DRW50

Sorry, it had been when I looked earlier today, on their departures list. Maybe they put it back now, I haven't checked again.

All the worst cliches of early 90s videos, but the song itself, if a bland cover, is kind of catchy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8bqHfrNv34&feature=related

Yeah that was a pretty fantastic stunt, yet didn't seem like a stunt, if you know what I mean.

That's nice to know. I know some Eastenders fans insist actors from other soaps are insecure and lash out at Eastenders and so on -- at least Lyndon doesn't. I think people might be overhyping this fire a bit, but then I might still be thinking of the Dog in the Pond fire, which was one of the best soap disasters ever and nothing can ever really compare to that for me. I guess you've already heard this, but I know I've criticized Kirkwood's last year at Hollyoaks and am not entirely sure about where Eastenders will go after the past few years, but I must say so far Kirkwood has been doing a very good job. We don't know about all his future plans, but most of the casting changes he's been involved with have made sense, most of the stories are improving or at least seem more balanced, so does the pacing and the community feel, and the future stories that we've heard about, while some don't do a lot for me, there are some potentially great things and nothing horrendous. I think I took for granted some of what Kirkwood, and Paul Marquess at Hollyoaks, were doing, until I started reading horrifying storyline after storyline after storyline for Corrie over the past month.

Wrong thread to reply in but that's been taken off Wikipedia.

Team Angelique.

Well, look at me, being a hypocrite in only a few days, and posting again. I guess I can't help saying something after learning one of my favorite characters, Ashley, is leaving with Claire and family not in a positive story which might have been fun for a character who has had a terrible life, but instead in an extremely depressing storyline involving accusations of child abuse. What does it say when even the writeup says "there's no going back." Why not just rename Corrie "Open a Vein Street"? Every story I have heard about over the coming year involves horrific trauma. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s3/coronation-street/news/a237299/corries-peacocks-in-child-abuse-plot.html And didn't Eastenders do this story only like five years ago with Little Mo, her baby, and Ben Mitchell?

Morgan would have been great. This was before he was on AW, right?

I can't take the woe-is-Anita stuff. It's not that I don't feel sorry for her because I do but the actress has a whiny voice and the facial expressions are also kind of melodramatic. I thought Des was going to go at Ravi with a baseball bat or something -- the smoke bomb wasn't up to much. And doesn't Relish have a back entrance?? At least Zak did the right thing. It's sad seeing him, and Michaela, these days. I don't feel sorry for Gaz, not really, although I think there's still some mileage left in the character and the actor is underrated. I guess it would be ironic if he left in the unintentional frameup over the gun (and seeing that gun end up with Gaz and the stuff with the police going to them because Zak thought Anita was being targeted was all very interesting, but did they say how the police or Zak knew where Anita was?). But I just whenever Sasha, who endlessly worshiped the unhinged Warren, tries to talk about Gaz. The scene with Steph telling Tom about her cancer was good, and so was Jack's reaction, and Jack trying to get Steph to know what to do.

I agree with you that Diane Parish probably won't get any real praise or notice for her work as Denise, which is too bad. I think people just say well she's always good, and shrug it off, or they only see Denise as being a shouty caricature. She's done an amazing job these past few months, once the story began focusing on her. I think the strongest scenes in the episode were the ones where she suddenly started throwing the booze out and telling Libby they had to support Lucas and his beliefs. When Libby disagreed, Denise just froze her out. Denise has made her entire world about Lucas and has nothing left of herself. There is so much material here to explore if they keep her around. She doesn't need her family. Was the woman at the church yesterday supposed to be the same character Denise and Bianca tangled with back around January, the one Bianca sent on a wild goose chase? Didn't Owen tell Liz that he thought Lucas had killed Trina? Does she only blame Denise? I liked that they had Ronnie react to Owen's death. Those little things mean a lot to a story and a community. Jordan really just can't act. I don't care about the teens and I think that a supporting role is likely the most bearable Zsa Zsa would be but I did like that they had Leon talk about his mother's death. That type of thing should have been done many months ago if they wanted viewers to care about him. Peggy truly is desperate to use little Amy for such a lie. I hope she is exposed soon. The stuff with Pat and Ryan was good, I'm happy they are involving her more in Janine's life, and yeah, Ryan looked very good today. Speaking of bare chests,

That's true about the difference in soap acting back then. I didn't know Thayer David's wife was on a soap. Do you think Alan Feinstein would have been better off staying on the show?

I never have seen the resemblance between Erin and Bree.

So they'll own the pub or will it still be owned by Mitchells? One of the longtime fans talked about how the Vic used to be a place of life and vitality during the years Sharon was in charge and when Chrissie Watts was in charge, and how that has faded over time. They weren't sure of Alfie being back because they were afraid he would also be a humdrum presence. I do think there's potential for a lively atmosphere with Kat there. She seems like she wouldn't put up with nonsense and she can't just say "Get ourra ma pub" either. That thing is evil. Here is a shot of Jessie Wallace as Pat Phoenix: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s3/coronation-street/scoop/a236522/location-pics-bbc-fours-corrie-drama.html

The 70s episodes are some good stuff -- I especially like anything with Annie telling someone off, and then the story around Sharon Crosstwaite. Jack also fascinates me, he has such a vitality along with his bitterness, and he has a good sense of humor.

Oh I forgot to say that they seemed to get in some stuff you wouldn't really expect, even for Hollyoaks. I was laughing and laughing at Dave getting away with the line about how if Duncan said the right thing he could see "Cheryl and the Chocolate Factory."

I was hoping to hear what you have to say because I really enjoy your posts but we're in the same boat. If the last few episodes are any indication then I would probably just annoy the hell out of people with a page of rants. Aside from Mary there's just nothing to enjoy right now and what I don't enjoy is rapidly getting worse and worse and more one-dimensional, I hate the damn propping in some other stories and I hate watching Graeme/Tina and I hate Nick popping up like the gremlin that he is. So I just can't take any more for right now.

Let me guess, the strain of it all will cause her to have a miscarriage. After last night's episode, which had endless scenes to show us the evils of David and Jason and endless scenes of pathetic Tina (who yet again seemed far more interested in her father than in Graeme) being cuddled by Graeme like she's some kind of sick dog, I have decided to just not even comment on the episodes for a while. Big loss there, I know...

The "comedy" scene with Cheryl and Duncan was more like agony. I still don't understand why Cheryl doing a bad drag act is funny, and the only thing I noticed about Duncan was he seemed much heavier than the last time I saw him. Making stupid faces isn't comedy genius. The funniest part of that was seeing Dave and Zak wind him up, and they're the two who are being written out.

I know a lot of people are probably sick of Cain always stirring the pot and being untouchable, but I loved that last scene where he tapped on Nathan's car window and that smirk came onto his face. That, Nikhil taking off his jacket to highlight his nice pecs and arms in that blue shirt, and Chas's joke about Shadrach and the grapes ("I'm surprised you recognize them when they're not fermented") were real highlights.

The soap magazines today have a very strong contempt for the intelligence of the people who read them. The only thing which sort of comes close to the old interview style is the interviews on sites like WLS, even if they can veer into "How did your inner child feel about the time Angelina accidentally sat on her cat."

Eamonn could have been a tremendous actor on a soap (Oz was basically a soap and his theatrical gorgeousness helped power that show for years), although I'm glad Tim got that role. Too bad he wasn't cast in another role. I didn't even know he ever tried out for soaps. Anyone else think Bree would have been a better Jen than she is as Jessica? She's OK as Jessica but I think that she would have fit Jen better, the main problem with Jen for years was a dull actress. I think she also would have worked well as mother/daughter with Cat Hickland. Audrey and Sarah both would have been decent Tinas, not fantastic, but decent. I'd like to have seen Audrey in a bitchier and less vapid role; there was some stuff after Carlo died and Charlotte kept lobbing verbal grenades at Alex in a very smirky Tina-esque manner.

Before I watched the episode I heard the usual chorus of gee isn't Zsa Zsa wonderful, how can she leave, then when I watched she barely had anything to do, other than scream. She could fit in a Doctor Who episode I guess. I'm not entirely sure that Fatboy's actions were in character for him but I agree that it was a good catalyst for other stories. I've heard some say that Mercy "whines", but I thought they did a decent job of showing how hurt she was. He really did humiliate her. I was actually very happy to see a teenager on the show be furious with the endless variations on, "Let's go to a party and spike the drinks and act like morons." Diane Parish's work in this episode got to me on a level I have rarely felt with this show, especially not in recent years, where even the most harrowing scenes tend to have some sort of glass wall over them. There were so many just heartbreaking moments, and sad little things almost funny, like her reaction when Fatboy kissed her, but her face after Lucas forced himself onto her was just so hard to watch. I wonder if they will get any complaints. For me the scenes were critical in showing just how truly dangerous Lucas is and how beaten down Denise has become. A story where he grinds his family into the dust is where this should have been all along, as it's really come alive over the past month or two. He had no idea of what he had done to Denise or that she had any existence beyond some fantasy wife. I have started to like Liz (now that she's leaving, sadly) but the back and forth between she and Patrick confuses the hell out of me. I loved the sense of community in the episode, like everyone reacting to Zsa Zsa's screams, or earlier, when Ryan was sitting in the Vic and giving Peggy advice, or when Denise and Shirley were talking about the men in their lives. Is that the first real scene she's had with Shirley in ages? I also liked some of the layering of the characters, like having Shirley and Peggy ridicule Glenda, yet take up for her when that idiot said she was too old (I wonder if that stuff is still written with the original actress in mind, as Glynis Barber looks almost the same age as R&R, even though I know she isn't). The scenes with Peggy and Glenda where they snipe and smirk and sneer and then it starts to get truly nasty, they're addictive. I wish they had kept this up from the time Glenda first appeared in January. Anyway, overall I thought this was the strongest episode in a long long long time.

That's a neat story. I had forgotten soaps didn't always use fake food. Was she on this show after Flying Nun?

Thanks so much for all these interviews. I never knew they did an in-joke on RH about the Marilyn TV-movie. The interview with Michael Levin, he really gives an insight into the life of an actor, especially one who is humbled by circumstance. Is it me or did soap magazine interviews seem much more in-depth in this period. He means Robert Blake, who was in Our Gang, then some other stuff, and his career was a huge non-starter up until In Cold Blood and later Baretta.

I had the same reaction but apparently Dood was just a childhood nickname she carried on with. Kate always seemed older than her age onscreen. I guess the voice helped. She seems very conflicted and tortured in that interview -- and not too long after that is when she got pregnant and gave the child up for adoption. The interview with Justin Deas fascinates me, partially because of what was to come -- knowing he met another wife through their acting work together, and then all that about a happy marriage and so many divorces today, I wonder if they would look back at that and kind of wince a bit. I didn't know his wife played on the show, or his daughter. If RH had tried to write for Bucky I wonder if Justin would have stayed. Roger never really did go back to the heel he was in the show's first few years. Instead he just kind of became a judgmental scold/shoulder to lean on who sometimes told a joke. Interesting to see him say he might leave in five years. I guess he realized there wasn't a lot else out there. I love the interview with Helen Gallagher. She really does seem different from Maeve, which we've heard before. Sam Crowell was one of the many spoilers for Jack/Mary who went nowhere. He <gasp> was a dope dealer! I don't even remember if he had an exit.