DRW50

I haven't seen that BBC promo in ages - the last time was before they got rid of Endersfan on Youtube. I love that promo a lot, it's just so much fun and so creative (although it's a little too long). I love that the subtitles are 'Enders dialect. I love the Dallas-style promo for the tenth anniversary. Given how campy Sharon was it's a nice fit.

I think it's bad marketing. He's attractive to a different group now. He's cuddly - there's nothing wrong with that. He's just not this ripped guy they keep selling him as, and he's also not any type of "jack the lad" heartbreaker either. The fact that Corrie is tells me they are going to fail him as they have failed every single new character they have created in the last two years.

Chris Fountain sucks in his stomach for a photoshoot. Meanwhile, Helen Flanagan is taking a break for 3 months but getting her own webseries as Rosie tries to become the new Katie Price (so sick of that story).

Thanks again for your hard work.

That sounds fascinating. I guess it says something about the show that it inspired such passionate fans. You notice that this seems to be the case mostly for 80s soaps. I guess the glitz and glamour era had international appeal. It's too bad this never helped enough money-wise to keep them on the air. I do keep looking for stuff...either I don't have the issues yet or it didn't get as much coverage as the bigger soaps. I don't know why but I always get a little bit weirded out when I see Deborah Farentino with Nick. I can see why people assumed he was her father.

That Capitol megasite really is meticulous. I was going to post some 1986 Christmas party photos here, then I went to their site and they were all available. That place is a real labor of love.

I liked Cutter. I think he suffered from JFP or whoever not seeing him as being an important enough character. I remember SOD asking JFP why they weren't going to go further with the Tangie/Cutter pairing, and she said well you never know. But it was obvious they were more interested in the triangle with Alan-Michael and Alan, and she had no chemistry with either of them. It was also derivative to have a triangle between father and son, especially since Alan had just returned, and Alan-Michael was a very poorly defined character. I think this was mostly just stalling for time because the show did not allow Gilly/Alan-Michael and I think the show's plans for Lucy/Alan-Michael were probably put on hold because I don't believe Lucy was ever as popular as they assumed she would be. I felt sorry for Marcy Walker. I felt like they finally found a role for her towards the end, working at the Journal with Fletcher, Holly, and Nick, but that was after so much aimlessness, especially the stuff with Josh, which alienated me at the time because I spent most of the 90s wanting Josh to go away.

September 22, 1987 Digest.

From the January 27, 1987 Digest.

This is a fantastic set of scenes. It is very brave to have a happy, longtime couple break up through their own mistakes and realizations, and not someone dying at the last minute. You wouldn't have this today. The scenes with Carol and Bianca are so raw and I like that they don't really make up. I was annoyed that when Carol returned, the show had them make up after only a few episodes, when this drama could have gone on for months, at the least. Bianca is not Carol, but Santer ripped off Carol's story and gave it to Bianca. While my disappointment in Bianca's return (a lot of shouting and stupid class conflicts that made her seem like a brain dead chav, complete with extraneous, fake cutesy kids) went away eventually, and I can see that her return turned out better than, say, poor Kat, I still think Santer and DTC had no real idea of who Bianca was. She is a very thoughtful and quiet woman, and also, as damaged as she is, capable of moments of great strength. She doesn't have the self-loathing which Carol has always had. It took Carol coming back to show viewers just how special Bianca's character is.

Hospital administrator; thanks. It does seem like an attempt to recreate Dorian, but she was so good as Dorian, from what I've heard, that it's a shame this didn't work better on The Doctors.

I think Nancy and Doris were fired from OLTL around the same time - I guess that happened at The Doctors too? Was she a businesswoman or a doctor or? I wonder if they should have had her as being another Dorian, and causing problems for Maggie (Althea was off at this time wasn't she). Or a daughter to Mona, in some sort of conflict.

She did love her horses - she is photographed with them in more than one interview. I do wonder if they could have saved the show with more focus and if they'd stepped in earlier on. It seems like they freefalled in a few years. It's funny you mentioned Ann, because I have an interview with her from her time on The Doctors. When I find it I will post it. I really wish some of that was out there; her performances on Search and EON are fascinating, especially EON.

Thanks for reading. When I have Digests from around this time I usually think of the recaps for this show. I think I may have one from around that time if I can find it again. I wonder if Viveca Strand was ever supposed to be a long-term character? What was she about anyway? Do you think the show missed a chance with her?

I wonder who they wanted Faye to play on GL. I guess Andy Kavitovit did look closer to KmC's age.

Rob is believable in the softer moments, which is what makes his malice so much more threatening. It's something most soap villains don't have now. MichaelGL did you see the Doctors recaps I put in that thread a few days ago?

Not all of them but I might have a few others. I never knew that about Wendy. I know she was in something with James Dean.

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.