

Kirk lets on to Chesney that he knows he’s been bunking off school and Fiz also confronts Chesney about skiving off. She asks if anything’s wrong but Chesney tries to play it down.

Maria tells Tony she wouldn’t like to see Natasha get hurt and it’s an awkward moment as Tony assures her he doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt.

Finally, Rita tells Eileen that she’s thinking of planning a surprise party for Colin’s 70th birthday.

On Friday at 7.30pm, as Simon’s life hangs in the balance, Ken berates himself for not listening to Deirdre and tackling Peter’s drink problem before it came to this. Peter’s also devastated having spent the night at Simon’s bedside. As he prays for him to regain consciousness, Peter vows to never drink again, all too aware that he nearly killed his own son who’s not out of the woods yet.

Meanwhile, Ken’s had time to think about his own dark deeds and visiting Martha, he admits that he’s a married man. Martha feels hurt and betrayed as she trembles with rage. Will Ken be able to plead his case?

Back on the street, Tara turns up at Dev’s telling him she’s sorry she overreacted. Dev’s guilt-ridden knowing that Lisa’s in the bedroom but as he arranges to meet her in the pub later to talk, Tara’s none the wiser. Will Dev come clean about his one-night stand?

Fiz drags Chesney to school against his will, despite his protests that he hates it and later, Fiz is furious with Chesney when she discovers he’s been skiving again. She phones the headmaster to arrange a meeting but while she’s making the call, Chesney attempts a quick getaway.

Rita tries to get Norris to admit he doesn’t really want to go travelling with Mary but he’s adamant he’s looking forward to it and Michelle offers Peter her support, reassuring him she’ll help him get through this.

In the 8.30pm episode, Ken goes back to the barge and begs Martha to talk to him but he gets no answer from her as she sits alone and hurt. With no option but to walk away, Ken’s miserable as he arrives back on the street and reveals to Ted how his relationship with Martha is over and how sad he feels. Ted assures him it’s for the best and as Peter returns home, Ken tries to focus on his family, promising his son he’ll be there to support him from now on.

Chesney admits to Fiz that he hates school because he’s being bullied by Kenzie and later, Fiz watches, horrified, as Kenzie and his mates jump on Chesney. She’s furious and grabs Kenzie by the scruff of his neck just as Mr Griffin calls them into his office.

Fiz can’t understand why Mr Griffin refuses to believe Kenzie’s a bully until he admits that he’s seeing Kenzie’s mum. In a fit of rage, Fiz announces that Chesney’s leaving school and will be home tutored from now on but back at home, Fiz regrets her hasty decision, wondering how on earth she’s going to educate Chesney.

Kirk shocks Julie when he finishes with her but he explains that he thinks she doesn’t love him any more and also thinks he can do better. As he gets more wound up, he tells her she bosses him around and never takes him seriously and Julie can’t deny any of it. Stunned to be the one who’s been dumped, Julie packs her things and leaves. On the outside Kirk seems fine with her leaving but inside, he’s heartbroken.

Elsewhere, Mary takes Norris for a drink and tells him that her mother’s died and that she’s relieved she’s gone leaving Norris taken aback.

And finally, Graeme reckons Joshua could be a very talented footballer so he suggests to Claire and Ashley that they enrol him for the Under 7s team.