DRW50

I don't really care about Whitney, but I thought this was very good. This is an example of what websoaps should be. In ten minutes you had a story packed in with solid acting and writing and you want to see what will happen next. I hope we get to see more of that other girl who was at the party. I cared about her instantly. She reminds me of Nicola Stapleton (Mandy on EE years and years ago - most recently on Hollyoaks Later) and Tina O'Brien, Sarah on Corrie, before they made Sarah into a stupid bimbo and Tina O'Brien gave up any attempt at acting.

From the July 1959 TV Radio Mirror.

Showreel for the first and by far the best Brad Snyder. I wonder what might have happened if he hadn't had to leave the show. He was so hot. He looks a lot like Pa Barton on Emmerdale. (There's some sort of weird pseudo-bondage clip in there so it might not be safe for work).

Spin spin spin. I don't buy for a minute that viewers somehow warmed to Jackson because of what happened to him. If anything it's just the opposite. Many viewers are sick of him and want him gone - and that is probably exactly what the show wanted. This story has done nothing for Aaron or Jackson or for the show, and has just been a soul-sucking and one-note misery designed to fill time and help hide Aaron's asexuality. I also had to laugh at the idea of Ryan being overused! What November doesn't mention is that even in these "big" stories, Ryan was barely a part of them. He was almost always on the sidelines. More laughs. Most of the original cast left by their own choice. It's a shame he feels the need to put them down, since the original Emmerdale is ten times better than what has been done to the show in the last few years. So Viv HAD to go - while so much other dead weight is going nowhere - for the "refreshing" Maceys, the most unpopular new family the show has ever cast, and middle-aged, Tang-faced Amy? I notice that even now the show is not making ANY effort to write for most of their new characters. The Barton stories are the same old crap. Now Adam is a one-note, miserable plot device the family frets over, instead of Holly. And now Declan/John is in the place of Cain/John for a feud. Why was this family created? The show is a sour, plot-driven void, full of depressing, go-nowhere stories, just stumbling along to fill up six episodes a week. And aside from one or two things like a story for Victoria, the same seems to be happening in this interview.

That's interesting. I never knew that. If they were going to kill off a character for that reason then I would have killed off Johnny. Nothing against Bernard Barrow but I think Johnny was more disposable - he was only there to bluster. Ed had a lot of stories left with the Coleridges. There were so many fascinating moments with the family, especially his creepy relationship with Faith. I thought they planned to kill off Nell all along. They didn't? Wow. What might have been. I loved Nell. I never have watched the bits of her as Sherry that are on Youtube, as I didn't want to spoil my memories of Nell, but I will soon.

From the April 14, 1981 Digest.

Sorry, if this is off-topic, or too long. It's another old interview scan. From the November 24, 1981 Digest.

November 24, 1981 Digest.

April 14, 1981 Digest.

October 26, 1982 Digest.

I think Anne was only in a handful of episodes. Sister Mary Joel was a very short term character before vanishing for ten or more years. Another actress, I can never remember her name (not Sylvia Sidney), just finished up a temp run as Mary Joel. Soapnet running these for so long is a great way to figure out dates or at least number of appearances. I wasn't even sure if Gale had been in eight, as it went by so fast. I wish more soaps had hired such brilliant actresses in short-term roles the way RH did early on.

I'm glad Eastenders won. The episode with Billie's death was superb, the best on any soap in a long time, and Lindsey deserves this. What a contrast between that and the bad camp that Phil Collinson serves up as drama.

I think they planned to kill Nell off at this time all along but the killing of Ed did seem very random, and rushed, and had little followup, so I wonder what happened there. I'd still love to see what the show would have been if they'd killed Frank off as they had initially planned.

Thanks for telling me. I will need to watch while I still can, before any of that becomes priced out with all the upcoming broadband caps and so on. I'm glad they're giving Carol more to do, I love her character, and hopefully this will help Lindsey get some more votes for the BSA.

I'm not sure. It's tough to know how accurate the dates are with something like that as this was before the daily synopses and people are just going on memory sometimes. Do you know if he was fired or did he choose to leave RH? I think that killing Ed off was a mistake in the long-term. I also think it's odd that he felt Ed was cold, as, although they referenced his coldness a few times, generally onscreen he was warm and at the most, stern. Soapnet aired the episodes last night where Ed died and it doesn't get any less cheesy or awkward, in terms of the stunt, but it has some beautiful performances. I think that and Nell's death were big turning points for the show.

Does anyone know if Marland had any story planned for Chris Marcantel's Tim Werner that never happened? Did Tim just disappear? Was this after Marland, or during? I guess Marcantel was just transferred to AW? I ask about Marland because I wonder if he helped get Marcantel cast on Loving. I know Tim had the alcoholism story and the pining for Morgan, but that was mostly with Kevin Bacon.

You've probably already seen these and they're not exactly 70s (just the end of the decade) but this person uploaded some rare clips of Liza after Steve's death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC7JSqUKTNw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3_IMz-Qd-U&feature=related I have some Search interviews from the 70s I will try to post at some point. It's kind of sad seeing Carl Low interviewed jointly with Mary Stuart, as I believe he got the here's-your-hate-what's-your-hurry type of exit. I'm really glad that Mary and Larry Haines managed to avoid that somehow.

I never got to see most of those either - just bits and pieces. I agree that the earlier episodes are quite good - I was fascinated by the one with Don Knotts and the "door" into his mind. There's also such a lovely, understated performance by Mary Stuart in some episodes, my favorite being the Christmas episode from the mid-60s, which was all singing and contemplation. Mary Stuart and Larry Haines were such an unbeatable team, it's a shame no other show snapped them both up, especially since they both went on to prove they could play other characters.

I've only seen a little of her - I should watch while I can. I wonder if SFT should have brought her in a few years earlier. The whole idea of that ad campaign about her being the new Alexis seems ridiculous but I've only ever heard positive things about her work. I do wonder why no one else took her up after Search ended. That picture of her from 1977 is stunning. Isn't it odd that I feel such a strong emotional connection to a show I have not really seen very much of...

I thought the material for Toby under McTavish was offensive - Liz Keifer said she was uncomfortable with the comments they made her say about Toby, and I could see why. They repeatedly attacked her appearance, not the character. I hated the madam story. She went around for months vamping Ross, which made her look pathetic, and she would repeatedly remind us that Matt only had sex with women, just in case anyone was confused. The stuff with Roger could have been more if Zaslow had stayed around but even then I don't know. I don't really blame B&E, as it was clear that Amanda was on the way out, but I do think that more could have been done with her. Unfortunately, even if the Spauldings were relatively intact for most of their run on GL (usually at least three or four of them around - they were never a big family anyway), they served mostly as plot devices and their family relationships were never the same after Beverlee left. Casting Raines as Alan was a huge misstep IMO - he was a perfectly competent actor in a role that demands you be dazzling and fire and magic. I like Marj Dusay but she wasn't ever going to be able to lead a family the way Beverlee did, and even if she could, the show never gave her the chance. She was a plot device and a third wheel from close to the start of her run and she stayed that way throughout. They *did* try to write Alan as a leading character, for a while, and Raines just couldn't deliver. I hated Nadine's murder. Other than that I thought it was a very solid story, genuinely creepy, brilliantly acted, the only time Sonia Satra ever rose above grindingly mediocre, a way to build a love between Lucy and Alan-Michael that the actors themselves couldn't generate, and a wonderful umbrella story. I can understand why people were offended by the HIV test switching, but I thought this was balanced by Susan, who was one of the strongest and best new characters McTavish has ever created and a refreshing change from the usual short-term character who is brought in to die, and the only woman that Vincent Irizarry worked well with in his run as Nick. I hated to see her go. I'm sorry Nancy Bell never had any other soap work.

I knew about McTavish but can never remember who was responsible for the one with Amanda and Brandon. For some reason I thought that was with the interim writers between McTavish and B&E.

I would have been OK with this if they had actually done something with it! They just dropped it entirely. It was ridiculous. The scenes with Amanda/Alex, Alex/Alan, Phillip/Alex, Phillip/Alan were great, and then nothing.

I never knew that. I knew about Lisa Peluso but not NLG. I would have liked to have seen her. Toby Poser, although I liked her, was such a departure. Of course the material was so wretched - I still don't know who came up with the idea of her being a madam.