DRW50

Thanks for all this info. I never knew Agnes came back to the show. I still wonder what could have been if they'd given the show a little more time, the cast and the stories were finally gelling. Was Hannah the Rebecca Gayheart character? Sad to hear about Roya Megnot. Why do you think Doug Marland left the show? What part of the show was his influence? The Donovans? Did you miss them when they were phased out?

I just thought she'd want to even the score with Warren even more than Clare, since Warren wanted to kill her as well as his child (if he knew she was pregnant). Plus she went completely crazy. I also wonder if they would have paid a visit to their old friend Mandy, and pay her back for the affair with Warren. Did you ever see the late night episode where they were supposed to go on holiday, then they ended up breaking down, they went to a trashy honky tonk bar, they broke into the wrong house and got arrested, then went to the right house and ran into Sean, the husband Louise had never mentioned. Someone was also hit in the head with a frying pan. This was with the first Clare, the one who was supposed to be nice. This is an interesting article about the show, although it seems kind of out of date, and Kirkwood isn't entirely accurate (Justin was at the center of stories for years and years before Kirkwood showed up). http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_an...icle6260211.ece

What I never understood about Louise is why she had so many different personalities. She was Darren's holiday girl up for a good time, she was obsessed with Ben, she was the evil college supervisor, she was madly in love with the husband she'd never mentioned (Sean), then she was supposed to have feelings for Warren, then she fell for Calvin, on and on. I probably most liked her with Sean. Calvin was the worst, as he broke her spirit, as he does to all his love interests. Then she just became Warren's moll, and her story became about Warren's pain, which is just zzzzzz. I think Roxanne was right not to return, although I would have loved seeing her team up with Clare to destroy Warren. I wonder if this is the end of Spencer. I can't imagine who he would live with. He just seems to be taking up space.

Roxanne McKee has said she was originally asked to return, and said no. I guess that makes sense, but I still prefer Clare returning. I just hope Clare doesn't die. Here's a promo for the big exit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmz8L04_uug...feature=channel Wouldn't be Warren/Justin without at least one shot where they look like they're going to make out. I hope they don't rebuild the Loft, I think that place has had its day, and they can use the money to make other new sets. I don't even know who'd buy it anyway. Probably Neville Ashworth.

I lost some interest after the Becky/Steve wedding shambles, and all the time Michelle and Liz treated her like trash. Apparently Liz is gone for a while. I'm sorry Beverly Callard is having problems, but I don't care for Liz. I'd much rather see Steve's twin Andy return. The Maria/Tony story is too plot-driven for me. Quite a bit of the show is plot-driven. I think they do best when focusing on characterization. The work from everyone in the fallout of Colin's secrets being revealed was brilliant, especially Sue Cleaver (Eileen).

I thought 2008 was very uneven. I wouldn't say sucked, but some key stories (specifically, Niall's time in town, JP/Kieron, Craig's return and JP's exit) were very plot-driven and short-sighted. Kieron's death had barely any impact. Kieron could have served more use if he'd lived, especially since the show has struggled at bringing in solid new characters for the past few years. Craig and JP barely talked about their issues before they left, and it seemed more like reuniting them only because of what fans wanted, more than any passion from the writing. The McQueens only found out about Niall being Myra's son right before he died, and he became such a nutjob that the years of potential storylines to be spun about his place in the family were all squandered. Even Myra choosing which of her children should die had little payoff. This was all big moment after big moment with no real substance. The custody battle over Charlie was inexplicably dropped and Nancy spent most of the year in a bad storyline with Ravi, while Justin barely appeared, aside from a going nowhere relationship with Leila. Fletch and Sasha spent half a year getting addicted to heroin, then Fletch is suddenly written out, never to return, and Sasha starts vamping Warren. Why did Hannah have so little to do during 2008? A secret kept for almost a year about Mercedes sleeping with Tony and aborting his child -- used only for a short-lived vendetta story between Tony and Jacqui. They've wasted Jacqui for ages, it's always baby, baby, baby. Remember how fun and sexy she was early on, and her moments of vulnerability with her family? A secret kept for almost a year about Tina carrying Russ' child -- barely tapped into before Tina was killed off. Rhys -- barely a factor after Beth died, even though Andrew Moss proved he could carry major story. Sarah, flitting from point to point for most of the year. I still don't know what the point of the story with her and Elliott was, or Hannah and Elliott. Why did they bring Mandy back just for the affair with Warren which did nothing for her character? Was that the only exit they could come up with to get rid of Louise? Why did Carmel and Calvin become nothing more than this joyless couple with Calvin always judging her? Then they built up a story for Calvin and Valerie, but she left (for maternity leave, I guess) never to be mentioned again. The pacing was horrible last year, and I thought the only consistently good and relatively well-paced stories involved Steph's struggles and the money problems with Jack and Darren. I liked other stories, like Mercedes, Malachy and the HIV, but they were short term. Once the "big" stories ended, nothing was left, and most of the new characters brought in haven't picked up the slack. Kirkwood knew how to do big moments, but with nothing in between. Now people seem to have deserted the show because it was all short term stunt and long term emptiness.

I can't wait to see Clare again, but I hope she isn't going to be killed. I don't want this to be like that Mad May return on Eastenders, big hype and then a fizzle. It was her relationships with Louise, Max, and OB which fascinated me, not Justin or Warren, so I'd like to see her outlive them. What a great story if Clare outlives all her enemies (except OB). The show is very directionless now, although I don't think this is because of Kirkwood's departure, the show has been aimless for quite some time (I'd say since late 2007). Directionless isn't always bad, as there can be some moments of strength. I think Anita's bullying story is very well done, from what I've seen, and the core families are still there if HO ever wants to focus on them.

For many years I have had a memory in my head of Eden and Cruz on a boat - I think - and Eden talks about how she keeps seeing hands. I guess this was about a murder. What was that about?

Thanks for keeping this up, Huntress! I'm glad Roman seems to be getting a new story on AWZ. He's a great character. If he's away from Deniz (a mouthwatering specimen of man, but a horrible $%$ of a person), even better.

The story is better than my description, but, basically, Debbie and Jasmine first met a few years ago when Jasmine moved in with her uncle (her parents left her in boarding schools most of the time). Jasmine was shy and repressed. Debbie, who had grown up in foster care and then when she found her parents, they used her and abandoned her, was just happy to have a friend and relive the fun years she never got to have. Slowly they fell in love, but Debbie's unbalanced father, Cain, who was disgusted by the idea of Debbie being involved with another girl, seduced Jasmine. Jasmine got pregnant, but to get revenge on her father, Debbie persuaded Jasmine to have an abortion. They fell out, but a few years later repaired their friendship. They moved in together, and Jasmine started dating a crooked cop because she wanted to write an expose of the crime family he worked for. When he found out the truth, he tried to rape Jasmine. Debbie tracked them down and hit Shane over the head. A few minutes later, he came to and tried to attack Debbie, but a hysterical Jasmine beat him to death with a chair leg. With the help of Debbie's cousin Eli (who was in love with Debbie), they covered up their crime and threw Shane's body into the river. At this time Debbie and Jasmine began to fall in love again, sharing several kisses. Eventually the body was found and after Eli realized Debbie and Jasmine were a couple and he sold them out to the cops. They tried to run away, but the cops got Debbie. Jasmine hid out for a while, but eventually she turned herself in to spare Debbie. Debbie visited her in prison. She asked Debbie to move on with her life, and told Debbie how much she loved her; Debbie said the same. Then she gave Debbie her ring and said now they would always be together. Debbie's a fascinating character. She's at the center of the show at the moment, and they're bringing her parents back, which should be great drama.

Eastenders has become all about stunts. Months and months of dead space until the next stunt. Unfortunately those stunts have very little payoff, or peter out through confusing storytelling. Why was the aftermath of Danielle's death about Peggy and Phil? They're useless. Aside from a way to get headlines, was there any reason to have Tanya bury Max alive? Or for the hit and run involving Max? They have ruined the Brannings. Why did they keep Billy and write out Honey? Why did they keep Patrick and write out Yolande? Why do they keep pushing dreadful Jack Branning at people? Why did they bring Janine back? When you watch some of the 80s clips which are out there, the amount of strong characterization and the complexity of the drama and how they mix comedy (so many different types of comedy) in with drama is incredible. Now we get these big dour stories mixed in with Heather gawking at a yogurt lid.

I enjoy Emmerdale, at least what I see of it. I'm not a big Dingle fan but I don't think they're hillbilly caricatures. Debbie's a wonderful character, and Chastity is, when written properly, a fascinating character, a broken woman who desperately tries to be "good" even as she knows how hollow that idea is. I also respect that they try to give story to their older actors, sometimes just comedy, but it's better than most of the gloom on other soaps. The Debbie/Jasmine story was soap at its absolute best. And so was Matthew King's death.

RH was coasting on fumes for most of the 80s. A high note might have been around 1980. I think many soaps, even when they're very flawed, still have good qualities, so for this reason I'm glad RH still stayed around, and why part of me will always wish the show had had a few more years. Claire Labine dearly loved those characters and she'd barely had a chance to make her final return before the show was gone.

Nancy was so annoying back then. Very, very, very good casting news.

They always have great promos now. Remember the one where Max was run over? Those arms reminded me of the arms in that Doctor Who episode from a few years ago. Bad Wolf.

Sophie's desperate for attention from her family, but I don't think she ever really had any romantic relationships with men. Not yet. She's done several things to try to make her family notice her. Last year she sent herself threatening letters when Rosie was missing. After Kevin and Sally were near their breaking point, she admitted she'd written them herself. Tony did kill Liam. He paid a man to run Liam down because of Liam's relationship with Tony's fiancee, Carla. Tony didn't know Maria was pregnant, if he had I don't think he would have killed Liam. Tony kept trying to get Jed thrown out of his home, Jed refused, finally Jed had a stroke and when he was sent to the hospital, Tony took his home. Jed was found in the hospital by Emily Bishop, whom he knew from when they both lived on the Street in the 60s. He went to stay at her place. He was constantly harassing Tony, and then he saw Tony meeting with the man who had killed Liam. He began blackmailing Tony. Finally, on Christmas Eve, Tony snapped and strangled Jed with lingerie. This was in the knicker factory. He had to stuff his body in a hamper, as the workers were returning. They had their Christmas party and danced around the hamper, not knowing he was inside. The next morning, Tony was surprised to see Jed was still alive, and he paid him to leave town. If anyone wants to see some on-set diaries from the woman who plays Kirk's girlfriend Julie. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/a149493/ka...gh-day-one.html

Sally used to be extremely snooty, and put on airs. She doesn't seem to be quite as bad lately. I really like Sally and Kevin, they're a very believable couple, and they do drama as well as the funny stuff.

Kirkwood brought so much to the show, but the stories became so dark and some of the pacing was so off. I still wish they'd kept Kieron around. I think he had incredible potential outside of the relationship with John Paul, which always seemed too plot-driven. I think a large cast change is almost guaranteed, given the size of the cast and Kirkwood's exit. I just hope they get rid of the right characters. It's frustrating because I think some of their best actors play characters who are lost at sea, like Nancy. I don't think any of this "bisexual love triangle" has worked. Kris is better at comedy than romance. Or they could have paired Kris and Nancy and never involved Ravi. He could have gone with Russ. Or they could have written Ravi out and made his brother Ash bisexual. I think that would make a better story, since he's more straitlaced.

I keep forgetting Justin's on the show. I will never understand why they gave him almost nothing to do for all of 2008. A casting cull is on the horizon. 10 actors.

I can't believe OB's left a year ago. He came back to see Max die, but his real departure was last February. I feel like so much of the heart of the show left with OB and Max. Now they're left with all these undefined characters who go between bad and good too many times to mention, or characters they seem to have run out of stories for, like Steph. They could also do with not focusing so much on Calvin or Warren. This Christmas 2004 clip of Craig, Steph, and Debbie (the forgotten Dean) is funny. Also very weird, since Steph and Craig have changed so much since then. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCoWlg3SFb4

Original cast member Wendy Richards, who played Pauline Fowler for over 20 years, has passed away. Don't let those bad later episodes (or any of the bad later years of EE in general) make up too much of your mind. Pauline was a great character in her prime.

A deal has been reached with Amazon On Demand. 200 episodes, set between Christmas 2007 and July 2008, which be available by the end of the month at 50 cents an episode. 20 more episodes will be added per month. If they do well enough then they may eventually have older episodes available.

ITV may be working on making Corrie available in America. They say maybe even the show's entire archive. That would be amazing.

I admired the original Dark Shadows team for getting what they did on such a small budget (some of those sets in the time travel stories are beautiful, as are the costumes), but you could definitely see the squeeze. I think the 1795 story was better in the primetime version (with the big exception of Angelique, who is nothing without Lara Parker), one reason being that they kept going back between 1795 and present-day, and because there was less filler. For the time travel stories my favorite was 1840 (so many fascinating characters and over the top stories), then 1897. I wish Barbara Steele had done more TV work after the primetime DS. No one can replace my love for uber-camp Grayson Hall, Woman of A Thousand Faces, but Barbara was excellent as Julia and absolutely brilliant as Natalie du Pres. I remember. This was a very brave storytelling attempt, and mostly they pulled it off. Gerard was extremely menacing and the way he tormented Julia was gripping. I also liked seeing the old Mrs. Johnson in her last days, even if she blinked after she was supposed to be dead. The followup story in 1970 wasn't as good, but had some very strong scenes, like the one where Julia and Barnabas realize Quentin has gone mad.

Hard times have hit the cast and crew. Bill Roache, the only original cast member left, unexpectedly lost his wife Sara, who was also very close to most of the people on set. Kym Marsh, who plays Michelle Connor, had to deliver a premature son at 18 weeks. He died soon after birth. One of the show's mixers has also died. They've shut the set down for the first time since 1999, when longtime cast member Bryan Moasley died. Scripts have to be rewritten because Bill and Kym are both in major storylines at the moment. Meanwhile, ITV is so bad off financially that they may have to sell Coronation Street to another production company. Some rumors even say an American production company, which, if the American soaps are any indication, should make the older cast feel very nervous.