DRW50

It was laughable. A beautiful night and then as soon as it's time for Zainab to be thrown out, suddenly you see what looks like a weak garden hose spraying on her. Why not just throw her out, why have the rain? Syed's constant teary eyes are enough waterworks aren't they? I swear he has the same look on his face in every scene.

Lindsey McKeon Marah made me sleepy, although she had her moments. The clip was Lindsey. LBB was a bit too perky but I thought she was closer to what her parents would be.

I was watching one of the late 2001 GL episodes for the first time in ages and I was reminded again of how good their younger male lineup was at this time. The problem was their young women. Tony and Ben both had such strong sexual chemistry...but with each other more than with dull Catalina or Marah. The same was true for Sam when he was around. I also liked Romeo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9RVjsQyez4&playnext_from=TL&videos=Cbx3xW0Jv2Y

The Pat/Peggy story IS ridiculous. It's almost insulting, especially to Pat, who used to have some sort of brain. This story has filler all over it. Speaking of filler, poor Perry Fenwick. I guess he's still lucky to have a job, but Billy can do so much better than this. And is Jay stuck in the Phantom Zone so he can't actually contribute to the money situation? I did like seeing Dot try to help him. I couldn't believe how tight Zsa Zsa's trousers were. I was shocked those got past the censors. Her accent seems to be all over the place, again. Tonight she sounded like Katharine Hepburn. "Peter..." The constant reminders that Christian and Syed are allowed to hurt anyone they want because "all they did was fall in love" still do nothing for me, and they make everyone who say them look stupid. Jane also seemed to have a very muted reaction to cleaning her brother's bloodied apartment. Was she as confused as I was about the only photo he had in the place being of himself when he was a child? The Masood stuff was very rushed but entertaining, beautifully acted. They feel like such real people, you almost feel like you're intruding. Those scenes where they sang to Kamil were beautiful. Then when he threw her out, I felt so awful for her. Beautiful performances. I did laugh when I saw the garden hose put over Zainab. Then of course Syed came back, bleh. I was hoping for more of a break from that cowardly character.

I think the McQueens are only at their strongest with good material, which they haven't had since 2007. I haven't seen enough of the show over the past few years to give a full opinion, but I do have to give a special shoutout to Teresa/Calvin, an idea which is lazy and horrific beyond the telling. And Clare being beaten by Sasha, of all people. And to Kirkwood for bringing in unbearable Spencer, and Allan keeping him on. Ugh.

It was early on in India's run (no pun intended) I think. I remember a lot of shock about it at Digital Spy. I think there's still a change for Hollyoaks to be reinvented, if Marquess knows what to do and if Channel 4 gives it a chance. It's not like they have a lot else.

They're students. Dave is leaving. He's a godson of the Ashworths. Charlotte is bisexual, she was an ex-girlfriend of psychotic Lydia, who accidentally killed Sarah. India is a student who was cast in some big casting call last year. She's been involved with Josh, and then Rhys, which helped drive Josh further to the bottle and further away from a hairdresser. She may be most remembered for wonderful scenes where she sh!t herself.

Good ideas, badboy93. This must be another Lucy Allan idea? India is getting a 20 year old sister, Texas Longford. That sounds like a porn star name. http://www.e4.com/blog/hollyoaks/post/afm27ab6urzvnggf90qbzu/view.e4

This isn't a big spoiler, but several papers have apparently said that

Barnabas and Willie together again I almost wish they'd just have Barbara Steele play Julia. She was very good in the primetime version, and while I love Grayson Hall, she's obviously not going to be able to do the voice here.

That's great to hear! I know David Selby and Lara Parker have done some of those.

The ratings are down to under 800,000 now. I wonder if the show will even be on by this time next year. I know they have had a bad patch but still I didn't think that so many would flee the show

I think they'll get married but it will be something smaller and cheaper. They both deserve some luck with marriages. He was married to an ice queen and she was married to the Valeyard. I know some fans say Jimmy was much better with Kelly Windsor, but that character got on my nerves, she was too fake with the baby voices.

I missed some of Jai's early stuff, I know that some had issues with them initially, Nikhil being too stiff (not that way!), and their sister, who apparently must have been seen as a dead end and was quickly written out. The way they are now I think they work well, the whole candy factory thing is a bit silly but it's harmless, and I like seeing Jai and Faye. I wish they'd do a bit more with that relationship. The guy who plays Jai is a good actor, he did well on Shameless and way back when as Steve's best friend Vikram on Coronation Street, a friendship that ended so horribly. Surely they must have something else to do for Faye and Ryan. I wouldn't mind seeing Nathan/Faye or Natasha/Ryan. I think that's the type of seedy thing that would give this story a kick and stop it being so genteel, as Maisie/Ryan helped give the story a kick. I don't know if Eve is going to get together with Ryan or if that was dropped. Blyth said Ryan would have a dark side but that seems to be by the wayside. Back when Mark was murdered I had assumed the body would be found and Ryan would go on trial, as he had a big fight with Mark that various people saw, not long before Mark "disappeared", but now I'm not sure. Lizzie is not a very memorable character, yet when they do show more of her, she can be grating. It's hard to find a balance. I'm not sure where they were going with her, or still are. At one time didn't they imply she and Marlon were going to get together? Poor Lizzie, those flying arms would pulverize her. Yes, I forgot that Debbie and Maisie argued some when Maisie was with Andy. Maisie seemed more interested in winding Debbie up than she was in Andy. I wish the show hadn't dropped everything with Cain and the Wyldes once Charity returned. Cain and Faye were becoming close and Cain and Natasha hated each other, so did Cain and Mark. Then they stopped all that, very abruptly. I think there's still some drama to be mind there.

This explains why Sally has been offcamera for months. How brave of Sally Whittaker. She learned she had breast cancer around the same time she was to be filming scenes where Sally Webster learned the same. At least she seems to be recovering, so I wish her the best http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/showbiz/801503/Coronation-Streets-Sally-Whittaker-in-real-cancer-agony.html

They haven't had any real purpose for Eli in years and years, I would say never, so I was surprised he got a nice exit. The closeups of his sad little face as he left Emmerdale for good, and that beautifully written scene where he told Marlon that like when they were separated as kids, he would always stay in Marlon's head. I do wish they'd do more with the jealousy David feels towards Sam. There's a lot they can do with the David/Eric relationship. Maisie and Debbie are so different, they'd be great as rivals. They'd probably be good as lovers too, although I can't see that happening. Those scenes where Adam was gawping at Eve were hilarious. I don't know what Moira was thinking, letting Eve work on the farm when John and Adam are likely to be tempted by her. Did they say that John once cheated on Moira? I read that somewhere. The dinner party scene with Jai, Nikhil, Maisie, Faye, Declan, was good. I wish it had gone on longer and we'd seen more of their reactions. I love Jai and Nikhil. They're so believable as brothers and they are always joking and laughing, yet not in a bad sitcom way. The stuff with Diane and Rodney's friend and Douglas just seems like filler. I guess they've forgotten Victoria and Aaron are friends...

Thanks. I did enjoy those scenes where Dot was, bizarrely, referring to herself as "Dot Cotton" and getting worked up over that two-timer Peggy and Pat are dating. June Brown is great at comedy and it's nice to see Dot doing something besides crying or reading Scripture. I was watching some of the older scenes, with the Ferrieras, and I wish they'd kept Kareena (?) around, I think they could have done something with her. Young women have been the show's weak spot for years now. They struck gold with Stacey but other than that it's generally been one disappointment after another. I guess the same is also true for young men, generally. That's why they're going to have a struggle as the older cast members leave.

I can understand it too but I'm afraid it will come across as, "They're so mean to the poor gay men who just wanted to fall in love!" That's where the story seems to be headed at the moment. This is the first Asian family who have ever been popular on the show, and given how difficult it is for any show to build up characters who are not white, this is something which should not be taken for granted. On another topic, I know this happens with all shows, but a few of the scenes that were cut, if anyone wanted to know about them. These scenes were cut, right?

They seem to have given up on this for whatever reason. There were a ton of interesting female characters last yet they didn't do anything with, like Poppy, Minnie, Amber.

The problem I had with this rant was that it wasn't long ago Lucy was happily smirking and blackmailing over this relationship. Lucy doesn't care about anyone but herself, so having her as some moral voice seems a bit questionable. Then there's Jane, who makes herself look like a hypocrite for saying that all Christian did was fall in love. This is the woman who refused to speak for Christian for many years after he fell in love with her husband. I am increasingly wary of where this story is going. It's as if someone belatedly realized just how horribly Christian and Syed have come across, so they are trashing Zainab and Masood in order to try to even the scales. It's a good way to make fans turn against characters for good. They aren't like Phil, who can do whatever he wants and will always have a lot of fans. I think that Zainab is probably behaving in character, but they're really stretching with Masood. Christian is supposedly beaten badly, yet he can walk outside and then walk back up the stairs to his apartment? And why didn't he just walk over to the chip shop or stagger to a neighbor's house? I don't know a lot about Shirley's history so I didn't know about this son of hers but those scenes were good, this must be the first time in forever Shirley didn't have to focus on Heather or Phil. I don't know why Ronnie puts up with Roxy. "I'm doing this for my daughter." The same daughter who apparently raises herself.

I don't know if anyone cares enough about Ryan these days to be inflamed one way or the other. At one time there were threads claiming he was one of the worst actors on soaps, along with some of the others in the Wylde/Lamb story, but that seems to have died down too. Right now I think people just either don't pay a lot of attention to him or like him quietly. He definitely should have had more material than what he's had, especially with the hype from Blyth when Sutton was hired. Part of it is down to Katie, who is just not interesting in any heroine or romantic situations. And part of it is that most of his time is spent waiting and waiting. He spent months waiting to learn Mark was his father. Then Mark was almost immediately killed. Now he's waiting to learn Mark is dead! It doesn't help that Faye also seems lost as a character. Blyth promised a "dark side" to Ryan not long after Ryan showed up but that never happened. I almost wonder if that went to Nathan instead. The problem is that James Sutton really needs very strong material. You can often tell that he's acting, and his voice isn't right for big dramatic moments; he's better at quieter stuff. After his first year as JP, that started cropping up and has never gone away. He does have a certain charm, which unfortunately isn't used very often. Whenever I see interviews from him he has a lot of charm and humor. Sadly the only time this has been used on Emmerdale is with Maisie. It's sort of a slippery slope when you play a popular gay character because you are adored by many, yet hated by others. There was eventually a noisy backlash at DS against McDean, real love/hate, as there is now with "Chryed". And then when you go to your next role, there's bound to be disappointment. A number of McDean fans immediately swore off Emmerdale before he showed up because they knew it wasn't going to be the same type of material as he had at HO. I guess I can see their point. One of the things with Emmerdale now is that with some exceptions, most characters cycle in and out of stories, they will generally just go about their business and then have huge drama for a few months, before going back to their business. That's also true for Ryan. Ironically, I think he works very well in this semi-supporting role, in part because he's having fun and being cheeky and not shackled with dreary Katie. But I do hope he gets some good stuff soon. If it were me I would reveal that Maisie was switch at birth with Mark's and Natasha's biological daughter, and have Ryan and Maisie get together. Their chemistry was off the charts good. Sorry, don't know how that got so long...

At one time the cast was probably close to half over 65 but I don't think that's as true these days. The show does have old demos though, which sadly seems to be seen as a bane, although not as much as in the US I guess. James was wonderful on Hollyoaks for most of his first year. After that they sort of gave up on writing for him, and James didn't seem as interested. At his best JP was a much better character than Ryan, but James has had his moments on Emmerdale. He works best with onscreen sister Maisie. If you ever want a starting point, these clips start from May 2009, not long before Ryan showed up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd0bVGUOCvs I don't know if the earlier stuff, like Maisie's relationship with Andy, is online.

Nicola never knew either of her siblings until about 5-9 years ago. She grew up as an only child. When she and Bernice met 9 years ago, they were initially somewhat close, but this was spoiled as Bernice had had an affair with Nicola's boyfriend, Carlos, and was marrying Ashley while possibly pregnant with Carlos's child (Ashley turned out to be the father). Nicola was insecure about Carlos's love for her so she faked a pregnancy. Bernice learned the truth and told Carlos. Meanwhile, Nicola had just learned the truth about them and went into the church and busted Bernice to everyone involved. They were never on good terms after this. In 2004 Val's son Paul showed up and he and Nicola hit it off immediately. She was thrilled when Val confessed that Paul was Rodney's son -- her half-brother. This went to pieces a few years later when Nicola began chasing Paul's boyfriend, Ivan. Ivan wasn't interested, but some in the village thought they were involved, and Nicola lied that Ivan had made advances at her. When Paul learned the truth he was furious with Nicola and they fell out very badly. Later on they became closer but were never as tight as they were before that. I don't think we'll see either of them on the show ever again, although I'd like to see Paul again, just to be a contrast to Adam. Bernice would be nice to see again too, she was a very popular character, but that actress has never seemed interested in a return, beyond a few days to visit Diane after the Woolpack was heavily damaged in a storm and Tricia Dingle died.

What the hell was that with those Christian beating scenes? - Why was John Partridge so campy in those flailing about scenes after the attack? - I know there are probably internal injuries, but why is it that Amira's very dangerous and evil father and his goons gave Christian FAR LESS of a beating than some random psycho he picked up last year? - What does it say about Christian that we have to count how many times in less than a year he has been roughed up? - What was the big horror in Masood's actions? When I read some of the anger I had assumed he'd walked in on Christian being beaten and didn't help. Actually, Christian was on a public street, right outside his family's chip shop. They should be able to easily hear him. - Is Christian such an unlikeable character that he has to be battered to generate pity, and Masood has to be trashed to prop him up? The only interesting thing in any of that was seeing Jane get to have fun instead of weeping over babies. I skipped all the teens and most of the Ben stuff. It makes me uncomfortable, not helped when I go to some of the boards like DS and see so many comments laughing at Ben's behavior. This story is supposed to be about a self-loathing, damaged young man, but the show so often treats Ben as a punch line that a lot of people still seem to see this as comedy. My grandmother once had a couch just like Peggy's jacket. Roxy likes Hello Kitty. +1 to her. Now, why is it that she is written as a victim because she has disowned her sister, and might I add, disowned her because she was raped for years by their father?