michelle fowler (susan tully) becomes her lodger. rachel sees potential in michelle, and encourages her to apply to college, which she does. she meets michelle's brother, mark (todd carty), and dates him for six months. when the university course she teaches on is dropped, she has to work in the bridge street café. she later has a bric-a-brac market stall, and has sex with market inspector richard cole (ian reddington).