Gray’s case and career are in big trouble when Whitney disappears and of course, thanks to Jean finding goodbye letters in the bin (the clue is that they have been thrown away, guys!!!), everyone assumes she has done a runner when actually, she has been abducted by Leo’s psychotic mother. On the plus side, at least she’s been locked up in a room with kitchen facilities. Not a lot of prisoners get that! Now I’m just worried about poor Chantelle bearing the brunt of Gray’s anger. She was clearly already irritating him early on in Monday’s episode when she was trying to big him up to his boss.
Whitney calls for help…
Max phoned Whitney on the burner phone he gave her (she didn’t think to call anyone for help on it, like um… the police?) but was caught out by crazy Michaela – not before Whitney hollered to Max that she had been abducted. After Max connected the dots for Gray and the family, Gray attempted to get hold of his wife for help. Unfortunately, she has become trapped in the new call centre with Kheerat. Well, that can only go one of three ways, can’t it? Positively, she could crack and open up to him about the abuse she suffers at home or negatively, she could suffer even more abuse when she gets home or of course there is always the third option which is a bit of both. We’ll see.
However, the big shock of Tuesday’s episode was when Michaela confessed that Tony didn’t leave her – she took Leo away from him when she discovered that he was abusing Whitney. She knew and she did nothing. She left him and kept her son safe but she did nothing to protect the vulnerable young girl that she was aware was in danger.
The girls went out for lunch time drinks for Sheree’s birthday, sending Linda to an AA meeting. The poor lamb has already changed locations so she doesn’t run into Stuart but who should show up to this one but Phil? She politely asked him to not come to the meeting she is attending but he turned her down flat, basically telling her that if she’s going to recover, she has to be able to deal with talking about her addiction in front of people she knows; she can’t control who walks through the door. Fair point.
While she told her family that she needs to find a new meeting, Shirley pointed out that she could do a lot worse than learning from someone who has successfully stayed sober for so many years (more or less). Also a fair point. When Phil wanted to buy the pub for himself and Sharon, Linda objected but Phil was certain that she was using his presence at meetings as an excuse. He then sat down with her at home, prepared to actually to talk to her about his own battle with addiction to try and help her with hers. I haven’t never been a Phil Mitchell fan but I do like this ‘nice Phil’ we’ve had over the past year or so.
Phil offers his support to Linda…
While the girls enjoyed their drinks, Patrick and Isaac went for a drink themselves where Patrick accidently hinted that he is indeed Isaac’s father. While Isaac went off to confront his mother and Denise demanded answers from Patrick, I found myself wondering if anyone actually cares?
Callum passed his police exam/interview thing (I’ve lost track – it’s taking ever such a long time) and celebrated by telling Lola. Presumably his boyfriend doesn’t really care. She responded by confessing to have slept with Peter who is suddenly very pally-pally with Jay.
Speaking of Peter, things are getting a little awkward now that he clearly likes Dotty and his little brother, Bobby, with whom there is no love lost, also has a crush on her. Poor Bobby got all dressed up for Vinny and Dotty’s club night at Ruby’s but Dotty clearly only sees him as a friend. When she refused to sell him drugs, he got hold of some himself, collapsing in the middle of the dance floor. Oh, Bobby, didn’t you learn last time?
Bobby collapses…
Due to the Coronavirus, Eastenders has had to suspend filming
It will air from now on only on Mondays (8pm) and Tuesdays (7:30pm) on BBC1
Celeste springs into action when Toby confesses that he attacked Felix. The pair of them head to the hospital where Mitchell admits that it might be a blessing if he never woke up. He expresses his upset that he wasn’t even worth selling and that although she kept him, his mother didn’t actually bother to raise him, swanning off to become a flight attendant and leaving him to be raised by his grandfather. Unfortunately, this speech gives Celeste an in to turn the heat for the attack on Mitchell when she speaks to the police. I would usually say here something like, what a witch, had it not been for an earlier scene between her and Toby when you can clearly see how desperately worried she is about her brother and how much they have been through together. Her need to protect him far outweighs any concern she has for anyone else. Framing Mitchell isn’t okay but you can kind of understand it. Plus I’m not that fussed on Mitchell anyway.
When Scott is called in for questioning, he loyally provides his boyfriend with a false alibi and Mitchell is released. However, all is not well on the romance front as Scott admits that he doesn’t know if Mitchell is telling him the truth. He is clearly haunted by the violence he has witnessed from him in the past. Are Scott and Mitchell in big trouble?
Mitchell and Scott could be at breaking point… again. (photo credit: Digital Spy)
Meanwhile, Martine makes it clear to Toby that she knows he was the real culprit and he promises that he would have drawn the line at allowing Mitchell to take the blame. I’m not sure I believe him. Felix also recovers with the same rapidity as Phil Mitchell recovered from his drug addiction that time. At the beginning of the episode, he was still unconscious, after the adverts, he was being discharged. That Misbah must be a miracle worker. God bless the NHS indeed.
Felix makes a miraculous recovery…
Sami joins forces with Verity and James at the law firm – what a shocker! The plan is to take over the salon premises, which Courtney agrees to on the promise that they take on Maxine as a member of staff. Verity agrees. Then she asks who Maxine is.
Sally and Matthew do some random meddling in John Paul’s love life and set the wheels in motion for a potential romance with PC Kiss. I don’t think I even noticed them meeting each other. I am also thrilled that when he first arrived, everyone assumed he would be breaking the ladies’ hearts and now it turns out he is gay. Excellent! However, my big question is, does this mean the lovely policeman’s days are numbered? We saw on the flashforward that John Paul was distraught over a dead body. PC Kiss is clearly going to be involved in bringing down the drug gang. Will he lose his life in the process, breaking John Paul’s heart yet again?
Due to the Coronavirus, Hollyoaks has had to suspend filming
Hollyoaks will now air Mondays and Tuesdays at 6:30pm on Channel 4 with a sneak peek on E4 at 7pm
These reviews are based on the E4 episodes
In place of normal episodes, Hollyoaks will air ‘Hollyoaks Favourites’, Wednesdays-Fridays, 7pm on E4
The thing with Emmerdale at the moment is that parts of it are excellent and parts of it are really dragging and where we are understandably only getting three episodes a week at the moment, the dragging parts are going to be dragging for a long time. However, the fantastic parts, are really shining so hooray for that.
Charity causes a commotion at the hospital…
For example, Charity and Vanessa’s story is so incredibly engaging. My heart is breaking for them both. I am desperate for Vanessa to get well and I am desperate for their relationship to survive. Things get pretty awkward on Vanessa’s chemo day when she has to go alone and Kerry, who turns out to be a hospital volunteer, comes to sit with her. There are some fantastic scenes between them and you can’t help but love Kerry who remains by Vanessa’s side despite her being horrible to her, not wanting her to be by herself. By the end, even Vanessa is grateful that she stayed. I love that Kerry has clearly turned her guilt over Frank’s death into something positive by volunteering at the hospital and also not shouted about it. It’s just something she does quietly, trying to make amends any way she can. Unfortunately, Charity barges in and lays into Kerry, causing a terrible scene, upsetting Vanessa, the other patients and the staff.
The next episode shows some heartbreaking scenes where Vanessa decides to rebel, dragging Rhona out for drinks for her birthday, trying to recapture their youth. She gets into an argument with some arrogant student and ends up going viral by pouring a pint over his head. In another situation, it would be hilarious but the whole time, you can just see how broken Vanessa is and you’re just terribly worried that something bad is going to happen to her.
Charity is livid when she comes home utterly wasted but when they make up the next day, things go quickly wrong again as Vanessa senses hesitation when she asks Charity to look after Johnny if the worst happens. I mean, it seems a silly argument to me. They were about to get married, for goodness sake! Why wouldn’t Charity have expected to look after Johnny is something ever happened to Vanessa? It’s just so sad that at this awful time, they can’t seem to pull together.
Vanessa and Charity are in crisis… #Vanity
A fabulous moment came when Sam and Lydia finally got married. The girls had a somewhat raucous hen night, resulting in Mandy and Lydia ending up in the middle of nowhere (Lydia found her way to safety, Mandy ended up getting picked up by her ex in a very convenient plot device). But eventually, Sam and Lydia tied the knot in a lovely ceremony. They had a fabulous party in The Woolpack afterwards where both Lydia and Vinny were welcomed into the Dingle Family by the traditional means: drink from the welly!
However, all this murky gangster stuff with Will, Cain, Billy and DI Malone is so boring. I’m not sure I’m even following it properly anymore. Burnt out cars in the middle of the village, false arrests, all the coppers under this guy’s control, soldering drugs into cars… come on. It’s all a bit far-fetched, isn’t it? It’s turning into an episode of Mad Dogs (or something a little more up to date and trendy).
Another disappointing moment over the last few weeks has been Jamie Tate’s personality transplant. He joined the show as such a moral character, in complete contrast to his wicked mother. Now, he has strung both Andrea and Belle along, settled on Andrea, sacked Belle and now he has taken up with Belle again behind Andrea’s back. It completely goes against the character he started out as. For once, it would just be nice if a good person in the Village could stay good!
Due to the Coronavirus, Emmerdale have had to suspend filming
Emmerdale will now air on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV1 at 7pm
I love Doctors. I always feel that because it’s a daytime soap, it’s rather underrated when actually, it’s probably one of the best. It covers a huge range of subjects, some of them very tough, which must not be easy in its timeslot. It’s also very quirky and is often extremely creative in its storytelling. If you’ve never watched Doctors, I highly recommend it. I started watching it by accident some years ago and now I absolutely never miss it. It’s clever, it’s thought provoking, it’s funny, creative and it uses its platform with a genuine sense of responsibility.
A great example of this platform came this past week during Emma’s radio interview to discuss LGBTQ+ issues and advice. At first, she was very reluctant to get personal but when one particular caller phoned in and told her that he had been attacked, Emma finally opened up about the attack on her and Jasmine. It was such a genuinely emotional moment that my Mum phoned me to talk about it afterwards! Emma was so brave and so was the caller. The whole storyline has been so powerful, from crafting a lovely relationship, to the awful attack, to how Emma and Jasmine reacted in such different ways, to beautiful friendship from Zara and now Emma’s bravery to come out about what happened to her.
Meanwhile, Ruhma’s mood plummets further when she goes to see the most useless advocate ever to discuss her case. I mean, the woman is just completely unhelpful. What is the actual point of her? Also, they break for lunch and yet she opts to bring her lunch back and eat it in front of Ruhma who is fasting for Ramadan. I think Ruhma needs someone else to fight for her…
Ruhma has a very unhelpful meeting…
Speaking of Ramadan, Joe’s new friend turns out not to be imaginary at all. He’s a lovely little boy called Ozzy who is fasting for the first time this year. Besotted with his new mate, Joe decided that he too wants to fast, throwing Zara and Daniel into a bit of a spin. Of course, Zara being Zara decided to ruin Joe’s fast by tempting him with donuts – which Ozzy ate, ruining his fast instead. I mean, why? Why give Joe donuts when his friend was there? That’s just irresponsible. I mean, what mother would give their kid a treat and not their visiting friend anyway? That’s just mean. But now she has ruined Ozzy’s fast on day one and also ruined her blossoming friendship with his mother. Oh, Zara…
Thursday last week was one of those very odd Doctors episodes. We started with a drunk couple, hooking up after a night out and heading back to her place. Then they heard an intruder upstairs. Calling the police, they knocked the guy out. And who was it? None other than Bear Sylvester, Business Manager of The Mill! And this is what is brilliant about this show. It can be so incredibly random and make you sit and work out for an entire episode what on earth is going on. Bear was of course innocent after all (although I still don’t trust him) but it led to quite the sad story as the episode played out.
Then, the next day, there was a saga about chairs and Sid had to remove splinters from Karen’s bottom. Yes, really.
Karen has a pain in the bottom…!
Next week, despite Doctors ceasing filming due to the Coronavirus, the show does appear to still be airing every weekday on BBC1 at 1:45pm
It’s great to see the younger cast taking centre stage in Corrie right now and Tanisha Gorey, is showing what she is made of as she portrays Asha, caught up in the most terrible ordeal of having posed nude during a video call with her boyfriend, not realising he was recording the call. Now, her spiteful friend, Kelly has spread the video around and within moments, it has found its way onto a dodgy porn site and Asha’s image has become global. Such is the power of the Internet.
Asha’s world has come crashing down around her…
It’s such a hideous but important storyline, hopefully showing kids (and adults) the awful dangers of this kind of thing. As her brother tells her, nothing is private. It’s so hard to see how broken she is. It’s lovely to see her protective her best friend, Amy is. There’s a wonderful scene between David and Dev as David is faced with telling him about the video, having found it on his son’s phone. You cannot help but feel for Dev as he charges through so many different emotions but overwhelmingly, all he wants to do is protect his daughter.
Across the street, Yasmeen is an utterly broken woman. Last Friday’s episode was one of the worst in a different way to other episodes. Geoff seems to have beaten her down to a point that she is now the shadow of her former self. And without Alya, she really is cut off from the rest of the world.
An argument with Cathy left Yasmeen more trapped than ever…
Hope arrived in the form of Cathy but while Geoff was overly nice to her, Yasmeen ended up losing her temper and pushed her away, possibly severing their friendship. I am so worried that Geoff has full control of Yasmeen now. All I can cling to is that she does have that bag locked away in the cupboard and that he hasn’t looked at the camera footage and doesn’t know it’s there. She has also reached out the police already. Please muster the strength to leave him, Yasmeen! I know you can!
In other news… Leanne and Steve continued to argue over their son; Johnny ran away from his new B&B guest, taking Jenny to France and leaving Carla and Peter in charge of The Rovers; Ken won the election at Stillwaters, handed it over to Norris, broke up with Claudia and moved back to The Street!
Ken leaves Stillwaters (and Claudia) behind…
Due to the Coronavirus, Coronation Street has had to cease filming
For the foreseeable, Coronation Street will air on ITV on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30pm
It’s been a busy couple of weeks in Hollyoaks, including a special one hour episode on Monday 13th, focussing on a couple of central storylines including Darren’s depression and the continuing county lines drug story. My real concern for this show is that their reduction of episodes is going to seriously mess up their whole flash forward idea. I wonder how they’re going to deal with that…
Anyway, Sid and Juliet head off for their seaside trip with oblivious Ollie and Imran who really think they’re just going to enjoy a funfair and a stick of rock. On the train, Juliet shows just how brash she can really be as she poses for a selfie with a police officer, while holding a serious amount of drugs on her person. She sends the selfie to Jordan. Of course, once they break away from the boys and complete the deal, Juliet can’t resist putting the dealer’s assistant in her place by stealing her phone. Robbing a dealer. Always a clever plan…
We are then treated to a rather special moment as Sid bravely broaches a discussion about Juliet’s sexuality. If I was ever unsure of Sid before, he completely proves in this moment that he is a total sweetheart. He tells Juliet that he thinks she is gay and despite it breaking his heart because he is in love with her, he is so supportive. He creates a completely safe space for her to be herself with him. It’s a real treasure of a moment. Then it gets spoilt by the dealer and his gang of thugs jumping them, believing that Juliet stole the phone to steal his contacts and his business. Sid takes a severe beating. Ollie and Imran arrive and the foursome agree that what happens at the beach, stays at the beach.
Back in Chester, Peri is horrified to catch Jordan with drugs but he is quick to spin her a sob story about his childhood and claims that he was once upon a time forced to deal to get by but that’s his past life and he doesn’t do anything like that anymore. Stupid Peri falls for it.
The kids find themselves in yet more trouble…
In reality, Jordan is fuming over Juliet’s mistake. He refuses to let them step back from the hideous web they’ve weaved themselves into, insisting that they are all in serious trouble now and have to work together. Unfortunately, Marnie has found the big bag of cash and is demanding answers. They make up a lie about stealing laptops from the other school. It’s clear that Marnie is suspicious of Jordan, which you would assume would be a good thing, except upon Jordan’s orders, Juliet is absolutely vile to Marnie and even destroys Nathan’s shirt in order to force Marnie to reject her for good. It’s awful! Marnie and Juliet have built up such a beautiful relationship but the control that Jordan has over this poor girl is just too strong. I think Peri is my only hope now… On the plus side, at least she persuades Leela to let the poor girl move in with them, which leads to a rather awkward dinner as Juliet who gazes at Peri who gazes at Jordan who gazes at Leela! Sid looks like he has had quite enough!
Kyle’s parents come to visit…
Meanwhile, Kyle is horrified to discover that Nancy has invited his parents to visit. Funnily enough, his Dad is played by Chris Quinten, who played Adam Rickett’s former Coronation Street character, Nick Tisley’s father, Brian Tisley (although they never actually worked together). That aside, Nancy soon finds herself regretting the invitation as she discovers that her vibrant fiancé comes from the world’s most boring people. How unfortunate. Subsequently, she invites all and sundry to join their table just to liven things up. Kyle struggles all through the meal as his parents discuss all the ‘phases’ he has been through in his life and mention the ‘episodes’ he has had in the past.
Home alone, Darren is in a bad way. Unable to get through to Kyle, who is stuck at dinner with Nancy and his parents, he walks off on his own and ends up on the roof of some abandoned building, an absolutely wreck.
Ashley Taylor Dawson is doing an incredible job portraying Darren mental health storyline…
Thankfully, Kyle, who is desperate to get away from the meal anyway, notices the missed calls and finds Darren via a tracking app and they are able to talk. Darren admits that the only thing that stopped him jumping were his kids. Darren finally decides to try therapy. Kyle begs him not to forget about him. It’s a sad situation. Kyle has obviously spent so many years hiding his own mental health problems and not experiencing any positive support that he doesn’t believe that anything can help. Now he’s scared of Darren reaching out and leaving him behind.
Later that evening, while Darren puts on his usual, cheerful show for Kyle’s parents, Nancy berates her fiancé for walking out on her, unaware that he potentially saved Darren’s life. She is angry and worried to realise he has been smoking skunk. She gives him the opportunity to be completely honest with her about what’s going on and sadly, he throws it away. However, over at Darren and Mandy’s flat, Darren bravely admits to Mandy that he is depressed. She is uncharacteristically gentle with him and really listens to everything he has to say, thanking him for being honest with her and promising to support him.
Unfortunately, we don’t hear from these characters the following week and it feels like a long time to wait for the next instalment but I am sure it will be worth it. Darren’s storyline is a really powerful one. And I think throwing Kyle into the mix makes it even better and ever deeper. When he first appeared, Kyle was quite flimsy. He was funny and full of quips, never quite of the right side of a moral code but always forgivable because he was at heart, a nice guy. This backstory (not to mention some superb acting from Adam Rickett), has given him so much more depth and added so much to this story. I really am impressed with this one.
Against her better judgement, Martine finds herself growing closer to Felix again. However, Lisa also fancies Felix. Well, she fancied her cousin last week, so… Anyway, while she works on helping Toby and Walter bond, Martine and Felix fall out at the revelation that he has another son. This leads to an almighty row between Lisa and Martine when Lisa points out that really, it just shows that Felix is capable of being the father Martine always wishes he could have been. A lot of horrible things are said, resulting in Lisa being rather pushed out of the family and straight into Felix’s bed. Delightful.
However, it all really kicks off when Martine and Celeste overhear Walter and Felix arguing over Felix selling the children to the Doctor. Throw in the discovery that Felix and Lisa have slept together and everyone is angry!
Walter desperately tries to defend his actions.
Martine is livid with Felix and Walter, plus she’s furious with Lisa now too.
Felix insists that he regrets his actions but that it was Walter who made him walk away from Martine and Mitchell.
Lisa gives as good as she gets with Martine – she’s a feisty one, that girl!
Mitchell is angry that he wasn’t even worth being sold, if you please!
Scott confesses to Mitchell that he found out the previous week – awkward.
Celeste is hellbent on making both Felix and Walter pay for their sins.
And Toby actually goes through with it – while Walter and Martine argue, he decks Felix in the alley!
So, I hope that’s a sufficient update in the Devereaux/Loveday/Faroe Family Drama!
Toby attacks Felix…
And to round things off in a less interesting turn of events, Verity moves in with Tony and Diane in order to set up her own law firm with James.
Due to the Coronavirus, Hollyoaks has had to suspend filming
Hollyoaks will now air Mondays and Tuesdays at 6:30pm on Channel 4 with a sneak peek on E4 at 7pm
These reviews are based on the E4 episodes
In place of normal episodes, Hollyoaks will air ‘Hollyoaks Favourites’, Wednesdays-Fridays, 7pm on E4
We had our usual episodes of Eastenders on Monday and Tuesday this week and last week, although I still can’t quite work out why it isn’t better spaced out, such as Tuesday and Thursday like it used to be back in the olden days. Right now, apart from good, old Doctors and repeat of Hollyoaks, we have not a single soap on a Thursday now and Eastenders gets both their episodes all out in a huge rush at the beginning of the week. Why? It could slot in very nicely before Question Time. I’m pretty sure that For Love or Money didn’t have to be shoved in that particular time slot, whatever that is. Does anyone know what that is? It’s got Kym Marsh in it, apparently.
Anyway, to remind you of the past fortnight’s episodes before an entire week passes until you can watch it again, Vinny had an ill-advised party to prove to Ruby that he would be the perfect DJ at the club. Well, she seemed to be impressed. Before she left for her yoga class and missed the whole thing. Which turned out to be a blessing in the end, as of course, the whole thing spirals out of control. These soap characters just never learn, do they?
Iqra persuades Ash to attend the party and soon regrets it as while the police show up to break things up, some guy spouts homophobic abuse at them and ends up getting decked by Vinny. Iqra is shocked to see a completely different side to her girlfriend who leaps into action and hides Iqra, Vinny and the barely conscious thug in the bedroom, assuring the police that nobody else is in the building and dropping in that she is a Doctor. She gets the guy cleaned up and pays him off with the money Vinny was charging from the party, warning him to keep his mouth shut. Iqra is understandably shocked to see such a harsh, ruthless side to her girlfriend that she never knew existed before and Ash spends a lot of the flip-flopping between wanting to be with Iqra and being angry with her for not actually doing anything wrong.
Thankfully, her mother returns early and wades in on the potential breakup, finally pushing the girls back together. One weird thing though – they seem to say ‘I love you’ apparently for the first time. Haven’t they been together for a year or something? And don’t they live together? I’m not saying they should follow Alex in Home and Away and get a mortgage before they’ve so much as lived together but waiting this long to say I love you?! Bit weird.
Ash and Iqra kiss and make up…
Back to the party… Outside, there is a huge commotion with the partygoers fighting the police and causing mayhem. Some bright spark throws a brick at a police car. Keegan and Tiffany, whose only crime was being too happy (he got his business loan, cheered up at last, gave Tiffany an engagement ring and then they had a bunk up in the ice cream van – they weren’t even at the party) end up caught up in the chaos.
When the brick is thrown, Keegan panics and attempts to run, having been arrested so many times before but of course, running draws attention to him and he is immediately arrested and accused. Later, he is asked why he ‘resisted arrest’. Well, he didn’t particularly but quite frankly, while there’s violence going on all around you and you’ve just been arrested, not for the first time, for something you didn’t do, wouldn’t you protest a bit? What a stupid bloody question!
Tiffany begs Jack for help but he’s a bit useless, not wanting to upset his senior who insists that he saw Keegan throw the brick himself. Even with bodycams, it’s a case of Keegan’s word against his. He gets Keegan sent home on bail but it’ll be a rough road ahead, I think. How frightening. And disgusting that a young lad can be treated in such a way. Pre-judged and mistreated for no reason other than skin colour.
Keegan (and Tiffany) have a really bad day…
Understandably, Keegan does not have a good rest of the week. He storms around the Square feeling like nobody understands what he is going through, not helped by getting evicted from Ted’s flat as he and Tiffany finally get caught for subletting. Things are tense as they squash back into Karen’s and when he seriously loses his temper, Tiffany takes a stand, forcing them to move in with Uncle Jack. Hmm… I’m not sure that will improve things. Jack is refusing to stand up for Keegan with his colleagues. That in turn is causing tension between him and Denise who believes Keegan and Tiffany are telling the truth. This should be an interesting story as it plays out.
Stuart’s proposal doesn’t quite go to plan…
Meanwhile, Stuart is still desperate to propose to Rainie but after his previously failed attempt, decides to go less traditional, dressing up as a vampire and hiding in a coffin. Obviously. Why wouldn’t he?! Rainie is horrified and hides in the bathroom. I think my favourite moment of all the episodes is Stuart banging on the door telling her that she is worth more than those people.
“What people?”
“All of ‘em!”
It’s enough for Rainie to realise just how much he loves her and she accepts his proposal. And after a bit of a tussle with Max (and some words of wisdom from Whitney), she is free to get divorced. Hooray! They are such an odd couple but they absolutely work. And they are brilliant characters too, so cleverly written and portrayed. To have arrived as ‘baddies’, especially Stuart, one of the most hated characters in soap and to have become so popular, is no mean feat.
Now, I am rather confused by the latest development in Whitney’s plot. Firstly, I know Whitney is a trusting character but did she really think that Leo’s Mum was just being nice to her and just wanted a cosy chat? She stabbed her son! Honestly, this is how Whitney ended up in this situation in the first place. She ignored Tiffany’s warnings and dated Leo despite the fact that he was an absolute weirdo with all the charm of damp wallpaper. Then his Mum shows up and she thinks it’s a good plan to tell her every single detail of what happened. Muppet.
Also, how daft is his mother? Her son battered her and locked her in the boot of a car. He almost killed her. I know ‘a mother’s love’ and all that but she is physically aware that he was absolutely bonkers. He was obsessed with his vile father and clearly not turning out better than him. He manipulated Whitney, stalked her, terrorised her, lived in her loft, utterly traumatised her and then tried to kill her only she got their first. And this woman knows the level of violence he was capable of because he attacked her too. What is she thinking?!
From here, Leo’s Mum condemns Whitney all over social media. Interfering but well-meaning Sonia (who is seriously starved of her own plots these days), steals Whitney’s phone to try and keep it from her. The biggest plot hole of course is that Whitney doesn’t notice that her phone is missing. Who on earth leaves the house without checking their phone and who would stand on an empty stall all morning without getting their phone out at least once, if not multiple times to check their messages/social media etc., especially a young person like Whitney? Soaps always use the lost/stolen device and it’s just unrealistic. People react to being without their phones these days as if one of their actual limbs have fallen off!
Under pressure (and not even aware of the damage she has done to her case), Whitney decides that she has no choice but to run away. Knowing the future she faces behind bars, Max gives her the money to start off but when Gray comes through with shutting the social media posts down and Whitney realises the depth of love and support she has behind her, she changes her mind. Unfortunately, she is then attacked by Leo’s Mum! Well, with hers and Tony’s genes, the bloke didn’t stand a chance of being normal, did he?
Michaela attacks Whitney…
And now may we all take a moment to thank Eastenders for the joy of Kush in all his loveliness. Kat has vanished, thanks to the suspension of Jessie Wallace and while Jean is joyfully celebrating the end of needing to use her wig with her friend, Kush stays in the kitchen with suddenly-has-a-speaking-part-Tommy, who admits that he is having problems at school. He is struggling with his reading and some of the other kids have been making fun of him but he doesn’t want anyone else to know, especially not his Mum. When Kush takes him to school, he has a word with Isaac, his teacher, who explains that Tommy may be dyslexic. Jean speaks for us all when she tells Kush what a blessing his is to their family.
Due to the Coronavirus, Eastenders has had to suspend filming
It will air from now on only on Mondays (8pm) and Tuesdays (7:30pm) on BBC1
Ruhma’s world comes crashing down around her when she is suspended from working as a midwife due to the complaint Carrie has made against her. I mean, this is quite frankly, unacceptable. Doug shows his true colours by blaming Ruhma entirely for the kiss. What was Ruhma’s crime, really? Being flattered by a bit of attention? Blurring some friendship boundaries? I totally get Carrie being upset but she is upset with the wrong person. Well, I for one never liked that Doug. And I have felt so sorry for poor Ruhma all week, especially during the scenes where she went to Heston’s grave and poured out her heart and soul to him. At the risk of sounding a hundred years old – what a lovely boy that Shak has turned into. He has been absolutely gorgeous with looking after his Mum (although I had no idea he was best mates with Daniel).
Ruhma struggles with her suspension…
In her absence, the rest of the staff take on Ruhma’s patients which for Emma, doesn’t go too well as she meets an extremely demanding Mum to be, who slates the NHS (seriously, how dare she?) and treats her husband like crap. As it turns out, not only has she secretly found out the baby’s gender (which Emma lets slip to the husband), she has spent so much money (without ever earning any) that he is now crippled with debt. He ends up being rushed to hospital with a near heart attack, having had bailiffs come in and remove their belongings. His wife wanders over to the hospital to see him at her leisure, seems irritated that he hadn’t had a ‘real heart attack’ and informs him that they have been burgled. When she’s more concerned about their financial situation than his health, he ends their marriage. Good! What a cow! Unfortunately, all of this prompts Emma to be rather rude to Ruhma, who quite frankly, doesn’t need it, especially as she is sat at her husband’s grave at the time.
Bear tackles some racist hand soap dispensers (if only they had known Covid-19 was on its way, the probably would have smashed them open and saved the soap rather than just chucking them away, the little wastrels!)
Some vile teenagers destroy a mirror ball intended as an elderly man’s late wife’s memorial. Then in quite a sweet moment at the end, one of them (who is clearly being reluctantly dragged along by the rest of them), feels very guilty and gives him her disco ball by way of apology to try and make up for it.
Speaking of kids, Zara gets a lesson in how the less wealthy live when a young lad comes in with stomach pains and she discovers that actually, he’s just hungry (she feeds him). It takes Zara a while to understand Ayesha’s ‘summer holidays’ remark but eventually, she gets it. It’s really not her world. The kid’s parents work all the hours God sends for hardly any money and they are struggling to put food on the table. The mother is very resistant to Zara’s offer of help but the father quietly accepts a referral to the local food bank.
Zara and Daniel are mildly concerned that Joe might have an imaginary friend called Ozzie. Honestly, that Joe gets cuter every time he appears on screen. He rivals that little Amelia in Emmerdale for the adorable factor.
Daniel wonders if Joe has an imaginary friend…
Rob and Karen spend their day off rather irritating each other at home, having not expected to have the same day off together. When Rob storms out, he is surprised to find a confused old lady outside his house. In a rather brilliant little story, he does exactly what you’d expect him to do, which is bring her indoors and try to help her. She can’t remember her address or where she was going and he and Karen busy themselves with being her saviours. When their backs are turned, she taken Karen’s purse and Rob’s car keys and almost makes her getaway! Hilarious! Rob is mortified to have to report to his colleagues that he was nearly robbed by ‘Speedy Sue’! Whoever thought this storyline up was a genius! Love it.
Jimmi returns…
In Monday’s episode, Jimmi returns to The Mill, ready to start seeing patients again, dealing with cranky old women who slags everything off, a panicked man smoking in the toilets and a woman who has reached breaking point trying to work and care for her ailing mother. His colleagues and patients are thrilled to see him back and I for one am thrilled to see he has tidied up his beard.
He and Emma reconnect, as she opens up to him about her attack and they both decide to draw a line under recent events. She visits Ruhma, apologising for having a go at her about her horrible patient and her visit clearly makes a lot of difference to Ruhma’s mental health. She then agrees to participate in an LGBTQ+ focused radio interview Bear has arranged. Meanwhile, Jimmi plucks up the courage to contact the police about his role as an FME.
Emma visits Ruhma…
Next week, despite Doctors ceasing filming due to the Coronavirus, the show does appear to still be airing every weekday on BBC1 at 1:45pm
Bea, Elly and the Kennedys are nervous about the impending arrival of Claudia. Well, you would be, wouldn’t you? Not only was she a right madam last time, she is also responsible for both the nature and lack of nurture when it comes to Finn! I mean, if we’re going to blame anyone (I’m talking to you, Sheila Canning), then let’s take a long hard look at this woman, shall we? You know, and Finn himself. Obvs.
Susan is overwhelmed with guilt…
Well, of course, the first thing she does is apologise and suck up to the family. She quickly gets Susan onside and believing that she only has good intentions (will Susan actually never learn?) and the next thing she does is stick in a couple of bad words in with the police and then secretly call a lawyer to fight Elly for custody of Aster, which is quite frankly all she ever actually wanted in the first place. The lawyer she has chosen is Samantha Fitzgerald, the ex-wife of Dan, who was in a relationship with Libby. She most recently appeared in 2010 when she led the prosecution of Steph Scully after she fatally ran Ringo Brown over with motorbike. She reveals her history with the Kennedys to Claudia and seems more than prepared to play dirty on behalf of her client. All the while, Claudia gleams as much information about Finn and Elly as she can. Oh and apparently, she has donated Finn’s body to the University.
Sheila is broken up with grief…
She ingratiates herself with poor Sheila who is so consumed with grief and rage and she hardly knows what to do with it. She starts the weeks infuriated that the Council won’t put up a memorial for Gary the way they did for Sonya (a huge charity worker and former Mayor), she then causes all sorts of mayhem for Mark when she finds out about the video diaries before laying into David and blaming him for Gary’s death. She has a go at the Kennedys again and makes a formal complaint against David, which thankfully gets thrown out.
So, it’ no wonder that she is the number one suspect on the list when the family return home to find they have been broken into. Things don’t look good when Sheila cannot account for her whereabouts during the evening. She accuses the Kennedys and the police of harassing her in her grief. Despite her mistreatment of him, kind David finds a support group for Sheila and Kyle to attend. And I’m pretty sure that Sky is beginning to suspect that Claudia is up to no good…
Despite warnings from Paul, Hendrix comes to welcome Harlow home from hospital. He is happy just to sit with her while she sits with her headphones one, not talking. She has also passed over the responsibility of organising her mother’s memorial to Roxy, claiming that they got on better. When he realises that she is listening to her mother’s last moments on repeat, Paul attempts to take Harlow’s phone from her but she resists and the message is accidentally deleted. Oops.
Roxy has cooked up a plan to trick Mackenzie’s aunt into believing she will move in with Paul and Terese, which surprisingly, works. She falls for it and agrees to leave Mackenzie in the care of the Robinson/Willis house. I mean, that’s not going to go wrong at all…
Neighbours intends to resume filming within the next few days
There has been no break in schedule in Australia
In the UK, Channel 5 are increasing episodes to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 1:45pm and 6pm
Things have seriously gone south between Alex and Willow at the mention of buying a house and getting a mortgage. Poor Alex. While she was falling in love with the notion of a future together, little did she know it would be such a passion killer! In fact, it’s such a passion killer that she ends up storming home in the middle of the night!
The next morning, Willow is still out of sorts and is frustrated with Alex for turning into a cliché U-Haul Lesbian. And you know what? I’m frustrated with the writers for ending a lovely relationship with a story that doesn’t even make sense. The whole reason that Alex has to leave is because of her temporary contract. Fine. So why is there a sudden burning desire to buy a house right this second? Why not wait until an opportunity arrives where they actually want to live? And why write this incredibly kind and sensitive character in Alex and then turn her into a bit of bulldozer at the end? Why would she fight to buy a house away from where Willow knows and loves when they could rent somewhere until they could buy somewhere a little further down the line somewhere that they could both be happy? And also do it after they have actually lived together first! It just feels like they took such gentle care of these characters, this relationship and this storyline and now they’re rushing it at the end.
The end of #Willex…?
Anyway, they have a big dramatic argument which breaks the hearts of all Willex fans everywhere but then a talk from Ziggy gives Willow some food for thought. Does she love Alex enough to take the risk? She does! Tragically, Alex has already changed her mind. She doesn’t feel she can risk her heart, knowing the doubts that Willow has. She is going to Queensland alone.
Jasmine speaks on behalf of all Willex fans everywhere when she refuses to accept Alex’s decision but while Alex insists that she loves Willow, she doesn’t want her to have to compromise. She knows she isn’t ready for the commitment that Alex wants her to make and sadly, while Alex and Willow both confess their love (for the first time on screen), they end their relationship.
Jasmine continues to beg Willow to try and work things out with Alex, leading to a rather emotional argument. Willow feels there is no hope; she and Alex want different things. Jasmine cannot understand why, if they love each other, they would let that slip through their fingers when she has no choice but to live without Robbo. Well, I’m Team Jasmine, thanks very much!
Justin and co. rush to tell the police of the latest developments regarding Leah but it turns out that aside from poor Colby, Yabbie Creek Police Department have become an absolute farce. No wonder they had to rely on civilians to sort out that hospital siege. They can’t even be bothered to speak to them until the morning. What are they doing? Keeping office hours? Shocking service!
Continuing to prove their ineptitude, the police report back to Justin that they have spoken to Leah who has told them that she is fine and that Justin is just an obsessive ex-boyfriend that she wishes would leave her alone. Refusing to believe it, Justin continues to reach out to Leah himself via her blog. She phones him and tells him to stop contacting her, that she doesn’t love him and he needs to move on. But it’s clear to Justin that she is reading a script and her voice cracks with emotion when she tells him this is the last time they will ever talk.
The truth is that she is being held captive by a psycho called Douglas who holds her (and her blog) responsible for his abused wife having the courage to leave him. She has been living a life of fear and servitude under the rule of her captor. Douglas decides that the time has come for him to make Leah his wife and he dresses her up in his ex-wife’s wedding dress and makes her put on the exact makeup. I mean, that’s not creepy at all…
Leah has been kept captive and psychologically abused by Douglas…
Utterly convinced that the useless police are wrong and Leah is in big trouble, Justin pleads with good old Colby for help. He breaks the rules to chase down a lead and then let slip a possible location to Justin who arrives at the scene just at the moment Leah makes a bid for freedom. What a coincidence! He rushes her straight to the hospital where she is physically unharmed but almost catatonic.
Justin rescues Leah…
Justin, Irene and Tori bring Leah home where she remains in shock, frightened of putting a foot wrong, mostly silent, completely subservient to Justin who is really gentle and kind with her. I find him a little irritating a lot of time but in these episodes with Leah, he has been absolutely lovely.
Meanwhile, Colby and his colleagues go to Douglas’s house, thinking it’s empty, only for him to pounce and stab Colby in the leg. He’s rushed to the hospital where he needs emergency surgery but Alex has to cut him open before he even gets there. It’s pretty grim, actually! While Dean, Bella and Mac rush to his side, Willow has turned her phone off, not wanting to talk to anyone about her breakup. Eventually, Irene takes a frantic call from Bella, looking for Willow, who she finds and gives a serve about being so self-indulgent and sends down to the hospital.
While Alex and the surgical team have succeeded in saving Colby’s life, it was touch and go for a moment. Willow and Alex struggle between not looking at each other and trying not to look at each other. While Dean and Willow take Bella home, Mac remains by Colby’s side all night in tears. I do hope they might eventually make things work between them. They clearly still love each other. Of course, by the next morning, Bella has thrown her usual strop, demanding to get back to the hospital. Gosh, she’s a brat!
Due to the Coronavirus, Home and Away has had to suspend filming
Home and Away will now air on Channel 5 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 1.15
There is a sneak peek episode on 5Star at 6:30pm on the same days
The Soap Dish 