Hollyoaks: Standing in the Dark

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

It’s been a busy couple of weeks in Hollyoaks, including a special one hour episode on Monday 13^th, 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!

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!

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

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

Doctors: Heartbreak Hotel

(Monday 6^th – Friday 10^th April 2020)

I was desperately looking forward to last week’s Doctors and it didn’t disappoint as it aired the fallout from the brutal homophobic attack on Emma and Jasmine. One sad thing to note is that rather than bonding them, it has confirmed the end of their relationship, which is a real shame as they made a really good pairing. But it was all still so new to be facing something so difficult.

Jasmine started the week in a foul mood, having had no choice but to make a witness statement and report to Occupational Health once Emma had reported the attack. She did eventually attempt to make amends with Emma only to find it’s too late. Emma has had a lot of time to think, as well as talk to Victim Support (actually a non-speaking extra who doesn’t even have a face so could probably be a member of the crew!) and has decided that they want different things and their relationship is over. But regardless, if their relationship brought us anything, it brought this incredible, powerful, amazingly, written, directed and acted story and I am so impressed, Doctors. This is one to remember for Soap Award Season. Brilliantly done.

One relationship that is going strong, however, is Emma and Zara. Oh, I love Emma and Zara. Who would have thought that in that muddy field, in the middle of nowhere, that friendship would have been forged for life? Well, whoever saw the potential connection between them is a genius. Bravo.

When Emma failed to show up to work, Zara headed right round there, having not heard from her friend all weekend and she was stunned to see the state of her and hear the story of what she has been through. This lead to a fabulous episode on Friday (10^th) where Zara pitched up on Emma’s doorstep with food, drink and Bridget Jones. She even changed into some pyjamas in a bid to cheer up her friend, who did not want to be cheered up.

Meanwhile, Daniel had his own problems when Izzie and Valerie coerced him into their eco-warrior plan to cut down the netting on some trees in a car park, which has been put up to shut out the birds (thereby putting their lives at risk) to stop them crapping on the cars. Of course, it all ended in disaster and Daniel got arrested for criminal damage. Well, I fully support them! Don’t park your car there if you’re scared of a bit of poo! Honestly! These people need to go to the seaside and then try to protect their cars…

Ruhma continued to try and support Carrie, who is pregnant and immobile with a husband who doesn’t love her or want to spend any time with her. Little does poor Carrie know, he is also giving Ruhma the eye. I mean, who the hell is this guy? Why does he think he can try and move in on our Ruhma? Does he actually think he is a patch on Heston? I’m not saying that Ruhma can’t move on but when she does, I’d like to think she’d choose someone with a bit more kindness and personality, not someone who’d go and play golf and flirt with another woman while his pregnant wife was suffering and lonely.

The sad thing is that Carrie feels she has found a friend in Ruhma and this would otherwise have been a really nice story. Ruhma reluctantly went for dinner with her and Doug in Carrie’s bedroom but when Carrie fell asleep, Doug and Ruhma headed downstairs where Ruhma attempted to make her exit. Then Doug kissed her. And Carrie witnessed it from the upstairs landing. No!

Bear overheard Ayesha dismissing the idea of there being any feelings between them. So this story is going to be dragged out for a while then…

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

Coronation Street: Trust

(Monday 6^th – Wednesday 15^th April 2020)

Many apologies for the delay in updating this blog. Easter and everything. Well, the whole world is in chaos right now, isn’t it? Anyway…

Last week was a huge week for Yasmeen as she took a huge step in the right direction toward exiting her abusive relationship. While this storyline is genuinely excruciating to watch, it has me utterly gripped. I love the little details and how honest it is. Yasmeen finally musters all her strength to say no to Geoff and while not ending the relationship, decides to go to Spain for a break and to be with her family. Within hours, she is back with him, having endured countless texts ranging from begging, pleading, abuse and finally threats of suicide.

While Alya cannot understand while her Gran just can’t switch off and let him go, Yasmeen is still tied to the man who has been brainwashing her for so many months, subtly controlling everything she thinks and everything she does. So, she stays. And just as Alya warns her, Geoff waltzes back in as if nothing ever happened.

Thankfully, this prompts Yasmeen into finally contacting ‘Clare’, the police contact that her granddaughter put into her phone weeks before and she is able to learn more of her partner’s past. While the previously mentioned affray led nowhere, his partner at the time had previously made a complaint of harassment against him. Yasmeen turns down the offer of being taken to safety but she does go home and secretly pack a bag. I just hope that Geoff doesn’t find it, either physically or on that awful security camera of his. He has definitely found the domestic abuse leaflet.

This storyline is uncomfortable in every way that it is supposed to be uncomfortable. The actors and the writing are all superb. Every episode, I am rooting for Yasmeen to free herself. And I truly hope that that’s how it will be in the end, that she will free herself. I know that she has Alya and that there are others on the Street such as Ryan, Cathy and Eileen who are kind of looking out for her to differing degrees but I truly want it to come from Yasmeen in the end. I want her to be her own hero.

Another story that Corrie have done very well, I think, is Gemma’s postnatal depression, which came to a head this week when she left the quads on the bus on purpose, unable to cope any longer. Having shut Bernie out and felt too ashamed to talk to Chesney, we were witness to a tender moment between Gemma to Rita, as the younger woman finally admitted how she was truly feeling. It was a nice reminder of the depth of love between these two women. Rita was so gentle with her as she just sat and listened, took her for some food and then returned her to Chesney so he could take her to the Doctor and get some actual help. Gemma is such a great character to do this story with. She is so loud and bouncy and well, irritating. To see her so vulnerable is really sad. You can’t help but root for her.

My only criticism is that after the emotion of Gemma laying her soul bare to Doctor Gaddas and Chesney, it seemed a real shame to rush the treatment. Surely anyone at home going through a similar situation would care about the conclusion. Instead, Steve bursts in and interrupts them and we find out later that she got ‘a prescription’ and a referral for therapy. It just felt like suddenly they decided they’d spent too much time on this story and they needed to move on. Next!

So, why did Steve interrupt Gemma’s appointment? Well, it all began with Emma having a really bad week… First, she broke up with Seb because she quite rightly twigged that he was still in love with Alina, although he continued to deny it. Then she was left to dog sit, only for Eccles to be rushed to the vet with a tumour on her spleen and have to be put down. Tracy was a complete bitch and blamed Emma for the dog’s death (because the dog sitter is of course responsible for an undiagnosed tumour on a one hundred year old dog) and Ken couldn’t have been more passive aggressive if he’d tried. So Emma moved back into the flat with Seb and tried and failed to get him to move out. Steve left Oliver with Summer to break up the argument and when he arrived home, Oliver had just started having some kind of fit so he rushed him down to the medical centre for help, bursting in on Gemma’s appointment. The kid is fine. He overheated or something. But now things are very tense between Steve and Leanne. Oops.

Leanne blames Steve for Oliver’s condition…

And now it’s time for the teenagers to come into play. I actually can’t believe these kids are old enough for this kind of storyline. How old does this make me?!

Amy decides to throw a party, which immediately gets out of hand, largely due to this annoying friend of her and Asha, some girl called Kelly (that thug Rick’s daughter, I think). The crux of it is that Asha has done something extremely stupid and extremely dangerous, which she confesses to Amy before the party – the night before, during a video chat with Corey, she took her top off. Why do these kids do these silly things? Well, I just hope this storyline serves its purpose and raises awareness because you don’t have to have a crystal ball to work out where this one is going to go… While Aadi (played by newcomer Adam Hussein) gets off his face on vodka, stolen from the shop, Kelly gets pissed off for being blamed for breaking a lamp. So, she takes Corey’s phone and passes round the topless picture of Asha. Because of course Corey kept evidence of the chat. Of course he did! Poor Asha. This boy is the one who has done the wrong thing – and Kelly too for passing the picture round. But it’s going to be Asha that suffers. The only thing she did wrong was trust the wrong person.

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

Hollyoaks Favourites: #KillerCameron

(Wednesday 8th April 2020)

On Wednesday, Keiron Richardson introduced the first of the week’s Hollyoaks Favourites. The first episode focusses on the big reveal of Killer Cameron’s rampage through the village. It begins with Cameron, Leela, Tegan, Peri and Courtney all playing happy families in a cabin in the woods, which is just never going to end well. Have none of these people ever seen a horror film before?

Back in the Village, Cleo is missing her sister, Celine, who has disappeared. Cameron has told everyone that she has gone away to a retreat but actually, he killed her. Down at the lake where they are staying, Tegan and Courtney are horrified to find Celine’s body in the lake and quickly connect the dots. I mean, it’s careless really. Why would he bring his family to the place where he buried the bodies? That is bound to go wrong! Anyway, Tegan works out that Cameron is the one who deflected the search for Celine and he also gave Leela a ring that belonged to her. However, Cameron soon rushes down to the lake to silence them. Despite Courtney’s heartfelt attempt to reason with him, which she bravely persists with regardless of him admitting that he killed Lockie (has Ziggy already died at this point?), he locks them in a shed and rushes back to the cabin to deal with Leela and Peri.

Cameron attacks Tegan and Courtney…
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

Meanwhile, Warren has taken Ste under his wing. Having worked out that Cameron is a bad guy, Ste has tried to make his family see sense, only to be rejected. He was attacked by Cameron at the cabin the night before. Ryan, who obviously still had some good in him at this point, locates Ste and informs him that Courtney made a 999 call and hung up. Together, they rush to the cabin, as any normal police officer would of course bring a member of the public to a potential, dangerous crime scene.

This is back in the day when Lisa was having an affair with Mac, her boyfriend, Nathan’s father. While Nathan frets about his girlfriend’s whereabouts and leaves loving messages for her on her voicemail, Lisa and Mac are at it in a campervan. When she hears Nathan’s messages, Lisa ends things with Mac and insists they go home. Mac is not a happy bunny. He is not used to being told no. They drive home, despite the fact that Mac has been drinking.

Inside the cabin, Cameron claims to have dealt with Tegan and Courtney and informs Leela and Peri that this is the end now. He admits to killing Leela’s parents as well as Nico. He then covers the cabin in accelerant and is set to burn them all alive before they make their escape with the help of the timely arrival of Ste and Ryan. Cue: terrified running through the woods followed by a frantic, enraged chase from Cameron who promptly gets hit by Mac and Lisa’s van, which just happens to be trundling along the road. Lisa rushes out and obviously wants to call an ambulance but Mac refuses and they drive off, knowing they can’t be caught together.

The others arrive, including Tegan and Courtney, who have been rescued by Ryan (if only Tegan could see the future, she wouldn’t be so grateful to Ryan right now…) While they wait for an ambulance, Leela stands over Cameron and warns him that he will be locked up for a long time. He tells her that he won’t be the only one. Elsewhere, Zack Loveday is locked up in a van, crying out for help.

I cannot for the life of me remember what poor Zack had to do with any of this but my overwhelming sense from this episode is that it’s rather alarming to realise how many characters from it are now dead: Tegan, Mac, Nathan, Ryan, Amy and Ziggy. (Celine, Lockie, Nico (who actually turns out to be an unknown female), Danny and Sam have already been killed – all by Cameron).

Due to the Coronavirus, Hollyoaks has had to suspend filming

Hollyoaks Favourites airs Wednesdays – Fridays 7pm on E4 to fill to gap

Normal Hollyoaks episodes will air on Mondays and Tuesdays at 6:30pm on Channel 4 with a sneak peek on E4 at 7pm

Hollyoaks Favourites: When Mercedes Married Browning

(Thursday 2^nd & Friday 3^rd April 2020)

As a tonic to our loss of Hollyoaks, fans are being treated to classic episodes of Hollyoaks, as chosen by cast members. What a fabulous idea! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if other shows followed suit? Coronation Street and Emmerdale are offering a steady flow of episodes, three times a week and Doctors so far hasn’t reduced its output. But with only two episodes of Eastenders and both of them at the beginning of the week and Home and Away and Neighbours only airing on Mondays and Fridays, classic episodes in between would be fantastic. So, thank you Hollyoaks for your thoughtfulness and generosity.

Thursday and Friday’s offerings focussed on the infamous wedding of Mercedes McQueen (then Fisher – RIP Malachy, you were definitely one of the good ones) and Doctor Browning, as chosen by Jorgie Porter (Theresa McQueen), back in 2013. This is Mercedes’ fourth wedding of seven (so far!)

The first episode begins with Theresa finishing off the preparations at the venue while Mercedes leisurely gets ready for the wedding with John Paul and Nanna. However, Myra has got hold of a compromising photo of Browning and Lindsey and doesn’t know what to do about it. John Paul advises caution. He offers to walk Mercedes down the aisle. Rather than cause problems for Mercy, Myra speaks to Browning who denies everything and blames it all on Lindsey. Just as an aside, I had forgotten about his weird, annoying friend, Jim.

Meanwhile, Joe has got hold of a text between Lindsey and Browning and the truth comes tumbling out – Browning forced himself on her and that’s what has been evidenced in the photo. This is obviously still when she was a nice, kindly Doctor whose only crime was to be a bit whingy. Joe then bursts into the McQueen house, demanding answers over Browning forcing himself on Lindsey. Mercedes defends him and then charges out of the house, determined to get answers of her own.

Mercedes charges past Maxine (they are obviously not friends) and launches into a scrap with Lindsey, who is quick to fight back, insisting that she did nothing wrong and Browning didn’t take no for an answer. Browning and Joe soon get involved. Freddie informs Browning that he has one hour to pay up or he won’t stop Lindsey from going to the police. Browning forces Jim to help him. He then returns to Mercedes, who is a mess of tears and smudged makeup and attempts to explain himself. Not realising that Myra has got herself shut in the cupboard in the bedroom and is listening to their conversation, Browning accidentally reveals their secret, that he killed Lyndsey Nolan. Oh, I remember that! That was one of the most shocking soap deaths ever, the moment that Hollyoaks proved it is capable of anything. Usually, you know a character is going to die because you know a cast member is leaving or has left but Lyndsey’s death came from nowhere!

Anyway, Browning pretty much gives Mercedes no choice in marrying him and literally carries her to the car. The family follow, minus Myra who has been accidentally locked in the cupboard (she was searching for the engagement ring that Mercedes threw away – well, it would have been a terrible waste of money!) Now, Myra is desperately worried about her daughter marrying a murderer. Well, you would be, wouldn’t you?

Mercedes and Doctor Browning get married…

Browning literally carries Mercedes down the aisle. They argue at the altar but do get married. Everyone is amused that Doctor Paul Browning’s first name is actually Shirley.

After the wedding, Mercedes returns home and discovers her mother stuck in the cupboard. Myra is heartbroken to realise that despite knowing that Browning is a murderer, Mercedes still married him. She attempts to give her daughter an ultimatum – leave him or she will report him to the police. But it’s no good. Mercedes is desperately in love with Browning (and we all know how that ends!) and informs her mother that she has no evidence and faced with a choice, she will always choose her husband. Not wanting to lose her daughter, Myra tearfully attends the reception and pretends that everything is okay.

At the reception, Browning receives a ‘gift’ and a note warning him that someone knows what he did. I’m afraid I can’t remember who it is from! But he assumes it is Freddie, who denies it. And he is too busy getting his job back at the garage, complete with his £10,000 and making Joe and Lindsey make up (I assume all of this is before the big affair and she turned into one of the biggest serial killers Hollyoaks has ever seen!)

Meanwhile, let’s all take a moment to coo over just how tiny Tom is. I mean, he is just adorable! So cute! Back in 2013, we were amid the Psycho Sienna storyline (there were a lot of these in Hollyoaks back then), where she had torn Darren and Nancy apart and firmly placed herself in the role of ‘mother’ and ‘wife’ and she was not happy that Esther and Tom were not buying it. Tom has walked in on Sienna breastfeeding Oscar and feels completely unsettled by it (obviously). Sienna then manipulates the situation by telling Darren that Tom has a crush on her, fabricating video evidence of Tom spying on her in the bathroom. The boys then end up talking at cross purposes about the breastfeeding/crush, making Tom think Darren is telling him that Sienna’s behaviour is normal. It’s not! Oscar is also on the verge of getting his cochlear implant and Sienna is poised to insert herself as his ‘Mummy’.

Meanwhile, Esther had her own problems as she faced the prospect of girlfriend, Tilly moving away. And I disappointed myself as I spent the entire episode trying to remember Esther’s name. She was a character I absolutely adored! Oh, we soapies can be fickle sometimes…

We appear to be at the beginning of the incredible story of domestic abuse/coercive control that Hollyoaks portrayed between Patrick and Maxine. Right now, Maxine seems very happy while Patrick is frustrated with her lack of focus. He gets her a job photocopying/shredding at the school, which she immediately rebels against. Poor Maxine started out as such a free spirited, fun loving character. At this point in her life, she had no idea what was to come. She gets a job at the café with George (who I adored and had completely forgotten about) and was so bolshy and annoying that he ended up quitting. Patrick spends the whole day watching her and disapproving. Sadly, it won’t be long before he will stamp that spark out of her, which will have ramifications to this very day.

Also worth noting that Patrick and Sienna are not on good terms. The way he speaks to her is really unsettling.

Due to the Coronavirus, Hollyoaks has had to suspend filming

Hollyoaks Favourites airs Wednesdays – Fridays 7pm on E4 to fill to gap

Normal Hollyoaks episodes will air on 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

Hollyoaks: Dodgy Dealings

(Monday 6^th & Tuesday 7^th April 2020)

Sid is left disappointed when he discovers that Juliet has invited Imran and Ollie to their romantic, seaside getaway. They end up in an argument about their sex life and break up. While Sid turns to Jordan for support, wanting to step up in Juliet’s place for the deals he had set up during the trip, Juliet turns to Peri for advice. She is surprised (and interested) to learn that Peri is bisexual. She tells Peri that she can do better than Jordan. Peri agrees and only sees Jordan as a short-term love interest.

Is this the beginning of a romance between Peri and Juliet…?
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

Jordan sends Sid out to do a drug deal to prove that he will be capable of completing all the jobs he has set up for the trip he was supposed to take with Juliet. The deal goes wrong and Sid ends up handing the drugs over for no cash and ends up in trouble with Jordan. Jordan then asks Juliet to get back with Sid, if only for show, reminding her what happened to Romeo last time she backed out on him. Juliet steps up, offering to go along with Sid as a friend. And of course, as it turns out, Jordan intended the deal to go wrong in the first place; he wants to keep Juliet firmly under his control.

Jordan is firmly in control of Sid and Juliet
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

Excited about their trip, Imran grows the tiniest little moustache in the world. It is so cute. Then in some of the most excruciating scenes ever, Ollie notices Imran’s sudden crush on Cindy (it’s as if they’ve never met before) and pays her to flirt like crazy with him to the point he completely panics. It’s the epitome of cringe.

Liberty decides to move out of the flat but Sienna is desperate for her to stay. Things are awkward between Liberty and Brody. He is in love with Sienna and wants to be with her but the last few weeks with Liberty still happened. Eventually, Liberty agrees to stay and make things work with Sienna and Brody and their baby.

Warren is furious to overhear Felix blackmailing Walter into persuading Mitchell to see him again. Grace interrupts an argument between Warren and Felix and at first, makes it clear that she is not a woman to be messed with. He then charms her into bed. I know she killed her brother last week but I’m starting to think Grace has lost her edge…! She claims that her spontaneous sex with Felix was unexpected but it was obviously going to happen from their first scene together! Unexpected? I don’t think so.

Scott overhears Felix and Walter’s secret…
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

Walter and Mitchell do go for a drink with Felix. Later, Scott overhears Walter and Felix arguing over the fact that Felix sold Toby and Celeste to the Doctor for money when they were born and Walter knew about it. Scott confronts Walter about his deception and warns him that if he doesn’t tell Mitchell the truth, he will. When they all meet up at the pub, Felix persuades Scott to keep quiet. For now. I’m telling you now, Scott, you are making a terrible mistake! Keeping this secret will make you just as bad as them when Mitchell does eventually find out…

Darren offers to help Kyle plan his wedding to Nancy, who just won’t stop criticising him. Mandy seems completely oblivious to her partner’s depression and his genuine lack of reaction to DJ’s steps. Nancy contacts Kyle’s Mum.

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