Well...it's clear that they do things quite differently across the pond.

Even Y&R, the most visually appealing of them all, can't touch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCEdx7Sc9Ys...feature=related

Congratulations Y&RWorldTurner.

WE HAVE NEW CONVERTS!

Just over 2 years ago, Hollyoaks was essentially the 'joke' of the British Soap Industry, with it's poor actors and nothing stories.

Then it all changed when Bryan Kirkwoord, a former Story Editor (you could call it a british version of Associate Head Writer) from Coronation Street (he was the SE during the Richard Hillman story as well as the well received Todd/Karl story, etc) was drafted in.

Two years later... well, you're seeing what the show is now.

And he's clearly having a blast. If you believe what you hear, apparently, when Steve Frost said he was leaving Coronation Street, ITV put a call to Bryan Kirkwood and he said no.

Since we're on the topic of British soaps and since Hollyoaks won the most BSA's this year. Did anyone see today's AMAZINGLY SAD episode?!? It's truly the end of an era with Max dying.

OK, here's some backing info before I post clips. The John Paul and Kieron affair came to a climax this week, when John Pauls' mother, Myra, finds out what's really been going on. For those of you who don't know, Kieron is the gay priest Myra let into her home, but Myra's son John Paul is also gay and over the course of time develops an affair with Kieron, yes that John Paul, always unlucky in love (which is the theme in this week's episodes BTW). Anyway, at Steph and Max's wedding, Myra bursts in and reveals what her son and Kieron the Catholic priest have been up to! However, you get more of that at the end of Thursday's episode, which is not the focus of my post.

On to Max and Steph, which is the major focus of my post. After years of being unlucky in love and several attempts at being killed by Clare last year, Max finally found love with Steph. However, today was their wedding day and the man, Nial, who is in love/obsessed with Steph is driving by the location where they're celebrating. Max's little brother Tom is in the street and is about to be run over by a speeding car that's driven by Nial, Max sees it and rushes to save his little brother. Max is more like a father to Tom, since their parents are dead and he was left to take care of Tom. Anyway, Max ends up being the one hit, and he dies in the arms of his best friend OB (who has been though EVERYTHING WITH HIM) as Steph rushes to the scene and watches and cries on her wedding day.

[!@#$%^&*] is definitely going to hit the fan next week when Steph finds out that Nial killed her husband on their wedding day.

From those who aren't familiar with the show, it's definitely the end of an era, as Max has essentially grown up on the show. It was fitting to have him die in OB's arms, since their best mates have as I said, BEEN THROUGH EVERYTHING TOGETHER. To think I was a bit sad when OB left the show a few months back, but this is truly the end of it all.

Here's today's episode posted by a lovely person on youtube: [edit]

It had everything I was looking for. It had love, community, friendship, humour, suspense, death, grief, and irony (Max finally seemed to find love, but dies as he reaches it.)

Hollyoaks is no longer to me the lesser of the British soaps. What Bryan Kirkwood has managed to do with this show over the past two years of so is nothing short of BRILLIANT.

Thanks for posting this, Alvin! That was really good! I was almost in tears and I don't even know these people. What got me was that little kid playing Tom. He's such a good young actor. And then Steph running to Max.

I hope crumpetsandjam keeps on posting full episodes.

So what days does it air? Not 5 days a week, right?

Yes, Toups, it's Monday- Friday at 18:30pm. Quality TV. In my opinion, Hollyoaks and Eastenders are currently the two best British Soaps

Yes, Toups, it's Monday- Friday at 18:30pm. Quality TV. In my opinion, Hollyoaks and Eastenders are currently the two best British Soaps

So it is Monday-Friday? Ah okay, thanks!

So Eastenders is good? I might start watching it now that I found out Gemma Bissix is on the show! Why did she leave HO? Did she leave to go to EE or was she fired?

Speaking of Eastenders, do you know the link to the "Christmas Day" episode from 2007? It looked really good from the clip I saw for Best Episode.

Heres is episode 2 of Eastenders christmas day on you tube

http://uk.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=...earch_query=dvd

Edited June 28, 200817 yr by dannigold

I wonder how they're going to bring him back. There's so much unfinished business there, but John Paul and Kieron seem to be getting on nicely. It could be a nice gay love triangle and we know they'll play all the beats, after all, this isn't an American soap...

Has it been announced when Burnet is coming back yet? I mean, the John Paul and Kieron affair just reached its climax this week, I think they should wait a while before they bring Craig back into the picture. But as we know, Craig was the great love for John Paul, even though he couldn't admit it in public and still isn't comfortable with his sexuality.

Well it is stating that September is when he starts air but someone on his site stated that he starts taping in July so maybe the pushed it up since they know how much everyone once him back and for them reconnect John Paul and Craig.

I cant get into Keiron and that storyline was weird because at one point you had John Paul stating I dont want to be in another relationship that was full of secrets and that was what he was doing but it will be good to see how he reacts when he does see Craig.

Congratulations Y&RWorldTurner.

WE HAVE NEW CONVERTS!

Just over 2 years ago, Hollyoaks was essentially the 'joke' of the British Soap Industry, with it's poor actors and nothing stories.

Then it all changed when Bryan Kirkwoord, a former Story Editor (you could call it a british version of Associate Head Writer) from Coronation Street (he was the SE during the Richard Hillman story as well as the well received Todd/Karl story, etc) was drafted in.

Two years later... well, you're seeing what the show is now.

And he's clearly having a blast. If you believe what you hear, apparently, when Steve Frost said he was leaving Coronation Street, ITV put a call to Bryan Kirkwood and he said no.

Well I am another American who fell inlove with the way stories were being told and I have to say a big thanks to Y&RWorldTurner too because if it was not for their John Paul and Craig beautiful banner I would have never fell inlove with their storyline and became a junkie. LOL

Yup, content is not why soaps are failing, because anyone who is not a soap fan will tell you they were stupid and ridiculous during any year you want to put forth as the best year ever for soaps. The problem for the networks besides not wanting to air soaps at night is they do not have access to early evening hours. They gave that time to their affiliates to run syndicated fare like Jeopardy. I do think DOOL would propser on a M/W/Fr schedule at 8 PM.

Oooh...good point. American nets gave away the time between 4 pm and 8 pm (ET).

Good thing affiliates are going to die (IMO). They cannot survive in this cable universe, and nets are gonna want more revenue percentage and ad time (by going it alone). Affiliates will become independents that do local news and syndicated crap.

I think we now have the stage for re-invention!

When the nets finally get the 4-8 pm slot to fill, they'll consider the next generation of soaps. These will be, I predict, less frequent, more telenovela. A good telenovela can come back season after season with "next books".

I'm so happy for EastEnders winning! It's my all-time favorite soap -- so much so, I shell out $9.95 a month to watch it and have been for years! You wouldn't catch me paying to watch any US soap. But EE is worth every penny.

Toups: One awesome promo for ya':

Promo 2:

The Revelation: (This is the preceding scene to Danni's post)

Edited June 28, 200817 yr by Ben

If we are comparing production values:

Sturm der Liebe German soap airs at 2pm. Ratings up to 3 million viewers.

Verbotene Liebe airs at 6pm. Focuses on aristocrats and castles and the like. Also have a gay couple with a storyline.

Alles Was Zählt airs at 7pm. Focuses on ice skating. Has a professional ice skater as the main heroine and has fairly professionally shot ice dancing scenes.

Does anyone have some great Emmerdale promos?

Two years later... well, you're seeing what the show is now.

And he's clearly having a blast. If you believe what you hear, apparently, when Steve Frost said he was leaving Coronation Street, ITV put a call to Bryan Kirkwood and he said no.

Yup, Corrie is my all-time favourite soap, but it's so damn boring and stale these days that I'm not interested. How coincidental, the #1 UK soap and the #1 US daytime soap are so damn boring at the moment and have been for a while.

I must say, EastEnders has gotten substantially better too, it had a few really bad years IMO, but 2007 and 2008 seem really good.

Not that it would happen, but I'd love it if Kirkwood went to Corrie, but I'm afraid of what it would do to Hollyoaks.

Thanks for posting this, Alvin! That was really good! I was almost in tears and I don't even know these people. What got me was that little kid playing Tom. He's such a good young actor. And then Steph running to Max.

I loved that whole exchange between Max, OB, and Tom.

Some of this dialogue might be in the wrong place, but whatever.

::Max is on the street bleeding to death::

Max: I love you OB.

OB: Don't be gay Max, you'll be fine. ::in tears::

Max: Tell Steph that today was the best day of my life. <---- That really got me.

OB: No, you'll tell her youself when you see her and what I am gonna do without my best mate?

Tom: Make him wake up, OB! Make him wake up! ::Tom cries and rests his face on Max's stomach::

::Steph rushes in::

Edited June 28, 200817 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

This is what Bryan Kirkwood said about the Max/Steph wedding and what to expect for the aftermath in a May interview:

Max / Steph

"One of the biggest storylines we've got coming up is Max and Steph's wedding. It's the union of two of our most-loved and longest-serving characters and it's a relationship that taken a lot of people by surprise in in the way it's worked so well. It's seen a bit of a transformation in Steph over the last year - from a selfish wannabe to someone who's struggling to grow up. Her struggle to accept the role of mother to little Tom has been particularly endearing, too. There'll be a few will-they, won't-they battles leading up to their big day, not least O.B's return to tempt Max to run away to New York with him for one final adventure. I don't want to give away how Max departs from the show, but the wedding episodes and the aftermath are some of the strongest material we've done."

Hollyoaks Producer Bryan Kirkwood assumed office at the Chester-based soap over two years ago and since joining, his work has resulted in ever-growing critical acclaim. Fresh from his success at this year's British Soap Awards, Digital Spy caught up with Bryan to chat about what's to come for the show's returnees Max and Steph over the coming months, John Paul and Kieron's affair and more.

This is what he said is the key to success for any soap:

"It's like any show. It's storylines, performances, engaging characters and good writing. It's a fairly simple equation and the actors that we've got at the moment make up the strongest cast Hollyoaks has ever had. The characters are interesting and challenging - people like Mercedes [McQueen], Kris [Fisher] and Rhys [Ashworth], for example - these are people who you don't necessarily want to have a drink with, but hopefully you're entertained by them."

There's some spoilers are upcoming storylines, you can skip that if you want to continue watching without being spoiled. But it all solidifies that Brian Kirkwood is love.

Read the interview here:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a96114/b...-hollyoaks.html