DRW50

Here's Jason Kincaid, the Tom between Justin Deas and Gregg Marx, in this clip with Maggie Crawford, Lyla's sister/Margo's aunt. Apparently he only lasted from August to December 1984. Was he just a fill in or was he meant to last but viewers didn't take to him or the show didn't? It's hard to go only on one episode but I have to admit he's kind of underwhelming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VtWwhKitM0&feature=related

I love this with Nigel and his Mitchells-for-hire. I miss Nigel...

Mark Charnock and Andy Devine are both doing a great job in this story about Shadrach's drinking. It's so hard to watch though. I do like the bond between Rhona and Marlon, I think they work very well together. Marlon's speech about how anyone else who ordered drinks before lunch would be a cause for concern, but no one cares if it's Shadrach, was a strong moment. So was that conversation between Laurel and Shadrach. The whole idea of Nicola buying the pub seems odd to me, and not something she would do. I wonder if this is actually going to happen.

I thought she was OK but again I thought they kind of went on too long and there was too much talking. Hollyoaks is an odd show in that I think some of their actors would be much better suited to silent films, like Amy. She has an expressive face, but with the "I don't currrr..." you get distracted.

She has her moments, but that's mostly when she is reacting to something, when they just show her face. The more dialogue she gets or the more the scene is about her, the worse she is. She's also very inconsistent.

Please stop with the Valentine girls and their "acting." Where is Leo anyway? Gemma Merna is the only one carrying these scenes. And Sasha is such a cold, judgmental person who rarely has time for anyone else's grief. Ugh. Gilly and Steph don't have a lot of passionate chemistry (although they have never really had that with much of anyone), but I like them together, they seem sweet. I like how he guilted Rhys into helping Steph out. Rhys needs another storyline now that his family is almost gone. At least Myra is finally being brought into Theresa's pregnancy plot. Give her something to do! Around a year ago today: http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/scoop/a165536/gossip-from-the-hollyoaks-press-day-2009.html

I didn't see most of the story with Mitch and Rachel but I can see where they might not have worked well together. I think Dano and Espy worked well together, at least for me, because he was so low-key and she was bouncing off the walls. I also thought they had a quiet humor and a quiet sex appeal.

Someone at DS said they should kill Bianca and have Carol raise the kids, but I know that's not very likely. I would recast David Wicks or bring in another old love of Carol's, never seen before, possibly from before she met David. They have already had this type of story with Jack, and of course with Jim, but having a story where Carol has some kind of debilitating illness which causes her to have to give up some control might also be interesting, as Carol has always tried to have control over as much as she can. They could do a story like Susan's MS on Neighbours. They could have something about her career, some kind of dream she never got to fulfill. If it gets Billie off the screen then a story where he is killed might not be too bad either. Perhaps this could inspire her to run for office. Carol's such a strong character it's difficult to figure out where to go with her. I just hope they will use her while they have a chance.

Um...is the same actor still playing Trevor? I'm pretty sure it's him, but he not only looks very different, he also speaks differently, slower, and he doesn't have as much of the put-on dialect. He looks thinner. He kind of reminds me of a more weathered Aiden Turner (ex-AMC, not Being Human). Given the description and background of the character I'm surprised he would get so spiffed up or let Carla do that to him (if it was her idea). Maybe the actor did this himself, I don't know. I would wonder if they are doing this to somehow make him more respectable and move him into bigger stories, but since the actor was fired a few months ago, I guess not.

I keep forgetting Carol is still on the show! Do you? The stuff at the Fox house was slightly empty, but there were some good moments, mainly with Chelsea/Lucas and the bracelet, and then when Libby was shouting at Adam. Poor Liz, sad for her when Libby turned against her. I was so horrified that Lucas was thanking God for his wife possibly being sent down... The Phil/Glenda stuff is a bit cheap. Diane Parish was excellent in all her scenes with the detective.

Thanks. I guess this will be something about child abuse, which will be a topic Emmerdale hasn't covered in a while. I'm glad they are going to reveal this sooner rather than later because I think if it becomes too much of a mystery people will focus on that and not on the actual problem. "Slow-bedding" is an understatement for the slow pace with the Sharma brothers. It has been a year or more. I give them both credit for not already planning to leave, because Chris Bisson was in quite a lot before this and he's a very good actor, and Rik was in Torchwood Children of Earth not long before Emmerdale. I really hope they will stay on the show and the show will start writing more for them.

I can't believe he's living with Janine again, even if Pat encouraged it. The Ryan character is a big mess, and poor Charlie Brooks, what can you say.

Most of the reaction at DS ended up being about how awful Colleen Nolan is and how this will be all about her. I only saw her on the ice skating show, where she was increasingly annoying...I guess it helps that I don't really watch Loose Women very often. I wonder if any version of The View is not annoying. Ben, both Natasha and Mark came from poverty or barely above it so that might be why they don't seem to be from wealth. But Maisie has quit the show and Natasha probably is too so you won't have to see them too much longer.

I didn't see a big difference either, but this was the first time in years I've kind of liked Cheryl, so...that's something? The racism stuff interests me when the McQueens are involved (although I'm not sure Jacqui would get all that upset on behalf of Ravi) but I'm not that involved when it's about the Roys. Ravi's acting, especially when he said he wanted to get his hands on Gaz, cracked me up. The scenes with Jacqui trying to keep things under control with her family do compel me though. The stuff about Gaz and the gun not so much although the woman who plays the detective is really good. Four years in and the acting from Sasha is still shocking.

Looks like rarely seen Hannah Barton is getting a boyfriend. He will be played by Shane Richie's son (cue - they're stealing from Eastenders, etc.). http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s12/emmerdale/news/a238455/shane-richies-son-cast-in-emmerdale.html I hope that actress has had some voice lessons in her time away.

Jonathan Harvey likes to have some of the show's past. While his episodes might be too campy, they are also light-hearted with some roots to the show's history. Rita and Tina work well together, as did the reminder that Rita has taken in young female strays over the years to try to encourage them. The mention of Jenny makes me hope she might come back someday. Tina has become such a shell of a person, existing only to be passed around by men, but she still comes to life around Rita these days. Ben Price was hilariously horrible in that scene where Nick yelled at Kirk. This man is just a car crash in some scenes. This stuff with Lloyd and this woman Cheryl is dire. What a lovely romance...they have matching bruises. What fun, let's just have a random scene where Lloyd gets his face bashed in. And this woman apparently has no ability or ambition to get out of such a terrible, abusive life until Lloyd meets her. Corrie used to be the show about strong women. The best part was Natasha singing one of my favorite Dusty Springfield songs, which I rarely hear anywhere.

Julia's Theme fans -- apparently Kris Green has said that you will be hearing this again when

I don't see Cain as a one-note villain as much as I see him as just kind of being shady to move the plot along. I think Jeff Hordley does a good job with this and I find it entertaining but a lot of fans seem to have had enough. I think there's more they can do with the character. I love the idea of Faye or Ryan suing for custody of Will. This could also cause friction between Faye and Ryan, if Ryan thinks Faye is somehow trying to live in the past by getting Will, or that she feels Ryan wasn't a good enough son. I don't know what they'll do with Home Farm. They haven't had any longstanding family since the Tates. I don't think the Kings ever fit in well -- Carl and Jimmy are both much better off as being middle class and average guys instead of the suits and ties. If Declan stays around then I think they could bring Declan and some of his family and have them live in the place. I wish they could have Declan related to the Verneys. Whatever they do I'm not sure if they should bring in an all-new rich family, I think that might annoy viewers as they have brought in so many over the past ten years. About ten years ago they had a story where a lottery winner bought Home Farm (Eric was her financial advisor and tried his best to fleece her dry). So they could do that with the Dingles. I could see Cain and Charity living there (Charity lived there for several years anyway), and Cain might end up trying to destroy the place inside out, since he probably resents it. Or the Sharmas could move in.

I know Y&R had stuff and I'm sure other soaps did too (earlier today I watched a fab OLTL episode from July 4 1992, although it didn't actually go that much into the holiday) but GL did seem to make an extra effort. The barbecue and the corny jokes and the drama and the pride in the day. There were so many special moments. One of the last I really loved was when Meta read the Declaration of Independence. For me in those earlier years I always looked forward to the Bauer barbecue on GL and on ATWT, the Memorial Day barbecue at the Hughes house.

I know I shouldn't but I still feel sorry for Nathan most of the time, especially his pain at the way Maisie is treating him. Cain is still acting too much like a mustache-twirler but the threat he poses to the Wyldes is believable. I know some are saying just frame Cain for the crime but that would take a lot of work and Natasha seems too distracted to pull it off. It was nice to get to see Ryan with Maisie and Will. They need to integrate this family in some way, especially with the upcoming departures. The stuff with Leyla and David and the furniture was filled but I loved when Val asked where to stick the table and Layla ate a strawberry so she couldn't answer. The actress is good at that type of comedy. Why is David worried about Declan? Is it because Declan knows about the woman who dropped her robe for David to try to entrap him? Layla still doesn't know about that? The stuff with Shadrach in this episode was so harrowing to watch, the type of detailing of the reasons for and heavy dependency on alcohol which you don't see very often on soaps. Andy Devine was breaking my heart.

Happy 4th Guiding Light. No one made my 4th the way GL could...

Can't wait to hear your comments. The Sharpes -- I think the mother and the son are pretty decent. The daughter is mediocre/poor so far and the father has barely been seen.

I think the mother is supposed to be Ann Cunningham (?), a girl Ken dated in the show's early episodes. They were in college together and wanted to ban the bomb and such. The problem I have with this is that they are only going to be in a limited amount of episodes, so how much time before it becomes all about this ugly bile over homophobia? A few weeks? A month, between Ken knowing them and this blowing up? If they wanted to tell this story why couldn't they cast actors who were going to be able to stay around? It's nice that Ken will have a gay grandson but if this grandson is forgotten as soon as the few months (if even that long) are up, then what was the point? Do they not want to have another gay character on the show so this is a way to have people yell about homophobia for a short time then it's done? I'm sure someone will say, "We don't need more gay characters anyway, there's Sian and Sophie" but they've been invisible for months. And then there's Sean, who is just taking up space. I would they have rather not even brought this up if it was only going to be for a short time because it's more like a very special episode of an old drama from years ago, not something which is actually being addressed. I keep wondering what the happy spoilers are going to be for the fall or Christmas periods. Perhaps Rita will euthanize Emily...

I guess this might be an interesting story, but shouldn't this be something done with characters who will actually stay around? Ken will not only never see this son again, he likely won't ever see the grandson again, who is the one he is supposed to be defending. And will they at least have Ken want to become closer to the son he barely ever mentions, Daniel? Otherwise, even by Ken Barlow misery standards, this is one hell of a devastating anniversary storyline -- he gains and loses a son and grandson due to ugly homophobic invective? I also have to ask, does this mean they are going to bring other gay characters and stories onto the Street on a permanent basis, besides Sean, who is such a poorly developed/acted character that they have to keep most of his stories offcamera (have you ever seen a story where a search for a child takes place entirely offcamera and the only moments spent oncamera are saying, "I need to check Facebook")? Surely they could bring in someone new or bring back Todd Grimshaw, instead of just having a short term character pop up long enough to remind us that some gay people have parents who despise them? Honestly, while I do think it will be well acted (Linus Roache is a very good actor), on paper, this sounds like something out of 1975 or something. A lot of these stories sound like a parody of a very obsessive "issues" activist who suddenly gets power over a television show. I am surprised we haven't heard about a storyline where factory conditions over the years cause Janice to get cancer and die within six months.