Brenda and Eric launch their new menu at the café and despite some resistance, people dig in. Dan ends up overindulging and ends up rather hungover. Brenda rescues him with a wrap the next morning, only for her not to check the ingredients of some salad dressing. It contains almond milk and he goes into anaphylactic shock in the garage, falling and fracturing his back. Thankfully, Eric and Brenda find him in time to get him medical treatment, although when Eric tries Jacob’s epi-pen on him, he discovers it is well out of date (prompting him to scold Jacob for not looking after himself properly).
Dan is in serious trouble…
Dan is rushed to hospital with Kerry, Amelia and Mandy (haven’t they flirted like, once?) by his side where he is rushed into emergency surgery but it is possible that he may never walk again. At least he is in Emmerdale. Usually when this happens in soap, paralysis means a swift exit unless the character has actually been brought in for the purpose of being disabled but Emmerdale at least has Chris Tate in their history books. Anyway, at first, Brenda tries to pass the blame onto Wendy, who gave Dan some painkillers for his hangover but when she is confronted by the fact that it was more than likely a food allergy, she has to confess the truth. Dan and his loved ones are absolutely livid. I have to say that Kerry’s anger is somewhat hypocritical considering Frank is literally ashes because of her, don’t you think?
Brenda is overwhelmed with guilt…
Paddy and Chas finally talk things through and this time, she is a lot more compassionate and forgiving about his mistake. They meet with the social worker who is happy not to pursue things any further.
Things are tense between Jamie and Belle as they are both jealous of each other’s partners. Jamie and Belle end up together in the back of his car. Classy. Even classier, he ends up straight back in Andrea’s bed, as she has taken Leyla’s advice in how to seduce her husband. When Paddy unwittingly drops Jamie in it, Kim is quick to cover for her son, hoping to win her way back into his affections. When he wants to know why she would even begin to help him save his marriage, she concedes that even Andrea is better for him than a Dingle. Jamie tells Belle that it’s over between them. Kim warns Belle away from her son again. When Ellis feels like Belle is pulling away from him, she tells him she loves him. He loves her too. But he is actually telling the truth. As for Jamie, quite frankly, I’m disappointed. They brought him in as such an honest, moral character. I don’t buy that the moment he got back together with his wife, he would be at it on the backseat of his car with Belle. He’s grown up despising this kind of behaviour, the deceit and the lies. It seems a shame to take him down this path.
Belle and Jamie can’t resist each other…
Dawn is nervous as the social worker and Luca’s foster mother bring him to live with her. His foster mother is clearly reluctant to let him go and has left an ‘I love you’ recorded message in a teddy bear. He calls her ‘Mummy’. Dawn struggles with feeling like Lucas is bonding with everyone but her.
Meanwhile DI Malone continues to stir up trouble for Will, calling him in on a job with Cain and Billy. Will is not impressed to discover that Billy has been dragged in on the situation. Cain refuses to participate. I remain bored.
The truth is out about Liam and Leyla and Diane and the kids are unreasonably unhappy. Their loyalty is with the woman who went off to Australia permanently without bothering to end their relationship, leaving him hanging in absolute turmoil and grief instead.
Things remain awkward between Victoria and Luke; he tells his mother about the breakup. Rhona is relieved when Pierce is given a life sentence.
Due to the Coronavirus, Emmerdale have had to suspend filming
Emmerdale will now air on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV1 at 7pm
Geoff books another date with ‘Rachel the Escort’ while having a go at Yasmeen for making too much noise, hoovering the house he is so obsessed with being perfectly clean. He is then too busy with his ‘date’ to go with Yasmeen to the Doctor about her stomach cramps, snapping at her that he doesn’t need permission to go out and he is entitled to a life of his own. What a bloody cheek! Also, what is wrong is Yasmeen?!
Geoff is fully in control…
Meanwhile, Alya discovers that Zeedan is getting married in Spain and nobody is invited. And why have they changed his character so much off-screen? There is no way that he would have ignored Alya’s concerns about Yasmeen or shut them out of his wedding. But anyway, Ryan comes up with the idea of getting herself and Yasmeen invited, without Geoff, in a bid to get Yasmeen away from her husband. She excitedly tells her Gran about the wedding. Geoff fakes excitement but the next thing Alya knows, Geoff has invited himself, claiming to have rearranged their finances and booked a fancy five star hotel for himself and Yasmeen to go on a lovely holiday.
David bonds with Alina…
David resists Maria’s support over the loss of Shona and is extremely rude to Brian. He then spends the day with Alina. Emma admits to Seb that she had an awkward conversation with Alina about her possible feelings for him and now she seems to be avoiding them. She asks him to fix it but when he goes home, he finds her half undressed on the sofa with David. He is not happy. Alina is upset to discover that David has a wife and children. When he explains, she still doesn’t want to get involved. Fair play. David winds Seb up in the pub, prompting him to punch him. Emma is heartbroken to realise that her boyfriend still has feelings for his ex. It wasn’t Alina she should have been worrying about, it was Seb. Nick begs David not to give up on Shona.
Seb can’t control his anger…
Bernie does her best to help Gemma around the house and with the children, although it is not appreciated. She also takes her to see Doctor Gaddas, although she is frustrated when Gemma is not honest about how she is really feeling. Gemma promises to let Bernie keep an eye on her and if she doesn’t think she is coping, she will let her take her back to the Doctor.
At Stillwaters, the Retirement Village, Charles finds a patch of dog urine on the carpet in the hall and then hears Eccles barking in Ken and Claudia’s room. Ken is furious to receive an excessive bill for cleaning. Norris is happy to wind the situation up as much as possible.
Evelyn and Arthur finally go out on their date and they have a lovely time. Evelyn is overwhelmed when Arthur gives her a memento from a date they had all those years ago. Hopefully this will turn into a beautiful love story.
Due to the Coronavirus, Coronation Street has had to cease filming
For the foreseeable, Coronation Street will air on ITV on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30pm
With their families as one now, Laurel reminds Archie to be careful with Arthur’s special boat in a bottle. Arthur is still grounded over his behaviour, prompting him to tell his mother that he hates her and that she’s a rubbish Mum. That night, Arthur hides the bottle in Archie’s bag and then smashes it, hoping the get the little boy in trouble. However, when he knows exactly where to find it the next morning, Laurel doesn’t buy his tale for a second. Jai begs him to tell the truth and apologise to his mother. Reluctantly, Arthur agrees. He takes responsibility for breaking the bottle and when pushed by Archie, accepts that he hurt him, even though it isn’t true.
Vanessa has surgery…
Charity, Tracy and Rhona support Vanessa as she goes into surgery for her bowel cancer. The surgery is successful, although she will still need chemotherapy to make sure. There is the loveliest scene afterwards where Charity takes Vanessa down to the chemo suite to make her feel more comfortable with what is to come. The two women pledge their love and commitment to each other. It really is very sweet.
Sam is upset to discover that Samson pawned his mother wedding ring to go on a school trip. Vinny takes the blame and he and Mandy get thrown out, prompting Mandy to steal from the Free Marlon Dingle Campaign in order to get the ring back. When Vinny gets such a hard time for his crime, Samson can’t cope and confesses. Vinny then admits that he isn’t actually a Dingle and wanted to prove his commitment to the family. Mandy was in a relationship with his father and has been a mother to him since he was a baby. His Dad left and she has been his mother ever since. The family agree that his love and commitment to the family make his as much Dingle as anyone else.
Unfortunately, Brenda twigs that Mandy has robbed the charity fund and she is soon tackled by the police. The police also want to speak to Marlon, who goes into meltdown at cops knocking on his door. Well, you can understand it. His last police interaction had him wrongfully imprisoned for murder! He hides in his house until Paddy and Rhona can persuade him to open up and calm the situation down.
Paddy takes Marlon out for a drive with Eve and drags him out to car to get some air where he promptly starts having chest pains. Paddy rushes him to the hospital and in the chaos, he forgets about little Eve in the back of the car! Marlon is rushed into resus and Paddy waits anxiously for news. It’s only when Rhona shows up that Paddy suddenly remembers his daughter. By the time he goes to find her, she has already been rescued from the car by the police. She has been taken into the hospital and treated for being too cold. The car is registered to Chas, who has been called to the police station. Social services have been contacted. While Marlon is diagnosed as having had a minor heart attack, Eve is kept in overnight. Chas is furious with Paddy.
Chas struggles to forgive Paddy…
The next day, Marlon is finally ready to forgive and forget when it comes to his family. He spends the day with Rhona but things get awkward when she tries to kiss him and then runs off. They eventually talk things through and confirm that they don’t want to restart their relationship, they just needed comfort and got carried away.
Rhona and Marlon confuse their feelings…
Back at the pub, Paddy has to announce his mistake but everyone is a lot more forgiving than Chas. Finding Paddy at Grace’s grave, Lydia says all the right things and sends him back to Chas and Eve. Chas and Paddy make peace but privately, Chas vows never to let her daughter out of her sight again.
The next day is Eve, Harry and Theo’s christening. Chas is late as she takes Eve to help Aaron get dressed, refusing to leave her with Paddy. While they are all waiting, some of the men do Godfather impressions, leading Harriet to start the service with a rather amusing impression of her own! The service goes well but the party afterwards explodes into an argument between Chas and Paddy over his mistake. That night, Paddy leaves. He spends the night in his car. When he does eventually come back the next day, he has missed the meeting with Social Services. Chas is livid.
The other person who struggles with the Christening is Wendy, who despite herself, still misses her rapist son, Lee. She leaves the service and when she apologises to Victoria later for doing so, kind Victoria just gives her a big hug. It’s a lovely scene. Later that night, Victoria takes a huge step and spends the night with Luke but while they seem very close the next morning, Victoria admits to Amy that she felt like the whole thing was happening to someone else. She is honest with Luke who is horrified and wishes she had told him and he would have stopped, never wanting her to feel like that with him. While he is happy to go back to a non-physical relationship, Victoria decides she isn’t ready for any kind of relationship at all and ends things completely between them.
Victoria and Luke grow closer…
Nick (where did he even come from?) gives Andrea a camera and literally sets her up to record Kim confessing to ordering Graham death and threatening to take out a hit on her. Also on camera, Nick and Andrea kiss before she pulls away, feeling she is cheating on Jamie. Of course, it’s all a plot to get Andrea in a compromising position and Nick has been working for Kim all along. He gives her the footage to use against Andrea but it backfires as Andrea immediately goes to Jamie with what has happened. When Belle also mentions that Kim threatened her to keep away from him, he concludes that his mother will never change. He moves out and reunites with Andrea, the family moving in with Tracy and shutting Kim out of their lives. Not exactly what Kim planned!
While Dawn is excitedly preparing for Lucas’s arrival, this boring story between Will, Cain and this DI Malone guy is rumbling on. This week, poor Billy gets dragged in on getting rid of a car with Cain, only Cain decides to merely hide the car and use it as an insurance policy against Malone. I mean, I’m not really following it to be honest. I apologise. I know I’m a soap blogger but some stories are just too dull, especially when they make them so bloody complicated. The most interesting thing about this one is that the actor who plays the dodgy copper is married to Samantha Womack (RIP Ronnie Mitchell, gone too soon).
Another example of a boring story is this apparently comedic story of Liam and Leyla trying to get some alone time together. They get caught out at the gym, at his GP surgery, at her office, at her house… Oh, it goes on! And why? Because his daughter thinks he should be waiting for the woman who abandoned him to move to Australia? Come off it. Move this story on, Emmerdale, quickly and quietly. The idea of Eric and Brenda getting together is more interesting than this and only because the actors are a couple in real life!
Due to the Coronavirus, Emmerdale have had to suspend filming
This week, Emmerdale is on at 7pm Monday to Friday with a second episode at 8pm on Thursdays
Geoff persuades Yasmeen to sell up and move to Cyprus with him. There’s an interesting moment when he educates her on washing her hands while singing ‘happy birthday’ in her head, which apparently was coincidental but is now very apt!
Alya continues to be very worried about her grandmother. She accuses Geoff of theft, which he denies and she is later shocked when someone comes to value the business. Alya charges round to see Yasmeen who has no choice but to let her in. Convinced that Yasmeen is being abused, she furious packs some clothes for her, only for Geoff to interrupt them. Geoff and Alya fight over Yasmeen who ultimately chooses her husband. He throws Alya out. It’s just so sad, especially as of course, Geoff then takes everything out on Yasmeen, accusing her of accusing him of being an abuser. He leaves her stewing for hours before she agrees to abandon her granddaughter, something that rational Yasmeen would never, ever have done before. She absolutely lived for her family.
Toyah takes Alya to the police for help for Yasmeen…
Desperately worried, Alya goes to the police to invoke Clare’s Law and asks them to search Geoff’s background and find out if there is anything in Geoff’s past that Yasmeen ought to know. Separately, Alya discovers that Geoff and an ex-girlfriend were both once charged with a public affray after a fight in a pub. She takes the information to Yasmeen who is resistant to the news. Alya begs her to hang fire on the move to Cyprus. Yasmeen rushes her out the back door when Geoff arrives home. Alya expresses her concerns to Eileen.
Geoff is immediately annoyed when the neighbours make fun of him with ‘jiggle it Geoff’ as the chain is on the door. But mostly, he is excited over their plans to move away. It all goes wrong when Yasmeen reluctantly asks him about Jocelyn, the woman he fought with. He denies any blame and challenges Yasmeen to go with him to the police station to ask them herself. He is furious that Alya was back at the house and slams his fist on the table, frightening his wife before throwing her dinner on the floor. She is so scared of the mess and wasting the money that he spent on the takeaway that she picks it up and begins to eat off the floor. He is disgusted with her. It’s one of the most horrific scenes yet. This incredible woman has been utterly degraded by this vile man.
Geoff cancels Cyprus and then walks out on her for the night. While Yasmeen scrubs the carpet, he books an escort called Rachel! The next morning, Yasmeen desperately searches for Geoff and finds Alya in the restaurant contacting the police about their background search on him. She says some very unkind things to her granddaughter and makes it clear that she chooses Geoff over her. It really is the most awful situation.
When he finally does come home, Yasmeen finds the strength to say she wants to hang fire on moving to Cyprus. At work, Alya is frustrated with Geoff for not doing any work. He is too busy booking his next ‘date’ with ‘Rachel’.
Yasmeen is unable to work due to a bad stomach. Geoff rearranges the work rota so that he and Alya don’t have to work together. Alya is about to give up on Yasmeen, feeling that all her attempts to help have only succeeded in Yasmeen pushing her away. Ryan visits Yasmeen and begs her to come and see Alya, who is upset over a phone call. Yasmeen rushes out in her dressing gown, desperately worried about her granddaughter. She finds Alya in her flat with two police officers. They have information about Geoff. Yasmeen is worried about Geoff having seen her and she doesn’t want to hear anything they have to say. She storms out. The police are unable to tell anyone but Yasmeen about Geoff.
Alya visits Yasmeen and begs her to at least consider hearing what the police have to say. She persuades her to let her put the officer’s number in her phone under ‘Clare’, expressing how worried she is. It’s an emotional moment as Alya tells her she knows she is scared and confused. You can see Yasmeen’s conflict as she wants to reach out to Alya for help but she is trapped in this awful cycle of abuse with Geoff.
Alya attempts to bring Zeedan home to help with Yasmeen but he doesn’t believe that she is being abused and refuses to abandon his holiday with his girlfriend.
Gemma is struggling with parenthood and is reluctant to return to the Mother and Baby Group. The group are not impressed with Bernie, who has arrived back on the Street. Gemma is further upset to realise that she has been left out of a get together and embarrassed when Bernie bursts in and gives them what for. The girls appear to make a gesture by inviting Gemma and the quads out. There seems to be one girl, Imogen who isn’t very nice and deliberately keeps topping up Gemma’s Prosecco to get her tipsy and chatty and there’s another girl, Vanessa who does seem to be quite nice.
Gemma nearly has a serious accident…
Things take a turn when Gemma overhears Imogen remarking that the kids will end up in care. She storms out and nearly ends up under a car – with the kids. She is spotted by Craig and one of his colleagues who are concerned that she has been drinking, although Craig lets it go this time. Gemma breaks down and admits to Bernie that she isn’t coping but she cannot be honest with Chesney who is working so hard for the family. By the end of the episode, the quads are crying, Joseph needs help with his homework, she has spilt a cup of tea and she is sobbing in the garden. That night, she has a nightmare that she puts Aled in the washing machine. She still can’t tell Chesney what she is going through.
Gemma is surprised by a visit from the Health Visitor, who is mildly concerned about her mental health but Gemma doesn’t want to talk about it. Taking her advice, when she gets stressed, she goes outside for a moment, only to get locked out of the house. Bernie arrives and they manage to break in through the window and settle the babies down. Gemma breaks down on her mother. Bernie decides to move in and help with the babies. She wants Gemma to book a Doctor’s appointment. Chesney is not happy about Bernie moving in, especially after she takes responsibility for the broken window.
Ken and Claudia hit the ground running at the Retirement Village with Claudia volunteering Ken to run the book club, as their regular leader is unavailable. He ends up having to read an excerpt from his own book but there is a troublemaker in the form of Norris Cole, who attempts to discredit him. He is soon shut down by the other residents who don’t care if Ken has only had one book published: it’s one more book than Norris. It turns out that Norris and Freda have been living at the Retirement Village and Norris hates it. He feels like Freda has turned into a different person and he is desperate to leave. He is disruptive in an art class. You know, this Retirement Village seems rather a lot of fun! A book club, art club, cinema club, salsa class, a bar… Ken brings Norris to The Rovers to see his friends. Ken isn’t happy over the way Tracy is (not) looking after Eccles so he sneaks her into the Retirement Village.
Ken and Norris reconnect…
Fiz and Tyrone have a rather unpleasant discussion in front of the kids about cremated dogs being scattered in the Red Rec! It’s not that random – Tyrone and Evelyn have to take the dog to the vet but thankfully he will be just fine. However, his treatment is very expensive (no insurance). At the vets, Evelyn reconnects with an old flame, Arthur. They arrange a date (Evelyn even gets a makeover from Claudia and reserves a booth at The Rovers), only for him not to show up, which is a genuine shame. It would be nice for her to have a romance. Tyrone intercepts Arthur going to explain himself to Evelyn and warns him to stay away. He speaks to her anyway and explains that nerves got in the way of the date, asking for another chance. Evelyn tells Tyrone off for interfering, although she is touched that he cares.
Seb is reluctant when Emma tells him that her mother wants to pay for them both to come to Australia so she can meet him, although he does eventually agree. He also doesn’t seem to want to spend much time with her but later has a moment with Alina. Oh dear. Emma speaks to Alina directly when she gets wind of a possible attraction between her and Seb but Alina makes it clear that she would never come between them and that she values her friendship with Emma. Well, I hope that’s true.
Is there still an attraction between Seb and Alina…?
Alina tells David off for being rude to her at the pub so he buys her a drink to apologise. A possible new romance? For now, David has his own problems, as Shona refuses to see David but he reconnected with Clayton. She decides to go and visit Clayton himself and warn him not to take advantage of his vulnerable mother. He fails. Nick offers to try and see Shona and try to correct the situation. She refuses to see him. She passes on a message to David that she will not be returning to Wetherfield and she wants a divorce.
David fails to warn Clayton away from Shona…
Due to the Coronavirus, Coronation Street has had to cease filing
This week, Coronation Street will air on ITV on Monday & Wednesday at 7:30/8:30pm
Marlon is distraught to discover that while he has been in prison, April has been bullied by a girl in her class. Thankfully, with Vinnie’s encouragement, April stands up to her, in front of Marlon. She is very brave.
Rhona tells Marlon the truth about the money. He is understandably livid and gunning for Charity. He summons his friends and family to the pub in order to confront her. Everyone is ashamed of her, although she fails to just apologise and attempts to defend her defenceless actions. Ryan is regretful and does point out that he did do the right thing and handed the money over to Rhona and told the truth. Marlon is also angry with Mandy about the journalist that greeted him on the day he came home. Charity tries to implicate Rhona but Marlon argues that although she didn’t rat on Charity and Ryan, she went to the police immediately. It soon transpires that Cain also knew about the money.
With Pierce having pleaded guilty to murder off screen, Rhona is able to focus on Graham’s funeral. However, Kim sneaks off and cremates Graham in a private service, attended only by herself. Rhona is understandably furious. When Andrea confronts Kim over what she has done, emotional Kim says too much, leading Andrea to believe that Kim may have ordered Pierce to murder Graham. Jamie confronts his mother about it and she admits that she considered asking someone to kill Graham. He concludes that she went through with it, only Pierce got there first. She makes excuses and Jamie has a surprising level of understanding considering he’s supposed to be such a nice man. Andrea is horrified and demands sole custody of her daughter or she will tell the police everything she knows.
Kim excludes everyone from Graham’s funeral…
While Al is furious with Kim for what he has done, Kim remains calm and confident. Then she threatens Andrea. However, things backfire when Andrea tells Rhona and Rhona tells Marlon. Soon the police are knocking on the door of Home Farm and Kim is arrested for conspiracy to murder. They question her about the £60,000. At the police station, she denies everything. Eventually, she admits she gave the money to Al, who is then also arrested for conspiracy. They are both released, at least for now.
Jamie accuses Andrea of turning Kim into the police, which she denies, revealing that Kim threatened her life. Rhona reveals to Andrea that she told Marlon what happened. While Andrea panics, Rhona is confident that Kim will be going away for a long time. Marlon announces to the pub what Kim has done but that Pierce got their first. He also quits his job.
Having learned of his Dad’s debts, Ellis confronts Al who attempts to explain. When Marlon discovers Al’s involvement, he bursts in and punches him. When Ellis fails to shop Al to the police, Marlon throws him out of his house. He has chosen his side. I think I quite like Ruthless Marlon.
Charity has bigger problems, however, as she continues to struggle with Vanessa’s cancer diagnosis. Tracy ignores Vanessa’s request for a low key birthday and goes behind her back to arrange a party, thinking that Charity has been neglectful. Charity drags Tracy outside and breaks Vanessa’s confidence, revealing the truth about her diagnosis. Tracy is devastated and Vanessa is eventually grateful that Charity did what she couldn’t. Charity and Tracy argue over the best way to support Vanessa but eventually pull together as a team as Vanessa begins to break the news to her loved ones, including Noah and Sarah. Sarah, who has been through cancer herself, is particularly amazing.
Charity does her best to support Vanessa…
Wendy babysits while Victoria and Luke have their first proper date. Unfortunately, things go wrong when they attempt to become intimate. Victoria has a flashback of Lee and panics, throwing Luke out. Luke is broken hearted over the deep pain that his brother is still inflicting on Victoria. He is genuinely a good person. The next day, while Victoria concludes they can only be friends, Luke is happy to pursue a relationship with no pressure for things to become physical between them.
Victoria and Luke try to find a way forward…
Jai wants himself, Laurel and the kids to all move in together but Laurel turns him down, having not told him about Arthur’s violence against Archie. When the boys are left alone together, Archie ends up injured, leading Laurel to burst out the truth, shocking Jai. Arthur insists that Archie had been playing with the gift that Betty sent through the post that had belonged to Sandy. He had let him play with it and then put it on a shelf. Archie climbed onto the shelf and fell. Knowing his past behaviour, Laurel doesn’t believe him and tells him that Ashley would be ashamed. Losing his temper, Arthur wishes his mother dead. Bit harsh. But while Jai persuades Laurel to put Arthur into counselling if their relationship is going to work, Laurel cannot convince her son to tell ‘the truth’. He is clearly telling the truth. Archie appears to have turned the tables on him after being his victim for so long. He makes fun of Arthur having to see a counsellor and suggests that if he were to tell them that he is still being bullied, Arthur might get sent away.
Archie now has the upper hand with Arthur…
Harriet pushes Will towards counselling but his biggest concern is jealousy over her friendship with Cain. He tries and fails to warn Cain away from Harriet. I mean, I know he’s been to prison and everything but does he really think he’s a match for Cain Dingle? Come on!
Dawn is thrilled to get the news that within the next month, she will be granted full custody of Lucas. Harriet is furious with Will when he doesn’t show the correct enthusiasm for the news his daughter has been waiting for all this time. He is still angry about Harriet’s friendship with Cain. Selfish. However, he does go to his counselling appointment.
Cain and Moira are visited by their normal friendly policeman and a new officer, DI Malone, with the news that the gun that shot Nate is related to a gang related incident where three people were killed. When they leave, Moira tells Cain that she buried the gun in the top field. They plot to get rid of it for good. Cain then tackles Harriet about the history of the gun and exactly what Will has got himself involved in. She confronts Will but Cain and Moira storm in, wanting the information first hand. He admits that he was given the gun to hide.
DI Malone leads a team down to the scrapyard to find the gun but it’s already too late, Cain has sent it off in a car to be crushed. DI Malone turns out to be an ex-colleague of Harriet’s but judging by the terror on Will’s face, he is much more than that! As soon as he is alone with Will, he demands to know where his gun is! He threatens him and his family. Will insists that Cain was the one who shot Nate and he has destroyed the gun now.
Will and Cain then get dragged in deeper and deeper with DI Malone. Cain ends up running drugs for him. Moira’s bull gets murdered but thankfully it’s head isn’t put in anyone’s bed or anything. There’s a scene in some dark room with three spotlights in it where DI Malone turns into The Godfather, parading around in front of Cain and informing him that he has everyone, from lowly coppers to high class judges under his control. I’m sure other things happened but the plot is so boring that I stopped following it ages ago. Sorry, not sorry.
With his upcoming wedding to Lydia in mind, Sam decides to give Samson his wedding ring from his marriage to Alice, which he has worn every day since. Within moments, Samson pawns the ring. Charming!
Emmerdale is on at 7pm Monday to Friday with a second episode at 8pm on Thursdays
Mandy begins to shut the #FreeMarlon campaign down when she realises that it won’t get Marlon anywhere. However, clever Vinnie keeps the website running in hope of donations.
Still desperate over Vanessa having abandoned her, Charity becomes concerned when she discovers all their honeymoon documents and Vanessa’s passport in the drawer. Well, you’d think that would be the first thing she would have checked before she decided that’s where Vanessa had run off to, wouldn’t you? Not two weeks later! She continues to leave desperate voicemails for the woman she loves.
Rhona turns to Kim with her theory that it was actually Pierce who murdered Graham, leading her to work out that Al lied to her about his role in Graham’s death, despite getting paid for it.
Pierce remains convinced that he will win Rhona back. Vanessa retains her resolve; I have to say, she is quite the warrior. She never once gives into Pierce; she continuously stands up to him and makes it clear just how much she hates him. Deluded, he gets ready for his ‘date’ with Rhona. In a particularly creepy scene, he also ‘prepares’ Vanessa by brushing her hair. He then sets up a video call between Vanessa and Rhona where Vanessa anxiously explains that she is with Pierce. Pierce takes over the call. Rhona is terrified. He arranges a meeting and warns her not to contact the police or tell anyone anything.
Pierce video calls Rhona…
However, the next morning, having worked out that Pierce and Ollie are one and the same, Kim visits Rhona to swap information and is confused as to why she gets short shrift. At Laurel’s house, Pierce hauls Vanessa upstairs, locking her in a bedroom but still away from Johnny.
Rhona comes face to face with her worst nightmare…
Rhona comes face to face with her worst nightmare when she arrives at Laurel’s and finds Pierce there. She is forced to hand her phone over and to allow him to search her. She does a good job of stalling. When they hear a bang upstairs, Pierce rushes upstairs to check on Vanessa. Downstairs, Kim bursts in! Rhona tries to send her away but it’s too late. Pierce knocks her out and locks her up with Vanessa. He is out of his mind with fury and panic; Kim getting hurt has ruined all his plans.
While Pierce is distracted with Kim, Rhona manages to get hold of a mobile phone and live streams to Vinny’s website. She gets Pierce talking and he is only too happy to confess to Graham’s murder and Vanessa’s abduction just to list a couple of his crimes. In the pub, everyone is shocked to realise that Pierce and Rhona are streaming from Laurel’s house and quickly call the police. Armed police descend upon the village, although they don’t actually do anything to rescue anyone, as like most emergency services in soap, they’re pretty much useless.
Unfortunately, Rhona has too much faith in them and reveals her plan too early, expecting the police to burst in and save her. They don’t. He finds the whole thing amusing and breaks the link to the outside world. Thankfully, Rhona is a woman perfectly capable of saving herself and has an injection hidden up her sleeve, stabbing him and all but knocking him out. She rescues Kim and Vanessa. The police finally bother to turn up and arrest him.
Vanessa gets yet more bad news about her cancer…
Charity is overwrought with guilt over not realising that Vanessa was in danger. Vanessa sends her away from her hospital room, not wanting her to find out about the cancer. Encouraged by Manpreet, Vanessa finally tells Charity about the cancer. Unfortunately, Charity panics and pulls away from Vanessa, unsure as to how to cope with this devastating blow. Vanessa ends up going to her next appointment alone while oblivious Charity barely holds things together at the pub. Vanessa is told that the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes and is now stage three. She will need surgery and chemotherapy but the Doctor is confident that she will be able to beat it. She returns home and breaks the news to Charity but refuses comfort.
Pierce attempts to lie his way through his police interview, convinced that because once upon a time he was friendly with the officers, he will sail through. However, with all the evidence stacked up against him, that is definitely not the case.
Marlon is emotional when he is told he will now be released. April shows huge maturity as she offers love and support to Rhona over Graham’s death. Gosh that little girl is a good little actress.
Marlon returns home to his little girl…
Marlon arrives back in the village to an eager reporter. He is furious to learn that it has been set up by Mandy. April is upset when Marlon loses it with Mandy, who to be fair, has done everything she possibly could to support Marlon during his incarceration. I find Mandy incredibly annoying and her return to Emmerdale has been fundamentally disappointing. However, in this instance, shame on you, Marlon. She has only tried to do right by you.
Kim fires Al who fires back with a warning that he could easily tell Jamie that although he didn’t actually kill Graham himself, Kim still ordered a hit on him. Jamie alerts Rhona to the fact that Graham’s body has been released, prompting her to fall out with Kim all over again over the arrangements for the funeral.
Laurel, Doug and the kids return home from Australia, utterly stunned over what has happened in their house. Jai offers his full support to Laurel and they get back together, which will of course only end in tears as he still doesn’t know the truth about Archie and Arthur. Doug then throws a spanner in the works when he announces that he is moving permanently to Australia. Arthur is distraught. Brenda isn’t bothered. Well, he is a bit whingy. Laurel admits the truth about Arthur to Doug. At first, he decides not to move away but Laurel doesn’t want him to suspend his dream so off he goes.
Cain continued to visit Nate, despite Cara’s protestations and her certainty that he was the person who put him in hospital in the first place. Well, she is correct. Miraculously, Nate is out of hospital within days and back on his feet as if nothing happened. Cain overhears Moira standing up for him with Cara.
Emmerdale is on at 7pm Monday to Friday with a second episode at 8pm on Thursdays
Ray is determined to make Abi pay for torching his car. Scared, Abi asks Sally for an alibi, which of course she refuses to provide. Paula acts as Abi’s lawyer but she is clearly frustrated with her during the interview. Kevin then steps up as Abi’s alibi but when his car is spotted on CCTV, he is found out to be a liar, getting him into legal trouble himself. Sally is furious. Kevin tells Abi how much he likes her.
James and Danny get together…
James and Danny end up in bed and are almost caught out by Ed but manage to distract him. Over breakfast the next morning, James blurts out to Ed that he is gay. Ed is shocked but tells his son that he loves him no matter what. James later tells his family about Danny. To his face, Ed does his best to be supportive but he later confronts Danny, telling him exactly what he thinks and accusing him of corrupting his son. James overhears everything and is devastated to learn what his Dad really thinks. Ed tries to explain, pulling out that awful line that LGBTQ folk get bashed over the head with at least once in their lives: ‘hate the sin, love the sinner’. Aggie is angry with her husband for letting James down.
Ali feigns congratulations when Maria and Gary announce their engagement. Ryan stops Ali from telling Gary about his one night stand with Maria.
Fiz is left completely shut out of the craft session with Jade and Hope when Hope draws a picture just of her and Jade. Jade persuades the little girl to add in the whole family but Fiz is certain that Jade enjoys her being excluded. She makes excuses as to why Jade can’t see Hope again at the weekend.
Chesney and Gemma are uncomfortable…
The Frescos launch does not go well. First, they refuse to delay so that Chesney and Gemma can take Aled to a hospital appointment about his hearing. The appointment is a bust anyway as the baby needs to be asleep. They make the launch but Gemma and Chesney are made to stand at the back while the babies are displayed at the front. They watch themselves on the TV screen, telling the audience how amazing Frescos is and aren’t allowed to tend to their babies, including Aled who is struggling. Frustrated, Chesney rushes forward and tends to his child, telling the gathered audience the truth about Frescos and the campaign. They lose all their money.
Harassed and busy the next morning, trying to juggle work, the babies and attending a last minute hearing appointment for Aled, Chesney fails to take Joseph right to the door of his football club. He is horrified later to realise that football club isn’t actually on and races back to collect him. He finds his son, sitting sadly on a bench, having had his trainers stolen by some older kids. Joseph accuses his Dad of only caring about the babies. Chesney is full of regret, although he still lets him get on with his day and rushes to Aled’s appointment, where he and Gemma learn that their little boy is indeed profoundly deaf. Gemma tries and fails to win the Frescos campaign back. She is left feeling like a bad Mum for not realising her son was deaf.
Coronation Street airs on ITV on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30/8:30pm
Mandy continues to campaign for Marlon in some somewhat questionable ways, including a rather gross egg eating competition. Some of the Dingles mark what would have been Lisa’s birthday. RIP.
Charity is bereft without Vanessa, believing that she has gone off on their honeymoon without her. Unfortunately, Vanessa is not off sunning herself somewhere, she is locked up in Laurel’s house at the mercy of Pierce who is keeping her from her son who is being kept upstairs under sedation. And that’s not even the worst of the poor woman’s week. Pierce listens to a voicemail from the hospital, prompting him to delve into her bag to find a letter from them, confirming that she has just been diagnosed with bowel cancer! What??? No!!! This is just unacceptable, Emmerdale. My only hope is that as Michelle Hardwick is married to one of the producers, her job is secure. My only issue really is that she seems to be tied to a drawer. Drawers are flimsy at best. Sure she could pull it out? I don’t know. Maybe it’s one of those false drawers? But to her credit, she never gives in to him or stops standing up for herself.
Pierce holds Vanessa hostage…
Pierce opens up to Vanessa about his Dad dying of cancer but it ends up in a row. He’s vile, pretty much telling her that she’s going to die and leave her son behind. It’s pretty horrific, uncomfortable viewing. He agrees to let her see Johnny if she helps persuade Rhona to see him. He steps away from Kim and Jamie, claiming to have got a job down South.
Torn up with guilt, Ryan brings the stolen money to Rhona and tells her the truth about what he and Charity got up to on the night that Graham died. Rhona confronts Charity, who feels less guilty but Rhona is persuaded that if they were stealing from Graham, they couldn’t have killed him. Charity admits that Vanessa found out and that’s why she has left her. Rhona tells the police that she found the stolen money in the house and believes it’s motive for Kim to have hired Al to kill Graham. The police head straight round to Kim who struggles to talk her way out of it. Charity texts Vanessa to say she has done the right thing and that ‘Rhona knows’ but Vanessa refuses to enlighten Pierce as to what it means.
Ryan confesses to Rhona…
At home, Rhona finally finds the card that dropped out of Pierce’s flowers! Panicked, she contacts the police and discovers that her ex-husband was released from prison weeks ago but she never got the message (thanks to Graham). It doesn’t take long for her to twig that he is responsible for Graham’s death and she reports her theory immediately. Pierce overhears the police sending out a search for him.
Dawn has what she believes to be a successful weekend visit with Lucas, despite a momentary panic when a den that Billy has built for him collapses on top of him. She shouts at Billy, scaring Lucas but everything is resolved and they all have fun together as a family, including Harriet and Will. They have a Nerf type gun fight (I’m not sure what brand it was supposed to be!) When Dawn pops out for hot chocolates, Harriet, Will and Billy are shocked to find themselves facing Lucas holding a real gun! Billy talks him down and they hide the gun in time for Dawn to take her son out for a playdate with Priya and Amber. Will has a lot of explaining to do… Apparently, since embarking on a relationship with Harriet, he has been scared of his old ‘colleagues’ coming after him. Harriet is understandably livid. The trio keep the incident from Dawn. Against Will’s wishes, Harriet asks Cain to get rid of the gun.
Moira and Cain have signed their divorce papers but it’s clearly not the end of their relationship, despite their claims. Tracey and Nate briefly fall out when well intentioned, she sends him off to try and help Moira with the rustlers, only to be rejected. Nate advocates for Moira, prompting Cain to threaten him, just as Cara returns to the Village. However, taking Nate’s words on board, Cain helps to look out for Moira on the farm, still denying that he has any residual feelings for her. Taking Will’s gun, Cain guards the farm but things go wrong when he spots an intruder and fires. He has shot Nate! Oh well. Never mind.
Nate gets shot…
Nate is rushed into surgery with Cain, Moira and Cara all waiting anxiously at the hospital where sadly, he will be just fine. When the police conclude that rustlers wouldn’t have used a handgun, Cara is certain that Cain is responsible for the shooting, although of course, he denies it. Nate claims not to know what happened and lies for Cain even after he confesses to truth to him. Moira looks on as father and son finally begin to bond.
In the continuing boring story of Liam and Leyla, the new couple continue to try and keep their boring relationship from Leanna. Marlon refuses to be Eve’s Godfather. Also, Brenda does some weird, awkward flirting with Nate. It’s uncomfortable for everyone, including the viewers.
Emmerdale is on at 7pm Monday to Friday with a second episode at 8pm on Thursdays
Ryan is relieved to pay off his debt to Gary at last but he is soon set on a mission to buy an engagement ring for Maria on Gary’s behalf. Stupidly, Ryan brings the ring to the house when Gary isn’t there and then quickly backtracks, making Maria extremely suspicious that her boyfriend is up to no good again. When she then sees Gary taking pity on an old client and giving him some money as a gift and not a loan, as he’s determined not to be a loan shark anymore, she misreads the situation and becomes convinced that he hasn’t changed at all.
Maria turns to Ali for comfort…
Maria turns to Ali for comfort and he is only too happy to slag Gary off and console Maria, which of course leads to them sleeping together because in soap, nobody can ever have a hug! Afterwards, Maria lays into Gary for his behaviour. Begging her to believe him, Gary brings both Ryan and his former client to see her and explain the situation. He produces the ring and proposes. Ryan is then left with the job to break the news to Ali that Gary and Maria do not look like they are going to break up any time soon. I’d also like to give a shout out to Mikey North who looked very fetching in Maria’s dressing gown.
Ray sets his sights on Alya, inviting her to a business meeting at a hotel and making her extremely uncomfortable. He is furious when Bethany bursts in, filming them, determined to prove that he is a sexual predator. It takes a while for Alya to really accept that she was about to become his next victim but eventually, she is on board and vocalises how he made her feel. Taking things further, Daniel and now unemployed Bethany get hold of Ray’s private accounts and managed to work out that several of his past employees have NDAs.
Bethany publicly reprimands Ray for what he is, in front of Abi who had no idea and a journalist who doesn’t quite know what to do but privately confirms the truth to Abi. Bethany writes an amazing article about Ray for the local paper, destroying his reputation, although he still denies any wrong doing. Abi feigns faith in him and attends a charity event with him at the Bistro. However, he is horrified to realise that she has invited all the victims that she could find. She then makes a public announcement about his crimes. He throws her out of the Bistro, only for her to steal his car and set fire to it. Good!
Abi humiliates Ray…
Having spent so much time working together against Ray, Bethany and Daniel grow closer and end up in bed together. While Bethany is unsure, Daniel tells her that Sinead left him a message telling him to move on and be happy. However, Beth is outraged that he has moved on so quickly, especially with the girl he kissed when Sinead was dying. Despite what he says, I don’t think Daniel really does like Bethany in that way. I think he just doesn’t want to be alone. In the end, I think she will get her heart broken.
Daniel and Bethany come out as a couple…
Sean and Mary have teething problems as they settle into living together at Eileen’s. Nick is dismissive when Eileen applies for a sales job at the factory but Sarah gives her an interview, where she loses her temper under pressure! It’s Alina the gets the job in the end and kindly Emma invites her to move into her and Seb’s spare room. Honestly, that girl is too kind for words! This has disaster written all over it!
David struggles to maintain family life alongside constant trips to Leeds to visit Shona, who doesn’t even want to see him anyway. Distracted and exhausted, David crashes his car and writes it off – with the kids in the back. Eventually, he accepts that he needs to slow down and focus more on the children, reducing his visits to the hospital.
Social Services decide that Fiz and Tyrone can supervise visits between Jade and Hope. Ken tells Peter and Tracy that he is thinking of moving into the retirement village but Claudia gets annoyed when he is vague. Peter and Tracy are mostly concerned that he may sell the house. James tests the waters when a colleague of Ed’s, Danny comes out to him. Ed isn’t horrible about it but he is awkward and struggles to let it go. Also, James and Danny clearly have history as the moment Ed’s back is turned, they’re all over each other!
Coronation Street airs on ITV on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30/8:30pm
Pierce makes himself very comfortable with Kim who is surprisingly trusting, although Al threatens to derail his plans when he interrogates him about his qualifications and the name of his firm. He immediately investigates him and discovers that he’s spun a load of lies. But somehow, Pierce is able to explain everything away to Kim’s satisfaction.
Al is suspicious of ‘Ollie’…
Mandy brings April to the prison to see Marlon where he makes his daughter promise not to run away again. They leave him a #FreeMarlonDingle poster to keep him going. Rhona also comes to see him and poses her theory that Kim and Al are behind Graham’s death. She goes to the Outdoor Adventure site to try and find some evidence against Al and Kim. Dawn joins her and mentions that on the day he died, he locked Ryan up in a hut, panicking Charity that Rhona might connect her and Ryan to Graham’s death. She plays down what happened and Dawn apologises to Ryan, worried that she has caused him grief. Rhona is caught on CCTV and questioned by the police for the break in. Kim offers to drop the charges in exchange for a formal apology.
April visits her Dad in prison…
Things remain tense between Charity and Vanessa as Charity remains adamant that she needs to protect Ryan and Vanessa is determined to tell Rhona and the police the truth in order to unburden themselves, help Rhona find the missing pieces she needs and also help Marlon who is behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Just as an aside, Vanessa has a pretty hot picture of Charity as her wallpaper on her phone!
Having decided once and for all to tell Rhona the truth, Vanessa is stunned to come face to face with Pierce. He drags Vanessa and Johnny into Laurel’s empty house, absolutely livid to have been seen and therefore to have had his plan derailed. To be fair, he was literally walking out in the open in the middle of the village. What did he expect? It’s a wonder that only Kim and Al have seen him so far!
He puts Johnny upstairs and ties Vanessa up downstairs. He reveals some of his plans and that he killed Graham. They argue and he informs her that nobody is looking for her. Charity thinks that she is angry with her and has gone off on their honeymoon without her. To be fair, at first, people were looking for her but eventually, they just kind of gave up and do think she’s stropped off. Great friends and girlfriend and all that. There’s a horrible moment when Tracey nearly hears her calling and Pierce silences her. Then an even worse moment when she breaks free and they fight and it looks like Pierce might even kill her. But by the end of the week, poor Vanessa is still tied up, all her hope drained from her and worse, Pierce cuts off the baby monitor that lets her communicate with her son upstairs.
Pierce holds Vanessa hostage…
Luke appeals to Victoria on behalf of himself and his mother. He wants a relationship with her and now that Wendy has finally accepted that Lee was a rapist, she also wants a chance to get to know Victoria and be a grandmother to Harry. Wendy too tries to apologise to Victoria. Diane takes Wendy under her wing and learns more about her family life. She blames herself for Lee becoming a bully after she and her husband divorced but Diane thinks she is making excuses. Lots of children go through divorce and they don’t turn out the way he did. Include Luke, presumably! She recommends that Wendy give Victoria the space she needs to heal.
Victoria decides to make a go of things with Luke. I know viewers are very divided with this one. I mean, let’s face it, dating your rapist’s brother is very, very odd. But they have written it pretty well. He’s really lovely and there’s a lot of chemistry there. And they’re also not rushing it so, I’m sort of behind them. At the very least I’m willing to see where it goes.
Victoria is utterly exhausted before they even go on their date and ends up falling asleep. Being a gentleman, Luke tucks her up on the sofa and tidies her house. When she wakes up, they watch a film at home together. How sweet.
Cain looks out for Matty on the farm as they become the victim of rustlers. See, they say soaps don’t teach you anything. If someone had asked me last week what a rustler was, I would have suggested it was a person eating crisps in a noisy fashion. Apparently not. These people are after the livestock at the farm. Suddenly noisy crisp eaters aren’t so offensive. No, that’s a lie. Noisy crisp eaters are always offensive. Just as Amy and Matty are about to be taken down by said rustlers, Moira appears out of nowhere, sober and armed with a gun to scare them off! Like a farming superhero! But still sore from her previous behaviour, Matty doesn’t trust her and runs off, worried that she is drunk and out of control. She manages to prove that she has turned things around and is thrilled to be reunited with all her sons.
Kim cancels Andrea’s prospective tenancy, prompting her to threaten to move out of the village completely and take Millie with her. Jamie has other things on his mind, however, when he finds himself back in Belle’s arms. But things come to a swift half when Kim catches them and warns Belle off.
Pete, one of the least interesting soap characters to have ever existed, shuffles out of the Dales. Liv celebrates her eighteenth birthday. Will plans a romantic getaway for Harriet. Despite Leanna objections, Liam and Leyla decide to make a go of things.
Emmerdale is on at 7pm Monday to Friday with a second episode at 8pm on Thursdays
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