I have to say, the Yuletide soap offerings this year were, well, mediocre… they went with not so much a bang as a fizzle. I suppose it’s because over the years, I’ve come to expect massive storylines so this year’s were a bit of a let down I thought, with the possible exception of Eastenders…

Let’s start with Emmerdale; Victoria’s falling through the ice was pretty good; it was tense stuff as she flailed around under the ice, and then when Shane’s hand started drifting upwards, well, it was quite spooky and grim… but that was it really wasn’t it? I didn’t feel the love with the church sit in at all and as Christmas storylines go, it was more than a little tame I thought. And where did all the snow go?? The entire village was covered on Christmas day but by Boxing day, it was all gone!

Corrie was the same really; there was potential but it didn’t quite pull it off. The Christmas Day row at Gail’s was entirely predictable and frankly a tad boring. Tony was doing a good job of being Mr Nasty for sure but one thing I just don’t get is this – why won’t Audrey believe Maria? Surely after her experiences with Richard – and the fact that she knew he was trying to kill her when everyone else thought he was a Saint – would make her think, “hmmmm maybe she’s telling the truth?”

And has Jed really gone to Wigan or did Tony kill him? Much the same outcome either way I suppose… the poor old toad’s entombed in a place nobody wants to go to.

Becky adding the ‘R’ in murderer was an amusing little touch though.

Eastenders of course had a Christmas full of rows and revelations. Poor Peggy. I begin to think she’s never going to get a Christmas Day that’s pleasant without anyone doing anything nasty to anyone else. I did enjoy Shirley giving the horrible Suzy a smacking around though but I still don’t get why she set fire to the money? Why not just give it back to Phil? Surely that would’ve got her some brownie points with the big man?

I have to say though that I really felt sorry for Sean. He’s so lovely and he was being such a good dad then that bombshell drops on him but how dumb was Roxy not to burn the letter with the DNA results on it? Or rip it up or flush it or eat it or something – anything so that it couldn’t fall into the wrong hands? Silly woman. And now, her actions have meant that we’re about to lose one of the fittest blokes there’s ever been in Eastenders… I’m not sure I can ever forgive her.

Our Nick’s back too with a spooky looking child in tow – little Dotty. She looked like one of those ghost children who turn up in Victorian dramas. So is Nick still nasty or is he now nice? Time will tell but I’m pretty sure he’s up to no good.

So what did you think of the festive soaps? Let us know. If you missed any episodes you can catch up with them on itv.com or with BBC iPlayer.