DRW50

When on Soapnet, I did have some issues with choices made, but I found most of the show watchable. My biggest "miss" for 1989 would probably be Stacey/Derek (just forgettable) and the decision to turn Nicole into a psycho in order to push Cass/Frankie. I don't really mind the Red Swan story. It's dull, and convoluted, but I do at least care about most of the people involved. Cali's Paulina is also worth watching from day one. They shouldn't have paired Ken and Rachel so quickly and let Rachel be on her own for longer, even if Ken had some potential (I think Vicky Wyndham complained in the press about his being written out). As for worst AW stories, I'd have to include Reginald, Sin Stalker, and the grotesque serial killer in early 1996 that involved killing Bridget as well as Courtney, not long after she had already been raped by her abusive husband. Sick and disgusting.

https://www.itv.com/news/2025-04-26/philip-lowrie-one-of-corries-original-stars-dies-aged-88-publicist-says Lowrie's first run as Dennis is some of Corrie's best. Handsome, charismatic, deeply funny, bouncing all over the screen, sparking with everyone. His relationship with his mother Elsie was great to watch, so often a joy, with some dramatic undercurrents. Dennis was what soap characters should be as he felt "real" without ever feeling too real. When I first began watching classic Corrie, in the late '00s, Dennis was among the first who drew me in. Let's just pretend he never came back.

I treasure Bet, but that doesn't quite work for me either. The part where she is standing in front of the cab and giving a bit of an inspirational speech is a little too much like Elsie, a little too self-conscious, and I get the sense Julie doesn't believe in it. The moment in the pub where she is leaving, and looks at herself in the mirror, the, "Easy when you know how," is much stronger. Everything about Liz's exit, and Liz's last decade on the show, is a failure. Knots Landing did this when Valene moved back into her old home in season 13. It's well done there. Thanks. I couldn't stand that. Few shows lodge inside their own asses the way EE does. It's not great. I also hate all the trumpet references with Sonia. They had her blowing trumpets in her last scene. Just sad. She blew more trumpets than she had storylines.

That song always makes me emotional.

Thanks for taking the time to screencap. The Fiz mention is amusing, as she was a terrible foster child. IIRC, she accused Roy of abusing her.

There was also Hilary and Cecily, but I'm not sure if Shannen was on Our House around that point.

Thanks for the promo.

I agree. I think he also would have been more overt in her looking for Mac replacements, which was sort of implied with how quickly she fell for Lucas, and later, Spencer, but never properly told. It's all been written about enough as it is but the show did Iris so dirty in the '90s. The last mention of her being in an interview where Michael Malone basically had to say that P&G saw her as too old to return still bothers me.

That promo is pretty rough. Very sluggish, very lackluster narration...and whatever was being said at 13 seconds cracked me up. Oh of course, that's Susan. Does Stacy Haiduk usually play her like Zelda Rubinstein with strep throat? One Stormy Night was the name of that special from the early '90s which featured Bo. Maybe they are hinting at a Carly return...

I think for the severity of some of what Iris did in the '70s it was quick, but then I have never seen most of that, only read it. If Mac had lived I imagine he and Iris would have had a further period of estrangement. The only reason they needed to have forgiveness after several months was because the Corys would have been too scattered otherwise. I think it also may have been down to not really having story if Iris was fully estranged from the Corys as she was never close to any of them anyway - Mac was the one she loved. I think it was R Scott Colishaw (?) who said Mac's death was the ultimate comeuppance for Iris all through the rest of her time on the show.

Didn't Mac tend to forgive Iris fairly quickly in the Lemay era? I know months passed but she would usually go back into the fold.

Thanks for the caps @Maxim I will give B&B credit for not doing direct ripoffs. Stephanie had some iconic shots early on (Brooke had some good shots too). EastEnders loves to rip itself off, which is one of many reasons I don't watch anymore. This may be the most blatant.

Alan made sure to come back in at the end - I knew he had a child with Beth (I forgot his name was Peyton - I don't believe Alan would go along with that), but forgot she also miscarried his child. Alan having a baby with Beth was a poor choice and just looked trashy.

More than 50 episodes of Emergency Ward 10 were found recently - most of those were missing (the show has about 900 episodes missing). Emergency Ward 10 is seen as an early British TV soap opera. I remember watching an episode about a decade ago but never knew of the history. So glad to know that many episodes have been rediscovered. https://filmisfabulous.org.uk/itv-hospital-drama-found/

More than 50 episodes of Emergency Ward 10 were found recently - most of those were missing (the show has about 900 episodes missing). Emergency Ward 10 is seen as an early British TV soap opera. I remember watching an episode about a decade ago but never knew of the history. So glad to know that many episodes have been rediscovered. https://filmisfabulous.org.uk/itv-hospital-drama-found/

So saddened to hear of this. I was briefly stunned when I saw the Deadline article. I just adored Linda once the show moved her away from the very narrow path with Michael and Eric and instead just made her an outright scheming bitch, the anti-Paige, whose corporate climbs and bedroom turns were always meant to be more noble. By that point, the women in the cast were very bogged down with years of backstory or were just heavy or ill-defined. I saw Linda and Anne as something of spark plugs, Linda in particular, as she felt so vibrant, vibrant enough that you could overlook how thin the writing was for the Sumner Group. Killing Linda off, especially in the extremely punishing, ghoulish way they did it, no purpose, no followup, felt like the show snuffing out its future. I kept up with season 13 for a bit after Linda's murder, but I had little to no interest in it or the last season. And I don't know if that will ever change. I'm glad Lar seemed to know that the character had a lot of fans. That's being kind. To be honest the acting in general by the last few years doesn't give me happy memories. I think Linda was more of an Abby than Paige was, whether the show saw it that way or not. The writing for Abby had been poor ever since Olivia's drug addiction story had wound down, but Paige's prominence definitely didn't help. Still, as Donna said in an interview, it was inevitable after all the years Abby had been heavy in story. None of the ladies were well-written by that point. It just showed up more with Abby because she had always benefited from more careful writing - the character couldn't exist without it.

It was disappointing to see even the director in the clip I found with Donald falling in the church saying nothing happened. In so many episodes I've watched, especially from the '70s, lots of stuff goes on. I feel so disconnected from the show these days, to the point where I can't even work up a reaction over a Sugden being brought in just to kill people, but I feel alive again when I watch the Farm era. Real people, real caring.

I think there was an episode of it around at one point but I can't remember. Another reminder of Emmerdale Farm having plenty of drama. Did you get the November 1988 episode?

You are not wrong. I love watching Devaney but I won't watch this. I won't watch the Nigel story on EE either. Nigel was one of my favorite characters. I just can't take these stories anymore. This (which stars Sue and Maureen Lipman, among others) comes highly recommended by me, whatever that is worth. If you do watch and enjoy it make sure to watch to the very end.

Thanks. That's not a bad way to set up Beth's return, although I like the idea of Beth just saying, "I'm not going to see that bitch." I suppose I'm biased because most of what I saw of Simon early on (admittedly I haven't watched every scene) was of a much more roguish man, doing his best to charm India. The pairing with Jessie, according to Thompson, was not planned, and someone at the show just said bad people and good people should be together (or something along those lines). There is a certain chemistry, but it's a very odd contrast for me - like Alan/Hope, but without any real buildup or consequences as these were both new characters and no one was going to care if they got together, beyond India. I think they did eventually break up due to the maturity difference...maybe that was after a producer change. Do any of you who were watching this period more closely know if any of this at Soapcentral (I know, I know) is accurate? In 1990, Beth Mentioned that Lillian had gone out of town To North Carolina To Visit Calla because Jesse had recently married Simon. Lillian later went out of town to Visit Calla again in late 1991 after Calla's ex-Husband Gordon Matthews passed away. In 1995, Lillian Told Ross she was going to Visit her sister Calla who just became a grandmother. Jesse and Simon had a boy They named Brandon after Simon's Half-Brother Lujack. They never knew what to do with Cutter. He was a likeable, attractive, quietly charismatic figure, but he wasn't a "name," so they had less interest. This whole sequence with his murder is very effective - another case of something done before but executed well here. You are getting some of the worst of Vanessa (and it will just get worse as the decade goes on). She loses a lot of personality and drive. I am not going to blame the pairing with Matt because that's too easy, but the writers and producers of the time had no interest in her as her own person. I do blame Dinah's arrival in part.

I remember some kind of complaints in soap magazines over a neck snap.

Thank you.

Thanks. I wonder if it's down to Kristain being gone for most of his tenure.

I thought she did too. I hadn't seen a ton of Lisa's run, which helped. Billie is a character they got so wrong so often. Probably why she isn't around now (that and Chelsea also being gone for so long). Was the Franco story tied into the story with the Italian mafia with that woman (Marlo) who was drinking and pregnant and pushed down the stairs or had her neck broken, or whatever it was? I know that was tied into Hope's baby story. Maybe I am mixing it all up.