I Am A Swede

Hallelujah and Amen!! Everytime I think I couldn't possibly dislike that family any more than I already do they find a way to prove me wrong.

I actually agree with you about both Cain and Charity. I think they've managed to bring out a more human side in Cain this time around compared to his first stint, whereas Charity was much more complex the first time around. The Youtube-channel which contains the lovely 1985 episode you posted recently also has some interesting behind-the-scenes stuff. Of course it was far to heavy on the more recent material, but it was still nice to watch. In one of those they talked about the Dingles and they appear to be very popular with the writers, at least those who appeared in the clips, so I guess we're stuck with them.... (The fact that they've been around since 1994 should perhaps already have convinced me of that, but as they say, hope springs eternal..... )

I beg to differ. There is nothing sad about any Dingle appearance being missing. The most recent episodes have reminded me why I've always had a problem warming up to Charity, apart from her being a Dingle. I'm so sick and tired of her scheming and doing stupid things. If this is the all they can write for her then just drop her instead. She should have stayed away after her first exit, just like Cain should have.

Of course it was a mistake to kill him off. There had been enough deaths in the Sugden family. But I think an even bigger mistake was to not give him any children. He only had two step-children, Mark and Rachel, and by the time Joe died Mark was also dead, and Rachel would be gone within a few years as well. On paper you would say that Joe should have fit in during the 1990s and early 2000s, since he had already been involved in business stories outside of the farm during the 1980s with NY Estates, but during his last years he had become increasingly isolated as a character, and perhaps he could have used a rest from the show and then returned. It would have been nice to have him now as a father figure for Robert and Victoria. It's funny how Joe was repeatedly so unlucky in love and relationships when he was actually a much nicer and more decent man than his older brother Jack. He had a few serious relationships during his years on the show, but they always ended badly with him being abandoned. First it was Christine Sharp, whom he married but the marriage only lasted a few weeks. Then came Kathy Gimbel, but she left the village after her father's suicide, Ruth Pennington left Joe for her former fiance, and his second wife Kate left him when she couldn't re-adjust to the village after her stint in prison. It was a huge mistake to kill of sister Peggy's twins and to never give Joe any children. This left only Jack's children to carry on the Sugden legacy on the show, and they also killed one of them, Jackie, before he could have any children.

Thank you for posting that. It's always such a treat to see these old episodes. Not a Dingle in sight! Those who say that nothing happened on Emmerdale before 1989 can't have been watching that closely. Just because the pace was slower and there weren't a lot of immoral, half-criminal characters running around doesn't mean nothing happened. I really can't stand people who have that attitude. It was a bit sad when Annie talked about how Sam had made peace with his impending death, and that it made it easier to take than when life was being snatched away from someone unexpectedly. I couldn't help thinking about how many members of Annie's family who suffered that very fate, having their lives taken away from them much too soon.

Amazing that Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has reached another semifinal, 18 years after her first (Wimbledon 1999, losing to Steffi Graf). It's also 19 years since she won the doubles title at the Australian Open together with Martina Hingis,

Yuck, Debbie is back....

This is insane. Not being all that familiar with American politics I have to ask, what will happen if this turns out to be true?

^^ Someone's having a Madonna moment....

I don't see why either couple (Paddy/Rhona & Zak/Lisa) has to get back together. They split up for a reason, infidelity! I fear that they are falling into the same trap that the US soaps have fallen into. That some couples are "destined" to be together and will always find their way back to each other. It severely damages the shows and limits the writing. I don't need to reiterate my feelings towards the Dingles, but I'm starting to put Paddy in the same position. Frankly, even though he's a veteran character by now, I wouldn't mind if they dropped him. He hasn't really worked since his time with Emily.

It's infuriating, isn't it? My guess is that it was done to pave the way for a reunion between Rhona and Paddy. But did they really have to trash Pierce to do that?

I didn't mean for anyone to feel responsible in any way for my state of mind. If I did that I'm genuinely sorry. I enjoy reading this thread even though it's content is very depressing sometimes, because it's still an enlightening read, and at the end of the day I want to believe that somehow people with intelligence and common sense, like the posters here, will prevail and we will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But of course, then you get news like this, and it all feels depressing again... http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38481521 The new year has hardly even begun, but there has already been an attack.....

It's not New Year's Eve without this....

Something I found so sad when I saw it on the news today is that all over Europe they're putting up roadblocks in major cities and calling in extra police and military so that people can go out and celebrate New Year's Eve with a little less fear of terrorist attacks.... They interviewed people in Copenhagen and they were grateful for this and felt it was a good idea. And in Gothenburg here in Sweden a big shopping mall decided to close early today because there were rumours that youth gangs were planning to shoot fireworks at people in retaliation for what they perceive as harassment from the police. How did we get to this point where people feel the need for these extraordinary measures to be taken just so they can go out and celebrate a new year? Watching that and reading this thread has really made me feel a bit depressed. There's just so much hate and ugliness in the world right now, and there seems to be no end in sight.

I do so wish that Debbie wasn't returning. But I guess it's inevitable.... As for Charity, I'm sure people won't agree with me, but I wouldn't grieve at all if they wrote her out. She's been so prominent over the years and done so much that there's really not all that much left for her to do. It won't happen of course, but one can dream, right?