Eastenders: The Party

(Monday 13^th – Tuesday 21^st April 2020)

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.

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?

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

Doctors: Speedy Sue!

(Tuesday 14^th – Tuesday 21st April 2020)

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).

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.

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.

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

Neighbours: The Pain of Grief

(Monday 13^th & Monday 20^th April 2020)

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.

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.

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

Home and Away: Leah’s Return

(Monday 13^th – Wednesday 22nd April 2020)

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.

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, 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

These reviews are based on the Channel 5 episodes