So last week's spoiler pictures showed a car crash involving Charity, Chloe and Mack, and I presume that would be the super soap week.
And how predictable now! I don't want to complain before seeing it because it could be the best week of Emmerdale's 50 years. But I somehow doubt it, not if it involves Mack, and that's nothing against Lawrence Robb.
All my moans about characters have nothing to do with the actors or actresses; ultimately, they can only ever act what they are given. They are just doing their job.
So, back to the spoilers, if you haven't seen them, it shows a car falling over a cliff with what looks like Chloe in the back—charity pulling Mack back, etc.
I just can't. I despair about what they are doing to Charity. Charity to me is the Kat Slater of Emmerdale; you root for her because you want her to be loved, to be happy. But her writing of her is making you give up on her at times, especially when it comes to Mack.
Mack and Charity don't work. I don't know what the producers and the writers think we want, but we don't wish Mack and Charity together.
Charity has been ruined in the past two years, and like Chas, she is in danger of being unredeemable. Watching Emmerdale on ITV3 at the moment is like watching a different Charity! You don't recognise the character, not just because of her hair!
Charity then would never fall for any of Mack's bullshit! She wouldn't have looked twice at someone like Mack.
As I've said before, I've always thought she wanted it to work with Mack because she knew she had royally messed up with Vanessa and wanted to prove to everyone that it wasn't in vain. I still stick by this and don't care what the producers say or do.
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In the mid-2000s, the executive producer of EastEnders, Louise Berridge, oversaw EastEnders at its worst, including making Kat Slater/Moon the most disliked character in the show with her drinking and affairs. Jane is doing precisely the same to Charity Dingle.
EastEnders had a great thing with Alfie and Kat, a couple you could root for, a couple you related to, and to make drama, they decided to go down the route of her being bribed into bed with someone else. Emmerdale had a couple in Vanessa and Charity that many could relate to.
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What has Chloe's purpose been? They bought her in as a friend of Sarah, and then there was the storyline with Noah. I was not too fond of that storyline for many reasons; it wouldn't have been the storyline I would have chosen for her or Noah's first big storyline.
But they did it, and the continuation of the storyline has been awful. As much as I like that they haven't changed Noah into a complete arsehole, having Chloe move into them was terrible writing.
They may have glossed over it with a quick mention, but Chloe moved in with the person who stalked and abused her. Offering to make him breakfast. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. My husband was like, and they wonder why people don't report crimes; Chloe is now eating breakfast with him—poor writing.
And just as she was getting a storyline away from Sarah, Mack, and The Dingles in finding out Kerry was her mother, Kerry disappeared. What a complete waste of what potentially could have been a good storyline for her.
What exactly does Chloe offer to the show? It's hard to say because she has hardly had any scenes with others other than the Dingles and the God-awful Mack.
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Then we have the Lydia storyline coming up. Now, this could be brilliant and hard-hitting, giving Lydia, Sam, and Samson a storyline that is better than not wanting to be a dad and trying to force him to.
But it has to be well written, has to be well directed, and they have to remember past events in the family. Lisa's storyline has to be spoken about. I want Charity to support Lydia, a dynamic scene with just Charity and Lydia.
I want them to remember history and have a gripping family storyline.
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So, the Metro article last week on Jane Hudson's reign. There are a few points I'd like to make on it. First of all, I wouldn't call it successful. There's been a few storylines that I applaud and say have been amazing.
- Marlon's stroke was beautifully written and acted on and hasn't been forgotten. We are seeing its actions today. My mum had a TIA, a mini-stroke, and many side effects for years.
- Paddy's Depression - In the year when the soap has been utterly diabolical, Paddy's storyline has been a shining light on the year and well acted, well written and just beautiful.
Two - that's all I can think of. Two! I don't agree with the Meena one because it bordered on bloody ridiculous at the end. They didn't know when to end it, like when I used to mark my student's work, and they never quite knew when to finish their story.
I'm afraid I also have to disagree with the Noah part; people can't believe he's changed so much because soaps, TV, films, etc., don't show what prisons are meant to do. Of course, in life, it doesn't always work like that. Due to many reasons, I want to avoid getting political.
As many know, my husband is a police officer; prison is meant to change you, give you a purpose and a skill, and make you turn your life around. I am not saying they have got it perfect because, let's face it, he let Amelia walk all over him. He needs to get a backbone and tell her, I deserve to be treated with respect.
She also starts storylines and then forgets them for ages. Rhona's eggs, anyone? I know it's starting soon again, but I'll need to do a crash course on the storyline again, as I've forgotten everything that's happened.
Women's Health storylines:
I suffer with my health, caused by hormones. I have polycystic ovaries, the rare ones caused by my thyroid. This has caused me to have the skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa. So when I discovered they would be doing a never-before-seen storyline about women's issues, I was waiting for a great, informative storyline.
Instead, it's made a mockery of it. No one sympathises or cares for Cathy because it's poorly written. It's taken away from what should be a storyline where the audience learns about different issues that aren't really in the public. How many of you have heard of hidradenitis suppurativa?
Cathy is diagnosed with the same condition that Vicky Patteson has just been diagnosed with next week. After following her for a while on Instagram, I can say her symptoms seem to be more tearful, overeating and a little bit of anger.
I get teary; I cried the other day when Britain won a medal in the men's 4x400 relay (no reason why, and looking back, I laugh).
They also have made a complete mockery of the Bernice menopause storyline; they turned it into a comedy storyline, a parody of something that happens to every woman in the world at some time in their life, and now it's just been forgotten.
Women's health isn't funny; it isn't a topic for comedy. You wouldn't turn a cancer storyline into a comedy or forget it.
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EastEnders is the best it's ever been since the John Yorke era. They've managed to pull off one of the greatest soap comebacks in the history of soaps, Cindy Beale. And they've done it believably.
This got me thinking: Could they bring a character back from the dead at Emmerdale in a believable way? For instance, a Chris Tate or Joe Tate would give Noah a storyline away from Amelia. I don't think they could. Chris is practically impossible, but Joe is possible.
But the thing is, at the moment, they couldn't pull it off; they would forget history and make it so over the top and camp.
Cindy's return worked because it was slow, the mention of Rose, introducing her other family, and then just her on the sunlounger ignoring the call from George.
Then bang she's back with an explosion and the past is remembered, the affairs, her trying to shoot Ian, the arguments with Kathy, Sonia and Phil recognising her, it had everything. It had a history; it had everything.
I didn't even look on Twitter during the episode because I was that engrossed in the episode. After all, it was just so damn good.
I pray for the day all three British soaps are brilliant again, but sadly for me, there's only one soap that's top dog, and that's the soap from London.
