Faced with the loss of Liam and Stella, Frank knows he has to clean up his act, and proves surprisingly adept at it too. When the rest of the clan arrive home, he’s already fettled the upstairs and is busy mopping the kitchen floor. Who are you, and what have you done with the real Frank Gallagher? His resolve to stay drink- and drug-free in advance of meeting with the social worker is sorely tested when he attends the homecoming party the Maguires are throwing for Mimi. Trouble is, although he manages it, Frank is so unused to having all his mental faculties, he’s finding it increasingly hard to tell the difference between what happens in his dreams and when he’s awake.

…which leads to an embarrassing almost-clinch with Norma, as Frank moves in for what he thinks is a fantasy kiss, only to realise he’s sat clutching her boob in the middle of Liam and Stella’s review. “I’m still awake, aren’t a?” he wibbles, to the disgust of the others (Norma especially), claiming that it’s not his fault as he’s “the victim of a liberated libido.” Later Norma gets her revenge, apparently moving in for a clinch of her own but in fact the only kiss on her mind is a Kirby Kiss. Luckily for the Gallagher clan, Yvonne is on hand to save the day. As a registered foster mother she can take Liam and Stella on where they’ll be closer to the rest of the family.

Joe turns up at Mimi’s party too, like a bad smell. Despite his multiple warnings last week, he’s still trying to blackmail Karen into selling his case to both Mandy and Jamie. But Karen’s having none of it, and calls his bluff. Mandy looks happy on the surface, but the Maguire men are acting like chained pit-bulls around the wife-beating scum.

Kash returns, unexpectedly contrite at what he put Yvonne and his kids through, but it’s three years too late. Yvonne offers him her savings to get him back on his feet, and then he follows Ian to try and tap him for some cash too. But Ian’s grown up a lot in three years and lets Yvonne and Stan know what’s going on. They meet up with Kash and offer to buy him off – turns out money was all he was after anyway, as he’s got in too deep with the loansharks – but he overhears their plan to bump him off and heads for the shop, where Chesney has been engaged in a bit of late-night stocktaking. Surprised to see his dead Dad walk into the shop, he drops his squiff next to a box of fireworks. Looks like Kash is going to die all over again in the burning shop.

Frank’s fantasies aside, this was another week of minimum laughs and maximum grind, with the marital to-ing and fro-ing of the newly released Mimi and the newly clean Paddy particularly tiresome. A number of storylines could be heading for an explosive climax in the next two weeks – the Joe/Mandy/Jamie/Karen one in particular – which may provide a better finale to a series that has been patchy at best.