I Am A Swede

I honestly don't think there was any racial intention behind the scene in question. B&B has a history of being very "generous" with slaps, and it's not unthinkable for Hope to react that way towards a woman who put people she loves through pure hell. I know though that B&B doesn't have a very good track record with people of colour (or minorities of any kind really) and that is something they definitely should work on.

You can't make a direct comparison between the actors' ages and the characters' ages. Personally I've always thought that Poppy was at a minimum 10 years older than Finn.

That's par for the course with B&B.

I just realized that I have watched almost 300 episodes of Emmerdale Farm since May! I probably need another hobby. But it's so addictive. I say to myself, just one more episode, which turns into another and then another... But if I tried watching the current show I would probably struggle to get through a single episode. 1977 was a very good year for Emmerdale Farm. There were some stories I didn't particularly care for, like Sam's reunion with old friends from the trenches of the Great War. But everything with Joe and Kathy was spellbinding, even though Joe sometimes came off really bad. Kathy became a favourite of mine. I hadn't seen all that much of her before, since the majority of her stories came during 1976 and 1977, two years which up till now have been largely inaccessible. And then of course 1977 meant the introduction of Dolly. I have always loved her, especially as portrayed by Katharine Barker, and seeing her from the beginning has solidified those feelings. She has been such a bright spot on the show and energized everything. And I love her relationship with Amos. He didn't like her at first, but slowly he has warmed up to her, and the pure delight he showed when he played matchmaker for her and Matt made me grin like the Cheshire Cat. He really is an old softie underneath his crusty exterior. And I've said this before, but it does no harm to repeat it: Annie Sugden is the most perfect matriarch ever. She's not without faults, her weakness for Jack's shenanigans for instance, but she's also understanding and compassionate, however if you don't pay attention when she puts her foot down you do that at your own peril. And there's no question who the master of the house is. One look from Annie can make even Grandad hold his tongue. On now to 1978. The year when we first meet Seth Armstrong....

Finished with 1977. It's been fantastic to finally see a year that has been so hard to find before. And I've discovered a massive re-write which I didn't know of before. Dolly's ex-fiance Richard showed up at the end of the year. I've always known about him, and the fact that he and Dolly had a child that she gave up for adoption. But in these episodes it's clearly stated that this happened a mere three years ago. But Dolly's child turns up in the mid-80s and is then a grown-up. So either she's had two children out of wedlock, or this birth is suddenly pushed back at least a decade. And here I was thinking that the worst re-write was the disappearance of Pat/Ruth Merrick's third child Tommy when she came back in 1980. But this is at least equally big.

Jonathan Kaplan, Emmy-Nominated Director of ‘ER’ and ‘The Accused,’ Dies at 77

I've been catching up on spoilers for the show and..... There is absolutely nothing among those spoilers that make me want to watch. Nothing! To call it crap would be insulting to crap.

Some real world events influencing the show. Celebrations for Queen Elizabeth's silver jubilee and the whole village was there. 🥳 I know it was necessary, but seeing all the village scenes is really a stark reminder of how much atmosphere was lost when the show moved to a purpose built village set. It's only a fraction as big as the real village and frankly I've always though that it looks a bit fake.

It's 80 years ago today since the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. And yet, it seems mankind have not learned from the past. It's really strange. 80 years is not that long if you think about it. There are still people alive who lived back then and who experienced what is possibly the most brutal and savage conflict in human history. And yet, here we are, still going at it.... Will we ever learn?

Some things never change I guess....

I didn't even remember that there is a new Cathy in the village now. I guess it shows how much (or should I say little) I care about the current show.