DRW50

Corrie and Emmerdale shared a character once -- Reg Holdsworth interacted with the Dingles in one of their video releases, the one about Venice.

They don't mention Steph's epilepsy very often. I haven't seen the show much the past few years but after Max died, when Steph wanted to become a weather girl, she was doing some report for Zoe and she was shocked by a light or something and had a seizure. In summer 2007 she also had a seizure when she was very stressed. Max took care of her. That was one of the reasons they began to fall in love.

The guy who raped Luke was a villain at the time but not a long-running villain.

There was also Macki, a racist thug who caused huge problems for Justin and his family, a story which dominated the show in 2005 and is probably one of the reasons people stayed interested...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minor_Hollyoaks_characters_%282005%29#Stephen_.22Macki.22_Mackintosh

The biggest villain on the show for their first 3 or 4 years was a man named Rob Hawthorne. He made life hell for the show's main hero, Kurt Benson, and got Kurt's sister Lucy hooked on drugs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Hawthorne_%28Hollyoaks%29

Another villain was Scott Anderson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Anderson_%28Hollyoaks%29

There was also Toby Mills, a serial killer (he's the reason Steph has epilepsy -- he attacked her; she was the only one of his victims to survive). His supposed best mate, Dan Hunter, ended up being tried and put in prison for the murders Toby committed, because his wife/Dan's sister Ellie wouldn't admit what Toby had done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Mills

The actor is available, since Kingdom was canned. I guess they could recast though. I don't know if I can see him with Gennie, he usually likes the more hot babe type.

Did you know that Nicola took his virginity.

I disagree. Niall was a pyschopath. Killed three people on Hollyoaks (Max,Keiran & Tina) and then killed himself. Plus Barry Sloane was just great.

I like Clare but her 2009 return was pointless. She left on such a high note and would have been great if she got away with it.

Barry was great but the story ran a bit too long and it was hard to care at times. I think he had much more potential in a story which wasn't about him being a psycho.

Clare, no contest.

Andy was also very good. I think they wasted that actor on the role though. He was handsome and incredibly charismatic and had a hot body.

However, regarding the BP oil spill, I find it interesting (but not at all surprising) that none of the resident liberals on this site have criticized Obama for his terribly slow handling of this matter (after more than one month has passed since the spill, all he has done was just recently announce the formation of a commission to look into it). There's no doubt you folks--along with all the environmental groups (who also have remained silent)--would have loudly complained had this occurred under a Republican president's watch.

Only two or three people talk in this thread these days, and recently more of that was about British politics than American ones.

That entire family treats Tamwar awfully. He's always being told to shut up or do as he's told.

Sometimes Tamwar can be very smug and annoying, like anyone can, but I guess it bothered me more here because Tamwar has been the only one to support Syed and Syed knows that Tamwar is very inquisitive and skeptical, yet he apparently expects Tamwar to just be his little puppet, and if Tamwar has an opinion of his own, then he gets shot down.

I know I sound like an awful person or like I am not supportive enough of someone struggling with their sexuality but time and time again Syed has come across as such a selfish coward, I just cannot sympathize. They have consistently failed to make him sympathetic, in my opinion.

Anyway, I forgot to say how much I enjoyed the Max/Stacey scenes. I love the chemistry between Lacey and Jake. They work so well together. Those quiet little moments are heartbreaking.

Thanks for posting that.

I am still confused about this Ben story. So now are they saying Ben has been abusing Louise because Jordan has been bullying him? Most of this must have taken place offcamera.

The scenes with Phil vs Lucas were very tense. I wish they'd never made Lucas a murderer, he's much more believable as this angry and controlling father. I liked seeing Denise assert herself too. She's a strong character and I'm glad she is being written as such.

Janine and Ryan were fun, although I had a hard time understanding some of what Janine said (something seems to have happened to Charlie's voice since her last run as Janine). They got a bit porny there a few times I'm surprised that Ryan doesn't remember Stacey may be reluctant to be near him because she slept with him when she was bipolar, and then went on to tell everyone he was stalking her.

I hope this is not going to turn into fans blaming Zainab yet again for Syed's own failings. Zainab was more willing to believe the ex-gay lies than Masood or Tamwar, but it was Syed who pushed her to accept it. Syed is also the one who emotionally blackmailed Tamwar throughout the episode, as he is desperate to use Tamwar to justify his decisions. Then as soon as Tamwar has an opinion of his own? Shut up. Syed cares very little about Tamwar's feelings, he barely tolerates Tamwar, yet Tamwar is always there to support Syed. I know this is all supposed to be about Syed's pain but all I saw was that once again Syed was dragging his family down because he needs to use them to try to prove something to himself. That's why I don't believe oh those awful Masoods are persecuting Syed. And I was annoyed when Masood was going on to Zainab about her suspicions regarding Syed, when he had the exact same suspicions, even moreso than Zainab. This was only one episode ago, and yet once again he acts like he has amnesia. This character has become such a hypocrite. Only a month ago he was one of my favorite characters on the show, but these days I can barely watch him.

That last scene with Ben and Jordan was awful, it should have been edited out. They shouldn't want people to laugh at this story, surely.

I loved Malachy putting the screws to Calvin in his best man speech. Mal's great (and he's so hot!).

What has Suzanne done to her face?

I've always thought Zoe was underrated too. One thing to keep in mind is that she had chemistry with every single love interest she ever had. Psycho Will, steady Zak, wild card Darren, daddy figure Mike, best friend Sarah -- she was great with ALL of them. I hope that she gets some work. I still miss Jennifer Biddall/Jess.

I am just now finishing up the episode from the 18th and it's not exactly smooth sailing. One after the other we had...

1. Scenes with the horribly annoying Spencer, who is like a dinner theater production of Rain Man. He makes Sasha look like Garbo.

2. Scenes with Texas, who, together with India, makes me fear some sort of secession nuclear powered catastrophe of bad acting.

3. Scenes with the posh boy toughie, who seems like he just got out of gay porn, not like he's any type of gang threat.

I'm glad for the scene where Tony apologized to Jacqui for how he had treated her when they were together. I was a fan of Tony/Jacqui

I think they could do something with Gaz, either making him more palatable or as a good villain, if they keep him around. I know they're bringing in a lot of new people and it's going to be more glitzy, but the show has so many horrible younger actors, they should keep the few who can give a performance. I would have even suggested keeping Lauren for that reason. I just hate this Spencer storyline. He's horrible.

They had Steph Stokes back for the Emmerdale tribute? I will have to see that. She was one of my favorite characters. I decided not to watch the awards I already got the whole idea, boo hiss how dare everyone not kiss the feet of Eastenders, boo hiss, they're just jellus cause everyone at Eastenders can act (as we see by such powerhouse wins as...Marc Elliott and Scott Maslen) and no one at Emmerdale can.

I was wondering if anyone knew whether Gaz was staying on at Hollyoaks. The character is a waste but I do think the actor has potential.

I was also wondering if anyone could tell me why Calvin started using an American accent in the voiceovers.

The BSAs had a brief tribute to the 15 years of Hollyoaks. The first minute or minute and a half had some clips which are rarely seen, featuring the earlier years of the show. Good stuff. I wish more of that was available.

Yeah, I'm kind of glad I didn't watch the BSAs if that's the Corrie tribute they had. The show at its best is not shock value stunts. The show ran for decades, as the biggest show on TV, as being a more down to earth, character-driven program.

I'm not interested in most of this with Tracy, Gail, or Becky. Tracy acts like a petulant child, which is unbecoming in a woman who is pushing 40. Her brattiness with Deirdre is especially annoying. The only part of this story I like is the two cute cops.

This Hayley story is big time filler.

The highlight of the episode was when Natasha went on about how "everyone's daughter is in jail," including the old woman she was styling. I'm really going to miss Natasha.

Rand Paul certainly knows how to get publicity. He says that Obama criticizing BP is "un-American."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100521/ap_on_bi_ge/us_rand_paul

This is at least a good way to distract from the fallout over his criticisms of the Civil Rights Act, which probably won't hurt him in his state but probably doesn't do the Tea Party any favors nationally or in the press.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rand-paul-20100521,0,3537859.story

I wonder why they don't talk more about his views on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/rand-paul-on-npr-disabilities-act-goes-too-far.php

I was never fond of Amy/Josh, I just loathe Josh, I thought he was a sanctimonious twerp. I always preferred Fletch. I miss Fletch

India is staying around, at least for now. I don't know about her sister.

I haven't watched every day or even every month but from what I've seen and read, Darren is about the same as he's always been, not ruined. He married Hannah Ashworth, I'm not sure why, I guess to con her, but he fell in love with her. He watched as she went off the rails, almost dying from a relapse of her bulimia, but she got better. She decided to leave town, alone, but she left Darren a lot of money as a parting gift. Darren has since resumed his affair with Cindy, who is getting tired of boring Tony.

Rhys was sleeping with Zak's disabled sister Hayley, but she left town when she got pregnant (she told him he wasn't the father -- apparently Josh also slept with her but he wasn't the father either). He became jealous of Josh so he spiked Josh's drink, not realizing Josh was going to drive a car with various people in it. The car crashed and Josh became a pariah. When Rhys started screwing India, the woman Josh cared for, Josh fell hard into the bottle.

Nancy hasn't had a lot to do since she broke up with Russ. She and Kris are teachers and she's tried to help him with some of his problems. She's also watched most of her friends die or leave town.

Hollyoaks is an odd show because many of the stories are depressing yet they are done in such a shallow manner that you don't even get the enjoyment you could get out of a well-crafted depressing storyline, like Hannah's initial bulimia story.

Yeah, I could kind of see that today, as Denise had a clear point of view for the first time ever in this storyline and the focus was on what Lucas was doing to her. I hope that continues. Diane Parish is one hell of an actress and she's also very entertaining to watch, especially when Denise isn't shouting all the time.

They seem to be going through the Vanessa story quickly. I guess because Tanya will be back before too long. How long is Lucker's contract?

I enjoyed today's show, minus the Masoods, who were, again, miserable and horribly uncomfortable to watch, and Danny, who is a waste of oxygen. It was nice to see more of Denise and what she's going through, that helps add to the Lucas story. I also liked seeing some comedy with Chelsea. She's so beautiful I don't know why she's so often written as this loser no man really wants. Jean and the mechanical bull was hilarious, and Ryan and Janine were fun.

Phil is as much of a loser as ever but at least the show is apparently admitting he is a loser.

They have gone about this Ben story all the wrong way. I've seen post after post and one comment after another cheering Phil for punching Ben and talking about how they laughed so much when Ben got punched in the face. Any dramatic potential this story had was ruined when they made Ben into such a joke. It's very uneasy to know how many people enjoy Ben being such a mess.

It's a good idea you have there. Cain basically has become Viv, a fussy old gossip. I do like that they are trying to show another side of Cain through his support of Aaron. I just wish they'd figure out what to do with Charity and Cain.

I'm glad they may be closing down that village shop, it's always seemed out of place to me. I hope they won't just put Layla and Doug at the candy factory, I don't like that place, who wants to see people standing around wearing those caps on their heads? It reminds me of Silkwood.

I loved Natasha's line about wanting to see Declan in jodphurs.

That's great insider stuff. Do you know who the killer was going to be? I'm thinking either one of the Valentines, or Des.

Jorgie Porter doesn't do a lot for me, as she often sounds like she has a cold, but at least this is some dramatic material. I hope this may also mean she doesn't keep the baby.

Santer had to approve of it, since it was likely pitched and approved while he was still involved with the show.

I just wonder if it was something he didn't really have a serious role in; I can't remember any suicide stuff when he was producer, aside from Mad May. They cut out scenes where Ronnie talked about attempting suicide. I thought it had become a topic which they were not going to seriously address. Then here it comes, shrugged off as an afterthought and as a way to get your family to forgive you, which is a very irresponsible way to depict a suicide attempt.

He also gave the Masoods a lot of comedy, which they don't seem to have now. The more time they spend frowning and screaming, having Zainab as a headcase and having Tamwar whine and Masood act like a hypocrite, the more the family becomes pointless, just like a million other soap families, most of whom are long gone.

I wonder if Santer has still been responsible for the story outlines or if Treadwell-Collins took that over or what. This half-assed Syed "did he try to commit suicide...let's destroy the Masood family and show how miserable they are in every damn episode" does not feel like Santer, and I was not exactly a big fan of his.

That was a fun scene. Didn't she make fun of Stacey's bipolar too?

The problem with the characters of the past few years is that they never, ever change. If they do they just become more miserable. Yet they don't become more miserable in a way which suggests character development. It's just lazy writing. Ronnie suffers and suffers and scowls and suffers some more. Jack spent years on the show bedding every Mitchell woman and of course the mentally disturbed Tanya, until finally they had to shoot him in the head to try to make him interesting. Even that didn't work.

The show has become so zoned out that even things like sexual abuse and child molestation are no longer used for anything beyond a moment of shock value. Suicide attempts, gay-bashings, bipolar, it all somehow becomes no big deal.

They don't want to address the strong likelihood that Roxy disowned her sister because her sister was repeatedly raped as a child, so instead they just go on painting Roxy as this loud mouth with a heart of gold, the misunderstood princess, and hope that her possibly getting her money taken (money that wasn't even hers in the first place) will make people love her.