During our two visits to The Square this week, Phil wakes up in a police cell and is all set to declare responsibility for causing Denny’s death. However, being that he caused it fighting with Keanu, the police are set to charge him with attempted murder – twice, as they have a statement from Sharon regarding the attack at Christmas. Ritchie is unable to get through to Phil, who throws her out of the interview room. It’s only when Ben persuades Sharon to withdraw her statement, the police have no choice but to let him go. How frustrating for them! They finally have Phil Mitchell (willingly) in their grasp and they have to let him go!
Phil and Sharon reunite…
Phil and Sharon reunite a lot more easily than this huge Sheanu/baby/boat crash/Denny storyline would suggest and she breaks the news that Ben has lost his hearing. Ben is resistant to talking to his father about it but Phil is genuinely lovely. He is sad for his son and he struggles to communicate with him (well, he is a mumbler at the best of times) but eventually, he just writes down: I’m proud of you. That’s all he needs to do. It’s all Ben’s ever wanted him to say.
Vinny attempts to score a DJ job at the club, which I’ve only recently realised has been renamed Ruby’s. Where was I? Having sent Kheerat and his mother away, he arranges a house party in a bid to prove himself. Well, that’s not going to go wrong, is it?
Dotty confides in Vinny…
Dotty confides in Vinny about the situation with Ian, who has taken the phone from The Arches, deleted the voicemail, smashed the phone and binned it (although Sharon has since found the phone in the bin and fished it out). Dotty takes Vinny’s advice and decides to stick close to the family, staying in Ian’s face and reminding him of his guilt as he plays the dutiful friend to Sharon, something made easier by Bobby’s obvious crush on her. Ian confronts Dotty over her inviting herself for dinner, reminding her that she no longer has any evidence. She tells him that it’s not about The Arches anymore; it’s about his own guilt and his own behaviour – Sharon might not be ready to hear the truth yet but one day, she will be. There’s a very sweet moment when Dotty enables Sharon to actually speak about her son, which she is very grateful for. You know, I’m actually starting to warm to Dotty…
Mick and Linda fail to keep their plan to sell The Vic under wraps, meaning that Shirley and Tina hear it from the locals instead. Thankfully, they are supportive, just wanting Linda to be well.
Mitch makes a play for Karen as she prepares to leave The Square. She is horrified and they agree to forget it ever happened. Billy is also feeling worried about Karen’s departure and how they are going to find time to see each other.
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
Yashvi is thrilled when Sky invites her to shadow her at work. She takes her to a walkthrough of the crime scene where Finn died, alongside Mark. At the crime scene, Yashvi lets slip that thirteen years ago, Sky was in a not dissimilar situation to Elly. Mark pounces, convinced that Sky is letting her past cloud her judgement. Sky insists that she is determined not to let her past cloud her judgement. Just because she was framed doesn’t mean that every woman in a similar situation is innocent.
Elly was found burying Finn’s body… (photo credit: Digital Spy)
Everyone is still feeling the effects of Finn, The Island and Gary’s death. Chloe feels guilty for bringing everyone to The Island in the first place and David has pretty much stopped being able to function, having missed the signs that Finn’s memory had returned. To be fair to him, how many sessions were he and Finn even having? Wasn’t he off sick during all of this being that he nearly died of kidney failure a couple of months ago? What exactly was he meant to notice apart from unofficial conversations in the Street?
Aaron tries to encourage his husband up by going through old thank you letters from the hospital. Unfortunately, they quickly happen upon a card from Finn, which puts the exercise to an abrupt end. Inspired by a conversation with Yashvi, Mark breaks protocol and brings over the transcripts of Finn video diaries for David and Aaron to read to help David truly understand where Finn’s head was at and how hard he worked to keep everything a secret. There was no way that David could have guessed that his memory had returned or what he was planning.
Later, Mark catches Chloe sneaking a peek at the videos on his computer. Little does he realise that she has also copied the files and fully intends to share them with Elly, hoping that if the diaries helped ease David’s guilt, they might ease Elly’s also.
Dipi struggles with her grief for Gary and doesn’t appreciate Shane’s attempts to cheer her up. She wants to be sad. She, Pierce and Paul step up and support Kyle as he faces opening up the 82 without Gary. I really love the way Paul has come forward to care for the Canning family. He can be such a kind character when the moment calls for it. His gentleness with Sheila and Kyle is so lovely.
Mackenzie is under pressure from her aunt to ‘ask’ as she ‘needs to know soon’ but nobody seems to have time for her…
Due to the Coronavirus, Neighbours did temporarily suspend filming
It doesn’t look like there will be a break in schedule in Australia but in the UK, Channel 5 will now only air episodes on Mondays and Fridays, 1:45pm and 6pm
Colby lays down some ground rules for Dean moving in with him and Bella. He forgets to mention not to spontaneously ask his girlfriend to move in too! Ziggy is thrown by the question and turns him down. She likes the gentle pace of their relationship, having rushed so quickly with Brody, only for everything to go wrong. She and Dean agree therefore agree not to move in together and continue being happy and in love. Hooray.
Ziggy is pleased to report that she is definitely not moving in with Dean! (photo credit: Digital Spy)
Bella mentions that her counsellor wants to discuss her ‘missing’ father. Colby tells her that she should discuss anything necessary that will help her heal. During a home education session, Roo calls Bella out on always telling people what they want to hear, suggesting that this is what she probably does during her counselling sessions too. Bella agrees to give the sessions a proper chance. I really hope this storyline doesn’t drag out too long. Bella is intensely irritating.
Irene, Jasmine, Willow and Alex all have dinner together, chatting about Willow and Alex’s big move. Jasmine hardly touches her food, still broken over the loss of Robbo. When the happy couple have gone off to bed, Jasmine admits to Irene that although she is happy for Willow and Alex, she feels she will never be able to move on with her life herself. Later, Alex overhears them talking about how much they are going to miss Willow when she moves away.
The four of them have lunch again together the next day. Irene washes her hands first (I hope it was for twenty seconds and to the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’). As they sit down to eat, Robbo’s will arrives, informing Jasmine that he has left her the gym. Jasmine is emotional as she goes to the gym with the girls, full of reminders of her husband, which she finds more upsetting than comforting. Alex supports Jasmine who struggles to plan for the future. She would have let Willow go ahead and run the place but now she is moving away to start a new life with her girlfriend. Alex is unsettled as Jasmine jokingly tells her that if she wasn’t so lovely, she’d hate her for taking her bestie away. There is no way that Willex are getting their happy ending… I am so sad.
Due to the Coronavirus, Home and Away has had to suspend filming
Home and Away will now air on Channel 5 on Mondays and Fridays at 1.15 only
Imran informs David that he and Shona haven’t been married long enough to get divorced. Eileen informs Gail of David’s shenanigans with Alina and asks her to keep him away from her. Unfortunately, David is unimpressed with his mother’s advice and storms out, right into a confrontation with a gang who pull out a knife on him. He manages to get away and ends up back at home with a Chinese, in a thoroughly good mood. It’s worrying. Very worrying. He apologises to Alina for his behaviour.
David is confronted by thugs… (photo credit Digital Spy)
Seb begs Emma to believe that she is the one he wants but she is adamant that it’s over and she wants him to move out, especially when she spots the pair of them arguing and it feels crystal clear to her that he still has feelings for his ex. When Seb refuses to leave, Emma decides to go and stay with Steve.
I have literally just realised every time we hear a ‘ding dong’ noise during scenes at Gemma and Chesney scenes, it’s her message tone. That’s why she knows who it is without answering the door. Please forgive me. I am not feeling very well. This time, it’s the hospital to say that Aled’s hearing aids are ready. Cathy ends up helping out with housework, sceptical of how much Bernie is helping. Gemma desperately tries to keep her post-natal depression under wraps. She and Gemma go to the hospital for their appointment with Aled to get his hearing aids. Chesney is thrilled to see his little boy being able to hear and respond to sound for the first time. Gemma is just anxious. She pushes her mother away again.
Ken realises that he is being overcharged for the cleaning at Stillwaters. Is he about to overthrow the leadership?!
Geoff is keen to put doubts in Yasmeen’s mind about the trip to Spain, wanting to put as much distance between her and her grandchildren as possible, aware that Alya is getting too close to the truth. He takes things one step further by faking heart trouble but panics when Yasmeen immediately calls an ambulance. Obviously. Because he is LYING! The paramedics arrive and confirm that he hasn’t had a heart attack but when Yasmeen mentions his heart condition, they recommend he go to hospital, which he refuses. Then he charms them by offering them a shout out on hospital radio.
While Tim and Sally are suitably worried, Ryan and Alya are sceptical, especially as it immediately means Yasmeen has decided Geoff can’t travel and she can’t leave him. Alya points out that he hasn’t even seen a Doctor. She says that Zeedan (who didn’t initially even bother to invite either of them to the wedding) will be devastated.
Things get tense between Geoff and Alya… (photo credit: Digital Spy)
Alya discovers that there is actually only one five star hotel in the area that Geoff could have booked. She also discovers that the hotel has no record of him making a reservation or of cancelling it. With her new information, she visits Geoff and challenges him about his lies, accusing him of faking his health scare in a bid to get the trip cancelled. When she tackles him about his police record, mentioning Clare’s Law, he turns nasty. Alya looks genuinely frightened. Yasmeen walks in on Geoff threatening her and says the best words she has said in a long time.
“Geoff! Get away from my granddaughter!”
Finally, we can see that fire, that strength in Yasmeen that we have known was there all along. She may not feel able to protect herself but when Alya was in danger, she stepped up without any hesitation. That fight is still in her. It just needs bringing out.
Unfortunately, Yasmeen decides to ask Alya to leave amid all her new information about Geoff and for now at least, decides to stay with him. Having seen his level of aggression, Alya is more reluctant than ever to leave her Gran alone with Geoff but agrees to go home.
Alone, Yasmeen carefully questions Geoff’s health condition. It does not go well. He loses his temper, blaming her for causing his heart condition in the first place, suggesting they barge into the GP’s office and demand answers if she doesn’t believe him. He suggests they end their relationship. All things that she knows she will back down from.
Later, Geoff books another date with ‘Rachel’ before heading up to have a bath. Yasmeen tries and fails to gain access to his laptop but cannot guess his password. This storyline truly is awful but it’s so clever too. Throughout the episode, not just the ‘big’ scenes, there are constant digs from Geoff to Yasmeen, constant moments of control. They’re subtle but important. Constant criticism and bullying tactics, helping us to understand just how Yasmeen has become so trapped.
On April Fool’s Day, Tim and Geoff play a trick on Yasmeen and Sally, pretending that Tim has chopped his thumb off, washing up. Yasmeen cleverly suggests that Tim and Sally show them their new wedding venue on Geoff’s laptop and is then able to watch him type in the password. As soon as she gets a moment alone, Yasmeen logs into Geoff’s laptop. She discovers that her husband has been using an escort. He catches her in the act and although she challenges him about it, he still manages to turn it all around on her and she ends up apologising for snooping. I really thought this was going to be her moment. He changes his password.
Yasmeen begins to discover Geoff’s lies… (photo credit: Digital Spy)
Yasmeen also mentions that she couldn’t find evidence of him booking the hotel, which is why she looked on the laptop in the first place; she was trying to prove Alya wrong. With no options left and convinced he will always have the upper hand anyway, Geoff admits that he lied and there was no booking. He insists that the lie was out of love and wanting to make a grand gesture that he couldn’t follow through but she has easily worked out that everything, including his ‘heart attack’ was a lie. He is mortified when she decides to go to Spain without him. Go Yasmeen! He tries to emotionally blackmail her and then fights to keep her from packing her things. When she insists on leaving, he slams the door, insisting that she is not going anywhere…
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
Rhona buys into the farm… (photo credit: Digital Spy)
Rhona and Moira bond over a vet visit to the farm. Unfortunately, it looks like Moira will soon have to hand over the farm to Kim as she can no longer afford to keep it on and Cain refuses to help. However, when it transpires that Graham has left all his money to Rhona (and it appears to be rather a lot!), Rhona decides to step in and go into business with Moira. That way, she can save the farm, save her from having to sell to Kim and rub Kim’s nose in it all at the same time. They very smugly inform Kim of their plans.
Brenda panics to Eric about Dan. He encourages her to get rid of any incriminating packaging that could link her to poisoning him. He then visits Dan himself to talk him down over his anger towards Brenda. Dan points out that this is the second time she has poisoned him in recent weeks. Furious that Brenda is now denying responsibility, Mandy goes rooting through the rubbish and finds the incriminating evidence. Rodney just about persuades her to keep to café open, only for Amelia to turn up and publicly lay into her, damning her to hell, which coming from a committed Christian really stings!
Mandy searches for evidence… (photo credit: Digital Spy)
Charity goes hand gel crazy in preparation for Vanessa returning home. I wonder where on earth she was able to buy that luxury item from! She rejects Rhona’s flowers for fear of contamination. Tracy is clumsy when talking to Rhona about Pierce. Charity is ready to make a fuss of her fiancée as soon as she returns home from hospital.
Harriet takes Cain aside, worried that he is working Will too hard. Cain confronts Will for still working for DI Malone. When Will confesses to getting rid of a van, having first welded drugs into it, Cain takes his wage for it. He orders Will to pick a side and advises him to chooses his. While Harriet cannot make head nor tail of the conflicting stories she is being told by Will and Cain, the former of whom is moody and pushing her away. Will is torn between pressure from Cain and the power DI Malone has over him, leading Billy to find him having a panic attack in the garage. Feeling pity for him, Billy tells Will that he doesn’t have to work for Malone anymore; he and Cain kept the car they were meant to get rid of as insurance against him. However, he stupidly gives away the location of the car and sure enough, when he and Cain go to the farm, the car is gone. Unfortunately, this plot has not vanished with it. And now, with only three episodes a week, it’s going to drag on forever.
Al and Priya grow closer… (photo credit: Digital Spy)
Priya and Jai are enjoying working together, although not quite as much as Priya and Al are enjoying working together, as the pair of them begin hooking up (and are nearly caught out by Jai). I mean, come on! Surely Priya has better taste than Al? He has about as much personality as wallpaper paste!
Due to the Coronavirus, Emmerdale have had to suspend filming
Emmerdale will now air on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV1 at 7pm
In the only soap still running its normal schedule, we had a very mixed bag of episodes this week (and Friday last week). We had some random little episodes, including Al playing an April Fool’s joke on that irritating Barry, making him and his very anxious colleague that the water supply is poisoned. Jasmine works extremely hard to get to the bottom of an arson case involving a vulnerable young woman (played by Ronnie’s long lost daughter in Eastenders) and her sister’s boyfriend.
Meanwhile, Julia supports Jimmi as he struggles to adjust to life on the outside, his OCD kicking seriously kicking in. She whisks him away to France, much to the annoyance of Al, for a break after all the trauma he has been through. Presumably, Adrian Lewis Morgan needed a bit of a rest from such a rough storyline!
Valerie struggles to complete her work ahead of the AGM, staying at work until late at night to complete it, only to bump into Bear who is doing the same. Her next project is trying to raise money for a cat shelter, which everyone thinks is ridiculous. Is it that unreasonable to invite people to an evening out to raise money for a shelter? I think everyone was quite rude, to be honest. However, she does get a little carried away with dragging Bear in as a dance partner. But it’s only because Bear was stamping all over her ideas and she misunderstood what he was saying, thinking he was trying to help her. How unreasonable.
Don’t be fooled though. While this storyline does indeed give the fabulous Valerie a delightful chance to shine in all her eccentricities, as she and reluctant Bear take rather well at this dancing malarkey and are the belles of the ball, really this whole storyline is just an elaborate plot to bring Bear and Ayesha closer together. Boring.
Ayesha and Bear are clearly going to get together… (photo credit: eastieoaks.co.uk)
A random ex/potential love interest (I think we met him when Ruhma’s hearing aid was picking up the radio frequencies in the hospital) blasts back into Ruhma’s life and utterly confuses her as he announces that he and his much younger girlfriend are having a baby. He asks her to work as a private midwife for them. She does support the vulnerable woman, who turns out to be having a more complicated pregnancy than expected and also has a phobia of hospitals. I’m not sure about this one. I mean, he’s no Heston.
Emma is nervous as she meets Jasmine’s mother, an eccentric hippy who persuades her to do yoga after lunch and is very protective of her daughter! Emma is mortified when she recognises her from the Smears Without Fears Campaign! But the meeting mostly goes well. I think. I do like Emma and Jasmine as a pairing and I think it’s nice that Emma has found someone kind after the nightmare of Gareth.
Unfortunately, the new couple hit the rocks in a major way at the end of the week in an excruciating and extremely educational episode when it comes to homophobia, LGBTQ hate crime and violence against women. I had read that Doctors was going to tackle this story (inspired by that awful news story last year of the couple on the bus who were attacked just for being gay women) but I wasn’t expecting it to be focussed on characters we already know. I assumed Rob or Jasmine would be investigating a crime and Emma would be the Doctor treating them. Friday’s episode (3rd April) is a must see and it is much harder hitting than that, if you please excuse the pun.
It begins Emma and Jasmine’s story at the end of the night, showing both women battered and bruised and struggling to communicate, in shock over what has happened to them. They are also at odds over what is the best decision going forward. Emma wants to report the incident. Jasmine, a police officer, does not. It’s hard to see them, so besotted with each other at the beginning of the evening, so broken, physically and emotionally by the end.
Their date is blighted by homophobia from the start. First, a straight, white male is horrified to even have a gay couple near him in the restaurant. His wife apologises to them for his disgusting attitude towards them. They leave and have a good night out, only to be followed down the street and hassled by a gang of lads, which soon turns violent.
Jasmine and Emma are assaulted… (Photo credit: What’sOnTV)
The way they show the attack is genuinely brilliant, interlaced with shots of Valerie and Bear dancing at the Cat Ball. The whole episode is so clever. It’s uncomfortable in all the ways it should be uncomfortable. It’s written and directed perfectly. Dido Miles and Lara Sawalha (guess who her family members are!) play their roles perfectly. I was utterly gripped and I can’t wait to see how the rest of this story plays out. While Emma makes her statement without Jasmine by her side, I do hope that they are able to pull together as a couple soon.
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
David is allowed to return to work and Doctor Bowman (who the hell is this guy?) makes it clear that he will need to answer questions if there is an enquiry. He worked with Finn during David’s absence but refuses to take any responsibility, claiming he didn’t have enough information to have been able to know there was a change in his behaviour. He claims that David did have suspicions but let everyone down by not following them through. Seriously, who is this guy?
Sheila is livid over Susan having the gall to apologise and storms off to the pub. Paul follows her and Kyle (and the audience) witness a moment of sheer kindness. Paul comforts Sheila and reveals that he never hated Gary; he has lost his best sparring partner. Sheila is grateful to Paul for saving Kyle’s life. Paul only wishes he could have saved Gary too.
Elly struggles with the weight of Elly’s confession, made worse by Susan admitting to both her and Karl that she was aware of the feelings between Elly and Finn but that she thought they were staying away from each other. Bea is devastated. She visits Harlow and tells her the latest revelations. Harlow shows herself to be the kind of friend everybody needs in life. She has been trapped down a mine, nearly murdered and her own mother has been blown up and yet she is the kind of girl who still wants to take care of her friends. That is one good egg, right there.
Susan and Elly attempt to explain things to Karl, who is then tackled by Sheila for his opinion over the fact that right at the beginning, he too didn’t want Finn to move in with them. He remains neutral and doesn’t give his opinion, standing by Susan but you can see his turmoil over everything that has happened. When Bea watches Karl looking after his wife as she breaks down in the garden, she visits Elly and asks her and Aster to move back home. She tells her that they are a family and they need to work through things together, otherwise, Finn wins. I think that goes to show how much she loves Susan if nothing else. Susan is elated to have the girls and Aster back under the same roof. Sheila is less pleased. She feels sorry for Bea and is glad Elly killed Finn but she continues to hold Susan responsible for everything. I don’t like this at all. My poor Susan. All she has ever tried to do is look after everyone!
Aaron does his best to support David…
Harlow is suffering with tremors, which David puts down to anxiety, particularly as she feels so guilty over how she left things with Prue before she died. However, it soon transpires that she is suffering withdrawal from the drugs they used to induce her coma. Doctor Bowman is quick to criticise poor David again for not spotting it. David’s confidence is on the floor.
Due to the Coronavirus, Neighbours did temporarily suspend filming
It doesn’t look like there will be a break in schedule in Australia but in the UK, Channel 5 will now only air episodes on Mondays and Fridays, 1:45pm and 6pm
Ryder calls Dean to help Mac with Jason, who is demanding money. Dean succeeds in sending Jason away, albeit temporarily. She refuses to ask Colby for help.
Ryder offers his support to Bella, shocked to hear the truth about her overdose. They chat idly about life in general – she thinks Nik is cute when he shows her a picture of his new car. He attempts to persuade her to give her counselling session a go and she and the counsellor do seem to make a small improvement on their progress from their previous session. She refuses to open up about her Dad. Well, where would you even start?
When Ryder returns to find Jason hassling Mac again, he very sweetly attempts to stand up for her but Jason doesn’t think much of him. He is too cute, that Ryder. However, Dean has told Colby everything and soon they both arrive, Colby ready to arrest Jason for extortion unless he leaves Summer Bay, never to return again. Aww. He still loves her. He tells her that he is sad but accepting of her moving on. They will totally be back together soon. Well, probably not soon. With only two episode a week going out, we’ll be lucky if they’re back together by Christmas! But they will be back together at some point… In other news, Colby asks Dean to move in with him and Bella. I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before.
Marilyn cannot understand John’s lack of charity towards the Parata Family and he cannot understand why she wants to give them so much (I mean, Ari only kept her sane when she thought she was going to die). Feeling awkward, Nik wangles a van from Roo but it will only suit a maximum of two occupants.
Marilyn admits to Irene how much she is struggling…
Marilyn admits to Irene that since the siege, she has struggled to connect with John and nothing in her life feels the same as it did before. Meanwhile, Ari fails to make amends with John, who accuses him of taking advantage of his wife. Ari doesn’t think John is putting Marilyn first. I think he is trying to but I don’t think he is listening to her.
The Parata Family agree that Ari will move into the van and Gemma and Nik will move into the house. Marilyn is still so grateful to Ari for what he did for her during the siege and she is desperate to pay that kindness back. She privately admits her marriage difficulties to Ari. John expresses his disbelief to Roo over her renting a van to the Parata Family, essentially for free. She just wants to help them. After their chat, John returns home and invites them all to stay.
Due to the Coronavirus, Home and Away has had to suspend filming
Home and Away will now air on Channel 5 on Mondays and Fridays at 1.15 only
Martine immediately slaps Felix. Well, that’s quite the welcome! Toby and Celeste (who is the person who initially contacted him) are quick to inform him of the awful life they have led. They are more bitter than ever after actually meeting their father.
Mitchell wants nothing to do with him, being that he abandoned him as a poorly baby. Scott and Lisa think he should at least hear him out. Felix tells Martine that leaving her and Mitchell was the worst mistake he ever made. Mitchell interrupts a ‘moment’ between them. Obviously the spark is still there! Mitchell agrees to spending time with his Dad.
In the flat next door, Sienna asks Brody and Liberty to look after Sophie; she needs to get to the hospital where Sebastian is awaiting his transplant. She is still angry with Brody for teaming up with Warren to search for her, informs them that she knows they slept together and have been flirting with each other since she has been gone and rejects both them and the baby, which she knows isn’t hers. Liberty and Brody insist that she has got it wrong but she doesn’t want to hear it. I mean, soap weaves tangles webs but this one is very, very murky.
Finding Sophie’s cup, dropped when Sienna was getting out of the cab, Warren visits the flat and begs to see his children. She tells him about the bone marrow donor and allows him to see Sophie. Warren hands over a video confessing to all his crimes (including murder) as insurance. In exchange, he and Sienna finally make peace and agree to both be parents to the twins. I genuinely like this ‘nice’ side to Warren. He was lovely with Mercedes and Maxine and now, it would be lovely to see him and Sienna work as a team (but I don’t want her and Brody to split up!) On his way to the hospital, Warren bumps into Felix (who I only twigged the other day is the same Felix that Warren told Brody and Joel bullied him so badly in the children’s home). He punches him. Felix accepts that he deserved it, although later tries to dismiss his childhood behaviour as nothing.
Warren punches Felix out!
Liberty refuses to take no for an answer and follows Sienna to the hospital, bringing the baby scan picture with her. She insists that she and Brody only slept together because they couldn’t see any other way to give her the baby she wanted and they couldn’t bear to break her heart. She insists that Brody is still desperately in love with Sienna and her own feelings don’t matter. Sienna and Liberty make up and Sienna accepts the baby as hers. I mean, I don’t think it’s going to be that simple but good on them for giving it a go!
Liberty is able to support Sienna at last…
Warren persuades Brody to the hospital to support Sienna, knowing that she still loves him. Warren arrives back to the hospital to the news that Sebastian has had an abnormal renal result, putting the transplant in jeopardy. Grieving for the awful situation their son is in, Warren and Sienna forgive each other for everything they have done to each other. Thankfully, Sebastian begins to respond to treatment. Sienna and Brody get back together.
Brody and Sienna reunite!
Felix brings breakfast round for Mitchell, Scott and Tony, eager to bond with his son. He then buys him a pink jeep (which Scott loves – Mitchell, not so much) to make up for all his missed birthdays. It turns out to be stolen, pushing Mitchell even further away. Felix then brings treats to the children’s ward. Mitchell is still unimpressed. Felix begs Mitchell to listen – he gave Toby and Celeste away to the Doctor because he thought they would have a better life than he had. He had wanted him, Martine and Mitchell to have a happy life together. He explains that he didn’t leave by choice. None of it wins Mitchell over. Felix then resorts to blackmailing Walter into persuading Mitchell to give him another chance.
Felix fails to impress Mitchell…
While Peri and Jordan appear to have become a couple, things are still very up and down with Juliet and Sid. When Sid complains to Jordan, he helps him book a romantic weekend away for Juliet. She is not thrilled. Instead, she invites Ollie and Imran to join them.
Tom has been invited to a recycling/environmental talk in Manchester but is anxious about having nobody to look after Steph apart from Yazz. However, he agrees, leaving her a two hundred page manual of instructions. Sometimes, I think they don’t really know what to do with Tom and they’re turning him into a bit of a caricature.
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’, classic episodes of the show, starting Thursday 2nd April
It’s the day of Denny’s funeral and Sharon (who has gone back to Watts, including in the credits) has banned all Mitchells from attending, although Jay Mitchell is still the funeral director. She holds Phil responsible for Denny’s death and Ben, Callum and Lola are excluded from the service.
Caught up with his own problems, namely Dotty pressuring him about The Arches, Ian is late but still manages to stand by his friend’s side and even takes over her eulogy when she can’t read for tears. The coffin is taken in a horse drawn hearse, although I’m not entirely sure where, as the service seems to take place in the middle of the Square. The eulogy also seems to describe another character entirely because the Denny we all watched on telly was a little horror! Kathy wears a delightful hat. It is quite distracting.
Kathy’s Hat.
Mick and Linda have a successful meeting with Social Services before the funeral and Linda seems to be well on track with her recovery, which of course can only mean one thing. More warning signs flare when she mentions to Mick that some alcoholics can go back to just having one drink and that’s enough. No, Linda. Just no. Have you met Phil Mitchell? Do you know Lauren Branning?
Sharon is grateful to Ian for helping Karen out with money; Dotty continues to apply pressure. Linda does her best to look after Sharon during the wake. However, it all goes wrong when Linda hasn’t provided the right pizza and Sharon tears into her. It’s awful. It’s awful for Sharon, who is so broken by grief and it’s awful for Linda who has so desperately tried to make everything perfect for her friend. I’m not usually a Sharon fan, to be honest but Letitia Dean (who plays her) is really amazing in these episodes.
The Panesar Brothers are struggling in the wake of their mother’s lies. Vinny’s response is graffiti and ends up caught up for the day with Dotty, who is trying to distract herself from grieving for Denny, pretending she didn’t care about him.
Jags tries to explain that it’s not him that has a problem with Iqra and Ash, it’s his mother. He pretends to spot a rat in the house and fake captures it in order to impress her. Then he admits it but she forgives him and then end up in bed. Well, on the sofa. But she later feels duped by his Tu Pac quotations and throws him out – naked!
Habiba and Jags get closer…
Callum does his best to look after Ben, who insists on going to the wake, having missed the service. Ben loses his temper with Callum when he tells Suki that he is deaf and she proceeds to patronise him. Jack remains concerned about Ben bringing Callum down. Ben finally tells Callum that he loves him.
Sharon and Phil come face to face…
At the wake, while Sharon tells Ian that Denny is dead because of Phil, the man himself is outside, laying a flower for the boy he considers to be his own son, the boy he adopted. He then arrives at the wake itself, only for Sharon to hurl abuse at him, accusing him of killing Denny (and Dennis before him). Nobody has any idea what to do (so nobody does a thing). Sharon leaves and Ian hurries after her, calling the police on Phil who don’t bother to show up until Phil is long gone. Shirley forces Mick to lie about having seen him.
Linda struggles with her addiction…
Upstairs, Linda finds Shirley’s bottle of vodka, which she has clearly left there on purpose and sadly, she is unable to resist the temptation of disgusting, neat vodka. Then she realises that Shirley has marked the bottle so she hurriedly tries to top it up with water, only to get caught. Linda attempts to explain herself to disappointed Mick. They finally have an open conversation about her addiction and decide it’s time to sell up and move on from The Vic where their life won’t be surrounded by alcohol.
Mick and Linda have a big decision to make…
Meanwhile, Phil and Sharon have a much needed heart to heart about Denny. Sharon actually apologises for the breakdown of their relationship. And by the end of the episode, Phil is ready to hand himself into the police for causing the boat crash. Would you even believe it? He really must have loved that boy.
Phil and Sharon finally talk…
Out for the night, Dotty steals a guy’s wallet and gets chased down the street, ending up being rescued by Peter, who brings her home to sleep it off on the couch. Ian immediately takes advantage and steals her keys to The Arches. He just gets lower and lower, that man.
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
The Soap Dish 