Daniel Video Diaries – The Soap Dish

(Monday 24^th – Friday 28^th February 2020)

Ayesha takes her concerns about Bear’s extracurricular activities to Zara and Daniel who reluctantly speak to him about them, having discovered that The Mill is thousands of pounds in credit. He explains that he has been busy doing deals on the side to make money for The Mill and is deeply offended when they are not impressed. He is further upset when he discovers that it was Ayesha who raised the alarm, as he is still deluded enough to think he stands a chance with her. Well, women love guys who ignore them for an entire date in favour of texting.

Karen continues to do good work with her foster daughter, Abz who is clearly getting very attached to her. Karen overhears her referring to her as her mother when talking to her new University friend and has to delicately encourage her to be open about her situation. Karen and Rob throw a party for Abz’s 18^th. Valerie and Ayesha pop over to celebrate and her new University friend comes too with her boyfriend, although they don’t stay. It’s all a bit overwhelming for Abz, who has never had people care about her before. Afterwards, Karen and Rob settle her into her new flat but it’s clear that it’s going to take her a long time to get used to living on her own.

Emma and Jasmine are the new hot couple!

Emma and Jasmine continue to get to know each other, ending up in bed after a ‘breakfast date’. However, Emma is alarmed to end up having a hot flush afterwards, alerting her to realise that alongside the flushes of romance, she is also potentially at the beginning of the menopause. While Zara tries and fails to be sympathetic, it’s a struggle to be honest with Jasmine, who is significantly younger than Emma.

Valerie is all dressed up for a night at The Icon!

To say goodbye to The Icon, Al holds a lock-in for his punters and his colleagues. Sid takes over by hosting a silent disco, much to Al’s annoyance. The night goes off with a bang when Daniel discovers that Zara has been watching his private video diaries. Well, he’s not pleased, as you can imagine.

Daniel and Zara’s night ends in a bitter row…

The witness in Jimmi’s case backtracks over identifying Jimmi, giving him hope for his freedom. He is also landed with a new cellmate, a police officer who killed his brother.

Doctors is on BBC1, weekdays at 1:45pm

(Monday 17^th – Friday 21^st February 2020)

Emma bites the bullet and goes to lunch with Lena and the pair finally discuss the end of their relationship. Emma confronts her own sexuality and is regretful that she missed the chance to be with Lena now that she has moved on from her husband and into a relationship with another woman.

Enter: Jasmine, a police officer working on a hit and run case with Rob and Emma who is quick to flirt with Emma and is bold enough to ask her out on a date. My favourite line of the week is after she leaves a cream horn on her desk as a gift.

“Did you get the horn?”
Excellent, Doctors. Excellent.

Emma is a bag of nerves when she goes for dinner with Jasmine and the date mostly goes well, aside from some awkwardness over their age gap (Jasmine is only a little older than Emma’s son, Chris). There is definitely a kiss at the end of the night and the fledgling couple continue to spend time together through the week. Emma eagerly reports back to Zara.

Zara somehow watches Daniel’s video diaries…

Zara secretly watches Daniel’s video diaries, although I’m not entirely sure how. The link between Joe’s iPad allowed him to see their phones and that was severed. How can Zara see Daniel’s phone? But anyway, Zara is absorbed by Daniel’s diaries and how he truly feels about her but she’s left disappointed when he eventually concludes that they work better as friends and he tells her as much himself. I like that they’re not rushing their reunion, even though it’s clearly going to happen. Once upon a time, I was of the opinion that Zara was too good for Daniel but actually, I feel like he has grown a lot over the past few months and earned his way back into her life.

Daniel continues to support Jimmi and other prisoners at the prison, including a murderer with a serious eye condition trying to reconnect with his daughter. However, things are halted rather abruptly as a complaint is made against Daniel and he is removed from the prison without much explanation. Feeling a lot of empathy for Daniel since watching his diaries, Zara goes into bat for Daniel at the prison and gets his job back, asking the Governor to keep her interference quiet.

After receiving the expensive bracelet, Ayesha becomes suspicious of Bear and follows him to a lockup where he sorts out a load of boxes and talks to a contact on the phone. I’m sure there will turn out to be some sort of reasonable explanation but I am still convinced that he is dodgy. I don’t like him. I don’t like him at all.

Sid gets caught up with a severely OCD man who has cut himself by accident and locks himself in his flat, terrified that his equally OCD mother will come home. Sadly, his mother died months previously and he needs a lot of mental health support. Al is left devastated when he delivers a homeless girl’s baby, only for the young woman to die during labour. Rob and Karen take on a new foster child.

Doctors is on BBC1, weekdays at 1:45pm