DRW50

I haven't read yet but I appreciate your updates. I'm sorry I haven't responded.

I'm glad they brought one of the Hardings in (were they named after Harding Lemay?).

Is any of Quinn's story in the time before she got murdered on Youtube or any other clip sites? I wanted to see some of that, and some of the last story for Maisie, as I also liked that character. I wish they could have stayed around.

I think they have several guys who aren't traditionally sexy, but who have charisma, or nice bodies, or some weird magnetism. Malachy and Zak. Jack's good looking for his age. For the more traditionally hot guys, then Calvin and Darren. Ash, if he shaves.

Toups, I think they're bringing big-bosomed Cheryl, Malachy's ex, back soon to try to fill the hottie quota.

I'm going to miss Zoe. She was a very underrated character. She was never in any big stories but she always gave able support and made all her tales better. She also had chemistry with all her love interests, young and old, male and female.

Rumor has it Jessica may come back for Zoe's exit. I hope so.

I didn't know any of that.

What did some of you think about Frances Fisher? And Joel Crothers?

I wish Holland Taylor's run was out there.

Yes.

And they sure as hell tried to make all of that youth and supercouple stuff fit in. The carnival episodes(the climax leading to Draper Scott being reunited with April) were beautifully directed and those were an outdoor location shoot. And they pimped the hell out of Kelly/Jody/Gavin/Martine, even if it did suck ass.

That's what I thought, they did try for youth stories, but it just didn't work for viewers. Didn't they also fire Maeve Maguire, then make Nicole much younger (before killing her off), replace the old police chief with a young, hot chief, etc.?

Sorry about the NBC, for some reason I thought NBC got EON as well as SFT, I forgot there was a 5-6 year difference in when those shows were cancelled by CBS.

EON was a popular show for 15 years, until Procter & Gamble had the show moved to an earlier timeslot to create a bloc of P&G soaps. EON had many fans who were still in school and who were men who watched the show when they were getting home from work, and they could no longer watch. The ratings plummeted. After a few years CBS cancelled the show. NBC picked it up and moved the show back to the original slot, but by that time momentum was lost, and many fans did not bother to follow to a new network. Then in the late 70s and early 80s soaps became all about youth and location shooting and none of that really fit EON.

I'm not surprised about Stella not being popular. What I saw of her early story, the circus, was ridiculous. I also don't think putting Deniz in the story did her any favors, the writing for him is so confusing and he often comes across negatively. The only time I enjoy him is if he's in a story with Deniz. Too bad they ruined his friendship with Vanessa. Why did they pair them up?

Is Roman a popular character? I think he's great, very complex, and a good actor, handsome as well. I'm glad they seem to be writing for him again.

It looks like Zoe Lister (Zoe) is leaving. Her exit will be in December.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/a...oS7QPfQrMvIHZog

Supposedly Kris is also leaving around that time, as well as Hannah. I wish the show had done better at bringing in strong new characters, as this is so many voids to fill. I think they should consider bringing back some old characters.

Becky's first appearance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQWGvbKuEDU...re=channel_page

Molly's first appearance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Tqpx31HeY...re=channel_page

Hollyoaks is "desperately seeking" a new actress.

Hollyoaks production house Lime Pictures hope to discover the show's next Roxanne McKee (Louise Summers) as they invite female viewers aged 18-30 to send in audition clips in the hope of being cast as the programme's new 18 or 19-year-old student character, India.

Series producer Lucy Allan said of the project: "We are very excited about opening the audition process to a wider audience and hope to find that special raw talent that we found in Roxanne and Marcus in the 'On The Pull' series."

Former Hollyoaks star Roxanne McKee landed her role as Louise Summers after winning the 'On The Pull' competition in 2004.

Home & Away actors seem to be making publicity lately, but not in the best way.

One is involved in a cocaine scandal, and another made a sex tape he showed to some cast members.

I read about an interview the sex tape guy's mother had where she said she was so happy he wasn't involved with that type of girl now, and all I kept thinking was...OK...

I have a soft spot for Jacqui. She's a cow and she treats people horribly but she's very insecure underneath, she's a good person deep down. Like the way she was before she got pregnant and then learned she could not carry a child. She's been damaged since then, she lost her warm, caring side. I think Claire Cooper is a brilliant actress and I love watching her, so I put up with a lot from Jacqui I probably wouldn't from someone like Sasha, who can't act. I want Jacqui to finally get new stories, better stories.

How do you feel about the pub? I hear a lot of people say the Osbornes have to run the pub or it doesn't seem the same, but I think they had their day. Jack seems to barely be a part of the show now, and Frankie was always an interloper in the pub. I don't think the Ashworths are a good fit but I don't know who would be. Maybe Darren and Cindy, or Darren and Steph. Or Malachy and Mercedes.

Justin and Russ were both great characters poorly used over the past few years. At least they got good sendoffs. I do wish they'd had Russ leave to be with Dannii.

I think the other openings fit those soaps. I think HO's opening fits the current show but not the very dark show it was for most of last year.

Speaking of other soaps, the woman who played Steve Owen's sister Jackie on Eastenders 10 years ago will now be playing Zoe's and Archie's mother. Jackie's main story was having some type of female problem which caused her to become enraged and beat up her boyfriend, Gianni di Marco.

Kris' and Malachy's mother will be returning briefly for Kris' graduation.

The opening where Ste narrates. After seeing this I can't help wanting Ste to have a coming out story. He also looks so cute in his Il Gnosh uniform. Kieron Richardson makes Ste so interesting. I'm going to miss the friendship with Justin.

Justin has done many bad things over the years but at his best he was the young leading man the show needed and has never quite had without him. I think one of Kirkwood's few big mistakes was having him lie that Becca had groomed him and taken advantage of him when he was underage. This made Justin look terrible, especially when Becca was killed off, and it took years for Justin to come close to regaining his important status on the show. Both Justin and Russ were key characters to the show in 2004, 2005, 2006, and then they both sort of fell off the radar.

I hope Jacqui doesn't get the baby back. I want to see her move on from that baby, baby, baby, baby with her for years now. Do you remember Jacqui before she started obsessing over babies? She was funny, quirky, sexy, with traces of vulnerability and warmth. Since the baby stories started with her pregnancy and infertility, she's never been the same.

They're having budget problems. They can only afford to pay people for a limited amount of scenes now. This is what June Brown said.

The people who run EE now do not know how to tell stories. Why is Janine back? Someone said, "Janine's a great character," I guess, and this is why she's back. They have no idea what made her a great character and instead try to turn her into the same quasi-vixen with weird mouth movements that they turned Clare into. Then they have her run over Danielle, only to be upset for a few days, then suddenly get over it, even going into the pub of the family who lost Danielle, even going to their christening, and no one seems to care.

They also don't seem to know how to develop characters. What has Tanya been doing for the past year and a half? Stacey flounders around for an eternity until they give her the story they already gave her mother.

I wonder if this it for the Loft. I keep thinking they will refurbish. The Loft burned down once before, when Scott Anderson owned it. Darren left him inside the building, assuming he was killed (he wasn't).

I'm kind of tired of Jack and Frankie, especially Frankie, but I hope they give more stories to Darren and Steph, they're the only historical links left on Hollyoaks now, aside from Tony, and I guess Cindy, but all of Cindy's family is gone.

I could see her in a good guest spot on something like How I Met Your Mother.

I wish she could stick around. She seems to fit Hollyoaks, she's not quite on the wavelength of the other soaps. I think she's too vivacious for them.

I watched her on Dancing on Ice and she also seemed a bit too big for that show, viewers didn't seem to get her.

I haven't seen her Masterchef appearance. I wonder how well she did. I saw a clip of Mike and Zoe on there once (I wonder if Zoe and Sarah will ever get back together, or at least Zoe and Mike, they were both good couples).

I'm a bit surprised no one in America has tried to hire Gemma, I can see her as perfect casting about some American yokel who brings home a crazy British girlfriend.

Last interview with Jamie Lomas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc0otaOLPPc

Interview with Gemma:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu72lkaf1ro

I also wasn't a fan of 1795, although that wasn't because of Angelique, more because I just didn't find most of the characters captivating, and the whole thing was very depressing. I also get tired of Barnabas angst.

1897 has ups and downs, because they stretched the story out several more months than they originally planned for, but it has some great bits.

The werewolf/Quentin haunting story has some brilliant showpieces. My favorite is when they hire the woman to deal with the ghosts of Collinwood, and Quentin locks her in a room and slowly drives her to madness and death. Then she appears at the top of the stairs, already dead, and tumbles down. Chilling, and I still can't believe they got with that. This story is also a very strong period for Maggie. They made Maggie much more smart than she's given credit for. I just wish that yummy Joe had had a better exit. Joel Crothers deserved better. The show wasted him.

My favorite of the time travel periods was 1840, at least the first half, before Daphne and Quentin took center stage.

I think Warren was a great bad guy, a rogue who also had a softer side. I didn't like the relationship with Louise (I didn't think they had chemistry and they dragged each other down) and I thought the character suffered when they tried to make us feel sorry for him. I think that first year was Warren's best year. My favorite time was when he was sleeping with Clare while being best mates with Max, and when he was sleeping with Mercedes and first got involved with Justin. There was such amazing charisma with him at that time -- he looked like he wanted to make out with every other person he was in a scene with. I wish they'd done a bisexual story with him, I think he would have been perfect, especially since he was so much about his image. He would have gone crazy at the thought of having feelings for Justin, or Calvin.

Oddly enough, considering he's a former drug dealer and woman-beater, I like Ste. I think Kieron Richardson is a great actor and he's done wonders with a character who shouldn't have been redeemable. I think there are some other young characters on the show with potential but the show sometimes seems to have a hard time bringing new characters in or knowing what to do with them.

Hollyoaks has always had that wank material mentality, which Kirkwood did help clear up (even with the calendars still being around) but in earlier years the show won awards for some stories, like the one about Luke Morgan's rape.

I think Kirkwood was the main force behind the fantasy sequences in the opener, in the past they had them at times but they also had more traditional openings.

Jamie's sister is Charley Webb, who plays Debbie Dingle on Emmerdale. She's brilliant, one of the hearts of that show now.

The last interview with Jamie.

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/a157274/ja...-interview.html

Russ actually had some good-ish stories for a few years. I never saw his storyline about testicular cancer, but his romance with Dannii, the destruction of their relationship as Russ' brother Sam and his friend became rapists, Sam blowing up the pub and killing himself as well as Russ' new girlfriend Sophie, Russ' relationship with Mercedes. I'm not sure why they stopped writing for him. He is, as you mention, gorgeous, and a good actor, and one of the few genuinely nice guys on the show. I don't know why they stopped writing for Russ and Justin, especially since they can't seem to stop writing for Calvin, who is so smug and self-righteous and not played by a very good actor.

There are many good actors on the show who don't get a lot of material (like Rhys).

I'm enjoying some of this week. I LOVE the cast integration, and Gemma Bissex is fantastic as ever, she plays the b&tch so well, she always plays her with vulnerability. I wish she could stay around. I'm even going to almost miss Warren, he's at his best with people like Clare and Justin. They shouldn't have moved him towards Louise and Sasha and Mandy.

The weird thing is these episodes were scheduled to air during the time of a huge football match in the UK, which means less people are likely to watch. I don't get that.

Here's a good article, although I should point out that Hollyoaks did have years of gripping stories before Kirkwood took over, it's just that the last few years before him were seen as poor.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandrad...ks-new-producer

Thank you. I'm not sure if calling this "Stunt Week" is a great idea. I was hoping for more with Myra, but at least she'll still be around. I was also hoping they'd do more with Darren than him making more mistakes.

I wonder who Spencer will live with.

The episode aired Christmas Day of last year.

I thought Charity's exit was superb, she got her own back on the Kings, but she still lost Debbie. Debbie always seemed to prefer Cain. Then Charity left to try to finally live without a man. They even used Eva Cassidy's "Songbird" instead of the normal closing credits theme.

What makes this story so good is they have built on years and years of history. The story started in 2002 or 2003, when Debbie was fostered and then she reunited with her biological parents. Even when Cain and Charity were gone, Debbie continued to have story, becoming wealthy and hardened even though she was only in her late teens, then losing everything and reverting back to her more vulnerable self during her reconciliation with Jasmine. Just in time for Cain to return, and Debbie to be torn between doing what he wants and doing what her instincts tell her.

The story with little Sarah has also built consistently ever since 2005. I don't like Andy, but I think Kelvin Fletcher is a very good actor.