Family Affairs

[Ben]

[DRW50]

Thanks. Arlo seemed to be in the center of all kinds of drama. The actor is doing those silly pouty faces. How long was he around?

I can't believe they cast her cousin to play a guy she kissed.

Some of these stories sound a little too cliched or soapy (going from grandson to grandfather, teacher/pupil, etc.)

[Ben]

I think Arlo was around for a year or two. I know he was involved in quite a few stories.

I doubt they knew they were related when they cast him, as he was guest role... at least, I really hope they didn't! That would be taking the shows title too literal!

They liked to live up to their name. Just wait until you see a few other articles, especially all the Pete Callan stuff.

Edited August 28, 2012 by Ben

[DRW50]

That date rape story with Julie-Ann sounds like the type of topic most soaps won't touch. I guess she didn't stay around long.

Pete Callan seemed to be very popular - someone on Digital Spy used his name for a handle.

[Ben]

Pete Callan was a popular, if not the most popular character on the show. He was complex; he could do bad things, but you would know why he was doing it, and how he got himself into those situations; he would also have moments of genuine love.

Julie-Ann stayed around for about a year.

[DRW50]

Margi Clarke? She was Tyrone's mother on Corrie, a nightmare. How was she on here?

These sound like very gripping stories. The one where Josh knows he's going to die and turns his head is so stomach-turning. No soap today would pull that off.

[Ben]

I had forgotten that Margi Clarke was in the show. From what I can recall, she wasn't a nightmare like her Corrie character, she was a lot softer (as soft as one can be with that hard, brisk accent - LOL). She was around for a few months, but really, bringing in Pete's family didn't do much for him, IMO. I always felt his sister was too dull and easily forgettable, while his mother was nice while she lasted, but she never appeared again. It could just be my memory not remembering them that well, but with a character like Pete, there's always an expectation that his family will unearth another side to the character, or develop him in some way, but I never got that from them. Not that I can remember.

The Josh story was huge, and probably one of the most memorable in the shows history. IA that no soap would write/direct a scene like Josh's death these days. Pete and Siobhan carried the show during this period, as they were a much watch couple.

This one was supposed to go before the last one.

[DRW50]

Thanks for sharing these. From reading the descriptions it does sound like his family were kind of a bust. I don't get the point of this half-sister he started having an affair with. That hostage plot sounds dire. Pooky Quesnel played Bradley's mother on Eastenders and did a very good job.

Which of Pete's wives had the threeway?

[Ben]

Pooky Quesnel was great on EE, but in this show, she was either miscast, or the character was just so damn dull, that she couldn't bring any life to it. The affair was random and a bust on screen. It just didn't make any sense. Pete had many loves, and they all made some sense, except for his sister; it felt like they did this for shock value - pseudo-incest. I was glad when his family left, and I shouldn't really feel that way about Pete's family; they should have worked.

Eileen was the one who had the threesome with two cops. Eileen was Pete's last and final wife. She was awesome; such a fun character - you know the type: bitchy, bad mother with issues, a schemer, someone you could root for; she was a match for Pete, but sadly, they were destined to destroy each other. They did take the whole 'long-lost son' thing a step too far when they cast Sam Taylor, a character who had no personality and was in the way. At this point, Eileen already had two daughters - Charlotte and Lucy Day - she didn't any more random kids.

How much of the Matt/Karen/Kelly story have you seen? I've got a bunch of their story, but if you've already watched it on YT, I won't bother uploading them... unless you want me to?

[DRW50]

Yay, you're back! Thanks for keeping this going. So Cat was around for quite a while? I don't know much of her.

I haven't watched most of the Kelly story. If you want to see what is on Youtube you should look at girlsngear's channel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/girlsngear?feature=CAQQwRs%3D

I hope you might share your thoughts in the Corrie thread about the Bob and Rose homage with Marcus and Maria, which is, sadly, the only thing I am watching on the show at the moment. Charlie Condou is such a good, natural actor, and at least this gives him more to do and keeps him away from the destroyed of all worlds, and line readings, Sean. If only it could end in something beyond the usual rushed misery.

[Ben]

Cat must have appeared as part of the 1999 revamp, and stayed to the bitter end. Cat was great. She was the loser of the show, the one who needed a happy ending. There were a couple of times when they made her happy, back-burnered her, and didn't know what to do, so had her new man cheat or something, which got a bit repetitive for a while. They got a lot of mileage out of the tumultuous Pete/Cat/Dave triangle, and Pete/Cat attacking each other never got old. I wish I had more on Cat & Pete.

Thanks. I'll check out that channel.

[DRW50]

I never knew that. The only long running characters I know about are Pete, Yasmin, and the gay guy who was stabbed to death.

[Ben]

I see.

Sean was the gay guy who got stabbed. He wasn't in the show for long, maybe a couple of years. He had the whole Will & Grace story with that woman whose name I forget. I liked him, once they developed him outside of his Will & Grace relationship.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Ben

[DRW50]

Tony Booth was married to Pat Phoenix at the end of her life.

For some reason I thought one of Karen or Kelly was a Hart. Clearly not.

Matthew Jay Lewis. I didn't know he was on this show. He was Louise's first husband on Hollyoaks, had sleazy writing, and was soon written out. I actually liked the actor and thought he had a lot of charisma.

And Tanya Franks - Rainie on Eastenders. Wow. Talk about a small world.

What did you think of the Karen/Kelly story? It seems a bit aimless reading this.

Edited October 6, 2012 by CarlD2

[Ben]

I did not know that about Tony Booth.

I can see where you're coming from. I think Kelly looks like she should have been apart of the Hart family.

MJL played Sean, right? I vaguely remember seeing him on that show. He had that same level of charisma on FA.

I wasn't an uber-fan or anything. I remember thinking that Karen becoming gay was randomly done. I don't think I followed it too closely. Kelly, as a character, never felt permanent; she always felt like she was short term. They did well in building up their romance, but I was disappointed that they went the route of throwing her down the stairs and killing her off. I always sorry for poor Matt, who drew the short straw in all of this. Once Kelly was dead, the story reached a dead-end, and they were all written out. It was quite disappointing, and I guess they suffered the change in producer.

I never understood why every revamp had to consist of getting rid of a load of characters? Granted, some needed to go, but a lot of characters that got culled in every producer change, had some life left in them. It was like HO: new producer, axes characters, brings in new characters, who have no longevity. Rinse and repeat.