Dion

Ah ok, there was no source on the DS so I wasn't sure. To a certain extent the DS fanbases have always been a bit competitive (especially back in 2004 - 2005) but it really does seem to gotten a whole lot worse this year

interesting rumour about Kat, Ronnie, Jack and Charlie posted on DS, bare in mind that there's no source but I thought it was worth posting anyway.

I do hope they remember just how close Tommy was to Tyrone (though I think that's a given) AND Maria (and they better not pair them off either coz that would be gross) back in 2000

I had heard of that one and it should be quite interesting. As for baby switches on UK soaps, while there have been baby switches before, I think its important to note that

Ah yes, my favourite Carol moment...and it's followed by the jail scenes where Carol and Lorraine are both dissing David, with Cindy trying to defend him!

I hope so...according to Bill Roache the two have actually spoken (by phone at least) about their longevities on their respective soaps.

That is a shame that Zeke and Rebecca are being written out. At this rate by 2014 (assuming the show hasn't been cancelled by then but I do think it will be given a few years on Eleven) there will be no characters left over who joined during the 2000s just like how by 1994 all the eighties characters except Helen, a recast Julie and a recast Cody were gone (not including Lou in that list because his first stint in 1988 was short). Although at least this time we still actually have some characters left over from the nineties and Paul is back from the original cast. I guess what I am trying to say is that Neighbours has really struggled with developing long term characters in the past few years after having great success with the likes of the Kennedys and the Scully's. So it really is a shame that Jane Hall (who seemed happy to stay put) and Matthew Werkmeister (who I'd hoped would stay for a bit longer as he has been there for five years despite making noises about leaving some time ago) Won't really miss reacst Declan though

I was wondering if they were going to deal with the racism angle. I do remember Jim referring to Billie as "that black kid of Carol's" or something to that effect when he was introduced and Carol saying that her father and all her brothers (even though Max and Jack hadn't been invented yet then) were all racist, a point which seems to have been quietly brushed under the carpet (aside from when Jim and Patrick first became friends). So while Jim, Max and Jack aren't racist anymore, its good to see Carol still remembers how she was treated when she got together with Billie's father (mostly by Jim and the other Branning brother not on canvas as Jack and Max would have still been a bit too young).

Definitely Carl...she was amazing in the storyline when Jim beat her up and though I haven't seen it myself, was praised for the storyline when Jim and Liz's premature daughter died

Yeah that happened here in NZ too. Eventually we were more than three years behind but now they play double episodes so we are now 2 and a half years behind.

Tonight was Gerald's last episode. His exit storyline involved him marrying his best friend Libby (who left the show back in March but returned for a guest stint to wrap up Gerald's storyline) as Libby needed to get a US green card and Gerald conveniently turned out to be an American citizen! (I would have bought that particularly detail if they'd mentioned it when his parents came on during one of their recurring stints). Oh well, at least this marriage is heavily implied to be based on real feelings (a strong friendship that will actually turn into true love) and not just a scheme to defraud the INS! Just a shame we won't get to see their relationship play out onscreen! But it is a somewhat fitting end to the arcs of both characters (Gerald gets a wife who won't mind the whole asexuality issue and accepts him for who he is and Libby finally got a wedding and a husband).

It's called a Newton's cradle...for some reason I've always wanted one of those! lol. I don't know if she cut the strings off either.

Kinda old news now but it seems Adam Rickitt's departure in the 90 Minute special on August 2 scored an Impressive 837,000 viewers, making it one of the highest rated episodes of Shortland Street since it began! (and also it was the highest rated episode of any show that week) And since then the show has rated quite well, remaining in the 500,000 to 700,000 range. Fridays often do relatively poorly with figures down in the low 500's but on other nights the show can get more than 600,000 or even 700,000. Here is a link to NZ ratings on Throng.co.nz NZ Ratings

I agree and I always thought it was a shame they decided to dress her up like a modern day Queen Victoria for most of her 00's stint.

Its not the EE theme tune, although the arrangement is very similar (the handclaps!) and thats not actually Chris with them either...its a NZ actor Simon Praast(who actually does resemble Chris, I thought it was Chris at first too until I realized who it really was). I think Chris and Leeza were at the Christchurch venue while this one was at the Auckland venue. oh and I do think Letitia's actually quite talented at the poi lol.

Saw this and just had to share: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvOziT29Hqg&feature=related I never realized that EastEnders was that popular in NZ to warrant flying Susan Tully and Letitia Dean all the way from the UK. Though EE was in a primetime slot here until around 1990, so I guess maybe we lost interest after Dirty Den's first death (and another network did try EE in a primetime slot again when he came back...) And if the date is correct its from the same Telethon that Christopher Quinten (Brian Tilsley on Coronation Street) met Leeza Gibbons...which led to him being killed off.

Yes that's very true. They didn't have very much to do with each other and when the whole Sharongate business came out Pauline actually commented that she felt that she'd failed Sharon by not having been a greater presence in her life and promised that she'd look out for Sharon more in the future. Of course Sharon soon left, but when she came back Pauline was able to live up to that promise. So while Sharon and Pauline may not have had much to do with each other during Sharon's first run, the stage had already been set for a much closer relationship during Sharon's second run.

Morgan is Bianca's Bio child. She had a one night stand and got pregnant. Bianca then met Tony while she was pregnant and vulnerable and he adopted the child (of course his motives were to get Whitney). Should be quite interesting I think when Morgan's father eventually turns up (and I'm sure he will eventually). Really I'm guessing Morgan's only function was to be Bianca's version of a young Billie.

Yeah, Irene and Marilyn were the best of friends back during Marilyn's last stint, now it seems Marilyn is just merely some old acquaintance that she barely used to know.

As of tonight in New Zealand (we are two weeks behind Australia), and I'll put this in spoiler tags because I know you guys are watching at UK pace

Part of the show's mandate when it was commissioned to receive funding from NZ on Air (the governments local content funding agency) was to "push the boundaries of New Zealand drama" which they did with gusto. The complaints about the content not being suitable for the timeslot poured in for a few years (Until 2008 the NZ broadcasting standards authority always ruled in Shortland Street's favour) but eventually died down. The 90 minute episode was interesting, and had what was probably the longest ever pre-episode recap as they recapped many of the main events from Kieran's run on the show. Thankfully the entire episode wasn't just about him otherwise it really would have gotten tedious watching him get kidnapped and escape several times. In the end Kieran fell off a cliff and is now presumed dead, but before that happened they did manage to resolve most of his characters arc so it was a very satisfying end to the character. The B plots in the episode were also quite interesting, with one major subplot (downgrading the Shortland Street hospital into a satellite of another) that has been brewing since the beginning of the year being wrapped up and Chris Warner (the sole remaining original character) learning that he has a somewhat SORASed son by an old love.

Yeah i'd rather see some more Beales (new or old) or some Masood relations (a son or daughter of Masood's brother)

Hopefully they start with a season return episode. The first episodes of 2005, 2006 or 2007 would be excellent starting points as each preceding season finales provided more resolution than cliffhanger. My personal preference would be for the first episode of 2005 as that pretty much was a transition period for the show that set up stories and characters that ran for several years, but that's probably a bit too long ago now, even with double bills. The first episode of 2007 would be another good place to start as you still have 9 characters on the show from that period with no major characters leaving until the serial killer storyline kicks in about six months in. As for Kieran's exit and the 90 minute special, well I'll have to leave that for another day as its actually 3am right now lol.

pretty easily i'd imagine...Bianca seems to just vanish into thin air whenever Patsy Palmer needs some leave. She was off air for two months last year while she was doing a play.

I'd love it if all three went to the same support group seperately and were all surprised to find the others there.