DRW50

Thank you so much for finding that, Paul Raven. I'm sorry I didn't reply yesterday, there was so much going on. Those stories don't sound that offensive to me, but then they don't really involve the characters who left (who was Lois Smith's character again?). This is the May 11, 1982 recap.

Julianna McCarthy said that she auditioned to be Jennifer Brooks, as she and her agent thought she was too young and attractive to be Liz Foster. She said thank goodness they had her take her makeup off. Then she was cast as Liz.

The Partridge Family had some very good songs - like The Monkees, whoever was running the scene had very good songwriters.

Thanks for finding that. I wonder what ideas Goldstone had? What other stuff had he written for?

Thanks. Had you heard of this before? What were the stories that they were upset by? Is the one with Court the story about her keeping Carolee in the asylum (or was she not keeping her in there and someone else was).

I was looking through a February 1978 Daytimers, and she mentioned that Geraldine Court and Wayne Tippett, who had been written out of the show, refused to return anyway while the current writers were there, because they were offended by the storylines. They also said Lois Smith was happy to go because she was offended by her story, or the portrayal of mental illness. Do any of you know anything about this? Who was the writer at the time?

That's a great story.

Some of that yes. I will scan it when I have time so you can make sure. There was also an Italian diary from the guy who played Jeff, from when they went over there.

I'll look over the next few days and if I have any I'll post them (or someone else with Y&R stuff will too, I'm sure - I don't mean to act like no one else has it).

Vintage clip with the one and only Jacqueline Pirie, Tina Dingle, also with the woman who played good girl Jessica McCallister. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHEYnLn91V8

Emmerdale's Moira on Eastenders, as one of Max's many pieces of ass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY_adHWKz0s

I'm not sure if I have that. If I do I'll scan what you mentioned.

It's a shame, because they gave Jesse Ventura a cameo. I remember how much fun Aretha was in the Blues Brothers. This could have been great.

I was reading a Digest from late 1989 about celebrities appearing on soaps. They mentioned that Aretha Franklin had wanted to be on Y&R. Bill Bell wanted her to play a mother in a 1986 story about runaway teens, but she said she wanted to be in a story with Nikki and Victor and have fun. Bell then says that you can see why it didn't happen. I think she would have been a lot of fun in a story with Victor and Nikki. I'm sorry he didn't go for it

I think he was dead before the show started.

The woman who played Irma also played Nellie Dingle on Emmerdale. She left Corrie in 1968, then returned in 1970, which led to the stupid decision to kill off David and son. Then she left again around 1972, as she was ill or something. This caused them to abandon a story where she had an affair with Elsie's husband Alan. Instead that story was given to Janet, who became the show's big bitch in the early 70s and later went on to a loveless, violent marriage with Ken. She had the infamous exit where she asked him for another chance after her boyfriend dumped her. When Ken said no, he let her sleep in his bed while he slept downstairs. She took too many sleeping pills and overdosed. He found her in there the next morning, dead. The actress who played Janet said she always went around being nice to everyone because she was so loathed by the public. There's so much you could do with Irma, and the woman who played her was in a feature late last year, posing with the other Corrie barmaids. She still looked good.

If you are going to be offended by a story on Eastenders then pick one that actually teaches bad lessons. Widdecombe has a very ugly career in Parliament and she desperately wants publicity.

I'm still disappointed we didn't get any bare-assed Oz-type shots out of that story...the actress certainly got her cleavage out enough in the press articles.

The prison woman went to his house once to see Faye, and then she was transferred and it was never mentioned again.

Irma was Hilda's daughter. Irma was a wonderful character, full of laughs and yet also, as the years went on, a lot of pain. She often resented her trashy parents but wasn't as different from them as she believed. Loved Bet. She was just fantastic. One of the best characters ever. I hate how easily many dismiss her now.

I wonder why Hazel is even around. She has had little purpose beyond caring for Jackson. James was really good in his first year on Hollyoaks. I guess that was a real combination of writing, acting, and chemistry with his family and with Craig, but it's a shame none of this ever came together on Emmerdale. They have had no idea what to do with the character - the stuff with the prison guard still baffles me.

Some scenes of Whitney's upcoming story, with some scare quotes from publicity seeker Ann Widdecombe and one of EE's worst villains. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1351901/First-look-EastEnders-Whitney-Dean-takes-streets-teenage-prostitute-soaps-controversial-new-storyline.html#ixzz1CXeA6cZE I'm glad Janine's role in this isn't as ugly as I first thought.

I hated the Teresa exit story. I don't blame Lloyd for it, but the story sucked. I wanted to bring her back in my ideas but had little idea of what to do with her. Maybe she could run the chip shop (who is running that now anyway). I would keep Lloyd but as a supporting figure, comedy with Steve. I liked him with Liz before all that was trashed and Bev Callard vanished. I forgot about Michelle. She's such a waste of space. She can just go to be with her parents. The Armstrongs are boring as hell. I like Izzy but she is the one the show has the least interest in. Owen is AWFUL, he's so boring, he sucks the life out of every scene. He also cheapens Eileen's character. Ches is OK, I don't think he's as bad as some make out, but there seems to be no story for him, so I might get rid of him, unless they can figure something out. We haven't seen or heard anything about Irma in many years. Her son with David died in 1970. She vanished in 1972/73 and after that the only mentions were that she was living in Canada and wasn't in touch with her family. I think Peter and Anna are about the same age. In one sense I can't see Peter with her but in another I think that would be a nice breathing room for him. Eventually I might put him back with Leanne, but Collinson has totally destroyed that relationship and the only way they will work again IMO is a long separation.

They haven't given her much story at all for a long time. They seemed to lose any idea of what to do with her or Ryan - I will be shocked if James Sutton is still there within a year's time. They should have tried her with Cain, or even Andy. But then there are a lot of characters who are just sort of aimlessly wandering around these days.