Emmerdale: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

Yes. 

 

When they don't write her as a romantic heroine I think Debbie can be an asset to the show. She was for a number of years. I think they just don't need to write her based on her love life or being some ideal mother. She worked best as an anti-heroine. 

 

She's been gone a year anyway so we got a break...

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I guess so. I've just never cared for Debbie. Her breathing annoys the f-ck out of me.

[I Am A Swede]

 

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.

 

[All My Shadows]

I was always pretty positive that they indeed purposely wrote the Merricks out. Not that I know too much about it, but I feel as though that era was all about disposing of the show's past and creating a "bigger, better" show, playing essentially into the notion that the "daytime" years were utter boring sh!t (which, of course, I disagree with - that's the Emmerdale I'm most interested in).

I was researching after watching the Sarah's death episode, and yes, Samuel Skilbeck should be on this show, in his early 30s. I hate it when shows randomly dig up old characters to bring back, but if these UK soaps can throw together a whole new family and put them on the frontburner right away, why not at least make the family an offshoot of established characters who once were the center of the show? It's a simple matter of continuity! Emmerdale Farm was not a show filled with babies, weddings, and funerals, so the few opportunities that are there to make connections between its past and its present should be exploited.

[DRW50]

 

I think the actors wanted to leave, although I'm not totally sure about Sandie. I know that the guy who played Jackie did. 

 

(he also supposedly had an affair with the woman who played Kathy, which may not have helped)

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/jungle-rat-tore-my-family-apart-1628270

[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.

[DRW50]

 

The oddest part is the character who seemingly would have worked best in the newer format (Joe, given his longtime ties to Home Farm and business) never really worked that well. Maybe because Joe wasn't the same in his last years.

 

It still makes no sense to me just how much the show butchered so many Sugdens and people close to them. They're lucky to have even survived such a destructive mentality - if not for so many '90s characters being so compelling I don't think it would havel asted the decade. 

 

The episodes where Dolly realizes what scum the Tates are sort of gives the biggest blueprint of what the show would become. 

[I Am A Swede]

You know, I never really thought about Joe that way, but you're absolutely right. He should have fit in to the "new" Emmerdale much more than he did. Certainly better than someone like Matt would have. In a way Matt embodies the "old" Emmerdale Farm, and he would have been very out of place on the show in the 90s. I will forever be grateful though that both he and Dolly made it out of Beckindale alive.

 

The first half of the 1990s was actually quite a good period. I think the show really started to lose its way in the middle of the decade. The growing number of Dingles that popped up didn't help, but I think the biggest sign of trouble was actually turning Kim into some kind of superbitch. Her coming back from the dead, watching Frank die, plotting to commit insurance fraud etc was so out of style for the show, and it opened the door for a whole new kind of stories that would have seem hopelessly out of place a few years earlier.

[DRW50]

@I Am A Swede I thought of you when I saw this on Youtube. It's a Swedish vocal version of the theme. Rare.

 

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[NothinButAttitude]

Really? Bernice & Jimmy?!! Ugh! I don't like that they have Bernice doing this to Nicola. I just don't!

[DRW50]

 

They aren't actually doing anything, although she kissed him while she was drunk and he was passed out. I do think the whole thing is silly and the actors deserve better, although I'll admit I laughed at various points, like when Nicola started tossing the toilet paper rolls. 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I recognize that but something small always pans into something major. I'd just prefer they not have Bernice do that. I cherish her closeness with Nicola as it is one of the solid sibling relationships on this show. I'd hate for it to be severed b/c Bernice or Jimmy had the burning urge to screw one another.

[DRW50]

 

I don't think it's going to go that far. I think it's just more breakup drama that always fades out. I just wish they'd let Nicola and Jimmy have a new story for once and let Bernice stop being so pathetic all the time. 

 

I did like the increased character interaction in this past few episodes, like Joanie and Zak with Aaron and Robert, Pollard with Robert, etc. And the scenes with Ronnie and Lawrence were touching. The only part that annoyed me was Lawrence berating David. I still haven't forgotten what Lawrence and his family did to Alicia and the Metcalfes, even if the show wants me to.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Oh I haven't forgotten what Lachlan did to my precious Alicia either, hence why I wanted Diane to bludgeon his ass to death that day she threw a rock through the window. 

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While I don't mind the Whites now, I still wanna see them all leave in bodybags eventually. 

 

I am over Bernice being pathetic too, which is why I don't even want them to entertain Jimmy/Bernice. As I've said numerous times, why not test out Dan and Bernice? I think they'd be hot. 

[I Am A Swede]

 

Wow, this is awesome! I had no idea this song existed! 

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