Home and Away: Honesty

(Monday 10^th – Friday 14^th February 2020)

Ryder finally catches up with Jade, having taken so long to get ready for his big moment with her that he missed it! He makes awkward small talk with her but only succeeds in irritating her. Then she mentions Roo and breaks things off with him, prompting him to lay into his aunt. He foolishly ignores Roo’s warning that Jade is not a good person and then ends up in bed with Jade. This is not going to end well.

Roo worries about Ryder not coming home that night. However, he hasn’t gone far. He’s spent the night in Jade’s caravan. He is so proud of himself for his success that he behaves like a complete prat, far too eager to show off to people who don’t actually care about his sex life. In fact, the only person who does care in Roo, who gives him a serve for staying out all night – in front of Jade. Ryder is quick to fire back at her. After getting a talking to from Alf, Ryder makes amends with Roo. He refers to Jade as his girlfriend. Wow, he’s jumping the gun! He again refuses to let his family get too close to Jade.

Roo seeks Maggie’s friendship as she struggles to cope with Ryder flying the nest. They go through students’ grades and are disappointed by Bella’s results. Maggie visits Bella, who has just moved back in with Colby to discuss her options. She point blank refuses to repeat Year Eleven. Maggie agrees to offer all the support she can to get Bella through Year Twelve.

After a family dinner, Jasmine tackles Robbo on the tension between him and his Dad and he reveals the offer of moving to the farm. Jasmine is surprisingly open to the idea as the couple attempt to plan their future, including the possibility of Grace having to live without Tori. They decide to move to the farm with Ian and Wendy in four weeks’ time. Jasmine suggests that Robbo find a manager for the gym rather than sell it.

Justin feels that Robbo is letting Tori down…

Justin returns from the city with the news that Tori needs to be transferred to a specialist unit. While Mason is supportive of the idea, Justin feels like everyone is giving up on her as the hospital have made it clear that there’s nothing more that they can do. Things get worse when Ian and Wendy put their foot in it with Justin and Leah about the move. Robbo then breaks the news, which only compounds Justin’s belief that people are giving up on Tori. John spots Justin taking off in his car in a state of utter fury and grief.

Leah is furious with Robbo for his ill-timed announcement, blaming him for Justin’s disappearance. Alex and Willow offer Mason their support over Tori. At least someone acknowledges that it’s not just Justin suffering! He and Leah challenge Robbo over giving up on Tori and never taking Grace to see her. He doesn’t think it would do Tori any good or be good for Grace, although Alex argues that there’s evidence that Tori and Grace could still bond, despite Tori’s coma. He takes the baby to the hospital where he finds Justin. He orders Justin to contact Leah before handing Grace over to bond her with Tori. He comes home and informs Leah and Mason that he will not send Tori to the brain injury unit, prompting a huge argument between him and his brother.

Ziggy returns from her trial at the race track to a new surfboard from her Dad and a happy reunion with Dean, who forces himself to be supportive about the job.

Working out on the beach, Alex and Willow struggle with their ban on PDAs. Alex supports panicked Willow when Robbo wants a serious talk about the gym. Willow opens up to Alex about her past and how good Robbo has been to her. Alex encourages her to face the situation head on. Willow steals a kiss before she leaves. In public! She’s ecstatic when Robbo promotes her to full time manager!

Thrilled, Willow arranges celebratory drinks with Dean, Colby, Alex and Ziggy. Alex is so excited for her girlfriend that she brings her a present and puts no pressure on her to come out to her friends. Willow tactlessly books a table but doesn’t invite Mac. Alex invites Mason, admitting that she’s nervous about the evening but he is too broken over Tori and Justin. Alex suggests moving Tori to the local hospital and weaning her off the ventilator. Even if it doesn’t work, they would have more support here and more control over her care. Justin apologises to Mason who suggests Alex’s idea to him about bringing Tori to Northern Districts and bringing her off the ventilator, which Justin eagerly agrees to.

Willow celebrates her new job with her girlfriend and her friends…

Colby brings Bella along to the drinks night. She teases Willow and Alex about their secret relationship. Behind the bar, Mac proceeds to get drunk as she struggles to watch Colby ignore her and have fun with his friends. She and Bella snipe at each other. While Ziggy sincerely thanks Alex for all she has done for Ben, Willow is eager for Dean’s opinion of Alex. He can’t work out why she even invited her. Alex raises a toast to Willow. Colby is shocked to discover that Robbo and Jasmine are leaving Summer Bay. Dean is supportive when Ziggy hears that she didn’t get the track job but Mac provokes a row when she drunkenly blurts out that Dean never wanted her to get it in the first place. The party breaks up when Dean and Ziggy go home and argue about the fact that neither of them has been honest about their feelings about the job. They quickly make up though and Ziggy pretends to be happy to stay in the Bay.

Colby tells Mac off for her behaviour, prompting Willow and Alex to make a quick escape. Colby and Bella exit just as Willow and Alex are kissing.

My favourite line of the week is from Bella: “Oh yeah. That’s a thing.”

While Willow drags Colby back into the Surf Club to explain that she and Alex are in a relationship, Alex admits to Bella that she is surprised she hadn’t already blabbed. Colby is over the moon that Willow has found happiness. He welcomes Alex to the family. When Willow is still worried about Dean, she has to admit to her past romantic relationship with him to Alex, who isn’t bothered – everyone has a past. Alex is keen for Colby’s approval. She definitely has it. And unlike Mac and previously, Ziggy, she has Bella’s approval too.

The next day, worried Willow enlists John’s help in opening Salt, only to find that lonely Mac drank herself silly and slept there the night before. She lies and claims to have worked late on the books and stayed over but Willow and Alex don’t buy it. Dean is furious with Mac for dropping him in with Ziggy. Mac asks Dean to keep Colby away from Salt so that she can find a way to move on. Dean reluctantly agrees to pass the message on, despite not wanting to get stuck in the middle of their relationship and despite his opinion that they should try and work through things. Mac apologises to Ziggy and assures her that Dean loves her. Colby is annoyed at being told to stay away from Salt. Ziggy is offered the job after all and she accepts without a second’s thought.

Bella claims to be feeling unwell in a bid to stop Colby from going out. He calls Alex (and Willow) round to check on her.

(Channel 5, 1:15pm & 6pm (sneak peek, weekdays on 5STAR at 6:30pm)

Emmerdale: The Truth

(Monday 3^rd – Friday 7^th February 2020)

Kim is currently the number one suspect among the villagers for Graham’s murder. And weirdly, they’re sort of right and sort of wrong. Al catches Vanessa and Rhona snooping around Home Farm, who adamantly insists that Marlon is the guilty party. However, he also lets slip that Kim already knew about the move to France. Kim is furious with Al. But when Rhona comes home, she finds that someone has been into her house and broken a picture. Unaware that Pierce is stalking her, she accuses Kim of breaking in. Pierce lets himself into the house yet again and listens to Rhona ranting about Kim.

Kim accidentally runs Pierce over on his bike and brings him home patch him up. He poses as a divorce lawyer called Ollie and manages to get himself hired by her for Jamie. He uses Clark Kent as inspiration and puts on glasses as a disguise, a bit like Keanu’s magical beard in Eastenders. Jamie is hesitant at first but as usual, he does what his mother tells him, upsetting Andrea who he had agreed to work things out civilly with. Things remain awkward between Belle and Jamie after their night together. Belle throws herself into her relationship with Ellis.

Meanwhile, Vanessa and Charity are still on the rocks after Charity and Ryan’s revelations of their theft on the night of Graham’s murder. Please don’t let them break up again! They’ve only just sorted things out!

Cain visits Marlon and tells him all about the campaign, passing on messages of love from April. When she realises that she is being lied to and that she is actually being prevented from seeing her father, she runs away, sending the whole village into a panic. Like every soap character, Marlon gets more visitors than legally possible. He completely breaks down when he finds out that his daughter is missing. She stays out overnight but Bob and Sam find her randomly walking along the roadside the next day. She comes home on the agreement that she gets to see Marlon.

Rhona laments to Vanessa over her lost love. That night, Pierce breaks into her house to watch her sleep. I’m still not entirely comfortable with this story. If they had just brought a creepy guy in to stalk her or even an ex, that would be a one thing but this is a man who raped her. It’s not creepy Leo King in Eastenders, who freaks me out enough. This is a rapist we’re dealing with. It almost feels dismissive of what happened, like they’re turning him into a bit of a pantomime villain. I’m not sure about this yet… What do other people think?

Victoria allows Wendy to say a brief hello to baby Harry. She has also sent her a photo. When Victoria gets Luke a job in the Woolpack kitchen, she ends up helping him out on her day off. Together, they juggle the kitchen and the baby and when he goes upstairs to tend to Harry for her, she overhears him on the baby monitor telling Harry how much he likes her. She teases him about what she overheard and agrees to go on a date with him as well as to letting him look after Harry while she goes for counselling.

While Luke is out with Harry, Wendy finds Victoria’s journal but gets caught reading it by Victoria, prompting a very emotional conversation where Wendy finally admits that she knows that Lee raped her. She has been coming to terms with the truth for a while now, as she has been getting to know Victoria and her story has begun to make sense. But now, reading her journal has compounded everything. Unfortunately, no progress is made as despite facing the horrific truth, she cannot let go of her love for her son or the fact that she misses him. Subsequently, Victoria has no choice but to say goodbye to Luke as well, not wanting him to be constantly torn between her and his mother.

Laurel hears the sad news that Sandy has died, over in Australia (this is the moment that Emmerdale has chosen to respectfully acknowledge the passing of actor Freddie Jones within the context of the story). While everyone raises a glass to him in the pub, Arthur is broken up with guilt, believing that his abuse of Archie is the reason Sandy died. Jimmy finds him breaking down at Ashley’s grave and is so kind and supportive because that’s just the kind of guy he is. It’s funny when you think about the horrible family Jimmy came from and he didn’t actually start out very nice either. But anyway, Jimmy sends Arthur to his mother and he confesses everything. Laurel is distraught but kind. She feels guilty for not having been there properly for her son.

Just as Laurel prepares to tell poor Jimmy the truth, Jai arrives home from rehab, wanting to make things right and to support her over Sandy’s death. He also wants to get back together. Laurel decides to wait until they return from Sandy’s funeral in Australia before facing up to things. She also makes Arthur promise never to behave that way again.

With Pete’s blessing, Nate and Tracey start dating, although why Tracey would even want to go there, I have no idea. This man clearly has no respect for women. Or people in general. But especially women. Pete opens up to Tracey about how much he misses his family and she suggests that working at the farm where his mother tortured his father before she killed him, might not be the best idea.

Emmerdale is on at 7pm Monday to Friday with a second episode at 8pm on Thursdays

Coronation Street: 10,000 Episodes

(Monday 3^rd – Friday 7^th February 2020)

While Geoff prattles on about his magic show, Yasmeen desperately cleans the house. He continuously harasses Yasmeen at work and then sabotages a spa day for her an Alya when Emma is unable to be his assistant for the show. He loses his temper when she is anxious about being locked in a box for one of the tricks, as she is claustrophobic.

During the show, the trick with Yasmeen in the box goes wrong and Yasmeen is unable to get out of the box ‘magically’, meaning Geoff has to really wrestle with the box to set her free. The audience find it hilarious and it earns Geoff the name ‘Jiggle It Geoff’, sending the video viral. Of course, Geoff does not find it funny and what is not caught on video is Geoff blaming poor Yasmeen and calling her a ‘clumsy, oafish bitch’. It’s a truly horrible moment, with worse to come, as the more compliments they receive for doing ‘comedy magic’, the worse punishment Yasmeen receives from her vile husband.

That night, Yasmeen almost begs Tim to stay when Geoff sends him off to try and sort things out with Sally. Alone together, Geoff lays into her for apparently sabotaging the show. He physically intimidates her and frightens her before shoving a phone camera in her face, videoing her and screaming horrific abuse at her, suggesting he might put that online to embarrass her. But of course he won’t because it won’t show her in a bad light, will it? Hopefully this video will eventually be his undoing…

He sends her out for chips, having rejected the dinner she has made. Out, she bumps into Emma who reveals that she was actually fired as Geoff’s assistant. So the whole ordeal was caused by Geoff and all because he didn’t want Yasmeen to a spa for a couple of hours with her granddaughter.

The poor woman is treading on eggshells the next day as the video of the show has gone international. Geoff is raging, although they both put on a front for Tim. He throws Yasmeen’s breakfast away and calls her fat. He tells Tim that Yasmeen doesn’t want him to stay with them anymore, making him feel like he is putting their marriage under pressure. Geoff suggests that Yasmeen help him practice for his next show as a way to make things up to him. He makes some adjustments to the box, during which time, Yasmeen mentions her conversation with Emma but it only gets her into trouble as he recalls that she took ten minutes longer to get the chips than she said she would be. He then locks her in the box – for the whole afternoon! He ignores her cries to be let out before turning music up loud going for a pint with Brian.

While Yasmeen screams and cries for help, Geoff enjoys a casual pint with Brian, not letting on how annoyed his is by the gentle teasing about the magic show from his friend. Eventually exhausted, poor Yasmeen gives up. The music has stopped by the Tim arrives back at the house and he is absolutely stunned to find Yasmeen locked in the box. He rescues her and is still trying to work out how such a terrible thing could have happened when Geoff arrives back, clearly horrified to have had his son rescue his wife. At first, Tim accuses his father of locking Yasmeen in but Geoff is quick with a denial and a lie. He tells him that Yasmeen was timing herself and must have got locked in. Yasmeen doesn’t contradict him. Tim reluctantly accepts it and gives the couple time to talk. Come on, Tim! Work it out! Genuinely concerned, he tells Eileen what has happened. This incident, coupled with Geoff’s previous behaviour makes Eileen suspicious. Could she be Yasmeen’s surprise salvation?

Tim is shocked to find Yasmeen locked in a box at home…

Despite the horror of what he has put her through, Geoff is still ready to lay all the blame at Yasmeen’s door. However, traumatised by her ordeal, Yasmeen stands up for herself and accuses him of lying about how she got locked in the box, unable to comprehend how he could have done that to her. She makes it clear that this is not how love should be. She shows genuine strength, which only gives me hope for the future of this storyline. But of course, he changes his tactics. He knows he won’t get anywhere with scaring her anymore that day so he makes her feel guilty and sorry for him instead. He denies locking her in the box on purpose and claims to have just been playing a trick on her. Then he breaks down over his previous trauma over the way Tim’s mother treated him, claiming that he thought she had messed the trick up on purpose because that’s what she would have done. He begs forgiveness and begs her not to leave him. She accepts it but something has definitely shifted.

Tim makes a bid to win Sally back by presenting her with his signed divorced papers and an invitation to their wedding. Sally is not impressed.

Daniel apologises to Maria who in turn apologises for Gary’s attack. Gary and Maria explain the miscarriage to Liam but Maria is annoyed when without prior discussion, Gary suggests to Liam that they might have another baby instead. He turns down a desperate customer in need of a loan.

Bethany is still unhappy working for Ray and makes her point by serving his table of colleagues and blatantly telling them that she has been told to flatter them all. Ray is not happy. She and Daniel submit one of her stories to a course in Preston.

Steve and Tracy skip off to a hotel to try and rekindle their romance. Unfortunately, they only end up frustrated with each other, resulting in Steve ending up locked in the bathroom. She seems to have come to the sad realisation that she loves him more than he loves her. She says he is scared of her. He says everyone is scared of her! Well, fair point. However, they do end up reconnecting so perhaps they will be able to move forward now.

It turns out that Nina has been evicted from her flat and is now living on the streets. She eventually turns up at the café and Roy takes her in.

Rita receives the news that her third husband, Dennis Tanner has died. He has his ashes sent to her with a request for her to scatter them in Blackpool. Jenny arranges a party bus with half the cast to do a day trip to Blackpool to celebrate the show’s 10,000^th episode: Rita, Jenny, Sally, Gail, Eileen, Sean, Ken, Tracy, Emma, Amy (who is celebrating her birthday), Mary, Audrey, Evelyn, Carla and Nina all hop on board, dragging reluctant Yasmeen (with a FIVER spending money) along for a ride. Apologies if I’ve missed anyone. Claudia definitely does not join them. Apparently Blackpool is like Vegas for the poor!

While Yasmeen struggles with the pressure of discussing getting locked in the box and spends most of her time reassuring Geoff on the phone that she is not drinking (very much noticed by Eileen), Audrey and Rita end up snapping at each other about times gone by. Ken begins to regret that he has spent his entire life on one road (but what a busy life it’s been!) and quietly reveals his plans to move to a retirement flat round the corner with Claudia. Well, I’m sure that will be thrilling! Nina argues with Tracy and tries to hitchhike home, only to be talked down by Carla. I do like Stable Carla. Yasmeen brings Sally and Tim back together at last with a video call. Sean admits that he feels pushed out of Eileen’s life when once upon a time, they were family. When Emma reveals that Seb has moved out without telling her (he’s scared of her, apparently!), it frees up his room for Sean to move back in. How lovely.

However, the group don’t actually make it to Blackpool as the bus driver has a heart attack at a wee stop. Rita has a tantrum and the urn gets run over by the ambulance, essentially scattering the ashes in a car park (in the most convenient moment of prop placement ever).

On the way home, Rita is finally grateful for her friends who gave up their day to be with her. Back on the Street, she gives Amy her engagement ring, which belonged to the legend that is Elsie Tanner. Amy is thrilled! Rita enjoys an evening in the pub with her friends. Then alone in the bar that night, she recalls memories of times gone by before Jenny comes down and Rita tells her she couldn’t have wished for a better daughter. It’s a lovely way to mark a special moment in the history of Coronation Street as we hear the echoes of so many remarkable characters from the past, who have made the show so very special. Outside, Ken says goodbye to the Street but rest assured, he’s not going far. The credits roll through every sequence in the show’s history, dating right back to its days of black and white. A great episode focussing on so many of the great and longest serving characters.

The 10,000th episode fades to it’s original black and white…

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

Hollyoaks: Finally!

Monday 3^rd – Friday 7^th February 2020

Azim has been left feeling very fragile after Mitchell tirade of homophobic abuse. She confides in Sami, who is furious. Mitchell, meanwhile, is disgusted with himself for his behaviour and confesses to horrified Martine.

Deciding to ramp up their campaign against Martine, Toby and Celeste arrange a party and invite the family and various members of the village. Word spreads that Toby and Celeste have an open marriage, prompting Cindy and Lisa both to flirt with Toby. Hang on… aren’t Toby and Lisa related? Well, I guess Hollyoaks isn’t a stranger to that sort of thing! Stuck up Mandy is embarrassed by most of her friends’ behaviour in front of her new friends who don’t even like her. Walter casually mentions to Toby that he basically raised Mitchell. But then disaster strikes when the police arrive and arrest him for a hate crime; Sami steps forward and tells the whole party what he did to Azim. And it’s all in front of Scott. Toby and Celeste enjoy themselves as Martine lays into Walter for the values he instilled in her son.

While the party couldn’t have gone better as far as Celeste is concerned, Toby is annoyed that Mitchell stole his thunder. Together, they plot their next move – to out Mitchell. Afterwards, Celeste makes a play for smitten Romeo but when she returns to the flat and finds Lisa making a move on Toby, she embarrasses her and sends her packing.

Scott visits Azim to ensure he is okay but Azim is hurt when he defends Mitchell’s behaviour. Together, they go to the police station and Azim drops the charges against Mitchell, who sincerely apologises for what he did. However, Scott makes it clear that Azim is the person he wants to be with and their relationship is over.

The next day, Mitchell discovers that Scott is planning to move to London with Azim. Martine begs her son to be brave and tell Scott how he truly feels. Mitchell breaks down, only to be found by grieving Courtney, who advises him not to waste time being sad and to take every opportunity he can to be happy. Mitchell tracks Scott down and publicly tells Scott that he loves him! Hooray! Celeste watches the whole thing. It promises to be an amazing moment. Scott is clearly in love with Mitchell. The only thing he asks is that Mitchell be brave enough to kiss him right here, right now. Their song, ‘Finally’ plays… but he can’t do it. It’s done. It’s over.

Lisa is embarrassed about cracking onto Toby but he confuses her by flirting with her the next day. They spend the afternoon together at her place where he attempts to get as much information on Walter as possible but of course, she didn’t actually grow up with the family so he’s barking up the wrong tree. And as they’re about to kiss, Walter walks in on them and furious throws Toby out. But not before Toby carefully leaves the picture of Scott and Mitchell in Walter’s Bible. I mean, that is harsh! Walter’s eyes hone in on it as they are serving dinner and it feels to me like Toby is having regrets. Celeste doesn’t seem to have that capacity. Walter is seething with righteous anger, demanding an explanation. And while Lisa is bewildered, Martine desperately tries to support her son who… lies. He tries to say that the photos were faked. Yeah, right.

Walter finds the photo of Mitchell and Scott…

At first, Walter blames Scott. Mitchell lies again that he was drunk and it just happened once. Again, Walter sees through him. He throws Bible quotations at him like knives and eventually, we get to the core of his grief. His brother was gay. And he killed himself. Walter decided from there that he wouldn’t lose anyone else to that kind of sin. However, it is quickly pointed out to him that he his brother had genuine love and support, he would probably still be alive! Walter demands that Mitchell come to church with him to repent of his sin, which the poor lad agrees to, prompting a big row between Walter and his daughter. Walter says some horrific things to her before she and Lisa walk out. Back in the flat, Mitchell is upset over the way his grandfather spoke to his mother. He wonders if that how he spoke to his brother for being gay. He accuses him of controlling everyone and therefore decides to break away from him and be honest with himself – he’s gay and his grandfather cannot change that.

Celeste reports to Toby that the plan worked and the family have been ripped apart. Toby is pleased. He seemed to have recovered from his momentary guilty conscience. They go to bed in separate rooms.

Scott admits to Damon that he’s having second thoughts. He also admits that he doesn’t love Azim but he still loves Mitchell. He does the right thing and lets Azim down and to his credit, Azim is absolutely lovely. He concludes that Scott still loves Mitchell and is compassionate about it, although he tells him that he deserves better, which I tend to agree with.

Walter throws Mitchell out and with nowhere to go, he turns to Scott. They kiss. Then Thursday’s E4 episode begins with the best opening sequence of any soap opera ever! It begins with Scott dreaming of dancing through the village with Mitchell, happy as can be to ‘Finally’, everyone celebrating their love, dancing around! Oh my goodness! It’s so camp and so amazing! I loved it so much I had to watch it twice! Nana McQueen does backflips! Fabulous! All that drama of Mitchell trying to come out was worth it just for that!

In reality, Scott and Mitchell are together but Mitchell and Walter are very much broken. Lisa and Martine end up arguing with Walter in the shop on Mitchell’s behalf with Martine accidentally outing Mitchell in front of half the village. Mitchell is furious. To be fair, walking around clinging to Scott does make it kind of obvious.

While Celeste seduces Romeo, Toby begins to struggle under the strain of their plan. Conflicted over the idea of adultery, Romeo attempts to back off, especially when Celeste openly flirts with him in front of Toby. But it’s not long before they’re back at it again. However, Romeo is left hiding behind the curtains in the lounge when Toby arrives back home! But I’m not convinced Toby and Celeste are even a couple. They sleep in separate rooms. I don’t think we’ve seen them be intimate with each other. And the way they speak to each other isn’t romantic. It’s odd. Very odd…

Diane arranges to go on a proper date with Tony but he panics and can’t go out, arranging for her to go with Edward instead, completely unaware of their fling. While Diane is more than a little awkward, Edward enjoys showing off and eventually, the pair do have a nice time together.

Diane continues to feel broken over the state of her relationship with Tony. Edward pressures Tony to make an effort, telling him he is being a drain on Diane so he arranges a special afternoon with his wife. Things go well until a plate fall off a table, causing a flashback to the pig farm, sending him into a spiral of panic all over again. He rejects the idea of professional help. That night, Diane confides in Edward while Tony weeps alone in his room.

Having overheard Diane confiding in Edward that she is at breaking point with him, Tony decides that he has to change. He makes breakfast for the family in the morning and then heads to The Hutch to prove to Diane that he can cope. Setting his son up for a fall, however, Edward overfills the restaurant and panics him. In the kitchen, making a meal from Edward and Diane, Tony struggles and panics alone. With the food taking longer and longer, Edwards acts more and more frustrated but really he is pleased. Knowing her husband is fighting a losing battle, Diane leaves. She doesn’t want to see him fail. Shortly afterwards, Tony runs out in a state.

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

These reviews are based on the E4 episodes

Eastenders: I Spy With My Little Eye…

(Monday 3^rd – Friday 5^th February 2020)

Linda’s drinking continues to spiral out of control. This week, she is absolutely vile to Chantelle who panics and runs away. My only criticism really is that she leaves Ollie with Linda. She knows she is drunk and out of control. Despite her own anxiety, she should have protected the little boy. But she did the next best thing and went to find Mick, although this seems to take ages. Because in that time, Linda has passed out drunk upstairs alone with Ollie (who is just so heartbreakingly cute) while cooking his dinner. Not even the horrific sounds of the smoke alarm can wake her up, nor his panicked attempt to shake her. Frightened and distressed by the alarm, Ollie covers his ears and takes himself up on to the roof!

Linda gets the shock of her life when she finally wakes up. Shirley tells her in no uncertain terms what has happened. She throws her in the baths and hoses her down with the shower. Then she tells her about Ollie, letting her believe for just a moment that they hadn’t been able to save him. She is forced to confront her issues and agree to get help. It’s a hideous but powerful scene. Mick takes her to an AA group but she refuses to go in when they spot Stuart there. Shirley drags her to the next one but Linda comes home angrier than ever, taking everything out rather violently on Mick. After a chat with Sharon is genuinely seems like she wants to make things work but by the end of the week and in homage to Den and Angie, she serves him divorce papers.

Unfortunately, Denny is just fine after being pushed over by Bobby, who is overwrought with guilt. He sincerely apologises to Denny who behaves like a six year old… actually, that’s unfair. I have six year old nieces and nephews and they would never behave like that. Anyway, Denny’s nasty response is to pour a whole can of drink all over Bobby in the middle of the café. Sharon is horrified and clearly feels protective of Bobby. She is genuinely really sweet with him and clearly has more of a connection with him than her own child. It’s sad really. Sharon’s son is horrible but she loves him. Bobby wants his Dad to love him but there’s no connection there either. I just hope Sharon and Bobby’s relationship remains mother/son and he doesn’t end up with a weird crush on her or something!

When Iqra overhears Ian, the Councillor making offhand remarks about Muslims, she makes it clear that he isn’t coming over well, especially considering just how many Muslim constituents he has. He decides to celebrate Bobby officially converting to Islam by holding the ceremony in the restaurant and while at first, Bobby is thrilled and feels it means he and Ian are drawing closer, he is soon disappointed to realise that the press will be there and it’s really just a moment for promotion.

While Sharon reaches out to Denny with tickets to a football match (I think… sport of some kind), he uses the moment to fiddle with Bobby’s computer and report to the police about web searches for Islamic Fundamentalism. The police return Bobby’s laptop and he is in the clear but he and Bobby argue and Ian refuses to attend the event but Bobby is thrilled with the turnout for the day, including Kathy, Max, Ruby, Iqra, Habiba and Ash. When Max brings Bobby home to work things out with Ian, another argument ensues and this one is absolutely earth shattering. It’s like Ian has been holding all this pain in for years and he finally throws it out, shouting at Bobby for Lucy’s death. It’s awful. Absolutely awful. Essentially, it doesn’t matter if Bobby is trying to rebuild his life and do good and repair the damage he caused. He killed Lucy. He hurt Jane. He ruined Ian’s life. It’s done. There is no coming back from that. Well, I hope there is. I really do.

Meanwhile, Suki gathers her family around for her birthday, pretending to them all that it will probably be her last. A misunderstanding means that Iqra attends the meal and Suki makes it quite clear that she is not wanted, either as a Muslim or a woman dating her daughter. When the girls have left, she informs her sons that Iqra has to go. She is quietly terrifying.

Karen cannot cope with Bernie’s desperation to find Keanu and confesses that he is still alive but needs to stay away. She spares her the details. Bernie admits that she stole her phone and texted him to say that Phil has left Walford but Karen believes he isn’t stupid enough to come back while Ben is here. Wrong! Clad in a beard that will clearly make him invisible to the naked eye, Keanu returns, begging Sharon to go on the run with him! Well, for starters, she wouldn’t be able to fly right now, mate. What are you going to do? A coach trip?

Denise returns (I hadn’t actually realised she’d been away until I noticed she hadn’t stuck her beak in over Sheree’s return) and immediately sticks her beak in over Sheree’s return. Patrick discovers that Isaac is his son. I mean, I am absolutely on the edge of my seat with this story. Can you tell?

Whitney admits to Kat that Leo has her log book and as things stand, Kush is charged with GBH. Desperate to save her friend, Whitney meets up with Leo who drags her to Tony’s grave. In a particularly hideous scene, Leo hurls all kinds of abuse at her while she is forced to kneel at her abuser’s grave and apologise to him and declare herself a liar. Deciding that that’s not enough, Leo takes Whitney to the Vic where she announces to the whole pub that she lied about Tony abusing her for attention. Leo looks on as nobody believes her and everyone stands up to protect her, including Mick, Sonia and Kat. Leo is forced to leave but as it turns out, he doesn’t go far. While poor Whitney thinks her bedroom is a place of safety, actually Leo is living in the loft above her with a small hole cut into the ceiling for his beady little eye to peer through. Honestly, it’s one of the creepiest scenes in soap. Just thinking about it gives me shivers!

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

Doctors: Bring Your Own Bun

(Monday 3^rd – Friday 7^th February 2020)

It’s a very issue led week in Doctors this week with some big stand-alone episodes that are all particularly interesting. We have chronic illness, redemption for prisoners, post-partem psychosis. Different characters take centre stage in each episode such as Ayesha, Al, Daniel Ruhma and Rob.

Ayesha begins her Chronic Illness coffee morning (BYOB), which proves to be a big hit. I’m pretty sure a lot of people with chronic conditions who tune into Doctors wish their own surgeries ran like The Mill, myself included! Anyway, there’s drama galore when Ayesha discovers one of the ‘patients’ in the group is actually a fake. He spends his time at various groups, picking up women who are vulnerable and therefore he feels confident in talking to them. Unfortunately, in Ayesha’s group, a couple of his ‘girlfriends’ come face to face and obviously are not very happy when the truth comes out.

Al takes it upon himself to cure Bear of his fear of blood but ends up making him extremely unwell. He earns himself a telling off from Emma as he utterly traumatises Bear. At the end of the working day, he frightens Bear so much that he faints, knocking Al out in the process. But when Bear comes to and finds Al injured, his Manager/rescuer mode takes over, despite the blood and rushes Al to the hospital. He is extremely grateful and of course Al takes credit for the cure!

There’s a moment of jealousy when Daniel spots Zara (who has become extremely patronising every single time she opens her mouth at the moment – have you noticed?) complimenting Sid. However, he takes her to lunch and tells her that he forgives her for everything, he’s learning to forgive himself and he thinks she needs to forgive herself too. She accepts what he says but finds the whole thing awkward and uncomfortable, as do we.

There’s an interesting episode completely set in the prison, although nothing to do with Jimmi. I suppose there are limited scenes they can film with him just sitting there looking miserable. This time, Daniel spends the evening attending a dinner completely run by the prisoners, as they attempt to open a restaurant within the prison. Daniel dines with the grumpiest, least compassionate pastor ever. She has no faith in the redemption of any of the prisoners and is convinced they will fail. She seems to actually want them to fail. Comments from her actually lead to tensions exploding in the kitchen and the chef burns his hand. Daniel helps to sort things out and the chaplain unexpectedly mends her ways, helping the men out while Daniel fixes the chef’s hand.

Rob is on a stakeout for a drug raid and spots a couple of lads from the talk he did recently. He bumps into one of them who turns out to be completely innocent and oblivious to what is going on. Dragging him into the room he is spying from, he manages to keep him safe while he and his team bring the other lad and the other drug dealers down.

Ruhma is under pressure when one of her new Mums becomes convinced that she was given the wrong baby to take home. It’s not completely impossible as she had the same name as the woman in the bed next to her. However, Ruhma investigates and they didn’t give birth at the same time and one had gone before the other had even gone into labour. However, Ashley is convinced, to the point that she tracks the other woman down at her home and attempts to take her baby. Ruhma and the woman’s husband race to the house to stop her and I have to say, the woman whose baby is nearly stolen must be a saint or something. Ruhma explains that Ashley is suffering from postnatal psychosis and it’s causing delusions. She is perfectly within her rights to call the police but she doesn’t. She is so kind to her and so understanding. It’s a genuinely lovely moment.

Meanwhile, Al is horrified when Zara dismisses a school invitation to a course on protecting children online. Zara and Daniel are certain that their parental controls are enough but Al thinks they are being very ignorant. And typically, that night, while Daniel is right there in the house with him, Joe starts talking to a random ‘girl’ online and invites her to his birthday party. He even gives her his address.

Doctors is on BBC1, weekdays at 1:45pm

Neighbours: Haunted

Monday 3^rd – Friday 7^th February 2020

Yashvi is worried that Dipi is getting too settled at the Canning house, prompting Shane to beg her to come home. When that doesn’t work, he demands that Gary persuade her to move out. When Sheila and Clive go off to New Zealand, Shane is livid over the idea of Gary and Dipi living alone together. Dipi is livid at the insinuation that she would cheat on her husband. When she breaks down on her friend, Kyle walks in and is a little alarmed at how close his Dad is to Dipi. An argument soon ensues between Gary and Shane as Shane continues to feel jealous of Gary’s closeness to Dipi.

Terese, meanwhile, has to frogmarch Roxy to work and face up to Shane, who has taken over management of The Waterhole in Sheila’s place. Shane is pretty cold with her but they cope.

On her way to her exam, Yashvi’s car breaks down and starts smoking. Zenin has tampered with it. She calls Ned for help. Helping Kyle out at the Buddy Club, David is shocked to find a gun in little Caden’s bag. Kyle is sure it’s just a toy gun and fires it into the air. It’s a real gun. Kyle is an idiot. The police are called and Kyle has to awkwardly explain everything to Toadie, although he plays down exactly how the gun was fired, thankfully into a tree. At first Caden says he found the gun, which has been printed on a 3D printer but it later transpires that he took it from his sister’s car. Ned recognises the name of Caden’s sister, Greta – she was part of the fight club and it doesn’t take long for him to realise that Zenin believes he knows he is part of the 3D gun printing gang that the police are trying to hunt down. That’s why he has been after him. He tells Kyle the whole story. Yashvi wins her place at the police academy. Oh and Caden is played by Kai Baker, the real life son of Rebekah Elmaloglou, who plays Terese Willis.

Eager to study psychology and understand her father, Harlow asks Finn to tutor her. Despite his initial reluctance, he throws himself into the first session but when the conversation turns to his past, he is left with food for thought. Is this the beginning of him turning evil again? He confides in Bea and Susan that he doesn’t think he can continue tutoring Harlow. The session took him to a bad place and made him think about his father and how he may have ended up the way he did.

With Chloe’s blessing, Aaron and David press forward with their plan to have a baby with Lisa, who they have known for approximately thirty seconds. Unfortunately, she then discovers she is already pregnant by her ex. So she ties up all her loose ends with Hendrix and co. and heads home again. Well, that was short and unremarkable.

Worried about how sad his son is, including that for a moment, David regretted being gay because of the difficulty he and Aaron are having with having their own children, Paul decides to put Lassiters in for having a float in the Mardi Gras parade. However, with Chloe in charge of it and her not being his favourite person, he shoots down all her ideas. He eventually accepts Sheila’s idea, which he previously rejected when he thought it was Chloe’s. I literally cannot wait for Neighbours to go full Mardi Gras! This show is the epitome of rainbow. I love it so much!

Hendrix has other things on his mind, however, when he discovers that Harlow gets quite distracted when she sees him topless, even though she continues to find him shallow and intensely annoying, as do we all. He blows it, of course by preening and showing off, meaning that she and newly returned (as if she never left) Mackenzie quickly realises that he knows. (I’d need a whole new blog entry to tell you how happy I am that Mackenzie is back as a full time character). But anyway, Harlow plays him at his own game and comes on way too strong, completely panicking him into confessing that he was just trying to tease her. Harlow wins! She later takes pity on him when she witnesses him having an awkward conversation with Chloe. They’re soon back to bickering though and I remain convinced that they will be dating by the end of the year. If I was a teenager, I would be ‘shipping’ it, if that is still the word the kids use!

Stupid storyline of the week: Kyle and his CPR/sex doll. So, Karl teaches Kyle CPR using a CPR doll called Bianca. Kyle takes the doll away and thanks to some unfortunate timing and Kyle personifying the doll a bit too much, moronic Bea and Finn and later, Toadie, get the wrong end of the stick and think that Kyle is so lonely that he’s using a CPR doll for sexual gratification. So Toadie stumbles into a very awkward conversation with Kyle, who is absolutely mortified and hurriedly hands the doll back to Karl. Hilarious. If that’s your sort of things.

Channel 5, 1:45pm and 5:50pm

Home and Away: Only the Strongest Relationships Survive

Soap Blog Monday 3^rd – Friday 7^th February 2020

Alex and Willow are cuddled up in bed, talking and enjoying the happiness of their first time together when Irene, Colby and Bella come home. Willow panics, which Alex finds amusing and it’s not long before Bella bursts in on them and gets the shock of her life! At Willow’s request, she sends Colby on his way and Irene heads up to bed, allowing Alex to leave undetected. Bella is eager for all the gossip but Willow doesn’t want to talk!

The next day, Bella is full of questions but Willow rather harshly shuts her down. Alex is hurt when she discovers this, worried that Willow is ashamed to be with her (echoing the very same question posed by Joey Collins to Charlie Buckton – RIP – ten years ago). Willow assures her that she isn’t but she is scared of being rejected by Colby and Dean. Alex suggests that she separate Bella from them and answer a confused teenager’s questions – after all, it wasn’t her fault she walked in on them. Willow does the right thing and Bella is completely accepting, not to mention elated to see Willow so happy. She promises to keep the relationship under her hat until Willow and Alex are ready to come out.

Bella pushes Willow to call Alex after their misunderstanding earlier but just as she’s about to, Alex turns up. They sort things out easily and Willow decides she is going to tell Colby and Dean the truth.

Colby attempts to sort things out with Mac but he is quickly shut down, seeing through him – he is only interested in being her boyfriend when it’s convenient. He continues to pine for Mac and wants to make things up to her. When Mac finds out from Alex that Bella hasn’t even been living with Colby and he’s still been ignoring her, she dumps him. By text. He abandons Bella to try and sort things out properly. She isn’t interested. And at this point, I can’t say I blame her. Meanwhile, things aren’t going all that much better for poor Dean, who is sad and lonely without Ziggy who is being worked to the bone.

Alex takes the afternoon off in order to be there for Willow when she tells Colby and Dean about their relationship. Unfortunately, Colby and Dean are too self-centred and caught up with their own problems to even notice that Willow is trying to tell them something. When Colby and Mac break up, Willow ends up having to support Mac while Dean lends a listening ear to Colby. Dean calls Colby out on how unfair he has been to Mac, not even bothering to call her while Bella has been unwell; he had time to communicate with other people. Dean tells Colby that he needs more in his life than to just be Bella’s brother or he’ll end up alone. Colby approaches Bella to make plans about her future but she just wants to be with Colby.

Willow frets to Alex about having missed the chance to come out to Colby and Dean. She does however, tell Irene that she and Alex are together and is met with genuine happiness. Inspired, Willow decides to just go for it. While in a very sweet moment, Irene gives Alex a free dessert and welcomes her to the family (you’ve got to love Irene), Willow meets the boys on the beach but again, they are too caught up with their own girlfriends to even listen to her! When Alex visits the house, Bella and Irene suspect that it could be love. I think they might be right. Willow frets that she has disappointed Alex who is compassionate, revealing that she got drunk and emotional and came out to her family over Christmas dinner!

Colby meets up with Mac and ends their relationship for good as he cannot be a reliable boyfriend, thanks to Bella. Dean consoles a devastated Mac. Well, he knew this was going to happen before their relationship even started!

Ziggy phones Dean, stressed that she is failing on the track. She bonds with her female driver, who married to Ziggy’s boss. She then stays behind while the others go to the pub so she can continue to practice and make her times up. Having had all his calls ignored, Dean comes to see Ziggy who is not pleased to see him! She calms down and asks him to wait for her so they can spend all of five minutes together. He watches her work and she gets a lot of praise from her colleagues. He opts out of lunch with her colleagues and heads home. Ziggy’s new friend advises her that when it comes to racing, only the strongest relationships survive. Concerned, Ziggy asks Ben to go round and check on Dean. Dean tells Ben that he’s certain that Ziggy will get the job and leave him behind. He is clearly upset about it but he won’t hold her back.

Worried about Tori missing out on the beginning of Grace’s life, Jasmine begins a Memory Book of Grace to capture everything she is missing for when she wakes up. Their love bubble bursts when the AFP sends round a lawyer to go through their testimony. As they talk, Robbo gets more and more wound up. When she wants to talk about the murder of his family, he refuses to talk about it in front of Grace and throws the lawyer out. Jasmine tells Irene what happened with Robbo and the lawyer and fears this case is never going to end. Me too, Jasmine. Me too.

Encouraged by Jasmine, Robbo arranges with Lance to make the statement away from the house and away from Grace. The couple are surprised by a visit from Robbo’s parents. They fall in love with Grace but are not impressed by their living conditions. They ask Robbo and Jasmine to move back to the farm with Grace, permanently in order to make a fresh start.

Justin struggles to maintain hope for Tori’s recovery, especially as he doesn’t get to see her that often as the hospital is so far away. Leah pledges her support to Justin. They end up on a double date with Maggie and Ben. Both men, who have been going through such a difficult time are grateful to their partners. Mason joins the party and brings up the subject of Tori but Justin walks out, not wanting to deal with potential decisions they may have to make for her.

The next day, Mason and Leah discuss Tori and Justin. Mason receives a call from Tori’s specialist, forcing him to have a conversation with Justin about making decisions for Tori’s future. The doctors have called for a family conference, as she is not responding to treatment. The boys end up in a row in the middle of the Diner. Justin breaks down on Leah, terrified that the doctors will say there is nothing more they can do for Tori. Mason enlists Robbo’s help to get Justin to the meeting. They need to start making decisions and Justin is Tori’s next of kin. Justin shows up at the last minute and the boys head off to the hospital together at the last minute.

Ryder is coy with Roo over how his ‘relationship’ with Jade is going. Despite how unpleasant she is, he continues to ask her out. Dressed up in a new and rather garish shirt, Ryder takes Jade for a picnic on the beach. Onto a sure thing, Ryder hurries home, presumably to get condoms and in the meantime, Jade bumps into Roo who invites her round for dinner. Jade is hideously rude to her.

Martha and Alf start out happy in their new living situation. He even drinks her healthy smoothies. Yes, really. Alf Stewart. However, he soon gets under her feet and the pair of them quickly start sniping at each other. As Martha takes up art classes and makes friends, Alf begins to feel shut out of the new life she is carving out for herself now she has moved to Summer Bay. Roo encourages Alf to get on with his own thing instead of sitting around and waiting for her. However, when he then becomes unavailable, Martha completely freaks out. Alf understands her mental health battle and pledges his full support. On her day off, Super Doc Alex visits Alf and Martha to help put some things in place to make Martha’s transition to the Bay easier.

(Channel 5, 1:15pm & 6pm (sneak peek, weekdays on 5STAR at 6:30pm)

Neighbours: The Wrong End of the Stick

Monday 27^th – Friday 31^st January 2020

Sheila and Terese are shocked and disappointed when Roxy resigns from The Waterhole and both persuade her to at least think about changing her mind. Meanwhile, Harlow decides to throw a party for Australia Day. She has worked out what’s wrong with Roxy, who confesses to the kiss with Shane. For the greater good, Harlow advises Roxy to stay quiet. Still torn up with guilt, Roxy offers Dipi an awkward apology without actually telling her what she is sorry for. Dipi is left feeling awkward when she realises that Shane has told Roxy that she didn’t like them being friends.

When Kyle comforts tearful Roxy, Dipi gets the wrong end of the stick and publically berates Kyle for harassing Roxy. The party quickly breaks up and Dipi has a lot of apologies to make, although Shane tries to keep his wife away from Roxy. She ignores him and goes out of her way to bond with Roxy, feeling she is vulnerable and in need of support.

While Toadie begins to notice that Shane is harbouring a secret, Dipi breaks Roxy with kindness and the vulnerable young woman blurts out that she kissed Shane. Dipi is devastated and lays into both Roxy and Shane for their betrayal, moving into the Canning house in order to get some space from her husband. Yashvi is devastated by the potential breakdown of her parents’ marriage. Paul, Karl and Toadie attempt to support Shane, who snaps at them that it was just a misunderstanding and he is not in their ‘cheaters club’. Fair enough.

Roxy continues her plan to resign and move away from Erinsborough but Sheila is persuaded to take pity on her and encourage her to stay, thanks to Kyle. See! This is the Kyle we know and love, not the waste of space he was at the end of his relationship with Amy! In a somewhat random storyline, Karl teaches him first aid with a doll called Bianca, which he takes home to practice on, only for Bea, Finn and Toadie to get the wrong end of stick, if you know what I mean…

Chloe gives Pierce and Lisa her blessing to go ahead with the baby plan. However, the moment she does, she admits to Elly that she knows she has made a mistake. The couple break the news to Lisa that they have changed their minds. Hendrix is confused by all the mixed messages he is receiving from his parents. Lisa bonds with Aaron and David, who are struggling to live with Elly in the wake of the fall out over baby Aster.

Ned seeks Paul’s help with keeping Zenin under control. Ned then visits Kane, one of the fight club members in jail to get some information and advice. His contact admits to Ned that he feels safer behind bars than he would in Ned’s position out in the big wide world with Zenin after him. The problem is that Ned nor Bea when he attempts to quiz her, remember anything significant about the fight club but he can’t prove it so they’re still in danger. Another problem is that this is one of the most boring stories in the history of Neighbours. Ned keeps the problem from Yashvi who is stressed enough with her police exams and her parents’ marital problems but carefully keeps guard of her without her realising. Anyway, with some theft of some legal papers, he manages to strike a deal with Zenin and thinks it’s all sorted. But of course it’s not. Axle Whitehead’s contract wouldn’t be that short. While Ned takes Yashvi into her police exam, Zenin breaks into Ned’s car…

Neighbours is on Channel 5, 1:45pm and repeated at 5:30pm

Hollyoaks: Homophobia, Literally

(Monday 27^th – Friday 31^st January)

Maxine agrees to keep Liam’s client, Clayton, company in The Loft, making Damon jealous but little does poor Maxine know, she is being set up as sex worker.

Nancy rants to Kyle about Charlie falling asleep in class. They worry that the reason he is spending so much time playing computer games and having a bad attitude is because he is feeling neglected. During a deep clean of the restaurant, Nancy and Kyle reveal to Darren and Mandy that they are expecting a baby. Darren is not pleased.

James has no choice but to return to the house when he sees Romeo and Juliet about to walk in and find Donna Marie on the floor. She is still alive and they hurriedly call an ambulance who bring her back from the brink. She refuses to go to hospital, not wanting test results to reveal that she has OD’d on illegal drugs. But she does take the time to reveal that James left her for dead, destroying his relationship with Juliet all over again. While Juliet is still determined to leave with her mother, Romeo realises that Donna Marie intended to take the money and skip off to London without her. Juliet is heartbroken. Romeo sends his mother away and Juliet moves in with Leela.

Jordan continues to hang around Sid, who is reluctant to get involved in his criminal activity now that he has settled with Leela. However, Jordan is convinced that in Hollyoaks Village and specifically the school is a goldmine. And speaking of Leela, the pair of them look like they are getting very flirtatious! She really can pick ‘em! He is also very interested in Juliet, as a target for pushing drugs. She skips school after her row with James and spends the day with Sid and Jordan in their old neighbourhood. Jordan tells her that if she has somewhere better to go, that’s where she should be. However, it’s quite clear that he and his friend Mason have big plans for her and the rest of the kids in their drug running business.

John Paul cries off his first day as Deputy Head (with Nancy covering for him) so that he can look after drunk and depressed James in the wake of the fallout with Juliet. He sobers him up and gives him some tough love before they inevitably end up in bed together. Also inevitably, afterwards, James dismisses the idea of a relationship as he is still haunted by his guilt over shooting Mercedes.

James and John Paul can’t resist each other…

When Mason shows up at the school, he and Sid fight. Imran stands up for Sid but when Nancy attempts to break up the fight, she gets stabbed in the leg! Mason runs off but the school goes into lockdown and the parents in the ‘Mums of Hollyoaks’ group are contacted urgently to collect their kids. I don’t know why but there’s something very funny about Marnie, Misbah, Leela and Mandy all being in some kind of WhatsApp group together! Good parent Mandy ignores the messages and shuts off her phone to go for a weird night out with Toby and Celeste where she and Darren don’t even realise they’re being made fun of. But then Mandy doesn’t even realise that her partner is hideously depressed and in tears whenever she’s not in the room, so…

Tragedy strikes when Nancy is stabbed at the school…

Anyway, back at the school, we meet new PC Kiss who is in charge of the investigation, interviewing the kids and trying to work out what happened. While Sid tries to persuade Imran not to trust the police, Imran cannot understand why Sid would stand up for someone who has just stabbed a teacher. Jordan is furious with Mason and takes the knife from him. And his trainers. Obvs. Juliet still doesn’t want anything to do with her family. Mandy doesn’t communicate with her kid until the next morning. Nancy gets the all clear but accidentally lets slip to moody Charlie about the baby. The teachers, parents and kids all get together in the café to unite and ensure that they will not be a community divided and confirm that there is no place for knife crime in their school or their village. Sadly, that night, Nancy has a miscarriage.

The Doctors conclude that she may have lost the baby anyway and it may not have been a direct result of the stabbing, although that is no real consolation. Sadly, Nancy and Kyle are unable to draw together over their loss. She completely shuts down and shuts him out, deciding that the baby just wasn’t to be. He turns to Jordan to buy drugs. And it doesn’t help when Nancy allows Darren to comfort her. However, Nancy is gunning for Sid, correctly convinced that he know the person who stabbed her and desperate to protect the kids in the school. The others parents, minus Leela are all on board.

Meanwhile, Darren encourages Tony to get out of the house and into the restaurant and begin to put his life back together. Tony is also the only one who even begins to notice that Darren isn’t himself. However, even he doesn’t realise the extent of Darren’s mental health crisis as, alone, Darren constantly breaks down in tears and even in company, he struggles to hold things together. His own partner is completely oblivious, currently obsessed with impressing new neighbours, Toby and Celeste who are only keeping her on side as they are concerned that in her drugged up state a few weeks prior, she may have seen something she shouldn’t have. They plan a party to step up their boring campaign against Martine. Luke apologises to Tony as on the day of the tunnel collapse, he was convinced he saw him in the back of Breda’s car but dismissed it as a drunken hallucination. He is torn up with guilt as he could have saved him. Tony is forgiving and understanding.

Despite the complication of the stabbing, Jordan is not put off laying down the foundations of making Hollyoaks High his new stomping ground. He continues to put pressure on Sid to make connections for him and together, they connect with Charlie online.

Meanwhile, Scott is crestfallen when Azim is offered a job in London, believing that to be the end of their relationship. However, Azim publically asks Scott (as Anita) to come with him to London to start a new life together. Mitchell, who has been set up on (and ruins) a date with a girl called Abigail, witnesses it all and is crushed. He responds by getting very drunk and in one of the most uncomfortable and upsetting scenes in soap, he hurls homophobic abuse at Azim. He isn’t physically violent but he’s verbally aggressive and makes Azim feel scared and unsafe. It doesn’t matter that Mitchell is gay and scared and unhappy with himself. He is hideous to Azim. It’s horrible to watch. Even thinking about it upsets me.