I Am A Swede

And it was done very thoroughly too. In just over two years (May 1989-August 1991) the show lost Sandie Merrick, Jackie Merrick, Caroline Bates, Rev. Donald Hinton, Matt Skilbeck, Amos Brearly, Dolly Skilbeck, Sam Skilbeck and Henry Wilks. All long-running characters. Caroline and Amos did make more appearances, but only in a recurring capacity.

She's just always been such a bore and a miserable little bitch. Sorry, I just cannot stand her, and I resent that she and Belle have taken all limelight that should have been Victoria's. It's not surprising though since the Dingles have been the favoured ones and the few remaining Sugden have been treated like an afterthought, especially Victoria.

Don't even put that idea out into the universe! I'm sure Amos and Henry are spinning like crazy in their graves knowing that Chas and Charity Dingle are running the Woolpack! I know it's not gonna happen but I wish they would write out Debbie now and explaining it by saying that she and Andy have hooked up somewhere and they're giving their relationship a try for the sake of their children. It wouldn't fix everything, but it would be a wonderful start. Debbie is a character I have disliked almost from her first episode.

Well, both Jack and Joe had spells away from the village when they could have believably sired children. Jack spent several years in Rome during the 1970s and Joe was in France in the mid 1980s. Jack was also in Rome (again) for almost a year 1988-89 when he tried to make his off-and-on relationship with Henry Wilks' daughter Marian work. While she's technically not a Sugden you also have Sandie Merrick, Robert's maternal half-sister. She should be around 50 years old now, so she should have a family which could be used. Also technically not a Sugden, but almost, is Samuel Skilbeck, the son of Peggy's husband Matt and his second wife Dolly. I would say that in Annie's eyes Matt was as much a son to her as Jack and Joe were.

Thank you. At the very least that clip definitely proves that my theory was wrong. Madeleine certainly doesn't look pregnant at all. At the time I had no problem with the plane disaster story, but in hindsight it set a dangerous precedent for the show. It has become a sort of Holy Grail that the show tries to repeat to boost ratings, like the New Years' storm in which Tricia got killed, and last year's helicopter crash, which was a sad almost pathetic attempt to recreate the original story. While the plane crash left indelible marks on the show and the village the only lasting thing the helicopter crash brought was the death of Val. The sacking of Deena and Billy Hartman is still something that makes me angry when I think of it. It was certainly disrespectful to two of the longest-serving characters on the show at the time, and neither of them had, in my opinion, run their course as characters. But Emmerdale has in recent years not exactly shown any interest in respecting and using their history to drive story. Regarding Pat I would say that she has definitely been forgotten. I doubt that many would even know who she was if she was mentioned. Just like Sandie has been forgotten, which is perhaps even more frustrating, since she is still alive, and she's Robert's sister just as much as Victoria is. It's odd how she simply vanished without a trace. It's almost like the show actively tried to erase the Merrick family. You'd think that after Pat and Jackie had died that Sandie would like to keep in touch with her baby brother, but she's been completely missing and hardly even mentioned after she left. I'm definitely looking forward to any more 1983 episodes. Sadly I haven't saved any of the previously uploaded ones. To be honest I don't even know how to do that. (I'm not particularly good at computers )

Amen! I'm no longer really interested in tennis, and I used to love watching it. I think the mid- to late 90s was the last era I really enjoyed. More charismatic players, and also players with more variation in style. Sampras, Agassi, Kuerten, Chang, Rafter, Ivanisevic, Muster, Moya, and among the women we had of course Queen Steffi!

Wow, I didn't know that Madeleine Howard (Sarah #1) had disliked the plane crash story. I don't know why, but I always believed that she had been pregnant in real life when Sarah was pregnant with Victoria, and that she left because of that. Much like Helen Weir (Pat Sugden) left after she and Clive Hornby (Jack) had a son (they were married in real life for several years). Coincidentally Deena Payne (Viv) took her leave of absence in 2008-09 also for family reasons, and Katharine Barker (Dolly #1) left the show partly because she wanted to spend more time with her son. I liked all of these actresses, so maybe there should be a ban on likeable actresses procreating?

Yes, she was. Sarah started dating Jack when Robert was around 3 years old, so she really was his mother in every way except biologically. If I remember correctly Robert actually wanted to live with Sarah when she and Jack split up, but since she wasn't his biological mother Jack was able to stop him from doing that.

Technically she was his stepmother, but she was the only mother he had ever known. His biological mother Pat died in a car crash when he was just 4 months old.

The message of this song is one I think we all need to hear today.....

I feel numb. I just can't believe that this has really happened..... When I woke up this morning the first thing I did was turn on the tv and when I realized what was about to happen (it wasn't completely done at that time) I literally lost my appetite. I had to force myself to eat something, but it felt like I was chewing on wood. When I got to work everyone was talking about it, and we all shared the same feelings of disbelief and worry for the future. It feels like the Brexit-result all over again, only ten times worse.

I know exactly how you feel. But the sad thing is that Trump's success is not an isolated occurrence. All around the world misogyny, xenophobia, and homophobia are running rampant. We read about all the time in the newpapers and see it on the news. The Brexit referendum became a lot more about immigration than it should have been, gay pride parades are being attacked all over Europe, and right-wing parties are flourishing all over the place. In polls our own right-wing party (with its roots in neo-nazi circles) have the support of around 17-18% which is something I never thought would happen. It's a disturbing and very alarming development.

Andy Murray will become the new world number 1 on Monday after Milos Raonic withdrew from their semi-final in the Paris Masters http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/37882467

Obama tells Trump to quit whining http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37697594

Re: Robert's story. It was obviously a re-write. Not the worst one I've ever come across, on the contrary it's quite a plausible one, but still a re-write. Even though I'm not sure how Jack would have reacted to Robert being gay/bisexual I don't think it's something he would have beaten him for. I do agree that Jack wasn't perfect, or that he could act before thinking, but I just don't see him capable of doing something like that. I know it's nit-picking, but I also found it a bit strange that Robert said he was caught by Jack together with a guy who was working at the farm. When Robert was 15 Jack had no money to pay anyone to work at the farm. Their finances were horrible, that's why Andy started the fire in the barn that killed Sarah. He wanted to help Jack get some money by burning down the barn for insurance. Robert turned 15 less than six months after Sarah's death, and spent a few months that year in Spain with Annie, after finding out that Andy was responsible for Sarah's death. When he came back Andy had started dating Katie, and that whole triangle started. So the timing really doesn't fit. But I guess that happens when you re-write stuff 15 years later.....

I've only watched a few episodes of "Coronation Street", but you don't have to be a fan of the show to know how iconic the character of Hilda Ogden is. I know Jean wasn't very happy with the direction the show has taken since her departure and had no desire to return to the role of Hilda, and I admire that. Even though it's often tempting to wish that beloved characters from the past would return to their shows maybe it's better that they remain in the past so that we can keep our memories of them intact.

It's amazing that they can find these films after so long. It makes you wonder what other hidden treasures are out there just waiting to be re-discovered.

Oh my... I just watched that clip with the Betsy-person on the previous page and.....