Hollyoaks: Goodbye Jesse Donovan

(Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th January 2020)

Still at the wedding, Jesse is determined to tell Sylver about the shooting, although he never actually gets round to it. He announces to everyone, including horrified Courtney that the pair of them are moving away after the wedding. After the wedding, while Courtney packs for the honeymoon and prepares for her wedding night with Jesse, her groom gets drunk in The Loft, chattering away about honesty with Maxine (of all people) and then stumbles outside, collapsing on the ground.

Mitchell cannot control his jealousy over Scott and Azim. Still thinking he is straight, Martine gives her son advice to go after his ex but it all falls flat when Scott informs him that he isn’t interested in him anymore. This leads to an argument between mother and son, where he reminds her that she wanted nothing to do with him as a baby.

Out walking and upset after her argument with Mitchell, Martine finds Jesse on the ground and calls and ambulance. She then calls Mitchell who rushes out and gives him CPR. Oblivious Courtney wakes up to her honeymoon alarm at half three in the morning having not even realised that her new husband hasn’t been home. Meanwhile, Grace and James are on tenterhooks, waiting for the proverbial to hit the fan but Sylver calls to say he’s on his way back and he clearly hasn’t spoken to Jesse and at this rate, he never will. Grace, James, Maxine, Mitchell and Martine converge outside just as the paramedics decide to give up on Jesse. Well, now I feel guilty about complaining about the boring wedding stuff! I liked Jesse! It’s obvious now that he was going to die, being that they were overdoing how happy they were, which is making me suddenly very concerned about Kat and Kush in Eastenders…

Courtney frets to Leela and Liam over why Jesse hasn’t come home and why she can’t get in touch with him. Sylver arrives and offers his full support to Grace who continues to lie to him about pretty much everything. Grace then has to break the news to Courtney (and Liam and Leela) that Jesse is dead. A very emotional sequence at the end of Tuesday’s (E4) episode. Goodbye, Jesse. We will miss you.

At home, Mitchell and Martine comfort each other over the loss of Jesse. She apologises for not being there for him and begs to know why he is so unhappy. He finally admits that he is gay. She completely accepts him and quickly works out that the person he is in love with is Scott. Mitchell is still not prepared to come out and certainly doesn’t want to tell his Grandfather. Scott is proud of Mitchell when he says he came out to his Mum but has to let him down gently when Mitchell still hopes that there is a chance for them. Encouraged by Martine, Mitchell hops onto a dating site but things go wrong when he is nervous about being out in public and his date assumes he is a timewaster and walks out on him. He tells his mother that gay dating is not for him.

Mitchell opens up to his mother about his sexuality…

Damon checks on Maxine and notices how cold it is in her flat. She feels guilty for serving Jesse drinks and being the last person to see him before he died. She tells him how upset he was before he died. Damon visits Maxine again the next day and offers kindness to his ex-wife.

Liam and Courtney turn on each other, each wanting to know what on earth happened to Jesse. The pathology report confirms that Jesse died from alcohol poisoning. Liam is confused as Jesse never hit the bottle that hard. Reading a drunk text from Jesse that says he has something to tell her, Courtney tearfully concludes that he felt their marriage was a mistake. No, Courtney, no! Grace and James are torn up with guilt over having another death on their conscience but Grace’s response is to threaten James into silence. Upon the discovery that Maxine served drinks to Jesse before he died, Liam decides that she needs to pay for his death. He adds her picture to his dartboard, which already has Mercedes pinned to it. Creepy!

While Maxine deals with mouldy bread and no money, Liam winds himself up with footage of Maxine serving Jesse more drinks when he was already drunk. Haunted by the fact that she knows she is responsible for him drinking so much in the first place, Grace desperately tries to stop her brother punishing Maxine. The police come calling and ask Maxine questions about Jesse’s death. When they realise that Maxine doesn’t even work at the club and Jesse continued drinking after she left, the Detective tells Liam that there’s no case to answer. Liam visits Maxine and discovers that all her cupboards are bare and she has no heating. They discuss their love for Jesse and he gives her money, indicating that he will help her in the longer term. I don’t buy it for a second. His first task is to persuade Maxine to entertain some important clients at The Loft. Hmm…

John Paul starts working at the school and immediately gives Juliet detention, during which they bond over her dreams for the future. James accepts the hand of friendship from John Paul. Liam catches James kissing John Paul. John Paul is amused while James is surprised that Liam is so upset; he assumed they were just a casual thing. Well, they’re over now apparently and James joins her and Mercedes on the creepy dartboard (with Maxine right in the centre!)

James and John Paul have a surprise reunion…

James and Marnie struggle when Donna Marie throws her weight around at home. Juliet walks in on James giving Donna Marie a ‘loan’, prompting her to blurt out to her daughter that James and Marnie set her up for killing Mac. James takes the money back and throws her out of the house. They explain that it was the only thing they could do to stop Romeo going to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. In a rare moment of genuine emotion, James tells Juliet how much he loves her. Unfortunately, Juliet doesn’t buy it and decides to go to London with her mother. The family soon get wind of the plan and when James, who has just been asked out by John Paul, comes home to find Donna Marie off her face on drugs on the floor, he is faced with a moral dilemma. He fails. He takes a photo of Donna Marie to prove to Juliet that she can’t trust her Mum. Then he calls 999 but cancels the call and walks out.

Jordan visits his cousin, Sid at home and immediately charms Leela. He also lets slip that today is Stuart’s birthday. Leela continues to encourage Sid about his future and even buys him a guitar, presumably the one that we saw smashed to pieces in the flash forward at New Year. However, what Leela doesn’t know is that Jordan has persuaded Sid to look after a load of ketamine for him. So, this county lines storyline really is beginning. I mean, I just don’t know. It’s promising a lot but I genuinely can’t tell if it’s going to be amazing or really long and drawn out. I mean, it’s January. It’s not going to even start to conclude until te end of December, guys!!!

Channel 4 at 6:30pm or a sneak peek 7pm on E4

These reviews are based on the E4 episodes

Doctors: The Search for Truth

(Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th 2020)

Jimmi is struggling in the wake of the death of the inmate he so desperately tried to save last week. He is then told by Al that he is struggling to keep The Icon going. On top of that, he is landed with a new, less friendly cellmate. Not a great start to the week. His problems get worse when Rob comes to visit him, making him even more of a target for his bully cellmate.

Emma and Rob team up to figure out just who might have a grudge against Jimmi and want to set him up. They receive a call from Jimmi himself who tells them more about his childhood and confesses that he assaulted his Dad the last time he saw him. Could that be enough of a motive? They are also intrigued as to whether the mugging last year is connected to this. Well, it did seem a bit random and they didn’t revisit it so quite possibly. But Bear is not yet on the list and I remain convinced that he has something to do with all of this… He’s acting shadier and shadier by the day. However, he has problems of his own when a disgruntled woman causes mayhem in the waiting room!

Jimmi takes matters into his own hands by meeting up with his father who is shocked to find him in prison. He was on holiday at the time of his arrest, which checks out with Rob and denies having anything to do with setting him up. He is deeply unkind to Jimmi and still denies child abuse. Jimmi meanwhile, is struggling with other prisoners needing him to be their Doctor and his vile cellmate harassing him and getting off his face on spice each day. Life behind bars is getting harder as each day passes and he is beginning to lose hope. Feeling like he has no options left, Jimmi turns to spice to get him through. An inmate he refused to help gets badly assaulted, although by this point, I think he has actually stopped caring.

Valerie meets up with Rabbi David to learn more about her ‘Jewish Heritage’ and I am possibly about to eat the words from my previous blog about it being an annoying, daft Valerie storyline as it looks like there a genuine spark between them. And I am all for Valerie finding some love in her life! They even meet up a second time and go for lunch where they continue to bond. But alas, Valerie and I both have our hearts broken when David decides it’s too soon after the breakdown of his marriage to start another relationship and he doesn’t want to hurt her (or me, of course) by making false promises. I really do hope they return to this storyline at some point. There was a genuine connection here.

Ruhma decides to learn BSL after struggling to communicate with a deaf patient in labour the previous week and also being that she too is losing her hearing. After a misunderstanding, Zara decides to join her on the course. This could be a potential disaster or a new friendship. The first lesson doesn’t get off to a great start for their friendship though when the teacher points Ruhma out as a gifted student, putting Zara’s nose right out of joint!

I don’t often report the ‘side stories’ but I liked this one: Rob teams up with a junior police officer who is intent on solving a spate of burglaries on a particular estate. She shows a particular interest in a known criminal who has been recently released from prison and is dating a young, single mother who she is also particularly interested in. Rob digs a little deeper and the police officer admits that the young woman, Paige is actually her daughter, who she gave up when she was a baby. She eventually admits it to Paige herself and the pair begin to bond.

Doctors is on BBC1, weekdays at 1:45pm

Eastenders: Scraping the Barrel

(Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th January 2020)

Sonia confesses to Martin that she stole £8,000 from Dot to keep the hit and run victim at bay. He is horrified, as she has created a link between him and the crime that he has worked so hard to sever. She is distraught as she has done so much to try and protect him and he wasn’t even worth it. Realising how much he has hurt her, Martin takes the blame and tells Dot that it was him who stole the money. She is genuinely hurt and asks him to leave before she vanishes to Ireland, leaving Sonia and message of love. However, either June Brown wasn’t available or it’s part of a plot twist, as there is no way on earth that it was Dot leaving that message. It sounded nothing like her! Whoever decided they could do a good Dot Branning impression, they are sorely mistaken!

The pressure of Mick’s birthday gets to Linda and she reaches for the bottle again, ending up in The Albert where she at least manages to make amends with Sharon. But the more she drinks and the more Sharon’s anxiety over Keanu gets to her, the weaker she becomes. She breaks and tells Sharon the truth about Christmas Day, reassuring her friend that although Phil did order a hit on him, Martin couldn’t go through with it and he set Keanu free.

The next day, having disappointed and upset Mick and her family yet again, Linda cannot cope with her confession to Sharon and begs her to forget she ever opened her mouth. Of course, she doesn’t and immediately locates the badly hidden burner phone at the allotment containing the video of Keanu’s ‘death’ on it. Finally with the upper hand, she unnerves Phil without revealing her cards. Worried about her daughter’s state of mind, Lisa decides to take Louise and Baby Peggy to Portugal for good. When Phil and Ben are arrested but released, they, Lisa, Louise and Peggy quickly pile into a taxi, preparing to leave as a family. However, Ben halts things, unable to leave Callum, prompting Phil to instruct him to blame him for everything. It would be a genuinely touching moment if Phil hadn’t basically confessed to murder in front of a London cabbie. I mean, who does that?! But the good news is that Callum and Ben are finally back together! Hooray!

However, things take an even darker turn for the Carters when Mick and Linda are called to the school to be told they have raised a safeguarding concern. In his mood diary, Ollie has alerted them to being unhappy at home and indicated that Linda has hurt him. Misunderstanding that another parent has lied about her, Linda absolutely loses it in front of the Head Teacher, embarrassing Mick, as she protests against a Social Worker being sent to the house. That night, Mick sends Ollie to stay with Chantelle and Gray, having reached the sad conclusion that his son is not happy at home. Linda’s reaction is to reach for the bottle, prompting her to become abusive. With no options left, Mick locks her in their bedroom to keep her safe.

Mick and Linda are called to the school about Ollie…

Locked in the bedroom all night with Mick keeping guard, Linda is an absolute mess in the morning. Mick has to patch her up from cutting herself really badly on glass and despite how vile she was the night before, he is still so kind to her. But she learns nothing from anything that has happened and although she stops Bex drowning her own sorrows, having discovered that it was Sonia who stole from Dot, she ends up drinking her bottle of wine herself instead. She then gate crashes Ian’s victory party (having won by drawing straws) and although she’s actually very funny at times, (“he doesn’t have a big straw! Jane told me!”), it’s utterly heartbreaking to watch this amazing woman and all she’s survived, falling apart in front of the whole Square. I couldn’t actually watch the moment she stood on stage and wet herself before Mick arrived, covered her up and rushed her home. Heartbreaking.

During an argument, Bex gives Dotty some home truths about her vile father, including that her Grandma killed him. Wound up, Dotty is about to charge over to Ireland to confront her but Sonia intervenes and tells her everything she needs to know. Dotty offers forgiveness and understanding for her namesake but it’s all fake. As she tells Bex, Dot’s old and rich and she wants her inheritance! Oh, I don’t like her!

Kush struggles to work out why Kat is so on edge so she sits him down and explains that she had an altercation with a man who came to discuss a cleaning contract. The comments that Leo put online put her in a vulnerable position and the man tried to demand sex. She then begins to explain her past abuse but Kush very gently explains that he already knows. Kat is shocked that he is in a relationship with her, knowing the truth about what happened and it’s never been an issue for him. In the sweetest of moments, he just tells her how much he loves her and how amazing he thinks she is. Yes! She is! And I absolutely love this pairing. I dread the day Shane Ritchie wants a job and they bring Alfie back to wreck it. I was a true Kat and Alfie believer once upon a time. He was her true love. He was her Man in the Moon. But that last appearance and everything that happened with poor Hayley was unforgiveable. Kat needs someone like Kush.

And in the least interesting story of the week, Sheree returns, reunites with Patrick and introduces him to her stroppy son, Isaac. And after all her meddling, Denise doesn’t bat an eyelid.

Eastenders is on BBC1 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (7:30pm/8:00pm)

Coronation Street: The Fight for Hope

(Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th January 2020)

In a slightly clumsy plot twist, it’s actually Ruby who saves the day for her parents. She asks Tyrone when Jade is coming back so they can play hospitals again and mentions the bruises that she painted on Hope. It’s useful but it’s a little obvious. But from there, Tyrone, Evelyn, the social worker and Dr Gaddas are able to ascertain that Jade has been faking the abuse, despite Hope sticking to the story. They then discover Hope’s phone with incriminating text messages between Hope and Jade that blows Jade’s story out of the water completely.

Fiz is upset when Hope doesn’t welcome her back to the family home. All she wants is Jade. And her phone back. In the morning, the family are horrified to find that Hope is missing and report it to the police. They immediately visit Jade who denies any knowledge of the little girl’s disappearance. The police search the property but come up with nothing, although the storytelling attempts to persuade us that she has the little girl hidden in the loft. Unable to stick to the police advice, Fiz storms round to the house in panic although she doesn’t find Hope (or Jade), she does find Hope’s passport and preparations to run away together.

Tyrone and the neighbours go out searching for Hope where Tyrone gets caught up in an argument with Jade who has come to search for her sister. Genuinely scared for Hope, Jade goes to her Dad’s grave where Hope emerges from the shadows. She has been hiding there all night, hoping that Jade would come and find her. Jade genuinely does the right thing and brings her home. Later, not knowing what happened to her daughter (who has been taken to hospital), Fiz angrily confronts Jade who tries to explain things. Tyrone walks in just as Fiz knocks Jade out. Ouch. While Fiz and Tyrone panic and distract Evelyn and the children from walking in, they return to the kitchen to find that Jade has vanished. They confide in Evelyn who remarks that Jade has had it coming for a long time! Ha! Not since Blanche Hunt have we had such a fabulous Corrie character as this!

But anyway, Jade collapses in the ginnel on Victoria Street, to be discovered by Yasmeen, who has just avoided spending time with Alya and taken a nagging phone call from Geoff demanding to know why she is one second late home from the shop. Having found Jade and also received a hang up 999 call from Fiz when the accident happened, the police turn up to ask questions. Fiz, Tyrone and Evelyn all act guilty and weird but send them on their way. Tyrone and Fiz then attempt to actually explain to Hope who her father was and that Jade is wrong about him. Unfortunately, Hope is deeply attached to Jade and is desperate to see her. So when Jade turns up, having lied to the police about being mugged, it’s an emotional conversation as Fiz tries to get her to understand that John was an uncaring man. She had no idea he had a daughter because in all their time together, he never even bothered to mention her. Hearing Jade in the house, Hope is desperate to go home with her but Jade does the right thing for a second time. Later, aware that Jade now has the attack over them, Tyrone suggests that they let her see Hope. But Fiz and Evelyn point blank refuses to listen to him, despite his plea that he would rather supervise an hour in the park between Hope and Jade than visit Fiz in prison. Well, I’m Team Tyrone on this one, personally.

Tim is shocked when his Vegas wife, Charlie arrives to see him, having lost both her jobs and up to her eyeballs in debt. With Tim still pushing for the divorce, Charlie has him over a barrel and demands 5K on top of signing the papers. She then shows up announcing she has been evicted. With Sally having temporarily moved out and needing to pay Charlie off before she discovers that he is a bigamist, Tim decides he needs to sell the business. Eileen, Steve and Kevin are all too happy to do him over for his share until Emma shames them with her kindness, offering to lend him her life savings. His friends then have no choice but to help him out. Unfortunately, despite giving her the cash she needs, Charlie decides to stick around and bags herself a job at The Rovers!

Ray and Abi (who has passed her exams) continue to get to know each other. Bethany mistakenly believes that she is going to be the new manager of The Bistro (and typically tells people) so is devastated to discover that Ray has actually hired Alya. I suspect she has had a lucky escape. Bethany also suspects she’s had a lucky escape and gets information from Carla about what happened to Michelle. When Bethany tries to warn Alya, the new manager disbelieves the story and responds to Bethany (in light of the abuse she previously suffered) in the most unforgivably patronising way she possibly could. A genuinely unpleasant scene, actually. Royally pissed off, Bethany is ready to quit her job and seeks career advice from Daniel, who believes that she should return to her dream of writing. However, he quickly gets distracted by Bertie spiking a temperature. I’m sure the upcoming storyline will be very dramatic and everything but the problem is, I can’t concentrate on any scene Daniel’s in because he looks like Tom Hanks in Castaway. I know he’s grieving but the state of his face is just unacceptable.

Gary and Maria attend a baby scan but their happy news is not met well by their neighbours. Sarah in particular warns her, prompting Maria to accuse Gary of having an affair when he is actually talking to Jake on the phone. Unfortunately, her mistake only seems to cement them together more than ever!

In an act of revenge over the live stream of Kel, someone vandalises Chesney and Gemma’s house and puts a burning rag through the door, sending the quads into hospital with smoke inhalation. When Rita and Billy both scold Bernie for letting her family down, she decides that the right thing to do is move away and let her kids live their lives without her drama. Paul needs to heal from Kel’s abuse and Gemma has enough on her hands with the quads. She says an emotional goodbye to Paul and sincerely apologises for not protecting him as a child.

David is heartbroken as he sends Shona off to the Rehab Centre in Leeds for specialist care and actress, Julia Goulding goes off for maternity leave.

Coronation Street airs on ITV on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30/8:30pm