Eastenders: Welcome to My World

(Monday 1^st – Tuesday 9^th June 2020)

Ben attempts to navigate his way through life without his hearing…
*(photo credit: Digital Spy)*

On Monday 1^st June, Eastenders aired a fantastic, somewhat ground breaking episode, all told from Ben’s perspective, with very limited sound and snatched subtitles. It really is a tough challenge to navigate our way through his day, as people try to talk to him and he (and we) struggle to understand what they’re saying. It gave a huge insight to those of us who have no idea what it must be like to experience a world with no/little sound.

Through the day, Ben unearthed Lola’s one night stand with Peter and was of course, absolutely livid. He was also upset to realise that she had had an abortion largely due to her devotion to him and her role in his life.

He was determined to carry out the warehouse job with his Dad and dodgy Danny Hardcastle, although Phil warned him off. When Phil charged off on his own, Ben was convinced that he was going to be done over and followed him. And for once, Ben was actually right! He found his Dad in a very tight spot and sort of managed to save the day, although in the process, Danny deliberately shot off a gun right by Ben’s ear.

Phil and Ben escaped with the cash and managed to lose the police car that chased them but in the morning, Callum was shocked to find that Ben’s pillow was covered in blood. Ben’s hearing also seemed to have been lost completely, although he didn’t let on. Callum then became very suspicious when Jack mentioned the warehouse job (thanks to the conversation he and Ben had had at the hospital) but Ben had created a false alibi with Lexi. What a great Dad.

Unable to cope with everything that had happened to him recently, Keegan told Tiffany he was moving to Croydon (which appeared to be on the other side the world according to this family) with his mother. In fact, he didn’t look like he was even going to tell her. She caught him about to leave. But then suddenly, it was all off, as Sharon changed her mind. She wanted Kayden back! And then Keegan didn’t bother to tell his wife he was staying. This poor kid is all of the place right now. And subsequently, so is his poor wife. I am very sad about this. They are a very sweet couple. But I did say at the time, they got married too young… Still, I hope they pull through.

Now she is staying in The Square, Karen decided to give Billy a drawer in the flat for when he stays over. However, the battles lines seem to be drawn between Billy and Mitch with both men starting to vie for her affection – starting with Mitch flattering Karen with attention and playing a trick on Billy. I love that Karen, who started as quite a harsh character and at best a figure of fun, has men fighting over her and is part of the beating heart of The Square. She is absolutely one of my favourite characters on Eastenders. She is so funny but more than that, she is so kind. She would do anything for those she loves.

As for Sharon, she told Phil that she needed to be a mother to Kayden. Unfortunately, although he tried for about ten minutes, he decided that he could not be a father to him and threw her out, informing her that he was buying The Vic without her and she was dead to him. Charming! Just as I was starting to like him…

Is it really the end for Sharon and Phil…?
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

Former ladies’ man, Max, made yet more blunders with Ruby before agreeing to an open relationship. It’s weird to see him like this. He has always been so in control of all his relationships and yet with Ruby, he’s a mess. Also, as a serial cheater, you’d think an open relationship would suit him down to the ground! But suddenly, all he wants is monogamy. Maybe it’s not as fun if you have permission. Anyway, he requested that she just didn’t sleep with Martin. She refused and broke up with him! So, I think we can all guess what will happen next! And hopefully that will prepare the way for Stacey to return. Jean certainly needs her to!

Chantelle and Gray showed great kindness to Whitney as Gray supported her through her case. They even took her in for a night or two, fed her up and welcomed her in as part of their family. And they kept up their pretence of being happy despite him threatening Chantelle quietly and putting a tracker in her car. He was furious when she had to take the car for work and had to do more errands than she initially told him. Then he discovered that the car had been taken out the previous Thursday, which she denied, as it was at the garage. Now, I assume this was the car that Ben took out for the warehouse job. But with the way the episodes are stacked at the moment, I can’t say 100%. And I’m not someone who would recognise a car by sight! I hardly recognise my own!

Alongside this, Gray walked Whitney through the exact scene of Leo’s death. When it all got a bit emotional and stressful, he plied her with kindness. Overwhelmed and confused, Whitney kissed him. Really unhelpful! And very disrespectful to Chantelle, one of her biggest champions and closest friends during this whole thing. For now, Gray has done the right thing and backed off, making it clear that there was nothing but a professional relationship between them. Whitney was embarrassed and apologetic in equal measure. As she should be. But I mean, how much Gray manipulated the situation or how much he will manipulate the situation…

Emotional Whitney kissed Gray…
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

Peter and Dotty shared a kiss but she panicked and rejected him. After a bit of faffing about and crossed wires, they finally got it together, just in time for Ian to walk in. I am sure he will be pleased that the one person who knows he is responsible for Denny’s death is now dating his son. Excellent!

Eastenders is due to resume filming shortly, however, it will go off air before this

For now, let’s enjoy episodes airing on Mondays 8pm and Tuesdays 7:30pm, BBC1

Doctors: Isolation

(Friday 12^th June 2020)

On Friday, Doctors absolutely excelled themselves with a ground breaking episode, all filmed remotely from the actors’ homes. It was a forty five minute episode to round off for their summer break. (I actually don’t know how I am going to cope this summer without it – it’s been the only stable soap!) But wow, they went out in style! I just don’t know how many ways I can compliment this show and this episode. It was absolutely amazing.

It was so well crafted, perfectly paced and had a fantastic blend of humour and drama. One minute, I was howling over Valerie’s dance moves (Sarah Moyle has the best comic timing), to actually weeping at the thought of losing one of our beloved characters to Coivd-19. We had the fantastic story of Jimmi counselling an intensive care Doctor, the hilarity of Emma and Zara and I enjoyed having a look at all their backgrounds, as I have been doing for the past few months during every piece of news!

The Doctors Cast Came Together to Film a Special Isolation Episode
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

The episode covered several weeks of lockdown and it did genuinely cover everything that we have all been dealing with every day. It was relatable. It was creative. It was the first time a soap has every attempted such a thing. And if it doesn’t get Best Single Episode at the British Soap Awards, it will be an absolute travesty!

Doctors is now on its summer break.

Doctors: Silly Lily Got Locked In!

(Tuesday 9^th – Thursday 11^th June 2020)

Ruhma arranged to take Tanya away for a few days. Not only was Tanya’s baby crying in the background when she spoke to Bear, also lurking in the background were Tanya’s phone calls to her mother, trying to organise moving away from Ruhma at the right time.

Deborah was really beginning to grate on Emma, keeping pestering her for basic advice on her patients. When Emma complained to Daniel, he dismissed her.

Al and Lily plan Jimmi’s birthday…
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

New temp receptionist (shouldn’t they prioritise looking for a nurse first?!), Lily, played by former Emmerdale actress, Verity Rushworth, started, bonding with the staff much more easily than poor, old Deborah did, namely connecting with Al. She even helped him organise Jimmi’s birthday, starting by reminding him that it was his birthday in the first place!

Silly Lily gets locked in the surgery…
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

On Wednesday, there was one of the best episodes ever, where Bear accidentally locked Lily in the building, where there was promptly a power cut. With her phone in her handbag in her car, there was no way out for poor Lily until a young, autistic man happened by. He had set the smoke alarm off in his house and the noise had sent him to The Mill which he knew was a safe place to get help. Lily succeeded in directing him into her car to get her phone.

Zachery rescued Lily…
*(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)*

The bond that formed between them turned out to be very special as across town, Sid and his new trainee were attempting to save the life of his father, who had just attempted suicide. As a standalone episode, I would recommend this episode to everyone. It was absolutely fantastic and the actor that played Zachery was outstanding. He stole the show!

Sid attempted to save Zachery’s father’s life…
*(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)*

Regarding recruiting a new nurse, I can’t say Zara has not put her best effort in. After her announcement on the radio, applications from vastly inappropriate people have come flooding in! Everyone wants to work at The Mill! In the meantime, Zara persuaded Al to play nurse for the day. He almost finds a newfound respect for nurses. Almost.

Zara is under a lot of stress…
*(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)*

Daniel became very worried about the level of stress his partner was under with so much on her plate with work, including everything that recently happened with Ayesha. He was concerned when he witnessed her having a panic attack and then hurt when she turned to Harper’s meditation app to calm herself down instead of letting him help. When the school called to alert him to a problem with Joe’s homework (he has been cheating using Harper), he decided to deal with it himself instead of worrying Zara with it. Joe got into further trouble that night when he continued to cheat despite having already been caught out!

Karen was devastated that Jay was being moved on and Jay did not want to go. He opened up to Rob about his past and Rob in turn was honest about his own father. The two of them had a lovely day together, with Rob able to reassure Jay that nothing that has happened to him in his life has been his fault.

Goodbye, Jay
*(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)*

And so, today, we look forward to the very exciting, history-making, extended-length Isolation Episode, although sadly, this leads us into a summer break… I always miss this show when it’s not on. It is one of my most favourite soaps.

After today, Doctors will go on its summer break.

Doctors: The Girl From the Churchill

(Tuesday 2^nd – Monday 6^th June 2020)

With the BAME organ donor campaign being such a success, Ayesha was stunned to get an amazing job offer from an old friend, giving her the chance to work abroad with Malaria patients and to earn a LOT of money. After much debate and a huge argument with Zara after she asked for a financial reason to stay, she decided to quit The Mill, widen her horizons and move onto her new position.

My first thought was that although I was sad to say goodbye to Ayesha, I was so pleased that the girl from ‘the Churchill’ was leaving on such a high. My only disappointment is that towards the end of the week, she seemed to have let the job offer go to her head a bit. She was so rude to Zara about not working her notice, who granted, was rude to her first, that she got herself fired. And then basically told Bear that she wanted him to be her Plan B. Now, we all know that I am not a fan of Bear but it was a bit rude, arrogant and thoughtless.

Bear doesn’t want to be Ayesha’s back up plan…
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

So, while Ayesha and Bear called it a day, it was a pretty poor turnout for her leaving party, considering just how dedicated the nurse has been to The Mill for so many years. About four people showed up to say goodbye. Charming! Thankfully, Valerie has enough energy and enthusiasm for about ten staff members. Although, maybe Ruhma would have come if she had bothered to let her know she was going. One person who did make a cameo appearance though, was Zara who made peace with her before she left (and un-fired her). Then with The Mill a nurse down, Zara joined Aunty Em on her radio show and appealed for any qualified nurses to apply. Daniel was not thrilled by her impulsivity.

Goodbye Ayesha!
*(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)*

Ruhma was called for a meeting regarding the complaint that Deborah made about her for her appearance at Tanya’s labour. Tanya burst in to defend her friend, which was amazing but it was clear that the man in charge had already made his mind up. Ruhma made things ever more awkward when she rushed Tanya and the baby to see Zara when the baby was poorly. It is also becoming abundantly clear that Tanya is ready to move on but doesn’t want to let Ruhma down after everything she has done for her.

Al considered leaving Letherbridge (noooo!) in order to move in with Eve and look after her. Eve was having none of it, however and insisted that although one day, it may come to this, now is not that day.

Daniel spent the day looking after poorly Joe and between him and Zara, when she returned home in the evening, the GP became more and more put out by the family’s attachment to ‘Harper’ (Doctors’ version of Alexa).

Emma got to the bottom of a sexual violence case involving a vile driving instructor. Al bonded with a teenage cheerleader trying to work out how she feels about her complex family. It was really a very charming, insightful, well done story. Sid treated a champion in Rock, Paper, Scissor for Carpel Tunnel. No, I didn’t make that up. It’s an actual thing! Look: https://www.wrpsa.com/rock-paper-scissors-world-championship/

Sid’s patient has unusual career plans…
*(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)*

How does this show find such random things?! Their story liners and researchers have the most epic imaginations!

Despite Doctors ceasing filming due to the Coronavirus, the show does appear to still be airing every weekday on BBC1 at 1:45pm

There will be a special isolation episode on 12^th June

Doctors: Harping On

(Tuesday 26^th May – Monday 1^st June 2020)

Temporary midwife, Deborah started working at The Mill (and the hospital) and I’ll say it now. I don’t like her. I wasn’t sure to start with but by yesterday, I concluded that I don’t like her. You are no Ruhma, Deborah. You are no Ruhma. Not that Ruhma has been doing herself any favours at the minute, to be fair.

For starters, Deborah blurted out to the rest of the staff exactly what she had heard had caused Ruhma’s suspension. I mean, has she never heard of confidentiality? Isn’t she supposed to be a nurse? Bear was understandably furious and when Ruhma realised what has happened, she was absolutely mortified.

She was then Tanya’s midwife at St Phil’s when she went into labour. Ruhma persuaded her to let her be her birthing partner, being how frightened Tanya was after everything she had been through. None of the rest of the staff were bothered. Why would they be? Everyone loves Ruhma. But of course, on Monday, Deborah told tales to Zara and Daniel about what happened. Zara had to awkwardly confess to her partner that she knew all along that Tanya has been staying with Ruhma, expressing frustration at her indiscretion.

Ruhma is devoted to Tanya, no matter to cost…
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

A home, Tanya was ready to move to her Mum’s house with the baby, worried about getting Ruhma into trouble but Ruhma didn’t want her to go. I wonder if she is going to start overstepping like she did with the couple she gave that money to…

Meanwhile, Ayesha and Bear kicked off a fantastic BAME organ donor campaign (once Zara finally gave it the green light), with the help of Sid, Shak and Jimmi with the tag line #DontOptOut. Yet another worthwhile campaign. I love Doctors for using its platform to highlight important things like these.

Ayesha and Bear present their campaign idea to Zara…
*(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)*

Zara went to buy a new phone and ended up being seduced by the Doctors version of Alexa. His name is Harper and he’s very posh and chatty! It’s all quite amusing. By the end of the week, she had ended up in quite a pickle when a patient gave her a gift – a stuffed owl. Rather horrified, she found out (via Harper) that she could sell it for a few hundred quid (and then buy some shoes!) Of course, after she’d posted it to the dealer, the patient came rushing back with her actual gift (which, frustratingly, we never found out what it was), explaining that he had mixed up the boxes! Oops. There was one moment during this episode where Emma scared Zara with the bird that was so funny, I actually had to rewind it to watch it again! I love these two; I would watch an entire episode just of them! Consider it a suggestion!

Another good friendship on the show is Jimmi and Al but they came under strain this week when Al, deeply concerned about his mother, criticised Jimmi’s new ‘minimalist’ house. Jimmi was offended and support was withdrawn. They sniped at each other for a few days before Al eventually apologised, they made friends and all was well in the world again.

Despite Doctors ceasing filming due to the Coronavirus, the show does appear to still be airing every weekday on BBC1 at 1:45pm

There will be a special isolation episode on 12^th June

(Mondays 25th & Tuesday 26th May 2020)

Sharon returned from Australia, seemingly ready to take her life back. She reunited with Phil and confirmed with Linda that it was alright for her and Phil to buy the pub. She also firmly sent pathetic Ian into the ‘friend zone’ by informing him that she loved him like a brother. I have no sympathy after what he has done. How he can lie about his role in Denny’s death after the loss of Lucy, I have no idea.

Speaking of Denny… he provided Sharon with her Damascus moment from beyond the grave when she discovered a gift he had bought for the baby, prompting her to realise that she did want to keep him after all. The only problem is that it’s unlikely that Phil will want him and she wants to be with Phil. Also, Ian has paid Karen off to move away and she’s just about to get packing. Well, let’s hope that Sharon gets moving on getting her baby back! Mostly because I want Karen to stay.

Sharon finds a gift for Kayden from Denny…
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

As for the rest of the Taylor Family, Keegan ended up in yet more trouble when he declined to sell drugs from his van and Tiffany mouthed off to the guy who asked. Subsequently, the guy returned with his gang and held Keegan back while they absolutely trashed the van, destroying his business (which has no insurance) and stole Shaki’s trainers, which of course were extremely sentimental. Keegan blamed Tiffany for everything, further jeopardising their marriage. Perhaps Keegan should pop over to Casualty where Shaki is now an ED nurse. He’ll probably have a spare pair of trainers he can keep…!

Things continued to fall apart, concerning Jean, as she lived alone in the house, believing that Daniel had returned for her. Kush did what he could but the mental health team, who Ash had advised him to call for help, refused to do anything unless she was a danger to herself or others. Brilliant. So very helpful. But sadly, the result of no funding and a lack of resources.

Jean became more and more desperate to bring Stacey home, eventually getting dressed up and throwing herself at Phil, thinking that sleeping with him might persuade him to let her daughter return. Confused and awkward, Phil phoned Shirley to take her friend home. Shirley demanded that Kush contact Stacey but the moron assured Stacey that Jean was fine when he spoke to her. Why?! He is not coping. He needs help from someone who can handle Jean when she is in crisis. Kat is ‘away’ and he can’t even get through the front door!

Jean’s misguided attempt at bringing Stacey home…
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

Max was not impressed when Ruby hired Martin to work security at the club. Ian was also not impressed, as it meant he quit he job on the stall. Max stopped Dotty and Vinny selling drugs at the club. Phil and Ben continued to waffle on about this ‘job’ their going to do and Ben continued to treat Callum like crap. So, all in all, a very cheerful visit to Walford this week!

Ben begs to join Phil in raising cash to buy The Vic
(photo credit: Digital Spy)

Eastenders will resume filming in June after shutting down for the Coronavirus Lockdown

It currently airs on only on Mondays (8pm) and Tuesdays (7:30pm) on BBC1

Doctors: #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

(Monday 18^th – Friday 22^nd May)

The week began with a hilarious episode and the perfect tonic to the lockdown as Valerie decided to foster kittens. You just cannot not love Valerie. She came in as a part time character and her charm, humour, individuality and compassion just stole everyone’s hearts. She can make you weep with stories such as her cancer diagnosis and she can make you absolutely howl with episodes like this one where she had nobody to look after the kitten so she carried ‘Snowy’ into work in a tiny little bag (possibly the cutest things I’ve ever seen in my life) and roped her colleagues into helping until Ayesha could come and collect her.

Cue the hilarity as Valarie attempted to cover the kitten’s mews in front of Zara as a squeaky shoe, confused everyone when Zara then suggested talcum powder for the squeaky shoe and then ended up letting the ‘squeaky shoe’ wee all over Jimmi!

One of my favourite moments came when Jimmi was expecting Valerie back with his jacket but Daniel appeared and he asked if ‘it’ had come out. Upon his confusion, Jimmi panicked.

“Um… the sun!”

Later, when the truth came out, Zara attempted to cover up her mortification that she had been duped into believing Valerie’s lame story about the shoe and demanded to know how Daniel hadn’t realised.

“Well, you didn’t notice either, Cagney!” he shot back.

All in all, this was another fabulous, quirky, Valerie story. More please! I am always torn in Doctors as to whether my favourite character is Zara or Valerie. I genuinely cannot decide but I think Sarah Moyle, who plays Valerie is an absolute superstar.

The truth about the kittens comes out…
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

Meanwhile, Al had problems visiting his mother who suffers with Alzheimer’s when she went shopping and returned home, having forgotten who he was. She called the police on him, thinking he was a stranger in her house. Well, to be honest, if he hadn’t behaved like a complete slob, lying around the house in his pants, eating all her food, playing video games, and refusing to do anything useful, then perhaps it wouldn’t have happened. She probably only went shopping in the first place to get away from him! What respectable adult goes to visit their mother (with or without Alzheimer’s) and behaves like that? Honestly!

Al isn’t exactly the perfect house guest…
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

To his credit, he did make up for it during the rest of his stay. First, he threw a party for her and her friends in order to help her spend time with people she loves and helped her every moment she needed him. They took a lovely selfie to put in the frame she had been saving for his wedding day. They then went to a pub quiz, hosted by a very rude drag queen who turned out to be a boy who bullied him at school and continued to bully him during the quiz. Now, I love a drag queen. As a gay woman, I have seen my fair share of drag acts. But I love that we have reached a point where soaps can write LGBTQ characters just as people. They don’t all have to be sympathetic characters.

Meanwhile, Auntie Em had another radio appearance, only to comes to blows after being set up to appear with Su Without an E. That rather unpleasant student who hosts the show, deliberately left them on air so everyone heard Emma laying into Su but thankfully, the two women worked out that they were being deliberately goaded. They endeavoured to work together for the rest of the show. But they are not friends and never will be!

Karen’s marijuana is discovered when she stupidly bakes it into brownies for Jay and leaves them casually in a tin and goes out, assuming that Rob won’t be back until later. Obviously, he eats two and gets stoned out of his tree. It’s actually very funny. But when he comes down, he is absolutely furious with his wife. He draws the line at arresting her but it’s hard to say where they go from here.

Doctors have been brilliant at covering Mental Health Awareness Week, not least with a really harrowing suicide story during Thursday’s episode. Valerie desperately tried to track a woman down, talking to her on the phone, finding her address and eventually sending the police round ahead of her rushing to her house, trying to stop her from killing herself. I won’t lie. I had tears in my eyes as she said goodbye and left a note for her mother. This story really broke me. It was so well written and portrayed.

Other Mental Health stories this week have included: self harm, alcoholism and post-natal depression. Also, in a rather random story at the end of the week, Sid got himself involved with a lady who was being screwed over by her very strange estate agent. It was very peculiar!

Next week, despite Doctors ceasing filming due to the Coronavirus, the show does appear to still be airing every weekday on BBC1 at 1:45pm

Doctors: Ruhma Has It!

(Monday 4^th – Friday 15^th May 2020)

I always love a week that starts with lots of Zara Carmichael! Monday 4^th began with Zara stepping up to support Ruhma at her hearing regarding her suspension from work. Ruhma and her somewhat pointless advocate attempted to explain what happened. While Ruhma does have an exemplary record, apparently some ridiculous people have jumped on the bandwagon and claimed that she was too tactile with them. Firstly, Ruhma is Call the Midwife worthy so anyone that complained, quite frankly, how dare you? Secondly, how hands-off do people want their midwife to be during labour? Do they expect her to stand at the other end of the room and yell out instructions or something? Anyway, Zara was told to keep her mouth shut but let’s face it, this is Zara. When does she ever stay quiet, especially when it comes to standing up for those she cares about? So she said exactly what she thought. Unfortunately, the decision was made to investigate further (how, exactly?) and keep Ruhma’s suspension in place. Ludicrous!

She didn’t, of course and when she received an urgent call from one of her pregnant Mums who was being abused by her husband, she felt she had no choice but to rush to her aid, bringing the vulnerable young woman, Tanya to her home to stay. Zara proved herself to be truly fabulous when she discovered what Ruhma was up to and opted not to roll over on her. In fact, she even provided a prescription for Tanya when she needed it. The moment that Daniel caught Ruhma and Zara together at the surgery and Zara declared that Ruhma had chronic thrush in order to scare him away was pure gold, warning him not to waylay a woman with ‘burning plumbing’! Hilarious.

Tanya’s husband tracks her down at Ruhma’s house…
(photo credit: What’sOnTV)

Unfortunately, Tanya’s husband successfully tracked her down and there was an incredible showdown at the house, thankfully resolved by Shak, although Ruhma really held her own. The scenes were really intense and brilliantly shot. My only criticism is Ruhma’s assertion to Zara that Tanya wouldn’t be eligible for housing support. She’s pregnant and fleeing domestic violence. She would be considered priority need. But that doesn’t take away from a really gripping and emotive story. And the good news is that the police were called so hopefully she can get the help and support she needs. But I do worry that Ruhma is going to get into more trouble at work now…

Speaking of trouble… Rob came home from a bad day at work (he failed his unconscious bias test, suggesting he has racial bias!) to find foster kid, Jay smoking weed in the garden. Hitting the roof, he decided that Jay had to leave despite his explanation that cannabis controls his epilepsy and he doesn’t have entitlement to CBD oil on the NHS. Rob eventually gave in on the promise he wouldn’t smoke but after his fits began again and she failed to get any support from her colleagues over the CBD oil, Karen did possibly the most stupid thing she has ever done, which is to go and by weed from a dealer and supply it to Jay. Firstly, it’s obviously illegal. Secondly, she’s married to a policeman. Thirdly, it’s completely disrespectful, knowing Rob’s position on the matter. And lastly, it’s completely irresponsible to supply marijuana to her foster child, regardless of her good intentions.

Of course, Jay goes through the supply extremely quickly, sending her back to ‘Big Red’ for more. On her way out, she bumped into one of Rob’s colleagues where she completely messed up and got caught with the drugs. Making up a story about chronic back pain, the police officer took pity on her and let her off on the promise that she wouldn’t tell anyone she hadn’t reported the offence. But let’s face it, there’s no way this isn’t going to come out and have serious consequences. I like Karen a lot but she is making a big mistake here.

Karen is stopped by the police…
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

Sid and Valerie conspired to get Bear and Ayesha together for Ayesha’s birthday but it didn’t quite go to plan. For starters, while nobody but Jimmi and Emma turned up to the party, Valerie pulled and Ayesha got very drunk. But Sid and Bear didn’t make it at all, as they were pulled over by a disgustingly racist police officer. She had no reason to stop them. She assumed they were up to no good for one reason only and when she couldn’t find them doing anything wrong, she held them at the side of the road ‘doing checks’ for an excruciatingly long time. She wavered when she found out Sid’s occupation and finally let them go when he name-dropped Sergeant Rob Hollins. It was so uncomfortable to watch, as it should have been. To know that this actually happens. And for what reason? She could have been out, catching actual criminals, instead of good, hardworking men off to a party. Both of them ended up too shaken to go to the party but Bear implored Sid to make a complaint.

Ayesha woke up completely confused in unfamiliar surroundings, which understandably sent her into a spin after the last time she didn’t remember the night before. Thankfully, what happened this time was she lost her keys and kind Jimmi took her back to his, where she threw up and he had to get her changed and put her to bed. Ever the gentleman, he went out the next morning and got breakfast. You’ve just got to love Jimmi Clay!

Later in the week, Ayesha suddenly did a full 180 and decided she did like Bear after all when at the beginning of the week, she absolutely hated him. And I genuinely cannot fathom that anything at all happened to make that change. But anyway, they go to the wildest club night consisting of about six people including the DJ ‘DJ Smithy’, who is a friend of Bear’s, at around lunch time on a weekday. I mean, is that what people do now? Clubbing on a Wednesday afternoon? (I mean, not now, obviously, everyone’s at home, watching Doctors, shielding from Covid-19). Or did a night shoot not fit with the interconnecting storylines?

Ayesha supported a family whose father was waiting for a kidney transplant and whose son has offered himself as an anonymous living donor, having been rejected by his Dad for being gay. Wow, that’s a complicated family situation. With her encouragement, Bear made a statement against the racist police officer from last week. I am so relieved!

Ayesha supports a troubled family…
(photo credit: WhatsOnTV)

Emma’s new found fame as an LGBTQ+ advocate puts her in touch with a woman who has kept her sexuality hidden all her life. Mother and grandmother, she was married for years but fell in love with a woman, who she nearly ran away with but couldn’t abandon her daughter, who she now has a difficult relationship with. She has spent her life longing for this woman to come back for her. It’s a really sad, complicated, well written story. I love that from this radio interview and Emma’s bravery has come an influx of questions and people needing advice, to the point that Al has ended up setting up an ‘Auntie Em’ advice website for her! Another string to her bow!

Al spent a day trying to help a woman battling with her memory, trapped in the past on the night when her daughter was murdered, resulting in her attacking a man by mistake. It’s a truly haunting and at times, confusing story, really well written and put together, capturing the sheer bewilderment and distress this woman is experiencing. The following week, he got caught up with an old friend that he clearly fancied who had been sucked into working for the DWP and was manipulated into signing off a patient as being fit to work, as he wasn’t provided with all the information. The man was desperate not to sign on and Al’s friend had quotas to meet. Al stopped fancying her pretty quick.

Next week, despite Doctors ceasing filming due to the Coronavirus, the show does appear to still be airing every weekday on BBC1 at 1:45pm

Doctors: So Much For My Happy Ending

(Monday 27^th April – Friday 1^st May 2020)

It looks like we’re not quite free of Jimmi’s prison storyline, as Leon, the guy who stabbed him, requests a visit in prison. Al sensibly advises steering clear while Daniel understands his curiosity. Jimmi shows his strength by confronting Leon rather than pandering to him.

Good old Sid puts his foot in it when it comes to Bear’s potential relationship with Ayesha. Please can these two either just get on with it or get over it so we can all move on?

Zara and Daniel manage to manipulate the cultural diversity out of their son and tempt him into giving up fasting for Ramadan. Such good parenting!

Daniel gets involved with his friend (they do pull these character’s ‘old friends’ out of nowhere, never seen before and never to be seen again, don’t they?) who has unknowingly got a woman pregnant as she stuck a pin in the condom. However, what she doesn’t know is that his player attitude and not watching children is because of his genetics. I think this is a really interesting and important story to tell. What this woman has done is awful. As women, we have the right, 100%, to say what is okay to do with our bodies and there is a lot of coverage on that, as there should be. But why does this woman think there is nothing wrong with doing this to a man? Tricking him into fathering a child? Doing this to him without his permission? And then taking his choices away as to whether he should be allowed to be part of his child’s life. This sort of thing sets feminism back several paces.

Ruhma unwittingly sets up a Midwife Hotline to her old patients. Perhaps not the wisest choice, considering she is currently suspended… However, she does get a sort-of-nice visit from Valerie and Karen. I mean, I think it was nice. Kind of. Well, it was amusing to see Karen sat on an inflatable unicorn because her bottom is still sore. Then as part of Ramadan, Ruhma and Shak volunteer to work on a building project for the homeless. While Shak works with a rather annoying girl, Ruhma cannot resist helping out one of the decorators who has been secretly living in the property as he has nowhere else to go. Well, you just have to love Ruhma, don’t you? I just hope things go her way at her hearing. She’s the best midwife ever!

Wednesday brought us a particularly moving episode involving Ayesha tracking down the family of a homeless woman who died in her arms in the street over Christmas. It was informative to people who might not know much about the process and these kinds of funerals and also emotional as we journeyed through finding out about how this woman lived her life and ended up on the winter streets of Letherbridge. As I said in my last blog, this is one of the many reasons I really love Doctors. It can use an episode space so creatively and tells such intricate stories.

Thursday’s episode takes a very dark turn as Sid attempts to support a young, male escort who has been drugged and raped by a client and is being forced to work by his brutal employer who has clearly manipulated the situation so that he is actually in debt to her rather than earning money. It was one of those brilliantly devastating stories where your heart breaks at not having the happy conclusion, all neatly tied up at the end but your mind absolutely adores Doctors for having the balls to be honest about how the world really works. Not everyone gets a happy ending, no matter how much we wish that was true. Not everything can be sown up in a tidy, half hour episode. Not everyone can be saved, as devastating as that is. I do genuinely think this show is underrated because of its time slot (although I read a Tweet from Elisabeth Dermot Walsh this morning about gaining extra viewers due to the lockdown so that’s a plus). I do think it deserves so much more credit like the other soaps get for the subjects it tackles and the creativity it uses to tell the stories it does.

Having said that, I did post a somewhat lazy tweet this week, where I am a little worried I may have sounded like I was criticising rather than complimenting, which caught the attention of the writer of this particular episode, Dale Overton, one of their Story Producers, Naz Ahmed and also Matthew Chambers who plays Daniel Granger. So, should this blog also come to anyone’s attention (unlikely!), I was definitely complimenting the episode! Just to clarify!!!

Moving on… Rob and Karen get a new teenage boy to foster. I do like these stories. They bring a really interesting and often very moving element to the show.

Next week, despite Doctors ceasing filming due to the Coronavirus, the show does appear to still be airing every weekday on BBC1 at 1:45pm

Eastenders: Locked Up

(Monday 27^th and Tuesday 28^th April 2020)

Gray’s case and career are in big trouble when Whitney disappears and of course, thanks to Jean finding goodbye letters in the bin (the clue is that they have been thrown away, guys!!!), everyone assumes she has done a runner when actually, she has been abducted by Leo’s psychotic mother. On the plus side, at least she’s been locked up in a room with kitchen facilities. Not a lot of prisoners get that! Now I’m just worried about poor Chantelle bearing the brunt of Gray’s anger. She was clearly already irritating him early on in Monday’s episode when she was trying to big him up to his boss.

Max phoned Whitney on the burner phone he gave her (she didn’t think to call anyone for help on it, like um… the police?) but was caught out by crazy Michaela – not before Whitney hollered to Max that she had been abducted. After Max connected the dots for Gray and the family, Gray attempted to get hold of his wife for help. Unfortunately, she has become trapped in the new call centre with Kheerat. Well, that can only go one of three ways, can’t it? Positively, she could crack and open up to him about the abuse she suffers at home or negatively, she could suffer even more abuse when she gets home or of course there is always the third option which is a bit of both. We’ll see.

However, the big shock of Tuesday’s episode was when Michaela confessed that Tony didn’t leave her – she took Leo away from him when she discovered that he was abusing Whitney. She knew and she did nothing. She left him and kept her son safe but she did nothing to protect the vulnerable young girl that she was aware was in danger.

The girls went out for lunch time drinks for Sheree’s birthday, sending Linda to an AA meeting. The poor lamb has already changed locations so she doesn’t run into Stuart but who should show up to this one but Phil? She politely asked him to not come to the meeting she is attending but he turned her down flat, basically telling her that if she’s going to recover, she has to be able to deal with talking about her addiction in front of people she knows; she can’t control who walks through the door. Fair point.

While she told her family that she needs to find a new meeting, Shirley pointed out that she could do a lot worse than learning from someone who has successfully stayed sober for so many years (more or less). Also a fair point. When Phil wanted to buy the pub for himself and Sharon, Linda objected but Phil was certain that she was using his presence at meetings as an excuse. He then sat down with her at home, prepared to actually to talk to her about his own battle with addiction to try and help her with hers. I haven’t never been a Phil Mitchell fan but I do like this ‘nice Phil’ we’ve had over the past year or so.

While the girls enjoyed their drinks, Patrick and Isaac went for a drink themselves where Patrick accidently hinted that he is indeed Isaac’s father. While Isaac went off to confront his mother and Denise demanded answers from Patrick, I found myself wondering if anyone actually cares?

Callum passed his police exam/interview thing (I’ve lost track – it’s taking ever such a long time) and celebrated by telling Lola. Presumably his boyfriend doesn’t really care. She responded by confessing to have slept with Peter who is suddenly very pally-pally with Jay.

Speaking of Peter, things are getting a little awkward now that he clearly likes Dotty and his little brother, Bobby, with whom there is no love lost, also has a crush on her. Poor Bobby got all dressed up for Vinny and Dotty’s club night at Ruby’s but Dotty clearly only sees him as a friend. When she refused to sell him drugs, he got hold of some himself, collapsing in the middle of the dance floor. Oh, Bobby, didn’t you learn last time?