Ben

EE at its best was a character-driven show. Now, like most soaps, it's generally plot, and shock value, with some character moments. Some works, obviously enough to get ratings up.

That's the way the wheel turns, and the reason why Darren had to be the daddy of Heather's baby. It's a repetitive pattern, which enables one to predict mystery outcomes, like, who's the daddy, and who's the blackmailer, b/c you know it's gonna be the most shocking person, where the story fits or not. For the latter, Lucy works perfectly as Syed's blackmailer, but Heather's baby father was a major missed opportunity, in terms of story. Minty would've provided more conflict and story possibilities, with the number of players involved - Heather/Minty/Manda/Shirly/Adam. Darren doesn't provide that group conflict.

Syed/Christian is the tamest "illicit" love affair I've ever seen. They barely show each other any affection at all. Syed spends most of his time pouting and looking like he's about to cry. Beyond the press hype (gay Muslim! controversy!) there's nothing there. Syed doesn't fit into most of the show at all, even his family -- I won't be surprised if he's gone when this story is done.

Too true. "Chryed" have no layers, or any kind of substance under the whole secret gay Muslim aspect. But fans love them. I can't see them getting rid of Marc Elliot, not with his level of popularity, and not when they've spent all this time building up the Masood's as a solid family unit.

Ben, the article you posted about EE's downfall was a a great read. Berridge doesn't sound that bad.

LB just inherited the flack and bad press. She wasn't without problems, but after Kathleen Hutchinson, who wouldn't be.

But there's viewer criticism, and critic criticism, and the two, it would appear, are quite different.

I think EE has had better viewer support, than Corrie (bar the whole embarrassing Danielle fiasco). Corrie can be as bad as Y&R and B&B combined, and still the ratings will stay steady, but EE can have a bad week, and the ratings will reflect that. Granted, they haven't been perfect, but EE have told a broader range of storylines, featuring practically every character (segregated or not). Corrie can't really say that.

And I'm not really sure what my point is.

OK... A completely banal statement. What was the writer's intention? What did he want to prove?

In short answer: I really have no idea. That entire paragraph doesn't leave much room for movement.

Personally, I'd only say that if I was paying out the show, or both shows, seeing as he compares EE to Corrie. It's probably the one major negative, seeing as characters randomly appear and disappear for weeks/months on end. They also recently revealed their new (read: been active for the entire year) budget saving, episode quotas, where they have roughly 16 characters appear per episode, which is why the storyline structure has sucked this year (characters randomly disappearing).

Yes, they do, with the exception of Wendy Richard. I still can't believe that exit.

I believe that was in part revenge, for her public comments about the show, and her character. TPTB, at the time, were not very happy with Wendy.

I just wonder what will replace her.

Don't you mean who?

Carol Jackson is returning permanently, so I assume she'll be taking Peggy's place, but not at the Mitchell family (obviously), but by expanding the Jackson-Brannings.

The Mitchell family is depleted. Roxy is dead weight, Phil is dead weight, so is Billy. They've done a lot of damage to Ronnie.

I love Roxy; she's not dead weight, yet. She's got a lot of life left in her, if they would only tap into that. She does have her very, very slow burning romance with Dr. Al,

which will morph into a love triangle with Chelsea.

How random. Plus, they've cast Ronnie & Roxy's mum, Glenda, who'll be arriving at Xmas/in the new year.

But I will give you Phil and Billy, and in part Ronnie, who is slowly being ruined, but there's still room for redemption, as long as they don't leave it too late.

Since the people who ran EE in 2003-2006 did huge damage to the show (the worst mistake was killing off Kathy), I know they have had to do repair work, but the show seems somewhat hollow now.

The damage that was done during 2003-06, has been irreparable backstage. The writers were burned pretty badly by the previous regime, so I doubt thinks will ever go back to how they were pre-2003.

Check out this blog, which details what really happened during that bad time. Eastenders: From high to low

And there were worse things to happen, than killing off Kathy. They can easily bring her back, especially as it was a random off screen death.

I favour EE over the other two, probably b/c it's the only London based soap on air. Family Affairs was also a fave (another London set soap).

How is Sam an odd character to bring back? She's a core Mitchell, along with Grant and Phil. These later cousin upstarts are the "odd" folks. I'm glad they are exploring her history with Ricky. The Sam/Ricky/Bianca triangle is great, both Ricky's true loves at one time.

It's odd because, Sam's currently doing nothing of much interest. It doesn't help that the Ricky/Sam love has come out of left field, since Kim Metcalf's tenure, which during that time, the Ricky/Sam love was kaput, finished, over. Their "reunion" doesn't make sense. The triangle started off OK, but it has fizzled since - nothing is happening at all. Then there's Daniella's tragic car crash, and the re-constructive surgery she needed on her face, which means she has a terrible expression whenever she tries to "act" out any emotional scenes. Everything thing about her return has yet to serve any great purpose, and is kind of a mess.

BTW: I'd take Ronnie & Roxy over Sam, any day.

I see what you mean, Cat, but for me, it's been tainted by the route they took to get there. It's a credibility issue on Maria's side, more than anything else. Maria was convinced that Tony killed Liam (even going so far as to mow him down), he even threatened to hurt her and her baby, if she didn't back off! Yet she randomly puts it all down to hormones - WTF! Hormones might make her act irrational, but they do not make you believe your husband was murdered by his love rival. And for Maria to have Tony move in, without any kind of doubt (even though Natasha told her about Tony's threats), just make her look beyond stupid.

And Tony's feelings for Maria, have come out of nowhere. Him feeling obligated, and wanting to make amens makes sense, but to actually fall for her...?! It just feels random.

And in other news: I see Craig Kelly (Luke) and Reese Dinsdale (Joe) are both leaving. They've missed a trick with developing Luke's character, but I'll be glad to see the back of Joe. Although, I can't believe his prescription drug addiction will drag out until he leaves!

...hopefully this means that they have planned for this eventuality in advance and get a great storyline out of it.

One would hope. But this is Neighbours, and it could easily be a major miss. On the plus side, Susan Bower has talked about the golden couple, being not-so golden, so it seems like they've found away to factor the surrogacy into his exit.

But... what's even more surprising, is his contract was only for two years anyway, and he only ever intended to stay for that length of time, which means TPTB knew along that the character wouldn't be around when they penned the surrogacy story.

Hopefully they have a really great reason for splitting up the golden couple.

Can't say I agree at all--the show is very brilliantly and consistently written. The Ken & Martha affair storyline, resolution and repercussions were just amazing.

I liked the Ken & Martha story; I was rooting for them to be together, and for Stephanie Beacham to be a permanent player... but alas, that was never meant to be. However, I didn't like the underlining message that, chasing ones dream is a fantasy. I couldn't see any problem with Ken wanting to be with a woman who he connected with, and got along with better than his wife. He's never been completely content with Deirdre, so why should he have to stay with her? The resolution was good - Ken wanted the relationship on his terms; he didn't want to fit into her life. Overall, this story didn't really paint Ken in a flattering light - he really is a cruel coward. Breaking up with Deirdre in a letter was bad, but leaving Martha, planning their future, thinking she's talking to him, as she sets sail, only for Ken to be standing on the bridge, suitcase in hand, was low. He didn't even have the guts to tell her in a letter - he just ran.

Since then, the show has been all shades of mediocre. Nothing works for me. Kevin/Molly are out of character; John is a waste of space - they ruined his character the moment he kidnapped Rosie (another terrible story); Fiz is pathetic, and Rosie is annoying (she's lost her depth) - it's really stupid how John gave her "compensation;" David never develops; Joe is a bore, and his addiction to prescription pills was predictable; The Windasses don't work (Anna should've been a single mother); They wasted Poppy, and dropped Amber to recurring (the only one who works well with Dev); Tony/Maria was badly executed, and it makes her look like such a tool; there are heaps of characters just drifting...

I liked the idea of Janice - an uneducated, older woman - wanting to become a nurse. It was quite inspiring. But they dropped it. And why has Becky become so obnoxious lately? Basically, I'm not enthralled with anything... Wait. Actually, Auntie Pam is awesome, but she doesn't get used that much.

I love how Neighbours, attracts so much celebrity attention, yet still they struggle with the ratings Down Under.

I take it she won't be performing, seeing as it's just one scene, and with Zeke only...?

Has David framed Gary for burgling Audrey's house?

And you care, because?

It's really just another David plot, where they fail to explore his real motivations, leaving him on his little merry-go-round of mediocrity. There's only so much that you can blame your mum's serial killer boyfriend, for.

IMO, this show is one big bore. The majority of the storylines are either mediocre, bad, or out-of-character. Half the cast never really get used, while the other half are over used. It's in a rut.

Wait, no. Beautiful Thing is Jonathan Harvey's play from 1993.

Damn Google!

No, wait... damn me for skim reading!

I thought it didn't sound very telenovela-esque.

I'm not a Hollyoaks fan, so I don't know what I'm doing here, but to answer one of your questions, I did read on DS a couple of weeks ago that the new producer's eps start in June. This is still BK's work.

Oh, I know, I had heard that the show has become crap, and wondered if you guys felt the same (hence me being here).

And on the subject of that telenovela, I was very surprised to read about it being in development, especially seeing as that kind of OTT drama is kind of a niche thing. I believe it was supposed to be called Beautiful Thing. Clearly it's been scraped. Googling it, there doesn't seem to be any reason why... unless I've missed it.

IA about Zeke - he has come into his own. For a long time he flip-flopped between different character types, but now he feels a lot more defined. I really liked his scenes with Kyle and Justin; it felt as if he was on equal footing, compared to his presence within the RS teen group. I wouldn't mind seeing Kyle, stick around, and interact with the other teens. It would be interesting seeing Zeke juggle two sets of mates.

I think Zeke's disappearance has been played quite well. All the reactions and reality of a missing relative have been hit. I'm just a little worried that the outcome won't live up to the former beats in the story.

I think Rebecca's awesome. Her split from Paul, was exactly what the character needed, in order to develop. I really hope she sticks around for a long time to come. Gotta love how they've sexed up the character with all those revealing dresses! I'm not sure I really believed much of those rumours (about JH & KV).

I'm loving Lucas & Elle! I think they're my favourite couple - so stubborn, yet so alike.

Oh, and James, I'm the same. I watch no matter how bad it gets, and there have been some pretty rough patches.

Man, it's really hard getting some kind of following going for this show.

Whoever is watching, what are you thoughts on the missing Zeke story?

Toups: Recent Neighbours icon. I realize it's plain, but at least it's recent, and not representing the '98.

Some of it was very, very good. I gasped when Ronnie threw Danielle into the street (knowing of course how the story was going to end). Sam Janus put in an excellent performance.

SJ was the saving grace. I truly don't understand the mass hysteria, surrounding the character of Danielle. I really didn't connect with her at all; her acting was terribly screechy and lacked any real emotional connection to the characters plight. Granted, there were a lot of tears and shouting and pleading, but this just masked her lack of depth. The girl was a plot device from the get go, yet some people don't seem to have realised this.

A big problem I have with all British soaps is that no matter how good a particular episode is and how excellent the dialogue pretty much always is, usually after two months of great storytelling comes a period of two years of absolute, inimitable dreck: yes, you can watch day-by-day, but there's just nothing in there, just sporadic episodes or scenes which are superb and then fifty other episodes of... Blah. Sad.

I think you can say the same for US soaps - they'll constantly drag thinks out for weeks, without anything really happening. I don't have time to watch Y&R, religiously, so I end up skipping episodes. The last ep I saw, was when the bomb exploded. I then tuned in again last week, and really, things were pretty much still the same. I skipped all the in-between and watched the wedding, which was awesome, but I really didn't need to see every moment of Billy and Chloe faking it, or Jill banging on that Kay's an imposter, when I got all that before, and after.

I think all soaps, no matter the country, go through highs and low; it just seems to happen a lot more often than it used to.

Are you still following the Oz soaps?

Santer's storylines have clearly been planned in advance.

That doesn't fill me with any confidence in his ability. Last year was a bad time for the show, IMO. A lot of plot driven mess, with unrealistic climaxes. Like, Lauren mowing down Max (when did she learn how to drive?). Or the terrible structure and plotting of storylines. Like, the Danielle saga, which was badly paced, with no real explanations into why Archie is the way that he is. Or how most stories stop and start, with such implausible breaks - Nick randomly disappearing (I realize the actor had time out, but they actually had the character leave, return, reveal (rehash) plot, then leave for 3 months without any explanation!), characters going on vacation every two months, just so their story can be put on the backburner, even though it doesn't seem authentic.

I'm also really tired of seeing the same characters mixing with the same lot, day-in-day-out for months. All the characters have been segregated to their respective families, and all those without a family, have been shoved together under one roof. Ironically, with the discussion over Y&R's blatant isolation of it's AA characters, EE have also grouped all their black characters together. There is no ripple effect with storylines - i.e, Danielle's death only affects her family and Stacey; Patrick's secret only involves his little group, etc. No-one has friends any more, which sometimes makes it feel like they're all in their own little spin-off.

I hope Joey sticks around for a while and becomes a regular character. In the past, both Neighbours and Home and Away tend to introduce gay. lesbian and minority characters for short stints only to wirte them out permanently once their initial storyline is up.

This is really gonna disappoint you: The storyline is only going to last 6 weeks.

I think the most important thing is Charlie, and where they'll take her character. If she reverts back to dating solely men, then this will all have been for nothing.

BTW: Toups, I really disliked that Today Tonight clip you posted. Why did TT have to give the most face time to those bigots, when they could have produced a more rounded segment?

An update on the Charlie/Joey "controversy"

Home & Away lesbian kiss between actresses Esther Anderson and Katie Bell cut by Seven

CHANNEL 7 has censored a lesbian kissing scene in its popular family soapie Home and Away after a viewer backlash.

Since the lesbian story line began two weeks ago, 100,000 viewers have turned off and complaints have been flooding in. The now-muted kiss will air on Tuesday night.

The decision was taken to play down the scene after complaints from conservative lobby groups in media reports were followed by complaints from viewers, The Australian reports.

"They (Home and Away) continue to market to kids and they continue to develop quite sexualised plot lines," Pro-Family Perspectives director Angela Conway said earlier this month.

"The plot lines that young kids and teenagers should be presented with should be about really authentic relationships that are not just sexualised."

Producers were forced to cut some of the more intimate close-up images of policewoman Charlie Buckton and deckhand Joey Collins sharing a passionate kiss after dancing together on a boat.

The original scene, played by actors Esther Anderson and Katie Bell, was no more intimate than any kiss shared by a heterosexual couple, sources said.

Some mothers contacted the network to say they didn't want their children exposed to same-sex relationships in a family show. Home and Away is screened at 7pm and is rated PG.

The show is popular internationally, especially with younger viewers, and attracts an Australian audience of more than one million every week night.

Anderson had said she had no problem with the scene.

"You learn pretty much everything at school," she said. "I don't think it's like I'm lifting the lid on something they don't already know about.

"To me there's no difference - love's love. The fact that your partner's the same sex is no different. You just want to be loved."

But... Back to the Bay, are now reporting that the kiss won't be cut... Roll on Tuesday!

Just thought I'd dredge this thread up. Anyone here still watching?

Personally, I'm loving the show right now. Nicola is awesome. Her needle stick injury has been really great, and well acted by Imogen Bailey. The fallout for Karl and Susan has enabled them to revisit the past, and thanks to Pete Ferguson, wanting to sell his story, they've managed to turn it into an umbrella story, by involving Paul and Elle. Genius.

I'm so not looking forward to, "Nasty" Nick's return. I don't see the need for it.

June Brown, has way too much clout, for my liking. Hmm, seems like a point I should've added to that Vets thread of Sylph's. Only listen when it's for the good of the show.

LOL, oh, come now, Ben. You know Archie moved into the Vic cos he luvs his precious Peg! Don't all British men over the age of 50 have a boner for Barbara Windsor circa her glorious Carry On days?

I wouldn't know! That't nearly double my age.

Wow, that Ronnie/Archie story sounds good. I like Samantha Janus as Ronnie some I'm hoping she dishes out some ass-kicking at some point. Not until Archie's lied/shagged/murdered/cheated/schemed his way around the Square, of course.

Sam Janus, is awesome.

Well, Archie's contracted for 6 months... So, who wants to bet that it'll all blow-up, in The Vic, on Christmas day? Unless Bradley and Stacey hijack Xmas, of course.

Really. EastEnders gets a lot of criticism when it goes off the rails because it used to be (don't know if it still is) the #1 rated SHOW (nevermind soap). Hardcore calls for its cancellation abounded less than two years ago when I was over there. I'm talking TV hosts, radio shows, newspapers (which play a big part in hyping the soaps). When Corrie struggles, though, it strikes me as being seen to go through "a bad patch" but there is always more faith that the show will pull through.

Too true. Corrie has been terrible for the last 2 years, but not once did the press criticise the producer, or the horrendous characters that were introduced. EE, is under the spotlight in a way that other soaps don't get. When it falls from it's perch, it gets bashed. I don't think it helps that it's no longer the #1 rated show. When Corrie was dire, it was still pulling in the ratings.

Whereas Coronation Street seems to be much better at utilizing its canvas. If somebody is not in a SL, the likelihood is that they may well be a few months down the road. At least from what I've seen.

That's been true of the past, but the 2 years have shown that far from the case. The show became, Conner Street, with anyone who wasn't involved with Liam/Carla/Michelle, backburnered, or dropped to recurring, like, Kelly Crabtree. David and his "devilish" antics also dominated things, as well as the horrible Morton family.

Thank you so much, Ben, for the wonderful post! 

So which British soap is doing well story-wise? Don't mention Hollyoaks.

I don't watch Hollyoaks, so I won't.

Tricky question. I'd say none of them. Emmerdale still sucks. But Corrie, I suppose is improving, albeit at a slow pace, after an horrendous 2 years.

Can I ask? What is Ronnie's beef with Archie?

Is Roxy really Ronnie's daughter a la Kat Slater? I kid. OK, seriously, why does she hate Sean? Apart from the fact that he's a total slime?

And why is there all this sexual tension everytime Ronnie and Phil "Bulldog" Mitchell have a scene?

Coronation Street seems to get mucho love in the British press.

Ronnie/Archie - this is good. Archie's evil, with a capital 'E'. Ronnie fell pregnant at 14, and when she gave birth, Archie stole her baby and gave it up for adoption. He has this need to control everyone and everything around him. When Ronnie, went to track down Roxy, she found her living with their father. While alone, he callously and coldly revealed in the cruellest way possible that her daughter is now dead. Apparently she drowned in the bath. He made it clear that it was a good thing, as Ronnie didn't deserve to be a mother, and she was never going to get the chance to be one. Ronnie also blames him for driving her mother away.

No, Roxy is not Ronnie's daughter. But new direction-less, Danielle, probably is. She's blonde, right age, etc. Really predictable. If she isn't, then she really does have zero point.

Ronnie hates Sean, because he's a total slime. Isn't that enough? They've been getting on better since Archie descended upon The Vic. Weirdly, the guy owns a mansion, yet settles for living in an overcrowded flat above a pub, in East London. Go figure. Oh, I suppose Sean, is better the devil you know.

Corrie is overrated, especially with the press (it can do no wrong in their eyes). It's slowly picking up, but not fast enough. Small improvements are better than none... If only they could see the light, and get rid of the stereotypical Sean, and the annoying Michelle.

So... How's this show doing?

It's like a steam train heading in the wrong direction.

EE is not in the same place it was this time last year. For some reason, Santa has been undoing all of the good work he put in place. This summer was extremely plot-driven, and heavily focused on certain characters. There has been an air of predictability and a sense of laziness with the execution of some stories.

The show has a lot of dead weight, which do nothing more that clutter up the canvas. Billy, Garry, Minty, Heather, Shirley, Vinnie, Darren, Charlie... New characters are really direction-less, and lack a valid point for being in Albert Square - Danielle, Callum, Suzy. The latter pair have family, but still they don't seem to blend in very well. Callum is Vinnie's son, who's leaving anyway, which makes his son's arrival pointless (he's also badly miscast). He's been chucked into a love triangle with Bradley/Stacey (yawn), who BTW, are being forced upon us. At the moment, Eastenders seems to revolve around the Mitchell's and the Branning's, with the Jackson's thrown in for good measure, while Christian, Patrick, Denise, Chelsea, Lucas, The Masood's, continue to languish on the backburner. They killed Jase off, which only serves to isolate Dawn, further. Axed Honey and Yolande, for no good reason, which almost makes their spouses obsolete; It also allows them not to deal with little Janet, and her Downs Syndrome.

So basically, we have the dullness of, Max/Tanya/Jack; Bradley/Stacey/Callum; Archie & Peggy; Archie/Ronnie/Roxy/Sean (which isn't moving very fast), and Bianca/Tony/Whitney (which is all a bit creepy for the timeslot). Oh, and Jane was given a clichéd secret, complete with clichéd dialogue to match.

Overall, it's not good, but it's not bad, either. Just mediocre. And Eastenders can be so much more than mediocre.

Well, a short synopsis outlining the current stories would be great. Just so that I know what to watch for.

And in the end - how did Bevan do this time? Any news on what's he up to now?

Since I last posted, my opinion has changed. Not really that into the show atm. In fact I'm back to missing episodes again. Way to newbie-centric for my liking - 80% of the cast are new, and all within the space of several months. I haven't been keeping up with Oz spoilers, so this is mostly UK pace.

After Sam's murderer was revealed to have been herself, Jack and Martha got back together. After a rough period persuading everyone that they were meant-to-be, Martha discovered she's pregnant - cue, who's the daddy? Roman knows he's a candidate, but Jack doesn't.

It turns out that Roman's the papa. How surprising - not!

Tony proposes to Rachel, and she excepted. She wants to start a family, but it turns out that Tony, had the snip, sometime after Beth's death (when the hell did he fit that in?), and he can't have it reversed, due to complications of some sort. Another childless relationship for Rachel, then.

After her plot to break-up Rachel/Tony was revealed, as well as a frank talk with Rachel, Jazz decided to take stock of her life, and leave town to reconnect with Drew.

Gavin, the jerk newspaper editor, tried to have, The Den, shut down, as part of some revenge attempt against Belle, for quitting her photo journalism job, by insulting him. He failed. Leah and Miles tried to fight their attraction to one another.

Miles tracked down a kid, he'd befriended in Phuket, who he'd promised to look after. Jai was reluctant at first, but decided to come and stay with Miles, in Summer Bay House. He struck up a friendship with Maddie, due to her perfume reminding him of his Mum.

Noel blackmailed Ric, into partaking in under-ground bare-knuckle-fighting. Viv's unborn bayb, which was Ric's, was at stake. Ric came up against an old member of Johnny's gang. Viv's baby was diagnosed with a disability, she tried to flee, but Noel, caught her. Ric managed to scrape with his life, but Viv lost the baby, while Noel faked his death to escape his debts, as well as the cops. Maddie organized a sweet memorial for the baby. Ric got a job as a security guard, working with Aden's dad, Larry. During an armed robbery (Kane), Larry was shot, and Ric was injured. He's now suffering from post-traumatic stress.

Geoff and Melody became the new, Romeo & Juliet. After Nicole's bet to snag him for herself failed, Christine (Melody's Mum) plotted to keep them apart (uber catholic, everything's a sin, etc), first by taking on Miles, and his chosen reading material, which basically put the kids to sleep, than corrupt; then by issuing a restraining order against, Geoff. It was at Nicole's (Roman's teenage daughter) party, which was gate crashed by Axel's mates, that saw Axel try to seduce Melody, even though she said no.

Belle and Aden started to draw closer. Their flirtation nearly boiled over into something more. He's still dealing with his grandfather's abuse, and is feeling betrayed by his father. Larry swore his was off the grog, but during the night of the armed robbery, in which he got shot, he'd been drinking, which has caused complications. Nicole showed that she cared for him, by opening up her heart, but he broke it by rebuffing her, and subsequently forgetting their tête-a-tête. And Nicole's reasons for being in town - her mother's boyfriend tried it on with her.

During Sam's murder case, Morag hooked up with old lover, Ross. Colleen's over protectiveness of newly discovered sister, nearly cost Morag her relationship. Alf persuaded Morag to give into her feelings, and let love take hold. Ross' daughter Charlie, arrived, non to pleased about the budding romance. She saw it as a crime against her dead mother's memory.

Morag and Ross, have recently got married!

Kane and Kirsty returned, with their son, Oliver in tow. Irene ended up hiding the fugitives, while Oliver received treatment for a bone condition. After a car chase, Kane was caught, and arrested for several robberies. Kirsty was devastated.

Kirsty becomes Ric's lover interest, after he and Maddie split.

I've probably left heaps out. But this is the gist of where we are. It's all a bit boring, really.

Jazz was great, but for the actress that played her it was a completely different role than what she had on Blue Heelers.

Who's the daddy has been all stitched up, but I do feel for Martha as she is battling breast cancer. This friday is gone to be the last eppy for two weeks due to the Olympic, but this week promises to be good with Nicole's life being in danger.

I loved Jazz, and Rachel Gordon, who played her. Simply stunning. I thought it was her Neighbours, role as faux-Dr. Charlotte Stone, which was completely different to her Blue Heelers Character? Maybe I'm mistaken, but it come before Jazz...

I can't get into Martha's story, at all. It's all been there, done that, bought the rehashed t-shirt. I know that it's "new" for H&A, but it's not even been 2 years, since the exact same story was done on Neighbours. And even if they leave out the sectioning part, it'll still feel too much the same, IMO.