Day: November 4, 2019

Soap Blog: 23rd – 29th September 2019

Coronation Street

Gary decides he has had enough of Ryan messing him about and not paying back his debt.  Tracking him down to a bar where he is a DJing, he summons him outside and beats the bewildered guy up, showing him exactly who he is messing with.  He demands his money, warning him not to tell anyone what has happened.  Terrified, Ryan desperately attempts to get the money, although he fails.  He then agrees to tell his friends and family that he was mugged and that Gary intervened and saved him.  However, Adam is very suspicious of what Gary is up to.

Michael asks James about what he overheard at the party and James reluctantly confesses that he is gay and that Aggie knows.  Now that his brother knows too, Aggie decides that it is time for Ed to know the truth although James is worried about his reaction.

Max causes trouble for Audrey at the salon by messing with Cathy’s hair dye.  Shona is at the end of her tether with Max and his behaviour, especially when she discovers that he has been attempting to sell his ADHD medication to his school friends.

Billy supports Paul as he confronts the demons of his past, accepting that Kel sexually groomed and sexually abused him as a child.  Gemma and Chesney are worried when a scan shows that one of their babies is much smaller than the others.  Asha admits to Amy that she has been lightening her skin.  Struggling to home school Hope, Fiz brings in her special needs teacher, Jade from when they were away.

Doctors

While Becky confides in Ayesha that she is really falling for Daniel, he is more preoccupied with jealousy that his ex, Zara is having a whale of a time, signing up to a uniform dating site with Emma!  The pair of them go on dates with a couple of firefighters and while Emma enjoys flirting with one of them, she eventually decides to give him the wrong number.  Zara meanwhile starts on frosty footing with her date but eventually the pair bond over the difficult world of dating after a long term relationship.  While they both decide neither of them are ready to start something new, they both appreciate the evening they’ve spent together.

Daniel meanwhile, appears to shoot from jealousy to commitment and decides he wants to tell Joe about him and Becky.  Zara is not pleased but agrees and ends up distraught when Joe takes the news extremely well, having previously met Becky as a babysitter and got on really well with her.

Al is horrified when upon learning of Eve’s dementia, her boyfriend, Ray decides to propose instead of backing off, as Al had hoped.  Ayesha encourages Al to be supportive and eventually, he and Ray become friends.  Unfortunately, news of the engagement spreads and brings with it, news of other relationships that Ray claims not to be aware of.  Eve is devastated and furious in equal measure while Al is concerned that Ray may be suffering from memory issues of his own.

Sid has to face a stroppy patient who wants a sick note after a bad hair dye job.  Jimmi finds the missing puzzle in a crime while treating a patient at the police station.  Valerie becomes caught up in her hairdresser’s ‘consciously uncoupled’ relationship.

Eastenders

Mel confronts Sharon with evidence of what she knows about her affair with Keanu and her baby’s paternity.  She demands that Sharon send Louise and Keanu come to live with her and Lisa, which Sharon manages.  Then she demands £20,000 of which Sharon only manages £12,000.  Then she demands a villa in Portugal, where she wants to move with Lisa, Louise, Keanu and the baby.

Tiffany finally finds the courage to open up to Keegan and tell him the truth about what happened to her.  At first he panics and doesn’t know what to say, which pushes her away.  But the next day, he comes back to her and says all the right things.  They really do make a lovely couple.

Sheree introduces Ted to her Mum, Wanda (I genuinely missed that – I thought she was her friend at first!) and the pair hit it off.  Wanda is a widow and is using her husband’s life insurance to travel the world.  She invites reluctant Ted to come travelling with her and after some debate, he agrees and the pair set off into the sunset.  After they leave, Sheree drops into conversation that Wanda briefly stood trial accused of murdering her husband!

Stuart locks Rainie in the bedroom above the undertakers in a bid to get her free from her painkiller addiction.  After several days without medication, Rainie manages to persuade him that she has come through the other side.  The first moment she gets, she goes into the bathroom and drinks mouthwash.

Whitney returns from her honeymoon refreshed and happy.  She wishes Callum happiness for his future and gives him and Ben her blessing.  She admits to Tiffany that she even met someone while she was away and of course, it turns out to be none other that Leo – Tony King’s son!  I mean, can Eastenders do anything more to this poor girl?!

Iqra quits her job with Ian and goes into business with Keegan.

Emmerdale

When Jamie tries to show off his riding skills to Kim, Millie ends up with a broken ankle.  Rushing to the hospital, Graham begins to query his past with Andrea, especially when he discovers Millie’s birthdate.  Is he Millie’s father?  When he pressures her, Andrea shuts him down straight away.  However, he is adamant that he wants proof one way or the other.

An outburst from Bear after Faith rejects his advances, reveals Faith and Zak’s secret kiss to distraught Belle, just as she is accepted onto her course to become a vet nurse.  The rest of the Dingles are equally upset that Zack has betrayed Lisa’s memory so quickly but Zack manages to win their forgiveness.

Rishi ploughs on with his new business while Jai struggles to bond with Archie.  Laurel persuades Jai to attend Rachel’s funeral, offering to look after Archie in his place.  After the sparse funeral, Jai is no closer to making progress with Archie than he was before.

Moira attempts to end things with Nate now that Cain is back but he persuades her to keep things going, only for them to nearly be caught out by Matty and Ryan, who are stoned.  Eventually, Moira sneaks out of the caravan and confronts Matty, dragging him to the house and giving him a good talking to.

Harriet celebrates her 50th birthday but Will is frustrated at having to act like she is a stranger.  Bob overhears Dawn referring to Will as her Dad, forcing Harriet to explain everything to him, including the truth about the stalking.  The news quickly spreads, prompting an eruption of fury from Moira at the harvest festival – how could Harriet bring a drug dealer into their lives after what happened to Holly?  Back at the farm, a furious row erupts between Moira and Harriet, with Cain caught in the middle.  Will also finds himself rejected by Dan, who he is relying on for his job and housing.  Harriet invites him to move in with her.

Nate is frustrated with Moira, feeling he is has been rejected now that Cain is home.  Cain interrupts an argument, throwing Nate out and warning him to give Moira space – it’s three years since Moira’s daughter died.  As Matty, Moira and Cain mark Holly’s death, Cain is kind to Moira as she beats herself up over all her mistakes.  Nate watches, arrogantly informing her later that he’ll give her the time to grieve before they pick their fling back up.  She tells him they are over and she loves Cain.  All she feels with Nate is ashamed of herself.  Well yes, so you should!

With all this talk of drugs, Doug cannot continue with growing his ridiculously vast quantities of weed.  Eric and Rodney are horrified but he destroys the whole plot, keeping only what he has already dried.  Mandy attempts to sell her sob story to Paddy regarding the money but Chas intervenes and throws her out.  She doesn’t buy it for a second.  Ellis worries that things are going too fast with Belle but things come to an abrupt halt when he puts his foot in it.

Hollyoaks

James uses Mitchell to search through Maxine’s medical files, as he becomes suspicious of her story.  However, once he discovers the truth, he is persuaded to keep quiet for the sake of Damon’s freedom as her ‘illness’ will help his case.  Meanwhile, Damon arranges a Last Supper for his wife as he tries to come to terms with both losing her and the prospect of being in jail when she dies.  Scott discovers the files and stops Damon on his way to court, confronting Maxine with the accusation of Munchausen’s.  Maxine has no choice but to admit the truth at last, bring Sienna down with her, promptly ending her relationship with Brody, just as Liberty reveals that she is pregnant.  Damon is heartbroken to have been lied to and to have committed fraud all to make his ‘dying’ wife happy in her last weeks.  He is sentenced to six months in jail and never wants to see Maxine again.  As the word spreads, Maxine finds herself without a friend in the world.

Joel decides to try and change from Catholicism to the Church of England so that they can be together.  Unfortunately, thanks to Breda, Goldie gets carried away and takes this as a proposal.  Joel has to let her down gently and explain that one day, perhaps they will get married but for now, he wants them to take things slowly.

Sylver, Goldie and Jack become confused over Breda’s behaviour when she lies to them about her whereabouts.  Actually, she is busy visiting poor Tony, who is still locked up at the pig farm.

Scott is frustrated with Mitchell and how he blows hot and cold with him (and Anita).  Jesse wants to adopt Iona.

Home and Away

Robbo is collected by boat by the gang who immediately find and throw away his tracker.  They tie him up and put a bag over his head.  He comes face to face with the leader of the gang who wants to know where a man named Dylan Carter is.  I gather he is a character from the past from a storyline of old and I apologise but this is before my time – I have a ten year gap in my Home and Away viewing but I am doing my best to keep up!  Anyway, Robbo tells him that he is dead.  Unhappy with the answer, Robbo is beaten up but he continues to insist that he is telling the truth – Dylan Carter is dead.  The leader of the gang gives him one week to find the dead man.  He is thrown back on a boat and left to drift.  When he regains consciousness, Robbo manages to untie his hands and start rowing the boat.  He finds his way to shore, where Alf finds him, which I gather is a throwback to how Robbo first arrived in Summer Bay.  Robbo persuades him not to call an ambulance, warning him not to get involved in the situation.  In his car, Robbo finds a note, reminding him to hurry up.  He rushes back hope, worried about Jasmine.  Then he collapses.  He reports back to his colleagues about the boat, the tattoo, what they did to him, the phone number he was given and Dylan Carter, the corrupt cop they want.

Raffy freaks out over coming off the CBD trial and takes everything out on Justin.  Mason calms her down and explains to her that how she is feeling is psychological.  The effects of the CBD will be her system for a week at least so missing a dose won’t matter.  She can still get through her HSC trials.  Justin and Mason debate what to do about Raffy but while Mason thinks Raffy can cope without the CBD as long as she can control her stress, Raffy has to be taken out of her exam by Roo as she sobs at her desk, unable to manage at all.  Desperately worried about his sister, Justin considers going to the lengths Mason did before – but without Mason’s support.  Mason warns Leah over what Justin is intending to do.  Leah tries to get Justin to see sense but he takes his frustration out on her instead.  She manages to calm him down and together they begin a campaign to make medicinal cannabis more accessible, starting with an online petition and lots of flyers.  Ryder is worried when Raffy doesn’t come to the next exam but nobody will tell him anything as it’s not their place and she refuses to take his calls.  He is upset to learn that Raffy’s CBD trial has been cancelled.  But when he questions her about the trial, she ends up losing her focus and struggles in her exam, despite her extra time.

Ben continues to battle with depression in the wake of his arrest, much to the concern and frustration of Maggie.  She and Ziggy try to talk to him but it just makes him lose his temper and storm out.  He returns home late, full of apologies.  The next day, he makes breakfast for his family and starts work on lots of jobs around the pier complex.  Alf sets Ben up with a job which goes well until John puts his foot in it, suggesting a poker night to help Ben feel better.  Feeling patronised, Ben goes missing.

Irene goes to a support group for survivors of sexual assault.  She and Colby persuade Bella to stop isolating herself and join her at a meeting.  Bella panics when Irene gets the news that her trial starts in four weeks and it doesn’t sound like her judge is very lenient.

Colby and Mackenzie miss each other.  Dean and Colby get into more than one argument over Mackenzie.  With help from Ziggy and Willow, Mackenzie finally knocks Dean and Colby’s heads together and puts herself back in charge.  Everyone makes friends again and she and Colby get together.

Neighbours

Hendrix continues to reject Pierce’s efforts as a father.  He gate crashes a party organised by Roxy for Sheila’s birthday and it turns into chaos.  While Sheila’s friends hoped that Clive may come and get back together with her, he turns down the invitation and later admits that he has met someone new.  Hendrix meanwhile, kisses Mackenzie and has no issue with her being trans.  While this is lovely, the chances are he is using her as they have already been building the tension between him and Harlow.  When the party descends into chaos, Mark and his colleagues turn up in uniform, only for drunk Roxy to throw herself at him in front of everyone.  He is mortified.  He soon gets over it though and decides that a life of drinking and chaos and sex with Roxy is something he wants, although she is a little hesitant.  Roxy – you are being used!  You are worth so much more!

Shane continues to work hard at tracking down Mackenzie’s father.  Getting closer, he knows the time has come to confess to Mackenzie his role in her broken childhood.  When she was little, her mother let her dress as a girl without her father’s knowledge, knowing that he wouldn’t take it well.  One day, Shane came round and Mackenzie, dressed in female clothes answered the door.  Her mother asked Shane not to say anything but he went straight to Mackenzie’s father and told him.  He told him he would ‘burn all that girlie stuff if he was him’ and that’s exactly what Mackenzie’s father did.  Horrified that his child was transgender, he burnt all Mackenzie’s feminine clothes and then abandoned the family home.  Distraught, Mackenzie cannot forgive Shane, who she has come to trust as a father figure.

Scarlett bags herself Leo’s recently vacated room and continues to cement herself in Ned’s life, including sneaking around and taking secret photographs of him.  She continues to drive a wedge between Ned and Yashvi.

Soap Blog: 16th – 22nd September 2019

Coronation Street

While Paul’s family is oblivious, Daniel immediately picks up on the pain his ex-boyfriend is in regarding the arrival of Kel on the Street, prompting him to open up about his childhood abuse.

Sinead wants to consider going to a hospice when the time comes but Daniel wants to look after his wife at the end.  The chemotherapy quickly takes its toll on Sinead as she and Daniel try to come to terms with her diagnoses as well as look after baby Bertie.

Aggie goes against Ed’s wishes and organises a surprise party for his 55th birthday, inviting all the neighbours in a bid to get to know everyone.  At the party, desperate Daniel gets drunk and falls over.  Everyone feels sorry for him as he is taken home to Sinead.

James and Bethany bond and he admits to her that he is gay but cannot come out because of his role on the football team.  He explains that it is bad enough being a black player but being a gay player as well would make things even harder.  She offers to be his ‘beard’.  James’s older brother Michael overhears part of the conversation.

Gary is furious to discover that Derek has been getting closer to Izzy and signing documents with Nick without his permission.

Doctors

Jimmi and Ruhma attend court in order to support Phil and Theresa as the hospital appeal to the judge to take baby Josh off life support.  It’s a heartbreaking case as both the hospital and the parents plead their case – one side believing it wrong to give up on their son and the other desperately trying to explain that Josh cannot survive off the ventilator and would never have life, brain function or any kind of development.  It is a devastating scene as the judge reaches the decision that the ventilator be switched off.  Theresa and Phil decide that as the decision has been snatched away from them, they will not be there when their son dies.  They ask Ruhma to be with their baby instead and Jimmi supports her and she holds him until the end.

Having chased Ruhma away for keep interfering in their lives, Russell keeps panicking over the baby and drags Sid over to the house to check on her, even though she is absolutely fine.  Sid then has to intervene when Russell nearly gets into a fight with his noisy neighbour.

Zara finds herself making new friends at work, including Al.  She supports him as he worries about his mother’s Alzheimer’s.  When he goes to visit his Mum for the weekend, he is horrified to discover that she has a boyfriend!  Things do not go well and he and his mother fall out.

Zara and Al continue to be very amused over Emma’s increasingly passionate dreams about Rob.  However, their giggling and teasing inevitably leads to Karen finding out.  I thought she would find it funny.  However, she is horrified and gives Emma a very stern warning!  Emma is mortified, especially as it then spreads even further around the staff before she makes a fool out of herself and accidentally reveals the truth to Rob, who is typically very good about it all.

A patient gets rather attached to Daniel and Becky handles things rather more kindly than Zara would have when she behaves very inappropriately towards him.  Becky is disappointed when Daniel is hesitant over telling Joe about their relationship.  Becky and her Gran help a troubled couple at her Gran’s sheltered housing.  And Julie S from Bad Girls guest stars as the wife of a very angry diabetic.

Eastenders

Kathy is concerned when Bobby brings home Imran, his Muslim friend from prison.  Worried that Imran is either trouble or in trouble and going to lead Bobby in the wrong direction, Kathy calls the police who arrest him.  Bobby is distraught.  Overwhelmed by images of Lucy, combined with drugs thanks to some accidental advice from Rainie, he finds himself on the railway tracks.  Thankfully, Callum is there to rescue him and get him to hospital where he finally gets the support from his family that he needs.  The question is, why was Callum getting a train when nobody ever leaves Albert Square?

Linda is nervous about taking Ollie to school.  He gets on fine but doesn’t mix particularly with the other children and she struggles to bond with any of the parents.

Nobody seems to notice how depressed Bex is or that she doesn’t want to go to University.  She desperately tries to avoid the attention and praise Louise and her family ply her with over trying to save Louise’s life during the hostage situation.

Jay feels terrible when Phil forces him to refuse Mel Hunter’s funeral.  He transfers the funeral to another funeral directors and allows Mel to have time with Hunter in his coffin, which infuriates Phil when he finds out.  Nobody but Lisa and Mel attend Hunter’s funeral (Louise is forbidden to go) and Phil forces the Mitchell family to put on a united front against Mel when she attends the Vic afterwards.  However, Louise cannot help but be kind to Mel and forgiving towards Hunter for what he did.  Mel meanwhile, begins to work out the connection between Sharon and Keanu so when she and Sharon argue later, it looks likely that it’s something Sharon will come to regret…

Keegan works hard at his new sandwich business, frustrating his father but impressing Iqra who agrees to work with him.  I just can’t help but wonder why a tech savvy teenager is making sandwiches when he could be fixing phones and iPads…  Anyway, Tiffany panics when things begin to get physical between her and Keegan and she runs off.  After a chat with Jack, she and Keegan have a heart to heart.  He admits that he is a virgin and she tells him she is too, not able to bring herself to tell him about the rape.

Emmerdale

Sarah feels hopeless about her future or lack of one, wanting to enjoy her life for the moment, specifically meeting a boy who doesn’t know anything about her complicated health condition.  She is therefore mortified when Vanessa and Charity (who is covered in chicken pox) ruin her ‘date’.  When she finally understands how her granddaughter is feeling about life, Charity goes to great lengths to find the boy (Denise Welch’s son, in case you didn’t know) she has scared off and encourages him to spend the afternoon with Sarah again.

With Jessie gone, Marlon struggles to deal with his own heartbreak and April’s.  Al is quick to stick the knife in, mocking Marlon and rubbing it in his face.  Between him and Mandy, both Ellis and Billy decide they ought to move out, now their mother has left and treated Marlon so badly.  It all backfires however when the boys see Al for who he really is and Marlon and April are able to persuade them to stay.  And on top of that, Aaron and Robert persuade Marlon to teach Al a lesson by trashing his new car!

Aaron and Robert get up to even more mischief when Chas discovers that Mandy and her son have been holding onto £5,000 cash and £15,000 worth of casino chips that they stole and cannot find a way to cash.  All the while they have been back in the Dales, they have been pleading poverty and living off the kindness of the Dingles, waiting for a chance to cash their fortune with no intention of sharing.  Aaron turns to a friend at the casino but then insists on half the money.  When Mandy refuses to share, Aaron burns the bag of money but of course, he is faking.  The money is in the boot and he has just burned paper.  He intends the keep some of it to look after Liv and Victoria when Robert goes to jail and the rest should be shared amongst the Dingles.  When Mandy gets wind of it, she is not happy.

Dan gets a shock when he is informed that poor Rachel Breckle has been mercilessly killed of screen just to provide Jai with a fatherhood storyline now that Megan has left with his daughter!  Anyway, Dan dutifully goes to collect Archie, who is shaken and scared to be left with the father he doesn’t know as Jai hasn’t even seen him for that last three or four years.  Laurel also arrives back, having taken a job as a cleaner at Home Farm and she and Jai put their differences aside to help Archie.

In a really lovely scene, Kim bonds with her granddaughter after picking her up from school, playing Princesses with her and reading her stories.  They even get Graham wearing a tiara!  Unfortunately, it all goes wrong the next day when she ditches the school pick-up for a meeting, sending Graham instead (who isn’t on the list) and letting Millie and Jamie both down, setting back the relationship all over again.

Victoria is overwhelmed when she learns that she is having a baby boy, terrified that he will be like her rapist, Lee.  Aaron steps in to reassure her, reminding her that he is nothing like his Dad.

Hollyoaks

Stuart and Jonny’s plan is thwarted when they realise they are being watched by the police.  Infuriated, Jonny intends to blow up The Loft where Sami and Sinead are celebrating their engagement with most of the rest of the village.  As the scales fall from his eyes over the true intentions of the group he is involved with, Ste argues with Jonny and begs him not to do such an evil thing.  He hears the true malice of his friend’s words and realises that he is a far right racist and not the person he thought he was.

Things go awry when Jonny accidentally drops the bomb (literally) and his and the house next door explodes.  He, Ste and Yasmine get caught in the explosion and despite being injured, Jonny still cannot let go of his hatred, demanding that Ste not call an ambulance and he certainly doesn’t want Ste to help Yasmine who is in serious danger.  Hearing the explosion, Sami and Misbah rush to help and despite all that has happened and despite the abuse he throws at her, Misbah treats Jonny and saves his life.  However, Yasmine has lost her hearing in the trauma.

Stunned by all that has transpired, Ste is desperate to escape the group but despite reaching out to Jed and the police, he finds himself trapped with Jonny and Stuart who force him to stay with them.  To his family and friends, who are disgusted with him, he has to put on a brave face and keep playing his part but keep looking for a way to escape.

While James refuses to act as Damon’s lawyer unless they pay his fee, Maxine continues to play the dying wife, going as far as telling poor Damon that she only has weeks left, supposedly all with a view to getting him off his charges in court.  However, she panics when James needs to see her medical records.  Sienna, meanwhile, is frustrated when Liberty and Brody insist that they put the IVF money towards Damon’s legal fees.

Home and Away

Colby reluctantly asks Robbo and Jasmine to move out as he needs Bella to come home and be with him in the wake of everything she and Irene have been through.  They end up moving into a motel until they can be placed elsewhere but tensions are fraught between the newlyweds.  After a row, Robbo storms out, panicking Jasmine into calling Irene and Colby to help find him.  When he comes home, the couple make up.  Robbo sets out on a task to track down his pursuers.  He speaks to Lance about a tattoo he recognises.  Robbo continues to track the gang down and later receives a phone call, arranging a meeting point.  Robbo goes alone to the wharf with a tracker in his shoe.

Bella is grateful to move home with her brother but she refuses to talk about anything that happened with Tommy.  She then breaks the news to Dean about what happened to Bella in regards to Tommy.  She begs Dean to make friends with Colby again.  Horrified by everything that’s happened, Dean reaches out to his friend while Willow does her best to look after Bella.  Things don’t go well though and she freaks out in the Diner, screams at everyone and runs home.  Willow and Ziggy follow her and they eventually talk and bond.  The girls are able to reassure Bella that what happened was assault and doesn’t have to ruin her first kiss.

Dean starts work at Salt and he and Mac immediately go head to head in a battle of wills.  Dean feels that Mac is jealous of his popularity until Ziggy points out that she must be lonely in a town where she doesn’t know anyone but him and she and Colby have just broken up.  But when he tries to reach out to her, she rejects him.  However, he tries again and the pair begin to bond.

Ryder and Raffy start their exams but when Ryder reaches out to his ex, she isn’t interested.  While Raffy leaves her exam, proud that she didn’t need the extra time, Justin is upset to learn that his sister has been withdrawn from the CBD trial.  He is desperate to get in touch with Tori to sort things out.  Tori herself seems to be having quite a nice time at the safe house, bonding with one of the officers, Scott.  Lance manages to put Tori and Justin through to each other to discuss the CBD trial to help Raffy.  Justin makes some progress but the only CBD trial available is in Melbourne.  Justin breaks the news to Raffy who breaks down, devastated.

Neighbours

Ned is surprised to find Scarlett in Erinsborough, unaware that she is there for him.  She wangles a job in Lassiters in order to be close to him and quickly ingratiates herself in his life, attempting to drive a wedge between him and Yashvi as soon as she can.

Mackenzie’s gender quickly becomes an issue for parents at the school, with them not wanting to share a bathroom or changing room with their daughters.  She receives a hideous note in her locker and Susan asks her to use the disabled toilets, which upsets her and Susan both but the head teacher doesn’t know what to do for the best.  In a beautiful scene, the students stage a peaceful protest by refusing to use the gendered toilets.  Instead, they all decide to use the disabled toilets in a bid to stand up for Mackenzie.  Even Ritchie joins the protest, going against his friends, included new bully, Ollie.  It’s things like this that make me absolutely love this show.  However, later, this Ollie boy is cruel to Mackenzie in front of Shane who shoves him and is later reprimanded by both Ollie’s mother and Susan, not to mention Shane’s family.

Harlow is horrified when Paul and Terese meet up with her mother while they are on their honeymoon in London.  They meet her anyway and find that she is living in a commune and quite peculiar although pleasant.  However, she ends the meeting rather abruptly when the leader of the commune shows up.  Back in Erinsborough, Harlow panics over how the meeting is going.  Then her mother sends her a message to say that she won’t hear from her again.

Chloe is shocked when Hendrix attempts to flirt with her and it’s clear that Pierce has no control over his son.  Hendrix is horrified when, having been refused entry from any of the private schools in the area, Chloe suggests that he enrol in Erinsborough High.

Gail admits to Harlow that she was in on the plot against Paul.  Finn warns David to back off over Elly and the baby.  Roxy loses the key when she puts Mark in handcuffs and he is mortified when she has to get help to get him out of them!

Soap Blog: 9th – 15th September 2019

Coronation Street

Sinead surprises Daniel with a wedding and it’s a beautiful moment as their family and friends celebrate their love for each other.  But joy turns to grief as Beth finds a lump while she is doing Sinead’s hair and the newly-weds have to face up to the fact that they may be facing cancer all over again.  Sinead’s speech, telling Daniel how much she loves him is genuinely moving and personally, I find them both exceptionally annoying.  Sorry, not sorry.  Sadly, the couple receive the news that Sinead’s cancer has returned and this time, it is terminal.

Kate is surprised to find herself the recipient of £1000, enabling her to go travelling.  Jenny takes the credit but Kate later discovers the money was from Gary, guilty ridden over Rana’s death, although Kate doesn’t understand why.

Ali is moody with Maria and later, Ryan discovers him having a seizure, although he refuses to go to the hospital.  It turns out that in the most subtle storyline ever as even someone who avidly watches soaps and reports on them, didn’t even notice that he has been addicted to prescription drugs for a year!  Well, he is one of the most uninteresting soap characters ever written so…  He decides to go cold turkey to combat his addiction and seeks Ryan and Robert’s help to do so, keeping it a secret from his mother and girlfriend.

Chesney and Gemma discover Bernie’s pregnancy test scam and Bernie gets caught shop lifting in the process.  However, the security guard who catches her turns out to be a man called Kel, Bernie’s ex-partner.  Bernie and Gemma are thrilled to have him back in their lives but Paul is horrified and it is clear there is a history of trauma and damage between them.

Kevin is upset when he discovers that Abi was never interested in him but was uploading his ‘rants’ to the internet.

Doctors

Daniel is furious with Zara for her treatment of Becky but the outcome is that Zara pretends she doesn’t care, giving the couple the green light to pursue their relationship.  Unfortunately, she cares a lot and is upset to see them getting back together.  Karen soon gets wind of the new relationship, which means the news quickly spreads.

Theresa and Phil, the couple with the premature baby receive the devastating news that there is nothing more to be done for their son and he won’t survive.  When they turn off the ventilator, the baby squeezes Phil’s thumb as he is dying.  The hospital try to explain that it’s a common reflex but the parents are convinced that it is their son clinging to life and demand that he be put back on life support.

Karen suspects that one of Sid’s patient’s is a criminal and for once, she is right!  When Ayesha has her phone stolen, she ends up helping a very vulnerable mother and son.  Emma helps a man who has accidentally overdosed on Viagra!  Rob works hard to get to the bottom of a woman claiming to have burnt her house down and demanding to be arrested.  Really, she is trying to escape the emotional, mental abuse of her husband.  Valerie supports her neighbour who returns to donate a kidney to his sister, only to find that she is sleeping with his girlfriend!  Emma begins to have sex dreams about Rob!

Eastenders

Phil welcomes Callum into the Mitchell family as they and the rest of the family gather by Ben’s hospital bed while he recovers from his injuries.  Keanu and Louise are welcomed back into the fold while Lisa does all she can to support Mel over the loss of her son.

Chantelle gets to the second stage of the hairdressing competition, making her family really proud of her.  Gray, however, is less pleased and does his best to ruin it for her.  When the next round is to style the hair of a drag queen, Mitch and Karen submit themselves for practice!

Bianca desperately tries to keep Whitney and Tiffany away from Leo, who turns out to be none other than the son of Tony King – the man who abused Whitney all those years ago.  And it doesn’t seem like he is a good guy either as he is demanding the money back that was paid to the family for what he did.  Bianca is also harbouring a secret of her own – the reason she didn’t come back to support Tiffany when she really needed her was because she was in prison.  Phil secretly rewards Sonia and her family for saving Ben.

Jean’s operation is successful and Kat and Daniel do everything they can to support her.  Kat even manages to get Stacey to phone Jean, knowing that hearing her voice is all she wants.  Kat is then able to warn Stacey that while Phil is no longer a threat, Ben is on the warparth.

Bobby is distraught to discover that on the night that he killed Lucy, Ian was paying Rainie for sex.

Emmerdale

After falsely accusing Dawn of causing the factory fire, Tracey begins to wonder if she was wrong about her Dad after all.  The more she thinks about her father and the way he wasn’t there for her through her life, the angrier she gets with him and rejects her campaign to clear his name.  Their different childhoods put a further strain on Tracey and Vanessa’s relationship.  Charity meanwhile, struggles to juggle the kids having chicken pox, meaning she has to keep them away from Chas and Sarah and still operate the pub from the village hall.  She then comes down with chicken pox as well!

Unhappy with taking the after school club job, Jessie complains to Al who recommends a teaching job in Dubai.  While she keeps the interview a secret from Marlon, Al deliberately ‘accidentally’ tells him about it.  Jessie lies to Marlon when he finds her at home, mid-interview and they argue about her future plans.  Billy becomes very worried that his mother is letting Al get into her head but when she actually gets the job, Jessie chooses Marlon instead.  Meanwhile, Al gets a place on the football team, annoying Marlon (who is also on the team) even more.

At the match, Al is awful to Marlon, taking the ball from him constantly in order to steal all the glory, resulting in Marlon accidentally elbowing Al in the face – which Al accuses him of doing on purpose.  Later, newly returned Mandy walks in on Al and Jessie together just as Marlon decides to make things right again between him and his wife.  Mandy breaks the news to heartbroken Marlon, thereby ending his and Jessie’s marriage.

Pete unwittingly scuppers Moira’s dirty day at home with Nate by getting all the jobs done at the farm so that Moira is free to go to the football match to cheer Matty on.  They find time to sneak off together anyway and even end up at it back at the house, nearly getting caught several times.

Rishi decides to make his own chocolate at home, determined to start his business up again.

Doug feels under pressure as Eric wants to find the ‘druggies’ smoking weed in the village.  However, Eric quickly realises that Doug is the culprit and manages to catch him in the act.  Eric decides that he wants in on the ‘pain relief’ and includes Rodney too!

Hollyoaks

Mercedes finally cracks and confesses everything to Nana who is nothing bus supportive.  They also discover that she is pregnant.  Sylver, meanwhile has worked out from overhearing Liam and Lisa talking that it was Liam who ran Grace over and violently confronts him.  Liam breaks down and tries to explain, not dropping Mercedes in it.  He begs him not to tell Grace the truth as it would break her heart and destroy their family.

Brooke has finally told someone about her pregnancy – the wrong person – Juliet.  She quickly succeeds in lying to both Brooke and Ollie and breaks them up, telling Brooke that Ollie doesn’t want her or the baby and telling Ollie that Brooke no longer wants to be with him.  Feeling absolutely broken, Brooke goes alone to have a termination, only to bump into Mercedes and in one of the sweetest scenes ever, Mercedes does everything she can to look after the frightened teenager.  She offers her so much kindness and support and while she does go through with her termination, she encourages Brooke to go home to Nancy and tell her about the baby and get the support she needs.  From there, thankfully, the whole truth comes out and Juliet’s meddling is unearthed.  While Marnie publically stands up for her ‘granddaughter’, at home she berates her for her behaviour.  However, she is compassionate for how lost and alone she has felt her whole life.  Meanwhile, Brooke finally has all the support she needs from her family and from Ollie.

Finn returns to the village, making things very awkward for Diane.  When he goes to the shop, he finds himself confronted by Nana, Sally, Kyle and Walter.  Sally tells Finn (who is in tears and full of apologies) exactly what she thinks.  Sinead is also horrified to discover her rapist brother has returned to the village, considering her own ordeal with Laurie.  She moves in with Sami to get away from him and the move brings the couple closer together.  When they have to fake an engagement for his relatives, they decide to get engaged for real.  Unfortunately, Diane is the last to know about it.

Meanwhile, Ste is welcomed into Stuart and Jonny’s far right plan.

Home and Away

Robbo is more determined than ever to keep Jasmine safe and find the gang out to bring him down and ends up snapping at poor Bella when she accidentally touches one of his files.  Meanwhile, Justin is going out of his mind worrying about Tori, who is still in the safe house.

Irene’s family are worried about Irene’s mental health in the wake of what happened with Tommy.  Irene isn’t even buoyed by the news that Tommy’s charges have been upgraded, meaning he will go straight from hospital to jail.  Marilyn attempts to go and support Irene but she gets thrown out, along with Leah.  Alone, Irene is tempted to drink.  Leah returns to counsel Irene and persuades her to open up to concerned Marilyn.  With Leah’s support, Irene then plucks up the courage to go to the police and tell them about the sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager, which is what prompted her reaction to Tommy.  Colby is sad for Irene but certain that this will help her case.  With Leah’s help, Irene then puts out a heartbreakingly brave video online explaining the abuse she suffered and admitting what she did to Tommy and why.  Her friends, including Bella are overwhelmed and just want to love and support Irene no matter what.  Bella admits to Colby that she is struggling with what could have happened that day if Irene hadn’t been there.

Raffy is embarrassed when she misreads the situation with Ryder and attempts to kiss him, only to be turned down.  She decides she cannot work with him on their school project anymore, putting their grades in jeopardy.  Roo manages to get the pair working together but their friendship is over.

Neighbours

In my favourite cameo of all of them, Caroline forces Christina to explain the truth about the Ex-Wives Plot.  In actual fact, his daughter, Elle arranged for all his ex-wives to show up and challenge whether he was a changed man and ready to marry Terese or whether he was just going to make another woman unhappy.  She also roped Leo in to help her.

Back in Erinsborough, David is horrified to discover that Leo has been involved in the campaign against Paul.  Furious, he cannot even speak to his brother.  Overwhelmed by the mistakes he has made, Leo decides to leave town without saying goodbye, other than a note to David.  David is utterly distraught to have pushed his brother away.  And to be honest, it is a pretty rubbish exit for a really great character.

With the wedding in jeopardy, Ned flied out to Queensland to support Terese but gets stuck in Sydney unable to get a flight.  He gets talking to a tearful bride in her wedding dress, having been jilted on her wedding day.  Little does he know that the woman, Scarlett, manipulates him to keep him with her for as long as possible.  This one is going to be big trouble.

Paul and Terese finally reunite in Queensland and get married, officiated by Elvis and witnessed by Caroline and Christina.  Brilliant!

Gary decides to play the field and date both Gail and Rebecca but after telling some lies, ends up with only Gail interested in seeing him.  Well, he could to a lot worse!

Mackenzie is heartbroken when Yashvi accidentally gives away her secret, talking about it at school where they are overheard by school bully Ritchie.  Despite Mackenzie’s protestations, Yashvi confronts Ritchie but in doing so, firstly, Yashvi outs Mackenzie to the whole school and secondly, says one of the worst possibly things – saying that she ‘used to be a boy’.  The thing that Mackenzie is most wounded over is that her friend clearly doesn’t understand anything she has explained to her.

Fickle Chloe who was only in love with Elly the previous week (and in love with Pierce the week before) is in love with Pierce again now and agrees to start a relationship with him.  However, things quickly go south when Chloe answers an irate call from Ebony and she realises that Pierce is keeping secrets.  Chloe quickly comes face to face with Pierce’s secret when she meets his teenage son, Hendrix, recently expelled from boarding school.

Soap Blog: 2nd – 8th September 2019

Coronation Street

Geoff nearly loses control of Yasmeen when she lets his cancer lie slip to Tim and Sally.  He manipulates her into believing she got it wrong and informs her instead that he has non-serious heart condition instead but scares her enough to beg him to move back in with her.

When Eileen meets up with Jan to break his heart, he ends up getting shot and hospitalised, prompting her to change her mind about running away with him.  And in yet another example of a complete lack of security surrounding him, Sean wanders in off the street to visit him in hospital and tells him not to ruin Eileen’s life by dragging her down with him into a life she won’t be happy with.  So he does the right thing and leaves without her.  So hopefully with Jan and Alina gone, this plot is finally over, minus some whining from Seb.  And am I the only one who wants to cut that boy’s hair?

Upset at the idea she may have to return to Birmingham, Hope slips into the builder’s yard and sets a fire but ends up trapped inside.  Ali rescues her and she plays the victim but it seems that her time away have done nothing for her behaviour.  Fiz resolves Hope’s school issues by deciding to home school her.

Daniel and Bethany get closer, which quite frankly is just a weird plot twist when we all know where Daniel and Sinead’s storyline is going.

Doctors

Karen is upset to discover that Immie has been in Letherbridge without bothering to tell her or Rob – she has been sleeping with Sid!  Immediately, she interferes in their ‘relationship’ but it quickly transpires that it means more to Sid than it does to Immie.

Emma returns from Australia to discover that while Zara has been busy moving house and moving on, deep down, she is heartbroken, having discovered that Daniel and Becky were secretly in a relationship.  Zara waits for her moment and then invites Becky out for drink before pouncing – giving Becky a dressing down for her lies and deceit.  She leaves Becky in tears.

To further improve Becky’s week, the poor woman is held hostage during a VPAS visit, resulting in her patient dying of cardiac arrest.  I thought she was supposed to have had some kind of medical training?

Ruhma delivers a premature baby who has to be rushed straight into intensive care with the odds of survival not looking good.  Ruhma also spends a little too much time with Laura and Russell, the couple she gave money to for IVF (which I’m sure wasn’t nine months ago) and have now had their baby.  Preparing to say goodbye before Alia goes off to University, Ruhma and Alia are shocked during Ruhma’s life drawing class to discover that Shak is the model!

Eastenders

Bianca and Kat are shocked and regretful to wake up in a police cell after a particularly eventful night out.  Are they even friends?  But it’s all hands on deck back in Walford to persuade the police to let them out of custody so that the mother of the bride can come to the wedding – in the most hideous party outfit in the history of the world.

The wedding party gather in the church but having discovered the truth about Ben and Callum, Bianca is worried that Whitney is making a mistake.  Whitney ignores her until she learns that Stuart knew about their liaison and that it dates all the way back to Pride weekend, meaning feelings run much deeper than she had been told.  At the altar, Whitney cannot go through with the wedding and walks out, breaking Callum’s heart.  Back at their flat, they talk and cry, both devastated and in what is an unusual situation for an affair storyline, I just cannot help but feel sorry for both parties.

Meanwhile, Keanu has abandoned Louise in a café, determined to have a showdown with Ben at last to force him to tell Phil the truth about the attack.  Of course, having been away, he doesn’t know that Phil knows the truth anyway.  Things get physical between them and Keanu accepts that all is lost until Sharon visits him, ready to let him leave forever and take Louise with him.  Taking pity on him, she tells him the truth.

With Callum and Whitney having gone their separate ways, it’s not long before Ben tracks Callum down at the flat, only for Whitney to return to talk things through with her ex.  Although she hasn’t actually walked in on anything happening between them, she is livid and hell bent on revenge, charging down to the pub to out Callum to the whole Square.

Meanwhile, Mel has her own problems.  Having been just about to make her getaway with Hunter locked in the boot of the car when Lisa shocks her by turning up, needing help to get Louise and Keanu out of the country.  Having no choice but to delay things and help her friend, Mel is horrified to return to the car and find that Hunter has escaped the boot with the gun she so foolishly put in the boot with him!  I mean, that’s just a rookie mistake.

Hell bent on his own revenge on Jack for calling the police on him, Hunter breaks into Jack’s house and knocks poor Denise out.  I mean, she didn’t do anything wrong!  He then breaks into the pub and through a series of holding people hostage during which time they have ample opportunity to raise the alarm and call for help, he manages to frighten the whole square, especially poor Jean and Linda and also shoots Ben.  Phil and Keanu manage to escape what looks like every police officer in the East End in order to break into the pub in order to ‘rescue’ Louise who gets taken outside as a hostage.  When Ben gets shot, Sonia who basically works in a care home is suddenly capable of life saving surgery.  Eastenders promised us that someone would die this week, however and they did but of course, it wasn’t Ben.  It wasn’t Louise.  It wasn’t even Mel, which could have been a good twist as Tamsin Outhwaite is leaving.  It was just Hunter, shot by police for his many crimes, including being one of the most irritating characters in soap history.

Emmerdale

When Nate catches Amy taking Kyle’s passport, he convinces her to admit to him the truth about the fire, horrifying Kerry.  Later, Kerry discovers Moira and Nate’s affair, quickly using it to her advantage.  She persuades him to break up with Amy, freeing them to leave as they planned instead of Amy’s feelings for Nate holding her back.

Tracey is on the warpath with proof that Frank bought the engagement ring on the morning of the fire so he didn’t steal the charity money to buy it.  Pete has to drag her away when she demands answers of the Sharma family.  Later, Priya is shocked to find Tracey rifling through their files at home, searching for some evidence of wrong doing.  Tracey is shocked at how much financial trouble the factory was in but Priya manages to calm her down.  She mentions that Billy and Dawn were stealing from the factory, which sends Tracey down another avenue of enquiry.

Jessie is desperately searching for a job and while Marlon tries to be supportive, her ex-husband is hovering around in the periphery, undermining him.  Jessie reluctantly agrees to take an after school club job.

Chas returns to support Aaron and Robert.  When Kim and Al make an inappropriate comment about Victoria and her baby, Robert attacks Al.  He yells at them about the rape and they both apologise.  Aaron and Victoria are angry with Robert for losing his temper.

Megan turns her back on the village and Andrea takes her place as Leyla’s business partner.  Jacob still has feelings for Maya, despite what he is telling his family.

Hollyoaks

Cindy and Luke hook up on Mandy and Darren’s sofa.  Darren and Mandy decide that things are rather too crowded and Luke decides to move out.  He also doesn’t want anything more than a one night stand with Cindy, who is a bit too smitten with him.

Peri and Cleo start University but things don’t start fantastically when Cleo panics during a food dare during Fresher’s week.  When she comes home and binges, she ends up pushing Mitchell away, leading to Scott accidentally revealing Cleo’s past abuse.

Lisa returns and throws a party but when she persuades Scott to dress up as Anita Tinkle, Walter loses his temper and is homophobic towards him.  Everyone is upset, including Lisa, Martina and Cleo, especially when Mitchell refuses to stand up for his friend, little knowing that’s because he has feelings for him.

Martine is harbouring a secret of her own – she didn’t raise Mitchell herself, Walter did and even Mitchell doesn’t know he is a twin.

Diane’s family and friends try to pick up the pieces after she decides Tony has left her and she wants nothing more to do with him.  Nancy is shocked to learn that Finn is being released from prison and coming back to live with Diane.  Sylver agrees to go into business with Liberty.

Home and Away

Colby and Ziggy attempt to heal the rift between Dean and Mackenzie, only for things to quickly unravel when Dean walks in on Colby and Mac in bed together!  Colby ends things between himself and Mac for the sake of Dean’s relationship with Mac but Dean tells him to go for it – he has lived this long without a sister, he doesn’t need one now.

Irene is thrown into a panic when the police find Tommy’s car round the corner from her house.  Unable to prevent her from telling the police, Bella turns to Colby and tells him everything, explaining that it wasn’t Irene’s fault and that Tommy attacked them first.  Pre-warned, Colby is sympathetic as he takes Irene’s statement.  Obtaining a search warrant for Tommy’s house, the police find evidence that Tommy is a serial offender and Bella could have been much more seriously harmed if it hadn’t been for Irene.

Stuck at home, Jasmine is frustrated that she cannot visit Irene and offer her support but Robbo rams home to her the danger they are in.  Little do they know, they are already being watched.  However, Robbo soon gets photos of himself and Jasmine on a short visit out posted through the door.

Ben is struggling in the wake of his arrest and seeks solace in alcohol to the point that Ryder has to refuse to serve him.  Worried about their future, Maggie considers selling the pier complex to pay their legal fees.  Raffy is distraught in the wake of her breakup with Ryder and in a complete personality transplant, Ryder doesn’t care at all.

Neighbours

Pierce rushes Elly to the hospital after he fall and her family and friends, including Chloe rush to be with her to support her.  Things become tense between Elly and Bea when Elly rejects Finn’s offer of coming to an antenatal class with her and then takes Aaron and David instead.  I mean, fair play.  Regardless of Finn being a former psycho, he is also her ex-boyfriend…  The argument prompts Elly to go and stay with her mother for a few weeks (and actress Jodi Anasta to take a few unplanned weeks off for stress and exhaustion).

In the third wave of one of the best Neighbours plots ever, Paul’s ex-wife Rebecca arrives back in Erinsborough on the premise that she is working with the Sonya Rebecchi Foundation.  It’s an emotional reunion between her and Paul as they relive that fateful night on the terrace when she pushed him off and tried to kill him.  Confronted by three ex-wives, Terese decides she wants to elope with Paul instead.  The couple head off to Queensland, only to bump into another ex, Christina!  Despite being nagged by her twin, Caroline (I love these two) to leave well alone, Christina warns Paul not to make the same mistakes with Terese.  This has the desired effect and Paul cancels the wedding, breaking Terese’s heart.

Gary meanwhile, discovers that the woman he met on Tinder is none other than Paul’s second wife, Gail.  Horrified, the pair decide not to continue their relationship.  Gary quickly moves onto another date – a nice woman he meets at the Waterhole – Rebecca, another of Paul’s wives!  He ends things again when he realises!

When she finds an old photo of Mackenzie and Shane amongst Mackenzie’s belongings, she jumps to the conclusion that her friend could be her father’s illegitimate daughter.  Her suspicions prompt Mackenzie to meet with Shane and Susan (who already know the truth) and the rest of the family and tell them that she knew them in her old life as Michael but that she is transgender and has always identified as a girl.  Her mother who has died always knew and supported her but when her father found out, he reacted badly and abandoned the family.  Now she lives with her aunt and Shane is helping her try and track her father down.

Mark manages to persuade Sheila to give Roxy a chance at the Waterhole.  When Roxy arranges a romantic thank you for him, Harlow manages to get in the way.  Roxy is clearly smitten with Mark but he makes is clear that he only wants something casual.