Tag: Roy Cropper

Heartbreaker!

Little Sam in Coronation Street is one of the cutest, loveliest characters.  Jude Riordan, who plays him is a real talent and he should be so proud of himself for everything he has achieved so far.  He reminds me of how we all felt about Alex Bain (Simon Barlow) and Sam Aston (Chesney Brown) when they were child stars.  Watching Corrie, we have watched them grow and develop into talented young men who have continued to shine throughout.

Sam (Manchester Evening News)

From his first scene as Sam, Jude absolutely stole my heart!  Sam is so clever and so charming.  He is absolutely adorable and undoubtedly steals the limelight from all his co-stars!  The gentleness with which Sam has handled Leanne after the loss of her baby boy has been heart rendering.  And now we are watching a little boy grieve for the loss of his mother, his only constant for his entire life.  The scenes where he and Natasha said goodbye to each other had me in tears and when Sam was worried that Nick would be left out if he wrote about it being him and Natasha against the world in her card pretty much finished me off!

Sam had to say goodbye to his mother
(Liverpool Echo)

I wonder now what will be the breaking point that will make Sam feel able to speak again.  I had hoped that it would be Roy who would come through for him but alas, that was not to be.  I miss his lovely voice and all the contributions to conversation he has to offer.  I will watch with heartfelt eagerness to see who or what it will be that is able to connect with him and make him feel safe again.  But whatever the case, lots more Sam and Jude please!

Coronation Street: Trapped

(Monday 13th – Friday 17th January 2020)

Liz is surprised to arrive home and discover that Amy has moved out and so has Steve, thanks to Tracy’s one night stand with Paula.  Steve is surprised to learn that Amy already knows and feels guilty that his daughter has been put in such an awful position.  Steve decides that the way to save his marriage is to propose to Tracy in the middle of the pub.  Obviously.  She turns him down.  Instead, she suggests couples counselling.  It’s explosive to say the least.

Geoff sets up a ridiculous cleaning rota, claiming that he has dust allergies.  He then leaves Yasmeen to complete all her chores alone.  Yasmeen works hard on the house but then gets distracted by Cathy.  At first, Yasmeen is very anxious to get back to her jobs but eventually, one bottle of wine becomes two and the women are having a lovely time.  Then Geoff comes home.  As soon as they are alone, Geoff lays into Yasmeen, furious with his wife for slacking off and revealing that he knows she didn’t complete everything as he set a trap for her, making a deliberate mark on the skirting board that she would have known was there if she had cleaned it.

Yasmeen is a victim of coercive control…

Later, Yasmeen tries and fails to stop Cathy popping in to retrieve her handbag.  Not realising that she is in the house, Geoff lays into Yasmeen again and Cathy is horrified by what she overhears.  He gets even worse when she leaves.  Cathy is suitably worried.  Geoff meanwhile, lies to Yasmeen that his health condition has worsened and that’s why he needs the house so clean.  This of course makes her snap to it and believe he is being reasonable.  Subsequently, she stays up all night adhering to the complicated rota, utterly exhausting herself.

When Cathy approaches Yasmeen about her concerns, Yasmeen is clearly conflicted but plays the situation down.  Geoff accuses Cathy of being a lesbian and fancying Yasmeen!  He states that they should keep their business to themselves.  However, things escalate when, on Cathy’s behalf, Brian approaches Geoff with concerns about his behaviour and that it might be seen as controlling.  Geoff hits a new low by informing Brian that Yasmeen is an alcoholic and his behaviour is out of concern and trying to manage the situation.  The obsessive cleaning is to cover her tracks.  He implies that she has been physically abusive and begs him to keep it to himself.  He then returns home and attempts to persuade Yasmeen herself that she’s an alcoholic, which she finds hard to accept.  Because she isn’t!!!  The next thing they know, Peter is knocking on the door, offering to take her to an AA meeting with him.

Alone again, Yasmeen is distraught to have been made out to be an alcoholic but once again, Geoff manipulates her into believing she is the one at fault.  He tells her that his ex, Tim’s mother was an abusive alcoholic and every time she drinks, he is taken back to that time.  He tells her that he believes the abuse will inevitably follow if the drinking continues.  When she throws all the alcohol out and vows to stop, he still isn’t happy, claiming that just because she has to stop drinking, doesn’t mean he intends to stop, although later, he offers to cut down around her!  Oh, this storyline makes me so angry!  It’s such an important storyline but it is so, so difficult to watch.

When Brian and Cathy approach Alya with their concerns, she doesn’t believe it for a second.  At least she knows that there is something wrong between Geoff and Yasmeen.  Unfortunately, by that point, it’s too late and Yasmeen has already been brainwashed.  She tells her granddaughter that she does have a problem with alcohol and that’s the end of it.  I just hope that Alya doesn’t allow herself to be pushed away.  Geoff takes things one step further by taking Yasmeen’s bank cards away.  Yasmeen just lets him.  The next day, Geoff keeps Yasmeen at home, away from work, cleaning the house and with only a little bit of pocket money.  She cancels going to her book club with Cathy, who remains deeply concerned about her friend and not convinced she is an addict.  She is still suspicious of Geoff, who comes home irritated that Yasmeen has cooked the ‘wrong’ dinner.

With Fiz having been honest with the police about the gun, she is formally charged.  Social Services conclude that Tyrone and Evelyn are not a threat but are still investigating Fiz.  Subsequently, the kids are allowed to return home so long as Fiz moves out.  Tyrone tries to get the truth out of Hope but it seems like she has been completely brainwashed by her psycho older sister.  News begins to spread about Fiz bringing the gun to the Street but Evelyn is quick to shut any gossip down.  With Imran representing her in court, Fiz is given a suspended sentence of four months and a fine.  Fiz apologises to David, who hadn’t yet found out about the gun.  Jenny gives her a hard time in the pub and she continues to be the town pariah.  Jade is horrified to learn that Hope is back living with Tyrone.  She books a one way ticket out of Wetherfield for herself and Hope.

David remains by Shona’s side, playing her sounds from home.  When she opens her eyes though, she doesn’t seem to remember David or her life with him.  She struggles with any recall at all.  The hospital recommends a neurological rehabilitation centre in Leeds.  At first, David can’t accept it and brings the kids to try and trigger his wife’s memories but she mistakes Max for her older son, Clayton, the one who murdered David’s late wife, Kylie.  David reluctantly accepts that Shona really does need specialist care.

Frustrated with the police’s progress with Kel, Bernie takes it upon herself to catch him out.  She poses as a fourteen year old boy and arranges to meet him in the park, live streaming it online.  Paul and Gemma catch on and go with her along with worried Billy.  They do catch Kel, who is armed with booze and condoms but the police are not impressed with Bernie’s efforts, explaining that the CPS could see it as entrapment and it could be detrimental rather than good for the case.

On the day of Richard’s funeral, Roy discovers that Nina’s door has been egged.  He determines to clean it up for her and finally begins to make progress in bonding, although she turns down his offer to let her move in with him, feeling closer to her Dad in the flat.  Roy acts as a model for Nina’s dressmaking project and he opens up to her about his life with Hayley.  When a brick is thrown through the window, Nina admits that she is engaged in an ongoing dispute with someone.

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

Soap Blog: Monday 11th – Sunday 17th November 2019

Coronation Street

Michelle warns Alya not to work with Ray but Ray claims that the inappropriate move he made on her was a mutual attraction.  Geoff continues to treat Yasmeen as if she is controlling.  He manipulates her into begging him to go on holiday with him and eventually they leave together.

Michelle finally begins to suspect that Robert is telling her lies.  And things come to a head when, while on the phone to Michelle, Robert has a car accident – and he is not in the place he claimed he was.  When she finally locates him, Michelle’s suspicions are further rouse when one of the nurses recognises him from the maternity ward, she finds a necklace that says ‘big daddy’ on it and high on morphine, he asks after the baby.  Later, Robert narrowly avoids his two fiancées from meeting each other but it seems that the game is up.  At home, suspicious Michelle steals Robert’s phone.  She confirms that the young offender’s program he is always running off to has never even heard of him and then tracks him down to Vicky’s house, where he is in the process of breaking up with her.  Confronting Robert at home, he explains that Vicky got pregnant after a one night stand when they were separated but lies that nothing has happened since then.  Michelle confronts Vicky herself and she tells her the truth, horrified that Robert has been stringing them both along.  Michelle comes home and tells Robert that Vicky is a liar and that she believes him.  But secretly, she contacts Adam in a bid to put her affairs in order, so to speak.

Gemma and Chesney accept a huge promo deal, securing the future for them and their children.   With the help of Carla, Roy tracks down his brother, the product of his mother’s secret affair.  His brother is dying and being looked after by his daughter, Roy’s niece.  Gary continues to try and impress Maria and keep her away from Ali.  He secretly seethes when she puts in a good word for Ali at his meeting with the hospital.  Amy fakes an injury in order to keep Emma at home with her, but confesses in order to go to a Little Mix concert with her.  Saint Emma doesn’t mind and is touched that Amy wants to spend so much time with her.

Doctors

Daniel turns to Jimmi for support over the situation with Zara, who he is struggle to remain civil with after her refusal to reunite with him – especially now that she has decided she wants to introduce Adam to Joe.  Daniel objects for the sake of it, although he doesn’t have a leg to stand on after how quickly he introduced him to Becky and moved her into his house!  Daniel has his first counselling session and pours his heart out about his and Zara’s turbulent relationship.  He agrees to continue the sessions, finding the first one useful and also agrees to his homework – to complete a video diary through the week.  He meets up with Adam in order to bond before he gives Zara the green light to introduce him to Joe.  He then vents to his video diary his frustration that Zara has picked someone genuinely nice and not someone he can hate.  He says he hates him anyway but promises to be the perfect man.  He is desperate for Zara to fall back in love with him.

Adam, meanwhile, tells Zara that his twin brother, also a surgeon has been suspended from work and thrown out by his wife.  He and his brother then rent a room from Emma.  Well, it’s obvious where this is going…  And Zara seems to agree with me!  When she brings Joe to the house to meet Adam and his brother, she took picks up on the level of flirtation between them.  Adam, meanwhile, is quick to bond with his girlfriend’s son.  Zara is delighted when Adam invites her and Joe to Rome for the weekend.  Playing the ‘perfect man’, Daniel is nothing but supportive.

Rob and Karen take on a new foster child called Martha who has been kept indoors by her mother who has serious mental health problems.  The little girl has serious allergies and so has been restricted from doing a lot of things due to her mother’s anxiety over what will happen to her.  The first thing Rob and Karen do is take her trampolining, as she puts together a list of all the things she has never done but would love to!  Predictably, when Karen takes Martha for lunch at The Icon, despite Karen making specific arrangements with Al and the kitchen, she has an allergic reaction and goes into anaphylaxis.  Thankfully, Zara is having lunch with Adam at the time and the GP saves the day before sending Karen and Martha off to hospital.  Before they leave, Zara quietly tells Karen that she found a bag of peanuts in Martha’s bag.  It wasn’t the food she ate – Martha has poisoned herself.  However, it turns out that she had genuinely believed that her mother was wrong about the allergy and feeling like Rapunzel, locked away in a tower, desperate to break free, she had been trying to prove that there was nothing to be afraid of.  Al and Jimmi struggle with bad reviews in the wake of the incident.

Emma supports a woman struggling with post-natal depression while her wife returns to the army.  Ayesha is furious with her cousin for impersonating a nurse in order to bag herself a date with Finn (the original) from Hollyoaks.  Sid is horrified at a company’s initiation programme which results in a young woman taking ketamine and throwing herself down the stairs, all condoned by the boss.

Eastenders

Mick and Linda approach Ollie’s autism diagnosis from different angles.  Mick has lots of questions for the doctor, wanting to be informed but Linda is still deep in denial and clearly becoming dependent on alcohol.

Chantelle learns the Gray attacked a man in a bar and confronts him about his violence.  However, big mouth Karen puts her foot in it and assumes that they are talking about the miscarriage.  She completely drops her foot in it but even she doesn’t know the depth of what she is done by revealing the truth to her son-in-law.

E20 is all decked out with creepy pictures of Sharon and Louise.  In a normal situation, it might be nice but we all know what Mel has in store for Sharon at the party.  I mean, really, it’s no more than Sharon deserves but Mel is behaving rather erratically lately!  And nobody knows it more than poor Lisa, who begs her to go and see a counsellor, only for Mel to turn on her friend again, telling her that she and Louise have only ever put up with her all the time, waiting for her to finally give in and put them all out of their misery one day.  I mean, it’s just awful.

However, things come to an explosive head in Thursday’s episode when Sharon desperately tries to stop Phil, who is on his way back from the airport, Louise and the rest of the gathered party-goers from finding out the truth.  So while Sharon races to the airport, Mel is hot on her tail.  Mel phones Billy and persuades him to put her on speakerphone at the microphone in a throwback to the Sharongate storyline where Grant revealed Sharon’s affair with Grant.  Unfortunately for Mel, she gets distracted as she is also racing Sharon in her car.  She loses control and ends up in a huge smash, her seemingly lifeless hand hanging out of the car.  It’s very Steve Owen.

However, the biggest twist ever comes in Friday’s episode when while the party desperate hanker for news of Mel, it turns out she is actually still alive.  And despite everything she has done and could still do, without a second’s though, Sharon pulls her from the wreckage of the car and saves her life, just before it bursts into flames.  They sit and wait for the emergency services except Mel is convinced that while she was in the car, she could hear Hunter calling to her.  Before Sharon can stop her, Mel walks towards the burning car and then – BAM! – she’s run over by a lorry!  Well, I didn’t see that coming!  And sadly, nor did Mel.

Emmerdale

Sadly, it looks like it’s the end of the road for Charity and Vanessa as Vanessa can’t get over the lies and betrayal, not to mention lack of remorse from Charity.  It’s a genuine shame as these two have been a lovely couple for ages and the way Vanessa supported Charity through the abuse storyline was fantastic but I suppose it was only going to be a matter of time before Charity misbehaved and Vanessa isn’t going to put up with it.  I do hope they get back together though.  I like them!  While Charity mopes over her lost relationship, Noah and Sarah beg Vanessa to give her another chance.  She feels guilty when she has to turn the children away, breaking down on Tracey afterwards.

Cain warns Nate that he is not welcome in Emmerdale Village.  He and Aaron are under pressure with their stolen cars.  In the car, they receive a phone call demanding the cars back.  When they refuse, Moses is kidnapped.  Charity is heartbroken and livid when for a moment, it looked like her son has actually been murdered (as if) but Nate manages to bring him home.  It brings Nate some acceptance within the Dingle clan but of course, not with Cain.  Charity breaks down on Vanessa over nearly losing her son.  She refuses to speak to Cain and rewrites the bar rota so that she and Chas do not have work together anymore.

Arthur’s jealousy and aggression towards Archie spirals out of control when he perceives that the rival for Laurel and Jai’s affection makes a memorial day for Ashley all about him.  Things go too far when Arthur hits Archie and then blames him for making him do it.  Archie lies to Laurel and Jai about how he got his injuries but when they are treating them, they find old bruises.  Panicked, Arthur tells them that he saw Jimmy hitting Archie, prompting a huge row between the friends.  Arthur’s bullying continues when he breaks Laurel’s phone and blames Archie.  The poor little kid takes the blame but thinking he is still traumatised by what Jimmy has done, Laurel and Jai are not too hard on him.

Mandy forces Lydia’s sister to come and speak to her and give her some answers about their mother.  She clearly has a lot of resentment towards the woman her parents have not stopped searching for all this time.  Suspicious, Mandy follows her home and hey presto – Lydia’s Mum is alive and well!

Amy takes pity on Kerry during her time of despair.  Bernice is distraught when a surprise visit from Dee Dee, planned by Liam, backfires and makes her think that her daughter is ignoring her.  Sarah spends more time with her new boyfriend.

Hollyoaks

Yasmine’s deafness makes her feel excludes from her family’s festivities as they prepare from Sami and Sinead’s wedding.  She opens up to Imran about her growing closeness to Finn.  He agrees that what Finn did was awful but points out that even people who do awful things deserve forgiveness if they are truly sorry.  Unfortunately, Edward works it out and deliberately tells Sami, who swiftly puts an end to their friendship.  However, when he overhears just how lonely his sister and how much her friendship with Finn means to her, he relents and allows her to invite him to the wedding.

Ste persuades Sid, who is babysitting him, to go out on his date with Juliet.  He then manages to break out of the house and meet Leela and Peri who whisk him off to see a former right wing group member, who works with the police who are prepared to rescue him from Stuart and Jonny.  Ste gives a false name (as permitted) and he opens up about everything that has been happening.  They make a plan to help him exit the group, although he has to be prepared to give up his life in Hollyoaks Village and move away to start again.

However, when Stuart finds out that Sid left Ste alone, the frightened teenager spills the beans that Ste went off in a taxi with Leela and Peri.  Ste makes an excuse, claiming that they had merely shown him a kindness and allowed him to see his kids but secretly, they don’t buy the story.  They stage a fight in which Jonny gets stabbed but poor Ste doesn’t realise that it’s all fake.  Stuart is actually the person who has stabbed Jonny in order that Ste will open up to him and believe him when he claims to want out of the group too.

Despite warnings from Azim, who Ste has become extremely close to (they even kiss!), not to tell Jonny his plan, Ste cannot help but pity Jonny who begs for his help.  He gives away his plan, allowed Stuart and Jonny to trap him and plot to give him exactly what they believe a traitor deserves.

On the day of what is supposed to be Sami and Sinead’s wedding (except Sinead doesn’t show up), Ste is dragged into a taxi by Stuart and Jonny (and poor Sid who is dragged along for the ride.  Ste does manage to escape and bless Sid, he rushes to the non-wedding to raise the alarm, sending Sami (with whom Ste has made his peace), Azim, Leela and Peri off to find him.  Unfortunately, Stuart and Jonny find him first – and capture Sami in the process.  They drag him off to where ‘the traitors’ are taken to make it ‘look like an accident’, which at least means Sid knows where to find them.  Apparently his father used to take him there to fly kites!  Cue a dramatic clifftop showdown where Sami is knocked out and Sid saves Ste from being pushed off the cliff by knocking his father over it instead.  A fitting end to a pretty amazing, important story actually.

Still hurt over Mercedes’ lies, Sylver gets closer to Grace.  Feeling pushed out over Luke and DJ, Darren becomes confused over what happened between him and Nancy.  However, upon Kyle’s return, Nancy pledges her commitment to him instead.  But as is the way with soaps, Darren and Nancy’s conversation regarding their ‘tunnel sex’ has been captured on Charlie’s webcam.

Home and Away

Confused by her kiss with Alex, Willow attempts to talk to Colby but his teasing makes her clam up.  She then successfully confides in Jasmine and admits that she is now very confused.  Jasmine queries whether Willow wants to pursue something with Alex and Willow admits that perhaps she does.  However, when she speaks to Alex, the Doctor is so full of apologies that Willow doesn’t get a word in.  They go back to being friends.  However, Mason has clocked the chemistry between them and doesn’t buy it when Willow insists that things are platonic.  He cannot resist questioning Alex about it when she very kindly arranges for him to begin his internship at the hospital but she insists that she and Willow are just friends.

Jasmine discharges herself from hospital, desperately worried about Robbo.  Jasmine is sent back into protective custody with Tori until Robbo is found.  Scott is also at the house, recovering from his injuries.  Meanwhile, Robbo has been locked up in a cage.  He finally comes face to face with his captor – it’s Dylan Carter himself.  Robbo manages to get the better of Carter who denies killing his family.  However, he does identify the person who did.

Mac becomes anxious over the danger Colby is willing to put himself in for his job and his friends.  This infuriates Bella but Dean reassures his sister that Colby is in less danger as a police officer than back where they grew up as River Boys in Mangrove River.  Dean makes it clear to Bella that Mac has done nothing wrong but Bella is furious with the whole world in her brother’s defence and she confronts Mac herself.

Ben tells John that the arrest in Indonesia doesn’t mean he is off the hook.  However, he does very well teaching his first surf lesson.  When John puts his foot in it and Ben realises that Dean and Ziggy handed him the lesson to make him feel better, Ben takes it out on everyone else, prompting Maggie to give him some tough love.  Ziggy panics that her mother may have pushed her Dad too far.  Deep in despair, Ben hands back the keys to his caravan and a note for Alf before disappearing.  His family and friends panic that he is suicidal, which he quite possibly is but he does eventually return home, hopefully ready to ask for help with his mental health.

There is tension at Summer Bay house between Alf, Martha and Roo as Ryder tries to study for his HSC.  Martha challenges Alf over how bad tempered he is being, realising that he has decided he wants her to move in with him without her actually consulting her.  Irene is told that Tommy’s family are not pursuing the civil case and all charges are dropped.  She then discovers that Leah’s vlog has been shut down.  Ava’s mother is having problems settling the divorce with her husband, requiring Justin to keep custody of his daughter for the foreseeable.

Neighbours

Finn confesses that he came to the school and approached a student who became scared of him.  In light of the reason why he came to the school, Elly is fired.

With the situation at Lassiters, the business is beginning the fail and Terese is feeling completely lost at home with nothing to do with Paul, Pierce and Chloe are all hands on deck.  To make things worse, Terese is faced with criminal charges for ‘destruction of evidence’ for covering up the cameras.  Kyle and Amy cannot agree over the cameras.  Chloe and Pierce give a public statement regarding the future of the hotel, reassuring everyone that there are no more cameras in the hotel and offering people the chance to check for themselves.  People in the crowd who have been filmed, call for Terese to be jailed and Pierce publically separates the hotel from Terese.  At home, Terese turns to alcohol, although she does tip the rest of the bottle away.

While Paul pays several people off, Kyle is determined to get justice and turns to Toadie for legal support.  However, things remains awkward between Kyle and Amy, who can’t seem to talk to each other and certainly can’t touch each other.  All I can say is this stupid storyline had better not break them up!  David and Aaron aside, they are my favourite couple!

Chloe and Pierce set a pretty quick wedding date but when Hendrix learns of Chloe’s previous relationship with Elly, he is eager to wind his father up about it and make his paranoid.  When Pierce and Hendrix spot Chloe talking and sharing a hug of condolence over Elly losing her job, it results in Pierce and Chloe falling out.  Karl reveals that Elly was fired and suggests to Pierce that Chloe might have just been supporting her.  Meanwhile, Hendrix works on Chloe, attempting to drive a wedge between them.  Despite his best efforts, Pierce and Chloe make up.

David feels conflicted when he is offered a pay rise, aware that he is in receipt of the knowledge that Clive and Sheila are having an affair behind Beverly’s back.  Clive is quick to reassure him enough but the affair is still going on.  He finally grows up and ends things with Beverly but opts not to confess to the affair.  Believing he has told her the actual truth, Sheila apologises to Beverly and gets a bucket off manure dumped over her head for her troubles.  But she still loves Clive anyway, despite him getting off scot free!

David offers to refer Ned for counselling after the stabbing.  Instead, Ned goes to see Aaron at the gym and takes up boxing which he takes a little too seriously.  When Aaron sends him off to calm down, another guy takes him aside, inviting him to a fight club to take out his aggression over what happened to him.  He participates and knocks his opponent out.

Harlow feels pushed out when Prue has a night of fun with Roxy ‘Row Row’ so Prue pledges her full commitment to her daughter.  However, a secret phone call reveals that her true commitment is still to The Order and she isn’t really in Erinsborough for Harlow at all.  Out at the tram with Prue and Roxy, Harlow warns Gary away from her mother, worried that he is going to get hurt.

Neighbours: Erinsborough High

While the school students have been asked to put together video diaries, this Neighbours spin off focuses mainly on the students of Erinsborough High and also on some of the teachers with some cameos from the main cast.

We see Yashvi as she prepares to finish high school and celebrates coming towards the end of her exams.  A central storyline in the series sees student, Olivia going missing, having bumped into Finn Kelly in last Friday’s episode of Neighbours, who the kids believe is a frightening villain and banned from school grounds.  She missed her final exam and nobody has seen her since, worrying her parents, friends and teachers.  Olivia’s mother berates Finn.  Yashvi finds her hiding in a cupboard.  She persuades her to alert her family and the school of her safety but then discovers that she is in a secret relationship.  When she sees Olivia getting into their teacher, Mr Muggleton’s car, Yashvi rightly reports it to another teacher, Cherie.  However, a text message from Olivia’s ‘secret boyfriend’ soon shoots round the school about Mr Muggleton, only for ‘him’ to be a her.  Olivia has been seeing Cherie, who has sacrificed her colleague to deflect attention.  Unable to keep up the lie anymore, Olivia tells Yashvi the truth and provides her with evidence.  Cherie is arrested.

We meet a new character called Jeremiah, referred to as The Ghost, never noticed by students and teachers alike, constantly dismissed and whenever he is noticed, he is often bullied, usually by Ollie, the main bully of the school.  He gets caught up in Hendrix’s plan for a mass exam failure in order to cause problems for Mr Muggleton, his most hated teacher.  However, at the last minute, Ritchie backs out, ruining the plan.  He, Hendrix and the Ghost work hard in the exam but Jeremiah doesn’t pass on the message to school bully, Ollie and his friends.  Impressed, Hendrix invites Jeremiah to his party.

Jeremiah spends ages getting ready for the party but when he finally arrives, Ollie is waiting for him and beats him up.  The next day, he goes back to hiding in the shadows, upset that his one attempt to stand up for himself backfired so badly.  When Hendrix asked Jeremiah to be his tutor, he is shocked to discover his injuries.  Hendrix is torn up with sorrow for Jeremiah and wants to help him.  He calls the police on Ollie but Jeremiah isn’t grateful – he is furious.  However, he is grateful for a friend.

Mackenzie is also a central character, having begun to embark on a potential relationship with Ritchie, a reformed school bully.  But while they get along famously via text, things are much more awkward in person.  He is also under a lot of pressure to do well at school from his father.  At Hendrix’s the party, the fledgling couple finally talk properly and share a kiss but the next day, Mackenzie is upset when he blanks her.  Confiding in his video diary, Ritchie tries to explain to his future self that he really likes Mackenzie but he knows that a relationship has no choice but to be different because she is transgender.  People will have questions including whether he is still straight.  He wants to pursue things but he wants to talk to her and worries that his own questions might offend her if he doesn’t ask them correctly.  Overhearing Mackenzie break her heart over him to Harlow, Ritchie decides that he doesn’t want to let Mackenzie being trans be an issue because he likes her so much and genuinely wants to be with her.  He clumsily tells her exactly how he feels, including his nerves over her being transgender.  They get together at last!  When Mackenzie discovers that Ritchie is not a virgin, she panics about what he is expecting of her and also what her physical body looks like.  They talk and Ritchie reveals he has already researched that she is pre-op and is happy to take things at her pace.

If nothing else, this mini-series has been a great way to explore some themes at a deeper level than they might not be able to in the main show.  Erinsborough High was a bit random but I’d say it was a success and well worth a watch!