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 12th June
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 12th June
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
I always love a week that starts with lots of Zara Carmichael! Monday 4th 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
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 can’t not help…
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!
Shak works on a homelessness project…
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
I love Doctors. I always feel that because it’s a daytime soap, it’s rather underrated when actually, it’s probably one of the best. It covers a huge range of subjects, some of them very tough, which must not be easy in its timeslot. It’s also very quirky and is often extremely creative in its storytelling. If you’ve never watched Doctors, I highly recommend it. I started watching it by accident some years ago and now I absolutely never miss it. It’s clever, it’s thought provoking, it’s funny, creative and it uses its platform with a genuine sense of responsibility.
A great example of this platform came this past week during Emma’s radio interview to discuss LGBTQ+ issues and advice. At first, she was very reluctant to get personal but when one particular caller phoned in and told her that he had been attacked, Emma finally opened up about the attack on her and Jasmine. It was such a genuinely emotional moment that my Mum phoned me to talk about it afterwards! Emma was so brave and so was the caller. The whole storyline has been so powerful, from crafting a lovely relationship, to the awful attack, to how Emma and Jasmine reacted in such different ways, to beautiful friendship from Zara and now Emma’s bravery to come out about what happened to her.
Meanwhile, Ruhma’s mood plummets further when she goes to see the most useless advocate ever to discuss her case. I mean, the woman is just completely unhelpful. What is the actual point of her? Also, they break for lunch and yet she opts to bring her lunch back and eat it in front of Ruhma who is fasting for Ramadan. I think Ruhma needs someone else to fight for her…
Ruhma has a very unhelpful meeting…
Speaking of Ramadan, Joe’s new friend turns out not to be imaginary at all. He’s a lovely little boy called Ozzy who is fasting for the first time this year. Besotted with his new mate, Joe decided that he too wants to fast, throwing Zara and Daniel into a bit of a spin. Of course, Zara being Zara decided to ruin Joe’s fast by tempting him with donuts – which Ozzy ate, ruining his fast instead. I mean, why? Why give Joe donuts when his friend was there? That’s just irresponsible. I mean, what mother would give their kid a treat and not their visiting friend anyway? That’s just mean. But now she has ruined Ozzy’s fast on day one and also ruined her blossoming friendship with his mother. Oh, Zara…
Thursday last week was one of those very odd Doctors episodes. We started with a drunk couple, hooking up after a night out and heading back to her place. Then they heard an intruder upstairs. Calling the police, they knocked the guy out. And who was it? None other than Bear Sylvester, Business Manager of The Mill! And this is what is brilliant about this show. It can be so incredibly random and make you sit and work out for an entire episode what on earth is going on. Bear was of course innocent after all (although I still don’t trust him) but it led to quite the sad story as the episode played out.
Then, the next day, there was a saga about chairs and Sid had to remove splinters from Karen’s bottom. Yes, really.
Karen has a pain in the bottom…!
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
Ruhma’s world comes crashing down around her when she is suspended from working as a midwife due to the complaint Carrie has made against her. I mean, this is quite frankly, unacceptable. Doug shows his true colours by blaming Ruhma entirely for the kiss. What was Ruhma’s crime, really? Being flattered by a bit of attention? Blurring some friendship boundaries? I totally get Carrie being upset but she is upset with the wrong person. Well, I for one never liked that Doug. And I have felt so sorry for poor Ruhma all week, especially during the scenes where she went to Heston’s grave and poured out her heart and soul to him. At the risk of sounding a hundred years old – what a lovely boy that Shak has turned into. He has been absolutely gorgeous with looking after his Mum (although I had no idea he was best mates with Daniel).
Ruhma struggles with her suspension…
In her absence, the rest of the staff take on Ruhma’s patients which for Emma, doesn’t go too well as she meets an extremely demanding Mum to be, who slates the NHS (seriously, how dare she?) and treats her husband like crap. As it turns out, not only has she secretly found out the baby’s gender (which Emma lets slip to the husband), she has spent so much money (without ever earning any) that he is now crippled with debt. He ends up being rushed to hospital with a near heart attack, having had bailiffs come in and remove their belongings. His wife wanders over to the hospital to see him at her leisure, seems irritated that he hadn’t had a ‘real heart attack’ and informs him that they have been burgled. When she’s more concerned about their financial situation than his health, he ends their marriage. Good! What a cow! Unfortunately, all of this prompts Emma to be rather rude to Ruhma, who quite frankly, doesn’t need it, especially as she is sat at her husband’s grave at the time.
Bear tackles some racist hand soap dispensers (if only they had known Covid-19 was on its way, the probably would have smashed them open and saved the soap rather than just chucking them away, the little wastrels!)
Some vile teenagers destroy a mirror ball intended as an elderly man’s late wife’s memorial. Then in quite a sweet moment at the end, one of them (who is clearly being reluctantly dragged along by the rest of them), feels very guilty and gives him her disco ball by way of apology to try and make up for it.
Speaking of kids, Zara gets a lesson in how the less wealthy live when a young lad comes in with stomach pains and she discovers that actually, he’s just hungry (she feeds him). It takes Zara a while to understand Ayesha’s ‘summer holidays’ remark but eventually, she gets it. It’s really not her world. The kid’s parents work all the hours God sends for hardly any money and they are struggling to put food on the table. The mother is very resistant to Zara’s offer of help but the father quietly accepts a referral to the local food bank.
Zara and Daniel are mildly concerned that Joe might have an imaginary friend called Ozzie. Honestly, that Joe gets cuter every time he appears on screen. He rivals that little Amelia in Emmerdale for the adorable factor.
Daniel wonders if Joe has an imaginary friend…
Rob and Karen spend their day off rather irritating each other at home, having not expected to have the same day off together. When Rob storms out, he is surprised to find a confused old lady outside his house. In a rather brilliant little story, he does exactly what you’d expect him to do, which is bring her indoors and try to help her. She can’t remember her address or where she was going and he and Karen busy themselves with being her saviours. When their backs are turned, she taken Karen’s purse and Rob’s car keys and almost makes her getaway! Hilarious! Rob is mortified to have to report to his colleagues that he was nearly robbed by ‘Speedy Sue’! Whoever thought this storyline up was a genius! Love it.
Jimmi returns…
In Monday’s episode, Jimmi returns to The Mill, ready to start seeing patients again, dealing with cranky old women who slags everything off, a panicked man smoking in the toilets and a woman who has reached breaking point trying to work and care for her ailing mother. His colleagues and patients are thrilled to see him back and I for one am thrilled to see he has tidied up his beard.
He and Emma reconnect, as she opens up to him about her attack and they both decide to draw a line under recent events. She visits Ruhma, apologising for having a go at her about her horrible patient and her visit clearly makes a lot of difference to Ruhma’s mental health. She then agrees to participate in an LGBTQ+ focused radio interview Bear has arranged. Meanwhile, Jimmi plucks up the courage to contact the police about his role as an FME.
Emma visits Ruhma…
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
I was desperately looking forward to last week’s Doctors and it didn’t disappoint as it aired the fallout from the brutal homophobic attack on Emma and Jasmine. One sad thing to note is that rather than bonding them, it has confirmed the end of their relationship, which is a real shame as they made a really good pairing. But it was all still so new to be facing something so difficult.
Jasmine started the week in a foul mood, having had no choice but to make a witness statement and report to Occupational Health once Emma had reported the attack. She did eventually attempt to make amends with Emma only to find it’s too late. Emma has had a lot of time to think, as well as talk to Victim Support (actually a non-speaking extra who doesn’t even have a face so could probably be a member of the crew!) and has decided that they want different things and their relationship is over. But regardless, if their relationship brought us anything, it brought this incredible, powerful, amazingly, written, directed and acted story and I am so impressed, Doctors. This is one to remember for Soap Award Season. Brilliantly done.
Emma has to make some big decisions…
One relationship that is going strong, however, is Emma and Zara. Oh, I love Emma and Zara. Who would have thought that in that muddy field, in the middle of nowhere, that friendship would have been forged for life? Well, whoever saw the potential connection between them is a genius. Bravo.
When Emma failed to show up to work, Zara headed right round there, having not heard from her friend all weekend and she was stunned to see the state of her and hear the story of what she has been through. This lead to a fabulous episode on Friday (10th) where Zara pitched up on Emma’s doorstep with food, drink and Bridget Jones. She even changed into some pyjamas in a bid to cheer up her friend, who did not want to be cheered up.
Meanwhile, Daniel had his own problems when Izzie and Valerie coerced him into their eco-warrior plan to cut down the netting on some trees in a car park, which has been put up to shut out the birds (thereby putting their lives at risk) to stop them crapping on the cars. Of course, it all ended in disaster and Daniel got arrested for criminal damage. Well, I fully support them! Don’t park your car there if you’re scared of a bit of poo! Honestly! These people need to go to the seaside and then try to protect their cars…
Ruhma continued to try and support Carrie, who is pregnant and immobile with a husband who doesn’t love her or want to spend any time with her. Little does poor Carrie know, he is also giving Ruhma the eye. I mean, who the hell is this guy? Why does he think he can try and move in on our Ruhma? Does he actually think he is a patch on Heston? I’m not saying that Ruhma can’t move on but when she does, I’d like to think she’d choose someone with a bit more kindness and personality, not someone who’d go and play golf and flirt with another woman while his pregnant wife was suffering and lonely.
The sad thing is that Carrie feels she has found a friend in Ruhma and this would otherwise have been a really nice story. Ruhma reluctantly went for dinner with her and Doug in Carrie’s bedroom but when Carrie fell asleep, Doug and Ruhma headed downstairs where Ruhma attempted to make her exit. Then Doug kissed her. And Carrie witnessed it from the upstairs landing. No!
Doug kisses Ruhma…
Bear overheard Ayesha dismissing the idea of there being any feelings between them. So this story is going to be dragged out for a while then…
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
In the only soap still running its normal schedule, we had a very mixed bag of episodes this week (and Friday last week). We had some random little episodes, including Al playing an April Fool’s joke on that irritating Barry, making him and his very anxious colleague that the water supply is poisoned. Jasmine works extremely hard to get to the bottom of an arson case involving a vulnerable young woman (played by Ronnie’s long lost daughter in Eastenders) and her sister’s boyfriend.
Meanwhile, Julia supports Jimmi as he struggles to adjust to life on the outside, his OCD kicking seriously kicking in. She whisks him away to France, much to the annoyance of Al, for a break after all the trauma he has been through. Presumably, Adrian Lewis Morgan needed a bit of a rest from such a rough storyline!
Valerie struggles to complete her work ahead of the AGM, staying at work until late at night to complete it, only to bump into Bear who is doing the same. Her next project is trying to raise money for a cat shelter, which everyone thinks is ridiculous. Is it that unreasonable to invite people to an evening out to raise money for a shelter? I think everyone was quite rude, to be honest. However, she does get a little carried away with dragging Bear in as a dance partner. But it’s only because Bear was stamping all over her ideas and she misunderstood what he was saying, thinking he was trying to help her. How unreasonable.
Don’t be fooled though. While this storyline does indeed give the fabulous Valerie a delightful chance to shine in all her eccentricities, as she and reluctant Bear take rather well at this dancing malarkey and are the belles of the ball, really this whole storyline is just an elaborate plot to bring Bear and Ayesha closer together. Boring.
Ayesha and Bear are clearly going to get together… (photo credit: eastieoaks.co.uk)
A random ex/potential love interest (I think we met him when Ruhma’s hearing aid was picking up the radio frequencies in the hospital) blasts back into Ruhma’s life and utterly confuses her as he announces that he and his much younger girlfriend are having a baby. He asks her to work as a private midwife for them. She does support the vulnerable woman, who turns out to be having a more complicated pregnancy than expected and also has a phobia of hospitals. I’m not sure about this one. I mean, he’s no Heston.
Emma is nervous as she meets Jasmine’s mother, an eccentric hippy who persuades her to do yoga after lunch and is very protective of her daughter! Emma is mortified when she recognises her from the Smears Without Fears Campaign! But the meeting mostly goes well. I think. I do like Emma and Jasmine as a pairing and I think it’s nice that Emma has found someone kind after the nightmare of Gareth.
Unfortunately, the new couple hit the rocks in a major way at the end of the week in an excruciating and extremely educational episode when it comes to homophobia, LGBTQ hate crime and violence against women. I had read that Doctors was going to tackle this story (inspired by that awful news story last year of the couple on the bus who were attacked just for being gay women) but I wasn’t expecting it to be focussed on characters we already know. I assumed Rob or Jasmine would be investigating a crime and Emma would be the Doctor treating them. Friday’s episode (3rd April) is a must see and it is much harder hitting than that, if you please excuse the pun.
It begins Emma and Jasmine’s story at the end of the night, showing both women battered and bruised and struggling to communicate, in shock over what has happened to them. They are also at odds over what is the best decision going forward. Emma wants to report the incident. Jasmine, a police officer, does not. It’s hard to see them, so besotted with each other at the beginning of the evening, so broken, physically and emotionally by the end.
Their date is blighted by homophobia from the start. First, a straight, white male is horrified to even have a gay couple near him in the restaurant. His wife apologises to them for his disgusting attitude towards them. They leave and have a good night out, only to be followed down the street and hassled by a gang of lads, which soon turns violent.
Jasmine and Emma are assaulted… (Photo credit: What’sOnTV)
The way they show the attack is genuinely brilliant, interlaced with shots of Valerie and Bear dancing at the Cat Ball. The whole episode is so clever. It’s uncomfortable in all the ways it should be uncomfortable. It’s written and directed perfectly. Dido Miles and Lara Sawalha (guess who her family members are!) play their roles perfectly. I was utterly gripped and I can’t wait to see how the rest of this story plays out. While Emma makes her statement without Jasmine by her side, I do hope that they are able to pull together as a couple soon.
Next week, despite Doctors ceasing filming due to the Coronavirus, the show does appear to still be airing every weekday on BBC1 at 1:45pm
Well, what can I say about Doctor’s 20th anniversary episode other than, thank you? It was the perfect tonic to the current, worldwide crisis and this amazing episode could not have come at a better time. Forget boat crashes and serial killers, all of which were fabulous anniversary celebrations in other soaps, Doctors celebrated their twenty years on telly with a documentary style episode, each character talking to the camera about the work they do for the NHS, explaining just how vital their role and the role of the NHS is in the UK.
Alongside this, we saw patients being treated, an accident between an ambulance and a scooter, a huge explosion, which brought in the essential services of the police and firefighters and a heart rendering labour scene where mother and baby were so close to death. Also, just as an aside, it did look a bit like the ‘newborn’ baby had teeth. I think it was just goo but it was a bit unsettling. The characters provided much care and support to a huge range of patients and at the end of the episode, Jimmi returned home to his chosen family, the people that love him the most.
We saw the role of doctors, nurses, midwives, reception staff, paramedics, police officers, firefighters and this episode celebrated them all in all the vital roles they play. And it was all on the day that everyone, all around the UK stood out on the streets, on their balconies or like me or simply hung their heads out of their windows and clapped for the NHS, clapped for the care givers, clapped for all those essential services who are working so very tirelessly to keep our country going.
This episode could not have been more perfect if it had tried. Right now, so many of us are trapped indoors, socially distancing, self-isolating, away from loved ones, a lot of us poorly, many of us feeling vulnerable and unsure in this time of crisis. The NHS and so many other services are under so much pressure and we know this is only the beginning. So, in the best timing ever, Doctors celebrated it’s 20th anniversary and used its platform to show us just how amazing the NHS and emergency services are and how lucky we are to have them.
Well done, everyone at Doctors for this episode and for the past twenty years.
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
The Soap Dish 