Emmerdale: #FreeMarlonDingle

(Monday 27^th – Friday 31^st January 2020)

Billy and Priya arrive at work and quickly discover Graham’s body, barely buried in leaves. The police descend on the site, interviewing Billy and Priya, who mention the argument between Graham and Marlon the day before. Really helpful.

At their house, Risha and Manpreet look after Jai who has woken up battered and bruised in the shed with no memory of the night before. Rishi explains to him that Jai tried to punch him, he was on drugs and Laurel broke up with him. Jai then takes a call from Priya, informing him that Graham has been murdered. Jai begins to panic that he may be responsible for Graham death, recalling the car accident and argument he had with Graham on the day he died. He bumps into Jimmy who has a go at him for his behaviour the day before. What he doesn’t remember is that he attacked him the night before and that’s how he ended up covered in blood. Thankfully, Jimmy is very understanding and doesn’t press charges, especially when Jai decides to go into rehab. Their conversation also reveals that Nicola and Laurel have been secretly friends for weeks! Al is keen to swoop in on the business while Jai is away.

Meanwhile, Marlon supports Rhona who is deeply worried about Graham who hasn’t returned home. She is distraught when the police turns up and break the news that Graham has been murdered.

Rhona learns that Graham has been murdered…

Up at Home Farm, Al continues to take the credit for Graham’s murder in order to take the money from Kim to pay off his debts. The police visit and inform Kim that Graham is dead. She is furious with Al for not hiding the body. Well, he didn’t bother to actually commit the murder so why bother hiding the body, eh? Literally the laziest murderer ever!

When Jamie arrives back, Kim notices the cut on his eye. Andrea has also been acting shifty and unasked, provides her husband with an alibi for the night before, little knowing that he already has one – he spent that night with Belle. Well, we all saw that one coming, didn’t we?! Apart from Ellis, who walks in on a rather awkward conversation between them. Poor Ellis. He has no idea. About anything. At all. Since they recast him, he has lost actual brain cells. And an entire personality. I can’t help but wonder why they bothered.

In the pub, Charity is full of apologies for Vanessa over cancelling the wedding but her fiancée is suspicious over what she got up to with Ryan in all the time she was absent for the rest of the day. She reluctantly admits that she and Ryan stole back the money that Ryan and Graham had stolen from Kim. Vanessa is furious and insists that Charity be honest but Charity adamantly stays quiet. Overhearing their argument, Noah concludes that his mother killed Graham but thankfully, she is able to persuade him otherwise. But an argument between them leads Noah to finally tell the truth about the drugs. Armed with her new knowledge, Charity challenges Sarah about what she has been up to, although Sarah stands up for herself over the fact that she got Danny arrested.

Marlon is questioned by the police about Graham’s death before he is publically arrested for murder. While Chas and Paddy take care of Rhona, the Dingles descend on the police station demanding that they free Marlon! Too right! While Marlon protests his innocence, explaining that he couldn’t find Graham in the woods so he just went home. But between the CCTV evidence of them both entering the woods, fingerprints on the car that hit Graham (from their earlier argument) and the murder weapon, which Pierce has planted in his house, the CPS have enough to charge him with murder! No! #FreeMarlonDingle Even Kim feels bad when she hears about it.

Starting to doubt her ex’s innocence, Rhona takes Paddy’s angry advice and goes to visit Marlon in custody. She questions him about Graham’s death and he angrily denies any involvement. He is convinced he is being set up and that the same person who planted the torch, stole Leo’s passport. He begs her to believe him and to help him find Graham’s real killer who is still out there. Yes, Rhona, you really need to work this one out for your own safety! You are in a lot more danger than you realise!

Pierce continues to make his presence felt in Rhona’s life…

With her new determination that Marlon is in fact innocent, Rhona is determined to prove it and establish exactly what happened on the night Graham died. While people begin to suspect that Kim had some kind of involvement in Graham’s murder (and are sort of correct and incorrect at the same time), Rhona finds a bloodied receipt for antiseptic wipes at home, recalling the morning that Graham had an injured hand (from assaulting Pierce) but wouldn’t tell her what happened. She tracks down Pierce’s address, not knowing who lives there but is caught searching it by a random man who claims not to know Graham and sends her away. When Rhona returns to her worried friends, convinced that Graham’s murder has something to do with Kim, the bloke reports his encounter with Rhona to his housemate – Pierce. Pierce is pleased that Rhona has come to find him. The weirdo sees it as a sign that they are meant to be together. He leaves Rhona some flowers inside her house, freaking her out. But the card on the flowers falls underneath the sofa. I read online that the card will be the new Ashley/Emma tape! How infuriating was that one?! Pierce watches Rhona through the window as she sleeps.

Meanwhile, Kim and Jamie discover that Graham has left his whole estate to Millie. Jamie and Belle are struggling to be around each other after their one night stand. Andrea anxiously confesses that on the night that Graham died, she had been drinking and accidentally ran over Jai’s dog. The dog came out from nowhere, she panicked and buried it and has been bearing the guilt ever since. With Jai in rehab, she confesses to Rishi and Manpreet (who I think looks a little shifty). But Rishi is genuinely kind and understanding about the whole thing. Al takes over the running of the outdoor pursuit centre.

Marlon is left heartbroken when he is denied bail, as is poor April. Ellis and Billy are doing their best to look after her but Mandy and Cain have to step in and help when things get too much. Mandy decides they need a national #FreeMarlonDingle campaign. I agree!

Kind Victoria is concerned when she notices that nobody has seen Wendy for a while and Liam and Manpreet, who look set to fire her, can’t get hold of her. Luke visits and attempts to get her out of the dark hole she is in but it’ll be a long journey as she tries to come to terms with who her other son really was.

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

Coronation Street: Measles

(Monday 27^th – Friday 31^st January 2020)

Bertie is rushed into hospital with a temperature and a rash. With Daniel desperately worried and Peter and Beth by his side, Daniel privately admits to the doctors that he didn’t complete Bertie’s jabs. Bertie is diagnosed with measles. Overwrought with guilt over putting his son in danger, Daniel throws everyone out of the hospital. He temporarily lets Bethany in but when they hug for a moment, he feels guilty and throws her out too. She stays the night at the hospital anyway and thankfully, the next day, Bertie is out of danger.

Maria is also unwell, which is clearly also going to turn out to be measles, especially as she is the one who noticed last week that Bertie had a temperature. She sends Gary on his trip away, prompting Ali to come and check on her, hoping that things have gone downhill in the relationship. She sends him packing. However, the next day, Maria is still really poorly and accepts when Ali wants to take her to the Medical Centre. Sadly, it’s there that she discovers she has had a miscarriage. Ali examines her and confirms that she too has measles, which is the cause of the miscarriage. She is devastated and opens up to him about a miscarriage she had twelve years ago. She is heartbroken as she breaks the news to Gary and perplexed as to how she even contracted measles until her mother confirms that neither she nor Kirk ever got their jabs.

Daniel cowardly avoids telling Gary about Bertie when he breaks the news to him about the miscarriage so it’s up to Audrey to break the news and Beth informs them that Daniel didn’t complete the baby’s vaccinations. Of course, Gary responds with violence and punches Daniel, who takes it, feeling extremely guilty about Maria losing the baby. However, Maria is furious with Gary, pointing out that her mother is just as much to blame. The couple do calm down and comfort each other in the end. Grief stricken Daniel allows Bethany to comfort him, hallucinating for a moment that she is Sinead. They share a kiss.

Daniel is a ball of confusion… I mean, look at his beard!

Tyrone proposes that he and Fiz suggest allowing Jade and Hope to see each other, assuming that Social Services will say no. That way, it will be Social Services that will be the ‘bad guys’, not them. Unfortunately, the plan backfires as it just makes Hope obsessed with seeing Jade, provoking more rows at home and as it happens, Social Services are open to Jade seeing her sister under supervision if Fiz and Tyrone are happy with the idea. The couple have even more problems on their hands when Hope floods the school bathroom, although the Head Teacher is more than compassionate. When they speak to Hope about it, she informs them that she wanted to get expelled so that Jade could home school her again. Fiz meets up with Jade who claims to have seen the error of her ways. Social Services agree to assess Jade for access to Hope.

While Charlie, who clearly wants Tim back, settles herself into the Rovers, Tim lies to her about Sally and continues to nag her about signing the divorce papers, something she appears to be delaying. Tim enlists Abi’s help in trying to move her on but it’s clumsy and misfires. Charlie tells Tim that she has scored a flight attendant job and potential new flat but still no closer to getting her to sign the divorce papers. Sally returns home, ready to start again in the belief that nobody knows about the bigamy situation and that it’s been dealt with but gets a shock when she realises that half the Street knows, Tim has passed her off as her sister, Charlie is working the Rovers and has fallen back in love with him. Charlie is devastated to have been led on and there is quite the awkward confrontation in the pub. However, she does eventually sign the papers. But is there any point when Tim’s marriage to Sally is now in tatters all over again? He decides to hand himself into the police as a bigamist, believing it’s the right thing to do as the story hits the papers online.

Geoff is left with no choice but to let Yasmeen spend time with Alya when she comes to the restaurant to see her, however, he cannot resist making snide comments about her not pulling her weight at work. When Alya is concerned, Yasmeen insists that everything is fine. If only Alya could work out the truth! But when Geoff is booked as a magician for Michael’s daughter’s birthday party, he loses his temper with his wife for not being able to concentrate on his ramblings about the show while she is being worked to the bone, cleaning at home. She is already in trouble for having doubted his ability to do a whole show. He can’t stop laying into her about anything he can think of, including her imaginary drink problem. However, he realises he has gone too far when she decides to go to an AA meeting with Peter, knowing that reaching out to other people will mean that he could lose his grip on her. When she returns from the first meeting, feeling reassured that actually, she only has a mild issue with alcohol compared to a lot of the people she met, Geoff is enraged and makes her drink an entire bottle of red wine under desperate protest. It’s a hideous moment as she begs to stop and he forces her to drink. When she is finished, she runs upstairs in distress, just as Peter knocks on the door. It’s a convenient moment for Geoff to inform Peter that the meeting drove Yasmeen to drink and she won’t be attending any more sessions.

Chesney and Gemma return home with the news that the yobs who set fire to the house have been arrested and also that Frescos want them back as part of the ad campaign with the children. They are shocked to learn that Bernie has moved on. When the extremely airbrushed posters are published, Gemma is particularly upset, feeling they have been misrepresented. She drags Chesney to see Imran but the contract they signed is watertight.

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

Eastenders: Over the Edge

(Monday 27^th – Friday 31^st January 2020)

Leo shows just how vile he can be when he goads Kat, ridiculing her and shaming her. She trashes his stall and knees him in the balls. As for Whitney, she is so stressed that her hair is starting to fall out. Needing to distract themselves from Leo, they decide to go out a party with Kush and Martin, who considering he is at risk of being hunted down by the Mitchells, is extremely jolly. Of course, Leo shows up and harasses Whitney and as soon as they’re out on the balcony, we know someone is going over it. An argument breaks out and Kush steps in and… over Leo goes. Didn’t I say Kush and Kat were too happy?

Martin, Kat and Whitney quickly cover and ensure that everyone knows it was an accident. But Leo, who is miraculously pretty much unharmed, makes it clear that Kush pushed him intentionally (he didn’t) and he is arrested. While Kat defends her man, Kush is devastated to be responsible for injuring Leo, even though it really was an accident. Whitney takes it upon herself to persuade Leo to drop the charges against Kush, even suggesting that they get back together. Sadly, he sees through it and he takes her little book of evidence against him. No chance, Whit. But a good try.

Linda battles her addiction (to the most disgusting looking bottle of wine in the world)…

Mick continues to struggle to manage his own mental health and Linda’s excessive drinking. They have a heart to heart and she admits that she doesn’t want to stop. As much as she hates her behaviour and she is mortified and disgusted with herself for missing Christmas Day with her son and wetting herself in front of her friends, alcohol is the only thing that will blot out the pain she’s in. Despite feeling like they might be getting somewhere with discussing rehab or a support group, Mick gets distracted by the social worker arriving and leaves Linda alone with a bottle of wine. He genuinely has a successful meeting with Ollie and social worker who believes he is providing a happy home for his son. Cue Linda marching in drunk and injured from the other night. Worried that the social worker thinks he has been harming his wife, Mick has no choice but to be honest and admit that Linda is an alcoholic and they need help.

Father, mother and son have one good day together where things almost feel normal until Linda takes a call from Social Services and she discovers Mick’s ‘betrayal’. The next day, she takes Ollie out of school on a fake dentist appointment, gets drunk, scares the kid and disrupts the whole family all over again.

The Panesar Brothers excitedly welcome their mother, Suki to the Square. She is dying of cancer but clearly quite a formidable woman. I think it will take me a while to work her out. She has a brief meeting with Jean, who I wonder if she might become friends with. She also demands to see Ash and they reunite but clearly a lot of hurt has passed between them. It’s also clear, especially after a conversation with Jean who really does have cancer, that she later repeats to her family, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the woman except perhaps compulsive lying, a controlling nature and cruelty.

Sharon is convinced that Phil has taken Denny to Portugal with him but actually, he never showed up and has since been hiding out at the empty house (Kathy has been away). Shirley tracks the kid down and gives him some tough love. You’ve got to love Shirley, haven’t you? However, things go drastically wrong when she finally brings Denny round into the Warring House of Beale where he is absolutely brutal to Sharon, Ian and Kathy. Losing his temper, having tried desperately to bring the family back together, Bobby tells Denny exactly what he things of him. But in one of the most awful moments ever, he shoves him and he hits his head on the coffee table, just as Lucy did. I feel so, so terrible for Bobby (I couldn’t care less about Denny – sorry, not sorry). Bobby has tried so hard to put his life back together and seek redemption for what he did. He didn’t shove him out of cruelty. He shoved him out of frustration. Denny was being hideous. And for the that exact thing to happen was terrible. Terrible. But very good viewing.

In one of those annoying side stories, the Council come calling to find Tiffany living in Ted’s flat and aren’t happy to find him subletting. She therefore pretends to be his wife and gets Patrick to pose as Ted. As if that would even work. Meanwhile, Keegan loses his contract with Gray’s firm on suspicion of theft. He believes it is due to race, compounding his experience with the stop and searches with the police.

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

Doctors: The Spice of Life

(Monday 27^th – Friday 31^st January 2020)

Without consulting Zara or The Mill, Daniel takes up a job as a GP at the prison in a desperate bid to help Jimmi. He is horrified to find his friend spaced out on spice and desperate for anything else to numb the pain. It’s a heartbreaking scene as Jimmi breaks down and begs for help. With Daniel’s support, Jimmi resolves to get clean but it’s a difficult road of temptation, especially sharing a cell with the vile Bowser. Al is furious when he finds out about Daniel’s new role, purely out of jealous that Daniel is the central figure in helping Jimmi when he is his best friend. I mean, he doesn’t even ask after him! Surely it’s not about who does what as long as someone does something?

Ayesha has a plan for her dissertation that will bring together patients suffering with chronic conditions. Zara rejects it at first, of course but eventually comes round to the idea and all it really makes me think is that I wish my own surgery were even a quarter as good as The Mill!

Sid accuses Bear of not giving the MSU the same commitment that Becky did and invites him to see exactly the kind of work that goes into it. When Bear accidentally walks in on a treatment, he faints at the procedure. Denying that he has a blood phobia, he becomes entangled in a lie about being diabetic. It all tumbles out later with Emma when he faints at the sight of another patient’s blood and he gets a serious telling off for lying about having a very serious medical condition. His week gets worse when he and a girl in a café accidentally pick up each other’s phones, leading her and her boyfriend to refuse to give his back. When he tries to force their hand, he nearly gets arrested. He ends up supporting the girl who is in an abusive relationship. But I still don’t buy it. There is something dodgy about this guy…

Karen is shocked to find herself supporting a woman who has escaped a terrible marriage and now, feels she is improving her mental health by posting nude pictures online for likes and cash. In a similar story, we meet a mildly famous social media ‘influencer’ who has so much pressure on him to be perfect online that he cannot sleep and is horribly depressed.

Al is disappointed by a surprise University reunion. Sid uncovers a rare condition after a patient hits his head and develops a new skill of playing the piano. But his horrible partner demands that he supress his new skill and not live his dream. Zara backs out of learning BSL but an embarrassing translation moment for Ruhma leads to her being asked out on a date!

Doctors is on BBC1, weekdays at 1:45pm

Home and Away: Family Matters

Monday 27^th – Friday 31^st January 2020

Willow rushes to the hospital the moment she hears that Bella has been admitted with tetanus. While Mason expresses concern to Alex that Bella is currently living in the same house as Grace and it’ll take a couple of weeks for her immunisations to kick in, Alex is quickly distracted by the arrival of Willow. Mason observes the ‘secret’ couple with amusement as they are very cute and silly around each other. While Mason goes in to begin the vaccinations, Bella is distraught at not being allowed to go home with Colby and changes her mind about having the vaccinations completely. Alex arrives to explain the necessity of the vaccinations again but when she doesn’t get anywhere, Willow gives the teenager a good talking to! Apparently Alex thought Scary Willow only came out at the gym!

While Mac continues to feel shut out, Alex and Willow couldn’t be closer. They’re even finishing each other’s sentences! As they find time for a quick coffee break, they hold hands in the lift on their way. How sweet. Mason also thinks it’s sweet but when he mentions it at the nurse’s station, Alex adamantly shuts him down, telling him off for gossiping about her private life. Clearly, that’s not what he meant to do, poor guy. He was just trying to be supportive. I mean, you’ve got to love Mason, haven’t you? Especially when he’s all sad after being told off.

Alex frets to Willow over the incident with Mason, feeling bad about it but also not wanting their relationship discussed in public when Willow hadn’t told anyone they were together. Willow is touched that Alex is so protective of her. They establish that they are officially dating and ‘girlfriends’. Alex tracks Mason down and makes amends. He frets that he has disappointed her, which he hasn’t. She explains that things are new and nobody really knows yet. He tells her what a cute couple he thinks they are.

Mac decides to take matters into her own hands and goes to visit Bella at the hospital, only for the little brat to demand that she leave immediately. Mac thinks Bella is rude. Colby stands up for Bella. I agree with Mac. I think Colby is being pretty rude right now, to be honest. I know Bella is poorly but as Dean says when he bumps into him, would it kill him to send a text? Colby does at least scold Bella for her behaviour. When Bella doesn’t want to leave hospital after Alex discharges her, Willow is concerned that Bella is milking the situation in order to push Colby and Mac apart, prompting a row between Willow and Colby, meaning she has to cancel a date with Alex in order to sort things out with him and help him move stroppy Bella into Irene’s. Colby makes a date with Mac and then breaks it immediately.

Alf and Martha prepare a special breakfast to tell Roo and Ryder about their plans to move in together. Roo is a little shocked and will also miss Leah now that she is moving in with Justin. Ryder is more concerned with swooning over Jade although his bubble bursts when he realises that she spent the previous night with a random barman. A glutton for punishment, Ryder continues to spend time with Jade even though she continuously makes fun of him. At work, they end up kissing. I genuinely don’t know who I judge more, her for being a cow or him for being so pathetic and needy. I mean, you dumped Raffy for this? Really?

John and Marilyn suggest a welcome home party for Martha, although Alf is hesitant. At home, Roo and Alf are all set up and waiting for Martha. Alf is even wearing a new shirt. Then Martha calls to say she’s not coming. While Roo is sure it’s just a delay, Alf is convinced she’s got cold feet and has changed her mind. Roo interferes and phones Martha, confirming that she’s just behind with her packing and she’ll be there the next day instead. It’s a rather abrupt homecoming as Alf and Martha are both grumpy and cannot seem to get along, especially when John and Marilyn let slip that he thought she wasn’t coming. They all endure a rather awkward lunch before Alf and Martha finally have a heart to heart.

The Astoni Family enjoy some time together on the beach when Ziggy takes a call from an unknown number. She is thrilled to be offered a week’s trial as a mechanic in a racing pit crew. The only snag is that if she gets the job, she would have to move away. Ziggy backs out of telling Dean but then her parents put their foot in it. After some initial shock, the couple talk things through. He tells her honestly that he doesn’t want her to go so backs out. Unhappy with the decision, Maggie talks to Dean about stopping Ziggy from following her dreams. Dean steps up and pushes her to go ahead. She is thrilled. Reassuring themselves that it’s just a week, the couple say goodbye. However, later, Dean confides in Ben that he thinks Ziggy will be gone forever once she finds her feet in her new life. Ben treats Maggie to a date, wanting to make up for the past few months.

Dean worries that Ziggy will leave him behind…

Robbo broaches Lance’s request for Jasmine to testify in court. Jasmine is willing, wanting to do everything she can to put Victor away and live a happy life with Robbo. When Grace won’t settle, Robbo panics that she is unwell and has no faith in the fact that his wife is a trained paediatric nurse. Having confirmed with a Doctor that she is indeed absolutely fine, Robbo has to apologise to Jasmine for not trusting her opinion. When Robbo falls asleep on the couch and Grace wakes up, Jasmine takes the baby out for a walk. Jasmine is clearly besotted with Grace. Robbo wakes up in a panic after a nightmare about Victor. Not finding the note Jasmine left, he races after her and snatches Grace, telling his wife off for going out. They argue and it’s clear that he still doesn’t trust her with his daughter.

The Doctors find a second bleed on Tori’s brain, meaning she is more likely to have major disabilities if she wakes up. Justin is devastated and struggles to let Leah support him as he avoids breaking the news to her loved ones. Eventually, Leah has to bring him home from the garage. He breaks down on her, having lost hope that Tori will survive. Upon hearing the news, Jasmine begs Robbo to let her in, bearing in mind that their family could become a permanent arrangement. Robbo finally opens up to Jasmine about losing his children.

By the end of the week, Alex and Willow are flirting on the beach and making jokes about needing cold showers. They continue to flirt at the gym before Robbo relents and hands Grace over to Justin and actually does some work at the gym to give Willow some time off. Alex and Willow lose the whole day drinking, chatting and laughing together on a date at Salt. Willow then persuades Alex to go skinny dippy with her before heading home for their first time together. No need for anymore cold showers then…!

Hollyoaks: Goodbye Jesse Donovan

(Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th January 2020)

Still at the wedding, Jesse is determined to tell Sylver about the shooting, although he never actually gets round to it. He announces to everyone, including horrified Courtney that the pair of them are moving away after the wedding. After the wedding, while Courtney packs for the honeymoon and prepares for her wedding night with Jesse, her groom gets drunk in The Loft, chattering away about honesty with Maxine (of all people) and then stumbles outside, collapsing on the ground.

Mitchell cannot control his jealousy over Scott and Azim. Still thinking he is straight, Martine gives her son advice to go after his ex but it all falls flat when Scott informs him that he isn’t interested in him anymore. This leads to an argument between mother and son, where he reminds her that she wanted nothing to do with him as a baby.

Out walking and upset after her argument with Mitchell, Martine finds Jesse on the ground and calls and ambulance. She then calls Mitchell who rushes out and gives him CPR. Oblivious Courtney wakes up to her honeymoon alarm at half three in the morning having not even realised that her new husband hasn’t been home. Meanwhile, Grace and James are on tenterhooks, waiting for the proverbial to hit the fan but Sylver calls to say he’s on his way back and he clearly hasn’t spoken to Jesse and at this rate, he never will. Grace, James, Maxine, Mitchell and Martine converge outside just as the paramedics decide to give up on Jesse. Well, now I feel guilty about complaining about the boring wedding stuff! I liked Jesse! It’s obvious now that he was going to die, being that they were overdoing how happy they were, which is making me suddenly very concerned about Kat and Kush in Eastenders…

Courtney frets to Leela and Liam over why Jesse hasn’t come home and why she can’t get in touch with him. Sylver arrives and offers his full support to Grace who continues to lie to him about pretty much everything. Grace then has to break the news to Courtney (and Liam and Leela) that Jesse is dead. A very emotional sequence at the end of Tuesday’s (E4) episode. Goodbye, Jesse. We will miss you.

At home, Mitchell and Martine comfort each other over the loss of Jesse. She apologises for not being there for him and begs to know why he is so unhappy. He finally admits that he is gay. She completely accepts him and quickly works out that the person he is in love with is Scott. Mitchell is still not prepared to come out and certainly doesn’t want to tell his Grandfather. Scott is proud of Mitchell when he says he came out to his Mum but has to let him down gently when Mitchell still hopes that there is a chance for them. Encouraged by Martine, Mitchell hops onto a dating site but things go wrong when he is nervous about being out in public and his date assumes he is a timewaster and walks out on him. He tells his mother that gay dating is not for him.

Mitchell opens up to his mother about his sexuality…

Damon checks on Maxine and notices how cold it is in her flat. She feels guilty for serving Jesse drinks and being the last person to see him before he died. She tells him how upset he was before he died. Damon visits Maxine again the next day and offers kindness to his ex-wife.

Liam and Courtney turn on each other, each wanting to know what on earth happened to Jesse. The pathology report confirms that Jesse died from alcohol poisoning. Liam is confused as Jesse never hit the bottle that hard. Reading a drunk text from Jesse that says he has something to tell her, Courtney tearfully concludes that he felt their marriage was a mistake. No, Courtney, no! Grace and James are torn up with guilt over having another death on their conscience but Grace’s response is to threaten James into silence. Upon the discovery that Maxine served drinks to Jesse before he died, Liam decides that she needs to pay for his death. He adds her picture to his dartboard, which already has Mercedes pinned to it. Creepy!

While Maxine deals with mouldy bread and no money, Liam winds himself up with footage of Maxine serving Jesse more drinks when he was already drunk. Haunted by the fact that she knows she is responsible for him drinking so much in the first place, Grace desperately tries to stop her brother punishing Maxine. The police come calling and ask Maxine questions about Jesse’s death. When they realise that Maxine doesn’t even work at the club and Jesse continued drinking after she left, the Detective tells Liam that there’s no case to answer. Liam visits Maxine and discovers that all her cupboards are bare and she has no heating. They discuss their love for Jesse and he gives her money, indicating that he will help her in the longer term. I don’t buy it for a second. His first task is to persuade Maxine to entertain some important clients at The Loft. Hmm…

John Paul starts working at the school and immediately gives Juliet detention, during which they bond over her dreams for the future. James accepts the hand of friendship from John Paul. Liam catches James kissing John Paul. John Paul is amused while James is surprised that Liam is so upset; he assumed they were just a casual thing. Well, they’re over now apparently and James joins her and Mercedes on the creepy dartboard (with Maxine right in the centre!)

James and John Paul have a surprise reunion…

James and Marnie struggle when Donna Marie throws her weight around at home. Juliet walks in on James giving Donna Marie a ‘loan’, prompting her to blurt out to her daughter that James and Marnie set her up for killing Mac. James takes the money back and throws her out of the house. They explain that it was the only thing they could do to stop Romeo going to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. In a rare moment of genuine emotion, James tells Juliet how much he loves her. Unfortunately, Juliet doesn’t buy it and decides to go to London with her mother. The family soon get wind of the plan and when James, who has just been asked out by John Paul, comes home to find Donna Marie off her face on drugs on the floor, he is faced with a moral dilemma. He fails. He takes a photo of Donna Marie to prove to Juliet that she can’t trust her Mum. Then he calls 999 but cancels the call and walks out.

Jordan visits his cousin, Sid at home and immediately charms Leela. He also lets slip that today is Stuart’s birthday. Leela continues to encourage Sid about his future and even buys him a guitar, presumably the one that we saw smashed to pieces in the flash forward at New Year. However, what Leela doesn’t know is that Jordan has persuaded Sid to look after a load of ketamine for him. So, this county lines storyline really is beginning. I mean, I just don’t know. It’s promising a lot but I genuinely can’t tell if it’s going to be amazing or really long and drawn out. I mean, it’s January. It’s not going to even start to conclude until te end of December, guys!!!

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

These reviews are based on the E4 episodes

Doctors: The Search for Truth

(Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th 2020)

Jimmi is struggling in the wake of the death of the inmate he so desperately tried to save last week. He is then told by Al that he is struggling to keep The Icon going. On top of that, he is landed with a new, less friendly cellmate. Not a great start to the week. His problems get worse when Rob comes to visit him, making him even more of a target for his bully cellmate.

Emma and Rob team up to figure out just who might have a grudge against Jimmi and want to set him up. They receive a call from Jimmi himself who tells them more about his childhood and confesses that he assaulted his Dad the last time he saw him. Could that be enough of a motive? They are also intrigued as to whether the mugging last year is connected to this. Well, it did seem a bit random and they didn’t revisit it so quite possibly. But Bear is not yet on the list and I remain convinced that he has something to do with all of this… He’s acting shadier and shadier by the day. However, he has problems of his own when a disgruntled woman causes mayhem in the waiting room!

Jimmi takes matters into his own hands by meeting up with his father who is shocked to find him in prison. He was on holiday at the time of his arrest, which checks out with Rob and denies having anything to do with setting him up. He is deeply unkind to Jimmi and still denies child abuse. Jimmi meanwhile, is struggling with other prisoners needing him to be their Doctor and his vile cellmate harassing him and getting off his face on spice each day. Life behind bars is getting harder as each day passes and he is beginning to lose hope. Feeling like he has no options left, Jimmi turns to spice to get him through. An inmate he refused to help gets badly assaulted, although by this point, I think he has actually stopped caring.

Valerie meets up with Rabbi David to learn more about her ‘Jewish Heritage’ and I am possibly about to eat the words from my previous blog about it being an annoying, daft Valerie storyline as it looks like there a genuine spark between them. And I am all for Valerie finding some love in her life! They even meet up a second time and go for lunch where they continue to bond. But alas, Valerie and I both have our hearts broken when David decides it’s too soon after the breakdown of his marriage to start another relationship and he doesn’t want to hurt her (or me, of course) by making false promises. I really do hope they return to this storyline at some point. There was a genuine connection here.

Ruhma decides to learn BSL after struggling to communicate with a deaf patient in labour the previous week and also being that she too is losing her hearing. After a misunderstanding, Zara decides to join her on the course. This could be a potential disaster or a new friendship. The first lesson doesn’t get off to a great start for their friendship though when the teacher points Ruhma out as a gifted student, putting Zara’s nose right out of joint!

I don’t often report the ‘side stories’ but I liked this one: Rob teams up with a junior police officer who is intent on solving a spate of burglaries on a particular estate. She shows a particular interest in a known criminal who has been recently released from prison and is dating a young, single mother who she is also particularly interested in. Rob digs a little deeper and the police officer admits that the young woman, Paige is actually her daughter, who she gave up when she was a baby. She eventually admits it to Paige herself and the pair begin to bond.

Doctors is on BBC1, weekdays at 1:45pm

Eastenders: Scraping the Barrel

(Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th January 2020)

Sonia confesses to Martin that she stole £8,000 from Dot to keep the hit and run victim at bay. He is horrified, as she has created a link between him and the crime that he has worked so hard to sever. She is distraught as she has done so much to try and protect him and he wasn’t even worth it. Realising how much he has hurt her, Martin takes the blame and tells Dot that it was him who stole the money. She is genuinely hurt and asks him to leave before she vanishes to Ireland, leaving Sonia and message of love. However, either June Brown wasn’t available or it’s part of a plot twist, as there is no way on earth that it was Dot leaving that message. It sounded nothing like her! Whoever decided they could do a good Dot Branning impression, they are sorely mistaken!

The pressure of Mick’s birthday gets to Linda and she reaches for the bottle again, ending up in The Albert where she at least manages to make amends with Sharon. But the more she drinks and the more Sharon’s anxiety over Keanu gets to her, the weaker she becomes. She breaks and tells Sharon the truth about Christmas Day, reassuring her friend that although Phil did order a hit on him, Martin couldn’t go through with it and he set Keanu free.

The next day, having disappointed and upset Mick and her family yet again, Linda cannot cope with her confession to Sharon and begs her to forget she ever opened her mouth. Of course, she doesn’t and immediately locates the badly hidden burner phone at the allotment containing the video of Keanu’s ‘death’ on it. Finally with the upper hand, she unnerves Phil without revealing her cards. Worried about her daughter’s state of mind, Lisa decides to take Louise and Baby Peggy to Portugal for good. When Phil and Ben are arrested but released, they, Lisa, Louise and Peggy quickly pile into a taxi, preparing to leave as a family. However, Ben halts things, unable to leave Callum, prompting Phil to instruct him to blame him for everything. It would be a genuinely touching moment if Phil hadn’t basically confessed to murder in front of a London cabbie. I mean, who does that?! But the good news is that Callum and Ben are finally back together! Hooray!

However, things take an even darker turn for the Carters when Mick and Linda are called to the school to be told they have raised a safeguarding concern. In his mood diary, Ollie has alerted them to being unhappy at home and indicated that Linda has hurt him. Misunderstanding that another parent has lied about her, Linda absolutely loses it in front of the Head Teacher, embarrassing Mick, as she protests against a Social Worker being sent to the house. That night, Mick sends Ollie to stay with Chantelle and Gray, having reached the sad conclusion that his son is not happy at home. Linda’s reaction is to reach for the bottle, prompting her to become abusive. With no options left, Mick locks her in their bedroom to keep her safe.

Mick and Linda are called to the school about Ollie…

Locked in the bedroom all night with Mick keeping guard, Linda is an absolute mess in the morning. Mick has to patch her up from cutting herself really badly on glass and despite how vile she was the night before, he is still so kind to her. But she learns nothing from anything that has happened and although she stops Bex drowning her own sorrows, having discovered that it was Sonia who stole from Dot, she ends up drinking her bottle of wine herself instead. She then gate crashes Ian’s victory party (having won by drawing straws) and although she’s actually very funny at times, (“he doesn’t have a big straw! Jane told me!”), it’s utterly heartbreaking to watch this amazing woman and all she’s survived, falling apart in front of the whole Square. I couldn’t actually watch the moment she stood on stage and wet herself before Mick arrived, covered her up and rushed her home. Heartbreaking.

During an argument, Bex gives Dotty some home truths about her vile father, including that her Grandma killed him. Wound up, Dotty is about to charge over to Ireland to confront her but Sonia intervenes and tells her everything she needs to know. Dotty offers forgiveness and understanding for her namesake but it’s all fake. As she tells Bex, Dot’s old and rich and she wants her inheritance! Oh, I don’t like her!

Kush struggles to work out why Kat is so on edge so she sits him down and explains that she had an altercation with a man who came to discuss a cleaning contract. The comments that Leo put online put her in a vulnerable position and the man tried to demand sex. She then begins to explain her past abuse but Kush very gently explains that he already knows. Kat is shocked that he is in a relationship with her, knowing the truth about what happened and it’s never been an issue for him. In the sweetest of moments, he just tells her how much he loves her and how amazing he thinks she is. Yes! She is! And I absolutely love this pairing. I dread the day Shane Ritchie wants a job and they bring Alfie back to wreck it. I was a true Kat and Alfie believer once upon a time. He was her true love. He was her Man in the Moon. But that last appearance and everything that happened with poor Hayley was unforgiveable. Kat needs someone like Kush.

And in the least interesting story of the week, Sheree returns, reunites with Patrick and introduces him to her stroppy son, Isaac. And after all her meddling, Denise doesn’t bat an eyelid.

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

Coronation Street: The Fight for Hope

(Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th January 2020)

In a slightly clumsy plot twist, it’s actually Ruby who saves the day for her parents. She asks Tyrone when Jade is coming back so they can play hospitals again and mentions the bruises that she painted on Hope. It’s useful but it’s a little obvious. But from there, Tyrone, Evelyn, the social worker and Dr Gaddas are able to ascertain that Jade has been faking the abuse, despite Hope sticking to the story. They then discover Hope’s phone with incriminating text messages between Hope and Jade that blows Jade’s story out of the water completely.

Fiz is upset when Hope doesn’t welcome her back to the family home. All she wants is Jade. And her phone back. In the morning, the family are horrified to find that Hope is missing and report it to the police. They immediately visit Jade who denies any knowledge of the little girl’s disappearance. The police search the property but come up with nothing, although the storytelling attempts to persuade us that she has the little girl hidden in the loft. Unable to stick to the police advice, Fiz storms round to the house in panic although she doesn’t find Hope (or Jade), she does find Hope’s passport and preparations to run away together.

Tyrone and the neighbours go out searching for Hope where Tyrone gets caught up in an argument with Jade who has come to search for her sister. Genuinely scared for Hope, Jade goes to her Dad’s grave where Hope emerges from the shadows. She has been hiding there all night, hoping that Jade would come and find her. Jade genuinely does the right thing and brings her home. Later, not knowing what happened to her daughter (who has been taken to hospital), Fiz angrily confronts Jade who tries to explain things. Tyrone walks in just as Fiz knocks Jade out. Ouch. While Fiz and Tyrone panic and distract Evelyn and the children from walking in, they return to the kitchen to find that Jade has vanished. They confide in Evelyn who remarks that Jade has had it coming for a long time! Ha! Not since Blanche Hunt have we had such a fabulous Corrie character as this!

But anyway, Jade collapses in the ginnel on Victoria Street, to be discovered by Yasmeen, who has just avoided spending time with Alya and taken a nagging phone call from Geoff demanding to know why she is one second late home from the shop. Having found Jade and also received a hang up 999 call from Fiz when the accident happened, the police turn up to ask questions. Fiz, Tyrone and Evelyn all act guilty and weird but send them on their way. Tyrone and Fiz then attempt to actually explain to Hope who her father was and that Jade is wrong about him. Unfortunately, Hope is deeply attached to Jade and is desperate to see her. So when Jade turns up, having lied to the police about being mugged, it’s an emotional conversation as Fiz tries to get her to understand that John was an uncaring man. She had no idea he had a daughter because in all their time together, he never even bothered to mention her. Hearing Jade in the house, Hope is desperate to go home with her but Jade does the right thing for a second time. Later, aware that Jade now has the attack over them, Tyrone suggests that they let her see Hope. But Fiz and Evelyn point blank refuses to listen to him, despite his plea that he would rather supervise an hour in the park between Hope and Jade than visit Fiz in prison. Well, I’m Team Tyrone on this one, personally.

Tim is shocked when his Vegas wife, Charlie arrives to see him, having lost both her jobs and up to her eyeballs in debt. With Tim still pushing for the divorce, Charlie has him over a barrel and demands 5K on top of signing the papers. She then shows up announcing she has been evicted. With Sally having temporarily moved out and needing to pay Charlie off before she discovers that he is a bigamist, Tim decides he needs to sell the business. Eileen, Steve and Kevin are all too happy to do him over for his share until Emma shames them with her kindness, offering to lend him her life savings. His friends then have no choice but to help him out. Unfortunately, despite giving her the cash she needs, Charlie decides to stick around and bags herself a job at The Rovers!

Ray and Abi (who has passed her exams) continue to get to know each other. Bethany mistakenly believes that she is going to be the new manager of The Bistro (and typically tells people) so is devastated to discover that Ray has actually hired Alya. I suspect she has had a lucky escape. Bethany also suspects she’s had a lucky escape and gets information from Carla about what happened to Michelle. When Bethany tries to warn Alya, the new manager disbelieves the story and responds to Bethany (in light of the abuse she previously suffered) in the most unforgivably patronising way she possibly could. A genuinely unpleasant scene, actually. Royally pissed off, Bethany is ready to quit her job and seeks career advice from Daniel, who believes that she should return to her dream of writing. However, he quickly gets distracted by Bertie spiking a temperature. I’m sure the upcoming storyline will be very dramatic and everything but the problem is, I can’t concentrate on any scene Daniel’s in because he looks like Tom Hanks in Castaway. I know he’s grieving but the state of his face is just unacceptable.

Gary and Maria attend a baby scan but their happy news is not met well by their neighbours. Sarah in particular warns her, prompting Maria to accuse Gary of having an affair when he is actually talking to Jake on the phone. Unfortunately, her mistake only seems to cement them together more than ever!

In an act of revenge over the live stream of Kel, someone vandalises Chesney and Gemma’s house and puts a burning rag through the door, sending the quads into hospital with smoke inhalation. When Rita and Billy both scold Bernie for letting her family down, she decides that the right thing to do is move away and let her kids live their lives without her drama. Paul needs to heal from Kel’s abuse and Gemma has enough on her hands with the quads. She says an emotional goodbye to Paul and sincerely apologises for not protecting him as a child.

David is heartbroken as he sends Shona off to the Rehab Centre in Leeds for specialist care and actress, Julia Goulding goes off for maternity leave.

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

Emmerdale: Killer Climax

(Friday 24^th January 2020)

So we finally reach the climax of the latest murder in the Dales, the demise of controversial character, Graham Foster. Now, I for one am rather sad to see him go. He’s not exactly the warmest guy in the world but he’s oddly likeable and at least with certain characters, such as Rhona and Noah, he does try to do the right thing.

So, in the fifth and finally episode of #WhoKilledGraham, we see the day from Graham and his killer, Pierce Harris’s perspective. And as suspected, it dates back to the night we saw him cleaning up his bloodied hand with no explanation. He heard a voicemail alerting Rhona that Pierce was due to be released and deleted it, tracking him down himself and warning him to stay away. Well, you can imagine the bile that Pierce, a haggard version of the man he once was, spilled. This earned him quite the pasting from Graham, which ultimately comes back to haunt him. But then when you live the kind of life Graham does, how did he ever really imagine his life would end?

In the woods at the site, the two men argue but Graham is half dead already so Pierce has the upper hand. Pierce mocks Graham over not really being Rhona’s type and that she is only with him because he reminds her of Pierce. He then reveals that he has been watching Rhona since that night and it was him who stole Leo’s passport.

Graham being Graham, he does get the upper hand but he opts not to kill Pierce, certainly not in Rhona’s name and punches him out instead. Well, that turns out to be a mistake! As he is making is escape, he is run over and plunges over an edge. Surely he’s dead now? Piece scrambles down to deal with the body but Graham recovers, sends Pierce flying this time and they go at it again over Rhona until Pierce smashes Graham over the head. Yep. It really is all over now. He half buries him under some leaves (clearly wanting him to be found and Rhona to grieve and feel unsafe) and then heads back to the village where Marlon is at Rhona’s door, wanting to know where Graham is and why he didn’t show up for their meeting. Pierce listens in as Rhona apologises for hurting him and explains that they have now missed their ferry.

Al finds Graham’s dead body and walks away, presumably to report to Kim that the deed is done and claim his money without actually having to do anything for it. While Rhona wonders where Graham has got to, Graham lies cold in the woods. And the sad thing in all of it is that in trying to protect Rhona, Graham has left her more vulnerable than ever.

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