It was announced yesterday that Emmerdale actor Richard Thorp – who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1995 – had died aged 81, and subsequently, the cast and crew of the show, as well as the soap’s fans, have been paying tribute to Richard, who of course played the role of Alan Turner.

Richard had been member of the cast of the ITV soap for over 30 years, and in that time, Alan Turner evolved from being a bombastic bully to one of the show’s most-loved characters.

Prior to joining Emmerdale, Richard starred in iconic film The Dam Busters and TV dramas Emergency Ward 10 and the now defunct soap, Crossroads… Read more & comment »

Fans of Shameless will know that actor David Threlfall plays the role of professional lay-about Frank Gallagher in the show, but according to reports today, David is now set play the role of Tommy Cooper in a new ITV drama about the life of the comedian.

He’s set to star alongside Amanda Redman in the feature length production. She’ll play the role of Tommy’s wife Gwen, who Tommy affectionately called ‘Dove’.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror about the forthcoming show, executive producer Andy Harries said, “Few comics have had such a lasting influence on British culture as Tommy Cooper… Read more & comment »

It’s been revealed today that TV presenter and DJ Denise Van Outen is in “secret talks” with the BBC to join the cast of EastEnders in the role of the Queen Vic’s new landlady!

However, it seems that the show’s bosses have previously approached Denise to discuss starring in the show, but she turned them down.

But the Daily Mirror reports, “Now, after a series of hush-hush meetings she is tipped to follow in the footsteps of Walford legends such as Angie and ‘Dirty’ Den Watts.” Read more & comment »

As fans of Emmerdale will know, we’re about to see killer Cameron Murray exhuming the body of his victim Alex Moss – who was played by Kurtis Stacey – and relocating the remains…

Which he was forced to do after Declan Macey (Jason Merrells) bought the woodland area with a view to redeveloping it. So of course, fearing that workmen would unearth Alex’s corpse – and therefore identify that he was a victim of murder and maybe even point to Cameron being his killer – Cameron undertook the grisly task under cover of darkness… Read more & comment »

Last week, we met with the cast and crew of ITV soap Emmerdale at the show’s studios in Leeds, and while there, we talked to the gorgeous Dominic Power about his character Cameron Murray, who has of course already murdered Carl King and Alex Moss…

However, fans need not fear that Dominic is going to disappear from the soap any time soon – if Cameron is arrested and imprisoned for his crimes – because the actor told us, “I’m told that in soap land, it takes six killings before viewers demand justice.”

So yay! There’s four more to go before we risk losing Cameron! Read more & comment »

It’s been revealed today that Coronation Street is set to tackle racism in a storyline which will see Craig Charles’ character Lloyd Mullaney accused firefighter Paul Kershaw – who’s played by former Hollyoaks star Tony Hirst – of being racist.

The Daily Star reports, “In scenes to be screened this summer, Paul is talking to Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson, 38) and uses the phrase ‘playing the white man’.”

Lloyd’s daughter Jenna Kamara (Krissi Bohn) will hear Paul’s comment, and she immediately tells her dad, prompting a row between the two men… Read more & comment »

There’s matters of the heart at the forefront of the drama next week for both Chesney Brown and Sally Webster, both of whom are determined to move on from their former relationships by starting out in new ones…

However, for Chesney (Sam Aston) it’s clear that although he badly wants to forget about his former fiancé Katy Armstrong (Georgia May Foote) he finds that easier said than done, and is therefore more hurt than ever when she moves in with her new man, Ryan Connor. More on that in a moment… Read more & comment »

Alice Branning (Jasmyn Banks) is of course currently playing piggy-in-the-middle between her former employer – and major crush – Michael Moon and his estranged wife Janine…

And as we’ll see next week’s episodes, Alice becomes increasingly fed up of having to choose where her loyalties lie, because of course also stuck between the warring couple is little baby Scarlett, who Alice is looking after for Janine.

But making things worse for Alice is the fact that Janine (Charlie Brooks) is constantly putting pressure on her to work overtime, and combined with pressure from Michael (Steve John Shepherd) to get Alice to sneak Scarlett to him for a visit, poor Alice is one stressed out nanny! Read more & comment »

In next week’s episodes of EastEnders, we’ll see Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) making preparations to leave Walford to start a new life with her lover Ray Dixon (Chucky Venn) however, during her leaving party, Kim begins to realise that perhaps she may be making a big mistake…

The drama begins on Monday, May 27 when, during her leaving do at the B&B, Kim’s the happy recipient of a number of gifts, as is Ray. However, while one of the gifts, matching onesies, delights Kim, Ray’s far from impressed, and later on, as they’re packing their last few things, Kim spots Ray leaving the novelty garment behind. Read more & comment »

Peter Andre is rethinking his career and the former pop star has admitted that he would just love to land a job on Downton Abbey.

The reality TV star is keen to move into acting, after he found out that his pal Keith Lemon would be starring in Coronation Street and he knows exactly which shows he’s hoping to audition for.

Read more & comment »

Last Friday, I met with the cast and crew of hit ITV soap Emmerdale at the show’s headquarters in Leeds, and among the actors I spoke to on the day was Natalie J Robb, who of course plays Moira Barton…

And keen to learn more about Natalie herself, I asked, “What’s your favourite and least favourite thing about working on Emmerdale?”

She replie, “I think my least favourite thing is that we sometimes have to film in really cold weather… Read more & comment »

Fans of Corrie will of course know that duplicitous Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis) recently roped his girlfriend Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) into faking a robbery, during which valuable silk from Underworld was ‘stolen’, leaving his sister Carla Connor struggling to replace the material in time to get a vital order out…

And until next week, though she was always suspicious of the story about the robbery, Carla (Alison King) didn’t know for sure that her brother Rob had anything to do with it, however, she’s set to find out, and when she does, it could spell the end of her relationship with her sibling.

The drama begins on Monday, May 27 when Tracy becomes more and more concerned that Carla knows the truth. However, Rob reassures her that his sister has no clue, and together, they set about finding a buyer for the cloth. Read more & comment »

Fans of Emmerdale will know that Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) has, since her boyfriend Cameron Murray betrayed her by having an affair with her Aunt, Chas Dingle, become a ruthless businesswoman who’s determined that nothing will stop her making vast sums of money…

And she doesn’t care if what she’s involved in is illegal, and she doesn’t care who she has to ride roughshod over to get what she wants.

And of course, she’s involved Robbie Lawson (Jamie Shelton) in her shady business dealings, however, he’s becoming fed up of being Debbie’s dogs body, and of having her treat him like something she just stepped in whenever it suits her… Read more & comment »

Sharon Rickman hasn’t been overly lucky in love of late, given that her former fiancé Jack Branning dumped her at the altar, and then her rekindled romance with Phil Mitchell hit the rocks after he learned of her addiction to painkillers…

However, recidivist girlfriend Sharon (Letitia Dean) isn’t finding it easy being a single woman, and in next week’s episodes, we’ll see that she’s desperate to heal the rift with Phil (Steve McFadden) and equally as keen that she and her son Dennis move back in with him… Read more & comment »

Vet Rhona Kirk (Zoe Henry) is of course battling with an addiction to strong prescription painkillers right now, and over the course of the last couple of weeks, her life has been going progressively downhill as she attempts to function while dealing with withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

So far, only her friend and partner in the vets’ surgery Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick) knows Rhona’s secret, and as fans will know, Vanessa has been trying to help Rhona to wean herself off the drugs by supplying her with medicines from their surgery.

But things come to a head this week as it dawns on Vanessa that Rhona may not be making as much effort to come off the tablets as she says she is… Read more & comment »