As an avid soap fan, I am often drawn to strong female characters, once that are least like me most will say. For instance, I am a huge Kat Slater, Charity Dingle, Stacey Slater, Tiffany Mitchell, Bianca Butcher and many more. But recently the writing in Coronation Street and Emmerdale has been woeful and mostly with the female characters.
Emmerdale:
The writing for the past year has been woeful, especially for many of the women in the show. It's not the acting, for the main part it's the writing. And next week's spoilers give me no hope that the writing is going to get better.
Gabby:
What has happened to Gabby? Yes she was a little madam growing up but in the last year its been horrific. Yes being left at the altar is horrific, and I wouldn't want anyone to go through that, but her behaviour has been terrible.
Firstly threatening Nicky with losing his job unless he slept with her, imagine if it was the other way round and Nicky had said that to her, the uproar that everyone on Twitter saying what a horrible, vile man he was. But because it's a woman nothing was mentioned, not even an eyebrow raised.
The way she blurted out Dawn's secret that she was firstly a prostitute and then a few months later she was pregnant, was utterly diabolical and her reaction to it was like a two-year-old not being allowed an ice cream before dinner. She may have apologized, but her apology was utter crap, she had no regard for Clemmie and her feelings.
And then the reaction to Nicky staying in for one night was like it was her house. The last time I checked it belonged to Kim Tate and Kim has a say who lives there and if she allowed Nicky to stay because it made her adopted granddaughter happy, then guess what, you can't do anything about it.
And the spoilers coming up for next week, Gabby going into kiss Billy and then making gooey eyes at him. Utterly pathetic, is this all they can think of?
Why couldn't they have Gabby and Nicky become BFFs, after a period of healing.
Sarah
Wow, where do I start with Sarah, she doesn't get many scenes but recently when she does, they are horrific. For instance, this whole thing with Chloe.
It is of course not her fault that Mack got her best friend pregnant, but her first fault in all this was not telling Charity when she found out. Okay its a soap, and we all need a bit of drama, but still Charity is your grandmother who has taken her in and looked after her like her own.
And then when Charity did find out, and it was her 18th birthday she wanted Chloe at her birthday party. Never mind that Chloe had upset her grandmother, and had the gall to turn up with Mack and Sarah still just happily sat there like nothing. Selfishly not thinking about the hurt her grandmother was feeling.
Then recently with Amelia, going on and on about Dan and Noah being wrong and Amelia should show them about who good influencing is. Well how right were Dan and Noah?
Then next week's spoilers suggesting Amelia lying about Lloyd raping, how low and disgusting. Her grandmother was raped, and she's now encouraging someone to lie about it? I mean really, what is wrong with her?
Amelia:
Amelia has always been one of my favourite characters, I loved her sassiness, but I also loved her religious and kind. A different take on a teenager in a soap and I liked it.
I liked her supporting Noah in prison and being the only one to give him a second chance, because it fitted in with her Christian values and her character.
What I don't like recently is her complete character change. And yes I get she is sixteen and a young mother and finding herself, and that's what teenagers do, but some things just don't sit right with me.
Whatever you may think of Noah and the whole thing about him suddenly changing, my opinion is actually rather good on the writing and storytelling, the whole point of prison is to rehabilitate and give you a trade, and they have.
How many eighteen-year-old boys would take on a baby that isn't there, probably not many, and Noah had no qualms about it, and all Amelia has done recently has treated him like a glorified babysitter and someone to dump her child on. Even when they weren't speaking, I wanted Noah to just say no to her.
This influencer storyline, I get it, I honestly do, as someone who has an Etsy store for my handmade cards and gifts, plus a debilitating condition that has taken away my profession as a teacher, I have thought about going on YouTube and Instagram and using both to my advantage.
She wants the best for her daughter, and with money being tight and Dan's income low, I get the idea of it. But her treatment of Dan and Noah was utterly dreadful, not listening, thinking she was right, and no care for their feelings and concern.
And now for the spoilers for next week, to even think about lying being raped is utterly disgusting, her future mother-in-law, maybe was raped, Noah's brother is a result of rape. I get it, she's scared of her dad going down but to lie about something so horrific. Can her character and everything that I liked about her survive that?
My storyline for her this year would have been involving Samson, her and Noah, and it would either be an adoption storyline with Samson telling everyone he doesn't want to be a dad, no blackmail, nothing. How would adoption services see it with Noah's criminal record.
Or I would have had Social services charging Samson after the false allegations late last year, showing the consequences of false allegations. Still keeping her Christian values and still being a little bit sassy.
Charity
My God, what have they done with this woman! This strong woman, the Kat Slater of the Emmerdale Dales, she was strong, vulnerable, funny, witty, but they have destroyed this character for at least eighteen months.
Charity to me, I believe wanted to make it work with Mack because it ruined things with Vanessa, the woman she truly loves. Hence, why she tried so much, but my God the writing was terrible.
I honestly hoped she found out and would have done a big reveal at the wedding, but it was such a disappointment.
Emma Atkins given the right material is the best in the business and her scenes with Jack Downham, Jeff Hordley and Daisy Campbell. Especially Jack Downham, but this whole Mack thing ruined her character and I just hope and pray her character can come back and this big October storyline has nothing to do with Mack and please God not a pregnancy storyline.
Other things:
- They have done two storylines which Kerry should have been there for, one Reuben being ill, I am sorry but if my grandchild was potentially dying I would have swum the channel to be with my daughter and grandchild. And now the Dan storyline, she bought Amelia up as her own, are you telling me she wouldn't be there. They should have waited for the actress to finish maternity, it is unrealistic.
- What the hell have they done with The Andersons. Could you have made a more stereotypical black family? Daughter a loud mouth, brash, opinionated, stands by and lets an attack happen, father in jail, liar, steals and the mother religious busybody, but turns a blind eye to crimes and forgives. I am married to a proud black family, and they are tired of the stereotypes that are still portrayed, okay the son is a lawyer and Charles is a vicar, but why oh why make the rest of the family, fit the stereotypes. Why not have a sickle cell storyline, a condition that commonly affects black people?
- Mary being conned, yes I know it happens, but it was such a shame they went down the route with Mary, why not give the storyline to Rishi, or another older generation, or Zak to be conned. The actress Jane Gurnett who played Faye, is a great actress, and she would have added so much to the soap. Plus do we really need another LGBTQ+ relationship failing, especially the older generation. It took a lot for Mary to come out.
What EastEnders have got over the past eighteen months right is character development and that's what Emmerdale has failed at recently. These characters can come back, and when they get it right they get it right, Paddy's mental health storyline, Cain and Moira in everything they do, Marlon's stroke, Marlon and Mary, Bernice and Nicola, I really like Gail and I think she has potential, she adds a bit of humour and I love Bear, him telling Chas exactly what he thought of her had me standing up and clapping.
