I’m referring of course to EastEnders’ latest keenly awaited whodunit; with Darren turning out to be baby George’s dad.

As of course we all know by now – and as Lisa announced right after the show on Friday – Darren was the subject of the big reveal, and everyone in my house issued a collective “no way!” or words to that effect, some of which began with F.

For me, the only two people who it could credibly have been were Billy or Minty; Phil just plain wouldn’t have, and Darren wasn’t even on my radar! I thought the writers had just lobbed him into the plot for a laugh… Read more & comment »

An episode of Coronation street which was shown on Easter Sunday has caused controversy and has seen viewers complain to Ofcom over what was seen by many as an ‘attack’ on Christianity.

The storyline in the episode depicted Ken Barlow saying that the Christian faith targetted “vulnerable people”. Ken also said his grandson Simon’s school was “indoctrinating” him with regard to Christianity and Ken ranted that he would tell Simon “the truth” about religion.

ITV’s message boards and forums have since been inundated by posts from viewers who deemed the episode’s content “completely unacceptable”… Read more & comment »

Well, Steve and Becky are – in my opinion – the most unlikely Corrie couple ever and I believe the Street’s writers intend for them to be the new Jack and Vera, and judging by the upcock that was their wedding last night, it’s looking like a) Friday the 13th lived up to its reputation and b) just like Jack and V, nothing’s ever going to go right for the pair!

Good old Hales came up trumps with the “dream dress” though – Becky’s dream dress that is, which is a dream shared only by Barbie I suspect – and resplendent with tiara and pink hair extensions, Becky looked like every Disney fairytale princess just exploded on her, which it seems, is exactly what she wanted!

As Hayley put it, “You look like something out of a fairytale” but she failed to mention which one… I’m going with anything from the brothers Grimm. Poor Becky, but how the wardrobe department must love her character! Imagine their excitement given that their usual remit is which anorak Blanche is going to wear that day or whether Norris should don a new cardi… I bet they had a ball with Becky’s dress! Read more & comment »

As it is of course Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d take a look at some of the best soap weddings, many of which have been set on this special day, but even if they weren’t, weddings are so romantic – unless they end like many soapy weddings in fights, tears, bloodshed and even deaths – they deserve a special mention on Valentine’s Day!

So let’s start with some of EastEnders most romantic weddings and one of my very favourite weddings was that of Kat and Alfie… Read more & comment »

Prince Charles in Corrie

With the arrival of internationally famous actress Amanda Donahue in Emmerdale, we thought we’d take a look at which other famous actors and actresses have made appearances in the soaps. Granted, Amanda seems to be in it as a regular now, but you might be surprised to see which famous faces have made brief appearances in the soaps!

For instance, one of the most surprising very famous cameo appearances was by Prince Charles on Coronation Street. The Prince made his guest appearance in what the show’s producers described as “a near flawless” live episode of the Street which was part of the programme’s 40th anniversary celebrations. Read more & comment »

On Monday, Val schemes to throw Paul a divorce party to cheer him up however Rodney’s fuming at the tackiness of the occasion and worries that Paul will be upset by it.

Elsewhere in the village, Lily’s forced to change her plans to engineer a meeting between Paul and Jonny when Paul asks to meet her in the pub. She stations Leyla in the café to look out for Jonny but is unaware of the significance when Patricia arrives instead… Read more & comment »

There’s recently been a good deal of debate about the rights and wrongs of swearing and violence on TV, so we thought we’d take a look at these issues and ask your opinion on the rights and wrongs of it.

F-ing chefs

Let’s start with the issue of swearing and of course, one for whom swearing is virtually a trademark is Gordon Ramsay, who even has a show entitled, The F Word.

Gordon’s made a niche for himself in the over-populated world of TV chefs because of his constant use of the F word… but is it a bad thing?

Comedian Frank Skinner recently commented to The Sun that TV chefs swear in order to look “more manly” because they do “women’s work”. Obviously, Frank meant this in a tongue-in-cheek way, but perhaps he’s not so far off the mark.

Read more & comment »

Coronation Street has taken the Best Soap award at this years Inside Soap Awards in London.

The Bill won the Best Drama award for the second year in a row and EastEnders won five awards, Emmerdale bagged three and Hollyoaks one.

Speaking of this year’s awards, Inside Soap editor Steven Murphy said: “This was one of the most hotly contested years for the Inside Soap Awards and it’s wonderful to see so many new names on the winners’ list.”

He added: “The race for ‘Best Soap’ was neck and neck until voting closed, which just proves what an outstanding year it’s been in soapland.”

The BBC have reportedly been complaining about the number of ITV executives on the panel choosing the winners of this years British Soap Awards.

A BBC source told the Daily Star Sunday: “The panel isn’t fair. It’s made up of executives from ITV as well as critics and representatives from each soap. But there isn’t much impartiality and a lot of the voting is tactical. It’s a bit of a fix.”

An awards spokesman insisted: “It’s a fairly-weighted panel. The other categories are all viewer voted.”

OFCOM has issued a report criticising British soaps for showing excessive amounts of violence before the watershed.

OFCOM singled out ITV soap, Emmerdale, in its report after it received numerous complaints about the violence shown surrounding the kidnap of Tom and Sadie King.

According to Ofcom, one of the scenes contained a “significant amount of blood” and a close-up of the character’s injury.

ITV defended the scenes stating:

“Whilst Emmerdale stories do not condone violent acts, it need not and should not shy away from them,” the broadcaster told Ofcom.

It said it had reached an “appropriate balance between dramatic entertainment and offence”.

Simon Fuller, the man behind Pop Idol, American idol and many other hit TV shows is said to be expanding his empire by putting together an American version of Eastenders called ‘Born In The Usa.

Whats On Tv reports:

The half-hour soap will be set in Philadelphia and follow the intertwining lives of three blue-collar families from different ethnic backgrounds.

American Ido, runner up, Lisa Tucker, has had roles in The OC and Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, has signed on to play ‘a smart, beautiful girl with a good sense of humour’, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and will have a ‘larger-than-life mother’ played by US TV actress Tembi Locke.

ITV is launching a search for top telly addicts to battle it out in primetime show, Britain’s No1 Soap Fan.

To be considered call producers on 020 7421 7802 or visit www.talenttv.com/contestants.php

It’s that time of year again. Yes the British Soap Awards are about to hit our screens once more.

You have until April the 13th to cast your vote. So who will it be?

Will you choose Kate Ford (Tracey Barlow) as best actress? Or Richard Fleeshman (Craig Harris) for sexiest male?

Personally I think I’ll be going for Rob James-Collier (Liam Connor) for this years sexiest male. He beats all the others hands down!

This week will see evil Clare trying her utmost to seduce young and silly Justin in a bid to take over The Loft. I’m not quite sure how this will help her, but apparently she sees it as a good tactic.

After learning Justin has to deliver £2,000 to a gangster while Warren is away, Clare steals the cash from the sfae and then lends Justin the money, leaving him eternally grateful.

“Justin’s so grateful – he was facing a battering,” says Gemma Bissix, who plays Clare.

“They end up in bed. Clare just does it for information, and to split up Justin’s cosy double-act with Warren.”

Nice!