DRW50

Quite a bit of Carl's redemption, which began around 1992 or 1993, was in his learning that he had a son, Ryan Harrison. Ryan was true-blue, a good guy no matter what, and Carl, perhaps haunted by the horrible way he'd treated Perry, his other son who had died very young, began to care about Ryan (before this they had just been enemies - a lot of 1991 was spent on Ryan trying to bust Carl). This made Carl want to reform. I don't know if the scenes where Carl finds out is online. This has a bit of when Ryan finds out.

Yeah, Maggie, the casting director, is the fuller-figured woman who had the story about pole-dancing. I'm not sure what stories she's had since. I think she was ward to a teenage girl who tried to turn a man straight and then got bored and got with someone else and wasn't sure about losing her virginity, etc. It's definitely refreshing to see them talk so openly about pushing actors out, although I wonder if they really believe these actors will return.

Oh, I see. Well even if you do get to see them you can probably skip a fair amount, as many episodes seem to have filler stories (bets or musicals...hopefully not called Isidingo-Crossed Lovers).

I have an interview with one of the Amy's from the early 70's - when I have time I'll put it up.

Sorry, hope I didn't give too much away. There's still so much we haven't seen (and probably never will - I'm not even sure how many episodes the Africa Channel shows or if they go in a loop) so I just read what I can. I wish more clips were available. This talks more about the behind the scenes chaos recently. http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/tv-radio/more-suds-for-hit-soapie-1.1056086

http://www.horizondeep.co.za/

There is a fair amount of behind the scenes stuff (a bit tabloidy, but with some nice photos) here. http://teeveetee.blogspot.com/search/label/Isidingo

Yes. It's the type of thing that few shows would want to talk about, yet it does happen. Isidingo is one of the glossier shows, since they go on location (everything on Generations seems to be indoors, and if any events happen, like fires, they are referenced, not shown), but you can see the ramshackle nature at times. Cherel also seduced Haines Barker's son to get close to Barker, then when the son (Duncan) caught on to her, she killed him. This is the level of cold-bloodedness that most US or even UK soaps wouldn't go near, because they would be afraid of going too far or ruining the character, but generally, viewers will eat it up. When I clicked on the episode synopses at their official site, it looked like 5 days a week, one episode a day.

A very interesting paper on how the show deals with HIV/AIDS and sex. http://ruc-dk.academia.edu/NorbertWildermuth/Papers/385990/Isidingo_The_Need_A_mainstream_approach_to_HIV_AIDS_communication_extended_version_ 2007 party photos. http://www.tvsa.co.za/default.asp?blogname=tv&articleID=4073 Memorable moments. http://www.women24.com/Templates/Articles/Article.aspx?sid=13&cid=2498&acid=2637&cb=TVAndGossip/SoapBox&aid=48501169082444d39023bb2a42c3a346

Scenes from the episode where her character was killed off:

Ashley Callie, who played Lee, died from a car accident not too long after the episodes currently airing (early 2008). She was a very popular actress and a huge part of the show. Ultimately the character was killed off, and the actors who played her friends and family grieved for Lee the way they had grieved for Ashley.

The most confusing part of Isidingo is the opening credits, which are very very slick and full of action, danger, intrigue. Then you watch the show, and you get some of that, but you also get a story about a full-figured woman learning to pole dance. This same woman is in the credits looked terrified of some danger. I guess it was pole-dancing... Isidingo has an integrated cast and there is much more violence and gunplay than on Generations. The episodes running on the Africa Channel are up to November 2007. The current stories are: Letti, a young mother, was for some reason in the crosshairs of a crime boss, Bra Fox. He told his son, Cyprian, to kill her. Cyprian could never quite go through with it, but Letti was terrified at all times, and borrowed a gun from a friend. Cyprian ended up being shot by a cop, Alec, when Alec got a tip on his whereabouts and thought Cyprian had a gun (it was a torch). Alec fled. Cyprian then died, and his father swore vengeance. The cops weren't sure whether the shooting was justifiable, and Alec's girlfriend, Lee, daughter to Barker Haines, began to investigate for herself. When she tried to talk to him about it, he backhanded her. I'm so used to seeing violence against women on soaps that I was pleasantly surprised to see this shown as being unacceptable, and that no matter how much pain he was in, she could never forgive him. She broke up with him immediately. Alec was already on an emotional meltdown before any of this and it just got worse and worse. Bra Fox still planned to kill both Letti and Alec, and the police couldn't get involved. Letti got a fake driver's license and went away to secretly confront Bra Fox before he could kill her. She used a stun gun on him and took his gun. He tried to get to her, but she held steady, and was about to shoot when Alec walked in and told her to leave - he'd take care of it. After she left, Alec shot and killed Bra Fox and disposed of his body. There are also a lot of business dramas with Barker Haines and various employees that are hard to follow. His daughter Lee works for him, along with her mother figure, Harriet, a woman who looks like she had some very bad plastic surgery. A lot of story revolves around some other twenty or thirtysomethings who all live together. Len, a controlling and insecure type who is a talk show producer, Paul, who is one of the talk show hosts, Lolly, Maggie, and Len's girlfriend, Farrow. They liked to do bets that ranged from silly (being a slave, pole-dancing) to dangerous (driving too fast, driving your car into a canal that has a damaged drain pipe). When this story waned, they got another roommate, Priya, a cop who may or may not be a lesbian and whose presence made Maggie spout negative remarks about lesbians and blather on about Will & Grace. Priya's sexuality wasn't clear, but she did say she thought men were responsible for all violence and hatred. Her arrival coincided with a story where Paul was in the paper, kissing a male DJ. He was subjected to vile anti-gay comments on-air and in his personal life, repeatedly being called a pedophile and other slurs. He began to have a breakdown and against Len's protestations, quit his job as a talk show host. This story is all over the place but I do appreciate them dealing with homophobia and also repeatedly saying that just because the law forbids homophobia does not mean it goes away. The scenes where Paul and Nan were hosting the show, friendly, positive, and then these bile-laden calls come through, they really did hit you.

Along with Generations, The Africa Channel runs Isidingo. First shown in 1998, Isidingo is seen as a more daring soap than many others, one that mixes glamour and high drama in with serious social issues such as homosexuality, domestic violence, and AIDS. Isidingo has had the on-and-off adventures of Cherel, a woman who solved the problem of her demanding boyfriend by hiring a hitman to kill him and his entire family! She then sank her claws into Barker Haines, a Daniel Benzali lookalike who is deeply involved in the many crimes of Horizon Deep. Cherel was written out for a few years, I believe in a prison sentence, but is back now. Contrasting Cherel is long-running character Nandipha, pool shark, talk show hostess, and infected with HIV after being raped. Nandipha stayed on the show for many years, and was in a wide variety of stories which entertained and educated viewers, including one where she and two friends got drunk and took too much coke and had a threeway! This was unprotected sex and both men spent months taking meds for possible HIV infection. Not the type of story you'll see on most soaps these days. You have to sign up, but you can find episode synopses that go back to the early part of the 00's, or longer. They also have some character profiles, although they seem to be 2-3 years out of date. http://www.isidingo.co.za/FrontEnd/HomePage.aspx

I think Maeve was off the show at the time. Jerry, I don't know. At that time GL was pushing Dinah so much. I had to stop watching at one point because of this and a few other heinous stories.

It's great to see another fan posting here! I keep meaning to watch more than I actually do. I still miss Rosie and Frazier...

It's in The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/3603613/Ken-left-for-dead-by-his-own-grandson.html I think it's a big waste of potential, not because I just loved the James character, because he was not that developed, but because there's no real reason to trash characters this way, especially when it's only for a few minutes of shock and then they are never mentioned again. Remember what they did with Paul Duckworth a few years ago? I liked Amber, and would like to see her back again for some of what you mention. I just don't buy that she would be with Sophie or that Sophie would somehow turn her into a lesbian. It seems very random to me. The only enjoyment for me would be if she sat around making one-liners about Rosie/Kevin/Sally.

Wow, kudos for putting all that in one or two posts. I never know how to do that.

That Zainab/Masood scene on Friday's episode is going to go in my very very exclusive section for Favorite Eastenders Scenes of All Time. Nina and Nitin are beyond superb together. I couldn't stop watching the part with <SLAP> YUSEFHASDONENOTHING!!!! And the look on his face, the pain and shock in his eyes...

As always I wanted to say thanks for typing these up, both in this thread and in several others.

John was still alive at this time right? It's odd that the synopsis doesn't mention him at all.

There was a bit a of a flap in the early/mid 90's because GL didn't get as many covers, as they didn't sell. I think the one from that time (Lucy/Alan-Michael) was a low-seller. They got a few more covers when the ratings went back up in 1997.

I have that cover somewhere, although it's in rough shape. They also have a cover at Soap Opera World, although there's a subscription label on it. http://www.soapoperaworld.com/soap-opera-digest-kathleen-noone-paul-satterfield.html

Lemay gave Vicky Wyndham some ferocious material in his brief time back, with the war with the Frames and her cold fury at Liz after Liz let it slip to Matthew about how he was conceived. Sadly I don't believe those scenes are online. I don't think Swajeski ever really knew the character, although she did at least try, unlike certain later writers or producers. I had forgotten that Jamie was living with the Frames at that time. That was the only time Jamie's Frame side was ever really utilized, even though it was kind of obvious, you know, considering his last name was Frame and everything. Josie MOST POINTLESS CHARACTER EVER.