DRW50

I think that's where the British sense of humour gets lost in translation. It's not a sneerfest, just sarcasm/deadpan that is clearly not great in print. If we're talking about the same article, then it was just saying that original stunts are impossible to come about, as one soap or another has already done it. It wasn't saying anything soap fans don't already know. I took that to mean all of the Spencers will be leaving. I feel that's less b/c they've run their course, and more b/c they've never been popular and never will be. I do think this whole story with Ali visiting Sean in the burns unit was done to form part of Ali's eventual exit, and Ruby's death will probably be the catalyst for it. The article said (unless I misread it) that the only reason the author would ever watch a soap was for an OTT stunt. That's why I felt it was a sneerfest. I know there was a rumor Dan would also be leaving, but I don't get the impression they're splitting him from Kerry so I assume they're staying. It's weird though how long they've spent phasing out Ali and Ruby, writing Rachel back in just to write her out very very slowly...I'm not quite sure what's been going on with the planning for this group. Maybe Kate Oates felt guilty about writing them out, maybe it was a mandate?

I’d like to believe that ITV pushing the stories forward a month, if what Kate Oates said in her interview today is correct, is what has caused the Chrissie and Aaron and Robert story to become so poor for quite a while now, with such confusing, terrible characterization, so little attention to detail, and such a general feeling of pointlessness. It’s too bad, as this, unlike the Debbie/Ross/Pete mess, could have been a great, popular story with more effort. Any effort. The ratings for the reveal prove it. Unfortunately I also have a feeling this may not be changing anytime soon, so it’s hard for me to expect much. Just one crumb or another crumb, here and there. The saddest part is all this was done for ITV to help Corrie, which is still a mess, year-round, year after year. Other than the Peter/Ken/Tracy goodbye episode to Deirdre, the only well-written scene I can remember on there recently was Kim Tate telling Jason Grimshaw what a hot ass he has. At least, for once, the writing was honest.

Goodbye Ruby, from ITV. http://ryanhawleys.tumblr.com/post/125946162257

Poor Lisa. Seriously though, she was a little better before she left. More like her old self. I think they made the right decision in showing so much of Ruby, because as much as we may worry about the "bigger" characters, we know most of them will be safe. We went through the process of dying with Ruby, and unlike some actors on the show who are good at certain things but not at that type of drama, Alycia Eyo really managed to play all the beats, as did Laura Norton as Kerry, who was absolutely superb. I actually cried during these scenes - they moved me that much. It also made the whole thing feel more "real" to me than, say, when Dawn Woods died, and there was mostly a lot of weeping and wailing from various characters. Without those scenes, I would have still had a high opinion of the episode, thanks to the performances and the wonderful direction and decent scripting (Owen whatever the rest of his name is has really impressed me with this script and the two when Robert was holding Aaron at the lodge), but it would have felt more boilerplate to me. And I would have been more annoyed by the heavy, intrusive focus on Ross/Debbie/Pete, complete with a final scene that belonged to Ruby IMO. Agree about the stunts. I saw a sneering article in The Guardian (sneerfest central at that paper, sad to say) about how soaps were stunted out and since they were garbage anyway, they should just have stunts all the time. And I have seen more focus on the stunt, and the CGI not being great, than anything else. The show and ITV brought that on themselves by hyping it up, but it still sucks that the episodes after, like last night's, won't get as much attention. From what Kate Oates said in an interview, she felt the Spencers "ran their course." I take it that means Ali will be gone soon (we know Rachel will be). Dan mostly exists as a single character and a duo with Kerry, so I guess they'll stay. I do wonder why Ali wasn't there - not to be rude, but I wonder if they felt the actress wasn't up to the material. As for Val,

Sad to hear this. She also directed Ryan's Hope for many years.

Today's episode... Other than the last 30 seconds, which I thought were cheesy and made me laugh a bit (mostly Dan running around), I enjoyed most of the episode. I liked all the twists about how Pete would find out the truth - Finn throws the recording out, it must be the note, then it's not, then Chas finds the music and Aaron plays it. I don't think Cain would have let Pete get rough with Debbie, but otherwise the reveal worked well for me considering I'm not interested in this triangle. I also enjoyed the harsh words Finn had for Ross (which Ross needed to hear, although I hope they repair their relationship if Finn makes it), the fight between Cain and Ross, Ross in the van - the latter had some gorgeous shots. Duncan Foster really outdid himself many times - I also loved the opener with Ross and Cain in the village, the overhead shots of the pints, Ross underwater, Cain/Moira looking at Kyle and Joanie from a distance. The best part for me was Val and Diane in the mirror maze. After being annoyed at the writing for Diane recently I was pleased that this episode seemed to "get" her again. I'm glad that Val's last episodes are so heavily focused on her love/hate sister relationship with Diane, which it how it should be. The fairground atmosphere added a nice sense of the ominous too. And while I guess they were "filler," I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the bits with Marlon and Rhona as well, Marlon struggling with moving on. I was worried they were going to kiss but thankfully that didn't happen. My only real complaints, other than the silliness of the last shot or two, was the unbearable, unbearable bleating of Chrissie, and the magical way that Lachlan suddenly gives a hoot about his grandfather or Chrissie after he's cared about no one for most of his run on the show. And then more bleating, this time in stereo, with Robert - I imagine their mutual whining brought the helicopter down more than the explosion did. I didn't really buy Adam suddenly getting into a fight with Vic and getting drunk and popping up there, but it wasn't a big deal. Overall I'd give it 8/10. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Anne Kirkbride's first episode back after she beat cancer. She looks really good here and Deirdre seems full of her old life and humor. It's a shame they only had her return this way so she could be crushed by Ken's news about Denise (and Ken is as weak-willed as ever here, filling her with false hope). There's also a really nice scene of Raquel in the garden, stopping to listen to a pop song, Des watching her, cleaning her hands - you see with no real fuss or effort her sweetness and purity, and why Des needs her as much as he needs Tanya. It's something no soap would really be able to do today, sadly.

I'm not totally sure but I think someone said that another YT user ripped off his videos, and when he contacted them, they reported him to YT and his channel was taken down.

Here's a Dingle family tree from 2004, although the family has gotten even more confused since that time. http://emmerdale.org/emmerdale/tree/10june05/Dingle/Dingle.png Episodes from all over the years: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKxXRm0Acop72Lik4FkogQw https://www.youtube.com/user/Emmerdale2009 https://www.youtube.com/user/Farmeremmer https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqaZSqtN8eTIWVjvFg7W5nw https://www.youtube.com/user/EmmerdaleFarmer https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUw5WJ8jG6WQTqmnd28Sy2g https://www.youtube.com/user/TheInsomniaTV https://vimeo.com/user13925252/videos http://www.dailymotion.com/bhtvclassics I'm going to send you a private link to watch more episodes from 2011-present. As you're an old school soap fan I'd say you may want to try the Farm-era episodes (1973-1989). If you have any questions on stories or characters feel free to ask.

There's an annoying ringing sound at the end as the hosts had to leave abruptly due to a fire alarm going off.

I'm not sure. I have a feeling it was the article. (I'm always annoyed at anything she says about Chrissie though - Chrissie is not a "victim") Around 1,000 people signed a petition to try to get STV (Scotland's ITV) to not show the episodes, due to similarities to what happened there a few years ago. I guess we'll see if STV agrees. Throwback Tuesday:

I think saynotoursoap said there was one (beyond this), but that was a while back, so I'm not sure. I hope there's more.

http://shows.stv.tv/emmerdale/talk/1325734-emmerdale-producer-kate-oates-talks-about-explosive-wedding-disaster-week/ (if she seems subdued in that interview it's likely because a nasty tabloid story popped up this weekend about her getting nailed by a crew member and the girlfriend she didn't know about being furious about it) Spoilers, obviously. Today's episode was decent (mostly liked seeing the older characters), although the scene with Ross going off in the Woolpack was very good.

Tina was a perfectly good, serious young actress who always did her material justice, until the idiotic decision to make Sarah a vapid "comedy" bitch around 2005 or 2006.

Yikes...all around.

He said in an interview that his character has become less popular since the Debbie pairing began, which he seemed a little unhappy about. I don't think it's just that (I think making him Moses' father was dumb, and he doesn't have the same relationship with Finn or April that he once had), but it doesn't help. But he was just terrific on Thursday when Ross told Finn. I'm going to have to put that scene on Youtube if no one else has. He really impressed me.

There's also an Anthony Quinlan video out there I didn't link to as it has a more blatant spoiler in the title.

I know the show won't go there, but for all the talk of "brothers" or "family," the Jay and Ben relationship is becoming more ambiguous (not that I'm complaining). I guess it doesn't hurt that Jamie Borthwick and Harry Reid have more chemistry than most of the actual couples on the show at the moment. I know it won't go anywhere and is just a setup for Kathy's return when Ben will probably regress to being Phil's flunky again, but the episode-long righteous [!@#$%^&*] talk about that nasty old man from Ben and Jay did my heart good.

Real treat here.

Not sure how many spoilers you want, so I'll put them in space just in case.

Mike Parr interview (possible spoilers) I wish I could say I was looking forward to next week, but the spoilers I've read don't exactly sound great, and this week was a real letdown, with zero aftermath for the Aaron/Robert affair reveal, and far too much of pathetic professional victim Chrissie and her rapist son. We saw zero conversations between any Sugdens, but we got 500 different scenes of Chrissie hissing about her husband <mock Dynasty pose> sleeping with another man </mock Dynasty pose>. They really let themselves down this week, other than some of the stuff that wasn't even intended as major material (like Val and Eric, one or two Ross and Finn scenes, and what is likely Ruby's goodbye). If or when they get low ratings next week, it's to be expected given the time of year and ITV's lack of interest, but they also threw away a lot of potential viewers this week.

What a bizarre and OTT (for Corrie in this era) promo this was - the day-glo slo-mo shot of Denise's head turning like she's about to level a city is hilarious. I guess this is when their ratings were falling. The end also cracks me up. And here's a fun dramatic promo for the Jon Lindsay story.

The last scene with Eric and Val broke my heart a little. He just cherishes her, many messy flaws and all. Seeing Finn be so bitter with Debbie, someone he used to respect, was tough to watch, although she brought it on herself. It seems like there are fewer and fewer positive relationships on the show now. Cain and Robert on that bed was hot. Anyway, someone has put up some ED episodes (4) from 1978, 1988, and 1989, including the infamous one where a certain Doctor Who actor gets gored by a bull. https://vimeo.com/user13925252 You can find more clips from the EF era here. http://www.dailymotion.com/bhtvclassics