DRW50

I always wonder if the Hastings/Denniston relationship ever got tongues wagging as the '70s articles about Don always give the happy home life impression. I've never seen Karen - I wish I could (again mostly just to see Nancy's reaction to her). You probably already know this but the 79/80 ATWT clips on Youtube do start the building of Dee's relationship with her ex. (Ian?) It makes sense that such a terrible experience would make Dee vulnerable to John's manipulations, but it all feels very crass, as Dobson material from ATWT tends to feel. The Holloways were just a bust (and making Miranda into such a blatant Iris replacement did her no favors, since, as you said, the show had moved on from that type of palate). Of the family, Hobart's character was probably the best for me, as her little story of falling in love with do-gooder Jerry in spite of herself could be touching at times, but even that wasn't really worth the time. I most remember that era because they had 2 or 3 men tooling around the family at the same time who all looked and talked alike. Baffling.

I think without the accent and the pointless daughter and drug stuff Princi could have fit into ATWT well. If they were "going there" with Bob I think it would have made more sense pairing him with Ariel (if Nancy had been around imagine her reaction to Ariel!). Was Karen the boring ballerina? I always had a soft spot for the actress (especially in her thankless role on AW). Or was that someone else? I'd love to see more of Valerie. I really would. I love Judith McConnell. The only bit I've seen of her was near her exit as a character, although they did seem to be hinting at something with her and Ralph. Then they were both gone by the time the clips began again. I wonder if they were both abruptly written out.

On paper I guess I get the idea of Nick and Kim - Kim, who had settled into an everyday life, finding passion again with a swarthy stranger. Sadly I think the backlash to the story (with Kathryn Hays saying she got her most hate mail ever for that plot I believe) helped to just turn her into Betsy's doting mother, getting shouted down by Steve in scenes I can't watch without dying a little inside. The problem is that, from the little I've seen, there is no chemistry and Nick is a pain in the ass. I do NOT get the idea of Bob and Miranda. Upstanding doctor and beloved town figure marries a woman with a "come wiz me to the cazbah" accent who turns out to be an international drug dealer isn't even a good soap idea - it's more like something from an episode of Soap.

No matter what they made Juliet Mills do as Tabitha, she probably still happily did it when she thought of this. Just so sad:

Didn't Deas' Tom help Barbara when she was locked up? I can't remember. Is that 1982 Christmas episode on Youtube (it was briefly up on the "classic soap episodes" type site when P&G was selling DVDs). Carol briefly appears at a church service - I think it was probably her last appearance in the role, as I believe by this time she may have already been with her new husband. I guess it was saying goodbye. The little I've seen of Steve and Carol is preferable to Steve and Betsy, partly because Frank Runyeon wasn't overacting and partly because Carol didn't act like someone just slapped her hard in the face before every take, the way Meg Ryan did.

Is this Christine Tudor in the Bounty ad? (I feel like I've asked this before...)

And now Patty Hearst, his mother-in-law, has waded in. You can always count on Patty to have some kind of cultural relevance, whether you really want her to or not... https://deadline.com/2018/06/chris-hardwick-patty-hearst-lydia-hearst-chloe-dykstra-nerdist-sexual-assault-1202412037/

Chloe claims she has evidence. Her boyfriend, former Eastenders and True Blood actor Robert Kazinsky (who doesn't have the greatest past with women himself), said he also saw it. I wonder where this is going to go. Either way AMC made the right decision.

I was surprised when I read about some of the countries that are on there, like Saudi Arabia. I just can't take the UN seriously in recent years.

Yes. The Natalie he was married to was played by Judith Chapman. Lucy is her daughter with Jay Stallings, who was married to Carol at the time. Natalie left Lucy on their doorstep. She annoyed the hell out of me as Debbie. I was surprised at how much I liked her as Sharon because of how annoying she was as Debbie. That whole story was a lot of boring crap though, as was the case with anything involving Rosanna in those years.

I have to admit that a lot of the UN "human rights" stuff I end up seeing as PR and a shell game anyway.

I thought Anne was believable as mother to Margo and Craig, but Lisa Loring had a very hard face.

Wasn't this strike material? I also see that hospital gift shop. Sad. And there's Annie made up to look like Jacquie Courtney, even though she was supposed to be in her early 20's... Her 1993 exit was going to the UN. I'm not sure after that. I know Liz Hubbard said she had to ad-lib Sabrina's existence in later years.

Was that the one that Oakdalian also had up (I remember that as being one of the only early 80s ATWT I saw for a long time)? I always remember that unfortunate Natalie recast. ATWT had a tradition of unfortunate recasts for pointlessly returning characters.

Thank you for posting all these. Sarah Phelps' statement was beautiful. Den is one of the most iconic characters ever in British soap, and Leslie one of the most underrated actors. That era - his first era - has held up so strongly, and he is a big reason why. EE has tried, and failed, to recapture it ever since.

I always remember him as Archie Andrews, as that's where I first saw him.

Thanks. She always looks so different to me with her longer hair - I'm so used to how Caroline looked on Soap and Benson.

That and he was supposed to be the big savior of the UK, there to make everything fresh and new and sexy and so on. If they had this type of thing in the US Bill Clinton would have done this type of ad...

I think this is Aiden Turner in this really cringey Labour broadcast from 1997. Funny that he was already working in the US by the early '00s, when that government started going to pot.

Thanks. I always forget she was in that.

RIP Georgann Johnson. I wish any of her work on Somerset was available. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/georgann-johnson-dead-dr-quinn-medicine-woman-actress-was-91-1120304