After managing to cope with her alcohol addiction, Christine's world starts to fall apart. Out of the blue, her estranged husband Joe turns up and starts showing an interest in Connor. But until now he'd never seemed to care about his son, so Christine is immediately suspicious as to Joe's motives. And she proves to be correct, as it's soon revealed that Joe has only returned to get Christine to sign away her rights to a farmhouse she’s been gifted by his late father. It also transpires that Christine has told countless lies to Connor about his father. When Connor finds out, he immediately turns against his mother. As the stress begins to build, cracks start to appear for Christine. Michael tells her that he is unreservedly there for her if she should need him, urging her not to go back to her old ways. However, when she feels the situation growing, she turns to a bottle of vodka. When Connor finds his mum drunk at school yet again, it proves to be the final straw and he announces he's going to leave and live with father Joe. Meanwhile, Nikki’s prejudice against Scout is continuing. Despite there being no proof of what she's being accused of, Nikki is adamant that Scout has been responsible for causing trouble. However, it soon emerges that Barry Barry is responsible. It's enough for Sian, who decides that she needs to take tough action with the Barrys. She employs a ‘divide and conquer’ approach to the troublesome family - believing Barry Barry is exerting an unhealthy influence over his sisters, Dynasty and Kacey.
